Rocktron Gainiac

don't get much easier than this does it?

okay kids stop on fighting and taking a piss out of each other. there's taste involved too, so everyone is right.

I use a Jackson with EMG 81, to the gainiac, through a noise gate and end with a 2 x 60 watt 6L6C poweramp. vintage 30 equipped cab.

the first thing i notice is that with all the lead channel settings on 12 o'clock it really that bad. enough gain for what i'm playing (trash metal/metalcore) and really clear sounds. even though well distorted there is still loads of definition in de sound. don't compare it to mesa cause mesa is muddy as hell. i personally don't like mesa just for that reason. i'm more into engl amps. and for 100 bucks this comes insanely close to the nice clear crisp sounds you get outta engl. don't get me wrong, i'm not saying it's the same, just saying it's got some good point that happen to weigh pretty heavy in my decision.

i can imagine though that without active pickups you'd lack some gain. just buy a booster (rocktron nitro e.g.) that should take care of the problem.

didn't break down yet

overall, if you like clear sounds: this is a good preamp for it's price. if you like muddier, loads of low end, mesa type of sound don't buy it, you'll be disappointed. and if you like a metal zone: quit bitching and buy one. it's a stupid comparisson. a mesa don't sound like a marshall either, but that doesn't make it a bad amp.

Easy to get he sound..turn the tube gain knob and set the level/EQ and there you go..

I use this for some killer Bass distortion..I like the 3 band EQ so I can scoop and turn the bottom up. I picked up a footswitch so that makes it easier. I keep the gain and about 9 o'oclock for bass and I get a good overdrive/fuzziness but not too much. I also use a NS-2 its a little noisy. The clean channel could use a mid range knob and level but that's on the Gainiac 2.

No problems so far..bought it used and looks solid enough..I put it in my gig rack so it shold be good to go. Yes I would gig w/o a backup.

I used this for my bass and I like it a lot. Gives me better distortion that the pedals i've tried. I also use this for my guitar through a Crate Powerblock into a 4x12 gutar cab and its a good 80's metal sound. Wish it had a power supply instead of the "wart" and a on/off switch.

i find the gainiac very easy to use, just set the gain where you like it and adjust the eq.

i think the sound is pretty good for a simple , one tube preamp. i play gibson flying v's,jackson king v, bc rich neck through explorer, and bc rich bich. i run from the guitar into the gainiac,an effects unit and into a '75 50w marshall and a silver 50 w jubilee and it sounds great to me. slightly noisy, but a very heavy sound through this setup.the distortion is very tight and articulate, not loose in the low end at all. i find i keep the mids about halfway and the high about 1-3 oclock.the sound is not at all like a metal zone pedal,not as much gain but more punch through in the mix. i play metal, from priest and maiden to megadeth and slayer and it works for me. i don't use the clean channel much, it is hard to balance the volume between the two channels. i leave the gain set at max and adjust with the level knob. plenty of bass response.it would get a higher rating here if you could balance the two channels easier.

i have two of them and have only changed the tube in one, no other issues.i have had one of them for several years, since not too long after they came out. i have gigged with it and had no problems at all. the other guitarist had one and didn't like his, my rig played great, his blew up,causing a few minutes of scrambling to get going again.as long as your tube is okay, i would play without a backup.

never had to deal with them. haven't had any problems.

i play mostly metal, some old rock( ufo,aerosmith) and this does great for me. i have been playing for 23 years now. i have over 30 guitars at home,lots of 4x12 cabs(marshall), 50, 100, and a 200w marshall from the 70's, a 100w jcm 800, 50w silver jubilee, a mesa boogie mk 111, and a vht pitbull ultra lead(awesome amp!).various rack and pedal stuff. if this were stolen, i would probably look for something more expensive.for the price i think this delivers a good, usable metal sound.

The is a basic preamp. Really couldn't get any easier to use. The manual is even easier......No on/off switch though -- that's a minus.

Well, here is the heart of the matter, no? This preamp unit provides basic, classic tube distortion -- smooth and warm. The description of this thing in catalogs and web stores is a little inaccurate. They make it sound like your gonna have extreme, over the top distortion.

