# TC Electronic Integrated Preamplifier



## vontetzianos (Oct 4, 2008)

Hi guys,

I've been trying to gather info on how I can achieve the fabled Meshuggah Chaosphere/DEI tone and I have heard a lot about different mics as well as the TC electronic Integrated preamplifier. I know it is a clean boost, but is it a rack unit or is it a pedal? Can someone please help me by telling me where I can find it, because it isnt on their website and hardly anything comes up when I google it.

If by some chance it isnt produced anymore, what kind of boost will help me to achieve the same kind of sound.

Many thanks


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## stuh84 (Oct 4, 2008)

It hasn't been made in YEARS, and very hard to come across to be honest without eBaying. There was a store in Sweden that i've tried about three times to buy one from, but they stop exchanging emails about the time it comes to paying.


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## vontetzianos (Oct 4, 2008)

stuh84 said:


> It hasn't been made in YEARS, and very hard to come across to be honest without eBaying. There was a store in Sweden that i've tried about three times to buy one from, but they stop exchanging emails about the time it comes to paying.


 
But what exactly is it?


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## stuh84 (Oct 4, 2008)

Its a small device, about as big as a pedal, but with no footswitch. Thats about yer lot


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## mnemonic (Oct 4, 2008)

its a clean boost pedal. i beleive they were line-drivers made to make up for signal loss from mics and whatnot when you run a really long cable or something, but you can also use them for guitar.

from what i've gathered, its just a 20db (or 25? i forget) boost with an active 2 band eq on it.

not sure if there's anything special about it beyond that... everywhere i've asked, i've been told its just a clean boost, so i suppose either an eq pedal with the level pushed up, or a clean boost pedal would work as a replacement.


pic of a really trashed one


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## vontetzianos (Oct 4, 2008)

mnemonic said:


> its a clean boost pedal. i beleive they were line-drivers made to make up for signal loss from mics and whatnot when you run a really long cable or something, but you can also use them for guitar.
> 
> from what i've gathered, its just a 20db (or 25? i forget) boost with an active 2 band eq on it.
> 
> not sure if there's anything special about it beyond that... everywhere i've asked, i've been told its just a clean boost, so i suppose either an eq pedal with the level pushed up, or a clean boost pedal would work as a replacement.


 
Well apparently it has been recommended if you want that Chaosphere Meshuggah sound, but is it really necessary, or will another pedal work just as well?


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## stuh84 (Oct 4, 2008)

Linking to another forum here, but these pages are worth a look

TC Integrated Preamp VS. TC Booster+Distiotion (MP3 CLIPS!!) - Official Meshuggah Forum
TC Integrated Preamp - Official Meshuggah Forum


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## Regor (Oct 4, 2008)

If you're hell bent on getting Meshuggah's tone, just get a Vetta and a BBE. That's what they're using.


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## stuh84 (Oct 4, 2008)

Regor said:


> If you're hell bent on getting Meshuggah's tone, just get a Vetta and a BBE. That's what they're using.



Correction: WERE using, its all Axe FX's now

Keep up with the times man, that is so....2 months ago  (just fucking with ya dude )


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## Regor (Oct 4, 2008)

stuh84 said:


> Correction: WERE using, its all Axe FX's now
> 
> Keep up with the times man, that is so....2 months ago  (just fucking with ya dude )



Yeah, BUT he's talking about getting Mesuggah's OLD tone. Not the newest tone.

And frankly, they used Line6 even on ObZen. So nothing they've recorded was with the AxeFX.


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## TomAwesome (Oct 4, 2008)

Did they use the TCE unit on Chaosphere? That was back when they recorded with Mesas, was't it?


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## stuh84 (Oct 4, 2008)

Meshuggah's recording gear - once and for all - Official Meshuggah Forum

According to this they've been running it since None and beyond. I think it took until they started using the Vetta's for them to ditch it.


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## vontetzianos (Oct 5, 2008)

stuh84 said:


> Meshuggah's recording gear - once and for all - Official Meshuggah Forum
> 
> According to this they've been running it since None and beyond. I think it took until they started using the Vetta's for them to ditch it.


 
But is it necessary for that chaosphere tone, or will another pedal work as well?


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## AVH (Oct 5, 2008)

Regor said:


> If you're hell bent on getting Meshuggah's tone, just get a Vetta and a BBE. That's what they're using.


