# The ultimate destroyer of the peavey rockmaster preamp...



## lust of decay (Dec 7, 2010)

picked up a carvin T100 tube power amp yesterday for the low low. i was in the market for buying a new head and now this power amp shows up. im looking for a preamp like the rockmaster, but better. i seen a couple on ebay, but they look kinda beat up. for tone... as always death and new metal. budget? it would be nice to keep it under a $1000. wow... im stoked, i always wanted to run a rack.


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## dpm (Dec 7, 2010)

Under a grand? Mako MAK4. I'm seriously lusting for one, and that's a rare thing for me. Apparently there's a 3 month wait though, not sure how that effects you.


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## Ishan (Dec 7, 2010)

If you feel adventurous you could try the ISP Theta preamp


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## lust of decay (Dec 7, 2010)

Ishan said:


> If you feel adventurous you could try the ISP Theta preamp




thought about that preamp too, but i was wanting to go with a tube preamp. ss preamp with a tube power amp sounds a little bright to me. lacking something


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## Ishan (Dec 7, 2010)

The Theta is no ordinary SS preamp, you should try it if you can.


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## lust of decay (Dec 7, 2010)

Ishan said:


> The Theta is no ordinary SS preamp, you should try it if you can.




i'll take a look at them... that mako buddy mentioned sounds sweet. too bad there's a 3 month waiting time.


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## AustinxAtomic (Dec 7, 2010)

I had a Theta.
I didn't like it at all.
I just couldn't get good tone out of it.
Maybe it was my power amp..


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## JPhoenix19 (Dec 7, 2010)

Have you looked at the rocktron piranha? I've heard very impressive tones from them.


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## lust of decay (Dec 7, 2010)

not digging the tone of the theta preamp... anybody look at isp's vector cab? it's got a 15" sub and 2 12" mids... all powered. all you need is a preamp. bet that would give you some serious low end crunch. im sure their expensive as hell. anyways... im still searching for a preamp. anyother suggestions? took another look at the marko... since looking and sounds killer. their prices are confusing. i seen it for $850-$975.... i dont get it

http://www.isptechnologies.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=35&Itemid=99


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## MaxOfMetal (Dec 7, 2010)

What don't you like about the Rockmaster?

You could probably find either a Mesa Recto Pre, or Rocktron Prophesy for close to your budget.


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## lust of decay (Dec 7, 2010)

MaxOfMetal said:


> What don't you like about the Rockmaster?
> 
> You could probably find either a Mesa Recto Pre, or Rocktron Prophesy for close to your budget.




rockmaster? old, out of production, and... every one i've seen on ebay is beaten all to hell. road riden used up gig gear. fja mods does a killer mod for that preamp. i really dig the tone of it. sounds like a 5150 on roids


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## MaxOfMetal (Dec 7, 2010)

lust of decay said:


> rockmaster? old, out of production, and... every one i've seen on ebay is beaten all to hell. road riden used up gig gear. fja mods does a killer mod for that preamp. i really dig the tone of it. sounds like a 5150 on roids



I can honestly say, for $250 you're not going to find a better preamp, hell in a Metal context it even beats out some of the $500 and $750 Mesa, Carvin, and Rocktron units in many cases. Regardless of the condition of the Chassis which 99.9% of the time is just cosmetic, they pop up for sale quite often and are very reliable. 

If you dig the tone of it, pick up a couple (one for main, another for stereo/backup) and you'll be good to go. I've yet to hear another preamp (at least a cheaper production one) that sounds exactly like the Rockmaster. 

If you're willing to go used, look into the Mesa Studio Pre (preamp from a Recto), they're available at your price range and sound killer. If you want something with effects, the Rocktron Prophecy is a great choice. I've yet to play the Mako but I've heard nothing but good things.


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## JPhoenix19 (Dec 7, 2010)

MaxOfMetal said:


> ...If you're willing to go used, look into the Mesa Studio Pre (preamp from a _*Mark II*_)...




