Mesa/Boogie Studio Preamp
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- Опубліковано 11 тра 2020
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I should probably just buy shares in Mesa/Boogie at this stage.
it is not a listed company lol so you can't buy the shares. keep buying the amps though! hahaha
I feel your pain man...I have 2 Triaxis, 1 ADA MP1 3TM and one JMP-1...trying to get them all playing with a Patch-mate Loop 8 so I can choose channels accordingly...I have fuckin' 60 channels already setup....Needless to say I play mainly 3....lol.
Here's a tip: Use the Effects SEND instead of the Main Output. This will give you more of that Mark IIC+ tone because it's bypassing those Level output controls not found on a real IIC+. You'll thank me later ;)
@@MosheAlvarez thats an old trick, right now i 'm using the studio preamp with the katana mkii both front input and power amp in!, also trying to copy Leon Sp settings
Happy you didn't now?
I love the Boogie graphic. It uses frequencies that are so musical for guitar, and the Q is perfect.
I have one of these and LOVE it!!!
I was expecting it to be pretty good and it totally delivered!
I've had one since I was 16... now I know I'm in great company.
Best walkthrough of this unit on the 'net. I've had one for over thirty years. Fell into disuse for a couple of decades; but pulled it out of storage a couple of years ago, paired it with a Mesa Fifty/Fifty, and run it through a 1966 Vox Buckingham 2x12 cab loaded with Celestion Alnico Blues. They all play so well together.
Thankyou! Superb piece of gear, made to last.
I also have this preamp with a 50/50. Have had it since the '80s. My favorite amongst many. Played thru 2x12 JBL. It too had gone into storage per se. Drug it back out about 10 years ago. It sounds great and its bullet proof. And Leon did a great job with the walkthrough. Picked up a few "new" sounds. I mostly play thru a little PRS MT15 these days because it's a bit quieter when cranked.
I've always been fascinated by this preamp and I'm happy to hear how good it sounds.
Had mine for over 20 years and use it alot, great to see how you dialed in some nice high gain tones, cheers!
Leon, this wasn't only an exhaustive review, it was a lesson on crafting rock tones. ❤
Great tone. So much dynamic and boom.
Hands down one of the best preamps out there and even more so after so many years! I was able to come across one last year and it has been my staple studio recording pre since! Even recording direct with an IR and a boost up front, this preamp is the best! Congratulations on the purchase!
Yes I want to see him clean boost awl his rack gear,,, that would be a great test vid
This demo really put a smile on my face, you rock dude!!
Dang, I'm not even playing through it and it gave me goosebumps!!!
Love it!
The best preamp ever. With a good power amp OMG.
In love with the mesa products, especially the mark series and products that have derived from them. Managed to pick up a Mark IV rev B for $1500 at the end of last year and beats my dual recto out of the water.
Fantastic demo as always. I had one of these a few months ago. I loved it. I think you can get even more gain out of it by raising the lead master volume while pulling back the rhythm volume and master a touch.
Love my Studio Pre combined with the Fifty Fifty rack amp!
If you think this sounds good, roll some tasty preamp tubes through it. This preamp responds amazingly to tube changes. I spent several hours rolling through my favorite tubes and an already great amp came ALIVE!
Which tube do you prefer on studio preamp?
Had my Studio Preamp since 1991 or so and it's been a mainstay of my rig ever since. But in a rack with a few processors it's kind of a heavy beast. But DURABLE! But tonally as wide as the ocean - anything from metal to thrash to prog to fusion to country to blues and beyond. Even outer space ambient. Those cleans are heaven with reverb.
I love that every time Leon plays his face shows that he's really feeling every note he's playing. Rock on man.
It's hard not to when it sounds so good!
It's very inspirational. Makes me want to play guitar when I see that.
Definitely. Watching the player's face and seeing how they bond with the amp/guitar tells me more than what's going into my ears when watching youtube shootout vids. They have to be a good player like Leon of course.
