# Tube preamp for death metal sound



## decemberance (Jan 13, 2011)

hello
I have a marshall el34 100\100 with 1960A&B.
I'm using a roland GP-100 for preamp & effects.
(the sound isn't decent at all!!!)
Can anyone tell me about tube preamps that can
be matched with my amp????


----------



## thraxil (Jan 13, 2011)

"Death metal" is a pretty wide range. What kind of sound are you trying to get? Modern technical death metal like Necrophagist? Old school Suffocation or Cannibal Corpse? Gothenberg melodic death metal? Grindcore? Blackened death metal?


----------



## xCaptainx (Jan 13, 2011)

in before GET AN AXE FX BRO! 

hahah all joking aside (GET AN HD500 instead!) an engl preamp would sound huge, plenty of bands (necrophagist, ulcerate) use them!


----------



## BL1NDSIDE-J (Jan 13, 2011)

I'm interested in this also, more for a necrophagist sound what pre amp do they use the one that cost 1k or the one that cost 2k?


----------



## Necris (Jan 13, 2011)

I believe on the recordings for "Epitaph" Muhammed used an ENGL Savage 120 head with a cab miced with both Sennheiser e609s and SM57s.

At one point he used an ENGL E860 rackhead, as far as I'm aware they are out of production.


----------



## Sepultorture (Jan 13, 2011)

used peavey rockmaster if you can find it, amazing tube preamp for death metal, very 5150 sounding

with that Marshall poweramp you can get a nice Nile thick death metal tone trust me

and he asked about Tube Pre's, not digital, give the guy some options here


----------



## Eric Christian (Jan 13, 2011)

decemberance said:


> hello
> I have a marshall el34 100\100 with 1960A&B.
> I'm using a roland GP-100 for preamp & effects.
> (the sound isn't decent at all!!!)
> ...


 
I'm surprised you can't get at least a semi decent tone from that setup. I'd do what others said though and get a Line 6 HD500.


----------



## BL1NDSIDE-J (Jan 13, 2011)

I've heard the line 6 pod x3 is better for high gain tones than the hd500. Mike Keene (The Faceless) uses the x3 also. I forgot to ask earlier though what is a good power amp to go with the engl pre amp under 500?


----------



## Sepultorture (Jan 14, 2011)

BL1NDSIDE-J said:


> I've heard the line 6 pod x3 is better for high gain tones than the hd500. Mike Keene (The Faceless) uses the x3 also. I forgot to ask earlier though what is a good power amp to go with the engl pre amp under 500?



tube or Solid State?


----------



## BL1NDSIDE-J (Jan 14, 2011)

Are there any tube amps for under 500? If tubes are available that would be good but I'm betting it will have to be SS for that price range.


----------



## Sepultorture (Jan 14, 2011)

maybe a used mesa 50 watter or a msrhsall if you cna find one used for cheap anough

rocktron Velocity 300 is pretty good as a Solid State power amp goes, you can set voume, presence and depth on it, which i haven't seen any other SS power amp with Depth on it


----------



## BL1NDSIDE-J (Jan 14, 2011)

Ya I was wondering about that one. I wonder if it actually sounds likea tube amp. I guess the only way to know is try one


----------



## BabUShka (Jan 14, 2011)

Hey man.. Check out Rocktron Piranha. Haven't tried it myselv, but it seems like a pretty killer peramp.


----------



## TMM (Jan 14, 2011)

So many good choices, depending on exactly the tone you're after.

For a Necrophagist tone, or really any modern death metal tone, the E570 can't be beat.

For a Recto-ish tone, the Piranha is good.

For a Peavey tone, the Rockmaster is good (sounds nothing like a 5150 though, FWIW). A Rockmaster was used for the older Nile albums, if you want to get an idea. If you search my threads from a few months ago, I also posted Rockmaster clips.

For an awesome, more grainy, organic hi-gain tone, track down a Soldano SP77 and boost it.

A Hafler / Bogner Triple Giant has a great, pretty unique hi-gain tone.

The Mako MAK4 is pretty incredible from what I've read (haven't tried one yet... I've tried all the others I listed, though).



Clips of the Piranha & Rockmaster here:

http://www.sevenstring.org/forum/ge...3-belated-affordable-brutal-tone-content.html


----------



## Inazone (Jan 14, 2011)

I've never tried an Engl e570, only the e530, and I struggled to get a suitable death metal distortion out of it. The Peavey Rockmaster, on the other hand, excels at that type of tone. I actually prefer it to the 5150/6505 tone, although I run my Rockmaster through a Carvin T100 power amp with EL34s. The newer 6534 might sound closer to "my" sound.


----------



## Larrikin666 (Jan 14, 2011)

TMM said:


> So many good choices, depending on exactly the tone you're after.
> 
> For a Necrophagist tone, or really any modern death metal tone, the E570 can't be beat.
> 
> ...




Everything Tom said is right on. He's owned about a billion preamps in 2010, so he definitely knows what he's talking about.


----------



## Albionic (Jan 14, 2011)

Anyone know what the digitech gfx1 is like while we are talking retro preamps?


----------



## decemberance (Jan 18, 2011)

thank you very much for your time I will check as much as i can.

you can get a taste of my bands' sound at: Decemberance on Myspace Music - Free Streaming MP3s, Pictures & Music Downloads

Thanx!!!


----------



## col (Jan 18, 2011)

AMT SS-10 on the cheap side:
.:: AMT Electronics - Tube Guitar Preamp Series / SS-10 ::.

