PG contributor Tom Butwin highlights 7 preamp options for your acoustic guitar. Wherever you’re looking to plug in your acoustic, these stomps have you covered with a wide range of functionality, sounds, and applications.
LR Baggs Venue DI Acoustic Guitar Preamp / DI / EQ / Tuner Pedal
Venue DI Acous Preamp/DI Pedal w/TunerRadial PZ-Pro 2-channel Acoustic Preamp Pedal
PZ-Pro 2-ch Acous Preamp Pedal/SwitcherGrace Design ALiX Acoustic Instrument Preamp / EQ / DI / Boost Pedal
ALiX Acous Inst Preamp - SilverFrom Page to Eddie to Gilmour, the comparatively impractical Maestro Echoplex has nonetheless served its masters well. And for some, like our 6-stringing contributor, it still does.
Feast your eyes on the missing link. I give you the coolest contraption to ever run between a guitar and an amplifier: the Maestro Echoplex.
The cool factor for this historic piece of gear is so off the chart that I’m always a bit shocked when players, young or old, are not familiar with this marvelous old-school tape-echo device. But no, I’m not writing this to copy and paste Wikipedia stats on this crown jewel of the guitar-pedal world. (However, if your inner nerdom is anything like mine, it’s worthy of a snoop. All of the Echoplexes from 1959 to the late ’70s sound amazing!) I’m writing to profess to all my fellow guitar gear freaks my undying love for something that was used on so many historical recordings that it’s mind-blowing. And while a big box with an analog tape loop might not be your idea of a great ride-along pal on tour, or even in the studio, truth is, there is nothing else exactly like an authentic Echoplex.
Do you remember the first time you heard that huge swelling repeat sound at the end of “Eruption” by Van Halen? Echoplex. How about the heaviness of Jimmy Page’s guitar on “Moby Dick” by Led Zeppelin? That’s a cranked Echoplex preamp, mis amigos!
The Echoplex design is pretty simple, which is one reason why it’s so iconic. It has actual tape that runs on the top of the unit, records your sound, then plays it back. Remember 8-track tape players? Yeah, kind of like that—except for the recording part. You just crank the slide in the middle—at least on the solid-state EP-3 model that I own—to make the delay effect go fast or slow. It’s not rocket science. But it does also work as a preamp and will enhance the tone of the guitar coming out of your amp like no other unit. Eric Johnson, for example, travels with one in a rack, sans tape, just so he can use the preamp for his classic tone. The Echoplex preamp basically boosts and compresses your signal, fattening it up and providing some EQ trickery that will have guitar players unfamiliar with the device’s charms scratching their heads.
The original Echoplexes come in four flavors: the EP-1, EP-2, EP-3, and EP-4. The EP-1 is the O.G.—the first tape delay ever, with a moving tape head that allows the delay time to be changed. It was made from ’59 to ’62, when the next generation of ’Plex, called the EP-2, not only gave the tape head more mobility but protected the tape itself in a cartridge. The solid-state version was the EP-3, which was used by Van Halen, Page, Tommy Bolin, and Brian May, among others. The EP-4 offered an output buffer to improve impedance-matching with other gear. Today, you can find early generation Echoplexes for anywhere from $1,400 to nearly $2,000, and the EP-3 and EP-4 are in the $600 to $1,500 range, depending on condition.
“I have all kinds of analog delay pedals but none of them compare to the Echoplex.”
There are related devices out there that some vintage-tone-inclined players, like Brian Setzer, prefer. The Roland Space Echo is one, and there’s the Binson Echorec. They’re easier for traveling because the Space Echo has a more efficient tape transport system and the Binson records on a drum rather than a length of tape. David Gilmour from Pink Floyd was a fan of the Echorec. But just remember, it is the original Echoplex sound those models were built to emulate. And both of those artists also used original Echoplex units on a few of their classic recordings.
Sure, you can buy some newfangled digital pedal that tries to recreate the Echoplex, but what fun is there in that? Where’s the potential for tape snarls or the manual cleaning required? After owning several EP-3 Echoplexes and using them in recording studios on countless tracks, touring all over the world with one in cars, vans, RVs, buses, and planes, I can tell you nothing replicates or enhances your tone like an EP-3. And if you do roll out with one, don’t forget Q-tips and a bottle of rubbing alcohol to clean the tape heads when they get dirty. If that doesn’t sound like a good time, then I guess you don't wanna get the sound that fattened up the guitars in power trios like Joe Walsh’s James Gang or on Billy Gibbons’ first five ZZ Top albums.
I have all kinds of analog delay pedals but none of them compare to the Echoplex. Remember, a cool thing about owning vintage gear is not that it’s a piece of handcrafted history, but knowing that Leo Fender or Les Paul himself, or, in this case, Echoplex designer Mike Battle, is never making another one like the one that you own. Don't get overwhelmed or anxious by projecting what could go wrong with it. Get excited about having a piece of gear that can make your guitar sound like almost every classic-rock, blues, and country record ever made.Wherever you’re looking to plug in your acoustic, these stomps have you covered with a wide range of functionality and sounds.
A good preamp plays an important role in making your acoustic guitar sparkle. Here are options in a wide price range that will keep your 6-string singing.
LR BAGGS Venue DI
This stomp includes a full-isolation DI output, 5-band EQ with adjustable low- and high-mid bands, variable clean boost, and a chromatic tuner all in one acoustic pedal.
$328 street
RADIAL ENGINEERING PZ-Pro
This 2-channel acoustic preamp offers precise tone-shaping and effects control. You can seamlessly integrate dynamic or condenser mics, switch effortlessly between channels, activate a booster and an effects loop, and mute the signal for hassle-free onstage tuning.
$639 street
ORANGE AMPLIFICATION Acoustic Pedal
With all the know-how of Orange’s acclaimed Acoustic Pre TC preamp and Crush Acoustic 30 amplifier, this do-it-all, compact preamp pedal will help you battle feedback or brighten a dull instrument.
$169 street
TRACE ELLIOT Acoustic Transit A
This portable rig includes a 3-band active EQ, chromatic tuner, built-in pre- and post-XLR balanced output, dry output, headphone output, carry bag, plus user-definable boost, chorus, delay, and reverb.
$349
TECH 21 Acoustic Fly Rig
Whether for recording or live performance, this unit is jam-packed with useful features: a 100-percent-analog SansAmp, parametric EQ, boost, compressor, tap-tempo delay, independent reverb, tuner, headphone capability, and XLR output.
$249 street
FISHMAN Platinum Pro EQ
This all-analog universal instrument preamp box features a discrete, high-headroom class-A preamp, switchable guitar/bass EQ modes, adjustable volume boost, a balanced XLR DI output, and much more.
$319 street
GRACE DESIGN ALiX
This full-featured acoustic preamp is designed to be portable and rugged but still deliver true studio-quality sound with the same level of performance as the company’s pro audio range on the live stage.
$765 street
BOSS AD-2 Acoustic Preamp
With just three knobs, this stomp will do the trick. Controls include resonance, which processes your acoustic’s natural sounds, ambience or reverb, and a notch filter, plus normal or balanced DI outputs.
$119 street
FENDER Acoustic Preverb
Combining three distinct reverb voices with an acoustic preamp, this pedal is a powerhouse. Other features include a notch filter, damping control, and mute switch.
$179 street