I understand the disappointment of some. The distortion is not fuzzy and saturated. You are not going to sound like Hatebreed, Machine Head, or Dimebag (RIP), or Slipknot.

And yet, this preamp is 100% metal -- old school. Think Kill 'em All-era Metallica, old Priest, old Mercyful Fate. I know the Gainiac was not around at the time, but it sure sounds like Slayer used this preamp on Seasons in the Abyss and Decade of Aggression.

And I imagine the classic rock and blues crowd might also appreciate the Gainiac.

I have not had the chance to use it with a tube power amp so I cannot comment on that aspect. We all know how important role power amp tubes play in distortion, so it is quite possible that the Gainiac is a different beast with an all tube power amp.

One last thing: If your a metalhead like me, your first instict would be to suck out all the mids. You can, but I don't think this provides the best sound -- the sound gets really thin when one does this (although this can be compensated for by cutting the lows some and getting rid of the highs. I like the SCOOP control to be at about 12 o'clock. Again, I like to cut all the highs -- this unit has a twangy, nasily quality that can be annoying. This a unit you will have to spend some time to tweak to your taste.

If you've only been using solid state metal pedals, the Gainiac will be quite a different sound for you. But this is old style metal distortion and this unit is way cool.

It should be fine in a rack. I can't imagine it not working.

Excellent through email.

You can get these units used in ebay for more that half the retail price, so you can't go wrong. But understand this unit provides an older style of distortion than what you may be used to.

Deluxe Fender Fat Strat > DOD Death Metal > Keeley Comp > Boss DS-1 > Behringer mixer > Gainiac (in effects loop) > QSC RMX 850 power amp.

Deluxe Fender Fat Strat > DOD Death Metal > Keeley Comp > Boss DS-1 > Behringer mixer > Gainiac > Fender Blues Jr.


I should start by saying that I bought it used. The distortion was muddy, the mid-sweep knob didn't do much, the thing sounded really digital and nasty in general. A new Groove Tubes 12AX7A greatly improved the sound quality, so if you buy it used you might want to get a new tube before writing a review ;)

I don't have high output pickups, so I use the mixer to drive the Gainiac. It is no Mesa Mark IV, but it gets the job done. I can get a good rock and punk sound with it. It can get pretty brutal, but not quite full-out Dimebag f***ing hostile brutal. I leave the metal (not that I play much of it) up to the DOD Death Metal pedal. Ok for blues, I would rather just overdrive my Blues Jr. to tell you the truth.

I can get a nice lead Trey Anastasio tone out of it with the mid sweep in the right position. Think Stash. Which leads me to: sustain.
After I put in the new tube, the sustain went through the roof. With the Keeley Comp I can get a silly ammount of sustain.

There is a bit of noise on the distortion channel (to be expected), but not that much.
Channel switching is quiet.
The clean channel is nothing to write home about.

Anything else... hmm... oh yeah, try it before you buy it.

It looks sturdy enough. Steel box and all. I have only had it for a week, so I am not going to rate it numerically.

Haven't contacted them directly. I noticed they don't have a manual available on their site. Not that I need one to explain how it works. I was hoping it included a circuit schematic. oh well.

If you don't have a lot of money to spend on a Mesa or Marshall this is a nice compromise. Don't get me wrong, you get what you pay for: this thing isn't going to sound like a $2,000 stack, but it gets the job done for us amateurs. Oh yeah, for the love of god don't pay $225 dollars for this. I always see them on ebay for $50 to $100. MusiciansFriend.com has them for $199 and they occasionally have a blem for $169 (which has a warranty). I don't work for them or anything, it's just a good deal.

"@#$*& Wow!!" That's all I can say what it did to my crappy Solid State head!

CONFIG: Ibanez RG500 (w/SH-30 "Dimebuckers" bridge position)-> Dunlop Crybaby -> Behringer V-Amp PRO -> Rocktron Xpression -> Gainiac -> Randall RG80ES head -> 1 Randall Cab + 1 homemade cab.

Until I can get a nice Mesa setup, this is it. I planned on getting an EQ for my rack setup, but ever since getting this I don't think I need it anymore!!

