Preamps Archives - Page 3 of 3 - Pedal of the Day

Preamps


We love a gritty, dirty preamp boost overdrive pedal, because who doesn’t? The Dirty Boy from Massive Unity Ltd. is just that, a powerful, clean-looking but dirty-sounding effect that is powered by T.A.E. (proprietary tube amp emulation) technology. Based on the amp used by legendary guitarist Blues Saraceno, which was built by his dad, this pedal features two different modes, a bunch of options and a whole slew of sounds that...

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Today’s featured piece of gear is NOT an effects pedal, but something that is just as important to electrifying your guitar’s signal. Without an amplifier, your pickups would have nothing to send sound to, and your speaker cabinet would not be able to receive sound and project it to the world. That’s where something like the Cobblestone Micro Amp Head from Kartakou Amplification comes in, only this one happens to be...

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Everyone ready? HAPPY HALLOWEEN!! And what better way to celebrate than with a hauntingly excellent boost preamp pedal from our friends over at JHS Pedals, right? The Haunting Mids, in addition to featuring some ghoulish graphics, adjusts the Midrange of your sound to your specs, providing a perfect opportunity to tame or heighten anything you’re not 100% happy with about your tone. With a simple control section and a wide range...

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A couple times a year, the entire pedal community gets in an uproar about the latest and greatest effect that’s just been or is about to be released. Admit it, you’ve probably gotten caught up in the hype at least once or twice, no? One of the big fellas this year comes from 1981 Inventions, and is the focus of our review today. The DRV is an overdrive and distortion pedal, one with a look inspired by a certain...

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Collaborations between pedal companies and artists/players are always a good time, especially when said guitarist is one of your favorite songwriters around. Walrus Audio has teamed up with Mr. Ryan Adams for a special tone-shaping pedal, designed to work quickly and easily with both single coil and humbucking pickups, perfect for when your set requires multiple guitar changes and you don’t want to have to re-adjust your tone...

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If you’ve heard one or a hundred or more demos of ours over the last couple years, there’s a good chance the sound you’ve heard was coming from a Benson Amp. The Monarch has been part of our demo setup for a while now, and since we love its sound and tone so much, we were stoked to hear that Chris and the crew were finally putting out a pedal. Now, as far as effects go, “Preamp” isn’t always one...

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Sometimes, huge things arrive in extremely small packages. At just 3.5″ x 3.5″ x 3.5″, today’s featured pedal packs a big punch while taking up minimal real estate on your pedalboard. The Oscar from Night Owl Industries is an all-tube preamp, designed to boost your signal, overdrive a distortion pedal, bring out the best in your amplifier and more, fitting in to any rig around. The Oscar uses either an EF86...

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Are you looking to get nuts with your sound? Tired of having 8 drive pedals that all sound fairly similar, and want to spice it up? Looking for a compact and easy way to create walls of noise and freak out your audience? Then the Downer from Malekko Heavy Industry is just what the doctor ordered. Part wavefolder, part saturator, part octave and part filter, these words vaguely describe what this grey monster is able to unleash. The...

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Somehow, we hadn’t yet discovered the company building today’s featured pedal until now, and we’re sure excited that we did. Midnight Amplification Devices hail from Brisbane, Australia, and feature an eclectic lineup of effects over a variety of musical genres. We’re checking out the Giant Sound Boost Fuzz Preamp today, and have a couple more pedals from these guys in the queue for review as well…...

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It’s always a treat when we get a 2-in-1 pedal to check out here at Pedal of the Day, and even cooler when we get a 3-in-1 effect. Today’s pedal blows right past these and gives us a rare and unsurpassed FIVE-in-1 stompbox, something that sounds complicated, but in reality is just easy to use and produces great sounds. The PRISM from Jackson Audio is a buffer, boost, EQ, overdrive and preamp all rolled into one –...

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Since most of the pedals that come through the shop here are geared towards guitar, today’s pedal was a breath of fresh air, and hopefully an asset to all you bass players out there who think your instrument doesn’t get represented enough (which you’re absolutely right about). The B Station from Hotone Audio is a powerful Preamp + D.I., featuring multiple connections, an FX loop, on-board compressor and more. Since...