I've got this as my main piece of gear.. studio pre through a Mooer tube engine and a 2x12 with eminence Texas Heats.
Seriously - THE best thrash tones
Love your setup Leon, both sonically and visually, with the guitars hung so neatly behind you. closest I can get to Mesa/Boogie is a TH-U Rig which I'm quite fond of. TYSM !!
Sounded great! Can’t wait to see what ya do with it in the future!
I had a Mesa Studio .22+ 1x12 combo that allegedly was this very same preamp in combo form with a pair of EL84s. It sounded fantastic. Justice Metallica tone. A fantastic amp!. Thanks for the video.
LOVE the sykes riffing in there!! Cheers
Glad someone noticed :)
Sounds really good Leon. You rock with any peice of equipment!🤘🤘🤘
This sounds SO good dude! Definite keeper!
I've upgrade to Triaxis from a Studio pre.. I'm going to revisit the Studio. Thanks for the video
Nice preamp Leon! I have a Mesa Quad. Absolutely love the clean channel.
great run through
Enjoying every freaking video you post. Keep it up man, loved your Pod XT Pro video!!
Thanks a ton!
Very crispy sounding tone. And I think this is the first time I've ever seen a spring reverb in a rack pre-amp.
Seems like an odd choice until you dial it in - perfect for Fendery tones!
Leon Todd a buddy of mine had one in college! Leon - DM me on instagram @angusclarkgtr - I have a question for you.
My Studio Pre is going to gain value now, thanks! 🤣
Great job
Such a great preamp
Does what it says on the tin
Awesome. Played with mine yesterday, a tele into the rhythm channel is ace. For heavy rhythm and lead on the lead channel is awesome as well.
Ooooh I'll have to pull my T style parts guitar out and try that!
Great!!! Leon + Mesa rocks
Sounds great! Loved the Nirvana riff.
Great demo and playing - many thanks for that. I have one of these wonderful preamps and sometimes use the cascaded gain stages for even more distortion. If you push the clean channel up (volume and master on LHS) you send a much bigger signal into the distortion section. With a Strat the master can get to 5 or 6 and remain very clean and the volume can go all the way up. Lead level on maybe 5 is as extreme as your setting with lead on 10, lead level even higher and there's more distortion than most would need. I had a Mesa 50/50 amp with mine but sold that as it was too loud for my modest needs, it also coloured the sound slightly. I'm currently running the Studio Pre into a Frenzel 5E3 style amp with 6550 valves and the combination is incredible. It's the most 'immediate' response I've ever enjoyed apart from direct into the Frenzel but that's another story. The Mesa Studio Pre can make a cheap amp sound good and a good amp sound better. My reverb is also quite noisy but I now use a pedal in the amp's loop or between Studio Pre and amp. Incidentally, the Studio Pre has stereo returns on the loop so you can drive two stage amps as well as send stereo to the desk or recorder. I will not be selling mine.
I have one Blu mkIII
and mkIII RED ++ MOD
and a quad pre. Omg there all wooo good!!
I had a mkiv short head that I rack mounted. Easily the best lead tone I’ve ever had and got comments about it nearly every show. But what an unwieldy beast to try to tune to every room. You really have to know it intimately. .
you really put that thing through the paces. very nice sound and the onboard reverb complements it really nicely. you should also check out the triple crown if you get your hands on one. it's an awsome amp
Always loved The Mesa V-Twin preamp pedal,- put a full freq. OD and a treble booster like the Black Country Customs mid pushed OD-Boost in front of it and crank everything,- though more than thirty years old it´s a tone machine right there,- even for metal guys like myself!
Leon you are making justice to this Classic preamp from the 80's is far more than a Chuga Chuga preamp in fact its was built in the 80s like the Mark 2 C+ for Jazz and Fussion player so kand find videos feom that era from now world class fussion player using this live bands known for claasic marshall sound like AC/DC, this is a tone Machine
I have one of these and use it every day.
I can see why!
