The Preamp
The preamp design of the Revelation is something which took us a very, very, very long time to develop. Technically, it's the marriage of puritan simplicity with unparalleled flexibility. On one hand the design is simple, as we didn't want the tone shaping to be overly complex. Many of the greatest guitar tones are created by minimizing the path from input to output. On the other hand, the very clever microcontroller switching system has the ability to reconfigure the signal path to radically alter the tone, from one channel to the next. This is done with a small army of high voltage relays for the ultimate in tonal purity.
The (Tonal) Truth will set you Free.
This approach allowed us to create an amplifier whose character changes dramatically from one channel to the next. When you change channels, it doesn't simply sound like variations on the one basic tone. It feels like you're changing amps. The character, feel, dynamic response and frequency content is radically different from one channel to the next.
This 'tonal liberation' gave us the opportunity to approach the voicing of the channels from unique perspective. As opposed to creating a 'clean' channel or a 'lead' channel, we designed the Revelation with 4 unique channels, each of which could be operated in low, mid or high gain. What changes from channel to channel is the design architecture.
With the Revelation, each channel captures a unique philosophical approach to preamp design. The four channels capture what we consider to be four pivotal preamp voicings. Whilst in no way a 'clone', each channel seeks to create the vibe of some of the great guitar tones, past and present. Then by altering the gain structure, each channel's possibilities are extended to create gain modes, all of which are 'projections' of the basic characteristics of that channel. For example, ever wondered what a traditionally vintage 'American' voiced preamp would sound like with a couple of extra gain stages added? What about applying the design principles of modern high gain designs to tamer crunch, or even clean voicing? Now you can begin to see the amazing possibilities the Revelation has to offer.
Channel 1 (Green) is inspired by the traditional American preamp designs from 50's and 60's. One of its unique defining characteristics is the position of the tone stack, which is at the beginning of the preamp as opposed to the end. This channel has the lowest gain of all 4 channels, and is aimed more at the vintage side of things:
- Low Gain mode: This is a pristine shimmering clean. It is the most balanced of the clean modes in the Revelation, and LOVES pedals. Depending on how you adjust the powerful EQ and gain control, this mode can produce anything from glassy, 3D tones, to fuller more muscular clean tones.
- Mid Gain mode: This fattens up the original tone, and starts to overdrive gracefully as you pick harder. With the gain cranked, this mode will take you to vintage crunch territory.
- High Gain mode: Not really high gain per-se, but more of a vintage purring blues/lead sound. The unique position of the tone stack means that variations in settings affect the character and response of the overdrive sound.
Channel 2 (Yellow) is decidedly British in nature. The mids are a lot more forward, and the position of the tone controls (at the end of the preamp) completely changes the character of this channel, compared to channel 1. This is another channel which we would consider to be 'vintage' voiced.
- Low Gain Mode: A wonderful clean counterpart to Channel 1's low gain mode. The forward mids really accentuate the elastic nature of this channel, and helps to put the guitar more forward in the mix. This mode also loves pedals, and can give your OD pedals a very different sonic 'highlight' compared to Channel 1. It's almost as if you've re-voiced your pedals!
- Mid Gain: This is one of my favourite sounds on the amp. This mode purrs. Lovely, glowing amber tones,… touch sensitive and sonically wide. This is also an awesome mode for creating high gain tones when you run the power amp into overdrive, using one of the lower power modes (the power amp can run as low as 8W if you like)
- High Gain: In order not to overlap with Channel 3's tight precise character, we made sure that this channel's high gain mode was fat and spongy, a beautiful responsive vintage lead sound.
Channel 3 (Blue) is what happens when you take Channel 2, and mod it to the max. It's definitely a 'modern' channel. Inspired by the hot-rodded, custom amps of the 80's and 90's, this channel exhibits a tight controlled low end, a precise high end, and huge midrange response for cutting through the mix.
- Low Gain Mode: The tight low end of this channel, when applied to a 'clean' sound results in a very percussive and focused clean, with a lot going on in the mids. It's certainly a very different clean to the previous channels, and makes an awesome funk channel. It's also a great tight channel when the power amp gets cooking, and very decidedly 'brown'
- Mid Gain Mode: It’s also here that the controlled low end of this channel’s architecture starts to pay serious dividends. The response of this channel when overdriven is perhaps the ‘fastest’ found in the Revelation. Also, the note definition is amazing. Complex chords ring true, with wonderful note separation and clarity.
- High Gain Mode: This is high gain lead heaven. Amazing saturation, sustain, definition,… and all delivered with precision. The tone is deep, complex, woody, and blooming. Its top end response is smooth, and stays wonderfully musical regardless of how much gain is used.
Channel 4 (Red) is the alter-ego to Channel 3. Also a 'modern' channel, it's everything that Chanel 3 is not. At every stage of the preamplifier circuit, the signal is handled in the opposite way to Channel 3. This creates a sound, which in every mode, is the counterpart of Channel 3. Instead of ‘thin’ and detailed, the Low gain mode is dark and moody. Instead of focused and fast, the Mid gain mode is fat and momentous. Instead of cutting a controlled sonic path, the High gain mode forces its way through with sheer brute power, pushing aside anything in its way.
- Low Gain Mode: This is a surprisingly wonderful clean channel. It's actually great for Jazz, and really helps to tame brighter single-coils.
- Mid Gain Mode: The dark character of the low gain mode gives way to a sharper, more abrasive sound. Remarkably, the huge low end of Channel 4 remains in tact, producing a powerful rhythm guitar sound, with a very wide sonic footprint. Due to the architecture of this channel, and the broad frequency content of the sound, this mode does not lend itself well to subtle and complex chord voicings. But then again, this channel is anything but subtle!
- High Gain Mode: There is nothing tame, polite or civilised here. This is pure aggression. The tone produced takes up a lot of space, and stamps its authority in any setting. This is a sound with a lot going on,… a lot of lows, a lot of mids, and a lot of highs.
For the clinically insane,...
Since Channels 1 and 2 are lower gain, and since Channels 3 and 4 can also be run in lower gain modes, we decided to also add a high gain trimmer control on the back of the amplifier, which allows you to get an extra 20db of gain from the high gain mode, to push things over the cliff, if you will. It's also for people who feel that there isn't enough gain in Channels 3 and 4,... but personally, we think there's plenty on tap. But for those who can't resist the temptation to hotrod their amps for further gain, I've built the hotrod already in there for you!
