From eslawson@juno.com Mon Mar 11 19:02:57 2002
Subject:=?iso-8859-1?q?Speakeasy_Tube_Preamp_RACK_=96_First_Impressions?=


I have been thinking about the Speakeasy Tube Preamps for a while and
have been intrigued by the various posts here on the CloneWheel
board. However, it was not a real priority to get a Speakeasy until
I retired my Hammond XK2 in favor of the new Korg CX3. I had been
using the XK2 with an 1122 kit as the portal to my Leslie 122 via the
XK2's 11-pin output. The CX3 has no such multi-pin output (shame on
you, Korg) and I had no other way to connect the CX3 into the 122.

This being the case, I was immediately on the market for some type of
preamp with ¼" input to drive the Leslie and control speeds. There
are no real "vintage" options since the popular chrome Leslie combo
preamp pedals are almost exclusively designed for the 147 series and
will fry a 122 amp in a second. There are various new solutions
available, but the Speakeasy preamp was looking very promising based
on its old school design and the favorable reviews I have been
reading about it.

My primary requirement is to be able to play my CX3 through my 122.
Secondarily, it would be nice to have the preamp serve a dual
function as a preamp into my Motion Sound KBRm. The ability to have
both in the same box makes for a great package. This certainly helps
justify the expense, because I do not use my 122 on every gig and
don't really want to drop a lot of money on a boutique device that
sits at home most of the time. I select my equipment carefully and
if it is not paying the bills, I put it on eBay pretty quickly.

All of this said, I was still hesitant about another pedal cluttering
up my pedal board. I currently use a volume pedal, Motion Sound
speed switch, damper pedal, wah-wah and various FX pedals depending
on the gig. Sticking a huge tube preamp pedal in there would be a
real clusterf*ck, not to mention, I cringe at the idea of carting it
around and packing it in and out of a briefcase for every gig. I had
sent Steve Hayes a couple of inquiries about a rack-mount device and
he had advised that he was working on this, since his rack-mount
Fender Rhodes preamp/tremolo was recently put into production.

I was sold on the notion of the preamp in a rack version and have now
been able to use one. I recently obtained one of the first
prototypes Steve built and it is definitely in a class of its own. I
like the rack design oh_so_much better than having a pedal. It is a
2-space unit, quite similar in appearance to the Rhodes preamp. It
has the input and footswitch jacks on the front along with volume,
bass and treble controls and pilot lights. On the rear is a ¼"
output for running into a normal amp and the multipin connector for
running into the Leslie 122. It is a very ruggedly built piece of
gear. One bit of feedback I had was that the round-head Phillips
screws on top and bottom preclude the rack from fitting into a
typical 2-space Anvil rack or in between 2 other rack units. These
screws should be flat-headed and recessed into the steel (an
enhancement Steve has promised). Minor issue. The rack unit travels
protected in a rack and can be placed out of harm's way during the
gig (rather than being the victim of countless stomps like the pedal
version).

Anyways, getting to the sound of this little rack-mounted device. I
had some problems at first, but was able to get a good sampling of
what it can do. My initial problem was a loud background hum when
using the ¼" output. This was bypassed (somewhat) by keeping the 122
pigtail plugged in during operation. Steve was most helpful in
helping to troubleshoot this issue. In fact, he quickly sent me a
bypass jumper to plug in to the multi-pin and this was a good
temporary solution. He is currently working on the permanent
solution and has advised that it is a simple fix.

Once in action, the unit does its job of warming up the clone sound
and meets my initial requirement of driving the Leslie 122 in a very
nice fashion. This is the main reason I needed the unit and so my
first test was to run the CX3 into the 122. This test was done at
home and so I did not run the 122 really loud. At a low volume, I
was able to dial in every variation of the tone and could get a
completely ballsy overdriven sound, ala John Lord, if needed. I was
a little challenged to get a clean sound through the preamp as it has
a very sensitive gain structure and seems to really shine when the
tube is driven. But with some tweaking and experimentation with the
CX3 EQ and other parameters, a great sound can be achieved. The main
thing is that it answers my need for a portal into the Leslie.

After getting past requirement number one, I took the rack out to
some gigs with my Motion Sound rig. Adding this into the chain was a
bit confounding at first, probably because I am still getting used to
the CX3. So here I had an organ with multiple parameters and gain
settings going into a new tube preamp and then into the tube pre of
the Motion Sound. Lots of different places to introduce gain and
overdrive. I am still perfecting the proper gain structure, but let
me tell you…any questions I had about the somewhat lower gain I was
getting from the CX3 by itself are OUT THE WINDOW. With the
Speakeasy, the CX3 is totally wide open. All the gain I could ever
want and then some. Dialing in the proper amount of overdrive was a
little tricky and I am still working on it. I ended up turning the
Motion Sound way back to where I was not really using much of its
tube sound and instead relying on the Speakeasy rack.

Once the "sound" is there with the multiple pieces of gear all in
sync, the preamp provides a breath of fresh air into some of the more
common drawbar settings such as 888000000, 888800000 and 888888888.
These are often a bit lame sounding on any clone and the Speakeasy
really warmed it up and introduced a full body to the tone. It is a
bit hard to describe, but definitely noticeable in the upper 2
octaves. When I edged back to a more mellow sound like 008000004,
the sound cut through better than before, although the level of
crunch was a bit high. Like I said before, dialing the grunge in and
out requires a lot of experimentation. It really comes down to
having a fairly clean sound when the expression pedal is about 2/3 up
and then bring in the drive by flooring the pedal. The gain can get
overbearing and I was hearing my Motion Sound actually rattling due
to the massive boost in volume. Steve tells me this side effect will
be addressed by the permanent fix to the aforementioned background
hum.

After a couple of gigs, I was pleased with the preamp driving my
Motion Sound rig. However, I will point out that the CX3 into the
Motion Sound by itself is still pretty darn sweet. The Speakeasy is
like icing on the cake but could be viewed as overkill by some (not
me). If I were in a position of needing to set up and tear down
quickly, I would likely leave the Speakeasy out of the chain for
simplicity's sake. But for most gigs, it is a worthwhile addition.
Like I mentioned, my main objective was to drive my Leslie 122 and it
is like an extra bonus to also be able to use it for my Motion Sound
rig. Try doing this on any of the other preamps out there (Trek,
Hampton, CAE) and you'll be scratching your head wondering why they
don't have a ¼" output. It is truly a great innovation to make a
tube preamp with multi-pin Leslie and ¼" output in the same box. I
like the fact that my investment yields such a versatile piece of
gear.

I must also give kudos to Steve Hayes at Speakeasy Vintage Music. He
has been awesome in creating the rack version and helping me to get
it up and running. This is a prototype version and still has some
kinks, which we are working together. Steve is a rare breed…he has a
passion to build awesome gear and he backs up the hype with
substance. It is not often that a musician gets to interact with an
engineer such as this. We have been asking for a rack version and
now it is being delivered. Good stuff!

As referenced in my title, this is an "initial impressions" post that
will be followed up with more info at a later date. Please let me
know if this has sparked questions and I will try to answer them.

Regards,
Eric