versatile rackmount guitar preamps?

Burnt Ernie · Post by **Burnt Ernie** » Sat Aug 18, 2012 7:29 am

Wondering what folks' favorites are out there. Wouldn't mind something with fx,as well,just not something with 20 pages of submenu would be nice.
Need a few flavors of overdrive to fuzz. I had a Chameleon about ten years ago,but dont know what's newish,and not too plasticcy.

Marwood Williams · Post by **Marwood Williams** » Mon Aug 20, 2012 2:27 pm

Burnt Ernie wrote:Wondering what folks' favorites are out there. Wouldn't mind something with fx,as well,just not something with 20 pages of submenu would be nice.
Need a few flavors of overdrive to fuzz. I had a Chameleon about ten years ago,but dont know what's newish,and not too plasticcy.

I like the older stuff For Preamps check out the good old ADA MP1 and MP2s. I also like the sound of the BK Butler "Real Tube" rack mount Preamps.

For a mixture of cheesy and usable effects - look for an old Yamaha GEP 50. They are well made "Japanese" units that can be found for very little money.

It's all about tastes - but there are lot of interesting options out there.

Nick Sevilla · Post by **Nick Sevilla** » Mon Aug 20, 2012 7:41 pm

Marshall, Mesa Boogie, Randall and others make rackmountable tube guitar preamps for recording.

Check them out...

Dakota · Post by **Dakota** » Tue Aug 21, 2012 1:36 pm

I hear you wondering if anything newish has come along that's advanced the state of the art - but nothing really has. The golden age of guitar rack preamps was back in the rack craze days, and agreed, the ADA MP family is still one of the champs. That BK Butler was also quite good, agreed.

Obscure but truly great - I have one and it's the first thing I grab for good guitar DI - is the Hughes and Kettner Blues Master (this and related devices came under several H&K names). It's an all tube pre and power amp and coil-based speaker simulator all in one dense little box. Best thing I've found short of mic'ing a real tube amp.

The Roland GP-8 is one of the nicest sounding multi-FX pre&rack devices, along with the Ibanez UE series rack multi-FX.

Seems like all the "newish" engineering push is for software based simulators and embedded DSP in little amps. All that stuff steadily gets better, but still isn't "real" guitar tone.

/end rant of cranky analog preference...

studiodog · Post by **studiodog** » Mon Sep 10, 2012 12:07 pm

Any one use one of these -DIGITECH GFX1 PREAMP or HAFLER MP100T ? I Have the sans amp GT and wanted a complament to it.... hard to find any reviews on the Hafler.

vxboogie · Post by **vxboogie** » Mon Sep 10, 2012 12:34 pm

I have a Digitech 2101 with pedal board that I would part with. It has some really nice tones & effects. It's been sitting for a while since I moved on to other things.

vvv · Post by **vvv** » Mon Sep 10, 2012 12:44 pm

I have a Hafler T2 that I run into a ADA Microcab when I don't wanna wake the kids - it's aiight, blows away a POD for sounding like a real amp - but it's quite a bsic pre, a S/S channel, a tube channel, some EQ and presence, a master volume and a pull add-gain.

Jeff White · Post by **Jeff White** » Mon Sep 10, 2012 12:59 pm

Peavey Rockmaster. It was my main guitar preamp through a variety of solid state power amps and cabinets in the 1990s before I decided to buy a Mesa DC-3 combo. I always got compliments on my tone, it has 3 channels, each with it's own FX loop if I remember correctly, and goes from clean to insane high gain. It rules.

Check it out

shedshrine · Post by **shedshrine** » Mon Sep 10, 2012 2:56 pm

Nick Sevilla wrote:Marshall, Mesa Boogie, Randall and others make rackmountable tube guitar preamps for recording.

Check them out...

I really like my 1988 Mesa Boogie Studio Pre. Vocals, bass, hell even guitar sounds good through that thing.

daveg62 · Post by **daveg62** » Mon Sep 10, 2012 5:42 pm

I've been through several preamps in the last couple months looking to find the one for a rack rig I'm putting together. Marshall JMP-1, Rocktron Piranha, Mesa Triaxis. I've settled on the Triaxis out of the three. With the right tubes in there, it really is the most versatile, and I'm realizing that I'm a mesa guy. Still have the Piranha, which is a great sounding preamp but looking to sell it soon.

Tim A · Post by **Tim A** » Mon Sep 10, 2012 6:09 pm

Ive heard a couple of album/have some friends that record with axe fx 2 and swear by it. Theyre cool but i think theyre good on certain things. maybe its just the examples ive heard but they seem super polished and lack some kind of air or...naturalism? im not sure, I kind of prefer any inconsistancy that comes with putting an mic infront of an amp.

Jeff White · Post by **Jeff White** » Tue Sep 11, 2012 9:31 am

Mesa Triaxis is the DROOL of the rackmount preamp world. Holy smokes I remember when I wanted one of those more than a girlfriend.

Jeff

KennyLusk · Post by **KennyLusk** » Tue Sep 11, 2012 10:12 am

JMP-1 is the thing to drool over.

GSP 2101 is hella cool but you don't want deep submenu's. The 2101 drills down pretty deep in parameter controls.

premiumdan · Post by **premiumdan** » Thu Sep 13, 2012 11:36 pm

GuitarOp:

Only two preamps I've had are the Crate XLP (s/s) and TDP (tube) models.
Even though the XLP is useable, the TDP is worlds better, personal opinion.
Nice gain range low to high with usable adjustments in-between.
Tried a Gainiac, but it had way too much "ssssscrunch" on palm-muting for my tastes.
I guess that the Crate "sound" is more vintage than modern?
Perhaps, Marshall-esque?
Oh, for FX, none on the TDP, but the XLP has a stereo chorus built in.

Both models can be had fairly cheaply, especially if no one is 'baying for it.
Common issue seems to be the clean channel's gain pot, though not every unit has the problem:
When switching channels TO clean, the gain might be twice what you need.
Turning the knob to zero doesn't help, only "joysticking" it does...

My .02

Cheers!
-Dan

GooberNumber9 · Post by **GooberNumber9** » Fri Sep 14, 2012 10:04 am

No love for the Sansamp PSA-1? The latest version (PSA-1.1) is sold out on Tech 21's web site but there are old PSA-1's for sale all over the place. Maybe not the best but something to look at, and exactly zero levels of submenus.

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versatile rackmount guitar preamps?

versatile rackmount guitar preamps?

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DIGITECH GFX1 PREAMP and HAFLER MP100T

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