Art tube Preamp

I used to use an ART tube mic preamp for my guitar in the late 90s; I loved it. I was playing the most wrong rig in the world: a SansAmp PSA1 rack preamp, into a BBE Sonic Maximizer, into a Samson solid state power amp, into a Sunn 4x12 cabinet, with two Carvin British speakers on the bottom and two Greenbacks on top. I'm trying to remember where I used the ART unit, but it was great; I might have just used it for my guitar tracks, but I think I would also use it in the rig depending on mood, between the SansAmp and the Sonic Maximizer. I had two at some point, and when I put one out of phase with the other, it would make my Roland VG8 sound godly with Synth stuff, like it was floating around your head.
 
The whole deal with preamp tubes (or any tube) is the voltage applied to the plate in relation to the B+ source based on the resistor increasing current and power. If you’re wanting a solid clean amplification factor with maximum headroom then that voltage is going to require mains voltage and a stepping transformer to get into the 200 Vdc range. However the other parts of the tube play a role in the gain factor. Like the bias point, etc. Basically this gets into voltages that are dangerous and placing them in pedals, etc. needs careful attention to safety, quality of components, etc. increasing cost and decreasing attractiveness to the average consumer.
Yes I saw somewhere, someone mentioning that all these tube pedals "barely" use the tube IF AT ALL.

Personally I dont know, the Art definitely has a "sound" that is somewhat "analog like"

As others mentioned its a great way to put a mic through the board also... I had forgotten that till yesterday.
 
Haha well, we'll agree to disagree :)
I’ve had good success with a number of dynamic mics and the Axe3 as well, there is tons of gain on tap.

Obviously a condenser mic which needs 48v phantom power isn’t going to work, but dynamics work well enough, though I guess it depends what your recording. Maybe not going to work for Billy Elish whispering vocals lol
 
Yes I saw somewhere, someone mentioning that all these tube pedals "barely" use the tube IF AT ALL.

Personally I dont know, the Art definitely has a "sound" that is somewhat "analog like"

As others mentioned its a great way to put a mic through the board also... I had forgotten that till yesterday.
ART’s products tend to be a pretty good bang for the buck. I would suspect the agreeable sound is as much due to the non tube circuitry than anything. Things like impedance matching (DI capabilities), eq’ing, etc. features (voicing). Many of these low voltage tube designs are used along with semiconductor op amp circuits to get a “sound”. Many of the newer op amp tech is capable of producing quality, warm gain and sound. 9 volts isn’t going to push a 12AX7 to do much. I imagine it does change the tone and maybe for the better. Then there’s the BluGuitar stuff that you mentioned that uses “Nanotube” pre into class D semi conductor power circuits. Thomas Blug has done some cool stuff in that specific realm. Bottomline those ART MP Studio Pre’s are popular so they must do something people like.
 
I used to use an ART tube mic preamp for my guitar in the late 90s; I loved it. I was playing the most wrong rig in the world: a SansAmp PSA1 rack preamp, into a BBE Sonic Maximizer, into a Samson solid state power amp, into a Sunn 4x12 cabinet, with two Carvin British speakers on the bottom and two Greenbacks on top. I'm trying to remember where I used the ART unit, but it was great; I might have just used it for my guitar tracks, but I think I would also use it in the rig depending on mood, between the SansAmp and the Sonic Maximizer. I had two at some point, and when I put one out of phase with the other, it would make my Roland VG8 sound godly with Synth stuff, like it was floating around your head.
Wasn’t it great having Frankenstein setups? My first rig was a combination of all sorts of different stuff. I had a Bandmaster into a Sunn 12X12 cabinet with Sunn branded JBL speakers. Had an Ibanez Flanger, an early EHX Rams Head Big Muff Pi and Deluxe Memory man with a rack GEQ that I sat on top of the amp. What a mess! But I got some pretty great sound out of it. Pulled off Rush covers.

I never used a BBE sonic maximizer for guitar, but those things were great for synths and keyboards. I had an early two channel version that dynamically kicked synth signals perfectly without any fuss. I wouldn’t consider them to be toys.
 
Wasn’t it great having Frankenstein setups? My first rig was a combination of all sorts of different stuff. I had a Bandmaster into a Sunn 12X12 cabinet with Sunn branded JBL speakers. Had an Ibanez Flanger, an early EHX Rams Head Big Muff Pi and Deluxe Memory man with a rack GEQ that I sat on top of the amp. What a mess! But I got some pretty great sound out of it. Pulled off Rush covers.

I never used a BBE sonic maximizer for guitar, but those things were great for synths and keyboards. I had an early two channel version that dynamically kicked synth signals perfectly without any fuss. I wouldn’t consider them to be toys.
I bought a Rams head a year ago, it is a beast. The one in the FM3 sounds similar, but the original is absolutely wild, wild, organic thing...
 
Good tube boosters that add something exist out there However I don't see the Art there.
The good ones almost add no noise at all, you really don't want noise early in the chain. The also don't eat the outer lows and highs. They compress a bit and change the pick attack some.
 
defizzers, unfizzers, antifizzers,
Did you try


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I never used a BBE sonic maximizer for guitar, but those things were great for synths and keyboards. I had an early two channel version that dynamically kicked synth signals perfectly without any fuss. I wouldn’t consider them to be toys.

