Analog Preamp Love | What's Your Poison?

[dronerstone]

As an alternative to all the digital modelling units out there, I guess this fits best in the pedal section.

I got myself a Kuro Exegol ("boutique" Model T preamp) last year, and I honestly believe it was one of my best gear purchases ever. At 18V, running it into a power amp input or FX loop return feels like I actually have a real vintage Model T sitting right there. It has tons of headroom, takes any pedal like a charm, and is surprisingly versatile. The inclusion of a dedicated line-level output and a presence knob made me buy the Exegol, rather than the (acclaimed) EAE Model FET.

Since the journey never ends, and I'm a huge QOTSA nerd, I gave in to the craving and ordered the new (downsized) Acorn Amps Solid State Preamp this weekend. Definitely looking forward to this one, I guess it'll be a lot of fun for spanky/jangly/rhythmic riffing and broken fuzz toanz.

I also have an older Catalinbread SFT (V2, no "stoner" mode) which is pretty cool, but it can be a noisy PITA in some situations, so I hardly ever use it anymore. Feels much more like a dirty overdrive than a real preamp to me, fwiw.

So, any love for all-analog, simplistic amp-in-a-box units and/or preamps here? What's your experience, any "secret" go-to single- or multi-channel pedals you feel like rambling about? The Koch Pedaltone II seems really nice, for example. I'm sure any power amp would instantly fall in love with that one.

 

[AFKAEjay]

I’m all ”preamp on board” into return of amp / poweramp lately.…no regrets..nice to have “my sound” on my board…and be able to plug into whatever amp is appropriate/availabl.

3 poisons:
Ethos overdrive amp, has a build in 30w ss powersection. The clean channel is “best ever”…love it for jazz gigs..didn’t use it in more pop settings yet..sure it would work…maybe it’s on the “fat side of the coin” for that. The overdrive section sounds good also, havent used it live a whole lot yet. The powersection is ok for low volume gigs.
The clean channel alone is worth the money…it’s a “never sell” pedal for sure.

Revival drive (in preamp mode)…the big / custom one..hotrodded. What a great pedal! I got it set up with an eq/boost/compression dedicated to the 2 drive sides..AND…an eq/boost/compression pedal dedicated to the bypass setting (= clean preamp witch 1 dip switch)…all switched with an es 5. The clean channel is ok..bit sterile. The drive sides are fantastic. Even though I can get 4 gain levels out of it…I find myself selecting 1 and ride the volume knob. The pedal is on the bright side of the spectrum…but plenty of control to mitigate that.

Effectrode blackbird.
Not sure what to think of it yet…the clean side has great DNA..it’s bass heavy..so a bit fiddly cause the workable zone for the bass knob is between 7 and 9 o’clock. The drive has been hit or miss on the 1 gig I used it. Sometimes it felt like the best sound ever on the neck pup…while biting my head off on the bridge (More so then with other drives). So there’s is greatness and pain in that pedal…maybe I need to use it more often and get used to it.

 

[Mongillo19]

Just dove into the synergy preamp line. Excited to pair with my fractal but also have a Highwind Fire and Sword preamp pedal on order. Supposedly an Orange Rockerverb preamp with built in dirty tree and direwolf boost options.

 

[JiveTurkey]

Just dove into the synergy preamp line. Excited to pair with my fractal but also have a Highwind Fire and Sword preamp pedal on order. Supposedly an Orange Rockerverb preamp with built in dirty tree and direwolf boost options.

Oh you into that boutique shiz right now

 

[Mongillo19]

Oh you into that boutique shiz right now

I'm gear friends with the guy who makes them is my excuse 😆 I honestly may have to see about transferring my order tho because the shocks in my car need to be replaced. I should probably out the money toward that

 

[dronerstone]

I’m all ”preamp on board” into return of amp / poweramp lately.…no regrets..nice to have “my sound” on my board…and be able to plug into whatever amp is appropriate/availabl.