The variety is the Scoop knob. It's the magic of this thing. With the above setup, I use a Rectified setting on the V-Amp Pro. When I turn the Scoop all the way to +30, I get ALMOST an exact duplicate of the Pantera sound if not exactly it. Even though I have the Dimebuckers, I don't think it really matters what pickups you use.
(note: I'm not looking for the Pantera sound, but it's nice to know I make it if I want to. ^_^ )

The best tone I've ever heard (IMHO) is the guitar tone of Lamb of God's "As the Palaces Burn" CD. They use a Mesa Mark IV. I can somewhat get close to that sound with a little of my own personal addition (I gotta get one of those Mark IV's!!)

I haven't had a chance to test the clean channel at high volumes because I don't even use it at all. (I don't even use the Tube Gain knob halfway up since my V-Amp Pro does the changing between distortion and clean, so I gotta keep the Tube Gain knob low on the Gainiac. That seems to be a personal settings problem for me.)

Again, with any distortion setup for a Solid State rig, adding this Pre-Amp is almost as close to a tube setup as getting a REAL tube head.

Oh yeah, turning up the distortion to full on both the V-Amp Pro and the Gainiac sounds like (insert bad word here).

As stated previously: **IT IS A PRE-AMP**

Don't expect anything close to good distortion by itself. It's all wonky and flat...a big no-no.

The best feature: the "Scoop" knob.

Other features: you should know by now. If not, go to rocktron.com

I actually bought mine used from eBay. I'm not sure if it has the stock Audio Glassic tube since I plan not opening it till I get a Mesa Boogie 12AX7. Before I bid, I asked the seller how old it was: 5 years. That should tell you something!! It is in mint condition though, and I hope to keep it that way.

I'm glad I got it used, but would defintely by it brand new if it did break. I plan on replacing the tube once a year as recommended by a friend.

Haven't dealt with them. I hope not, since you can have a super bad or super good experience with ANY company.

I highly recommend this to ANY Solid State setups who are looking to take a step into the tube world, but don't have $1500 sitting around. I don't know why I didn't get one of these things in the past!

I really don't know what to compare it to since Rocktron seems to be the only one to make this kind of rack preamp.

It'd be nice if they came out with one that had 5 12AX7's in it! Maybe then you should be getting a Mesa Tri-Axis anyway??

A uneducated person could figure the use of this "PRE-AMP" out> It is that easy.

Well here is my two cents worth, I will give where credit is do. And be very aunust. I used to play hard rock / metal. I lean more towards the hard rock side. So I am into tone more than that solid state metallic thin sounding shit. I like some solid state amp but there are some shitty ones out there. I am using a pro-audio B-52 lg 100a stealth series head which is one of the best sounding solid state[which has no tubes in it by the way] heads out there for the money on an ok budget. I used the gainiac inconjuction with the head plugged in the send and recieve loop, and man let me tell you I have a marshall head, I was so amazed at the tone I couldnt believe it, the tone are very marshall like. Every thing is nice and warm,to the clean channels and the two gain channels.I was really impressed. I plugged it the other way, My guitar straight in the "PRE-AMP" and then into the front of my amp and let me tell you a big difference, it sounded like shit, So since this is a "PRE-AMP" it is supposed to be used inconjuction with the send and recieve input jacks located on the back of your amp, The clean channels are crystal clear no noise smooth, warm, and bright, whatever is your flavor? It is there. If you are one the metal head warriors, this is not a stand alone distortin unit. It will not produce death, metal sounds alone. If you have a solidstate effects unit with distortion, lets say A "Digitech rp-12" you will get those death metal type tones for sure, You have to place it in front of the effects, or behind it, meaning the order it is plugged into, depending what amp you have. You have to quit whining and play with it.

I could depend on this, I actually have two of these , one I bought on ebay for 70.00 and the other was free as a gift because the person did not know how to use it properly and went out out and bought a six hundered dollar processor afterwards, I showed him, my tones are way cleaner and defined rather than his $600.00 noisey processor that cant keep up with mine.