Fixed. Did you mean the Recto Recording Preamp?


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## MaxOfMetal (Dec 7, 2010)

JPhoenix19 said:


> Fixed. Did you mean the Recto Recording Preamp?



That I did. 

This is what I'm talking about:


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## lust of decay (Dec 7, 2010)

anything up to date that will compete or surpass the rockmaster? im looking to by asap... only rockmaster's i've seen on line dont look too hot. beat all to hell. looks like it was used as replacement for a hockey puck lol


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## MaxOfMetal (Dec 7, 2010)

Both of these look to be in great shape (eBay item numbers):
130462964116
130462338825

Look into the ENGL E530. It's simple and does Metal really well.


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## Inazone (Dec 7, 2010)

AMT Electronics SS-10 looks a LOT like the Rockmaster:

AMT ELECTRONICS SS-10 ProStudio 3-Channel Rackmount Preamp | AMT SS-10 | AMT Electronics Pedals - PedalsPlus Effects Warehouse

I've never tried one, but you can probably find clips online. As good as their Legend pedals sound (the P1 cops a great 5150/6505 tone) I have to believe that the SS-10 would be awesome. However, don't let rack rash deter you from buying a used Rockmaster. I bought one, and damn it sounds good. I'm running it through a Carvin T100 and couldn't be happier.


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## lust of decay (Dec 7, 2010)

MaxOfMetal said:


> Both of these look to be in great shape (eBay item numbers):
> 130462964116
> 130462338825
> 
> Look into the ENGL E530. It's simple and does Metal really well.




how bout i get both lol? engl and the peavey. that ole engl looks and sounds bad ass, but i dont think it has distortion like the rockmaster. wasnt the E530 designed for rock/blues?


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## MaxOfMetal (Dec 7, 2010)

I don't know what the E530 was designed for, but what I do know is that it can deliver some quality Metal tones, and quite easily at that.


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## Mordacain (Dec 7, 2010)

This doesn't like rock or blues to me


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## lust of decay (Dec 7, 2010)

engl just about has me sold... it would be nice to buy both to do a tone test. engl is cleaner, less fizz... rockmaster is throaty, deep crunch... nasty gain. i want them both lol!


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## raximkoron (Dec 7, 2010)

I run the Rockmaster and the e530 in stereo in my rig. the e530 sounds great, but needed help in areas I wanted more of (High mids and bass) which is why I also use the Rockmaster. Gives me a more open throaty sound as well as having the tight punch of the e530.

Switching channels on both at the same time was a bit of a chore, but I have it figured out now (Rockmaster gets switched by my G-Major on a patch by patch basis, e530 gets switched via the Behringer FCB1010 as it calls those patches)

The e530 might be called the "Modern Rock" preamp, but it has enough gain to go from country twang to blues grit to thrash metal and even djent, but I suppose any piece of "high-gain" equipment will have enough gain to get up there.


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## lust of decay (Dec 7, 2010)

raximkoron said:


> I run the Rockmaster and the e530 in stereo in my rig. the e530 sounds great, but needed help in areas I wanted more of (High mids and bass) which is why I also use the Rockmaster. Gives me a more open throaty sound as well as having the tight punch of the e530.
> 
> Switching channels on both at the same time was a bit of a chore, but I have it figured out now (Rockmaster gets switched by my G-Major on a patch by patch basis, e530 gets switched via the Behringer FCB1010 as it calls those patches)
> 
> The e530 might be called the "Modern Rock" preamp, but it has enough gain to go from country twang to blues grit to thrash metal and even djent, but I suppose any piece of "high-gain" equipment will have enough gain to get up there.



by itself... the e530 doesnt have enough throaty open low end crunch like the rockmaster? you ever run a boost with the e530?


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## troyguitar (Dec 7, 2010)

You might be able to get a Triaxis for $1000. I've never owned one but they're supposed to be fantastic.