The reverb tank is mounted like that for shock isolation, similar to a shock mount that you'd see on a large diaphragm condenser mic.
That 240Hz slider adds a cool vintage small combo type vibe!
Almost "tweed" like.
Showing off some of that Fender DNA in there for sure
I gave mine a run through this evening, after swapping out the JMP-1. (I also have a Triaxis and an 'all-the-choobs' Carvin Quad X.) There's something unique and special about the Studio pre, it does high gain but it never loses articulation. You can hear each note projected clearly and cleanly, and it's so quiet!
Clean tones are actually quite good in this without power amp and cabinet, just going straight up
I just found one, it's on its was. Very excited.
Cool vid! Studio Pre was my first Mesa.
Sweet, this one is a keeper!
👍🏼👍🏼 for the Sykes riffs!!
I bought mine at the Hollywood Mesa/Boogie store on the Sunset Strip in 1989 together with the 295 stereo Power amp, which turned out to be too loud even for large venues such as Universal Amphitheater, so I Then pared it with the
boogie 50/50 power amp, which sounds Fantastic! And the half power switch for playing small rooms like the baked potato, etc, it’s still LOUD at 1/2 power (25 watts) anyway, the Studio Preamp excelled at direct recording with its ‘recording’ outputs and I still use it that way to this day…I love it!
That must have been such a fun time!
One of my hunts!💙
I really adore your videos. You seem to be just a chill dude (...guess that´s an Australian thing in general). Your knowledge is on point as is your playing. Don´t even get me started about them tones, I mean holy guacamole...best someone has ever made a Boogie Studio PreAmp sound. Please keep doing what you are doing, you deserve maaany more subcribers. Lots of love for your awesome content from AUSTRIA (...sadly we don´t have kangaroos here). cheers mate
Yup, my main preamp---I'll never sell it. Fantastic cleans, by themselves and as a platform for pedals. I've sold other preamps and kept this one. Leon, in case you haven't already tried this: instead of using the "Main" output jacks, use the "Effects Send" jacks into whatever you have in your loop, then go straight into your power amp, bypassing the Effects Return. This recommendation comes straight from amp guru Mike Bendinelli at Mesa/Boogie. This produces a bit more open sound, with less compression and more clarity, perhaps a bit closer to MKIIC+ or even MKIII. Some claim it also sounds brighter, but I don't hear it that way.. Main out is a bit more compressed, aggressive and "hairy", since the signal is somewhat loaded down by going through the additional circuitry. I think the gain seems to be accentuated more using Main out, and a bit less using Effect Send, with all other things equal. I use both interchangeably, depending on what I'm going for. For cleans, Effects Send, for sure---Main sounds more brittle. For the lead channel, it depends. I never use the Recording out.
I've used that trick forever! Run your FX sends through your FX and then into the amp - I stumbled across that one. The guy I worked with for years on mine was Tien Lawerence, not sure if he's still there but he was able to get my StuPre completely refurbished after a bad accident.
请问 吉他从loop进入，那延迟周边怎么连接
Che suono fantastico🤘😝🤘
That thing's great. Never knew about it!
Sounds killer
Next the Quad, a whole lot of tones to explore. Had the two and they are the best of Boogie tone. Still have the quad with a 295 poweramp, it's a beast!!
Ricardo Mendonça I’ve got the quad and 295 as well, love that setup 😎🤘
@@0megalul309 No, you have to find one with your country voltage.
@@0megalul309 Well, the Studio that i had was not universal also. The Triaxis i don´t know, never had one.
Need one of these fr fr
I have mine coupled with a Mesa 50/50 power amp. Next one you need is another Rocktron (prophesy), or Scholz Rockman Sustainor module. These things are definitely worthwhile to collect.
I remember lusting after the Prophesy as a kid. Never tried one unfortunately.
Luv this tone. Gonna have to go rebuy my boogie lol.
