Budget preamp for steel?

David Ball · Post by **David Ball** » 3 Apr 2021 4:21 pm

No printed circuit boards. All point to point hard wired on mine. I think that since mine was made, Frenzel has gone to a more old Fender like turret board construction (not PCB), but mine is hard wired onto terminal strips and tube sockets. The old time way.

Dave

David Ball · Post by **David Ball** » 3 Apr 2021 4:28 pm

Here's the innards of mine. Nicely made...

Dave

Bill Hatcher · Post by **Bill Hatcher** » 5 Apr 2021 6:06 pm

i recapped one of my alembic F2B units today. filter caps were decades old. they tested only OK on my old heathkit cap checker under a 450VDC load so i changed them out. the 25mfd caps on the board were still within very good specs, so i left them in.

this Oscope pic is the pre with a very high gain input from an old tube B&W signal generator. that thing can drive a speaker! no guitar pickup would ever have this much output. the curve on the scope shows no distortion with the volume on 10!! and all the EQ settings on 7.

the next pic of the scope is a reduced signal but still hotter than any guitar would put out and every thing on 10!! you can see why the alembic F2B is one of the best preamps ever made for guitar, bass or keys. its pretty amazing. the circuit is just a fender twin/showman with increased filtering and B+ voltage. runs two 12 AX7 tubes.

Allan Haley · Post by **Allan Haley** » 6 Apr 2021 1:24 pm

Thanks everyone. What a wealth of information. I'm looking at the Frenzel tube pre while I save up for a Sarno Octal.
Al

Lee Rider · Post by **Lee Rider** » 8 Apr 2021 7:25 pm

I obtained a TC Furlong Split cabinet/power amp and looked around for a preamp. I had an old preamp I used for acoustic guitar that I tried and it sounds great! Rane AP-13. Stereo input (I use a splitter that brings in 2 mono inputs), dual preamps, dual graphic equalizers, effects loop, tuner out, 1/4" and XLR, 1 rack space. Sounds amazingly good. One channel is for Piezo but seems to just boost the volume. I dunno, not up on these types of systems but this seems to work well and sounds great with the TC Furlong cabinet. Rane stopped making them years ago but you can find them used for about $100.

John McClung · Post by **John McClung** » 9 Apr 2021 10:13 am

Hats off to Brad Sarno, the genius behind great amps and preamps, actually posting a recommendation for a lower cost preamp by another company. Who else would be so generous with knowledge like that, endorsing a competitor!

Charlie Thompson · Post by **Charlie Thompson** » 13 Apr 2021 5:17 am

Amen John

David Ball · Post by **David Ball** » 13 Apr 2021 4:21 pm

John McClung wrote:Hats off to Brad Sarno, the genius behind great amps and preamps, actually posting a recommendation for a lower cost preamp by another company. Who else would be so generous with knowledge like that, endorsing a competitor!

Agreed. Brad is a class act and builds great stuff. I have a couple of his Black Boxes and a V8. Top notch stuff, and he's been very responsive to questions. But, like any true pro in any field, he's happy to give credit to his competitors where credit is due. Wish that all of life worked this way.

Dave