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## dpm (Dec 7, 2010)

The Mako had an $850 introductory price that has since risen to $975. Considering they're assembled to order by one guy I think that's a bargain.

I had a Triaxis for quite a while. Depends on the exact tone you're after but it's not your modern death metal kind of sound IMO. Still a great pre.


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## Wookieslayer (Dec 7, 2010)

If I were going rack gear I'd be looking for a Rockmaster or the e530


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## xtacles (Dec 7, 2010)

I had two Rocktron Piranha's for a while, and also an ADA MP-1. I liked both. If you've got a $1k budget though why not look at a Triaxis?


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## TMM (Dec 7, 2010)

Check this out for a Rockmaster clip:

http://www.sevenstring.org/forum/ge...fordable-brutal-tone-content.html#post2217966

I wouldn't hesitate to buy one if it's what you're looking for. Yeah, a lot of them are sort of beat, but if you look at that from the other side of things, 75% of them are beat to shit, still work perfectly, and level a good majority of modern day tube preamps while they're at it. I call that a pretty sound investment.

A few other good tube DM preamps in the < $1k price range are the Rocktron Piranha, Rocktron Prophesy, MAK4 (I'm after one too, Dan!), Soldano SP77 (boosted), Marshall JMP-1 (boosted), and ART DST-4.

I would also personally recommend against any of the Mesa preamps for modern, super-saturated DM-tone usage. I've tried all of them, and none of them met with my approval. I have a rack Dual Rec, and love it, but none of the Mesa preamps come close to that level of brutality and juicy tone.


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## raximkoron (Dec 13, 2010)

lust of decay said:


> by itself... the e530 doesnt have enough throaty open low end crunch like the rockmaster? you ever run a boost with the e530?



Yeah, to me the E530 is really low-mid heavy (I run it pretty dark though) and I run the Rockmaster with a generous amount of high-mids (cranked pretty high with the pot pulled out).

I've tried to run a boost (TS9DX) in front of both the E530 and the Rockmaster and didn't notice much of any benefit from either. I'd assume it's because they both run rather hot and saturated as it is and don't need much help in boosting mids (I have Blackouts in my guitar, so the signal's hot from there as well).


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## Underworld (Dec 13, 2010)

I had an ADA MP-1 mod 666 ... awesome preamp! With a Mesa 2:90 I nailed some Hypocrisy kinda tone.

The rockmaster and the E530 are both great and will do the job just fine. The peavey will sound more aggressive, abrasive, high mids, gritty, and the ENGL will be more on the low mid side, articulate, "clear" but still mean.


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## Inazone (Dec 14, 2010)

I think of the E530 as having the better clarity for solos, and the Rockmaster as being more suited to really saturated, grinding riffing. I borrowed an E530 for a few practices, and although my solos sounded great through it, palm-muted rhythms and trem picking just weren't to my liking.


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## I is be sexy (Dec 14, 2010)

raximkoron said:


> I run the Rockmaster and the e530 in stereo in my rig. the e530 sounds great, but needed help in areas I wanted more of (High mids and bass) which is why I also use the Rockmaster. Gives me a more open throaty sound as well as having the tight punch of the e530.
> 
> Switching channels on both at the same time was a bit of a chore, but I have it figured out now (Rockmaster gets switched by my G-Major on a patch by patch basis, e530 gets switched via the Behringer FCB1010 as it calls those patches)
> 
> The e530 might be called the "Modern Rock" preamp, but it has enough gain to go from country twang to blues grit to thrash metal and even djent, but I suppose any piece of "high-gain" equipment will have enough gain to get up there.



Actually, I've been thinking of upgrading to a rack setup, and I wanted to use those same 2 preamps, and I had been looking for ways to switch both at the same time... I had been thinking I'd have to get 2 G-Majors, but that would be expensive and take up 2u, so it seems like your idea works much better... but, can you use the G-Major's effects on both preamps, or does it really only sound good if you use it for stereo effects for one preamp?