Came here for the sounds, enjoyed the riffs also. Love your videos - awesome \m/
Much appreciated!
damn it!! sounds so great!!
holy badgers that is awesome
I had one, was my first preamp. Paired with a Fryette 2:50:2 poweramp, amazing lead sounds. The treble knob also adds gain.
Please Leon stop last year I bought, after watching your vids, a Triaxis / 2:Ninety and a DSL100, both at a ridiculous cheap price LOL.
Definitely owned one when I was like 15. Was fun but hardly remember it.
Dat sick tone 😍😍😍
Congrats on cool amp! I'm impressed how many sounds you can get out of this unit. I wonder how it'd do with something like 2:90, massive kick in the bottom end probably.
lol...I had my eye on a few of weeks ago too. I love rack gear. And it sounds great with both guitars.
...and it looks great with your rack rash stoppers!
@@LeonTodd you know, I think I only sold a few to one person ever. Lol. I dont think most people care for rack gear, and I'm over here like, "I need more rack gear!!!". Lol. Glad you like them. Let me know if you want more.
Maybe I'm not selling mine after all. You hit the Heart Shaped Box sound!
Sounds great as always Leon, thanks for sharing this. I think I prefer the sound in comparison to your Triaxis 🤘😎
leon!!!! thank you. :)
17:06...could it be King's X? Wow...what a tone. Best truly real life "in your face" review of this beast! You've got a new subscriber RIGHT NOW! Thanks mate 🎸
Close! It's actually this - ua-cam.com/video/7yqvNqW4FZc/v-deo.html
Hi Leon! I believe we gear geek's are addicted to gear like women are to shoe and purse shopping! It's not a bad thing at all! Certainly justified by new creative tones! Thanks for sharing brother and Be Well All!
‘And I sayeth unto thee; thou shalt know Amp Demo Jeezuz, by the stank of his face.’
That sayeth’ed, at ~11:10, we get quite nearly the tone I got in ‘91, out of a MB Coliseum 1/2 stack (it’s matched cab, logos/ legends in orange.), that was on sale by trial on the floor of a top line Seattle guitar/ music store, ‘American Music’.
She was drydocked lonely, the 80s were gone & 300w?!??
Aye, but she was utterly brutiful, & $6k.
I plugged in my Charvel #5, and that amp dry, was nearly all I needed!
Another excellent demo, Mr. Todd. 👏
It's funny I just watched a video talking about John Sykes Whitesnake days and they said something along the lines of in the studio no one could get the tones they wanted out of a Boogie but when it came to using it live that was a different story.
I sold one of these in desperate times about 20 years ago. I’ve craved one ever since. Perhaps it’s time to pull that trigger!
Thanks! Just pulled the trigger on a quad preamp. At least I don’t have to keep looking for a studio preamp now.
Reading your comment and the reply gave me the same rush I always feel when i buy gear. Congrats!
Mesa's are so versitale, it is literally really tough to get a bad tone from any Mesa product.. great content man, you've entered the top 5 guitar youtubers on my list lol. Cheers and be safe!
They're the amp equivalent of a great cast iron skillet in a world of teflon coated cookware. Once you understand their basic operation they're hard to do without.
You never tried a cab clone hahahahah
@@litos_mendes I have one and I'm a happy customer
Try getting a good tone from a MkIII no stripe amp
Loudnesss!! Crazy Nights!!
Akira rules!
YOU, ANDY GILLION, AND OLA are my faves ....KEEP UP THE GREAT SHIT !!!!!!!
Great trio! I'm not that familiar with Leon, but I'm really digging his playing in the few videos I've seen.
sooo good mesa are the amp kings of the 80-90s it really sounds like your getting some output drive like a bigger head killer Nuno riffage too...perhaps its reverb springs for shock iso or perhaps they anticipated the insane need for guitarist to want to dime their gear then kick and punch it just to see what it does
The JCM 800 would like a word with you, sir.
Let’s be honest, no modeler can compete with this. This is what a real good tube amp sounds like. The dynamics the clarity the saturation, just everything sounds TOP NOTCH!