 

Sorry Regor, I don't know where you got the idea they used BBE's - but they've never used those. Marten thinks they sound like plastic.


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## stuh84 (Oct 5, 2008)

vontetzianos said:


> But is it necessary for that chaosphere tone, or will another pedal work as well?



Have a look at the other links I posted, it discusses the TCE preamp in great depth.


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## Regor (Oct 6, 2008)

Dendroaspis said:


> Sorry Regor, I don't know where you got the idea they used BBE's - but they've never used those. Marten thinks they sound like plastic.



I got the idea when I saw one in their rack setup at the Emerald Theater in Mount Clemens, MI when they were on tour with Ministry for their "C U LA Tour".


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## AVH (Oct 6, 2008)

Regor said:


> I got the idea when I saw one in their rack setup at the Emerald Theater in Mount Clemens, MI when they were on tour with Ministry for their "C U LA Tour".




<long sigh....> man, I get weary of this...jeez guy, I think it's pretty well established on this forum that I'm actually friends with them - fuck, I've known Marten for about 9 years now, played their guitars, helped setup, had my head literally stuck inside those racks on numerous occasions, etc. Hell, I even did the interview here with him for this forum...

Seriously, when it comes to Mesh, I actually DO know what I'm talking about. I'm not going to go spewing bullshit, I have nothing to gain from that. 

They have _never_ used BBE's in their racks. Period. You were mistaken, sorry. We all make mistakes. 

Here's an example to refresh your memory, and I have lots of pics I haven't shown.
http://www.sevenstring.org/forum/general-music-discussion/56646-oh-yeah-some-toronto-mesh-pics.html

So no,  right back at ya.


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## Regor (Oct 6, 2008)

Dendroaspis said:


> <long sigh....> man, I get weary of this...jeez guy, I think it's pretty well established on this forum that I'm actually friends with them - fuck, I've known Marten for about 9 years now, played their guitars, helped setup, had my head literally stuck inside those racks on numerous occasions, etc. Hell, I even did the interview here with him for this forum...
> 
> Seriously, when it comes to Mesh, I actually DO know what I'm talking about. I'm not going to go spewing bullshit, I have nothing to gain from that.
> 
> ...



Hey dude, I hate to burst your EGO bubble, but saying "I think it's pretty well established on this forum that I'm actually friends with them" would require ME to have A) Read your posts in the past regarding Meshuggah and B) Actually care.

You live in Toronto, they live in Sweden. I don't care if you're friends with them or not. I know what "I" saw. And I saw a flight rack with a Vetta head, and a red, stereo BBE. Not sure of the model number, cuz I hate BBEs, but I know one when I see one.

So get off your high horse and blow me pal.


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## AVH (Oct 7, 2008)

Yes Regor, you're absolutely right. Ego, I'm not so sure thats in context, but yes I came off as totally obnoxious, and I apologize for it. My wife is a psychologist who makes quite sure I'm aware of when I am too. 

None of this is worth arguing over, is it? You have every right to think what you like, and so do I. Let's just leave it at that.

The part I fail to understand is what do our locations have anything to do with it...I have family both in Norway and Sweden, and go over there twice yearly. Please make no presumptions about my life or who/what I know...., I'm disappointed that you couldn't just state your case constructively without lowering yourself to using a simple, troglodyte insult with a public request for fellatio from another man - which to me is puzzling itself. 

There's no need to respond further - I won't. 

Ha det bra.


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## Regor (Oct 7, 2008)

My point behind location is this. You can be the best of friends with someone, but if you're not next to them 24/7, you can't always know what they're doing. True?

Hypothetically speaking, if they wanted to add BBEs to their racks all of a sudden.... they don't have to call you and clear it with you, do they? No. Therefore, my 'troglodyte' point is that you can't always know what is going on with another person. You may have had your head in their rack. But things can change in a moment's notice.

I'm not blind. And I know what a BBE looks like. And I know what I saw. That's the endpoint to my arguement


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## eleven59 (Oct 7, 2008)

Regor said:


> My point behind location is this. You can be the best of friends with someone, but if you're not next to them 24/7, you can't always know what they're doing. True?
> 
> Hypothetically speaking, if they wanted to add BBEs to their racks all of a sudden.... they don't have to call you and clear it with you, do they? No. Therefore, my 'troglodyte' point is that you can't always know what is going on with another person. You may have had your head in their rack. But things can change in a moment's notice.
> 
> I'm not blind. And I know what a BBE looks like. And I know what I saw. That's the endpoint to my arguement



This was a tour with Ministry?

