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  Mesa Boogie preamps comparing?

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Author Topic:   Mesa Boogie preamps comparing?
Dag Wolf
Member

From: Bergen, Norway

posted 29 August 2002 11:23 AM     profile     
Has anyone compared:
- the old studio preamp vs. the V twin rackmounth preamp

and

the studio preamp vs. formula pre.

I welcome inputs.

Dag

Kerry Johnson
Member

From: Los Altos, CA

posted 29 August 2002 11:43 AM     profile     
Yes ... the Studio Pre is a little more forward, colder sounding, more aggressive sounding (Paul Franklin tone)very desirable...
and the
V-Twin Rackmount is a little warmer sounding, sweeter,softer in the highs. Also very desirable.
and the
Formula Pre is somewhere between these 2, closer to the V-Twin tone... also desirable.

The use of different brands of tubes will further alter the tone of each of these.

I highly recommend trying various brands of tubes to find the best tone for each of these.

Keep in mind the power amp affects the overall tone of the rack system, so doing the comparison with identical rack components, I've arrived at these descriptions. I ran them thru a Rivera Hammer 320 tube amp and Lexicon MPX-1 and BW-1203 speakers.

[This message was edited by Kerry Johnson on 29 August 2002 at 02:44 PM.]

Dag Wolf
Member

From: Bergen, Norway

posted 29 August 2002 03:10 PM     profile     
Kerry,
thanks for the input. Exactly what I was looking for.

I asked Paul F. Jr. what he was thinking of the "new" MB preamp and he said he thought they were "harder/ more hifi" sounding than the studio pre. This was about two years ago.

I would really love to go to a 1 unit preamp.

Dag

Bobby Lee
Sysop

From: Cloverdale, North California, USA

posted 31 August 2002 10:47 AM     profile     
The rack V-Twin has a feature that I really like. Each of the two channels has a 3-position switch. I don't know what they call it, but it's similar in function to the switch in the middle of a Webb 6-14-E.

You set your tone for the middle switch position in each channel. Then, if you want a thinner sound for a song, push the switch to the left. For a fatter sound, push it to the right.

Also, the way that you can blend the two channels is a really nice feature.

I think that the Studio Preamp is pretty much a Mark III in a rack case. I've never opened one, but I wouldn't be surprised to find a Mark III preamp board in there, with a few component changes.

------------------
Bobby Lee - email: quasar@b0b.com - gigs - CDs
Sierra Session 12 (E9), Williams 400X (Emaj9, D6), Sierra Olympic 12 (F Diatonic) Sierra Laptop 8 (D13), Fender Stringmaster (E13, A6)

Michael Brebes
Member

From: Northridge CA

posted 03 September 2002 08:26 AM     profile     
I've seen the schematics for both, and the Studio Pre is pretty much the same as the front end for a Mk III.
Dag Wolf
Member

From: Bergen, Norway

posted 03 September 2002 09:17 AM     profile     
I have a MB V-twin coming in this week. I`ll do a comparing and post my opinion at a later time.

Dag

[This message was edited by Dag Wolf on 03 September 2002 at 02:38 PM.]

Rich Gibson
Member

From: Pittsburgh Pa.

posted 03 September 2002 02:38 PM     profile     
Has anyone ever tried the formula preamp-next generation from the studio?There down in the 400.00 range...

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