Even stupid cheap modelers can do this and I bet you wouldn't notice a difference in a blind test.
Leon, we all need 'tallica Master/Justice sound!
Absolutely!
Running the Studio Pre into an EL34 power amp with a heavy lean on Marshall circuitry will get you there. IIRC, the MOP tone was a Boogie slaved into a Marshall.
I sometimes try to get close with my RT2/50, which has some EL34's in it.
@@wildealien So now he needs a Marshall 50/50 power amp? Good God that would sound amazing!
this unit sounds better with a little bit of compression (owned one for a few years now)
I used a quad preamp and 295 power amp in the 80,s, from the band demo,s I have , awesome tone 😎
The quad is basically two of these in one package right?
@@LeonTodd Yeah, basically. It's based on the MKIII preamp so the tone controls push/pull to achieve their functions.
Quad is a channel 1 mark IIc and channel 2 a mark III. The studio is the quad channel 1. I own one with a 50/50 stereo.
Great vid as always Leon. I recently bought a studio pre modded to c++. It is ... superb, I love it.
Tell me more about these mods!
@@LeonTodd it's almost the same circuit. across all mesa boogie mark series. www.thegearpage.net/board/index.php?threads/wanted-mesa-boogie-studio-preamp-mods.1991620/
@@LeonTodd This one was modded to a c++, as well as adding the pull shift on the bass, pull deep, both of which are hardwired in the stock studio pre. It also has the mid gain switch from the Mark IV which is my favourite feature of the IV in a pull pot on the master. Quickly becoming one of my favourites. The best part about it is the distortion character and touch sensitivity close to rivals my c+. More than most of the other marks I've tried. The c+ still for whatever reason sounds thicker or bigger when pull deep is on but this is super gainy, super tight. As far as what was done to make it c++ I wouldn't be much help there as have no idea. I just know I love the outcome \m/
@@Lordiesel I love that Mark IV mid gain mode too, and I suspected these have the pull deep/pull shift engaged as stock. IMO there's definitely something that goes on with a head vs a preamp/power amp that seems to always sound different but from the sounds of it yours do slightly different things in a very good way!
Leon Todd I believe you’re correct, they’re hardwired on in the studio pre. But they’re fairly simple to mod a switch for so you can get them toggle-able like on a C+. There’s also only a couple component changes to make a studio pre match a C+ schematic perfectly. As for C++ mods, unfortunately I’ve yet to find anyone who both owns one and is knowledgeable enough to trace the schematic and figure out what the mod is.
I got lucky AF and bought a Mesa Quad yesterday. No one in America is selling one online. I put a local add up this week and I got a response a day or two later. It sounds great yet I've barely scratched the surface. Waiting on my '90 Mesa 50/50 to be repaired in Petaluma so I've got it going through a Randall solid state and it still slays.
Congrats!!!
@@LeonTodd Thank you. The studio was #3 on my list after a triaxis. The seller had all 3 preamps and mentioned possibly selling the Tri as well bc he uses plugins now. After recording video proof of the quad for me and plugging into the tri after years he says he'll never part w the triaxis. My loss.
Own one.. hard to master the settings but of course that’s the Mesa way lol. Love it when I actually concentrate and get a good setting
Oh man, how I miss that preamp, I had it and now I cry for it...I´m gonna cry with my Triaxis to console me ;)
Like always execellent review!!!
The Tri with a graphic EQ will do 95% of what this does but then a whole bunch of other great stuff. I'll have to do a comparison next week.
Thanks Leon can´t wait to see it, I sold the Studio pre to get a Triaxis because always wanted to try it, and after selling my Ax8 the Triaxis is a win for me
when you brought up the single EQ issue I felt your pain man, I have had several Mark iii's and they have that issue as well. which is why I believe JP brought like 3 iic+'s with him to get decent tones for different scenarios. GREAT video man thanks so much for focusing on so much on my favorite series of products EVER! :-D
What they need to do is stack 2 of those things together so you oh wait!