3 poisons:
Ethos overdrive amp, has a build in 30w ss powersection. The clean channel is “best ever”…love it for jazz gigs..didn’t use it in more pop settings yet..sure it would work…maybe it’s on the “fat side of the coin” for that. The overdrive section sounds good also, havent used it live a whole lot yet. The powersection is ok for low volume gigs.
The clean channel alone is worth the money…it’s a “never sell” pedal for sure.

Revival drive (in preamp mode)…the big / custom one..hotrodded. What a great pedal! I got it set up with an eq/boost/compression dedicated to the 2 drive sides..AND…an eq/boost/compression pedal dedicated to the bypass setting (= clean preamp witch 1 dip switch)…all switched with an es 5. The clean channel is ok..bit sterile. The drive sides are fantastic. Even though I can get 4 gain levels out of it…I find myself selecting 1 and ride the volume knob. The pedal is on the bright side of the spectrum…but plenty of control to mitigate that.

Effectrode blackbird.
Not sure what to think of it yet…the clean side has great DNA..it’s bass heavy..so a bit fiddly cause the workable zone for the bass knob is between 7 and 9 o’clock. The drive has been hit or miss on the 1 gig I used it. Sometimes it felt like the best sound ever on the neck pup…while biting my head off on the bridge (More so then with other drives). So there’s is greatness and pain in that pedal…maybe I need to use it more often and get used to it.

NICE!!! For some reason, I'm not so sure about the Blackbird, but the Revival Drive seems awfully versatile, in the best possible way. Tweaker's heaven much?
And that Ethos looks just...

Just dove into the synergy preamp line. Excited to pair with my fractal but also have a Highwind Fire and Sword preamp pedal on order. Supposedly an Orange Rockerverb preamp with built in dirty tree and direwolf boost options.

Synergy, Synergy... I dig the idea, but every time I play around with my cart in online stores, it'll get WAY outta budget in a matter of seconds. LOL

Out of interest: Is it possible to run two Synergy preamps in parallel mono? This would make for killer sounds.

 

[Mongillo19]

Synergy, Synergy... I dig the idea, but every time I play around with my cart in online stores, it'll get WAY outta budget in a matter of seconds. LOL

The buy in is not cheap for sure. But given most are made by the amp builders themselves, I'm hoping it gets me close to a $2000+ amp for $400. But even typing that out seems too good to be true lol

 

[dronerstone]

The buy in is not cheap for sure. But given most are made by the amp builders themselves, I'm hoping it gets me close to a $2000+ amp for $400. But even typing that out seems too good to be true lol

Well, probably not too unrealistic on your side, tbh. There's a fair amount of cash saved, since they're "only" preamp modules, after all.

Completely agree, the steep buy-in is what scares me away. For now.

 

[Baba]

NICE!!! For some reason, I'm not so sure about the Blackbird, but the Revival Drive seems awfully versatile, in the best possible way. Tweaker's heaven much?
And that Ethos looks just...



Synergy, Synergy... I dig the idea, but every time I play around with my cart in online stores, it'll get WAY outta budget in a matter of seconds. LOL

Out of interest: Is it possible to run two Synergy preamps in parallel mono? This would make for killer sounds.

You can, if you use a rackmount line mixer. Presumably, you'd be putting both modules in a SYN-2, you could run each output into two separate channels of a line mixer, then run that master output into the next unit, whether that be FX or a power amp, or whatever.

There is a high "buy in" for Synergy, but it's kind of like modeling in the way that, you can have two completely different "amps" in one chassis that would never happen in the real world, unless you bought those two separate amps, and you can change "amps" at any time for $400.00, etc.

 

[Whizzinby]

The buy in is not cheap for sure. But given most are made by the amp builders themselves, I'm hoping it gets me close to a $2000+ amp for $400. But even typing that out seems too good to be true lol

If you have a good power amp, you’ll be good to go.

When you consider the market is filled with $300 tubescreamers variants, and $80 tone knobs, a $400 SLO preamp designed by Mike Soldano himself starts to look like value. (Insert Farley)