Mike Greenberg
From:
Nashville, TN
|
Posted 24 Feb 2011 4:05 pm |
|
I've seen a number of folks discussing their small PSG rigs lately so I figured I'd chime in with some of the "experiments" I've been doing lately.
I recently picked up a tech-21 Blonde pre-amp/pedal. I bought it with two purposes in mind. First, I often play gigs on both PSG (GFI U12) and Dobro (Beard Vintage with Aura pickup and mic modeler) and need to be able to put both instruments into a single amp (MB200 into 15" Neo Sica). The Tech-21 allows me to leave the MB200 EQ pretty much flat and then manipulate the PSG tone via the Tech-21 only. Like others have mentioned, this pedal is very impressive (especially for the price!). Again, as others have said, I don't think it's necessarily "accurate" with regard to modeling old Fender amps, but it certainly sounds good. It's touch sensitive, and all of its controls are sensitive (in a good way) to minor manipulations. It certainly adds a wonderful color to the sound of the PSG and has a great range of tones from completely clean to growling overdrive.
In need of a backup and practice amp, I decided to purchase an Electroharmonix 44 magnum. If you've not seen one, it's essentially a stomp-box sized 44 watt power amp. My expectations for it were low but they have been exceeded by many miles! At this point, I've only powered an old 12" 300W Emminence Delta with it, but the tone is very impressive. It's clean and LOUD, and doesn't even to break up at all until it's pushed to 1/2 - 3/4 of its maximum power. I've run it as follows: GFI-->Hilton Volume-->Tech-21 Blonde-->Digitech-RP155 --> 44-Magnum --> 12" Delta. I'd feel confident bringing only the pre-amp, RP155, and magnum to a gig and powering whatever cabinet might be available (if I had to for some reason).
Anyway, just wanted to share my experience with these pieces of gear. Both great units for their prices and certainly useful for multiple applications. |
|
