The New Sarno Preamp

Mickey Adams · Post by **Mickey Adams** » 9 Mar 2013 7:10 pm

I called Brad before the Dallas show, and opted in for one of his new Pre's. Last night I plugged it in and let it burn in for a bout 24 hours...I made my way to his booth with my Mullen and plugged in...All I can say is...This thing is incredible!...My guitar was instantly more sensitive...He will tell you...I was absolutely bowled over at the tone of this great component...This is going to be a big HIT Brad.....THANK YOU!!!!!....Mick

Noel Welsh · Post by **Noel Welsh** » 10 Mar 2013 8:05 pm

Hey Mickey,
I just wanted to say how right you are about that amp
I picked one up from Brad at the Dallas show and like you said it is incredible! I have to play direct on stage and it sounds great. It is very easy to use and with the XLR out very quick to connect
It also makes my Nashville 112 really shine. I got to meet Brad for the first time...what a great guy

Doug Jones · Post by **Doug Jones** » 10 Mar 2013 8:25 pm

Is it the V8-G Octal?

Noel Welsh · Post by **Noel Welsh** » 10 Mar 2013 8:28 pm

Yes thats the one

Mike Neer · Post by **Mike Neer** » 11 Mar 2013 9:40 am

After playing through one, I have it on my short wishlist.

Mickey Adams · Post by **Mickey Adams** » 11 Mar 2013 12:31 pm

I had to call Brad and thank him again today...My friend Mark Tulbert played one for a while today and he will chime in here too i'm sure...I CANT get a bad sound out of this unit no matter what i play it through...Brad really hit this one out of the park!...Ive played for 5 hours already today, and cant tear myself away from it...

Gary Reed · Post by **Gary Reed** » 11 Mar 2013 3:10 pm

Is this a Sarno Black Box on steroids?

John Peay · Post by **John Peay** » 11 Mar 2013 3:18 pm

Gary Reed wrote:Is this a Sarno Black Box on steroids?

My question as well.....I was looking into purchasing a Black Box. Sooo, should I save a while longer and get this Octal?

Dan Tyack · Post by **Dan Tyack** » 11 Mar 2013 3:28 pm

Gary, it's a full blown tube preamp, comparable to Brad's Revelation pres.

I agree that Brad has a hit with this one. By far the best sounding tube preamp I have ever played through (and I have owned a number of them). While the Rev and other fender style preamps can sound really good, this pre is much more pleasing to my ears. It's the first tube pre I have ever heard that I would use as a direct to the board. Like the Little Walter amps, it uses octal preamp tubes, and like the Little Walters, it uses a very simple, short signal path. It's not a 'Little Walter' clone, because Brad uses a different design, and it's a preamp only (no tube power stage), but the V8 and the Little Walters provide different flavors of a big hunk of octal goodness.

I can't think of a more economical and simpler way to drastically improve the sound of a Peavey combo or rack rig than to swap out the preamp with one of these.

mtulbert · Post by **mtulbert** » 12 Mar 2013 5:17 am

A friend of mine bought one at the Dallas show and I got to play through it at his house on his steel. It sounded terrific.

Mickey and I are supposed to get together today and I will run it through my board and cut some parts with existing tracks that I did with the Revelation.

We should be able to A B the two units and really see what the differences are.

More to follow when we do this.

John Limbach · Post by **John Limbach** » 12 Mar 2013 9:46 am

mtulbert wrote:A friend of mine bought one at the Dallas show and I got to play through it at his house on his steel. It sounded terrific.

Mickey and I are supposed to get together today and I will run it through my board and cut some parts with existing tracks that I did with the Revelation.

We should be able to A B the two units and really see what the differences are.

More to follow when we do this.

Looking forward to that. Was just about to buy a Revelation but now in a holding pattern to see what you guys come up with. Dazed and confused!

Dan Tyack · Post by **Dan Tyack** » 12 Mar 2013 9:50 am

To be clear: My comments on the V8 versus the Revelation pre are my subjective opinion. I am sure there are people that will prefer the Rev. The Rev has a 'traditional' fender style topology and tone stack which a lot of people love, but which I happen to not love.

Ken Fox · Post by **Ken Fox** » 12 Mar 2013 10:19 am

Dan, what a pleasure it was to sit and listen to your music while you were playing Brad's new preamp. I also want to thank you for taking time to show your pickup setup to me. It was all very enlightening.

For those who have not heard Dan, you are in for a treat!

Brad, great job on the new preamp. Also many thanks for helping Jim Evans, Scott Buffington and myself at the Telonics Seminar on Friday and Saturday.

Mickey Adams · Post by **Mickey Adams** » 12 Mar 2013 5:14 pm

Mark Tulbert and I did get together today and we A+B'd the Revelation and the V8. I think Mark and i would both agree that between us.. we both had VERY VERY pleasing recording tones from both units. Ive been practicing for 3 straight days, and I can't seem to tear myself away from my guitar...That says a LOT about this unit...!!!...