Yes I have dealt with this company, and the are very freindly up there at battlecreek MI. No problems

I would definately recommend this pre-amp, It does kick ass if used properly, Us typical men always wanting to stick it in the first hole we see before doing some foreplay and seeing what sounds and feels good. But I repeat "THIS IS NOT A STAND ALONE DISTORTION" This is a guitar "PRE-AMP".It sounds 100 times better if it is used with a proceessor or a distortin unit.I think the other reviews that are giving it a bad name are guys that probly are not using it right, or dont have the right descent equipment.

when i first got this model i tried it in many different ways to see what kinds of sounds i would get, the first way i tried was just with the gainiac itself it sounds like krapp of course cuz its a preamp not an effects unit kids remember that when you start to say how krappy it sounds. 2nd was through just my amp and i have a fender m-80 a very vintage amp that if you know what sound you want with some other hardware put into it it kicks ass, now when i did that it sounded ok but too twangy.3rd i put it though everything and that would be running in order bbe 362 sonic maximizer-digitech gsp 21 pro legend-rocktron gainiac-m-80 head for power. Now when i did it this way the first time it was still twangy even through my gsp and everything else so i just used the clean tone with my gsp distortion for use of just the tube power and HOLY SHIT!!!!! it made my clean tones crystal clean and my distortion on my gsp so crunchy it beats the krapp its almost as close to some dual recto sounds i was stunned so if you wanna get some kick ass sounds just use that gainiac for the tube power and run it clean through you other effects and you will find that this thing is not as bad as everyone says.

The features are real simple, you have your bottom for lows top for highs the level for the volume your tube gain which i wish could be more gain and last but not least the all important scoop and i wish there was a scoop for the clean channel too.

well so far so good we will see another year, rocktron is outta battle creek, mi and i was born and raised here in michigan and we build things to last and im sure this little thing well but i would change the tube like once a year or if you are a working musician like me then i would change it like every 6 months.

well i dont really need to get ahold of them at this time but if i ever did im sure i would get a fast response the seem very very pro.

overall i relize that the rocktron gainiac is good to use for just the tube power if you are runnin it with other signal processors and i would buy a back up if i had too or just buy a different tube preamp and just use the tube power. I mainly like it for the 12AX7 Glassic Tube. I cant really compare this to anything else because no matter how old new or different of the product someone out there is always gonna make something that is not good to others sound really good and you will wonder how that musician does it and as a guitarist you should be able to make any magic happen on any amp or guitar and that is real musicianship. I chose this product cuz i really like the rocktron products i used a intellifex a couple of years ago for my guitar then moved it up for vocals and just all the bands that i know that use rocktron.

Its a simple preamp, turn up the bootom, scoop the mid to -30, and turn up the top. Set the gain and level accordingly. It has a great sound that will get better when I retube and bias my poweramp, and replace my 4x12 cab (its time to upgrade from the 1972 hand me down).

It is also easy to retube the Gainiac. I replaced the tube it came with (New Tube? 12ax7/7025) with a Mesa Boogie spax7. It has slightly more gain, a clearer sound, but unfortunately seems to have introdced a bit of midrange back into the tone. I'm going to try a Sovtek like the ROcktron support guy I talked to reccomended or maybe a new Groove Tube 12ax7 Mullard.
The clean channel had a warmer/darker sound with the old tube. The Boogie tube has made it a little brighter.

THIS UNIT IS MEANT TO BE USED AS A PREAMP! DO NOT PLUG IT INTO THE INPUT OF YOUR AMP. PLUG IT INTO THE POWER SECTION OF THE EFFECTS LOOP. -I think this is why its been given bad reviews.

Ibanez RG550 or Kramer V - Ibanez FC10 Dist (used for a slight boost to really saturate the sound - Gainiac preamp - Digitech DSP128 - Ibanez Harnonizer HD1000 - BBE 402 Sonic Maximizer - Marshall JCM900 2100 amp head (poweramp section) - MGI Gilsonite 4x12cab.

It sounds great, but not as good as the one I tried with my guitar and a Marshall 4x12 cab. When I retube and bias the poweramp section and pick up a 1960A 4x12 cab I'm sure it will truly kick *ss.

