THC_4_ONE said:
it will be an only 1 channel choice as it's impossible to have a crystal clean and a high gain monster lead at the same time.
It was comments like this one that led me to buy the Quad preamp instead of the Studio preamp. Now I wish I had just bought the studio preamp instead and here is why:
First, I find myself using ONLY channel 1 of the quad preamp (which is basically the same as the studio preamp) 99% of the time. In fact, I can get an AMAZING clean sound.. AND an AMAZING lead sound, out of channel 1 of the quad preamp... with just a click of the footswitch... which SHOULD mean that this is true of the studio preamp, too.
the key is what kind of sound you're looking for. This may be due to my lack of knowledge/ability... but channel 1 of my quad preamp (which, again is equiv to a studio preamp) to me is a two-trick pony.. but it does two amazing tricks:
(1) amazing sparkling clean and full bodied clean sound... I don't think this can be improved upon
(2) amazing lead sound... probably not appropriate for things like "death metal"... but more like 80s metal sounds like Night Ranger, RATT, etc. (or Carlos Santana) that kind of clean-sounding and sweet overdrive that doesn't sound muddy and gross.
And those are really the only two sounds I ever wanted (besides things I do with effects).
And you CAN get BOTH of those with a studio preamp WITHOUT compromising either one.... and WITHOUT getting into a situation where your lead or clean sound isn't as good because you needed a knob turned a certain way to help the other sound better.
here are some things I did with my Quad Preamp (that should translate to the studio).. again, using ONLY channel 1:
(1) Make sure your clean sound is SUPER CLEAN.. without ANY hint of crunch in it. not only does this sound better.. but it will make your overdrive sound better. otherwise, you'll have mud in your overdrive sound (but notice I didn't say toneless!)
(2) the preamp needs a petal that boosts the gain going into the amp... just a little. This is mentioned in several places on this board.. but I do that a little differently... as Ill explain in a moment
(3) I find that the reverb SUCKS.. there, I said it. Maybe it is just the reverb on my unit? But I really think that vintage spring reverb adds lots of noise and cuts out some tone. So I just use reverb/delay from my effects rack.
(4) The EQ... AND some of the knob pullouts (bright, etc)... improve the sound/tone, but unfortunately not without adding just a hint of noise. So I now don't even use the EQ, and what I've done is "kill two birds with one stone" by using a Tone Job effects petal to accomplish TWO things: be that extra boost mentioned in (2), AND provide a little EQ to compensate for not using the built in EQ.
(5) various volume knobs feed into one another like an assembly line. Avoid situations where the volume is too high at one stage, then "choked" at the next stage.. as that can in some situations cause "mud".
What is crazy.. is that when I was first getting used to the quad, but didn't know much about it, I was getting some raunchy sounds that were WORSE than a cheap $50 distortion petal. I remember sweating profusely as I wondered if I had spent all that time and money on something that would never sound better than a cheap $50 distortion petal.
But after some tweaking... it sounds amazing!
NOTE: Channel 2 on the quad has a good clean sound, but not as good as channel 1's clean sound. Channel 2's lead sound is more like a George Thorogood "bad to the bone" sound... but not even particularly good at it... while again, in contrast, Channel 1's lead sound is amazing--which is what you should get with the studio preamp since the studio preamp is channel 1 of the quad preamp.
PS - coincidentally, I've had my quad for about a year, and I just encountered a technical problem... maybe a blown tube?... but otherwise, I hope everything I said above will help you!
EDIT: Yes, it was a bad tube. After replacing that, it sounds amazing again!
Rob
