anybody else using the Chase Tone, 'Secret Preamp' ?

catdog

Bought the secret pre amp direct from the USA about a year ago & am loving it , infact i always have it switched on & i cant ever see it leaving my board..

catdog

Sassafras

Have you tried it up against a Xotic EP?

catdog

Sassafras said:

Have you tried it up against a Xotic EP?

to be honest i have never tried the Xotic EP Sassafras but i have heard a lot of great stuff about them , a friend i know bought the secret pre amp & highly recommend it to me so i placed an order on one & was not disappointed when i received it , i find it hard to describe but before i got it it thought my rig sounded awesome & when i added the pre amp it just made everything better & thatss why its always switched on plus i can use it to get a sweet tone from my 57 tweed deluxe at low volume as the amp only has one volume control , great for late night practice but i find it sounds best with my rig between 11 & 1  o clock on the dial & the switch on the side on the up position 

Sassafras

If it's good enough for Jim Weider, it should be good enough for most people.

lukedlb

I am much tempted. I heard the difference an ep2 does to the tone. If the ep3 is similar and the secret preamp similar too, then I'll be ordering one. 

catdog

I think Kyle Chase went a bit OCD trying to emulate the vintage EP pre amps &  all i can say is that the pedal does something awesome to my rig that i wouldn't be without now

catdog

i hear the Scripture Wah is awesome too although i am pretty happy with my custom audio for the moment

lukedlb

Almost 2 years that I've been waiting for the scripture wah. I went through a wah period and have settled on 4, my favourite being vox wah transition from 68. My 69 crybaby comes close for later Hendrix tones.  But I would sell some of them to buy the scripture wah. 

catdog

lukedlb said:

Almost 2 years that I've been waiting for the scripture wah. I went through a wah period and have settled on 4, my favourite being vox wah transition from 68. My 69 crybaby comes close for later Hendrix tones.  But I would sell some of them to buy the scripture wah. 

Interesting , i may need to order one but that's a bit of a wait , i think it was around 6 or 8 weeks for my preamp but well worth it as im sure the scripture wah will be too

catdog

Some interesting stuff here guys http://tonereport.com/blogs/tone-tips/pedals-inspired-by-the-maestro-echoplex

Laurie

^ Woh.. sorry 'bout the massive photo!! lol

Both the Chase Tone Secret Preamp and Xotic Effects EP Booster currently live full-time on my board.  I keep 'em both 'always on'.

It was more a case of having to experience the authentic EP3 preamp thing for me, than anything else.  After reading all the hype about the Chase Tone pedal I immediately bought one.  Kyle Chase is so cool and a great guy to deal with.  It became apparent after one or two email exchanges that he is extremely serious about what he's doing and really cares a great deal.  I admire that! 

When my secret preamp arrived I threw it on my board and it replaced my EP Booster for a fair while.  It really does make everything sound better.  It only boosts your signal a little - but I wasn't looking for a boost, per se.  I was looking for an always on tone enhancer.  Something which fattened my overall tone and gave it a set of big brass balls.  Well, Kyle Chase's creation delivers this.. and then some.

It's not something you have to have.  I get by just fine without it.  But, it's certainly worthy of investment and will strengthen and beautify your tone.  Recommend it!

I wound up chucking the EP back on my board as there's something it does which I also really love.  Hey, why not! 

It's funny, because my Belle Epoch delay is lobbed after my Secret Preamp, so technically when I'm playing songs with the BE on as well, I have the EP Booster, Secret Preamp and BE preamp all running at the same time, consecutively.

Overkill?  Nah, man!

Tone all day long, BABY!!

@Sassafras.. hey man   If you want to PM me about any comparisons regarding the EP and Secret Preamp, feel free.  I'd be more than happy to relay my experience with them and make you audio clips, etc.

*Cheers*

catdog

Laurie said:

^ Woh.. sorry 'bout the massive photo!! lol

Both the Chase Tone Secret Preamp and Xotic Effects EP Booster currently live full-time on my board.  I keep 'em both 'always on'.

It was more a case of having to experience the authentic EP3 preamp thing for me, than anything else.  After reading all the hype about the Chase Tone pedal I immediately bought one.  Kyle Chase is so cool and a great guy to deal with.  It became apparent after one or two email exchanges that he is extremely serious about what he's doing and really cares a great deal.  I admire that! 

