6 Rack Preamps Compared
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- Опубліковано 12 вер 2024
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The EQ in my new Curveball Jr pedal produces very similar curves to that Rockmaster if you were to put it in your effects loop, or after the preamp :)
Does the mid switch on the Curveball do a similar thing to the push/pull on the Rockmaster? I adore the EQ on that thing.
Yes similar....the US setting is like the normal mid, and the UK and Thrash settings are in the Pull Mid Shift range...but I matched those more specifically to my TightMetal mid switch.
Super cool. Does anyone stock them in Australia?
@@LeonTodd Deluxe Guitars in Melbourne has 2 in a shipment still in customs after a month!
@@AmptweakerFX I shall investigate. Aus customs can be a nightmare :(
Rockmaster still standing strong. Awesome video Leon!!
Just recently bought a TriAxis and I feel I never need anything else ever. That thing is just *so good,* especially when going for a Dream Theater-esque tone. Searing leads, super-tight rhythms, crystal-clear cleans - the TriAxis has them all and then some. If you see one of these pop up for a good price, don't wait, get it. Highly recommended!
I preferred the Rockmaster almost every time, maybe every time
The dark horse candidate!
Have 2 PV Rockmaster's for a stereo set up and an MP1 Classic .... Love the Rockmaster preamp
It's was probably the best overall... And the slo to me was the best dirty tone
Myasnikov all the way!! Who needs clean sounds? Rock out!!!
I do! ...which is why I have the Myasnikov X88r clone (which actually doesn't really sound like a real X88r but still sounds awesome)
Same the lead blows out other pre amp IMO
The best lead and rhytm, but ordinary clean. Good idea is to use this one for lead and Peavey for clean.
The ADA seemed to sit in the mix better, the frequencies of that preamp are more guitar oriented in my opinion
Keep that ADA in the family... 👍👍
The Rockmaster is such an under-appreciated preamp. I’m guessing a lot is because it’s not programmable (unless you use an external device for channel switching like I used to do) and Peavey really didn’t make them for long.
Same here. For one great Rock/Metal tone, the SLO Clone is the BOMB!!! Love that thing.
Wow, that Rockmaster sounded awesome! Makes me wish I would have picked up the one that was for sale on locally about a year ago.
Bought my ADA back in -89. Used it a lot back in those days. But after a while I noticed that all of my presets sounded quite the same. So I started to lend it out to my guitarplaying friends to get some new inputs. That was for me a good way to get some sweet sounds that I never knew it was capable of😊.
Picked it up again, from my dusty basement, about a year ago. It still rocks🤘.
That SLO clone sounds absolutely fantastic! Great playing too
That SLO!!!! And no one is talking about it!
What is an SLO? I didn't see/hear that except for 1 mention of SLO clone. Which preamp showed on the screen when he was playing examples?
@@Guitarzan8 hey! Slo is the flagship model of Soldano amplification. In this case we are referring to the Myasnikov Super lead preamp, have a great one and happy holidays.
JMP-1 for my taste. Smooth without any raspy edges, but still clear.
This is what I have. I had an MP-2 and a TriAxis, but the JMP-1 was just so unique sounding, or rather just very marshall.
Fantastic demonstration Leon! Good job! I really liked the preamp I didn't know it existed, the Myasnikov Super Lead. I'll look more into it.
He makes them in Russia. Took a while to post here but SO worth it.
Great video, Leon. Honestly in the context of the track, I liked the Myasnikov for the clean section. That pseudo-clean appeals to me. It sounds like the guitar really wants to go and it’s waiting for the solo.
Me too - I like gritty clean much more than "clean" clean, if that makes sense.
ADA MP-1, Triaxis, JMP-1
согласен. именно в таком порядке и хотел написать. АДА действительно звучит наиболее живо здесь. хотя в целом всё зависит от настроек. сам пользуюсь триаксис - там можно выкрутить что угодно. усилитель меса 20/20 у меня.
@@Matthias_Jabs ??? I don't understand...
@@gkol69 трудно вбить в переводчик ?
