Serious GAS! Preamp questions

xCaptainx · Post by **xCaptainx** » Tue Jul 17, 2007 9:23 am

Ahoy! Just wanting to starta discussion about my GAS issue, haha.

I have a 5150mkII and maxon pedal and LOVE it, however I'm really liking the thought of everythign being rackmounted at the mo.

Ideally I would love a marshall jmpre and mesa 20/20 setup, with a korg tuner and some sort of noise supressor rackmounted.

I've heard that hose preamps are pretty unreliable however (and might be phased out/out of production soon?)

This will be for high gain/metal tones, however I dont want a one trick pony, something with a dece clean would be good as well.

I've heard nothing but great things about Engl preamps?

Reference point would be a thrash metal band called Hatesphere, they use jmpre-1's and schecter with 81's. I LOVE their tone.

Anyone have any bad experiences with them? any tips or advice on any other preamp/poweramp combos?

I love my 5150 but its a bit of a one trick pony (what a trick though! haha)

philipnz · Post by **philipnz** » Tue Jul 17, 2007 9:26 am

isn't the mesa triaxis meant to be the ducks nuts?

all the best sounds of the mark series from i to iv plus the rectumfrier

xCaptainx · Post by **xCaptainx** » Tue Jul 17, 2007 9:34 am

yeah I've heard nothing but good things about them.

only thing is anythign mesa-engl has a huge price tag!

xCaptainx · Post by **xCaptainx** » Tue Jul 17, 2007 9:44 am

whoa actually the 20/20 poweramp is only 1800 new, that isnt that bad. The triaxis is four grand though! stuff that!

AudioDW · Post by **AudioDW** » Tue Jul 17, 2007 10:49 am

Triaxis sounds too "compressed" i just can't see why so many people like that way compressed, un-nature sound. i have played Mark I, IIC+ ,III,IV, and own a Rectifier Trem-o-Verb. they all have much better organic, transparent sound.

Engl seems over-priced here.. in E.U they are Rectifier alternative for those people who can't afford a Rectifier. i played a couple nothing impressed me.

for metal, i would recommend you keep your 5150II. IMO 5150II is the best amp for metal
because a good rack system will cost you 3 or more times than 5150II.

and i think rack system mainly aim to players who need versatile tone, and flexible control.

however.. if you insist to build a rack system..

as for Mesa like high gain metal sound,

i recommend you look VHT VALVULATOR GP3, Mesa Rectifier Recording Preamp , or even Egnater IE4 good too. Randall RM4 is cheaper alternative for Egnater although building/sound quality not good as Egnater IE4.

Marshall type sound:
i recommend you look Custom Audio 3+ SE (maybe not best for metal,but it sounds really great. top 1 on my list if only choose one preamp. ADA MP-1, JMP-1 sounds okay for me but i prefer ADA MP-1 for better clean, and 80's metal sound. Yamaha DG-1000 is CAE 3+ SE cheaper alternative, best non-tube preamp i used, better than lots of tube preamp.

xCaptainx · Post by **xCaptainx** » Tue Jul 17, 2007 11:04 am

hhhmhm....yeah its all just a pipe dream at the moment. I LOVE my 5150/maxon tone, its perfect.

*sigh* in a perfect world I'd have enough money to justify two rigs, haha!

philipnz · Post by **philipnz** » Tue Jul 17, 2007 11:07 am

you could always rackmount a boogie mkiv

vacant · Post by **vacant** » Tue Jul 17, 2007 11:11 am

I have a JMP-1 pre going through a Randall RT2/50. Sounds pretty alright for metal tones but the clean sound is pretty average. Definately usable but not great. The poweramp I'm really digging, midi switchable between the 2 channels so you can have 2 different valves sounds in the one amp, ingenious. Unfortunately Im not playing live at the moment so its going to waste a bit.

AudioDW · Post by **AudioDW** » Tue Jul 17, 2007 1:48 pm

philipnz wrote:you could always rackmount a boogie mkiv

indeed.. Mark IV and Rectifier Trem-o-Verb are my all time favorite Boogie amps.

AudioDW · Post by **AudioDW** » Tue Jul 17, 2007 1:49 pm

Bonger, Diezel make best high gain amp too... but not really my taste..

Voodoo Lab Guitar Preamp is best value for money if into that kind of hi gain sound.

war-wolf · Post by **war-wolf** » Tue Jul 17, 2007 6:00 pm

if ya wanna check out the engl,michael from ulcerate uses one-engl pre/vht power.

xCaptainx · Post by **xCaptainx** » Tue Jul 17, 2007 9:49 pm

yeah thats what got me onto the idea! he has a 50/50 mesa poweramp and says its far too loud, he cant get it past '1' hahahaha.

Hot_Grits · Post by **Hot_Grits** » Wed Jul 18, 2007 2:01 am

Modern uber-high gain isn't really my thing, but two amps that impressed mein that realm recently are the Bogner Uberschall and the Diezel Einstein. Of those two, the uber is more frightening and original sounding, and the Einstein the more versatile.

Perhaps you could look at Fender's new EVH brand 5150 III amp when it comes out. They're hitting the stores in the states right now, and initial reports suggest they're a pretty good amp. Three discrete channels: one clean/crunch, the next is crunch thru the classic Ed sound through to mild high gain, and the third channel is really high gain. Apparently these amps are a decent improvement on the Peavey and are much lower noise, which should be welcome thing for all you super gain dudes...

-Check out the new guitr World with ed on the cover. there's an interview about the amp, as well as a review. There's also a video review on youtube, but it pretty much focuses on how close you can get it to sound like Ed. But I'm sure it can be twisted to suit other needs, as the earlier 5150s were...

xCaptainx · Post by **xCaptainx** » Wed Jul 18, 2007 8:27 am

a 5150 III?!?!? whoa, that will definately be interesting. I love my 5150/6505 tone, I wonder if it will be similar? Peavey own the rights tot he circuitry and details of the 5150 itself (just not the name, hence the change. Apparently it stants for '1965-2005' or something like that)

Might have to pull some strings and get one on loan for a hoon, haha.

Lawrence · Post by **Lawrence** » Wed Jul 18, 2007 10:47 am

xCaptainx wrote: Apparently it stants for '1965-2005' or something like that) .

actually Eddies street number