The one I tried at my local store was my RG550 - Gainiac - ADA power amp - Marshall 1960A cab.

I'll give it an 8 now but once I sort out tubes and cabs it will be a 10.

Mine is used but looks built to last. I would use it without a back up, but I have the JCM900 head's preamp section just in case.

They were great to deal with. I fired off an email and had a response the next day. I'm going to bother them again soon. I'd like to be able to scoop the mids out a little more. I'm sure they know of a capacitor I could solder in ala a hot rodded marshall to get this.

I play metal like King Diamond, Slayer. It is a good match. I've been playing since ~1988.
I love the mid scoop, but it could go slightly farther down because of the mid introduced by the new tube and the sonic maximizer. I would buy one again if it were stolen.

It tooks a little time 'til a get the sound the I want. This Preamp has only five potis in the gain channel, so it is easy to handle.

Hey, the sound is really great. I like the distortion. That's Metal. I use the Gainiac withe a Epiphone Les Paul and a Rockinger Destroyer Humbucker and with a Jackson RR with a SH-8 Invader. Im play it through a Marshall top and a Laney Cabinet. It sounds great.

n/a

I've never had problems with my Rocktron Products so I've never contacted the company.

I've play Metal some years ago. It's a good match.
If it were stolen I'm sure that i would buy it again.
It remains me a bit at the MT-2 from Boss but the sound is better especially the clean sound. I think that's the tube inside.
The price is very low and it's sound great if you play metal

I did a review on this a little while ago and I thought I would add this. I forgot to mention a few things which might explain why I have rated gainiac higher than most. I have an EMG turbocharger (basicly a signal booster for my Duncan Distortion) in my guitar that I almost constantly use. It pushes the volume on the clean channel and gives the overdrive a more full-bodied sound. I really recommend anyone who has this preamp to have either active electronics or a pickup booster of some sort. For those that have EMG's and still didn't like the gainiac ...keep reading..

I HIGHLY RECOMMEND YOU CHANGE THE STOCK TUBE!

When I first got this I thought as others on here that the tube was just for show and didn't do much. Well I opened the side panel and you could see the tube glowing (There is a top on the tube so you can't see it glow from the front opening). I've never heard of the brand...TNT :the new tube (yea...it's ghetto).

With the stock tube you actually do get kind of a marshall-imitation sound but it's little thin (which is why I constantly used the TurboCharger). But I put in an Electro-Harmonics super7 and it really pushes!! The wannabe marshall clone sound is traded for a more of a genuine peavey sounding tone and it's got less feedback/noise. I can even get good sound with the turbocharger off and I get real deep gutsy sound with it on.

You also won't have to be as fussy with the EQ. With the stock tube you have to have the EQ perfect in order to get good sound but with a good tube the gainiac is a little more relaxed about this. It's not ultra thin when the "scoop" knob is all the way up either.

Very simple to operate and connect up. Manual is simple as well, nothing of great importance.

I have a couple of different setups, but my main setup is a Rocktron Gainiac into a Rocktron Intellifex then into a Marshall stereo power amplifier. This sucker screams! My main sound for the heavier tunes, I dial in the scoop control and a little reverb from my effects unit and crank it through a 4x12. For the less "heavy" tunes (which suck, but that is what my singer likes to do) I use less scoop and dial down the gain to get a more crunchier sound. For the larger gigs I do I use two 4x12s , side by side not stacked, sounds awesome like that. I also record a lot with the Gainiac. Sometimes I use a Palmer redbox so I can record direct. The cool thing about the Gainiac is the tube, it seems to add that edge that you can't get out of those digital floor pedals. There is some noise, but I think it is mainly caused by my strat and the high volumes I usually play at. But when recording no problem.

So far no problems. I don't have a back up. So far I have not seen a need to have one, but the Gainiac is really pretty cheap - so it probably wouldn't hurt.