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## raximkoron (Dec 15, 2010)

I is be sexy said:


> Actually, I've been thinking of upgrading to a rack setup, and I wanted to use those same 2 preamps, and I had been looking for ways to switch both at the same time... I had been thinking I'd have to get 2 G-Majors, but that would be expensive and take up 2u, so it seems like your idea works much better... but, can you use the G-Major's effects on both preamps, or does it really only sound good if you use it for stereo effects for one preamp?



They sound fine for me by running the Engl on the right and the Peavey on the left on the same G-Major unit. I run them into a Fryette 2/90/2 and out into a stereo 4x12. The disadvantage of that live is that the audience will only get to hear half of what you're putting out there (or a quarter since I'm running the 4x12 in an X-pattern with different speakers), but since they both sound great, it hasn't bothered me yet.

If you like to tweak for days, going with 2 G-Major's wouldn't be a bad way to go, that way you could tailor the perfect effects and EQ for both pre's independently, you'd just link them together via MIDI, but since I had the FCB1010 that had switching capabilities, it was just easier and cheaper to go that route.


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## I is be sexy (Dec 15, 2010)

raximkoron said:


> They sound fine for me by running the Engl on the right and the Peavey on the left on the same G-Major unit. I run them into a Fryette 2/90/2 and out into a stereo 4x12. The disadvantage of that live is that the audience will only get to hear half of what you're putting out there (or a quarter since I'm running the 4x12 in an X-pattern with different speakers), but since they both sound great, it hasn't bothered me yet.
> 
> If you like to tweak for days, going with 2 G-Major's wouldn't be a bad way to go, that way you could tailor the perfect effects and EQ for both pre's independently, you'd just link them together via MIDI, but since I had the FCB1010 that had switching capabilities, it was just easier and cheaper to go that route.



Thanks... I haven't used a stereo setup before, so I had thought that using the two would make the audience hear both, not one or the other... To you, does using the two together seem that much better than either separately? Because right now I have a Randall RM50 (might be trading up to an RM100) and the main reason I wanted to upgrade to rack was to be able to run two amps together, and I might just stick to what I have if the two preamps in stereo don't actually "blend" together


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## raximkoron (Dec 16, 2010)

I is be sexy said:


> Thanks... I haven't used a stereo setup before, so I had thought that using the two would make the audience hear both, not one or the other... To you, does using the two together seem that much better than either separately? Because right now I have a Randall RM50 (might be trading up to an RM100) and the main reason I wanted to upgrade to rack was to be able to run two amps together, and I might just stick to what I have if the two preamps in stereo don't actually "blend" together



They'd be audible for the audience if you used two speaker cabs and had them both mic'ed, but since I just run my rig with one 4x12, that's just crazy for a venue to mic so I let it go.

A lot of the reason I use both is that the Rockmaster has a lot more bass on tap than the E530 does, so I chunk up my sound with it quite a bit. It's not really necessary, but since I have the equipment, I'm rollin' with it.


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## I is be sexy (Dec 16, 2010)

raximkoron said:


> They'd be audible for the audience if you used two speaker cabs and had them both mic'ed, but since I just run my rig with one 4x12, that's just crazy for a venue to mic so I let it go.
> 
> A lot of the reason I use both is that the Rockmaster has a lot more bass on tap than the E530 does, so I chunk up my sound with it quite a bit. It's not really necessary, but since I have the equipment, I'm rollin' with it.



Okay, thanks for the help!


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## guitarplayerone (Dec 17, 2010)

The engl,,, hmm
I hate it whenever I DI it

but in a room (even without a poweramp) it sounds great, if a bit stiff
It's pretty cheap.

I would go for a higher end engl pre if you could find one on the cheap tho


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## Andromalia (Dec 17, 2010)

I haven't ever seen a good metal review for the mesa recording preamp.

As far as cheap preamps go, try finding an old ADA MP1 or MP2 (I like the MP2 better) in addition to the aforementioned. Should go for 250-300ish$. Oh and nobody has even cited the JMP1 ?


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