I'd like to point out that Ministry also uses Line6, so how sure are you that it was Meshuggah's racks?

Not trying to join the arguement, but since he jumped out, I figured I'd raise a point I thought of, moreso out of curiosity than trying to be confrontational


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## Regor (Oct 7, 2008)

eleven59 said:


> This was a tour with Ministry?
> 
> I'd like to point out that Ministry also uses Line6, so how sure are you that it was Meshuggah's racks?
> 
> Not trying to join the arguement, but since he jumped out, I figured I'd raise a point I thought of, moreso out of curiosity than trying to be confrontational



No problem. I'm always open to any discussions.

As for "Are you sure its not Ministry's racks"... The racks that were on stage when Meshuggah played were in front of Ministry's stage props, and were promptly removed after they finished their set. In addition, there weren't any visible gear on stage when Ministry was playing. All their gear was behind the scenes.

But you know what? That raises a good point. Who knows if Meshuggah even used their own amps then? They might have just had presets in the Vettas of Ministry's racks? Less gear to haul and setup? Hell, I'd have done it.


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## Alekke (May 20, 2010)

so I asked on one forum about this device, can it be cloned and stuff. 
Guys found scheme on some other forum, I dont know, those guys are technicians. 
They said it can be cloned easy. So I decided to order one clone of TC IP cause I really dig that DEI sound.

Has anybody else has experience with clones of this device?

When I get it, I'll tell you how it sounds.


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## snuif09 (May 21, 2010)

does someone have a schematic of this thing?

id like to build one just for funsies


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## Alekke (May 22, 2010)

heres one that one guy posted on one local forum that I'm going to use to build mine. Well not me, but I'm paying dude to build it for me. Just hope it's an authentic schematic diagram


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## snuif09 (May 22, 2010)

hell yes =D thanks alot man i have every component except for the IC so im going to build this soon =)


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## Alekke (May 24, 2010)

snuif09 said:


> hell yes =D thanks alot man i have every component except for the IC so im going to build this soon =)



tell us how it works! clips are desirable! 

can you tell is this a genuine scheme?


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## snuif09 (May 24, 2010)

yea it looks legit it has 3 knobs and an input and output so it will work i just started making pedals so i cant really so which component actually does something specific to the sound but i can put schemes together haha xD

but this has one ic wich is typical for a booster


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## Alekke (Jun 11, 2010)

Mine will be finished this weekend. It will be made in a simple MXR-like case and it will have a true bypass switch and a led diode.

This is how it looks so far:





Lets just hope its a right scheme.  

When finished, I will post more pics and clips (if it will work with PODfarm cause my setup is way huge to carry home, and computer is big to carry too)


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## snuif09 (Jun 11, 2010)

nice man i pretty much fucked up the pcb etching process and i dont have the money to buy new stuff so ill have to wait for a while ><


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## Alekke (Jun 13, 2010)

FINISHED!












I'let you know how it sounds!


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## Customisbetter (Jun 13, 2010)

Wow this thread certainly went places. 

Excited for clips.


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## TomAwesome (Jun 13, 2010)

That looks nice!


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## Alekke (Jun 17, 2010)

OK, a little review and a possible issue.
I played a while on my clone of TC electronic PRE and at first I wasn't impressed. In fact my opinion is that something is wrong with it because it gives a nasty "booom" in the low end like fart when playing powerchord on 7th string tones around B without palm muting. And overall nothing special bout it.

Than I contacted TC bout the circuit scheme, and they told me the first scheme is genuine, and that scheme is used in building my pedal and guy swears that it is totally 100% , 10 times checked correctly soldered. (and it looks pretty damn professional)

So I downloaded manual of TC PRE and realized that that sucker is made for all kind of crap like restoring the signal from very long cables to optimizing impedance of acoustic instruments to overdriving an amp etc.
Also it can take up to 32V of external power, and with more power more input gain can enter the pedal without it goes to clipping area.

I just hope it needs more power. I hate to be disappointed. 
Does anyone here have the original TC PRE who can confirm my worries?


