Affordable rack preamp substitutes

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mordecai

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I'm looking to upgrade my gear soon and was looking at an 11rack for versatile tones across the board, but am really interested in a tube preamp for strictly lead guitar tone.

The tone I'm going for is a friedman/poland bogner fish type sound. I don't have the cash for that, so I'm looking for some substitutes that will get me in the ballpark. Again this will be just for leads, I couldn't care how riffs or anything else sound.

I've searched forums and come across some more affordable options
-carvin quad x
-soldano sp 77, x88, x99
-hafler triple giant

That should also give you an idea of my price range for what I'm looking for(~500), anything other models I should look into? Also few youtube vids feature lead examples, does anyone have any input on these choices? Anything positive or negative to add to them, whether or not you have experience comparing them to a fish?

Thanks
 
stay away from the hafler triple giant.

what kind of power amp do you have?

sp77 is actually very good, but be sure it is made by soldano in the US (purple) and not the japanese one (grey).

you would probably really like the voodoo lab preamp. I just sold one a few months ago, they're very inexpensive and sound very good.
 
nnajar":2ctz7r2z said:
stay away from the hafler triple giant.

what kind of power amp do you have?

sp77 is actually very good, but be sure it is made by soldano in the US (purple) and not the japanese one (grey).

you would probably really like the voodoo lab preamp. I just sold one a few months ago, they're very inexpensive and sound very good.
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what do those typically run? I didn't see any on ebay atm

good to hear, this vid had me interested
(lead starts around 45s) really round and smooth but too sharp sounding imo. I'm after a warmer sound, but idk what pickups were used, maybe a neck pu would've sounded closer to what I want if I go this route.

Poweramp will probably be a vht from what was recommended in other threads, not 100percent sure yet though
 
You shouldn't pay more than $500 for any of those mentioned. Vht is a good amp for them.
 
snowdog":1zdpbksi said:
ADA MP-1.
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really? I just looked up some vids, which I understand can't be completely accurate, but they sounded far more compressed and high-gain than something bogner related
 
nnajar":soq5ftwd said:
You shouldn't pay more than $500 for any of those mentioned. Vht is a good amp for them.
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good to know, thanks
 
mordecai":2hvc8xgk said:
snowdog":2hvc8xgk said:
ADA MP-1.
Click to expand...

really? I just looked up some vids, which I understand can't be completely accurate, but they sounded far more compressed and high-gain than something bogner related
Click to expand...

So many people have modded MP-1's that it's hard to know what has been done to them. They got kinda popular with the "chugga, chugga" crowd when the 3-tube mode came out - it really kicked up the gain and with the MP-1's mids scooped out - the heavy metal crowd loved them.

But if you get a stock one, they excel at really nice lead tones with really good clarity. They were very popular with lead players back in the day - like Paul Gilbert, Nuno Bettencourt, Vito Bratta, etc. for their "dimed Marshall"-like tone.

Definitely worth a try.........
 
a stock mp1 could be ok. I really think in your price range a voodoo lab pre is the ticket.
 
I have a Soldano 77, that's my main touring rig. It's rich in harmonics and is one of the most refined classic sounding preamps at any price. I have tried many, and for bang for the buck I'd say the Peavey Rockmaster is slept on big time. It's got excellent crunch channel and lead channels with very high gain, is super quiet, much more quite actually than the Soldano, but the clean channel is blah. I would suggest the Peavey tube amps for power, I personally like the squishiness I get from the el84's on the Classic 50/50, but the larger amps are huge and tight sounding for not a lot of dough, pushing el34 or 6l6.
 
I think he mentioned tube pre so the sansamp would be out... however, if open to no tubes, there is a thread on the ISP theta preamp and that thing sounds pretty damn good and convincing.

Other than that, wait for Rocktron to release their new tube pre's. They have 4 .. they sound pretty stellar from the NAMM clips i saw. Peavey rockmaster and ADA MP1 were good suggestions too.
 
It's solid state, but you might consider it. Try a SR&D Rockman Distortion Generator:

http://www.rockman.fr/Reviews/DG.htm

It provides a full guitar amp/cabinet simulation. You run it straight into the mixing board, possibly via effects. The phase notcher button toggles between a 1x12 and 4x12 cabinet simulation. I'm biased, but I think they sound pretty nice.
 
Gonna look more into the soldano and voodoo lab. Anyone have any experience with the carvin quad x?

I'm not against digital in fact I want it in the case of the 11rack, but for the specific sound I'm looking for lead tones I think a tube pre would be better.]]

^I checked out those rocktron preaps and they're good but probably not for what I'm looking for. Interested in the price once they're rolled out
 
Quad X = bad tone. Mesa Studio pre=amp is everything you're looking for if lead is your thing.
 
What if I wasn't going for a preamp but just an amp in general? Anything else that would compare?

The mesa studio is nice, sounds really loomis-y. about how much is it and how does it handle mid gain?
 
Mesa Studio or Quad, but it might be a bit out of your price range. I'm not sure what they go for these days. JMP-1s can be had for cheap on occasion. The new Tech 21 stuff sounds really cool too.
 
mordecai":ruup5607 said:
What if I wasn't going for a preamp but just an amp in general? Anything else that would compare?

The mesa studio is nice, sounds really loomis-y. about how much is it and how does it handle mid gain?
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if you can stretch the budget, an evh 5153 50 watt is worth a look. Used you can find them $7-750.

define mid gain? mesa studio is a good suggestion. you should be able to find one of those $5-600.

I still think the voodoo lab is what you're looking for.

sp77 would be good too but it potentially doesn't have as much gain as you may want.

I've never used an mp1 or marshall jmp1 but I imagine they're both worth a look as well.
 
A JMP-1 sounds like it would be right up your alley. Very flexible too.

The Kasha RackMod might be a good choice too. Rocktron Piranha too.

The SP-77 is a nice pre as well, but I'm not sure it really does well in the territory you mention.
 
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