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wwhhhaatt « Sleeper pre-amp »
Published on 06/24/11 at 07:19All analog tube pre-amp
Three foot switchable channels from clean to high gain
Separate effects loops for each channel plus a global loop and crunch/lead loop
1/4" connections and balanced line out
UTILIZATION
Being an analog pre-amp it is quite simple to set up. There are no digital read outs or menus to navigate through. Everything is plainly labeled and straight forward so if you have a basic understanding of EQ you will be good to go.. I bought this used without a manual but had no problem getting a good sound out of it quickly.
SOUNDS
I was really impressed by the sound of this pre-amp. I bought it on whim after hearing about it from a guitar player who was into shred and 80's style music. I thought at worst it would get me some decent high gain to get me by until I could afford something a bit more modern. I ran it with a peavey 50/50 power amp into a carvin legacy cab and it easily got a modern metal sound. This box has a lot of meat to it when dialed in properly and even running into the el84 based power amp I could still get close to the sound of a 5150. The clean channel is also good and for me was actually much better sounding than peavey's other high gain amps I have tried.
You get a lot of EQ options with the resonance and shift knobs plus having all the effects loop options makes it easy to stick outboard units in the seperate channels for further tone shaping. I ran a furman PQ3 in the lead channel effects loop and a light reverb in the clean channel's loop.
OVERALL OPINION
If you are looking for a simple to use pre-amp with a wide variety of sounds check this out before dropping tons of money on the more expensive brands. I think peavey over-all is an underrated company and their stuff is built tough. Sure there are some better units out there but they are sometimes double the price for a 10% difference in tone. I have moved on to a different set up but still keep the rock-master around just in case.
The only issue I ever had with this unit is the effects loops would sometimes stick open when not used. When this happens it's like having a bad cable between the channel and the output so you lose a lot of signal. It's an easy fix by just working a cable in and out a few times to get the contact going again. You can also just leave a 1/4" cable in each of the unused loops to avoid the problem all together.
Three foot switchable channels from clean to high gain
Separate effects loops for each channel plus a global loop and crunch/lead loop
1/4" connections and balanced line out
UTILIZATION
Being an analog pre-amp it is quite simple to set up. There are no digital read outs or menus to navigate through. Everything is plainly labeled and straight forward so if you have a basic understanding of EQ you will be good to go.. I bought this used without a manual but had no problem getting a good sound out of it quickly.
SOUNDS
I was really impressed by the sound of this pre-amp. I bought it on whim after hearing about it from a guitar player who was into shred and 80's style music. I thought at worst it would get me some decent high gain to get me by until I could afford something a bit more modern. I ran it with a peavey 50/50 power amp into a carvin legacy cab and it easily got a modern metal sound. This box has a lot of meat to it when dialed in properly and even running into the el84 based power amp I could still get close to the sound of a 5150. The clean channel is also good and for me was actually much better sounding than peavey's other high gain amps I have tried.
You get a lot of EQ options with the resonance and shift knobs plus having all the effects loop options makes it easy to stick outboard units in the seperate channels for further tone shaping. I ran a furman PQ3 in the lead channel effects loop and a light reverb in the clean channel's loop.
OVERALL OPINION
If you are looking for a simple to use pre-amp with a wide variety of sounds check this out before dropping tons of money on the more expensive brands. I think peavey over-all is an underrated company and their stuff is built tough. Sure there are some better units out there but they are sometimes double the price for a 10% difference in tone. I have moved on to a different set up but still keep the rock-master around just in case.
The only issue I ever had with this unit is the effects loops would sometimes stick open when not used. When this happens it's like having a bad cable between the channel and the output so you lose a lot of signal. It's an easy fix by just working a cable in and out a few times to get the contact going again. You can also just leave a 1/4" cable in each of the unused loops to avoid the problem all together.