Preamp pedal to go direct into PA.

ash96

I've got over 90 functions gigs booked in this year so basically looking for a super easy, reliable back up plan if problems happen on a gig. I'm looking to go down the 'axe fx' route in general, but slightly feel like i'm putting all my eggs in one basket with it.

Not interested in things like tiny terrors etc as a backup at this stage, just ideally a pedal that can live on my board, never to be used, until this happens.

Ideally something that has 2/3 channels. clean, light gain (think rock n roll, indie ish stuff), higher gain (nothing mental, just think about to do classic rock/boost for solos). If the clean signal was just direct it wouldn't be the end of the world.

What is out there? Its either that or a pod (which I'm trying to avoid).

steamabacus

AMT SS-11A would seem to tick all your boxes.

Danny1969

Hotone Nano, The Vox AC30 one. It's about the size of a pedal and will run your speaker as well as giving you a feed for the PA

Sassafras

I'd agree with the AMT suggestion too. They do all kinds of preamps and they're all very good at sounding like their nominated amp.

EreforGuitarGear

Ethos TLE?

RMJ

Joyo pedals. I have the American sound. Very good for the dough.

slate

Bogner blue

Moss

+1 for the Joyos - I have the AC Tone and have played through a PA with it

ash96

Those joyo's are so cheap I'll probably try to pick one up to test out in the mean time. Like I say its more of a 'if everything fails' kinda vibe than a serious usage thing so i'll try to keep it as cheap as possible!

monquixote

The Tech21 pedals are pretty good. The Joyos are also good, but are a bit noisier and don't have a lot of headroom.

The AMT pedals are also very impressive and if you get one of the Legend series 2 you get a passable Fender + something high gain for your money.

I'd be seriously thinking about the BluGuitar amp 1. It can be used as an OD pedal, a direct to desk and an amp head which makes it a pretty good backup option.

ICBM

It's probably not the answer you want because it's huge, heavy, discontinued, expensive and needs a special power supply - but I've never found anything better than the Mesa V-Twin for this exact job.

And that's even though it has a couple of major annoyances in operation - lack of a bypass setting when DI'd (bypass becomes a mute), which limits you to two sounds, and a huge switching delay when going from bypass to either of the other sounds when you're using it with an amp - I've sold them twice because of these faults, and then had to buy another because I missed the sound so much… my third one is not going anywhere.

Sassafras

Kingsley Jester? Can that go straight to PA?

hotpickups

I'm in this quandary too at the moment but not lucky enough to have 90 function gigs. I've got the Joyo American for this occasion but would rather have an amp at my feet than going through a PA to be honest. I'm thinking of going for the Roland Blues Cube which is an expensive back up option I know

Branshen

@hotpickups I'm interested in the joyo American sound, what's the build quality like?

I'm a tad worried it'll fall apart.

hotpickups

Branshen said:

@hotpickups I'm interested in the joyo American sound, what's the build quality like?

I'm a tad worried it'll fall apart.

Well I've had better built pedals but then again they were considerably more money. For around £30 new it's ok though but haven't had to use it in an emergency thank god though. Hope it helps

BigMonka

monquixote said:

I'd be seriously thinking about the BluGuitar amp 1. It can be used as an OD pedal, a direct to desk and an amp head which makes it a pretty good backup option.

Isn't it about 20times the price of a joyo pedal though  :-O

JCA2550

Branshen said:

@hotpickups I'm interested in the joyo American sound, what's the build quality like?

I'm a tad worried it'll fall apart.

I used the American Sound either run into an acoustic guitar amp or a PA and it did the job very nicely and it's excellent value. My only real criticism is that the knobs turn very freely, with very little resistance. This means that you have to dial in your preferred sounds pretty much every time you want to use it. 

ash96

So which Amps do each pedal model?

American sound - fender
British sound - Marshall
California sound - Mesa

Is that right?

How much gain can you get out of the American sound ones and is it fairly decent or does it sound a bit 'fizzy'?

Si_

What about a Zoom G3? useful on the board and can go direct to PA with amp modelling (and there cheap).. would be ideal as a backup (I've just bought one for that exact reason)

Moss

ash96 said:

So which Amps do each pedal model?

American sound - fender
British sound - Marshall
California sound - Mesa

@ash96 - AC Tone for Vox too

fretmeister

AMT Legend 2 series.