Tom Wolverton · Post by **Tom Wolverton** » 12 Mar 2013 8:26 pm

Are we going to need to do an intervention on you, Mickey? : )

Mickey Adams · Post by **Mickey Adams** » 12 Mar 2013 8:28 pm

Randy Beavers · Post by **Randy Beavers** » 12 Mar 2013 8:41 pm

Hey Mickey, I've had a prototype of this unit for 2 years now, and I still get a rush when I listen to it.

The Rev and Classic still sound great, but there is something about the response of this unit that feels entirely different. Wait till you take it out and gig with it!

Also, to really appreciate the pure tone of this unit, play it totally dry with no effects. No reverb, delay, nothing. The pureness of its tone is unbelievable! With many units you want to hear reverb to cover up what it's natural tone is. Not this one. I very seldom will even turn on an effect when I play the V8 at home. When I gig with it I only turn on the slightest amount. I don't want anything hiding the tone it produces.

mtulbert · Post by **mtulbert** » 13 Mar 2013 4:04 am

Well

My buddy Mickey showed up yesterday with the new Sarno Preamp and we put it through it's paces. It sounds amazing and does not require a lot of tweaking to get it dialed in.

We used a track that I had cut previously and did the following tracks.

1. Rev with Show Pro Guitar
2. V8 with Show Pro Guitar
3. V8 with Mullen Guitar. Mickey played on this one.

With the steel tracks soloed you really hear the difference. In the track the differences become more subtle but they are there.

Here is a link to listen to the files.

I hope that the titles are clear to everyone what the tracks are. Also, there is no music track for Mickey; I just put it there so you could hear the difference of a guitar and a different player,.

https://soundcloud.com/mtulbert/sets/v8 ... comparison

Saving my pennies for a V8 for sure.

Dick Sexton · Post by **Dick Sexton** » 13 Mar 2013 5:46 am

Curious exactly what your signal chain was in each case. Steel/pedal/V8/effects/amp or Steel/pedal/V8/board... Both sound great, Brad builds some very good sounding gear... And of course the picking is superb.

mtulbert · Post by **mtulbert** » 13 Mar 2013 5:54 am

Signal chain is as follows

Show Pro Telonics Pedal into V8 or Revelation then into board.

Gary Peaslee · Post by **Gary Peaslee** » 13 Mar 2013 8:06 am

I purchased a V8 Preamp from Brad at the Dallas Show and absolutely love the tone it produces. I have always used solid state gear and the improvement in tone was immediately evident. Brad says it is voiced for steel, and he is right. It took very little adjustment to dial in a great tone. My signal path is Guitar - Volume Pedal - El Capistan delay - V8 Preamp - XLR out to Wet Reverb - stereo out to board with one channel panned left and the other panned right (Brad suggested putting the Wet Reverb after the V8, and it sounds awesome). Thanks, Brad, for designing a real winner! And thanks Randy B for the El Cap and Wet Reverb recommendations!

Brad Sarno · Post by **Brad Sarno** » 13 Mar 2013 9:32 am

Thanks for all the great feedback guys!

A few people were asking about the speakers I was using in Dallas to demo the V8. One was my early model Furlong SPLIT powered cab. The other one was a full-range powered PA speaker. For some strange reason, the V8 just sounds killer going thru full range speakers, never too "tweetery". I brought this little powered speaker that I borrowed from our small PA system. These are cheap, powerful, and really sound good. I was surprised, honestly, but I can say that this thing makes a nice and affordable companion to the V8. The QSC K-series powered speakers are about as good as it gets, but I gotta say that on a budget, this little Alto TS110a really delivers. Here's the info on it:

http://altoproaudio.com/products/ts110a

Brad

Greg Cutshaw · Post by **Greg Cutshaw** » 13 Mar 2013 9:48 am

Thanks for the tip Brad. I see the Alto comes in a bi-amped version. class D, about 400W RMS with a 12" woofer.

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/pro-audi ... ay-speaker

Greg

James Quackenbush · Post by **James Quackenbush** » 13 Mar 2013 2:48 pm

Hi Brad,
Congrats on your new preamp !!.....Sounds like you hit a home run with this one !!.....I'm particularly interested in your findings with powered speakers being the ticket ....Many folks are using the powered full range speakers for modeling amps these days ......Not just the inexpensive modelers like the POD , but much more expensive rigs .... It somewhat surprises me that a speaker of this type would mate well to your preamp !!..... Hey , if it ain't broke , don't fix it ....RIGHT ? ...LOL !!...... Good Luck with it !!.....I'm glad to see someone taking the time to develope products specifically geared toward the pedal steel ....Good on ya bud !!......Sincerely, Jim

Dan Tyack · Post by **Dan Tyack** » 13 Mar 2013 3:10 pm

I thought that the Alto sounded pretty darn good with the V8 ......for a powered full range speaker. But IMHO the Furlong sounds a lot better, especially with the Earth Drive. My opinion.

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