Advertisement
SHAPING TONE
The most important thing to remember is that unlike other preamps, when
you turn the gain knobs, you are also changing the tone. The second thing
to remember is that what you do at one stage affects the others. While this
seems odd at first (and is exactly why we wanted you read this before firing it up!),
it actually allows you to have an amazing amount of control. Instead of simply
turning the gain up one stage at a time, the best way to get a feel for the unit and
dial in a sound is to actually use both hands to turn the Pentode and Triode
stages together in different combinations! See how the sound changes!
But if my gain is linked to tone, what if I like the tone
but don't have enough gain (or too much)?
Aside from balancing the stages against each other, there are two other controls
that allow you to adjust gain. The first is your output knob which is an entirely
passive output attenuation. This is of course where you dial back the signal to
an appropriate level for whatever comes after the pre. The second control is the
"Boost/Tone" switch at each stage which allows you to add either an overall boost
or a tonal boost of that stage.
• Remember that Pentode and Triode gain knobs adjust tone
• Turn Pentode and Triode knobs together in different combinations
• Remember that if either gain is at zero, no sound will pass
SO HOW DO I USE IT?
QUICK START
A N A LO G D E S I G N
7
Advertisement