Great video, Leon! As always :) Every preamp has it's own benefits. For me, personaly, only Piranha is the one I wouldn't necessary need to have, haha :) Rockmaster is probably the one I would like to try by myself first, since it has the tone so fat - I like it because it can be quite hard to get with plugins IMHO. Aweosme playing Leon! Keep it up! :)
Like an electric blanket for my cold homeless heart!
I love preamps, and you just demonstrated why. There are a few more out there, some hard to find and expensive. For example, the Engl E580 or the E570. Plus Synergy has a new Syn-2 with built in speaker sim'd out, which sounds amazing, Dave Friedman/Steven Fryette designed. Modular awesomeness. The Randall RM4/Egnater M4. The Black Widow MGP-1a, which I have. Mesa's Studio Pre and Rectifier Recording. Bogner's Fish. And there's a Matchless preamp, Michael Nielson has one of them, intriguing.
I love these stories about your Dad, let me be honest. I am especially heart warmed knowing there are other cool dudes out there who want to help their kids live fun rockstar lives. And your Uncle. A family full of cool dudes. Thanks guys! Leon Rocks!!
I won the genetic lottery right there. Would LOVE to try the Synergy stuff.
I've been using a Digitech GSP-1101 preamp in my rig for over 10 years and find it to be capable of almost any sound I need for any song my band mates and I want to do. Very versatile but obviously not as good as any vacuum tube based amp or pre-amp.
Never thought I’d praise the ADA. But I would buy it for the clean tones most definitely!! That was awesome.
Man I passed them up quite a few times in Texas Pawnshops but I see now. Doh!
Thanks LT!!
Matthew C
Marshall and Peavy are outstanding on all the sounds!
You, sir, have made excellent content here. Keep up the fantastic work!
Thankyou!
Triaxis does pure wonders when used with Marshall poweramps, especially the EL84-20/20 and the 9005 (two JCM800/50W poweramps) then into Thieles/EVM12L.
I'm surprised that so few seem to give a try to such mixture, the results are stellar!
Now, I opportunities happen, I'll be pleased to get what I don't own.
My stuff is
Triaxis
Marsh 9001
Soldano SP77
CAE 3+SE (modded)
Ampeg SVP-Pro
Rockman Sustainor
Marshall 9005
2x EL84-20/20
Carvin Tube100
Mesa Fifty/Fifty
Mesa Stu-22
Mesa MkIII
Fender Champ 12
Vox AC15C1 w. Gold Alnico
Pignose 7-100 Legend
4x T806/EVM12L
2x Weber California 12
2x Audax F30P
2x JBL E120
1x EVX180B+2x EVM10B
1x Beyma 15MI100 Mk.1 (30Hz-4kHz)
1x Celestion Gold Alnico
1x Celestion Greenback
Leon, great video. Your channel is a nice breath of fresh air from the "make your Hotrod Deluxe sound like something it's not with this $200 pedal". It feels like that's what a lot of the gear channels are focused on. Boring! :)
That's exactly why is tarted doing these videos, to make videos I wanted to see rather than "how to make stock sound A from stock equipment X, Y and Z". I'm glad you like it :)
This video I enjoyed most of this channel to date.Great piece of music for the showcase.
For me, the sound of the Soldano clone is above everything else ,even in the clean department.
Great video!
Much appreciated mate. Myasnikov is making great stuff!
Great job and thank you. The ADA was an interesting sound tool when it came out, but the Rockmaster was a real, all tube, 3 channel preamp with many tone options and a thick, full, killer clean tone. Best preamp for a blues/rock gig 🎵
The heavy riff in the beginning of the video was rad 🤘🏻
Thanks!
ADA and Peavey for the clean sounds. Soldano SLO clone for the overdrive and distortion riffs. Great demo as usual. Thank you Leon. Cheers from Canada.
Super lead, rock master and the ada are my top 3.
The super lead is insane for the money
Ada was at the bottom for me
Man, I love that ADA! I believe they make a pre amp pedal of the MP-1 now - I’d love to hear how that compares to the original rack unit. Anyway... more MP-1 videos wouldn’t be a bad thing :-)
More Mp-1 vids sounds like fun!