Not had to deal with them

I have looked at other preamps and have tried some of the digital floor pedals as well. Although, these floor pedals seem to have all of the things you need, they don't seem to do any "one" thing very well. Everything is sort of "half assed". Normally the distortion in these multi floor pedals completely blows - I have been able to find one good distortion sound, but usually it is only good for practicing, I would never gig with one of those things. I guess that is why I have always had either different rack products or different pedals. For me the Gainiac does what is says, produces Gain and that is what I need at my gigs. I would recommend this to anyone, especially at this price!

its easy to use

This is where i am going to speak my mind...PIECE OF CRAP!!!!!!!
How in the world could any company get away with false advertising like this is beyond me! THERE IS NO GAIN! This thing sucks!
If ANYONE out there wants a deep metal sound forget this product
The worst $200 bucks i have ever spent. I ended up using a metal zone pedal through my rig setup just to get some decent distortion. I have a full rack setup and this thing with all shit i have still doesnt sound good. WARNING!!!! If you are a metal head like me, dont be fooled this will NOT GIVE YOU THE SOUND YOU ARE LOOKING FOR!

who gives a shit!

who gives a shit!

DONT BOTHER EVEN TRYING THIS THING! Unless you are looking for a weak distortion.

This is the order of my setup....

Ibanez RG > Ganiac > Alesis 230 EQ > Aphex Aural Exciter > Rocktron Velocity 100 > Carvin 412 cab.

If you like that old Metallica sound, this will produce it. Nothing says you can't play in a death metal band with this. It has that clean crunch within the distortion. I think the reason some of these kids don't like it is because its a clean distortion. They play through it and realize they suck and then blame it on the preamp. You can hear every note. Doesn't cover your ass like thsese digital distortions. As far as the clean goes, why would you buy a product called gainiac and whine about the clean channel. It's still pretty good though. Its got the classic warm tube tone with a tinge of dirt. You can clean it up by rolling back the volume knob on youy guitar just a tad.

Guitar Preamp with a 12AX7 tube. Pretty Basic. Clean channel has an eq (low and high). Distortion channel has gain control, level, eq, and a scoop (mids) control. Has a switch for switching between channels. It has a footswitch jack in the back along with the output jack. I really wish it had an optional input jack in the back. Also, it needs a lead channel.

Its a rack unit, How are you gonna fuck it up? It seems pretty reliable. I had it for 6 months already, not one problem.

Haven't had to deal with them.

For the price it is good for what it does. I realy wish it had a lead channel though. Maybe have two tubes? One for clean and one for distortion. Before you talk shit about it, Learn how to use it and run it through a power amp and some cabs. Don't run it through your shitty 10 watt practice amp.

From a Epiphone Flying V with a Duncan Distortion pickup, digitech multieffects between the gainiac and a solid state power amp...I get awesome sound.

It's very good for hard rock. There's actually a lot of gain BUT when played on a low string the sound is compressed greatly! I happen to like this but I can see how many would not. It's GREAT for shredding down low but if you want wide open chunk down on the Low E string then forget it. It can get heavey but it doesn't have the sound of modern drop A metal

Also, on high strings there's not a lot of sustain, so You've gotta really work your fingers to get sustain manually. It's also very defined so you've gotta keep things fairly consistent for it to sound right. IT DOES help you see what ya gotta fix in your playing though LoL. Seriously, I was using digital preamp before this and now I've improved my playing based on the difference in clarity this thing has. It helpped me see where I was sloppy.

2 channel preamp...and stuff. Nice EQ. Very basic but adequate. No mids on Clean channel but it sounds sweet anyways, it just is a little less flexible for pedals. No On/Off switch is the only thing that bugs me I guess.

I've had it for like a week...I'll tell you later if it breaks

uh...see above

The preamp has it's niche (probably 80's hard rock) and You've gotta have at least a little experience to make it sound right but even if you do, it'd be a toss-up wether you like it's sound or not. I can tell you, You'll either love it or hate. Personally I love it!! Still, trying it out before buying is probably a good idea.

The gainiac is in deed very easy to use...but what is hard about using a EQ, volume and gain? By the way the EQ is like full bass/treble or nothing.

