New Preamp Day - AMT SS-20

[IMENATOR]

I just got my AMT SS-20 preamp and yesterday I tried for the first time. I got it because I am putting together a ligthwegith rig and I really liked its tonein the demos but what really surpirsed me was how good the clean tone is. I think crunch and clean channel are very very good, I still need time to play around with the lead mode but it sounded good. Not sure if as good as a real head amp but definietly better than almost any stomp box I have tried so far so I will be selling all my pedals and my modeling amp, except for the PlimSoul which lives in a different dimension . Hopefuly next week I will rehearse with my friend and use the Cab Sim Output into their mixer/pa.

I also got to try the ISP Stealth power amp that I ordered but we had some issues so the reseller and I will call tech support to understand if we did something wrong but hopefully if we get it solved I will be having my power amp too in a couple of weeks too. In the end the goal is to go down from lifting around 24 Kg like most tube combos are, down to around 15 Kg like most extension cabs are. The preamp and power amp will be in the pedalboard along with a few FX I will get later

[devastone]

Re: New Preamp Day - AMT SS-20

Those are great little preamps! I use an AMT SS-11a and ISP Stealth the same way, I also had a SS-20 a few years ago which I think I may have liked better than the 11a, but I really like having the separate gain and LEVEL controls for the lead channel in the 11, might try the 11b someday which I think is supposed to be closer to the 20.

I was using mine with a pedalboard with wah, volume, tuner, phase/vibe, flanger, overdrive -> SS-11a with chorus and verb in the loop then going out to a stereo delay splitting the signal to the power amp and cabinets. Although, at church where I play most, I was just running a mono DI line and using in-ears, no cabinets. But right before Christmas I out rummaging around at some pawn shops and found a Boss GT-10 that I offered them $200 for and they took it, I also found a Boss FS-6 at another pawn shop down the street for $35. So now the rig is smaller, I'm using the GT-10 for effects with the SS-11 in the loop of the GT, basically the same as the "4-cable" setup with an amp. The GT-10's effects aren't as good as the separate pedals I had, but honestly, they are good enough and the rig is super portable now, especially when I'm running DI.

Oh yeah, the speaker sims in the AMT pedals are pretty good too, I just use those for running direct.

[IMENATOR]

Re: New Preamp Day - AMT SS-20

Finally I got to play with my friends yerterday, they just take out a 500Watt 2x15 speaker, a 1500 watt power amo and a mixer O_o, they want power Anyays simply plugged guitat thru the Decimator G String ii then the SS-20 then their mixer. Now I get to better understan why people love tube based sound, the dynamics was superior, notes would jump out really louder when playing harder then clean up ,uch better when palying softer or lower the vol control. That was a really nice experience to try that for the first time in a band environment. And the cam simulated output of the preamp was good enough to me to enjoy the sound. A lot of people seem to look this preamp for heavy metal but so far I have enjoyed the crunch and clean so much that I don't find myself using the lead mode for that, just to make the solos stand out. And the decimator ii is there to turn my SSL-1 into a noiseless true single coil and so far so good on that job too, such a great pedal .

[devastone]

Re: New Preamp Day - AMT SS-20

Yeah, the SS-20 and SS-11(s) are great little preamps, basically the front end of an amp built in a pedal, those crazy Russians ;-) (not saying they are the first or only ones to do it)

[IMENATOR]

Re: New Preamp Day - AMT SS-20

Yeah, the SS-20 and SS-11(s) are great little preamps, basically the front end of an amp built in a pedal, those crazy Russians ;-) (not saying they are the first or only ones to do it)

Now that you say it I have found very few tube preamps in a pedal size. Any other brand you know? I have found many for rack mount but that is not My thing yet.

[IMENATOR]

Re: New Preamp Day - AMT SS-20

Now I have the Stealth power amp, it is working fine. I originally ws being too shy to turn the olume up at the store but now that we checked all the max levels we trned it up and sunds loud. So now I need to get the cab, i am debating between a custome made or a Vox 112nt with a speaker uograde for more power.

[IMENATOR]

Re: New Preamp Day - AMT SS-20

The band would break up and come back and break up. Eventually the drummer and I managed to get a complete band with a bass player and a singer and we got invited to play at a party last weekend. It was kind of a short notice as we only have had line 4 rehearsals together and lots of new songs to learn in about 1 week, lots of mistakes but we had a good time. I really enjoyed the crunch channel of the AMT SS-20, real tube sound and dynamics (I mean real, it has a preamp tube in it), I could play the whole gig with the gain cranked and just used my guitar volume for clean, rhythm and lead. Pink Floyd, Deep Purple, Iron Maiden, Caifanes, etc. This thing can do ANY classic rock you want and it will sound great live. I used my Stealth into a 1x12 Cab with a Celestion Seventy80, a lightweight rig that sounds good live.

[Rex_Rocker]

Re: New Preamp Day - AMT SS-20

Now I have the Stealth power amp, it is working fine. I originally ws being too shy to turn the olume up at the store but now that we checked all the max levels we trned it up and sunds loud. So now I need to get the cab, i am debating between a custome made or a Vox 112nt with a speaker uograde for more power.

I wouldn't get the Vox, especially if you're going to swap the speaker out. I used to have one. The speaker is the good part about it. The bad part is it's built like ****. Asides from it being MDF, the first time I tried taking out the speaker, I stripped the baffle around two of the little thingies that hold the screws on the speaker to the baffle. OK, no biggie, I took it to a carpenter and got it sorted out. Then I put it back together. Stripped a couple of screws from the back pannels... OK... then, bam, no sound. I check the jack. The solder joints were super flimsy, and it seemed I yanked one when I took out the back panel. I wasn't even rough when pulling the cab apart! Also, the grille cloth became loose and wavy very easily. That cab is a POS, IMO.

[IMENATOR]

Re: New Preamp Day - AMT SS-20

I wouldn't get the Vox, especially if you're going to swap the speaker out. I used to have one. The speaker is the good part about it. The bad part is it's built like ****. Asides from it being MDF, the first time I tried taking out the speaker, I stripped the baffle around two of the little thingies that hold the screws on the speaker to the baffle. OK, no biggie, I took it to a carpenter and got it sorted out. Then I put it back together. Stripped a couple of screws from the back pannels... OK... then, bam, no sound. I check the jack. The solder joints were super flimsy, and it seemed I yanked one when I took out the back panel. I wasn't even rough when pulling the cab apart! Also, the grille cloth became loose and wavy very easily. That cab is a POS, IMO.

I got a Fender HotRod extension cab, it is not MDF. I think it sounds ok but I may swap the speaker later. I found a good deal for some Celestion New Century Vintage, those are neodymium so chances are I can make the cab loose a couple of kg, but it is already quite easy to carry around.

[Rex_Rocker]

Re: New Preamp Day - AMT SS-20

Cool! Let me know how you like the Century Vintage if you get it. I've been thinking about replacing the V30 in my Orange PPC112 with one to shave off a couple of kilos off it too.

[n1kk]

Re: New Preamp Day - AMT SS-20

Hi to all. Let's bump this thread. I got my hands of SS-20 recently, and after a month of testing it I got a couple of video reviews made.

The first one is just a short demo in a mix... I think, the crunch is my favorite regime, especially when the tube screamer is on before the preamp.

The second and the more detailed review (just a process of thinking off the first video's theme :-DD ) can be found in the short demo's description or in the YouTube cards...

My overall impression is that it's a good thing if it's put in some big power amp. And the "dirty" channels actually rule, can't say it about the clean, but maybe I just had to add more middle or to change the guitar for something more "clean-oriented".