@@lfscrazy lol I was more referring to the actual tone knobs
@@dougjwhalen Me too. Quad my friend :)
@@lfscrazy yeah but can't find them for cheap anymore lol
Switchblade GL changed my life. It’s a really good hub. 4 relay controls, preset-able. All patch points are expression controllable. Also handles all MIDI bursts on 16ch. Balanced. For elaborate setups, they’re super nice. (I’ll stop there)
That's super, SUPER cool about the expression control. Did not know that.
I also use the Switchblade GL, great unit. I have all my pre-amps in it . If you want to get really stupid the Switchblade lets you can run pre-amps in parallel .
If I lost my Quad, I think I'd stop playing guitar. If there is a better amp out there than the Quad or Studio, I've not heard it.
Thanks for the video, was great to see somebody playing with their new Mesa. Just to see your face when for the first time, you crank up the treble and turn down the bass on the distorton channel :)
This reminds me of mine, which unfortunate needs some work. But it also cost me half of what they go for now. Something has gone in it, leading to a thin, metallic tone. Suspecting either a solder joint or the 30 year old caps biting it. Also mine has no rack ears which is hugely inconvenient.
Yeah -- that has the goods!
Good move Leon ! You wont be disapointed with the Studio Pre.
I found one 2 months ago. I did the Bass Shift mod by replacing the Bass pot by a push-pull and added 1 resistor and 1 capacitor to V1a. The mod can be found on Grailtone forums. It sounds killer when Lead Fat switch is On. It removes the flabby tone from the low E string on lower frets when very high gain is used. A must for metal players IMO.
I also solved the sharing Volume problem you've pointed out. I put a midi channel switcher inside the preamp. I added a resistor to the Volume pot.
When the Lead channel is ON, this resistor is out of the circuit. However, when the Rhythm is ON, the resistor shunts the Volume pot and lower the resistor value. In other words, now I can play high gain Lead (Volume 8-9) and pristine clean (Volume 4-5) by pressing on a midi foot controller footswitch. I also added a resistor to the Bass pot that raise the bass value for Rhythm when this channel is ON. I did not notice any noise added from this mod.
MESA best tones...mark v....dude recto....crazy
I love seeing younger players rediscovering the great rack stuff from the 80’s. A lot of sounded absolutely killer. Racks just became uncool with the ushering in of the grunge era.
Ironically Kurt Cobain used this exact preamp for most of his carreer
Yep. This was Kurt Cobain’s amp from 1991 to Fin. This is ironically the sound of Grunge. 😂
@@anorexorc1stlol weird innit?
i have manny Amps, Fender, Mesa,marshall etc....but the mesa studio pre is my most recorded amp, even for bass!!!!!
Now you gotta find a Quad 😎🤘🤘
Hi Leon, kudos for the Loudness crazy nights and nuno riffs 🤟🏻 Now u got me wanting a triaxis, mark IV and this preamp. I got a mark iii combo red stripe. If I am to splurge on a new Mesa, it would be a tough choice among these amps, along with the JP-2c and TC100 🎸
Leon-very cool vid putting the Studio Pre through the paces! I don't play much metal or thrash but it's nice to know that it can be dialed in if need be-I have one and love it! Had a Quad but it got stolen and I replaced it with this beast, I play it through an old Strategy 400 and it's excellent. Killer playing man-enjoying the hell out of your vids!
Those strategy power amps could level apartment blocks, that must be a MEGA rig :D
@@LeonTodd Yes, it can blow the balls off of a rhino! Now here's the sad part. I live in a small apartment with paper thin walls! I can't even really PLAY my rig here...Ridiculous situation. Once in awhile I'll plug in on a low clean setting just to go ahhhhh--radiance! Somebody needs to move soon--ha ha. Love the Whitesnake, interesting that you had the mids cut that much. Live and learn!