The Rock Master definitely owns that first section. Clean section is a toss-up, although I might actually say the JMP was the winner there, which surprised me. SLO clone and Triaxis hit their stride in the last section.
The lead 1 red on the triaxis is very different between versions depending on the serial number. It is anything from a Marshall type overdrive to a high gain recto sound. The newer Triaxis versions have something called the "fat mod" which nobody seems to like
I liked the ada for the cleans, and honestly surprised by the peavey. I think youre right in the triaxis being tighter and versatile. Id like to hear different cab configurations too. The jmp-1 od 2 setting was gorgeous too.
Cheers! I did a more recent comparison with a few different tones too.
Never been a rack preamp kind of guy - always been an old fashioned amp head kind of guy - but it’s fun to have all of the racks. The power amp you choose better be top notch though or you are wasting your time with preamps - you have to made the investment in a good tube power amp! Can’t have one without the other.
I've always loved the Triaxis (because John Petrucci), but I'd go with the A/DA for an all round sound. It's also available for very reasonable money on the second hand market. Actually I have this weird goal to build an awesome rig from cheap, but awesome, second hand rack gear. The MP-1 or JMP-1 would be in the mix for that.
Mp-1 and a quadraverb is classic!
I used that exact combo duing the late 80's and most of the 90'sinto the low input of a JCM 800 2203. sounded awesome.still own an Ada mp1 .love your vids Leon.
Worth also looking at serviceability in picking these. I owned the ADA MP1 and loved it, but a lot of parts like the jacks aren't available any more.
I'll probably take major shit for this, but I've using Rocktron Gainiacs into the low sensitivity inputs of my Marshall JMP 2204 amps for almost 20 years now.... and I LOVE them. I'm not a modern metal guy though- really more into 70s hard rock and 80s metal. I do get some hum, and the cleans are pretty weak, but the old-school hard rock crunch makes me smile every time. :)
The studio preamp is low-key Mesa's best preamp. You need one man. I've played a couple TriAxis and quad preamps and the quad comes close but vs the 3 studio pre's I've played and (and the two that I've owned) they are the only one that faithfully capture that magic in the 2C's voice. The Triaxis brings flexibility and the Studio brings mojo. I can get a ravaging lead and thrash tone out of the thing but the clean channel basically becomes another overdrive channel if you cascade all the clean channel's gain into the lead channel to get that high gain lead sound.
Speaking of the Studio Pre, dig around my more recent vids ;)
@@LeonTodd AHHHHHH! Thats it! The studio pre is literally Images and Words in a box. It's such a clean and unforgiving mistress. A studio pre into a MK IV power section is about as close as you can get to the tone JP had on his live Score album which (IMO) is his best tone to date.
I just uploaded a new vid to my channel a couple days ago doing some thrash metal stuff with the pre and it just SLAPS.
I'm on the fence of whether or not I should get a simul class two ninety or go balls deep and get a Fryette 2/90/2.
Really nice comparison! Thank you. My only concern is weather a more modern modern microphone (Sennheiser 906 od Audix i5) because the SM57 has a rather own distinctive sound.
Nice video! I love the old preamps. Seeing and hearing the Triaxis is making me want one more. Also really digging the Suoerlead!
rocktron purhana realllyyy stuck out for lead, im in love!!!!! didnt shine too much for metal (they were all hard to decipher for metal)
Cool, that SLO clone rocks! And instead of saying anything bad, let me just say that the ADA and Marshall both sounded exactly as I remember.....
"Now why didn't you include this or that...." lol, so how about Engl E570 or E580 next?
Rocktron piranha WINS. Why? With some patience you can match any of the others with its mega versitile EQ session. Easy to use. Hush noise reduction programable . Midi+excellent line out. And efx loop.
The Triaxis was my favourite by far. I've ordered the Apex Preamp from Horizon Devices, so when that ships around Jan/Feb I'll bring it over to hear how it compares.
