Tube pre-amps for hard rock/metal

  • Thread starter Thread starter RedB4Black
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RedB4Black

RedB4Black

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What are the good one's I should be looking into?

Is the ENGL E530 any good? It's pretty cheap.
 
mhenson42":39zywh7w said:
What are the good one's I should be looking into?

Is the ENGL E530 any good? It's pretty cheap.
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The E530 is a GREAT Preamp for the price. for rock and metal it's hard to beat.


Also check out the old standbys. the JMP1 and the ADA MP1
 
Based on the clips of the ENGL e530 that I have heard, its pretty damn good, especially for the price
 
Deftones are JMP-1 if you need a reference tone wise.

Mesa Studio or Quad are pretty much Metallica.

Engl 570/580 are probably the heaviest due to the compression and gain amounts.
 
Laurens":f8ot589i said:
To add to your list: Mesa Boogie Triaxis.
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Ugh....should not have forgotten that.


That Mako for the price looks real cool but not digging the U size at all.
 
Engl 530 is an awesome preamp for any kind of rock. It's cleans aren't that great and for really brutal metal its a little bit dry. However is leads are incredible sound and you can have a great hard rock rhythm tone.

However for 600 because of the warranty and the construction I don't think its worth it unless you go used.

My vote would be for the Mako, you cannot find a better deal out there for 850. Lifetime warranty and incredible construction with top notch tone. The Makoplex channel has all your rock tones covered and the Dorado is a metal monster. Not to mention you get a good crunch and clean channel :rock:
 
Of all the pre's mentioned, I liked the Triaxis least. Very muddy for heavy rhythm's. I could not get a decent metal rhythm tone, but there are many other good tone's there.
 
Clips I've heard of the E 530 are harsh sounding but that could be just the clips.

Can an E 530 do something as warm as a mid-gain JCM 800 type tone ?

Will the Mako 4 Channel have a legit clean tone and vaguely Marshall crunch, a high gain 3rd channel , that will work for Non Metal tones ? With the 4th being gained out for Metal ( which I don't Play).?

What do you think based on their other Amps made now ?
 
I think ScreaminDemon has a Langner Creator preamp for sale. I would take that over anything listed for heavy stuff ;) If you need a reference, listen to some Vicious Rumors stuff. Thats all Todds work. Killer stuff
 
I dig my JMP-1 purchased from a fellow RT forumite ;) I dig it so much, that I went looking for and found a matching JFX-1 to go with it, great combo IMO. Keepers for good. I'm a Vox guy, but the JMP-1 gives me a Marshall alternative when I feel the need!

I also have a Tech 21 PSA 1.1; not tube but it can give amazing cleans with no hair on up to convincing metal (though maybe not nu metal, not my thing so YMMV). Another keeper, its not going anywhere. It can also get many tones from clean to high dist that are its own, not sounding like anything else. Very versatile, but seemingly not too popular in forum discussions. :confused:

I'm a long time ADA user since back in the day; I still have an MP-2 with the noise mod, which is a PITA to dial in as the UI is tedious, but it sounds great IMO much more flexibility than the MP-1 IMO. A few dig the 3TM mod for the MP-1 which adds another preamp (tube) stage for more power dist. Never had an MP-1 classic, but those are very sought after.

I could be willing to part with my MP-2 for the right price, otherwise no reason to part with it. I will throw in the MXC MIDI foot controller, quad switch and expression pedal though the pedal needs a bit of work (last time I used it, it worked but not well!)
 
mhenson42":2ipmhz8h said:
What are the good one's I should be looking into?

Is the ENGL E530 any good? It's pretty cheap.
Click to expand...

The absolute best would be the Larry Jon Schaffer preamp. Not cheap and very limited quantities being made.

The ENGL E530 is the only ENGL product I've tried and I did not like it. Pretty much sounds like a SS Distortion pedal.
 
thegame":3a7gitob said:
mhenson42":3a7gitob said:
What are the good one's I should be looking into?

Is the ENGL E530 any good? It's pretty cheap.
Click to expand...

The absolute best would be the Larry Jon Schaffer preamp. Not cheap and very limited quantities being made.

The ENGL E530 is the only ENGL product I've tried and I did not like it. Pretty much sounds like a SS Distortion pedal.
Click to expand...


Yeah, the Larry would be cool. That's what i was afraid of about the ENGL. I should have mentioned that the Mako Mak 4 is definitely something I'll be buying. I'm just thinking of other stuff as well.
 
mhenson42":39qm8vzt said:
thegame":39qm8vzt said:
mhenson42":39qm8vzt said:
What are the good one's I should be looking into?

Is the ENGL E530 any good? It's pretty cheap.
Click to expand...

The absolute best would be the Larry Jon Schaffer preamp. Not cheap and very limited quantities being made.

The ENGL E530 is the only ENGL product I've tried and I did not like it. Pretty much sounds like a SS Distortion pedal.
Click to expand...


Yeah, the Larry would be cool. That's what i was afraid of about the ENGL. I should have mentioned that the Mako Mak 4 is definitely something I'll be buying. I'm just thinking of other stuff as well.
Click to expand...


FFUUUUU, this looks amazing.
http://www.larry-amplification.de/gallery/?level=picture&id=141
 
chunktone":2ajxtfgj said:
Of all the pre's mentioned, I liked the Triaxis least. Very muddy for heavy rhythm's. I could not get a decent metal rhythm tone, but there are many other good tone's there.
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I respectfully disagree. The Triaxis paired with a 2:90 is capable of some decent metal tones without being muddy. I have a version 1 combined with the 2:90 and no mudiness here! In my experience, it starts with a good articulate pick up (let's not start discussing the importance of the whole signal chain...) and don't dime the gain or overdo with the dynamic voicing (the EQ). Channel LD2 on green and yellow are tight enough for me.

Last year, I also tried the E530 with the 2:90. Some good metal tones can be had as well. I do like the Triaxis better, YMMV.

Anyone knows how much that Larry preamp costs?
 
Laurens":3embasvx said:
Anyone knows how much that Larry preamp costs?
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I know! :thumbsup:

2,250 EUR - waiting time is 9 months (like among us humans :D )

Larry
 
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