Modelling Guitar Preamps

SOUND: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5uVohEW2E8&feature=youtu.be Of all the preamps I’ve used, this is by far one of the best; and it makes other pedals sound incredible. There is plenty of warmth and dynamics in the notes, whether playing on the clean channel or the distorted channel. The clean channel sounds very full and rich, whereas the distortion is completely unique in its quality and tone while delivering some high-end sparkle. Both channels sound very amp-like and non-sterile, although it should be noted that the distorted Channel 2 is not high-gain (Metal)… it’s Rock-based or meant for less aggressive playing. Regardless, adding any high-gain pedals to the clean channel sounds marvelous and to the point that it now has become my number one choice of preamp. Even the cabinet simulation in this pedal works well enough that I did not use any other cabinet simulation or load box in the demo video. Although I have several preamps, and some are very specific in quality and sound (as found with Marshall plexi tones), there is something very different with the Blueno 020 preamp and Mooer really captured something great in this micro pedal. The term ‘organic’ has been over-used when describing tones and equipment (whether digital or analog), but it certainly remains true and appropriate with the Blueno 020. I ran other gear into this pedal, including a vintage fuzz by Doc Music Station and the Friedman BE-OD Deluxe and the results have been superior to other preamps that tend to produce a more sterile or thinner sound in comparison. OVERALL IMPRESSION: This preamp is based on one of the best sounding amps that has won various awards, including the Guitar Player ‘The Years Best Gear’ for 1997. Mooer’s Blueno micro preamp 020 emulates the Bruno UG30 and has done a fabulous job at recreating those superb cleans and unique distortions with dynamics and richness that makes this pedal a must-have. It sounds great on its own, whether playing Blues, Jazz or Rock, but when utilizing your favorite dirt pedals into the clean channel you will achieve full-bodied flavor that truly is amp-like. The built-in cabinet simulator seals the deal and whatever technology went into that surpasses what other cabinet sims I have on hand could do… the others sounded fine, but not nearly as good as the built-in cab sim found in the Blueno 020. At a price of $119 Canadian (about $99 USD), this is such a great investment if you’re looking for quality rich tones and a preamp that pulls all the details from your favorite pedals. EASE OF USE: The Blueno micro preamp operates very much like an amplifier. First, there is a basic 3-band EQ (treble, midrange & bass), with volume and gain knobs. Those are fairly straight forward, although I found I needed a lot more treble and far less midrange and bass to get the tone I wanted (very smooth and thick with cleans, but a bit muddy with dirt pedals if you try to push the mids or bass too much). The footswitch works within a dual operating mode, to be addressed later. The LED button serves two purposes, also addressed in this section. Thus far, operating the Blueno 020 preamp is straight forward – adjust the EQs and the amount of volume/gain (that desired and relative to how clean or driven you want it and whether using dirt pedals). Now, onto the footswitch and the LED button: as with most pedals, the footswitch turns the pedal on and off. However, if you hold down the footswitch for 2-seconds it then switches between Channel 1 and Channel 2 without shutting anything off. If you allowed the footswitch to act as an on-and-off control, then you need to access the Channels via the LED button. Now, if you hold down the LED button for 2-seconds the cab simulation engages, which not only sounds perfect with this preamp, but which makes it very useful for direct recording/playing to a soundcard, powered monitor or P.A., and without the need for a guitar amp or speaker cab. RELIABILITY & DURABILITY: Measuring 9.35 x 4.2 x 5.2 cm (DxWxH) or 3.7 x 1.7 x 2.0 inches, and weighing only 160g, the Blueno micro preamp 020 pedal feels heavy for its size, thus suggesting a steel chassis. The footswitch has a solid feel with a soft switch-over (no hard clicking) to turn a Channel on or off or to switch between Channels. Although close to the other knobs/controls and the LED light, the footswitch is set quite a bit higher to those smaller knobs/button to prevent any foot-stomping accidents. The EQ, Volume and Gain controls are small, but are of good quality; and their pots turn smoothly and without feeling loose. The input/output, including the power supply input, all are located low on the pedal (toward its base), thereby providing more clearance of a stomping foot. The Blueno 020 requires a 9VDC power supply with 300mA to function properly (connected in the back of the pedal), although the manual claims a 220mA draw (consequently, best use 300mA). @mooeraudio #mooeraudio https://mooeraudio.ca/product/micro-preamp-020-blueno/

The Mooer micro preamp 009 -ENGL Blackmore is a great preamp! The cleans are fuller than most and the Hi Gain channel is articulate and bright. I compaired it to my AMT Elect E-1 (ENGL Fireball -JFET preamp) and found it to be very dynamic. Awsome value. I got more chord clarity from the AMT but the Mooer was brighter & w/ 2 channels. I boosted them both w/ a TS7 Tube Screamer and it lit it up. Solos are nice and present in the mix and harmonics are abundant. The mids can be cut heavy w/o an extra eq I found! m/ Classic Brutal ENGL tone! Can be used to turn a good amp into an entirely diff sounding amp thru the FX loop return.

