Good Single Space Preamp?

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zerohawk

zerohawk

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I have a Mesa 20/20 paired with an ENGL E530 that has a great hard rock/metal tone with an ok clean. I need a single space preamp that can do a good clean and a great mid gain crunch. It is going to be for a cover band. Any recommendations?
 
The Tri Axis is head and shoulders above the others mentioned imo. The JMP-1 is a good preamp as well though and it can be had for pennies compared to a Tri Axis
 
Single space and a low price?
JMP1 and VooDoo Labs.
I know a lot of people have a problem with the JMP 1, but I have never had a problem getting prestine cleans, great Marshall JCM/JMP/Plexi crunch, and searing high gain out of mine.
I kinda like the old non phat mod Triaxis, but to me it's not worth the price of admission.
Many better one space units mentioned to my ears.
 
Peavey Rockmaster, It can do lots of mid gain crunch, and all the way to high gain metal.
 
Thanks for all the recommendations guys. I'm going to start checking all of these out on youtube now lol. :rock:
 
i've got an old rocktron pro gap v 2.0. made in april '91. it took me awhile to find the owners manual on line.. but it's there. put it on a stick so i don't loose it. according to everything i've been able to find the v 2.0 is the the one most folks try to get. supposedly it sounds better than the v 1.0 or the ultra. cleans up nicely and goes up to steve stevens levels of gain if that helps.
 
Yeah, the 530 doesn't have the famous studio clean tones ENGL is known for in their other amps. I reviewed the 530 and noted that the cleans were more Marshall-like in character than, say, Mesa/Boogie. So if you were to get a JMP-1, you wouldn't have any better clean tones than you do now. In fact, the JMP-1 has classic "Marshall calls this a clean tone" sound that doesn't compare to the clean tones from a modern Boogie or other ENGL amp.

However, +1 to the poster who almost got this point right -- a JMP-1 modded by Voodoo Amplification will sound great. But note that this is NOT Voodoo Labs like the poster said. Two different companies.

I'd recommend the Mesa/Boogie Triaxis if you're sticking to a single space unit.

Here's my in-depth review of the Triaxis:
http://www.musicplayers.com/reviews/gui ... xis290.php


But also, your Boogie 20/20 is a limiting factor in getting great clean tones. It's got EL-84 tubes and a lower power rating, thus it doesn't have the same kind of headroom you'd get by stepping up to the Boogie 2:Fifty or the Simul 2:Ninety.

Scott
 
The triaxis would be one to consider, 1rst, if you like mesa's tones, and 2nd if you need a lot of great tones..marshall's jmp is good too, the engl 580, and ive even heard people having great luck with the mesa formula preamp and mesa's v twin pre....IF you ever can spare 1 more space in the rack- this opens up a whole lot more in terms of high end pre's.Theres some killer 2 spc pre's out there.......and dont ever skimp in the power amp area.... ;)
 
scottkahn":1jryfdsr said:
Yeah, the 530 doesn't have the famous studio clean tones ENGL is known for in their other amps. I reviewed the 530 and noted that the cleans were more Marshall-like in character than, say, Mesa/Boogie. So if you were to get a JMP-1, you wouldn't have any better clean tones than you do now. In fact, the JMP-1 has classic "Marshall calls this a clean tone" sound that doesn't compare to the clean tones from a modern Boogie or other ENGL amp.

However, +1 to the poster who almost got this point right -- a JMP-1 modded by Voodoo Amplification will sound great. But note that this is NOT Voodoo Labs like the poster said. Two different companies.

I'd recommend the Mesa/Boogie Triaxis if you're sticking to a single space unit.

Here's my in-depth review of the Triaxis:
http://www.musicplayers.com/reviews/gui ... xis290.php


But also, your Boogie 20/20 is a limiting factor in getting great clean tones. It's got EL-84 tubes and a lower power rating, thus it doesn't have the same kind of headroom you'd get by stepping up to the Boogie 2:Fifty or the Simul 2:Ninety.

Scott
Click to expand...

Awesome man, that makes a ton of sense. The hi gain channel is pretty killer though. It actually kind of sounds more like what I always thought the Recto should have sounded like instead of that straight up ENGL sound. It could be the Mesa 20/20 giving it that flavor for all I know though. The whole 20/20 was for a nice portable solution, I heard the 2:Fifty or the Simul 2:Ninety are pretty heavy lol.

Little B":1jryfdsr said:
The triaxis would be one to consider, 1rst, if you like mesa's tones, and 2nd if you need a lot of great tones..marshall's jmp is good too, the engl 580, and ive even heard people having great luck with the mesa formula preamp and mesa's v twin pre....IF you ever can spare 1 more space in the rack- this opens up a whole lot more in terms of high end pre's.Theres some killer 2 spc pre's out there.......and dont ever skimp in the power amp area.... ;)
Click to expand...

Do you mean skimping on wattage?
 
I think he means more on "brand/quality" as in, buy a VHT or Mesa as opposed to a Carvin or Peavey.

I think. :lol: :LOL:
 
I'd up the spaces. I just saw an X88 for sale for around $1,100. That is a lot of pre for a grand. Get a 2:90 or 2/90/2 and you will be in tone bliss. It's only a total of 4 spaces.
 
Zerohawk,

Yes, your e530 does have great high-gain sounds... we reviewed that preamp too and found nothing comes close to it sound-wise until you at least double the price. And it's ridiculously inexpensive compared to everything else in the ENGL line.

I understand your concern about weight of the power amps... for a long time I was chasing the "keep the rack light" dream, but it's really more of a fantasy than a reality if you love tube amps. However... note these weights:

20/20: 14 lbs
2:Fifty: 23 lbs
2:Ninety: 35 lbs

The 2:Fifty ($1,099 new) adds nine pounds to your rig, but gives you 100 Watts (50 per side) via 4 6L6 tubes. You'll have a lot more headroom for those clean tones, and your heavy tones will have way more depth provided by the 6L6 tubes vs. the small EL84 tubes.

The 2:Ninety has some cool extra features for sound shaping, but adds a LOT more weight to your rack.

I would suggest first upgrading your power amp. See how you like your clean tones through a power amp with more headroom. Unless you're specifically after a spanky, clean tone, which it doesn't do as well as other pre's mentioned in this thread, you might just like your 530's clean tone better through the 2:Fifty -- it will sound significantly improved over the 20/20, which isn't recommended for hard rock guitar rigs. Of course I don't know what kind of style you play, but then you do have an ENGL pre... :-)

Scott
 
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