It’s so surprising to me that these units are at all controversial. To me, when used judiciously, the maximizer imparted a great tone to my setup. I really see nothing wrong with using these things; to me, it’s all about using any audio tool well, using your ears, and having reverence for nothing.
 
It’s so surprising to me that these units are at all controversial. To me, when used judiciously, the maximizer imparted a great tone to my setup. I really see nothing wrong with using these things; to me, it’s all about using any audio tool well, using your ears, and having reverence for nothing.
Yeah I’m not sure what it is exactly. Maybe when they got into making other pedals and stuff they got associated differently in peoples minds. I was first introduced in the early 90’s and the Sonic Maximizer was considered a legit straight forward design with a purpose that made sense from an engineering POV. For whatever reason I never used it for electric guitar. Maybe I thought the dynamic range of an electric guitar wouldn’t take advantage of it, but I have a few friends who have them as part of their rig for some time. If I did lots of acoustic playing I would definitely see me using one.
 
Yeah I’m not sure what it is exactly. Maybe when they got into making other pedals and stuff they got associated differently in peoples minds. I was first introduced in the early 90’s and the Sonic Maximizer was considered a legit straight forward design with a purpose that made sense from an engineering POV. For whatever reason I never used it for electric guitar. Maybe I thought the dynamic range of an electric guitar wouldn’t take advantage of it, but I have a few friends who have them as part of their rig for some time. If I did lots of acoustic playing I would definitely see me using one.

For me, I just liked the ultra clarity you could dial in. I had heard they were used on Megadeth’s Countdown to Extinction album, and that was enough for me. Supposedly they were first designed for guitar, then appropriated for other audio uses.
 
Yeah I’m not sure what it is exactly. Maybe when they got into making other pedals and stuff they got associated differently in peoples minds. I was first introduced in the early 90’s and the Sonic Maximizer was considered a legit straight forward design with a purpose that made sense from an engineering POV. For whatever reason I never used it for electric guitar. Maybe I thought the dynamic range of an electric guitar wouldn’t take advantage of it, but I have a few friends who have them as part of their rig for some time. If I did lots of acoustic playing I would definitely see me using one.
Yeah I remember looking into it, I think it was basically a filtered EQ almost like a detailed comb eq... but the idea against it was that it was "adding" harmonics that arent there, or that it increases ear fatigue. However even from a mixing standpoint I could see how it would be useful, to bring something "out" of the mix... however as also stated, higher end gear tends to do the same thing but feels "real" or is real. Like the TLM102 "feels or sounds" like it has an exciter on it, but it also sounds obvious thats not what it is.
 
Yeah I remember looking into it, I think it was basically a filtered EQ almost like a detailed comb eq... but the idea against it was that it was "adding" harmonics that arent there, or that it increases ear fatigue. However even from a mixing standpoint I could see how it would be useful, to bring something "out" of the mix... however as also stated, higher end gear tends to do the same thing but feels "real" or is real. Like the TLM102 "feels or sounds" like it has an exciter on it, but it also sounds obvious thats not what it is.
This is the closest to the model I owned back in like 1990. I’m pretty sure they were designed and made by Barcus Berry back then. It’s when G&L bought the brand BBE is when they started to get more of a bad reputation. Back then they were marketed as a sound reinforcement device. It’s hard to find any good information on the early models. I sort of lost track of them since back then. I know I kept seeing them get into other areas and seem to water down the branding. There’s not anything super special about them. The main thing they did was split the signal into lows, mids, and highs and dynamically boosted based on how much you dialed in. I believe they also messed with delay and phase to separate out certain frequencies. I could be mistaken about that. I’m not sure I would use them for mixing. To me it was great to add in the signal chain for live reinforcement. Especially for sound that was already reasonably good. In todays world of affordable digital mixers, etc. I’m not sure how useful they would be anymore. But if they work for some then great!
 

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This is the closest to the model I owned back in like 1990. I’m pretty sure they were designed and made by Barcus Berry back then. It’s when G&L bought the brand BBE is when they started to get more of a bad reputation. Back then they were marketed as a sound reinforcement device. It’s hard to find any good information on the early models. I sort of lost track of them since back then. I know I kept seeing them get into other areas and seem to water down the branding. There’s not anything super special about them. The main thing they did was split the signal into lows, mids, and highs and dynamically boosted based on how much you dialed in. I believe they also messed with delay and phase to separate out certain frequencies. I could be mistaken about that. I’m not sure I would use them for mixing. To me it was great to add in the signal chain for live reinforcement. Especially for sound that was already reasonably good. In todays world of affordable digital mixers, etc. I’m not sure how useful they would be anymore. But if they work for some then great!
Yes they are "useful" because they are their own sound, a specific sound... surprised they dont get used in mixing more, but maybe they ar ein these newfangled plugins that "master" and "tape saturate" and all the other plugin jargon.
 
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