Belated NPAD: Kartakou Beastbox preamp

[Gmork]

The kartakou beastbox preamp pedal. Runs two 12ax7 tubes at high voltage (300v).
Have owned it for about 2 or 3 months now.

used it into my mesa 50/50 poweramp, in my powerstage170 and into my 6505+ fx loop.

Quick cons: 3xpensive! And physically huge! runs at 12v 800mA and uses a high powered 12v adaptor, need to figure out how to run it off my cioks dc10 or voodoo mondo.

Its based on the engl e530 (which i own) , its defiantly close but the e530 sounds a bit darker and more buttery smooth and has the dual low mids and high mids controls while the bestbox has just a single mid control. Mind you the beastbox is essentially only inspired by and not an exact clone of the engl so hard to ding it for not being exact.

Pros: its a total beast. I only had the mesa and poewerstage at lower home volumes whuch sounds territic!
Also used it boosted through the 6505+ loop at band practice and it was honestly pretty crazy. Super huge, aggressive and brutal. Liked it more than the amp for those types of tones.
Has cool buillt i loops that i havent experimented with yet similar to the tightmetal.
Love the mini toggles for deep and dark. Can get pretty diverse tones. Fat lows and thick tone or razor sharp etc.

I cant see myself ever getting rid of it. Definitely recommend it if youve got $$ to burn.
So many great options for preamp pedals these days!

 

[maggotspawn]

Congrats, he make's some cool stuff. I love my Collosus preamp.

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

Didn't you used to have an Engl E530? How does it compare?

 

[Gmork]

Didn't you used to have an Engl E530? How does it compare?

Lol read the original post!

 

[diagrammatiks]

you definitely need 12v but if it only has 2 12ax7s you might not need 800ma.

 

[Gmork]

you definitely need 12v but if it only has 2 12ax7s you might not need 800ma.

Just going by what kartakou told me. I suppose the worse that will happen if i try less mA is that it just wont power on eh?

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

Lol read the original post!

Huh. Dunno how I missed it. Guess I may pass on getting one then. I loved the e530 because of how fucking rude it can be and the dual mid ranges

 

[Gmork]

Huh. Dunno how I missed it. Guess I may pass on getting one then. I loved the e530 because of how fucking rude it can be and the dual mid ranges

I see the beastbox as more "rude" bit brighter, bit more harsh (not in a bad way) while the engl sounds more smooth.
Someday ill have to do a comparison video, though my e530 is up for sale locally so i guess i should get on that.

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

I see the beastbox as more "rude" bit brighter, bit more harsh (not in a bad way) while the engl sounds more smooth.
Someday ill have to do a comparison video, though my e530 is up for sale locally so i guess i should get on that.

Goddammit I misread you AGAIN. :LOL: hurricane prep got my mind scrambled. Nevermind I want the beastbox agqin

 

[Gmork]

Goddammit I misread you AGAIN. :LOL: hurricane prep got my mind scrambled. Nevermind I want the beastbox agqin

Hurricane!? Well stay safe pal.

 

[sonoftheoldnorth]

Congrats, he make's some cool stuff. I love my Collosus preamp.

Me too.... One of these days I will do some vids and a review... I did actually promise Vasili

 

[Gmork]

Really awesome customer service too.

 

[diagrammatiks]

Just going by what kartakou told me. I suppose the worse that will happen if i try less mA is that it just wont power on eh?

Well it depends on if the pedal is really all tube or not...like are tubes the only things drawing power.

something like the mesa whatever it's called or the backstar thingy has a lot of solid state stages and op amps. That'll draw significantly more power.

If it's really all tube running at 12v heaters then it only needs 150ma per tube plus plate current which isn't that much. so like 400ma.

worst case it doesn't turn on or sounds like crap. don't use it for too long like that it will ruin your tubes.

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

Hurricane!? Well stay safe pal.

Laura's about to pound Louisiana and Texas.

Besides that, But yeah, def gonna have to check this out. Always wanted an Engl E530.