This is a pretty nifty preamp rack that I got from a friend, pure solidstate but 100% analog circuitry. It is not discontinued and been replaced with the PSA 1.1, the biggest differences being an on/off power switch, 128 presets as opposed to 99, a master volume control, an XLR ground lift switch, phantom power, midi output and a dedicated headphone out. Specs (front panel): Input, Preamp, Buzz, Punch, Crunch, Drive, low, high, Level, down/up for preset switching. (back panel): Midi thru/out, Midi In, footswitch, Output Left/Right with -10db pad XLR, output Left/right 1/4" Line with -10db pad, Effects loop with 50/50 Mix, Input 2 with -10db pad. I should note that this preamp is designed for ONE instrument at a time. Although it has 2 inputs, the 2nd input is not meant for simultaneous instruments. The manual says input 2 is actually disconnected if plugged into input 1 on the front panel. Input 2 is cleaner, and has the least amount of distortion, meant mainly for rack and patch-bay applications. So if you were plugging this in, in a straightforward fashion without extra signal processors just to a power amp or head/combo, input 1 is what you'd want to use. There are 99 total presets. 49 of which are already made by tech 21 and cannot be erased. The other 49 are for you to store/save/tweak etc. There are many ways one can use this preamp; traditionally with a head/stack or combo, or direct through to a PA or mixer or right to your computer's preamp. The preamp has a built in speaker emulation for direct recording, which gets rid of some of that fizziness found in other preamps. There are no special effects, just clean and dirty. With the amount of settings available, you can tweak your distortion sounds to go anywhere from breaking up to high gain uber metal. I'm not a huge rack guy so i like the layout, it's one of the simpler preamps I've dealt with. Guitars AND Bass can go into this unit. UTILIZATION Tech 21 has basically nicknamed the basic EQ controls to more confusing ones, I don't know why. But if you read the manual or play around with it a little bit you can get to understand it a bit more. Buzz controls the bass. Punch is like a mid control. Crunch is like the treble. Drive controls the amount of gain. The Low and High are like to extra boost/cut options. And Level controls the overall level of the outputs on the rear panel. The footswitch option is good too, you can connect something like a momentary single button footswitch to step through the presets. Or you can hook up a midi moose or any other midi controller to select presets. Generally it's very usable. Though not the all-in-one sort of package. FX loop, midi, Footswitch, -10db pad. 50/50 Mix knob is cool too. But then, I mean 99 overall presets of just clean and distortion seems excessive. And no on/off switch? Everything has an on/off switch! SOUNDS Let me first say, that I am NOT a tube snob. Though I DO prefer tube amps majority of the time. I also like good sounding solidstate gear if they sound great. So most of my judgements are NOT comparisons to tube amps. They are simply a matter of what sounds good to me or doesn't. For Direct Recording: The manual has a few suggested settings that you can try, most of which I found were way too fizzy and trebly for a standard tuned 6 string guitar. I've tweaked with the controls quite a lot and experimented using impulses, other preamps, EQs in the loops etc etc. All of which can sound pretty decent if the end result is mixed in with drums and bass etc. The thing about recording is that it's like looking at something with a microscope, everything is picked up and heard. And this unit is fizzy and fuzzy in general. It DOES require a lot of tweaking and external equipment to get it to sound GREAT in a mix. By itself, it sounds average. The cleans are quite good in general they can get quite chimey. As for distortion sounds for most genres that require medium gain, or low gain or even high gain but standard tuned metal, it's too buzzy. HOWEVER, with the type of music out there now a lot of heavy metal/death metal etc bands are using super detuned guitars and 8 string guitars. With that type of genre and those super low frequencies, this preamp SLAYS!!!! It's like instant Meshuggah!!! And since it sounds awesome with downtuned guitars, it sounds great for bass also!! Cleans and dirt! The distortion in general is a stiff sounding distortion with no power-tube sag. Though it's all analog it's still fizzy even with the speaker