Mic Pre for Guitar Only

[dr_love6977]

I used the search function but really didn't come up with something that answered my question specifically.

What do you guys have experience with for a mic pre that would only be used on guitar. I'm currently using a 57 and a Fat Head II through a 2 ch Behringer pre that has a lot of headroom and no real color to it. I don't use this for vocals, but it suits high gain guitars so-so. What do you guys use for a preamp in mic'ing a high gain amp? I don't want to break the bank, so no "oh, you want a 1073 or Avalon." I just want a clean preamp with some good headroom.

 

[colonel kurtz]

in all honesty, an m-audio DMP3 would probably work well for you, and can be found cheeeeeeeeeeeap

edit: or if you're willing to spend a little more, possibly an FMR RNP...or for a little more than that, one of the chameleon labs neve rip-offs

 

[KeithTidd]

how much do you want to spend? most things would be a step up from behringer pre's.

 

[dr_love6977]

I don't really want to spend more than a couple hundred. I use a Sytek for vocals, so this bad boy would be guitar only.

 

[J.DavisNJ]

Hmmm...

I don't think you will get drastically different results with your budget. If you are willing to wait it out a bit and save some more, an FMR RNP might be a good choice.

-Joe

 

[IronApe]

Never tried one out, but I heard a lot of good things about the Groove Tubes "The Brick" on guitars, you might find a used one in that price range...

 

[006]

Studio Projects VTB-1 anyone?

~006

 

[raybrochill]

Rane MS-1b!


Edit: As long as you're not going to do bass for it... there's a roll off at about 100hz

 

[dr_love6977]

Rane MS-1b!


Edit: As long as you're not going to do bass for it... there's a roll off at about 100hz

I think I read somewhere that it's not grounded. Is this true? And if so, wouldn't that give hum?

 

[beyond dead]

Studio Projects VTB-1 anyone?

~006

i have 1. its pretty nice sounding. but dont try to use the tube function to get color with guitars! use ss. sounds good for snare though.

 

[Zombietakeover]

Never tried one out, but I heard a lot of good things about the Groove Tubes "The Brick" on guitars, you might find a used one in that price range...

That's what I use !

 

[Eddy]

i have 1. its pretty nice sounding. but dont try to use the tube function to get color with guitars! use ss. sounds good for snare though.

How about vocals? SS or tube? I have one but I haven't got the time to test the thing thoroughly yet... I only got it today. I just quickly tested it, and didn't notice a big difference between ss/tube with guitar or vocals. But that may be because I just got decent monitors, which I'm not used to yet, in the same package, and I've been up about 16 hours so my ears are not to be trusted anymore....

I'm not expecting anything unreal from this preamp, it suits my needs already. I'd just like to hear from someone who has experience with the thing.

 

[beyond dead]

the tube section will slightly compress and color the signal. typically cheaper pres tend to have a cheap sound when distorted. that being said, some sources sound decent with the tube stage, such as snare and screams. but i prefer to color sounds itb.

also the preamp tube can be replaced with a better one to improve the sound.

 

[aortizjr]

Why not use the Sytek you currently have?

That is going to give way better results than anything in your sub $200 price range.

Those Sytek's are pretty damn good and you are going to have a hard time finding anything better until you spend at least $500. And even then you are going to find something pretty clean.

If it is color you want in that range, use the Sytek and use a Saturator or some Emulating plugin of a vintage EQ or Compressor. That will be much better than trying to pull "color" out of a cheapy pre, tube or not.

That being said, those Syteks are clean. So if you want some color in the cheap range, check out the GT Brick, EH 12AY7 Mic pre. If you can get to the $500-$1k category, there are some nice offerings like a DIY Seventh Circle Kit, or a Daking Mic Pre One, UA Solos, Chameleon Labs etc.

So I would try to go to there at least, then you would be up there with your Syteks.

If you can hit the $1k mark, then you options really open with Great River, Chandler, Sebatron, etc.

Personally I would stick with Syteks and save your money until you can get the 1K+ mark.

 

[JonWormwood]

Studio Projects VTB-1 anyone?

~006

It tickles my fancy.

 

[JonWormwood]

i have 1. its pretty nice sounding. but dont try to use the tube function to get color with guitars! use ss. sounds good for snare though.

But tube works great on Vox, Bass, making shitty reason sound better.

 

[dr_love6977]

aortizjr, I don't really like the Sytek on guitars. It has Burr-Browns on all 4 channels, and when I record guitars through it it just sounds like I put a blanket over my cab. I've been hearing really good things about the Chameleon Labs pre, but I'm kind of in an experiment mood right now, so I don't want to blow a lot of money. I ended up buying 2 Rane MS1bs, so we'll see how those work out.

 

[raybrochill]

aortizjr, I don't really like the Sytek on guitars. It has Burr-Browns on all 4 channels, and when I record guitars through it it just sounds like I put a blanket over my cab. I've been hearing really good things about the Chameleon Labs pre, but I'm kind of in an experiment mood right now, so I don't want to blow a lot of money. I ended up buying 2 Rane MS1bs, so we'll see how those work out.

if they're good enough for mr.murphy, they're good enough for anyone!

 

[aortizjr]

aortizjr, I don't really like the Sytek on guitars. It has Burr-Browns on all 4 channels, and when I record guitars through it it just sounds like I put a blanket over my cab. I've been hearing really good things about the Chameleon Labs pre, but I'm kind of in an experiment mood right now, so I don't want to blow a lot of money. I ended up buying 2 Rane MS1bs, so we'll see how those work out.

Well those Rane's use a Burr-Brown chip too. Actually it uses the same monolithic chip preamp as the M-Audio DMP3, the INA163.

The Syteks are a class A design with Burr Brown OpAmps or their standard ones.

Burr-Brown chips are typically used to replace cheaper amps and the consensus is having the blankets removed. So I find it interesting that you find the blanket sound with the Burr-Browns. Especially compared to a Behringer.

 

[dr_love6977]

Well those Rane's use a Burr-Brown chip too. Actually it uses the same monolithic chip preamp as the M-Audio DMP3, the INA163.

The Syteks are a class A design with Burr Brown OpAmps or their standard ones.

Burr-Brown chips are typically used to replace cheaper amps and the consensus is having the blankets removed. So I find it interesting that you find the blanket sound with the Burr-Browns. Especially compared to a Behringer.

Ha, I know! I got my Sytek used for quite a ridiculous deal, but I'm just not that in love with it. A local studio owner has one with 2 chs of Burr-Brown, and 2 without. I sat there in his studio for quite a while comparing the 2 different channels, and I ended up liking the ones without. We'll see how these Ranes work out. If I don't like them I may end up selling them and getting an 800r so I can have 8 more channels via ADAT. I've used this pre on guitar too and liked it.