List all PREAMPS you've owned, and do a brief review

  • Thread starter Thread starter guitarslinger
  • Start date Start date
Marshall 9001-Used it clean with a Furman PQ3 as the drive. Basically a replacement for my Marshall MkII heads. Sounded great with the Furman for dirty stuff, the cleans were so-so.

ADA MP1- I hated this thing, noisy and didn't like the tone. There were so many great sounds that claimed the ADA preamp, yet I just hated the thing.

Rocktron ProGap YUCK

Peavey Rockmaster Gain to the tits, never really bonded with the tone, relays were a pile of shit, sound would shut off constantly because of the relays. I think I spent 6 mos changing realys for every guitarist I knew and didn't know that had one.

Marshall JMP1 I liked this unit, especially with a Marshall 9200....plenty of gain for me. I still had not used a drive pedal for any of my rigs at this point.

Digitech GSP 2101 I had the seamless patch option and I really liked this preamp with a Marshall 9200. I liked this way better than it's brothers the 2112 and 2120.

Mesa Recto Recording Pre I rather liked this preamp, most folks that heard me use it live said it sounded nothing like a Dual or Triple Rec. I totally agree...I tried many Mesa Recto heads and I could not get any of them to sound like my Pre and Mesa 2:100 combination.

CAE 3+se I loved this preamp, sounded HUGE. This unit was why I purchased my OD100se+ (which I like even more)

Fractal AxeFx Ultra I don't think I have to say anything...this box is the tits.


Mark
 
Jackson JX-3: Weird voicing. I don't remember it too well, but what I do remember was loose, harsh, and farty.
Sounded killer when mixed with a clean signal for bass...not so hot for guitar.
Rocktron Chameleon: Decent tones available, but really needed a decent tube power section to sound good. Pre-gain EQ is sweet. Could turn into a buzzsaw if not careful.
ADA MP-1: For all the tweakability, not a lot of tonal variation available. Pretty much had 10,000 variations of one sound. Too smooth/not aggressive enough for my needs, but not a bad pre by any stretch.
Mesa Studio Pre: One of the greats. Fantastic tone. I just moved away from racks and liked my Mark III more (more aggressive).
Peavey Rockmaster: Very dependent upon power section. Not too hot with EL34s, absolutely fantastic with 6550s. Kind on an odd tone, but in the right application it sounds great.
Mako Mak4: [Will be updated, 6/21/10]
 
This is a GREAT Thread- a good used preamp buyer's guide.

I had been wondering about the ENGL 520 as a repair shop had one they were fixing.

Probably too good to sell.

This was when ENGL was still doing warmer, classic rock type pres.

Good info on all the others, we need to get info on the little Elmwood 2 channel pedal/pre and the Mako.

Anything else we missed ?

Well, after getting info from various Forum guys- I picked up an old ADA MP1 with noise mods already done- use it for smooth tubey Fusion Type tones recording into Cab Impulses etc.- doesn't sound like the clips I've heard ( in a good way)- does pushed tube cleans and smooth Gilmourish /EJ type tones nicely(!) very good at medium gain and even some Plexi type tones.

Trying to get Hughes and Kettner to come out with a 100% Pure Tube version of the Access/ Tubeman type thing but modern/vintage and Thomas Blug Emailed me back saying he's already working on something ( don't know him, personally).

H@K if they wanted to could make a Killer Rack Pre.
 
Marshall JMP1 - Didn't care for it. Not enough gain and muddy sounding.
Peavey Tube Fex - Tons of gain, a little fizzy and huge gaps in sound when changing patches.
Rocktron Piranha - Should have kept this one. Great tone for metal! Awesome EQ! Although a bit noisy, the gate worked great!
Original silverface Egnater ie4 - Best clean tone of any pre I've had! Channel 2 was cool for low gain stuff. Channel 3 didn't do it for me. Not enough gain and the highs were rolled off too much for my taste. Channel 4 was pretty cool for soloing though!
Bogner Fish Reissue - A huge disappointment for me. Clean didn't do anything for me neither did the Strato channel. Shark was pretty cool but lacked depth. Brown was great for soloing though.
Egnater M4 - My fav and it's not going anywhere. Every module kicks major ass! Especially the Friedman modded EG5! The MHG is my fav for soloing!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top