emulated out. For Live use: This is where it shines. It sounds great in a live mix with a full band, all the fizz is gone and the tweakability is nice to have. Depending on what poweramp you're using, it'll sound slightly different. The basic sound is great. Does it sound like a tube amp? There's two ways to think, first: I'd say, with a band, and a crowd of people, playing live on stage. YES definitely. Second: with just the guitar rig, and beside it, another full tube rig. No. This is one of those things most guitar players go through with the mindset. You only really notice the difference if you have something to compare it to. But if you use it in it's context, you'll be takin off!! OVERALL OPINION Overall, after owning this for nearly a year and using it nearly everyday I've found the pros and cons for the unit which I will sum up here. PROS: - Great cleans for guitar or bass - AWESOME METAL distortion for downtuned/8string guitars or bass live OR Direct -- better with Impulses - Reliable construction. CONS: - Horrible distortion sounds for any guitar in any genre other than downtuned metal. Way too fizzy. - Wish it had at least an on/off switch like the upgraded version. (Sort of seems like they just forgot when they released the first version) Overall, it's a good unit for certain things and not so great for a lot of other things. Live use is always simpler and therefore sounds great. Also, most of the reviews are dated! Majority of them aren't comparing things to today's new solidstate stuff that sounds better for cheaper. So I can see why a lot of other revews are high. But for recording, and for this day and age with so much new technology and improved solidstate gear. This unit is average at best BY ITSELF. Since it requires, at least for me, a LOT of external equipment to start sounding decent. The old manual still has it's old price, of back when this model was first for sale, $795. And nowadays a used one is at most $300. This unit does not stand the test of time. It's only ok for what it is. Therefore, I'm rating this unit a 5.

Fishman is a company known for their pickups especially in acoustic guitars. Taylor guitars is one of the most famous and world renown acoustic guitar company's and they have exclusively used Fish man pickups and pre's in their acoustic guitar for years. With the relationship with the Taylor acoustic guitars this has formulated a huge impact for acoustic pickups and direct boxes for the FIshman company. UTILIZATION 128 pre-loaded Images for use with the most popular acoustic instruments One bank of 16 user-configurable Image locations Volume, Blend, and Image Select controls USB computer interface for Image downloading from Aura Gallery (software included) 3-band EQ 1-knob compressor Automatic anti-feedback with foot switch operation Feedback-fighting Phase switch Rugged, all-metal construction Balanced XLR D.I. output for PA or recording 1/4" PA/amp output 1/4" high-impedance instrument input with Trim control and Clip/Low Battery indicator Built-in Effects Loop 24 bit A/D/A; 32 bit internal processing Built-in chromatic tuner with bypass/mute foot switch Runs on 9V battery or optional power adapter Dimensions: 5-1/4"W x 2-1/10"H x 5-3/5"D SOUNDS This is essentially a huge glorified direct box for an acoustic guitar. Most people who play acoustic guitars on stage or at a gig of some sort use a direct box because they sound of their pickup in their guitar isn't strong enough to amplify the sound of the instrument. Plus the ability to go direct into the house PA or sound system with added feature of controlling more of the sound. So this pedal is a direct box that allows the user to perform more Eqing task to the acoustic without having to mess with the EQing of the sound board as much. It also restores the sound of a miced acoustic which you would use to record an acoustic guitar in a real recording session. You would mic up the guitar by placing a mic in front of the sound hole of the acoustic guitar. Here this box attempts to replicate the sound of that interaction with the wood and the microphones. OVERALL OPINION At new these units come in right at around $329, which isn't bad for a direct box. Not to mention a direct box that is capable of producing this much versatility in a small tiny box. I would recommend any stage or music hall or even church who has to mic up acoustic use this to go through their direct box into the house sound system. This is a great tool for the sound man to have on hand.

