Dave Bryce Posted May 21, 2003 Share Posted May 21, 2003 Hey - Have any of you guys heard about about Speakeasy Vintage Music ? Among other things, they make tube preamps for keyboards...Hammond clones, EPs, synths... Anyone tried one? dB ==> David Bryce Music • Funky Young Monks <== Professional Affiliations: Royer Labs • Music Player Network Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Fortner Posted May 21, 2003 Share Posted May 21, 2003 I haven't tried Speakeasy's stuff, although I've heard it's pretty cool. There is of course a big difference in application whether you're trying to warm up a simulated Hammond and Leslie sound, or have a good front-end to run your clone into a real Leslie. Most of my experience is with the latter, running my VK-7 into my 142. I'd love to try one of these for that purpose, as my little solid-state Trek II pedal runs out of gas long before the Leslie does... there's not a lot of clean volume before serious distortion, and I have to keep the VK's volume knob at no more than 9 o'clock. CAE Sound in San Mateo also makes a well-respected tube pre to run clones into Leslies. WIth regard to warming up an electronic sound to go into a P.A., look for something that has pre and post gain controls. Otherwise, it's likely that if you drive the tube hard enough to get a grungy or even "warm" tone, even more grunge will be issuing from the FOH engineer's mouth because your level is way too hot. For warming up synth sounds for recording I've had great luck with both the Manley stereo tube D.I. and the Avalon U-5, which is not tube but is class-A. Stephen Fortner Principal, Fortner Media Former Editor in Chief, Keyboard Magazine Digital Piano Consultant, Piano Buyer Magazine Industry affiliations: Antares, Arturia, Giles Communications, MS Media, Polyverse Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soundscape Studios. Posted May 21, 2003 Share Posted May 21, 2003 There is nothing better than the Fearn VT-2 - Freaking awesome tubes. A well spent $3,500 for 2 channels. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Infusion Posted May 21, 2003 Share Posted May 21, 2003 You don't have to have TUBES to warm things up. It's a misconception and it's BS. Tubes do not = warmth. Manufacturers and other opinion-heads would have you believe that, but warmth comes from goods pres, good gear, good circuits etc. Enough with the tube thing already. OTOH I heard the Speakeasy was really nice, not because it's a tube pre, but because from it's inception, it was designed with the B3/Leslie sound in mind for clones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markyboard Posted May 21, 2003 Share Posted May 21, 2003 I've had the stereo rack Vintage Tube Preamp with Howler/Classic option for about 2 months now. My CX-3 is always routed through it unless I'm experimenting). It gives a great bite to the organ sound and fills out the distortion sounds much better then the internal amp sim in the CX3 by itself. (I do like to use a combination of the two together as opposed to others who only use the preamp setting in the CX-3 with the SE). Now that I'm used to the sound with the SE, when I remove it from the path the CX-3 sounds kind of...no balls. I'm still waiting to drive it into a Motion Sound rotating thingy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eric Posted May 21, 2003 Share Posted May 21, 2003 I was one of the original beta testers for Speakeasy (read my in-depth review on their website). I upgraded from a mono rack version to the stereo rack version, which I use mainly as a portal into my Leslie 122. I use the stereo tube preamp with my Electro and Motion Sound rig at gigs and it does do a great job of adding body and tone that is otherwise missing in my sound. The key to the Speakeasy is that it is engineered using 50's technology -- Class A design and point-to-point wiring by hand. The head engineer/owner (Steve Hayes) studied the Hammond AO-28 preamp and tried to replicate what is happening there. It is a pretty remarkable item. The philosophy at Speakeasy is not to mass produce a commodity product, but to design items one musician at a time. They will add any kind of custom modifications you might want and will build anything you need in this arena. I would recommend that you give one a try. The owner of Speakeasy allows 30 day trials and if you don't like it, you just pay for shipping to send it back. If you decide to try one, tell Steve Hayes that I sent you and he will take care of you. Regards, Eric Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.