OT: Help me choose a Preamp pedal?

[Rossie]

Hi guys,

Where better and nicer place to turn to for gear advice?
You guys give the best advice!

I'm playing through a PODxt LIVE now (will definitely get the new X3 LIVE too, for the sake of recording convenience) , and will be collecting my BFR JP in a very short time. I have plans to get a nice separate analogue board up, and so far have some Keeley and MXR pedals (will definitely get more). But in order to consistently get the tone that I want in gigs, I figured that a good preamp pedal will the the trick, so I can rely on my own preamp whenever I gig with different amps. A nice full tube amp is also in my plans as well, but that would have to wait, as it I can't see myself lugging a head to gigs. For the sake of convenience, I guess I'll stick to the cheaper alternative of having a preamp pedal on my board. After deciding on this, my next aquisition would most likely be the G-system, the plan was actually getting the TCE ND1 and SCF, but why not just get the whole thing

My band plays mostly metal and DT-covers. But personally, I like to play everything, from DT and Tool to Toto and the likes. Being able to get the heavy crunch/saturated sound is vital, but I do like versatility (ie. great cleans and overdrive sounds).

Alright, here's my choices now. The Mesa V-twin, although it's being discontinued, I managed to find one used; and the other is the Hughes and Kettner Tubeman. I've listened to the clips of the Tubeman on HK's site, sounds great, but not too sure about the tight low-end that I want (ala JP). I'd love to get the heavy crunch tone of Adam Jones on Tool's 10,000 Days too
I'm open to other recommendations of preamp pedals though.

Thanks!

 

[Slingy]

I'm a regular Line6er so my opinion may be biased, but I have an all tube and analog pedal rig too. But since you already have the PodXTL why not make it your pre-amp? Maybe add an Atomic Reactor 2x12 to your setup and you'll be good to go. The PodXTL really excells at high gain tones and has enough variety to cover a wide range of styles. Metal Shop add on is a must.

I just think these type of devices are great for people playing covers and need a wide range of tones. If you get the X3, you'll be able to run the JP's piezo out into one of the channels for all sorts of dual tone possibilities and signal routing.

You havn't mentioned if you have a power amp and cab already so that will play a huge part of your sound of course. My amps do not do metal, so the Pod fills a void for me, but I really like the combination of Pod and tube combo.

 

[Spudmurphy]

I have heard great things about the Xotic BB pedal - go here for a demo. - which explains it far better than I can write about it.

I just sold a Seymour Duncan pickup booster and will eventually get a BB to replace it.

Let us know what you settle on?

 

[Rossie]

Slingy: I've actually thought of using the XTL or X3L as my preamp, controlling it via midi on the G-system. I'm actually thinking in the line of just bringing my board and guitar to a gig would be sufficient, I've heard great things about Atomic amps, but I'm not looking to get an amp in the mean time. Planning to get either a Mesa Mark IV or a Hughes and Kettner MkII after I get my board sorted out.

Spud: Can the BB preamp act as a preamp pedal in the sense that I can actually connect it directly to the PA/soundcard? I like the MB V-twin and HK Tubeman because they are actually proper preamp, has tubes, and can be connected directly to the PA/soundcard or poweramp.

Thanks for the suggestions so far guys! Keep 'em coming!

 

[Spudmurphy]

Spud: Can the BB preamp act as a preamp pedal in the sense that I can actually connect it directly to the PA/soundcard? I like the MB V-twin and HK Tubeman because they are actually proper preamp, has tubes, and can be connected directly to the PA/soundcard or poweramp.

In all honesty - I don't know sorry.
I'll just be using it in line between my amp and AL.

 

[Rossie]

Spud: No apologies needed! I'll just go and try one out myself, it's pretty common around here... Thanks for the recommendation!

 

[ivanmihaljevic]

From my gigging experience I can tell you that I rarely got the sound I was looking for if I didn't bring my whole rig.
Even if I'm just using someone else's cabinet and everything else is mine, in most cases it still isn't "my sound".
I've spent a great deal of time choosing and setting up my equipment the way I like it, so it's not very likely that I will walk into a gig with just my guitar and pedal board and get the exact sound I'm after with the amp that's already there.

If you're not very demanding sound-wise maybe the idea of just bringing your guitar and board and plugging into whatever amp is on stage at the moment is not bad at all. But for me there's nothing like playing through my rig that I know inside-out.

 

[mesadualrec]

If its a preamp PEDAL your looking for the Mesa V-Twin is the ultimate!!!


I owned one and it now resides in a friends house(and fellow forumite )

they are awesome and have an output that can be sent straight to a mixing board/PC.They also have an output that can be sent to a power amp if thats the way you want to work it.There is also a V-Twin Preamp too which is more user friendly if your running a preamp/poweramp rack setup.
But you will need switching for this.Also these are both discontinued by MB!!!!
They are normally on Ebay all the time.

mesa call it 'A prodigy in the studio' and it does so in live situations too


but if its versatility your really looking for then a MIDI preamp like a Tech 21 is really the route to go as this can be programmed and the tones from that are REALLY good,a close friend uses it in his setup and let me tell you it sounds Amazing


Euan

 

[Rossie]

Ivan: Yeah, I'm actually looking for something that's at least consistent sounding, and of course satisfy my criteria of a good-sounding pedal. The XTL is great, even though I can't get my sound to sound like what it should sound in my recordings, I can at least get a sound that I'm comfortable with live, that's my main concern in live settings: getting a tone that I'm comfortable with and clear live. Here are some clips that how my recording sounds like: 4shared - free file sharing and storage - share folder - My 4shared

Euan: Sometimes I wonder about the V-Twin, if it's so good, why did MB discontinued it anyway? Did they just want to focus on making amps? How does the cleans of the V-Twin sounds?

Anyone uses the Hughes and Kettner Tubeman?

 

[JMB27]

Pre-amp pedal?

Definitely check out the Xotic pedals - I'm really diggin' on the RC and AC boosts right now. BB Pre-amp is also very, very, very cool.

just my .02, etc. etc. etc.

Joel

 

[jwdude]

My vote is for Damage Control's Demonizer!!!!! Spend some time with it, play with the settings, you'll find all of the tones you'll ever need!

 

[Astrofreq]

Personally, I've never found a distortion that covers the range I want. If you don't necessarily have to go the pedal route, I'd suggest trying out a Tech 21 PSA-1. To me, it covers any sound I ever want. It is a rack effect, but it is shallow enough to go on my pedalboard. Best of both worlds. For pedals, the Tri-OD is good. I don't care for Line6 gear, but whatever works for you is cool.

The Xotic stuff is good. I had a Demonizer and it sounded great, but for the amount of pedalboard real estate it takes up and only 1 sound + boost, I didn't keep it.

 

[Jonny Dubai]

I just ordered a Sobbat Drivebreaker 3 from Japan. They need checking out. Big tone.

J

 

[Rossie]

Alright guys, my to-try-list is getting longer and longer! It's a good thing!

I'll go try to try them all

The Tech 21 dealer here is also the EBMM dealer!

Jonny: Is it an OD/dist box? I've some guys over here using it too...

 

[fbecir]

Anyone uses the Hughes and Kettner Tubeman?

I tried it a few years ago. Nice pedal but I think you are looking for a more "modern" sound. With the Tubeman, you have a classic Rock sound or a Hard rock sound but if you are looking for a Metal sound (high gain), it will be a bit limited. Try it if you can.
Good luck

 

[Dizzy]

If you don't necessarily have to go the pedal route, I'd suggest trying out a Tech 21 PSA-1. To me, it covers any sound I ever want.

+ 1 for the PSA-1.