Favorite preamps for recording pedal steel

David Winfrey · Post by **David Winfrey** » 25 Jun 2009 4:34 pm

Does anyone have experience with using GML preamps for recording steel? I have a GML8302 that I am considering trying out on the pedal steel as soon as I get a bit more practice time under my belt. (I'm a newbie on psg).
Any comments and/or suggestions are welcome. Thanks!

John Macy · Post by **John Macy** » 25 Jun 2009 9:38 pm

I think it would be terrible on steel and you should just pack it up and send it to me so you don't get tempted...

Hard to imagine that anything George made would sound bad on anything...it is an ultra clean wire-with-gain pre that would suit the steel nicely...of course, if it doesn't, I'll send you my address...

David Winfrey · Post by **David Winfrey** » 26 Jun 2009 5:21 am

John, I guess for now I'll hang onto the GML. I can find other uses for it as well.

I also have a Presonus ADL600 (tube pre) that I could use to add a bit of warmth. Thus far I've been talking about going direct. Have you found a particular setup that works well in your studio for steel? Maybe a Royer ribbon in front of the amp speaker? Any preamps that sound especially good with a steel?
I'm open to suggestions. I think I have a project coming up with some "real" steel players soon.
Regards, David

Jack Stoner · Post by **Jack Stoner** » 26 Jun 2009 6:30 am

I have a Presonus "Blue Tube" tube/solid state preamp that I've been using with an SM58 to record singer and it's working well. It's listed as a mike/instrument preamp (dual preamps).

John Macy · Post by **John Macy** » 26 Jun 2009 7:39 am

My fave is a Neve with a Sennheiser 421, followed by a ribbon...The ADL sounds great, too...sounds like your gear list will suit you just fine

Bill Terry · Post by **Bill Terry** » 26 Jun 2009 11:26 am

I've been itching to try one or two of these:

www.seventhcircleaudio.com

Anybody here tried 'em? John? Tommy D. and I talked a while back about doing some of these maybe.

David Winfrey · Post by **David Winfrey** » 26 Jun 2009 1:25 pm

Bill, those look interesting and would probably sound great. Unfortunately, I can't seem to get to all of the things I want to do as it is. Another project might make me a wreck haha.

John, are you talking a Neve "clone" pre or the real thing?

Has anyone had success recording direct (without mics) using a certain preamp to warm the sound up a bit?

Bill Terry · Post by **Bill Terry** » 26 Jun 2009 1:39 pm

Yeah David, I'm with you on yet another project. That's the main reason I haven't pursued the 7th Circle stuff so far. Sure seems cost effective though...

Jack Stoner · Post by **Jack Stoner** » 26 Jun 2009 1:48 pm

The last recording project I did, I used my POD XT direct to the board. It was a demo song project for a semi-retired Nashville songwriter (and Producer).

Here is the forum post I had made on a couple of the songs.

http://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=159877

The singer was recorded with an SM58 through a Presonus Blue Tube to a channel on my Saffire Pro 40 firewire recording interface.

John Macy · Post by **John Macy** » 26 Jun 2009 5:01 pm

I have some original 1073's and 1272's, and in the clone world, some Vintech X73's and you'd be hard pressed to tell me which is which sonically (without looking at the price tags:)). We also have some of the Chameleon Labs clones in the B studio, and they sound great, though not quite in the same ballpark as the others...

Rob Schlette · Post by **Rob Schlette** » 30 Jun 2009 6:13 am

Bill Terry wrote:I've been itching to try one or two of these:

www.seventhcircleaudio.com

Anybody here tried 'em? John? Tommy D. and I talked a while back about doing some of these maybe.

I've used both the A12 and N72 7th Circle mic pre's a lot, and I think they're outstanding. They're particularly well suited to high-gain sources like guitar cabs and drums. One note, if you're thinking of building the kits, the N72 is a much bigger project than any of the other pre's they offer.

Bill Terry · Post by **Bill Terry** » 30 Jun 2009 6:17 am

Thanks for the feedback Rob. If you've built the kits, would you recommend any of the particular versions as a first go?

Rob Schlette · Post by **Rob Schlette** » 30 Jun 2009 6:25 am

I'd recommend the A12 as a great place to start with the 7th Circle kits. That kit took me about 2 hours to build, and I'm certainly no assembly expert.

The pre itself is very flexible because it has both input gain and output trim. There's a huge amount of gain available, and it's quiet enough for ribbon mics.

Bill Terry · Post by **Bill Terry** » 30 Jun 2009 6:45 am

Thanks Rob!

Jerry Gleason · Post by **Jerry Gleason** » 30 Jun 2009 11:27 pm

Another quality mic pre kit worth considering is the Hamptone.

I built one of the JFET kits and I'm very pleased with it. Quiet, tons of gain, transformer balanced in and out. It sounds absolutely huge!
I'd describe it as slightly colored (in a good way), but not so much that you couldn't use it on every track. It's reasonably priced, and a pretty easy build.

David Winfrey · Post by **David Winfrey** » 5 Jul 2009 7:50 am

Thanks to everyone for your input about preamps. Anyone else have a favorite?

mtulbert · Post by **mtulbert** » 5 Jul 2009 4:52 pm

I have an Avalon 737 that I use for vocals and steel. Thanks to Ron Randall for turning on to this unit.

www.empty-pockets.com if you want to hear some tracks done with it.

Regards,

Mark

Bill Hatcher · Post by **Bill Hatcher** » 7 Jul 2009 9:06 am

Alembic F2B.

Jay Fagerlie · Post by **Jay Fagerlie** » 8 Jul 2009 5:01 am

Millennia Media TD-1

Check it out:
http://www.mil-media.com/td-1.html

Serious bang for the buck....
Not to mention I know the guy who knows everything about them....

Jay

Rich Weiss · Post by **Rich Weiss** » 12 Jul 2009 2:02 pm

I have 2 Brent Averill 1272's that I use for everything.

Gerald Menke · Post by **Gerald Menke** » 24 Aug 2009 7:44 am

I have gotten very good results even recording in Logic with both a 1999 Amek 9098 Neve-designed mic pre/eq and the API 500 series mic pres. Both sound gigantic and with a ribbon microphone have that, wow, sounds just like my amp vibe that I was certainly not getting with the mic pres in the Apogee Ensemble.

Best,

Gerald

Mark van Allen · Post by **Mark van Allen** » 24 Aug 2009 7:59 pm

One of my favorites is a real under-the-radar unit; the Peavy VMP 2 Stereo Tube Pre. Everybody I know who's tried one buy up all they can find.
If you watch the Buddy Emmons Video that comes with Mike Ihde's 333 guitar book, you'll see one plugged in behind him.
Great warm smooth tube goodness.

James Quackenbush · Post by **James Quackenbush** » 18 Oct 2009 3:02 am

Mark,
Check out the VMP 2 for bass too !!....It's my "Go To" pre for bass as well as vocals that need that bit of warming .....Shhhhhhhh !!!....Don't tell too many people or their won't be anymore around !!.....

....Jim

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Preamps for recording pedal steel