SOUND: To describe the Mooer Preamp 019 you could definitely say it is ‘amp-like.’ A true preamp with cab simulation (which you can turn off), the sound is authentic, rich and dynamic. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTcfhbyqWNo&t=1s The Clean channel is crystal clear, no matter the 3-band (treble, mids & bass) EQ settings. Using a lot of treble does not make it harsh and using a lot of bass does not make it muddy. Overall you can achieve some great classic rock lead tones on Channel 2 (high-gain channel), whereas Channel 1 (clean) works well for both undistorted passages and when you want to integrate your favorite distortion/drive/fuzz pedal. The cab simulation aspect is impressive, as well. Often I use a different brand of cab simulator when reviewing gear (recorded direct to DAW), but the built-in cab sim in the Preamp 019 sounded superior and a better match. On a related note, although I have used a different preamp when testing pedals, I found the Preamp 019 produced equal, yet different results. What I mean is, when driving a fuzz or distortion through the other brand of preamp, you would get a particular sound (obviously). When driving those same pedals through Preamp 019 those pedals, too, sounded very good, yet very different. This makes sense since every preamp has its own tonal characteristics and the same dirt pedal can sound very different with different preamps. Since Mooer has 20 different preamps in its repertoire, it could be an addictive and enjoyable trend in ‘chasing the tone.’ In a different review I’ll be looking at Mooer’s Preamp 020 (based on the Bruno UG30) and I will include how pedals sound through that amp. OVERALL IMPRESSION: Mooer has established itself in the effects and audio industry over the past few years, and with this being the first review I’ve done on one of its products I can see (and hear) why. Now, the Preamp 019 is considered by Mooer to be “a faithful recreation of a 1967 50 Watt British classic, sampled from the personal collection of Tracii Guns in 2017,” and I’m not one to argue otherwise, nor do I have the experience to challenge that notion. What I can say is that this little pint-sized pedal delivers an enormous amount of tone that sounds very real and dynamic, just like an amp/cab should. And having reviewed other ‘Marshall-type’ gear, the Preamp 019 does have that characteristic in spades. You get crisp cleans, the overdrive channel is very warm, yet punchy (with a ton of harmonics and dynamics) and the tone quality continues to sound great as you roll off the guitar’s volume. Although you can run the Preamp 019 direct into recording software or a board, it also was designed to be put through your amp’s effects return – in doing so, you not only get your amp’s sound, but when the Preamp 019 is engaged you resort to a Vintage 1967 Marshall 50W Head! In fact, this is how all the Mooer preamps are designed to work, thus offering musicians an amp sound they like at a fraction of the cost and size (weight!). EASE OF USE: The UK Gold PLX Preamp 019 operates very much like an amplifier. You have a basic 3-band EQ (treble, midrange & bass), with volume and gain knobs. The footswitch offers a dual operating mode, which I’ll describe later. The LED button also serves a few purposes, as I’ll explain. So far, much of this is straight forward – tweak the EQs and the amount of volume/gain desired (although keep in mind that a lot of Gain actually sounds pretty darn good when you roll back your guitar’s volume). The most advanced part of this pedal is the footswitch and the LED button. The footswitch can turn the pedal on and off, whereas the LED button allows you to select Channel 1 (clean) or Channel 2 (overdriven). However, if you hold down the footswitch for 2-seconds it then switches between Channel 1 and Channel 2 without shutting anything off. And if you hold down the LED button for 2-seconds you engage the cab simulation (which is highly useful when connecting direct to a soundcard, powered monitor or P.A., and without the need for a guitar amp or speaker cab). RELIABILITY & DURABILITY: Measuring 9.35 x 4.2 x 5.2 cm (DxWxH) or 3.7 x 1.7 x 2.0 inches and weighing 160g, Mooer’s Preamp 019 requires a 9VDC power supply with 300mA to function properly, which is a lot of power for such a little guy (then again… it’s a preamp and they push a lot of power). The pedal feels heavy for its size, and so I presume the chassis is steel. The footswitch is solid in feel, but has a soft switch-over (no hard clicking) to turn a Channel on or off or to switch between Channels. The footswitch is somewhat close to the other knobs/controls or the LED light, but the switch is set quite a bit higher to prevent any foot-stomping mishaps. The EQ, Volume and Gain controls are small, but appear to be of good quality; and their pots turn smoothly, as well. The input/output, including the power supply input, all are located low on the pedal (toward its base), thereby providing more clearance of a stomping foot. https://mooeraudio.ca/product/micro-preamp-019-uk-gold-plx/ @mooeraudio #mooeraudio