| Author |
Topic: Budget preamp for steel? |
Allan Haley
From:
British Columbia, Canada
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Posted 21 Mar 2021 10:48 am |
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| Hi. I would love to buy a top-quality rig like the Sarno Revelation, but I can't justify the cost. Any recommendations on some decent budget alternatives? I am looking for a simple tube pre that I will be able to use live and for recording. I switch between steel, Telecaster, and electric mandolin. I use reverb and overdrive pedals. Thanks, Al |
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James Quackenbush
From:
Pomona, New York, USA
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Posted 21 Mar 2021 1:00 pm
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| Older Mesa Boogie Studio pre.....Great sound for both steel and guitar....Todays prices probably under $500.....Jim |
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Larry Dering
From:
Missouri, USA
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Posted 21 Mar 2021 4:39 pm
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| Allan, tube preamps are hard to find, especially good ones. I scored 2 different Peavey tube preamps used from Ebay. A rockmaster and another sweeter model that I forgot the name. The sweeter model needed some controls cleaned and tubes. Now it's part of my rack. Under 200 dollars US. Keep looking and you will find something. Just be aware that good units can be pricy. |
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MIchael Bean
From:
North Of Boston
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John Swain
From:
Winchester, Va
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Posted 24 Mar 2021 5:14 pm
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| The old blue Tubeworks preamp were good at under $200 ! |
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Larry Dering
From:
Missouri, USA
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Posted 24 Mar 2021 5:51 pm
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| Michael, that's the other Peavey preamp I have. Works great. I bought a tubeworks black panel and I was not as happy with it. Something was different in the blue panel units. |
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John Swain
From:
Winchester, Va
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Posted 25 Mar 2021 4:55 am
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| The old blue Tubeworks preamp were good at under $200 ! |
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Erv Niehaus
From:
Litchfield, MN, USA
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Posted 25 Mar 2021 7:07 am
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John,
I still use one of them in my rack setup.
Along with a Tube Works amp and reverb. 
Erv |
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David Ball
From:
North Carolina High Country
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Posted 25 Mar 2021 10:49 am
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If you're at all handy with a soldering iron, this is a good alternative: https://www.ebay.com/itm/264904599128?chn=ps&mkevt=1&mkcid=28
I've built a preamp using the Frog circuit board--I have maybe $150 dollars in it total using good parts. It's pretty much a clone of the Alembic F2B preamp. Works really well for guitar or steel.
Dave |
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Malcolm McMaster
From:
Beith Ayrshire Scotland
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Posted 29 Mar 2021 4:04 am
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If you are on a tight budget, and already have some form of power amp/ speaker cab try the Joyo American Sound pedal style preamp. You can get one for around $35, I use one on one of my rigs, it goes into Jay Ganz Straight Ahead 500 watt D class amp, into Sica neo speaker or direct into board, perfect lightweight grab and go/ fly rig, gives a pretty good sound, have even used it in studio straight into desk for recording. If using my bigger rig, it travels in steel seat as a back up. Great value for money.
_________________
MSA Millenium SD10, GK MB200, Sica 12inch cab, Joyo American Sound Pedal/ Jay Ganz Straight Ahead amp, Telonics 15inch in Peavey cab, Digitech RP150, Peterson tuner.Hilton volume pedal.Scott Dixon seat and guitar flight case. |
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James Quackenbush
From:
Pomona, New York, USA
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Posted 29 Mar 2021 6:06 am
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Malcolm,
How do you like the straight ahead power amp ?.....Does it have plenty of umph ?....Is it noise free ?.....Thanks, Jim |
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Charlie Hansen
From:
Halifax, NS Canada and Various Southern Towns.
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Posted 29 Mar 2021 6:35 am
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Ive been fooling around with a PreSonus Tube pre. So far it works OK.
_________________
I don't know much but what I know I know very well.
Carter S-10 3X5, Peavey Nashville 112, plus Regal dobro and too many other instruments to mention.
Bluegrass Island CFCY FM 95.1 Charlottetown, PE, Canada, on the web at cfcy.fm.
A Touch Of Texas CIOE FM 97.5 Sackville, NS, Canada,
on the web at cioe975.ca. |
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Malcolm McMaster
From:
Beith Ayrshire Scotland
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Posted 29 Mar 2021 7:09 am
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James, very pleased with Jay’s amp, with lock down have not done many live gigs, but on few I did it performed well, plenty of power and not much noise. I normally use my MB200, and it compared favourably. I built Jay’s into back of my little MB cab, so always got back up, or as you can see in previous pic I can use pedal board set up, for flying gigs, and just connect to a speaker cab or straight to desk. Jay was first class to deal with.
_________________
MSA Millenium SD10, GK MB200, Sica 12inch cab, Joyo American Sound Pedal/ Jay Ganz Straight Ahead amp, Telonics 15inch in Peavey cab, Digitech RP150, Peterson tuner.Hilton volume pedal.Scott Dixon seat and guitar flight case. |
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James Quackenbush
From:
Pomona, New York, USA
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Posted 29 Mar 2021 10:17 am
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Malcolm,
Thanks for the info.....much appreciated....Jim |
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Brad Sarno
From:
St. Louis, MO USA
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David Ball
From:
North Carolina High Country
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Posted 29 Mar 2021 11:59 am
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In addition to my V8, I have an octal version of Frenzel's preamp. It's very nice.
