Best Preamp For Distortion ??

rxkevco

rxkevco

New member
Hi all,,,
Got a bit fed up with my pedals and have been switching over to rack gear for some time now,, however,,, havent been able to get a rack effects unit with a decent sounding distortion.
As i play a variety of different styles from pop thru blues, to screaming metal lead, have been having problems getting a unit with a bit of versatility,,,
I dont gig with my gear,,( not anymore ),, but use it all solely for my home recording studio/cubase sx.
I want a hardware unit,, so am not intrested in getting hold of plugins at all. When the time comes for me to get to grips with plugins,, i will have a go,, but for the near future, am staying with hardware.

By doing a bit of searching, and posting on a few forums, the general concensus is to get hold of a decent pre-amp.
I have been left in no doubt that there are only 2 choices really,, for the price range i have in mind. Buying used,,,, i only have a maximum of £250 - £275 to spend.

My 2 choices are,,,,,
1/ MARSHALL JMP 01
2/ SANSAMP PSA 01

I have heard wonderful things about both of these units, but i would like to ask which one is the better of the two.
I know JMP owners will swear by their units,, as will the sansamp owners.
I am leaning towards the sansamp to be honest,, and there are some soundclips that i have heard on their website,,, however,, this is a big buy for me, and i cant afford to make a mistake

Would value any input from owners ,,, or from anybody with something to add,,, or indeed,, another manufacturer that may surpass marshal and sansamp within my used price range.
Cheers,,,, kev.
 
I would get the Sansamp. You can get a wider variety of sounds out of it than you can the Marshall. I've had both and really liked the sansamp better.
 
Hi Sillyhat,,,,
Thanks for the reply,,,,,
You say you " HAD ", both the marshall and the sansamp,,,, ??
What did you cross over to, when you got shut of the sansamp ???

I was lead to believe that under £500,, there was nothing better than the sansamp psa 1,,,, just wondered what tempted you to part with it...
cheers,, kev.
 
I would second the SansAmp

I had an older SansAmp model and it had the best sounding distortion I have ever heard in a pedal. I moved on to a better head so I sold the pedal.
 
rxkevco said:
Hi all,,,
Got a bit fed up with my pedals and have been switching over to rack gear for some time now,, however,,, havent been able to get a rack effects unit with a decent sounding distortion.
As i play a variety of different styles from pop thru blues, to screaming metal lead, have been having problems getting a unit with a bit of versatility,,,
I dont gig with my gear,,( not anymore ),, but use it all solely for my home recording studio/cubase sx.
I want a hardware unit,, so am not intrested in getting hold of plugins at all. When the time comes for me to get to grips with plugins,, i will have a go,, but for the near future, am staying with hardware.

By doing a bit of searching, and posting on a few forums, the general concensus is to get hold of a decent pre-amp.
I have been left in no doubt that there are only 2 choices really,, for the price range i have in mind. Buying used,,,, i only have a maximum of £250 - £275 to spend.

My 2 choices are,,,,,
1/ MARSHALL JMP 01
2/ SANSAMP PSA 01

I have heard wonderful things about both of these units, but i would like to ask which one is the better of the two.
I know JMP owners will swear by their units,, as will the sansamp owners.
I am leaning towards the sansamp to be honest,, and there are some soundclips that i have heard on their website,,, however,, this is a big buy for me, and i cant afford to make a mistake

Would value any input from owners ,,, or from anybody with something to add,,, or indeed,, another manufacturer that may surpass marshal and sansamp within my used price range.
Cheers,,,, kev.
Click to expand...

I have owned the JMP-1 for several years now and am very happy with it, it has alot of nice features, never used the Sansamp though, but, if you are trying to determine which one is better, only YOU can determine that, what sounds good is subjective from one person to another, just because "x" amount of peopel like the JMP-1 and "y" amount like the Sansamp or what ever other distorted sound, that doesn't necessarily make one better than the other. Since you have narrowed it down to two, Why not just try em' both out to see which one you like better? Also keep in mind that the "Sound Samples" on the SanSamp website (yeah they soud good) were probably recorded with using high end gear thru out the signal chain. Not to say that you won't be able to achieve the same sound, just consider that different equipment will yield different results. Good luck! :)
 
Hi ,,, thanks for that,,,
I know what you mean about the sound clips,,, but its something to bear in mind.
Unfortunatly, i am not in a position to go test them out.
Nowhere within 50 miles actually has any of the mentioned pre amps, so i cant go and test them .

I am very tempted by both units,, going on reveiws, and other peoples opinions. However,, the sansamp does seem to have the edge, having read old posts from jmp owners who have gone over to sansamp and been amazed
by its performance.
Although in used condition, they are both a similar price,, the sansamp is a bit more expensive. Bearing in mind also,,there are quite a lot of used jmp,s around,, whereas,,, used sansamps are as hard to find as the proverbialy rare rocking horse shite,,,, That in itself tells me something.
Am hoping that a few more used sansamps will start to appear, with the latest ver 1.1 now in the shops,,,
I think i have already made up my mind,, to be honest,,, but i would still like owners of both units to contribute to this thread if possible.
Thanks for the input so far,,,
Cheers,,, kev.
 
I own the PSA-1 and love it, love it, love it!
It can also be used for Bass, Piano and Mixdowns...it really is very versatile.
The new version is PSA-1.1 which has a few nice features found in their literature:
http://www.tech21nyc.com/psa_1_1.html

Plus, their support is above anything I've ever experienced. Complete thumbs up from me.
 
Right,,, here goes,,,,,
Managed to get hold of a SANSAMP PSA 1,,,,,,,,love it , love it, love it,,,
Jeeeeezz wept,,,,,I have been looking for something like this for nearly ten years,,,, its fuckin amazing,,, When i think of the amount of cash i have spent over the years on pedals and such like,,,, and i could have had something like this all along,,,,, makes me feel ill.
But,,, i did get a chance to have a play around with a marshall jmp as well.
Its very good,,, very impressed,,,, but,,, the sansamp wins hands down.
There can honestly be no competition between the two.
Marshall owners will disagree,,, and i accept that,,,,each to their own and all that,,, but,, after playing around with both of them,,, there really is only one winner,,,,,, SANSAMP PSA 1

Thanks for all the opinions and advice guys,, much appreciated,,
The search is over,,,, at last.
Cheers,, kev.
 
rxkevco said:
Hi Sillyhat,,,,
Thanks for the reply,,,,,
You say you " HAD ", both the marshall and the sansamp,,,, ??
What did you cross over to, when you got shut of the sansamp ???

I was lead to believe that under £500,, there was nothing better than the sansamp psa 1,,,, just wondered what tempted you to part with it...
cheers,, kev.
Click to expand...
I have a Marshall super lead, and JCM800, Bogner Extacy, Mesa road king, and an old Fender Princeton.

I don't play out anymore, so I had no need for it.
 
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