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Discovering new companies, especially ones that are overseas, is always a thrill for us here at Pedal of the Day. Today’s featured pedal comes to us from Italy, where a couple comprised of a music composer and a photographer/illustrator have combined their talents to produce a new and exciting collection of effects pedals. The Vola is a Preamp/Overdrive, with simple controls and a lot of sounds packed into its enclosure, so...

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It’s been a little while since we checked out an acoustic effect here at Pedal of the Day, but we’re coming back in strong fashion, for sure. Today’s option-filled piece of gear comes to us from Hotone Audio, and is an acoustic player’s dream pedal. The A Station is an acoustic guitar preamp with D.I. AND a microphone preamp, with a ton of connectivity to multiple audio sources, and easy-to-use layout and some...

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Today’s featured piece of gear is a step away from our usual reviews, but this pedal is one that can really add a lot to any musical rig. The MixingLink from Eventide is labeled as a high-quality mic preamp with FX loop in a compact form, and while it is that, is can also do so much more. Plus, you can use it with instruments, microphones, as a mixer and a ton of other options – let’s check it out! As far as vocals...

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We’ve partnered up with our friends Ground Control Audio a couple times over the last few months to check out their rad lineup of pedals, and today it looks like we’re gonna do it again! Their latest offering is the aesthetically pleasing and excellent sounding (and hard to pronounce at first) Amaterasu Bright Pre-Amp, a simple, down-to-earth boost that offers a couple different options, and will send your amp into the...

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Agave Audio Cumbre Preamp

Agave Audio Cumbre Preamp


Posted By on Monday, June 27, 2016 in Agave Audio, Preamps | 0 comments

We’re starting off this week with a type of pedal that tends to get overlooked all too often, but one that can be essential to your sound. The cats over at Agave Audio have come up with a boost pedal that’s simple, easy-to-use and adds a ton of sparkle to your tone – the Cumbre Preamp. One knob, 2 footswitches and a lot of power adds up to a wonderful boost that will drive your amp into sweet breakup. With only one...

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Today’s guest review comes to us from Christian E. – you can find him on Instagram (@chriespiritu) or on his band’s Facebook page (Story Of April). The AMT Electronics P2 is a guitar preamp in a pedal sized stompbox designed to emulate the tone, gain structure and nuances of the Peavey 5150/6505 amp that we all love. Amazing, right? The pedal is built like a tank: it has a great solid steel chassis and I can assure...

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We get pretty excited about all the pedals we review here at Pedal of the Day, but when a box arrived from the UK with “Hudson Electronics” on the label, we knew we were in for a treat. Having already reviewed the awesome Buzzard and Fuzz pedals a while back, we were stoked to see what Michael and the crew had come up with this time around. In short, we were not even close to being disappointed – here is the...

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When you think about the best, most-used and highly-sought after amps ever produced, everyone’s list almost always includes a Blackface Fender of some sort, and for good reason. Those amps made in the 1960’s have a character and tone not easily reproduced, by amp or pedal, putting them truly in a class of their own. The Magic 6 Preamp from RST Custom Effects seeks to reproduce some of those coveted tones, but in solid...

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After recently reviewing a couple of new pedals from Backwoods Music, I came across an older version of one of their pedals for a price I couldn’t pass up, and was excited to see what it could do, after being thoroughly impressed by the Nightcap Reverb and Mockingbird Delay. I’m not a huge Boost guy in general, but I thought “what the hell”, and went for it anyway! Not knowing what to expect, I sat down and...

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I’ve really been diggin’ doing some acoustic pedal reviews lately, as it’s opened my playing back up a bit, and it’s always fun to go back and rediscover all the rad things an acoustic can do. Playing electric so much with the majority of these reviews, I forget sometimes the tranquility and serenity that a nice acoustic guitar provides, and I’m glad I’ve been able to explore that more as of late....

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Recently, we had the privilege of review an awesome pre-amp called the Boxidizer from a company called Tronographic. They make another pre-amp as well, this one being geared more towards bass, but still sounding excellent when used with a guitar – Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you the Rusty Box Bass Pre-Amp. The control section of the Rusty Box is pretty straightforward, with no a lot of frills to worry about, just plug in, set...

