Guess the hidden preamp

  • Thread starter Thread starter Zaman
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Zaman

Zaman

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I'm re-arranging and clearing out my recording room (as you can see the mess in the video) so I started experimenting with a piece of hardware I had laying around. I took this quick and dirty video and played a few cheesy licks just so to give an idea of what kind of tone I was getting.

The setup is a Warmoth Black Korina Superstrat with a Quilt Maple top, Canary neck and Ebony fretboard. The pickups are Rio Grande BBQ in the bridge and Texas in the neck. It is plugged into the mystery preamp which is plugged into the Mesa 20/20 Dyna-Watt power amp driving a Mesa 2x12 cabinet.

See if you can guess what the mystery preamp is :) Please excuse the messy room, the Captain Kirk choppy dialog (didn't even realize it until I played it back) and the cheesy noodling.

 
ok, ill bite.

sounds marshallish to me, but has way more thump than a JMP-1 could produce and the clean undertone is not marshally. the raspy top end makes me want to say something peavey oriented.

i didnt hear any mesa in it at all, so im not guessing a triaxis.

having no background to what other gear you have traded or own, i cant think of anything that meets the requirements.

i am going to guess something carvin oriented.
 
All very interesting guesses! I'll report back tomorrow and post an image of the preamp. You guys will laugh at how I got a pretty decent sound out of what I was playing through :)
 
Sounds really really good. But my suspicion is you would sound as good with any other setup.

My guess would be something like a SP77 or a more unknown 80s pre like Kitty Hawk or Steavens. But indeed it could be just a tonelab and you squeezing the heck in tone out of it.
 
Thanks for the positive feedback and educated guesses, guys. Now to reveal the preamp. Drum roll please...........

512CT4ktnIL.jpg


LOL! I've always loved the tones I got out of this thing as a little "walkman" when I'm chillin' on the couch. A thought popped into my head, "What kind of tones could I get with a Mesa power amp?" That 20/20 took the sound from very solid state to very fat and tube sounding. This video I took was with my iPhone within minutes of trying it out. If I tinkered with it, I know I could make it sound like a high priced amp.

So there you have it, folks. The KORG PX4D "Pandora's Box" :)
 
hunter":2pu1pwrd said:
Sounds really really good. But my suspicion is you would sound as good with any other setup.

My guess would be something like a SP77 or a more unknown 80s pre like Kitty Hawk or Steavens. But indeed it could be just a tonelab and you squeezing the heck in tone out of it.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the encouraging words, hunter :)
 
I remember always wanting one of those when they came out. Didn't realize they actually sounded that good.
 
HeimBrent":3kbtijcl said:
I remember always wanting one of those when they came out. Didn't realize they actually sounded that good.
Click to expand...

It sounds amazing for what its intended for, and for less than $100 I don't think it can be beat. You can get them as low as $65 used on eBay. Its a good way to make sure that even when you're sitting on your couch just relaxing around, you're practicing with some realistic tones.

Of course, the video I posted was into a high quality tube power amp, so its not going to sound like that. However, it still sounds great.
 
I still have my old blue Pandora. I run it into a couple Bose powered computer speakers. If you start cranking back the gain on some of the presets, they actually can sound pretty cool. With the included bass and drum patterns in there, this is an awesome little box that you can throw in your case and take anywhere. I dig it.
 
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