Dave |
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Bill Hatcher
From:
Atlanta Ga. USA
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Posted 31 Mar 2021 4:06 am
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Brad. What voltage is this pre being run at? Thx |
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David Ball
From:
North Carolina High Country
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Posted 31 Mar 2021 6:30 am
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I think my Frenzel preamp runs at about 290-300V at the plates.
Dave |
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Bill Hatcher
From:
Atlanta Ga. USA
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Posted 31 Mar 2021 9:05 am
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| David Ball wrote: |
I think my Frenzel preamp runs at about 290-300V at the plates.
Dave |
thats great. how about the filter caps. the F2b is really filtered well like four or five 20mfd caps. the higher voltage and the filtering and the fender pre circuit makes for a great pre signal for steel, bass, standard guitar....anything.
i have several Alembic F2B units. i made my living with those things for a long time. even the promo on them back in the day basically said they were the same as a twin/showman pre. |
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Brad Sarno
From:
St. Louis, MO USA
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Posted 31 Mar 2021 1:21 pm
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Bill,
I had a great chat with Ron Wickersham of Alembic, the designer of the F2B. It really is such a nice implementation of the raw "normal" channel from a Fender AB763 preamp. He really is into those Allen Bradley carbon comp 1W resistors - he argues they're the single best made electronic component in history, goes on and on about how they were in the Apollo program and every B52 out there, and he uses the nicer sounding orange drops, the mylar/foil types, and like you said, a nice power supply too. Hard to beat that simple purity well executed. Just the two stages of a single tube.
B |
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Bill Hatcher
From:
Atlanta Ga. USA
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Posted 31 Mar 2021 2:37 pm
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| Brad Sarno wrote: |
Bill,
I had a great chat with Ron Wickersham of Alembic, the designer of the F2B. It really is such a nice implementation of the raw "normal" channel from a Fender AB763 preamp. He really is into those Allen Bradley carbon comp 1W resistors - he argues they're the single best made electronic component in history, goes on and on about how they were in the Apollo program and every B52 out there, and he uses the nicer sounding orange drops, the mylar/foil types, and like you said, a nice power supply too. Hard to beat that simple purity well executed. Just the two stages of a single tube.
B |
brad. btw in addition to the stack of alembic f2b preamps, i have a couple of your revelation pres.  didnt we talk a bit about the f2b back before you started making the revelation? did i send you a schematic for it? it used to be on a piece of paper glued to the underside of the lid. i had a schematic on a separate sheet of paper. were you able to incorporate any of the vibe of the F2B in your units? its really just leos design with high volts and lots of filtering? |
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Steve Sycamore
From:
Sweden
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Posted 1 Apr 2021 1:30 am
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It's not a tube unit but an EBS MicroBass II or III is like a Swiss Army knife for instrumentalists and has great audio quality. You might find a used one for a good price. I use a MicroBass II as a DI device for PSG, electric guitar and electric bass and find the results are on par (nearly) with a Telonics PRE-1000. The Telonics has distinctly better, but more subtle speaker emulation.
https://reverb.com/p/ebs-microbass-ii-2015
https://www.premierguitar.com/ebs-microbass-3-review |
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Dennis Detweiler
From:
Solon, Iowa, US
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Posted 1 Apr 2021 6:20 am
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A quick fix for a preamp: Boss 59 Fender pedal. I use one in front of my Quilter 201 amp to tweak the tone setting. If you run the Level control full on and adjust the gain for needed preamp volume it will be a clean tone. This pedal duplicates the characteristics of the 59 Bassman amp. Presence, Bass, Middle, Treble.
_________________
1976 Birdseye U-12 MSA with Telonics 427 pickup, 1975 Birdseye U-12 MSA with Telonics X-12 pickup, Boss 59 Fender pedal for preamp, NDR-5 Atlantic Delay & Reverb, two Quilter 201 amps, 2- 12" Eminence EPS-12C speakers, ShoBud Pedal, 1949 Epiphone D-8. Revelation preamp into a Crown XLS 1002 power amp. |
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David Ball
From:
North Carolina High Country
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Posted 1 Apr 2021 10:43 am
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| Bill Hatcher wrote: |
| David Ball wrote: |
I think my Frenzel preamp runs at about 290-300V at the plates.
Dave |
thats great. how about the filter caps. the F2b is really filtered well like four or five 20mfd caps. the higher voltage and the filtering and the fender pre circuit makes for a great pre signal for steel, bass, standard guitar....anything.
i have several Alembic F2B units. i made my living with those things for a long time. even the promo on them back in the day basically said they were the same as a twin/showman pre. |
Mine has 4 20mfd caps. I think it's pretty close to the F2B circuit with an added "Marshall" channel that has different curves on the EQ.
Dave |
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Bill Hatcher
From:
Atlanta Ga. USA
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Posted 3 Apr 2021 4:06 pm
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| David Ball wrote: |
| Bill Hatcher wrote: |
| David Ball wrote: |
I think my Frenzel preamp runs at about 290-300V at the plates.
Dave |
thats great. how about the filter caps. the F2b is really filtered well like four or five 20mfd caps. the higher voltage and the filtering and the fender pre circuit makes for a great pre signal for steel, bass, standard guitar....anything.
i have several Alembic F2B units. i made my living with those things for a long time. even the promo on them back in the day basically said they were the same as a twin/showman pre. |
Mine has 4 20mfd caps. I think it's pretty close to the F2B circuit with an added "Marshall" channel that has different curves on the EQ.
Dave |
are the pots attached to the front panel?? no printed circuit board?
i may be talking myself into getting one of these. lol |
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