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Sometimes, in this really rad hobby that I have, a pedal comes along that you wouldn’t suspect could have an affect on your sound and playing the way it does, and you’re hard-pressed to remember what your sound was like before it. The fact that today’s pedal can do more than just shape your tone or boost your signal is just the icing on the cake here, as we explore the Boxidizer Pre-Amp from Tronographic. The...

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Space-saving pedals are awesome, I mean it. The fact that pedal builders figured out a way to pack a ton of tone into such small enclosures boggles my mind, but then, that’s not too difficult to do in general. The majority of the ones I have seen or played have been drive, and why not? Leave the huge pedals to the modulation and delay departments, and keep the drive sections neat and tidy. A nice example of such a pedal is the...

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Along the way in this awesome pedal adventure of mine, I come across a TON of pedal builders, and try to do my best to help out all the little companies I can: get their name out into the world, get links from my site and social media pages to theirs and, of course, buy a pedal whenever the funds present themselves. I’ve been looking for a simple, one knob, always on boost/preamp pedal as of late, and decided to take a chance on...

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Xotic BB Preamp

Xotic BB Preamp


Posted By on Friday, April 10, 2015 in Preamps, Xotic Effects | 0 comments

In my experience with guitar pedals and amplifiers, almost 8 years, I was always looking for a tube amp tone in a single pedal. The BB Preamp pedal from Xotic is by far the most mellow tube-like overdrive I’ve ever heard. It has so sensitive dynamics, it simply breathes together with your guitar. It’s not a high gain pedal that will turn your clean channel into crunch or lead (all knobs at noon) and I think thats the...

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Let me begin with, “WOW!” The L.R. Baggs Para DI Acoustic Direct Box & Pre-Amp can transform the sound of any acoustic guitar/instrument that you put through it. Once I first plugged into the pedal I knew this was going to be great because the sound of my guitar instantly cleaned up and everything became less jumbled. Each string was more distinctive and pure. That was without messing with any of the knobs and going...

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The PettyJohn Electronics PreDrive is a pedal that refines and defines your tone. A great pedal for studio and/or live performances. The PreDrive is designed to be the first pedal in your chain preserving and improving the sound quality of any instrument plugged into it; either a guitar or a bass-guitar. It also has another function, which is a boost that gives you the extra body to your sound; again, playing live or in a studio....

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The Wave Pave Pre Amp from Adventure Pedals is pretty much a dirty buffer with gain, presence, and volume control. It’s features include a no lie bypass and low impedance conversion into or out of other overdrive pedals. Trust me, this thing is totally stackable for pedals that don’t give you enough gain.   Submitted by Christian T, Website, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook

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Rockerbox Ruby Head Preamp

Rockerbox Ruby Head Preamp


Posted By on Wednesday, July 23, 2014 in Preamps, Rockerbox | 0 comments

As a musician that is always playing live, it is very important for me to have a warm tone that pushes my guitar out of the mix without mudding everything else. I’ve been searching for a pedal that could give me these features and even more. Two months ago, someone recommended me the Rockerbox Ruby Head Preamp pedal, I tried it and I fell in love with it. What can this pedal offer me? Well, this pedal is a preamp, it’s...

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P.I.F Pedals is a small boutique pedal company with one mission: Pay It Forward. Their first offering is the Dual Preamp Boost – a dual boost pedal with inputs and outputs for both, giving you immense flexibility as well as superb tones. The right side of the boost is the “sparkle” boost, which is a BS170 FET transistor-based boost. This adds a shine to your tone and mixes well with warm humbuckers or semi-hollow...

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Need a stompbox that can perform multiple functions and can be used in a slew of different scenarios? Then check out the Jerry Donahue JD10 from Morley. This pedal can do many things, including recording line driver, amp emulator, overdrive, preamp, and headphone amp. I use it mostly for boost and a bit of overdrive on the Classic setting. The speaker simulator sounds good even when playing through an amp. I have quite a few other...

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People at shows are always asking me, “Dude, how do you get that tone?!” My reply, which is pretty well-rehearsed by now, is, “I have a bass preamp pedal called a Rusty Box. It’s made by a company in New York City called Tronographic.” The Rusty Box is housed in a sturdy, attractive, white and orange enclosure with controls for Level, High, Low, Mid, and Gain; a mini-toggle switch to select between Hi and Lo gain inputs,...

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