Trident S20 Preamp

[Nerdyrocker]

Yes. It is good.

SEARCH!

[AMIEL]

I seached..I want an opinion of somebody that doesnt work in a magazine!!!

Good?

what tthat mean?

can you explain better? more details?

thanks!

[dokushoka]

The best thing about it is that its very fast to my ears. IMO, it works well for overheads and electric guitars. Is it worth the money it costs new? I would say no.

[chandlersonic]

It sounds ok, but I would rather get something else personally, I like the Daking 4 channel way better.

[AMIEL]

I am just asking because a friend want U$500 he got one from an uncle .

anyway is worth it for U$500

[IPLayHamers]

Definately worth the $500. As said earlier it's fast, but also open and clear without sounding too clinical. Nice on most things I've run through it, although you may want something that colors the sound more for electric guitar.

I say snag it at that price.

IPH

[Bang]

one of the best pres on the planet imo. I use it on everything. Sounds clear and open and the high end sounds awesome. Guitars, great. Snare, awesome. Kick, huge. Really the most underrated pre available. Its all over these songs:

www.yellowmatterrecords.com/slate/Ambrosia.wav
www.yellowmatterrecords.com/slate/Run.wav

[Matt Grabe]

I love this preamp, even amongst the high end pres. I think it is definitely worth the $1,000 price tag ... even better, used you can find them for cheap Highly underrated in my opinion.

[Empora]

WAHEY! 4 year old thread! VINTAGE ha ha!

At least know-one can say (whiney voice)- "do a search" lol.

Anyone used this pre on snare drum? Any good, heard that it's fast, could it be a contender for someone who can't afford an API and isn't happy with their ISA or TLA pre's?

[AllAboutTone]

Originally Posted by AMIEL

I seached..I want an opinion of somebody that doesnt work in a magazine!!!

Good?

what tthat mean?

can you explain better? more details?

thanks!

The knobs are weird and can give issues also stepped, otherwise the pre is a bit on the darker side but not real dark and can be pushed w/o over driving easy, can sound great on snare drum, guitars and bass, does it have a good detail mid push? NO but it was designed to tame the harsh digital sound when it came out, the lights on it are very cool, the dual inputs can be ok but there is a pop when switched A to B. I have owned a few, they are worth 500.00 after that you can find better deals even going 500 series.
The dual pre is not worth 1,000 retail.
btw, I heard it was good on OHs as well, I never tried it though. Make sure its in great condition for 500 just incase you want to resell.

[kristjankisi]

I like mine very much, got it for 250 usd. one of the best buys I've made. Has done me proud on almost everything. I almost bought another one for 325 usd. and regret letting it slip by everytime I use the one I have.

Kris

[Xaque]

Love it. Love the S40 more. The EQ on the S40 is just plain awesome. Only thing I don't love with the trident S20 is vocals. Little too fast.

[robertshaw]

not bad, ic based but decent. gets no love since
**** **** designed it

[contrattore]

i never understood why everybody hate that guy.
he's the father of the english EQ !

[musicianof1]

I've had a lot of luck using with elec guitars, kick and snare. I also had great results using it for vocals through a tube mic. A bit thick, but that made it useful in my case.

[robertshaw]

Originally Posted by contrattore

i never understood why everybody hate that guy.
he's the father of the english EQ !

howabout step father......

any way a few years back I had one I snagged off ebay for 450 so I could have a couple extra channels for drums if I needed them. One time we did a vocal session with it me and 2 other guys did 50 tracks each. I sounded good stacked. Then again how can you tell if 150 vocals sounds good it's so huge anyway.

never used it on gtrs or anything. Just used it for extra drum mics so it only saw like bottom of snare, ride or hh. But it worked and didn't sound shrill or anything. I would say if you can get one for under 500 it's worth it. but then again I think the mackie onyx is a similar ic design and you can get a whole board for like 700 16ch. so?? hmmmm...

I would ask jimmy Williams or one of those tech guys since there may be a complete console available w/ a similar design for around the same money. plus it will have eq. The pre is not on the level of many if not all 500 series stuff but again it does the job.

as ozzy said once or twice 'I don't know'

[AllAboutTone]

Originally Posted by musicianof1

I've had a lot of luck using with elec guitars, kick and snare. I also had great results using it for vocals through a tube mic. A bit thick, but that made it useful in my case.

I agree, I use it some on vocals and other stuff, where the most fun is deciding if you like the 512 over the s20 on snare, both are amazing, both are different, some days its the s20, some days its the 512..Fast pre, love it and cannot go wrong a dual high end pre for 500.....WOW
I wish Trident would go 500 series.

[guitar012001]

Just thought I would relay a success story. I just purchased a "non-working" Trident S20 from Guitar Center for $200. They said it wasn't working at all though and that's why the price wars lowered. I connected it and I could see audio going into the preamp by the response of the led meters but there wasn't any audio coming out of the unit. I completely disassembled it and removed the circuit boards and checked for bad solder joints. I found nothing faulty. I then removed the power board and noticed that the internally threaded post where the circuit board gets its ground had been painted over. I scraped the paint of of the post and reassembled the preamp and everything is working fine! Just a heads up!!

[Ponch]

Hey Guitar,
What a steal you got! A few years ago when I helped a friend close down his studio and sell off the gear, he paid me by letting me pick out a few pieces I wanted as payment. I picked out the S20 and an Avalon 737! Now I use the S20 with KSM 32s for my overheads and love it.

[Basslik]

Revive (wow), anyway I have a chance to buy one for $100, in today's pre amp world is that still a good buy?, of course he's going to let me try it out too.

[JFernandez]

Great buy at 500! Listen and check it out for yourself. I have it here along with the s40, they sound great with my tube mics, another color in the palette.

[Bill@WelcomeHome]

Originally Posted by contrattore

i never understood why everybody hate that guy.
he's the father of the english EQ !

I bought one of his multichannel pres, got a lot of good use from it. I almost bought the 40 just as a spare. I had also been getting the bad vibe feel from people and didn't understand why, he is a salesman, and I said something about that one day...next thing I knew I was being attacked in emails, which bummed me out because i happen to like the guy and he treated me fairly in our dealings. (shrug.) Would I rather have some Daking or Fearn? Sure. But I was okay with what the Trident brought to the table, too.