Electronic Audio Experiments takes on Music Man's unique HD130 Amplifier with its The Bard Compact Preamp

John Snyder can do no wrong these days - and is probably the most in-demand pedal engineer for collaborations - judging by how many recent pedals have had his input - including the 1981 Inventions LVL, and very recent Science Amplification Mother Preamp.

I personally tend to have a preference for more compact varieties of preamp - and The Bard is just the kind of Preamp Pedal I typically gravitate towards.

The source / amp inspiration here is the Music Man HD130 Amplifier - which existed from 1974-84, and had a pretty unique solid state preamp combine with an all-tube power stage. There are obviously myriad preamp pedals out there - mostly based on Fender, Marshall or Vox variants typically - so it’s always good to get something a little bit different - and something which sounds somewhat distinct - with a kind of Jazz Chorus degree of Clean Sparkliness - and a somewhat Glassy profile overall.

Controls : Level, Voice / Channel : Bright / Normal, Drive, Low, High.

The Tone controls are passive with 15dB of range - with Lows up to 300Hz, and Highs between 1kHz and 4kHz.

You probably have several preamps for the usual suspects already - so try something different instead this time around - and get a wholly different inspirational soundstage. I really love my EAE compacts - the Dagger and Halberd - and this is definitely another nice-to-have in that mould.

Actually the first batch is already sold out - but these should be available again pretty imminently - both on the Electronic Audi Experiments Webstore and at International Dealers - going for $200 and equivalent!