AMT SS-10 - Thomann Verkkokauppa

Mako Mak4 if you have the cash.


----------



## jorgercrosa (Feb 28, 2015)

TMM said:


> So many good choices, depending on exactly the tone you're after.
> 
> For a Necrophagist tone, or really any modern death metal tone, the E570 can't be beat.
> 
> ...



Hi Tom!

Sorry for bringing this up from the dead, but you seem to be the one to ask.

I currently have an ENGL e530 and a Soldano SP77, going through a Mesa 2:95. Although I really dig the tone I get, I was thinking about putting a pedal such as a Bogner Uberschall or a Wampler Triple Wreck in front of the SP77, for a more brutal death metal tone. I also thought about adding the Peavey Rockmaster preamp to my rig, to ser if I can combine it with the e530 for a fatter tone.

Right now I have the opportunity to trade locally for the Peavey Rockmaster OR the Wampler Triple Wreck. I am not worried about the trade value as either way it would be a great trade for me, I was just wondering which one would get me closer to a Suffocation/Cannibal Corpse tone...

TL,DR: Wampler Triple Wreck + Soldano SP77 or Peavey Rockmaster and ENGL e530 combined?

Thanks, guys!


----------



## Thanatopsis (Feb 28, 2015)

As was already mentioned a few times, definitely check out a Peavey Rockmaster, it's not very expensive either. I've been using one(although slightly modded) into a Peavey Classic 60/60 power amp for just shy of two years now and it's my favourite rig I've ever owned.

The Ultra channel is great for any more extreme metal. The Crunch channel can get up there too especially with a boost. I get great Maiden style tones out of that one. And in addition to great metal tones and more gain on tap than you'll ever need, it's got a pretty nice clean channel as well. And the effects loops can't be beat. I particularly like being able to leave an EQ in the loop for the crunch & ultra channels that stays on all the time and not have to worry about switching it off when I go to the clean.

I've gotten to know it pretty well in the time I've owned it so feel free to as anything about it and I'll do my best to answer you.

And no, I'm in no way affiliated with Peavey(not like they'd profit from it anyways since they haven't made then in who knows how long), I just love the thing and can't praise it enough.

Also, just out of curiosity, doesn't anyone know during what years the RM was produced?


----------



## jorgercrosa (Feb 28, 2015)

Hey Thanatopsis, thanks for sharing your thoughts!

From the time I wrote my post till now other folks have convinced me to drop the pedal idea and go for the Rockmaster! I actually just closed the deal and should be getting it later next week. 

I do have a MXR rack mount EQ that I am trying to figure out where to add... Are you saying I can add stuff through the FX return that will be used only on the crunch and/or ultra channels? Does the Rockmaster has separate FX loop inputs?


----------



## Eliguy666 (Mar 1, 2015)

Whatever you do, don't get a VHT GP3!
_I'm_ looking for one of those, you can't have any.


----------



## Thanatopsis (Mar 2, 2015)

jorgercrosa said:


> Hey Thanatopsis, thanks for sharing your thoughts!
> 
> From the time I wrote my post till now other folks have convinced me to drop the pedal idea and go for the Rockmaster! I actually just closed the deal and should be getting it later next week.
> 
> I do have a MXR rack mount EQ that I am trying to figure out where to add... Are you saying I can add stuff through the FX return that will be used only on the crunch and/or ultra channels? Does the Rockmaster has separate FX loop inputs?


It has 5 separate loops. Individual ones for each channel, one shared between the crunch & ultra channels, and one global loop.

I'm not sure what model EQ you have, but if it's a 2 channel one, you could even use one for one channel and one for another. I had wanted a Rockmaster for a while before I finally got around to getting one(don't know why it took me so long, they're not expensive), but I'm still loving my decision.


----------



## mnit1965 (Mar 4, 2015)

Don't know exactly what Death Metal sound you are hoping to get, but i think the Rocktron Voodu Valve should get you there, with enormous versatility to get any Death Metal sound (just think: pre-gain EQ and post-gain EQ...).


----------



## sevenstringj (Mar 4, 2015)

This is 4 years old, ppl. Doubt the op is still taking suggestions or on the verge of snagging a GP3 out of your hands.

I didn't notice till I came across "check out my music on myspace."


----------



## mnit1965 (Mar 4, 2015)

sevenstringj said:


> This is 4 years old, ppl. Doubt the op is still taking suggestions or on the verge of snagging a GP3 out of your hands.
> 
> I didn't notice till I came across "check out my music on myspace."



4 years?! 

Lol... Maybe the OP is still undecided...


----------



## jorgercrosa (Mar 4, 2015)

Actually the necrobump was my fault heheheh... I needed some help deciding if I should get a preamp or a boutique distortion pedal, and the nice folks around here pointed me at the right direction: dropped the Wrampler idea and scored a Peavey Rockmaster.

Now I am on the market for a boost pedal to use in front of a Soldano SP77 to get a nice death metal tone (Immolation, Gorguts...)


----------



## Choop (Mar 4, 2015)

A Marshall JMP-1 would be sick!

Oh my god I didn't even realize this was necro'd, sorry. :<


----------



## Grindspine (Mar 4, 2015)

decemberance said:


> hello
> I have a marshall el34 100\100 with 1960A&B.
> I'm using a roland GP-100 for preamp & effects.
> (the sound isn't decent at all!!!)
> ...


 
Sansamp PSA 1.1 is the poor man's Triaxis. It sounds good, has MIDI recallable presets, and is fairly affordable.

Tech 21 SansAmp PSA-1.1 | Sweetwater.com


----------

