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Warm, Round, full sounding pre for acoustic guitar
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Old 18th January 2007   #1
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Warm, Round, full sounding pre for acoustic guitar

Just curious what anyone would recommend...Also would be nice if it could do well for vocals too...Thanks
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Old 18th January 2007   #2
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Great River Mp2nv

or

A-dsigns Pacifica..


You be the judge.. Find a store that will let you test drive them..

Make your own decision.

Best of luck..
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Old 18th January 2007   #3
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Buzz Elixir...or tell Jens at Eisen Audio what you want he'll do his magic the newest pre he put together for me has a JLM opamp and has the biggest richest tone. unbelievable.
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Old 18th January 2007   #4
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AMS-Neve 1073 DPA/DPD - can't go wrong with that!

I also like Wunder's pre's
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Old 18th January 2007   #5
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Originally Posted by heyman View Post
Great River Mp2nv

or

A-dsigns Pacifica..


You be the judge.. Find a store that will let you test drive them..

Make your own decision.

Best of luck..

Yes, how would you suggest going about finding a place that will let me test them out? I live in Connecticut...Actually, I remeber Calistro music...
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Old 18th January 2007   #6
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i love the A-Designs MP-2A for acoustic guitar deep and wide.
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Old 18th January 2007   #7
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I live in Providence, but am originally from CT.. Welcome My fellow New Englander.
If you are not far from providence, you are more than welcome to come up to my place to try out the Great River..


Criag at Calistro might be willing to let you try those out with a deposit..

I know that Mercenary is gracious enough to let you try before you buy..


www.Mercenary.com (foxboro, Mass)

Any questions, PM me or respond back..

Best of luck..
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Old 18th January 2007   #8
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Phoenix Audio (UK) DRS-2
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Old 18th January 2007   #9
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When I want nice highs, I use my Pacifica.

When I want dark mids, I use my 6176.
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Old 18th January 2007   #10
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John Hardy M-1!!!
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Old 18th January 2007   #11
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Another vote for the Phoenix Audio DRS-2!
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Old 18th January 2007   #12
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When I think "round" I do not think Pacifica. The Pacifica is a great acoustic mic pre, but I wouldn't describe its tone as "warm and round". It's more aggressive, tighter, not as huge sounding but with a lot of high-mids/high-end shimmer.

I think a high-end tube pre will give you more of the qualities you are after. Sebatron VMP-2000e, A-Designs MP-2, or the Tube Tech MP-1a. I've owned all three of these tubes pres (currently own the Sebatron) and you can't go wrong.
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Old 18th January 2007   #13
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tube-tech mp-1a.
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Old 18th January 2007   #14
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Maybe most pres in a nice full warm sounding room would do the trick.
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Old 18th January 2007   #15
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i love the A-Designs MP-2A for acoustic guitar deep and wide.
Me too.
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Old 18th January 2007   #16
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Pendulum Audio MDP-1a ... of course this all depends on the guitar, player, style, mix, arangement... where Orion falls in the sky... etc, etc, etc,

All kidding aside, the Pendulum's my fav for acoustic guitar and seems to work most instances for me.
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Old 18th January 2007   #17
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Interesting suggestions on here...many I personally don't view as 'warm/round' but more on the fast and articulate side of things (which is far from bad, but if you say you want a Brunette a Blonde isn't going to do it). Warm and round to me means audible harmonic distortion and either an attenuated high end or bump in the low mids with maybe a slightly limited bandwidth and some phase shift. In other words obvious coloration and lots of it. Something in the Neve(ish) or Telefunken camp (and their respective recreations) would qualify for this (but not so much anything API-ish), the Chandler TG or Germanium, or the more colored tube preamps like Manley, Tube Tech, or Mercury (which are very similar to the Telefunken preamps). Just my two cents of experience.
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Old 18th January 2007   #18
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The main mic I use for acoustic is an AKG solidtube, which is a pretty dark round mic itself which I like, so I'm not sure how well it would mix with a dark tube pre...The pres I'm using now are the moded BLA 002 pres which have been really good on everything except for acoustic guitar...The acoustic sounds I'm getting are just a bit sterile...SO there is a bit more info....Let me know what are good matches with darker tube mics...
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Old 18th January 2007   #19
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How about getting a better/warmer/rounder/fuller sounding mic?
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Old 18th January 2007   #20
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The Telefunken mic pres are my favorite for this application. The tube V72 and V76 units can be expensive but are great. A better value would be the 1st generation solid state units like the Siemens made V276 and the TAB made V376. Oliver Archut at TAB Funkenwerk makes a modern versions of V72 (called the V72s) if you want something new. While warm and round, the Telefunkens are also open sounding, and they work on pretty much anything.

