preamp before or after effects?

  • Thread starter Thread starter lo-fi life
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lo-fi life

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I just got my first preamp, the frugal ART Tube MP Studio Mic Preamp, and would like to know where it goes in the lineup, either before or after effects and if I need to worry about frying anything. I want to play guitar through it too.
Thanks for any advice.
 
First in your chain after instrument/mic. At least that is the norm. Maybe the next trick is to do other.

Welcome to the forum lo-fi! :D
 
A mic preamp brings the mic level signal up to line level, which is the level that the effects want to run at. I would be surprised if you could just plug the mic into an effects unit and get anything usable out of it.
 
These gents are correct. Preamp output, effects input, and effects loops all operate at line level.

Mic always goes to preamp first.
 
Oh it's usable if one's into the lo-fi genre, haha.
Nobody is touching my question about running a guitar through the mic preamp. The guitar is already up at line level, right? So if I boost it too high into the red, can I damage my effects units or pedals or amp? There's a knob for input and a knob for output on the preamp and I'm not fully understanding what that's about.
 
The guitar is not line level, it's instrument level. It also needs to see an appropriate input impedance from what ever you are plugging it into. If the preamp has an instrument input, you are good to go. IF it has a line input, the guitar might sound thinner and generally crappier than it would if you plugged it into an active direct box and then into the preamp.
 
lo-fi life said:
I just got my first preamp, the frugal ART Tube MP Studio Mic Preamp, and would like to know where it goes in the lineup, either before or after effects and if I need to worry about frying anything. I want to play guitar through it too.
Thanks for any advice.
Click to expand...
From looking at the specs, it looks like guitar -> effects pedals ->MP line input should work just right
 
Do guitar effects pedals not still put out instrument level signal?

I think you need a DI input, or a DI box as farview says.
Any guitar effects would go before this. Any line level effects would go after the preamp.

AFAIK this is why effects loops on guitar amps are usually switchable in level; It lets you use 'pro' line level stuff, or instrument level pedals.
 
Steenamaroo said:
Do guitar effects pedals not still put out instrument level signal?

AFAIK this is why effects loops on guitar amps are usually switchable in level; It lets you use 'pro' line level stuff, or instrument level pedals.
Click to expand...
I think you just answered your question.

However, it's not really the level that is the problem, sense the preamp has a level control. The thing that will kill the sound is the impedance mismatch. The pedals won't bring the signal up to line level, but it will act as an impedance buffer so you can plug it into a normal line input on your preamp without loading down the pickups and making them sound like crap.
 
Farview said:
I think you just answered your question.
Click to expand...

I did but I'm definitely open to correction.

You reckon guitar into pedals, going into a preamp line in is fine then? Just a little quieter than you'd expect, but fine?
 
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