I'm thinking on buying some rack gear rather than a head maybe.
and i was wondeing what you would suggest.
Im lookin for tube.
$600 or bellow.
If it pulls really squeely harmonics and Kinda buttery maybe (good smooth leads) then I wil Problebly like it.
High gain also.

I was wondering specificly about this one
http://www.engl-amps.com/index2.html

__________________

your link doesnt work, but i suggest the engl 530. If i ever went rack, thats what it probably would be.

For poweramps, i'd say look at peavey or mesa boogie. If theyre out of your price range (and tube powermaps often are), tons of other people will have suggestions, and more knowledge than me on this subject. But mind you, some tube poweramps go for as much as an entire head... so why not just skip the rack and get a head?

__________________

The link on here i posted was of the like 500 dollar engl preamp.
Thanx for your input.

__________________

Is this guy really selling all thatand its only going for 500?
http://cgi.ebay.com/Engl-E520-Pream...QcmdZViewIte m

would this be good?

__________________

Well thats where the bidding is started, who knows where it will go from there. Honestly, that power amp is awesome but 95 watts all tube per side is a RIDICULOUS amount of power. Way more than what you would ever need in this lifetime. BUT if you can score that whole thing for less than a grand, id say go for it!

__________________

what about a ADA mp-1, has anyone tried it, how does it sound?

I have two... they really are that great pic

Really easy to mod, but they sound great stock... and they've got built in chorus too, which sounds really good.

__________________

Engl is a good choice but I would consider:

Modded ADA MP-1, like the 3.666 mod or 3TM(3 tube mod) or something like that, you can get em modded off ebay or from adadepot.com. With it stock it won't pull off enough gain for heavier stuff like death metal and such, but if you just play shred you might like it stock, it was very popular during the 80's.

Also look for the peavey rockmaster, 3-4 tube preamp, loads of gain and brootlz, plus it always sells for 200-300$ on ebay, will leave you with enough $ for a pretty decent tube power amp(essential to get the most out of a good tube pre). Dallas Ward from Nile and Devin Townsend swear by these preamps. Tube FX loop too.

I'd get this if I were you, unless you really need the MIDI capabilities of a modded MP-1.

__________________

alright with the extra modds on the mp-1 will it be suitable for death metal. like on the lines of defeated sanity, disgorge, ect.

The 3.666 mod(boogie mod) might be but I've never heard it in action, search youtube for vids of it if you can find em.

But a surefire pre that's going to do well for tech dm like DS and stuff would be the Peavey Rockmaster(don't be turned off by the name, the preamp is the same as a Peavey Ultra amp which is the predecessor to the XXX, that a lot of death metal bands use).

__________________

The daddy of the MP-1 mods is the 3TM mod. It adds an extra tube into the unit, so you get an extra gain stage (or two, i can't remember the schematic off hand). Certainly enough gain there with that. Point to note though: with simple mods, you can/should be able to get it to sound like the ENGL preamps, as they're roughly the same configuration inside (the tube part of the circuit is).

__________________

I've played stock Mp-1's before. I feel they have enough gain to do anything. Though a bit noisey and not voiced well for certain styles of music. Most mods available fix the noise issue, and focus on changing the voicing to suit certain styles, some add or subtract gaininess. Most of them add.

__________________

Yea, i was planning on modding one of mine to be a 'hi-gain' unit, and one to be a clean unit... but for the high gain one, i only ended up installing the MDRT - a replacement transformer that gives better performance and less noise, by providing the tubes with the correct voltage/current, which the stock transformers don't quite do.

The clean unit i did a cathode-follower mod, so the last gain stage wasn't adding anything... just reducing the overall gain of the unit. Sounds great, and is quite nice to switch between the two units- would only be nicer if i had a stereo/2 channel MIDI switcher!

The clarity of MP-1s is very good too, all the way through the gain range.

__________________

What about the Rocktron Prophesy II?

I haven't tried it myself but i've heard both very good and very shitty things about it. It sound pretty good on paper and a bunch of famous guys use it.

__________________