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## JMP2203 (Jun 17, 2010)

i used to own a TC Booster line driver and i had the same experience until running the pedal thru 18v and worked great, actually i finally ended with 12v and was cool too. 

definetly 9v sucks on those TC pedals


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## MF_Kitten (Jun 17, 2010)

i´m pretty sure they used the TC integ. preamp. units all the way up to ObZen. i recall them saying that´s the first time they didn´t use them, instead getting the sound from the vetta only.

it´s not really the miracle box that everyone wants it to be. an EQ pedal could probably serve you better i would guess. it wouldn´t be EXACTLY THE SAME and all that, but really, you don´t have the same guitars, cables, etc, as they do, so 

check the two threads that were linked to the meshuggah forum earlier in the thread. one of them is some guy who recorded some awesome clips using the old unit and the newer TC electronics boost/distortion/whatever-it´s-called pedal. he says the newer pedal does the job better, and is more djenty sounding. so there!


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## Alekke (Jun 18, 2010)

Thanks JMP2203, I really hope that is the problem. I'll find out tomorrow.

MF_Kitten: yeah, I saw those posts, I read them all on every forum cause I was very curious. Unfortunately, those links for clips don't work any more, and I'm sure that TC Distortion/Booster works very fine but it costs 300$ here and it is more complicated to clone.
TC PRE is a very simple circuit and aparently meshuggah used it on DEI and I LOVE DEI


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## B36arin (Jun 18, 2010)

Guys, no offence, but that TC integrated pre is really a TINY part of "the Chaosphere sound". Most of Meshuggah's tone is in their picking technique, the bass tone and their guitar amps. The TC integrated pre is probably a fantastic boost, but some of the guys here seem to expect a bit too much from a simple booster.

Nevertheless, I'm really looking forward to see a few DIY integrated pres and hearing clips


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## Alekke (Jun 25, 2010)

Thing on that 9V issue is that the bias is set too low on this pedal, so if you run higher output signal into it you'll get clipping and that low end fart I got. I have M7 pickup.
I returned the pedal and guy will install adjustable resistor to the pedal so when run on 9 or 12 volts it will be like running on 18 or 20 volts so more headroom will be provided and (I hope) it could be used with high output pickups like M7. 

Will let you know on this one later ...

We are all aware that it is a simple booster, but all clips I heard with that booster had that early meshuggah flavor to it. It is true that it has so little to do with the basic sound, but it suppose to add that small touch we all want  ... have I mentioned that I love DEI sound 

will post clip when record


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## ultranoob (Jul 11, 2010)

I need to hunt down a 32volt power adapter and I can run it through my m7 - if anyone knows a good retailer for a power supply with the right connector, please let me know

Your clone looks awesome btw, the footswitch is a great idea, did you emboss the metal, too?


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## ultranoob (Jul 11, 2010)

Can somone post a picture of their power supply adapter? I found a 30 volt supply, but the connector is too big, and I am not sure what to replace it with.

update: 
I've run a couple power sources through the unit and have had noticeable differences.
The 9v battery is a waste of time, the bass drops out
A plugged in 9 volt supply sounded a lot better, with no bass problems...
I then took the connector off my 9v power supply and attached it to a 30 volt power supply. The difference was absurd, everything is tighter and notes ring through and are clearer in chords- The only problem is the unit got really hot running 30 volts. I had to unplug it because I am worried about the temp as the unit was nearly burning my hand.

What volts are any other owners here using? and what temp would you estimate it? The manual says it can handle 32 volts, but damn mine is hot! I don't wanna fry it


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## Alekke (Aug 24, 2010)

I got some thing that converts 9V to 18V and it works fine now. No over heating or nothing ... some extra volts would be maybe good. I think 20V is perfect amount.


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## joshc482 (Aug 24, 2010)

fred turned the volume all the way up. the bass to 0, and highs at middle. some would 'splat' out so he would back off the volume a hair. maybe that will help.


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## Alekke (Aug 25, 2010)

maxed volume and bass to 0? Thats some extreme setting. Maxed volume with M7 would be too overdriven, and bass to 0 too tiny.

My setting is bass to 10 o'clock, treble to 3-4 o'clock, volume to 1-2 o'clock


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## nononebulan (Jan 9, 2011)

I'm selling my TC electronic Integrated preamplifier with power supply on ebay. Auction will start on January 12th 2011 Wednesday 2pm pacific time. Here's the link. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220722919970
It's in amazing condition considering it's made in late 70's (30 plus years ago!) Good luck bidding!


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