That's sick!!!!
So how was it?
I had a Rockmaster way back in the day that the singer I played with hated. I always stood by my belief that it ruled and this vid confirmed it. Darkhorse for sure. But man, that Triaxis is tough to beat. No clue why Mesa discontinued it.
Singers are an odd bunch ;)
The Tri might be the pinnacle of rack pre's.
@Mark Wick Lol awesome!
Leon, you’re a man of your word!! Thanks for redoing this and including your thoughts on the Triaxis! I fully agree with your assessment. If you’re looking for THAT one sound, there are a lot of options that can get you there. The Rockmaster sounds great, as do the ADA MP1 and the Marshall JMP. In fact, they all sound pretty damn good and each has their own “thing” going on. But if you need more than a “one-trick pony”, the Triaxis is tough to beat and is still the king!! I feel like it can handle almost any genre, except for the most extreme, brutal death metal sounds, in which it doesn’t quite seem to get there. So, if you need that level of brutality, the Triaxis might not be ideal for you. But for 99% of other great guitar tones, Triaxis has tone in spades. Great video, as usual! Thanks for all your great UA-cam content and kickass contributions on the Fractal forums! We appreciate you, bro!
Just chuck a HM-2 in front of it for the brootz ;)
They all do great, no fuss!
@@LeonTodd : with all pots all the way up on clean channel = Swedish Chainsaw... Entombed fans will love you!
I was seriously between Ada, Marshall and Boogie, after paying my attention I was between Ada and Boogie. It's hard here because they're VERY VERY similar, but at the end I still prefer boogie.
Honestly, it's almost impossible someone like Ada and not boogie and vice-versa
Wow, they are all amazing, but honestly the best of all is the Soldano clone. Even in cleaner tones slightly dirty it's amazing. Now, how to get one and put motorized pots in it for MIDI control?
Effin blessed i found this channel. Great content, Leon :)
For the record though.....the Myasnikov and the Marshall sounded great to my ears with the Tri Axis in close 3rd.
I think Imma need all of them, but especially the last three. That Pirhanna was nasty af, the Marshall sounded fantastic, and I'm a huge Mesa Fan.
I recently moved from Alaska and had to sell everything. So now I'm putting together a list of gear and building a proper studio, and decided that I'd like to have as much of my signal as possible I'm external gear to reduce the load on my computer. Along with these I'm also STRONGLY looking at a Laney IRT Studio, and already have an Orange Super Crush 100 on layaway. I'm also tryna figure out which effects I want to rackmou t as well, this has been a lot of fun and I'm excited to start building, writing g, and recording again.
Well done and thanks for sharing brother!
Thanks a lot for this video, I'm hunting for a preamp to run through my dual rectifier and this helped me out a ton
Totally agree Leon. Great comparison video.
Several of those preamps are designed to really be used with a specific type power amp ( EL34/ 6L6 ). The Tri-axis of course would sound good with a Mesa power amp. The JMP-1 for example would sound much better hitting an EL34 power amp hard like a real Marshall would do. The tri-axis would get more in the Bogner territory if ran into a DSL power amp. Not to say, do it again, lol, but would be cool to hear that same comparison with your Mesa and your DSL power amps.
To ass to your point different speakers will work better with different pre/power amps too. I'll do a follow up with a few more amp/cab choices and just stuck to one or two pre's.
Miss the ENGL E530
The Rocktron sounded the fullest. I liked it the best
By far, cuts though. Articulate...but he doesn't have it dialed in correctly. JMP/Rockmaster are muddy and get buried in the mix.
Currently running my preamp, CAE3+, M4, MP-1, TriAxis, Synergy SIN2 , Yerasov Detornator, SOLO from RnR as well as Mille from Brunetti Italy. Has had Prinha, ENGL, JMP-1,etc... Among those pre's, my elections are CAE3+, M4 and Mille.. Mille, the most useful pre when it comes to rack mounting parallel signal paths since it adopts serial/parallel fx loop and sounds great almost nail to CAE3+.
