Preamp stomp > mixer

[Zado]

Long story short, I won't be able to carry my amp at rehearsal for the next couple of months, so I need something to go straight to the band's mixer and play some modern heavy metal tunes.

- It needs to be cheap, like very cheap (100-200 eur top), cause I'm sorta old styled metal guy, 50-100w stacks have no replacement in my book (sound/feel wise and look wise), so I'll likely end up selling the unit very soon anyway;

- It needs to be very plug and play, as I honestly am not gonna spend hours downloading profiles in an endless try 'n error process. I understand how cool can be, having a piece of gear with endless potential depending on the IRs and models you can afford to buy, but I just don't have the spare time to do so (or even learn how to run the thing), and having a very computer based job I just don't care to open my laptop when I get home;

- It needs to sound at least decent, and of course being capable of metal tones.


I've seen some apparently fine options, which are


Laney Loudpedal IRF

TC Ampworx Series


the old AMT preamp pedals and Mooer mini preamps.


Now, asking for direct experience about the guys above (or others) as there are plenty of vids here and there, but very few give a decent idea how the cab sim/DI/IR really sound, and that will end up being the main use of the pedal, so it needs to be good enough.


Thanks in advance guys!

 

[Kosthrash]

For really cheap: Joyo chopper z
For like $200 vfm: Hotone Ampero mini

 

[youngthrasher9]

Joyo or mooer would likely be your best bet, but I’d personally go for an overdrive, a metalzone and a mooer radar or similar IR loader.

AMT makes awesome preamp pedals but I have found the EQ to be somewhat limited on the 2 series and I didn’t love the cab emulation.

 

[Smoked Porter]

POD Express is worth a look. Basically an extremely stripped down Helix for under $200 USD. Don’t own it but I love my HX Stomp, and the demos out there don’t sound any worse than what you’ll find for the Helix stuff. Probably also an easier resale than the rest of the stuff mentioned so far.

I had an AMT R2 and M2 that sounded pretty nice with IRs or into a tube power amp, but it doesn’t have IRs built in or ability to load them, just an analog cab sim that wasn’t that great, like @youngthrasher9 said.

 

[ezboarderz]

The new tonex one would fit your use case if you have access to a power amp or a PA system. It’s like 170 and you just need to snag a profile of the amp you are most comfortable with.

 

[Shask]

Super cheap and easy? Grab you a Behringer TM300 for $30. It is a Sansamp GT2 clone.

 

[Zado]

For really cheap: Joyo chopper z
For like $200 vfm: Hotone Ampero mini

I had Joyo stuff in the past, and were nice lil things for the price. No idea the Chopper Z existed tho, sounds quite heavy on demos!

The Hotone ampero was an option too, does it require loads of messing around to get good tones?

Joyo or mooer would likely be your best bet, but I’d personally go for an overdrive, a metalzone and a mooer radar or similar IR loader.

AMT makes awesome preamp pedals but I have found the EQ to be somewhat limited on the 2 series and I didn’t love the cab emulation.

The idea of a Mooer Radar + dirt pedal was tickling my brain, but I wasn't sure it could actually be done? I should have an old DS1 somewhere, and maybe a Spark booster, do you think it would deliver decent sounds even without being true preamps?

POD Express is worth a look. Basically an extremely stripped down Helix for under $200 USD. Don’t own it but I love my HX Stomp, and the demos out there don’t sound any worse than what you’ll find for the Helix stuff. Probably also an easier resale than the rest of the stuff mentioned so far.

I had an AMT R2 and M2 that sounded pretty nice with IRs or into a tube power amp, but it doesn’t have IRs built in or ability to load them, just an analog cab sim that wasn’t that great, like @youngthrasher9 said.

As long as it's easy to use it has a place on the list. What I don't like is downloading, put stuff into folders, set thru apps, see what happens, retry if not/ bad working.



Anyway good to hear the AMT cab emulation wasnt anything to write home about, I've found an R1 but wasn't really sure.

The new tonex one would fit your use case if you have access to a power amp or a PA system. It’s like 170 and you just need to snag a profile of the amp you are most comfortable with.

Is the profile thing something that demands time and scrolling lists and stuff?

Super cheap and easy? Grab you a Behringer TM300 for $30. It is a Sansamp GT2 clone.

Thanks! Noted!

 

[ATRguitar91]

Usually I would recommend a cheap modeller in this situation, but if you don't want to mess with dialing in presets, the Mooer Mini preamps are probably your best bet.

 

[youngthrasher9]

The idea of a Mooer Radar + dirt pedal was tickling my brain, but I wasn't sure it could actually be done? I should have an old DS1 somewhere, and maybe a Spark booster, do you think it would deliver decent sounds even without being true preamps?

The DS-1 is pretty similar in my experience to the MT-2, and the MT-2 makes a great preamp. I think it’s worth a shot especially when you can simply get a different cheap preamp to use with the radar if the DS-1 doesn’t do it for you.

 

[Smoked Porter]

As long as it's easy to use it has a place on the list. What I don't like is downloading, put stuff into folders, set thru apps, see what happens, retry if not/ bad working.



Anyway good to hear the AMT cab emulation wasnt anything to write home about, I've found an R1 but wasn't really sure.

No need to hook it up to a computer, it’s pretty much the same to dial in on the unit as the old Spider 2 amps.