Rack Preamps???
HPIman
After years of using combos and amp heads, I'd like to venture into rack
gear...
Does any one have experience (either good or bad) with the following
tube preamp rack units:
Peavey Rockmaster
Rocktron Gainiac
Rocktron Piranha
Tube Works Real Tube II
ADA MP-1
Hughes & Kettner Tubeman Plus
Basically I want a sinple unit that can be used for full / heavy
overdrive tones (but not the ultra fuzzy gain stuff). Like Lifeson,
Petrucci, Brian May, School of Fish kind of tones.
Any comments/suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!!
Thanks in advance,
Garrett
Nil
> Does any one have experience (either good or bad) with the following
> tube preamp rack units:
>
> Peavey Rockmaster
I have a Rockmaster, and it's an excellent sounding unit, especially
the clean modes. It has more gain than you will probably ever need,
and the tone controls are very comprehensive. My problem with the unit
is that that there is something wrong with the signal path somewhere
in the vicinity of the out jacks, and the signal cuts in and out. I
have cleaned them, but it hasn't helped much. I haven't spent much
time troubleshooting, so it may not be a major problem. I mention it
because I've other Rockmaster owners mention similar problems, so it
may be some general weakness with that model.
Another preamp you should consider is the Mesa/Boogie Studio Preamp. I
see them for sale for not much money, and I think mine sounds great..
--
...Nil...
Stevie
> Hi,
> After years of using combos and amp heads, I'd like to venture into rack
> gear...
<snip>
> Basically I want a sinple unit that can be used for full / heavy
> overdrive tones (but not the ultra fuzzy gain stuff). Like Lifeson,
> Petrucci, Brian May, School of Fish kind of tones.
> Any comments/suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!!
The Carvin Quad-X preamps from the early to mid 90's are great. No buzz. No fuzz. Check eBay... one pops up there once in a while.
--
Steve
(Reply address has been changed to protect the innocent)
Cybrchndriac
I've heard conflicting opinions on the ADA MP-1, some say it's good for
crunchy blues, other's say it's strictly a metal machine.. I've heard
the Tube works, was not impressed. I can't speak for any of the others
though.
I'd love to try out a Carvin Quad X, I hear they're great for the money.
Mesa Triaxis's are way out of my price range. I heard Hughs and
Kettner's were sweet too. Keep an eye out for the Bogner Triple Giant
on ebay - 3 channels and it too has a good rep.
If you'd like something that does effects/midi for your rack gear, from
my own personal experience I'd say look into a Digitech 2120. They just
got discontinued, so you might get one cheap.
They're not the purest in terms of tube tone, (It's no fish or egnater)
and if you seek the holy grail of tube tone, then they're not for you,
but if you replace the stock Sovtek 12AX7WAs with a good tube, you will
hear a nice improvement. I just replaced my tubes with a GE JAN 5751
for the clean channel, and an R.F.T. ECC83 for the dirty channel.
(R.F.T.'s are poor man's Mullards ? :-) I didn't hear too much
difference until I got the volume up a little. Wow. Even if the thing
uses opamps to overdrive the tubes for coloration, it makes a
difference. The R.F.T.s are sweet and dark.
I think it sounds better than my old Marshall JMP-1 did, but only after
tweaking. Most of the distorted factory presets suck badly. Don't judge
it by them, you can get it to sound pretty damn good if you spend a
little time with it.
Okay guys, stop laughing at me already ;-p
The 2120 has very nice digital effects, everything you could possibly
imagine, including true harmony, leslie simulator, and sampling as well
as the usual fare. The wah is a tad weak, but not as bad as some say.
Equally important is the power amp. I love my Mesa 20/20 (okay, that I
could afford, got it on ebay).
What do you use for a speaker cab ?
--
.....................
Cybrchndriac
"HPIman" <HPI...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:3C0FE8D4...@hotmail.com...
tonehenge
Garrett dude, get an EGGNATER it rules!
tonehenge
PV amps make excellent boat anchors dude.
David Stott
michaels.f...@verizon.net wrote on 12/8/01 9:06 PM:
Garrett:
I must agree. You will be doing yourself a massive disservice if
you don't try to at least find & check-out an Egnater ie4 preamp. I have
the Egnater 2x12 TOL 100 combo, which I think is the same 4-channel preamp
as the ie4.
David in NYC
Sean Waring
Jerry Cantrell's tone you're going to have to find someone willing to
part with a Bogner Fish preamp. This will be difficult and probably
expensive. I own one and don't really want to sell it. I will TRY to
describe some of the more notable preamps I've had.
Bogner Fish: 4 channels - Country: Very warm but not all that
'glassy',sounds very organic, real. Strato: Very hot Fender; spongy
gain, Brown: Very harmonic and drips with richness but not a lot of
low bass, kind of metallic and agressive 'in your face' voicing,
Shark: Pretty useless without a mod, although huge voicing. I've not
had mine modded yet, but the Brown channel works well for moderately
high gain. To hear this preamp in all modes, listen to AIC 'Facelift'.
The tone on 'Dirt' was a Bogner Fish, Mesa and Soldano triple tracked
and frequency selective. You will have a very hard time duplicating
this tone. Good Luck!
Egnater IE4: I had a chrome face original Ch1: Glassy clean that can
be clipped if you run up the gain, but why? Ch2: The hottest Fender
ever, Ch3: Vintage Marshall in spades, ala AC/DC and old ZZ Top, Ch4:
Very High gain spin on ch3, but with a little different mid character
(more prevalent) and not as much meat as ch3.
Custom Audio Electronics 3+SE: Hugest most glassy clean ever in a
preamp. Ch2: Very spongy high gain over-blown synthetic Marshall? Ch3:
More crunch and fat than a jumbo bag of pork rinds, but a little muddy
at the higher gain settings. This preamp has more botom end than any
preamp I've ever heard, and that's without the additional lo and hi EQ
( -/+ 17db, which I think steal a little of it's tone when activated
but will give you !@#$loads of Bass/ Treble).
ANY of these preamps will RULE when matched with the right power amp
and cabinets, but they aren't cheap:
Bogner Fish: $2000 used average
Egnater IE4: $1200 used average
CAE 3+SE: $1200 used average
There are some more affordable alternatives out there, but you really
do get what you pay for when it comes to preamps. Hope this helps any
who are reading. These are are brief and not detailed descriptions of
each units TONE. If you want to know specific details about control
and tone layouts, e-mail me. Otherwise, snag one of these, have a shot
of Herradura, and ENJOY.
Sean Waring