 

[Emperoff]

Congrats! The Beastbox is definetely on my shopping list. I'd be selling my AMT SS preamps to fund it since I want to try something different. Size is likely due to through hole construction instead of SMC like other brands. Now that I mention this, can I have guts pics, please?

Well it depends on if the pedal is really all tube or not...like are tubes the only things drawing power.

something like the mesa whatever it's called or the backstar thingy has a lot of solid state stages and op amps. That'll draw significantly more power.

If it's really all tube running at 12v heaters then it only needs 150ma per tube plus plate current which isn't that much. so like 400ma.

worst case it doesn't turn on or sounds like crap. don't use it for too long like that it will ruin your tubes.

I had a handmade Soldano GTO clone which had zero SS stuff and required a 2A power supply (label said 2,5A but manufacturer told me 2A was fine) so I guess it's not that rare.

 

[diagrammatiks]

Congrats! The Beastbox is definetely on my shopping list. I'd be selling my AMT SS preamps to fund it since I want to try something different. Size is likely due to through hole construction instead of SMC like other brands. Now that I mention this, can I have guts pics, please?



I had a handmade Soldano GTO clone which had zero SS stuff and required a 2A power supply (label said 2,5A but manufacturer told me 2A was fine) so I guess it's not that rare.

There's not going to be a situation where more amps is bad...but I can't imagine a circuit where you would need 2a to power 2 12ax7s.

The mesa is 3 tubes and uses a 1a power supply.

@Gmork

Actually you know what forget what I said. I remember how this is done wrong.

That's a 12vac supply right? The 12vac gets put into a transformer to get the 300vdc plate voltage.
The 12vac is directly rectified to provide the heaters. You probably need 800ma at that point.

 

[Gmork]

Laura's about to pound Louisiana and Texas.

Besides that, But yeah, def gonna have to check this out. Always wanted an Engl E530.

Well im selling my e530 like new for $500 canadian. Its a 230v European version but i bought a brand new pyle voltage converter which worked like a charm which im throwing it on the deal.

Im paranoid about dealing with total strangers online so never posted it anywhere other than locally. If youre interested and willing to cover all shipping costs than id be down.

Congrats! The Beastbox is definetely on my shopping list. I'd be selling my AMT SS preamps to fund it since I want to try something different. Size is likely due to through hole construction instead of SMC like other brands. Now that I mention this, can I have guts pics, please?



I had a handmade Soldano GTO clone which had zero SS stuff and required a 2A power supply (label said 2,5A but manufacturer told me 2A was fine) so I guess it's not that rare.

Ill see what i can di about the guts

 

[Emperoff]

Well im selling my e530 like new for $500 canadian. Its a 230v European version but i bought a brand new pyle voltage converter which worked like a charm which im throwing it on the deal.

Im paranoid about dealing with total strangers online so never posted it anywhere other than locally. If youre interested and willing to cover all shipping costs than id be down.

Ill see what i can di about the guts

Yay! No gut pics anywhere on the net so I'm super curious!

 

[Gmork]

Yay! No gut pics anywhere on the net so I'm super curious!

Ok so, bad news. Obce the back cover comes off youre met with the circuit board but its secured in there some how (not screws) so unfortunately for you im not willing to pry it off and potentially wreck it, too dang expensive to be F'n around with it lol. Maybe this is why you dont see any gut shots around. Sorry i tried

 

[Emperoff]

Ok so, bad news. Obce the back cover comes off youre met with the circuit board but its secured in there some how (not screws) so unfortunately for you im not willing to pry it off and potentially wreck it, too dang expensive to be F'n around with it lol. Maybe this is why you dont see any gut shots around. Sorry i tried View attachment 84304

Well, it's something. I'm really surprised it uses SMC considering its size. It's probably secured by the actual knobs, so yeah don't force it! To take that board off you would need to remove all knobs and washers, which I don't expect you to do, obviously.
But thanks anyway for opening it for me!