Goals
Kind of strange to see these comparisons. When distorted.... you kind of have "all" those sounds with different presets on one single preamp. So when comparing 2... how do we know what's its real own sound ?
Ooohh!! What a great performance on lead guitar technics you have my friend... thanks for share your rig.. and knowledge..!!
Great like always! My favorite channel about guitars and gear. I had all of them and some others like Engl E530,Mesa Rectifier,Digitech,ADA MP2 ended up with Triaxis as main and Piranha for solo and fun. But they all just awesome for different styles of music for shure.
My buddy owns an MP1, i'll have to borrow it to demo!
@@LeonTodd Cool!
I'm glad they're all different sounding - music would become quickly extinct if we all had exactly the same sounds/tone.
I have to get my hands on that slo clone. Thanks for the vid.
These are all classic pre-amps and are capable of getting the job done. I am partial to the ADA and the Triaxis though. The Peavey sounded really good and I never hear anyone mention it.
The Rockmaster is a real sleeper. Got this one super cheap about 12 years ago when rack gear was at it's nadir.
@@LeonTodd I bet they are not cheap after this video.
The MP1 is my favourite. Just bites in the right places
As you noted..they all have their niche for what they do best..I still have my Pirahana...hush built in..extra diode boost..parametric mids..steteo fx loop..cab line out..250 volts to the plates..none of the others include all of that..
no need for a boost with the Piranha, it's got INSANE gain and the Hush is awesome. Secret modern metal machine ;)
@@LeonTodd
Yeah..agreed..the tube gain is plenty..no need for the diode gain at all..
I bought a JMP-1 in '94 at a shop in Alexandria, Va. I still have it. I love(d) the thing. Sadly, it bugged out on me. I don't have a clue who I could send it to for repairs. Maybe it's "totaled?"
I think Voodoo Amps mod them, might be worth reaching out and see if they do repairs.
Your Dad bough that ADA new? I feel old now, haha. Keep all that stuff, bro, they'll all serve a purpose!
I'm an 88 baby so i missed the golden age of racks
Well....I get it....but.......after the mics on the cabinets theres 4 or 5 digital conversions to color everything even though it's how it usually gets done these days. I have had amazing results going straight into an all in one recorder believe it or not. Direct in or even mic to built in pre and that's it! All possible with good starting input signal and tone of course. Thx Leon. I like your vids pal. God Bless
I like the Peavey on rhythm and the MP1 and JMP1 on leads. 😀
Iam not sure I could ever personally own so many similar sounding amps. I personally own the Rockmaster and an ENGL e530 which really gives me a broad palette of different sounds. Its true what they say about the Rockmaster , It sounds more like a recorded 5150 than a 5150 sounds (weird statement I know). The ENGL e530 is in a world of its own also, but a modern djenty world- just different not better. One of the more interesting experiences I had was going from a marshall 50:50 poweramp (El35) to a Mesa 2:95. That was a massive leap in sound. And lastly the switch from 2:95 to Rocktron Velocity. That was less of a leap but ultimately I think I prefered the Rocktron over all of it. Would love to hear a run down of some different poweramps.
The Holy Grail for me would be the Rockman XPR.
Thank you for this video. The comparisons are very helpful and revealing. I have been playing a TriAxis and Mesa 295 power amp since the early 1990's. I have played and owned many other amps, but this combination is the best I have played. I love the variety, and purity, of tones on the TriAxis. Also, would you be willing to provide the tabs for the ascending run at 3:17? It's a great lick. Thank you,
wow, did not expect to be so impressed with the peavey!
Hail the Rockmaster!
Love the Peavy and the mp1.. great video
The Mysanikov rules them all.
Combine it with an SP-77 and you'd have everything you need.
R&R preamps! Most videos are either old or in Russian. They make one that's a full preamp and 50 watt power amp in a single rack space.
Poweramp is a separate 1U unit, and it is useless if you've ever had a Pangea CP100. SL/LD has even no 1W emulated amp for soundcheck like ENGL has.
