Ecc83 valve preamp pedal

[darrell12345]

Hi,
Does anyone know of a good preamp pedal with a Ecc83 valve to enhance the sound of my q2 eftp.im not really not looking for a overdrive pedal something that will be still a clean sound so it will get me closer to a tvs echo.
Regards,
Darrell

[Stu's Dad]

Try a Joyo Actone before the Q2. Tone, Level and Drive controls are up to you, the magic is in the Voice control - all the way to the left is vintage Vox, all the way to the right is Brian May. About 8 or 9 o'clock will probably get the sound you are looking for. All for £35 on Amazon.

Cheers,

Len

[garystrat]

Hi Darrell,

I know this may not directly relate to what you are asking for, but perhaps still worthy of consideration?

Only last week I purchased a Strymon Volante Magnetic Echo pedal, there are eight presets on-board that can be set for user settings and a lot more are available via MIDI.
Whilst you have to setup the echo patterns and store them yourself, there are quite a few helpful tips on how to get the HM echo settings on the web and IMO this will get you really close to to not only the patterns, but also the elusive tone and character!

To give you some idea, here are some videos of it in action below:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-huePyuD40

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZiaqZ_VYHFs

www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrMoDTwj0c8

www.youtube.com/@noekhrisnadi

If the exact tones in the videos are not spot on for your taste, there is a lot of scope for tweaking, this is a link to a video manual:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFEvBP-hrYE

I don't think you will be disappointed if you have the time and patience to put a little work into it!

Regards

Gary

[darrell12345]

Hi Len,
Do you still use a amp with the Joyo acetone if so what eq settings do you use on the amp.
Cheers Darrell

[darrell12345]

Hi Gary,
Many thanks for the links I certainly look at that looks a great echo unit.
Cheers Darrell

[garystrat]

Hi Darrell,

Just expand a little on my suggestion, I and fellow club members were experimenting with this sort of thing several years ago when there were possibly more options available than today. In practice they did give more tube warmth and saturation, but never seemed to quite give that elusive character.

The pre-amp section of the TVS 3 is described as being based on the actual Meazzi design and there is/was (not sure) a TVS 1 that was designed to provide a front end for other units, both use(d) a tube based pre-amp!

If your read Paul’s (Rossiters) interesting development of the TVS 3 in the link below, you will see that he identified several key features where the pr-eamp characteristic played a key role in the character of the Meazzi:

www.tvsspecialtyproducts.com/tvs-echo-units.html

Now if you look at the specification of the Strymon Volante, you will see that it has “Rec Level”, “Low Cut” and “Drum” emulation, these are then complimented with separate “Noise”, mechanical “Wear” and dual level head settings that can be individually lowered. The “Rec Level” gives very good control over the digitally emulated analogue saturation and to my ear that elusive tone/character, whilst adding a little grit.

Another thing that caught my attention relates to a dry signal path, quoting Strymon “In a typical digital effect the dry signal gets converted to digital, causing conversion noise and latency. Signals are often attenuated before combining digital dry and wet, with makeup gain amplifying the conversion noise. To avoid this, we’ve equipped Volante with a completely analog dry path, featuring all-analog, ultra low noise, discrete, class-A stereo JFET preamps. Volante is truly a studio-quality effect.”

Below is a further video of “Frighted City” and “Man of Mystery” using the Strymon Volante:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ws4eSHi2H2A

Hope this helps.

Regards

Gary

[darrell12345]

Hi Gary,
Thanks for the information it sounds a fantastic Echo unit probley buy one certainly get that sound.
Best wishes
Darrell

[Stu's Dad]

Feb 20, 2023 10:07:04 GMT darrell12345 said:

Hi Len,
Do you still use a amp with the Joyo acetone if so what eq settings do you use on the amp.
Cheers Darrell

It's actually a pre-amp Darrell, so it gets a bit noisy when you put it through the main input on an amp. It works great with an FRFR (Full Range Flat Response)amp like an acoustic, or if you've got an amp with an FX loop put it directly into the return socket - this cuts out the pre-amp section of your amplifier.

Hope ypu can understand that, it's all wuite instinctive wth me so I had to stop and think how to write it all down.

Len

[darrell12345]

Cheers len,
Thanks for the information that's very helpful.
Regards Darrell

[didier]

If you want to go the cheap way, you might have a look at this : www.thomann.de/gb/behringer_mic500usb_tube_ultragain.htm?shp=eyJjb3VudHJ5IjoiZ2IiLCJjdXJyZW5jeSI6NCwibGFuZ3VhZ2UiOjJ9&reload=1

Didier

[garystrat]

Providing Darrell decides to go for the Volante and is happy with it, he may wish to sell off the Q2, that would most likely be the cheap way!