7
OPERATION
Your Guitar Preamp is designed to bring the warmth of an all tube signal path to any musical situation.
Here is a brief description of the character of each channel:
CLEAN CHANNEL
The Clean channel is modeled after the legendary “black face era” American amps of the mid-60’s.
It’s airy and open sounding, with lots of spank and headroom for clean guitar sounds of many flavors
– from rhythmic funk to sparkly pop to country twang. Higher gain settings will reveal a slightly
compressed and meatier sound that will start to break up when the Gain knob is turned up all the
way. The Punch switch will add a more throaty, punchier element to your sound by accentuating the
lower-mid frequencies, while the Bright switch will bring out the highs and let you dial in as much
high-end sheen as you could ever want without thinning out your tone or sounding tinny.
RHYTHM CHANNEL
The Rhythm channel is extremely versatile! A fertile source for a wide palette of earthy, crunchy tones
that recall the “plexi era” British amps of the late 60’s, the Rhythm channel is also a great choice for
blues and country players who want a little bit of grind behind their sound. One of the most desirable
characteristics of the Rhythm channel is the way it cleans up as you back off the volume on your
guitar, yielding a rich and full tone that is subtle yet clear. Higher gain settings reveal a saturated
grind with plenty of sustain for single-note playing and solos. The Shift switch (shared with the Lead
channel) shifts the whole curve of the EQ section down, which tends to accentuate both the lower
midrange and the lower high frequencies. In addition to adding a bit of bottom end “oomph”, the
Shift switch makes the Treble control more active, and will push your signal into saturation with a
little more urgency. The Bright switch brings out the high-end frequencies, and is particularly valuable
if you are going for that scooped-mid type of tone.
LEAD CHANNEL
The Lead channel is the side of the Preamp that is the most modern and aggressive. It saturates even
at lower Gain settings, and gives you that searing, “violin-like” lead tone with long and smooth sustain
that has become the signature of many prog-rock and heavy metal guitar styles. The Lead channel is
also great for heavy riffs and rhythm parts; the tightness and definition in the low end that characterizes
the Preamp overall really comes into it’s own for heavier playing styles.
CABINET SIMULATION
Your Preamp is also equipped with our Cab Tone analog speaker emulation circuitry. The Cabinet
Simulator offers accurate and punchy emulations of either 2x12 open back or 4x12 closed back
speaker cabinets, and is the icing on the cake of the Preamp when it comes to direct recording. Your
signal goes through the Cabinet Simulator when you use either the XLR or the
1
⁄
4
" direct outputs on
the back panel. The XLR output is balanced and should always be used for longer cable runs. The
1
⁄
4
" output is unbalanced and can be used any time it’s more convenient to use that style connection.
The Cabinet Simulator is also great when you are using one of the direct outs to feed the P.A. in a
live situation.
