The Steel Guitar Forum

I've heard a lot of talk about these units. I cannot decide which one to buy. Does anyone care to comment on these units. I will say that I do love a clean sound but I love having a good distorion for stuff as well.

I got a boogie studio pre a couple of weeks ago and I love it. It's clean and quiet even with a Lexicon MX200 in the fx loop. I like the distortion on it too. I played slide on my Fender lap steel and the distortion was real smooth. I've never tried the Revelation but everything I hear about them is good. John Hughey was using one and he was a Evans man for years. I did use Brads Steel Guitar black box and it was good. I don't think you would go wrong with either just the boogie studio are not built anymore and the Rev is.

Tony

Ben, the Revelation preamp is about as good as it gets for tube Pre's, and it is especially designed for pedal steel ... and the point already raised regarding the Mesa is that at best, you will get a good 2nd hand one. They are obviously very good as well - when you consider Paul Franklin uses one.

I have had a Revelation Pre for around 20 months now and it has been outstanding - and Brads technical support, should you ever need it, is top notch.

I'm sure you will love which ever one you choose.

Yep, yep, what our buddy Paddy said!

I just got my Rev from Brad and couldn't be happier. The Rev is an incredibly well thought out piece of quality gear, made by a steel player for steel players. I'm just starting to discover the wide range of tonal variations.

The bonus imho is that Brad is a great guy to deal with and has a strong presence on this Forum. Superb customer service.

-Larry

I'm very happy with my Revelation as well. And the fact that the guy who designed and built it will directly handle any questions or conecerns you may have is a very strong advantage.

I played through a Revelation at the Kansas Steel Guitar Show. It is a great product made by a great guy. The Revelation gets my vote.

I am very satisfied with my Revelation. I have never tried the Mesa Boogie.
Jerry

I just noticed the part about distortion....

I'm very serious about not only quality of clean sound, but OD and distortion as well. So much in fact that my new live rig--closely nearing completion-- is a two amp solution. A Holland for OD, Dirt and the such, and also then the Rev for the best possible cleans.

Now having said that, I find the Rev to be perfectly suitable for dirt and distortion if one throws, say a Zendrive, Tim(my), Twin Tube or a Rat in front of it. The Zendrive especially yields a very nice Dumblish sound: think along the lines of Robbin Ford etc.

I've also tried a couple of OLC and Menatone "amp in a box" pedals ahead of the Rev, and they sound very, very nice, IF you take the time to tweak them in. It was scary how close I could get to an overdriven VOx AC30 with the Menatone "Top Boost in a Can.

Is it the same as what I get with the Holland, biased warm with 6V6s? Nup, but then again, I'm a cork sniffer and tone geek, so YMMV. For most, I think the Rev would be perfect.

I do like the clean sound of the Mesa Boogie studio. Not a lot better than that other than the Rev imho. What I don't care for is the distortion channel of the Boogie. But that's just a matter of taste.

For a one preamp/amp solution for both clean and dirt, the Rev is going to be mucho, mucho hard to beat imho.

Perhaps our forum buddy Ray Devoe will jump in on this one. He owns both, and he can surely shed some great light on the clean side of things.

best,
LarryW

Ray! Your phone is ringing...

Larry, you and I both know Ray's opinion on the Revelation!

I have a Revelation as well. By far, the best thing to come along for steel guitar since the steel guitar itself. I've searched for the perfect tone for many years ( Session 400, Nashville 400, Vegas 400, Session 400 LTD, Line 6 podxt, Evans Preamp ). After trying a Revelation for 5 min. I knew I had finally found it and HAD TO HAVE ONE! For distortion get a stomp box. Travis Toy with Rascal Flatts turned me onto a Voodoo Labs Sparkle Drive pedal. It sounds great and you can blend clean with overdrive on it.

I've been trying my new Rev with TC Furlongs split cab. It sounds pretty great here at the house. I can't wait to try it in the studio.
BB

Bruce, would you please tell me what the TC Furlong split cabinet is? Somehow I have missed that one.
Jerry

You can always get a great sounding distortion using a stomp box of your choice when you have a preamp that has a great clean channel ....Rarely do you get a great clean channel, and a great distortion channel in one pre ...The Studio Pre has both channels that do the job well ....The Revelation , while I do not own it , is probably the pre to beat from my understanding ....Ray D. and I have talked at length, and he's very happy with his Revelation ...That's good enough for me ...So it's basically a matter of money ...If you can afford the Revelation and a good stomp box for distortion , go for it .....If you can't , the Studio Pre is not a bad second choice ...YMMV ....Jim

I have the Rev and the TC Furlong split 12 i use with the tc m350 effects unit and the rich clarity and the clean power is unbeatable, for me. the quality of this equipment is only surpassed by the fine gentlemen who build them. just my opinion. I have also used this with the n-112 and does a great job, also.

I've owned 3 Mesa Studio Pre Amps. All 3 sounded different.
I've used the Black Box for 3+ years now and love it.

Rev + SPLIT = MMMMMMMMMMMM!

And if your looking for the perfect distortion unit to go with your Revelation preamp, then our mate Brad is once again way ahead of the pack -- check this little beaut out !

http://www.sarnomusicsolutions.com/dirtbox/dbinfo.html

Rev Pre with TC SPLITs and the TC M350 sounds amazing. Running a Show-Pro with an Alumitone pickup (width of 2 quarters height) and I can't imagine it sounding any better.

I love my REV! I've been using it for live gigs and recordings since I got it about a year ago. I went to the Toby Keith gig the other day in Denver and his steel player was using one too. I haven't had the pleasure of playing through a Mesa Boogie, but can't say enough about the versatility of the REV.

-Jeff

Ben, I've owned both. The Revelation is by far the better choice in my opinion. Sold the Boogie Studio Pre and kept the Revelation.
Dale

I have a Rev Pre in my main rack and I love it. If I need pre with distortion, I use a THD BiValve. If I need a lot of variation, I have a VHT Sig:X that I can tap out of.

Doesn't Paul Franklin use a Mesa Boogie?

I've had both. The Rev-Pre is wonderful. Sold the Mesa after comparing. Also I like having gear that is still made and get serviced by the builder.

Sarno rocks. Running it through 2 SPLITS... sweet.