When my secret preamp arrived I threw it on my board and it replaced my EP Booster for a fair while.  It really does make everything sound better.  It only boosts your signal a little - but I wasn't looking for a boost, per se.  I was looking for an always on tone enhancer.  Something which fattened my overall tone and gave it a set of big brass balls.  Well, Kyle Chase's creation delivers this.. and then some.

It's not something you have to have.  I get by just fine without it.  But, it's certainly worthy of investment and will strengthen and beautify your tone.  Recommend it!

I wound up chucking the EP back on my board as there's something it does which I also really love.  Hey, why not! 

It's funny, because my Belle Epoch delay is lobbed after my Secret Preamp, so technically when I'm playing songs with the BE on as well, I have the EP Booster, Secret Preamp and BE preamp all running at the same time, consecutively.

Overkill?  Nah, man!

Tone all day long, BABY!!

@Sassafras.. hey man   If you want to PM me about any comparisons regarding the EP and Secret Preamp, feel free.  I'd be more than happy to relay my experience with them and make you audio clips, etc.

*Cheers*

WOW. now that's interesting Laurie 

I was not looking for a booster either i just wanted to see if the hype about the pedal was true & i was not disappointed one bit it make everything just sound bigger/better it;s really hard to describe & i agree with it not being a must have pedal either as my rig still sounds great without it too.

I totally agree with your comments about Kyle too he's a real nice guy & responds very quickly to emails & that's always a plus when dealing with someone in another country 

I was actually thinking of adding a booster to my rig but thought it may be too much even though as you just mentioned the secret preamp does not boost the signal by much..So yea Laurie i would love to hear some audio clips too from you of them side by side & both together that would be awesome so send me some through too please

Thank you buddy

Wazmeister

@laurie - great post mate

Adji

I've not tried the chase tone but I used to have a clinch fx ep pre as an always on for the same sounds as described above. Will have to give the chase a look.

Laurie

You're welcome lads

I'll try to make an unlisted YT vid later on today and PM you guys a link.

Have a great one!

mburekenge

Great! Would be interested to see this too

mburekenge

Now I have the GAS for one of these!

lukedlb

I received my SP last week from a forum member. It's an earlier model called the stealth sp. beautiful inside. Similar to my vintage wahs. The only negative I can give is too many highs. It doesn't have the bright/dark switch so it may need to be modded. 
On, the pedal sounded good and worked well with my fuzz. 
Off, everything sounded weak. My incredible tone of a week ago now seems lifeless. 
My Kingsley boost from the bard or jester and my compressor and eq tend to have the same effect though they also drive the amp. Whereas the sp increases the sound. It's light boost helps the amp too. 
Does anyone know how the the bright/dark switch is built? Any internal photo?

lukedlb

I had a good sit down with the sp today with the following observations:
pedals used: gigrig g2 (allows sp placement at the first or last loop), chase tone Secret Preamp (set at 12 o'clock for slight boost), Kingsley jester (separate overdrive and boost channels), lumpy's tone shop compressor, mxr equaliser (6 band), sonus 68 fuzz (germanium Jimi mod). 
Sp before jester: more compression 
Sp after jester: more open
Sp before compressor: more open
Sp after compressor: more orange squash 
Sp before eq: more drive
Sp after eq: more hiss drive
Sp before fuzz: driven mild fuzz even at 10
Sp after fuzz: bursting fuzz increasing with vol

It seems that the sp does not simply boost the signal but rather compresses a strong signal from compressor, boost or overdrive. It works particularly well with a fuzz producing clipping, compression and other attributes commonly associated with a driven amp. This makes sense considering kyle chases's study of vintage gear interaction. 
I was surprised by the sp before the fuzz producing something more than a shiny tone and instead a decent mild fuzz drive. 
I identified 4 settings: unity gain, little boost, mild boost, shot preamp. 
I set the sp at 12 somewhere between little and mild boost. It isn't simply a boost as the tone seems richer. I haven't tested the pedal with unity gain or shot preamp. I'm curious to hear what the last setting produces. 
I see why last pedal placement is suggested as it allows for the amp sounding magic. However unity gain placed in the first loop will open the guitar tone and I expect buffer it through the following loops. 
Problems with the highs weren't as apparent today but I put that down to my amp's idiosyncrasies; everything was loud at vol 1.

what are your impressions, fellow fretters?

lukedlb

Ok, I understand the pedal a little better and confirm that its position is last, before echo/reverb. It's an always on pedal since it enhances your tone and pre-amps it as a final filter/improvement and on the signal, improving fuzz, dirt as a part of the amplifier's duty. We all know how important the guitar-fuzz-amp relationship is. Well, the sp is part of the amp.