@@DmitriSkif I don’t understand why people keep challenging me. Yes, they do make a single space full head. Both preamp and power amp. 50watt. rnramp.com/products/SOLO
Wow Leon, fantastic job!!! thank you for this comparison, for me the Triaxis is the winner!!
Great view on all the pre’s, I have a JMP-1 and it has some great ‘Marshall’s sounds paired up with a EL-34’ed Carvin TS-100 but I very curious how a Tri-axis would sound going through an EL-34 power amp... and curiosity is my vice sometimes so I will probably get one just to see lol thank you for the video sir.
The Rocktron Pro G.A.P. should be included there imo.
All about the Peavey for me. I was a Peavey guy before going purely modeling back in 03.
Holy crap....that triaxis sound!
Great vid! Would love to see the preamps routed through the Axe Fx III with mic and cab sim and then compared with Axe Fx III modelled preamps (if the axe fx can tone match each of the preamps).
I subbed for this type of vids
I have a marshall jmp-1 that I need to get worked on. the demonstration on that and all amps sound great.
They all sound really good but each has it's own character. I have the Rockmaster pre but rarely use it.
Can you still find the Mesa/Boogie Triaxis pretty regularly?
Triaxis with a boost would probably beat out the rest IMO.
Your videos are so genuine and informative, it's really refreshing. I especially love your Axe FX III content! How does it play with external drive pedals?
Thanks so much mate. The Axe loves drives, i did a vid with a few a while back :)
@@LeonTodd Thanks for your reply! Just found that video, I can't believe I missed it, I had scoured your back catalog of vids pretty thoroughly when I first discovered your channel! Anyway, thanks again and I wish you all the best with your channel and Ragdoll!
You need the CAE 3+ SE & Black Widow Audio Designs MGP-1A Guitar Preamps \m/ and maybe the Engl e530 too, lol
Would you mind making a comparison between digital preamp vs analog preamp? That'd be sick!
Hard Rock: the Peavey! It sounded way gnarlier than the others
Cleans: I'd have to say the Piranha (which had the worst hard rock tone lmao) It just sounded a bit more lush than the other ones
And I thought the Triaxis was the best for both the lead stuff and the djent stuff
Hey there Leon! Thanks for a great video!
Glad you enjoyed it!
1 - Triaxis
2 - ADA
3 - JMP 1
What do you think about the Sansamp PSA -1 preamp?
I haven't tried a PSA in the flesh yet, keen though
Leon, have you tried or asked about trying the Black Widow Audio Designs MGP-1A Modelling Guitar Preamp? Thoughts/feedback? Also, have you tried many of the Synergy Amps preamp modules?
The Black Widow has been mentioned to me a few times now and I get more and more curious with each time I get told about it. Would love to try it and the Synergy stuff as I'm a rack tragic.
I own an even more rare one, nearly last, the infamous Hughes & Kettner Access, with Sound Module B. Only God knows why all this fell by the wayside, they put a lot of the current stuff to shame. Development of them, along with the TC2290, could have advanced a whole lot more in a direction not yet seen.
That's a rare bird! H&K have put some amazing stuff out over the years.
@@LeonTodd The Access has three channels, solid state(great for acoustic), Clean Tube, and high gain tube. I have their VS250 power amp (eight EL84's) with midi presence controls. To this I add Marshall JMP1, a TC2290, and TC1210 as the midi-selectable loops, and you have Bradshaw rig capabilities. I've tried my Mojave Scorpion in place of the JMP1 and this makes it a wet/dry/wet rig. It makes me want to cry it is so powerful.
i love Rockmaster
Being a Soldano fan check out Shawn Lane at the 1997 Warsaw gig - epic
That thing is like church for guitar
DAMMIT. I bought a Rockmaster in the 90s for like $75 at a yardsale. I didn't have an amp or cab tho, so I ended up selling it shortly thereafter (I didn't know anything at all about amps back then. I thought I could just plug it into my stereo and go,lol.) Now that I have an ear for amps, I regret that decision.
it's essentially a proto-5150. Wonderful unit.
Rock master sounded the best , man I want one