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Old 18th January 2007   #21
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Stoneroses6300 View Post
The main mic I use for acoustic is an AKG solidtube, which is a pretty dark round mic itself which I like, so I'm not sure how well it would mix with a dark tube pre...The pres I'm using now are the moded BLA 002 pres which have been really good on everything except for acoustic guitar...The acoustic sounds I'm getting are just a bit sterile...SO there is a bit more info....Let me know what are good matches with darker tube mics...
I like the AEA TRP with dark sounding mics. After all, it was designed for ribbons. If you use a TRP with the solidtube you'll need phantom power (as the TRP doesn't supply pp). Atlas audio sells a combo TRP and phantom power unit. Fantastic pre and way inexpensive.

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Old 19th January 2007   #22
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Originally Posted by gm5k View Post
Buzz Elixir...or tell Jens at Eisen Audio what you want he'll do his magic the newest pre he put together for me has a JLM opamp and has the biggest richest tone. unbelievable.
Does he actually asemble the whole pre, or do you have to do it yourself using his selection of electronics (kit) ?

Cheers,
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Old 19th January 2007   #23
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we have the phoenix, the chandler tg-2, and the pendulum mentioned, and we've either tried and returned, or used, Pacifica A, Great River, Hardy, Millennia, Buzz and Neve -- we use the Phoenix and Chandler alot for somewhat warmer acoustic gtr sounds, and the Pendulum when we want it more open and airy (but still smooth)...
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Old 19th January 2007   #24
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Originally Posted by NathanEldred View Post
Interesting suggestions on here...many I personally don't view as 'warm/round' but more on the fast and articulate side of things (which is far from bad, but if you say you want a Brunette a Blonde isn't going to do it). Warm and round to me means audible harmonic distortion and either an attenuated high end or bump in the low mids with maybe a slightly limited bandwidth and some phase shift. In other words obvious coloration and lots of it. Something in the Neve(ish) or Telefunken camp (and their respective recreations) would qualify for this (but not so much anything API-ish), the Chandler TG or Germanium, or the more colored tube preamps like Manley, Tube Tech, or Mercury (which are very similar to the Telefunken preamps). Just my two cents of experience.
I'm with Nate.

Most of the stuff mentioned thus far in the thread falls into the 'fast and clear' asile as far as I can hear.

Try a Fern VT-4.

Or, if ya wanna go crazy... just plug a Sennheiser 441 directly into an BA-6A(it's got so much make-up gain you don't NEED a pre-amp) and really lose yer marbles. A stunt I stole from Fletcher.

Bless his pointy head.

SM.
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Old 19th January 2007   #25
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AEA TRP would be my choice!!!
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Old 19th January 2007   #26
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A brand spankin new SOLO 610 warm round shiny and sweet!

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Old 19th January 2007   #27
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AEA TRP with ribbons is plenty warm. Worked great on my 12 string. No ribbons - then use an A designs MP=2A in general.
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Old 20th January 2007   #28
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Maybe most pres in a nice full warm sounding room would do the trick.
Yep. And a guitarist who can get a rich and round tone.

Beyond that, I used an Avalon 737sp in a studio that smoothed out transients to be way smoother than the live sound, and did it really nicely.
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Old 20th January 2007   #29
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... and the Pendulum when we want it more open and airy (but still smooth)...
Exactly my feelings... the Pendulum is definitely not a "colored" pre to my ears BUT, it still has a soft silk or even a fine velvet sort of quality to it while still delivering articulate detail. Precisely why I love the thing.

That being said, you can push the Pendulum into 'fuzzy love' by crankin' up the input gain.

"Warm and Round" for me personaly doesn't necessarily conjure up something with a definite distortion or 'color' to it... rather, W&R's a more gentle kinda thing... to me anyway. But then again I've allways walked a bit off the beaten path...
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Old 20th January 2007   #30
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Solid-state falls short for warm 'n round. Vintage tube is only one I've heard do that.
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