Home› Musicians and Gearheads

pre-amps

present_tensepresent_tense Posts: 121
edited April 2005 in Musicians and Gearheads
Ok, can someone just lay it out for me. Whats a preamp? does it give more juice to your sound going into the amp? how does it come into play when recording? help a guy out!
the oceans made me, but who came up with love?
Post edited by Unknown User on

Comments

  • LemonYellowSunLemonYellowSun Posts: 90
    A preamp basically shapes the TONE of your instrument (guitat, bass, whatever). It controls things like bass, mids, treble, and sometimes drive/gain. The signal then goes to a power amp to make it louder.
    Cause I'll stop trying to make a difference. I'm not trying to make a difference. I'll stop trying to make a difference. No way!
  • KillerIsMeKillerIsMe Posts: 208
    are you also talking about mic preamps??

    they usually supply phantom power to the mics as well as warm it up a bit, and/or add a bit of grit to it.
    http://www.myspace.com/cannedanimal
  • mccreadyisgodmccreadyisgod Posts: 6,395
    A preamp in the purest sense takes the signal from whatever source and boosts the level to a usable signal. It does this by adding Gain to the signal, which just means making the signal stronger.

    A guitar preamp is the section of the amp that affects volume and tone, via EQ, overdrive settings, reverb and FX, etc.

    A mic preamp can be a stand-alone unit, or include various features like EQ, compression, etc. Most mixer boards have mic preamps built into them as well.

    For recording, I would assume you mean a mic preamp, which is definitely necessary. There are guitar preamps that are for recording, with direct outputs.

    Preamps differ from power amps in that preamp signals can't drive a speaker. Preamp signals are usually in the milliwatt range, whereas power amp signals are rated in watts. Preamps are used to feed a signal to the power amp, which then feeds the speakers. Guitar amps and powered mixers have both preamps and power amps in one. (Regular mixers require power, but aren't referred to as "powered mixers.")

    That's pretty much it... any questions?
    ...and if you don't like it, you can suck on an egg.
Sign In or Register to comment.