I used the gainiac with a 79' Gibson Les Paul Custom, a Ibanez Roadstar I and a SG. As amp I used the JCM Slash with two 4x12" cabs. I expected a full-shred metal distorsion with tons of gain and balls...but it's definetly too weak for my own sound. No clear fat basses and very noisy trebles... the gainiac has in my opinion the typical teenage metal sound...and I'm playing in a death band, so I got no use for it... too weak and thin. I guess it is the perfect preamp for true metal or heavy rock but not for the ultra heavy stuff.

I did use the gainiac on one gig it worked and I had no technical problems but...my mixer was shocked and said that I should use the marshall without the gainiac because of the sound. I came back to my marshall shred master, my boss EQ and my marshall. And of course my black beauty has lots of ass!

Did not need it...

I play death, gothic and rock and roll...but it sounds too weak and thin... I played the gainiac for about one year (only one gig-that was enough)...

So, checked it out before you buy it - because the name makes you expecting a other sound. Sorry.

J:

Not really any different than a Randall amp...The randall has less noise, but alot of setups demand a noise suppressor reguardless of this unit. Definately a ok choice for a very basic power amp.

Here's funny response from a previous poster:

>Ease of Sound Quality: 1
>Oh man!!!!!!! I cant explain it - when I played this unit (for >about three minutes) I was asking >myself "how can someone produce >such a fucking machine! It sounds so awfull. The tube is >just for >fun in it and I just can say that this unit is something like a >joke. It's only a noise >producer. Belive me - hear this thing >BEFORE you buy it!
>I play for over 12 years now. I took a mc Carty PRS-guitar and a >Fender Twin. So you can >belive me - the bad sound doesn't come out >of the other parts of my equipment.

Dear Crackhead:
You are right about the tube, but I got to laugh when you mention you used it with a Mc Carthy PRS and Fender twin amp. LOL, no wonder you hate it. That's like me playing a Boss metal pedal through an acoustic amp. LOL. Moron.

Basic and to the point. It'd be nice if they put a noise suppressor in it cause it is noisey!

built ok... no problems

none needed

It's very easy to use. A few knobs...

I have a Engl Straight 50 head and Marshall 1922 Box. I have a Jackson SL3 with Duncans, and I can say it kicks ass! It's a little bit noisy (probably because my crappy power unit). When I bought it I was little bit dissapointed but then I realised that you just have to crank your amp real high to get that powerful sound. I mostly play hard rock and it's very good for that. It's a real tube distorsion and you can play on any stage without wondering do you have that transistor shitty sound. It's very good preamp.

No problem so far.

Had a question to Rocktron thru e-mail, they answered after 2 days.

I'm satisfied with it. Don't try to get Dimebag Darrell sound with it, you'll get better!!

very easy

Oh man!!!!!!! I cant explain it - when I played this unit (for about three minutes) I was asking myself "how can someone produce such a fucking machine! It sounds so awfull. The tube is just for fun in it and I just can say that this unit is something like a joke. It's only a noise producer. Belive me - hear this thing BEFORE you buy it!
I play for over 12 years now. I took a mc Carty PRS-guitar and a Fender Twin. So you can belive me - the bad sound doesn't come out of the other parts of my equipment.

I play many styles from New-Rock over Nu-Metal and Jazz and Blues or funk but this unit is only good if you need less space in your rack. or maybe you can make a little table of it.

Easy to use, simple settings, scoop setting is about the only key feature, and more or less just seems like you turning the mid down when you turn the scoop up. I switched it with a homemade footswitch using an instrument cable, very easy.....if you dont have a footswtich, get one....

i have a custom Ibanez, a Les Paul Standard, and a Jackson rr-1, all with EMG 81's, i CURRANTLY run a mesa boogie triaxis into a mesa 2:90, all effects through a DMC GCX, controlled with a ground control. I used this gainiac for a couple years, it has it highs and lows....for the money, and when i was in college, i didnt have a lot fo it, you cant beat it (i say that without being misleading). I have had EVERY other pedal around, DOD Grunge sucks, Boss Metal zone is shit, everything else was not cutting it. This comes along, it was suppose to be this awesome high gain rackmount preamp. IT HAS ONE TUBE.... HOW MUCH GAIN ARE YOU GONNA GET? not much...contrary to the advertisements, and the dumbasses you have never played though a real amp on here....The EQ sucks too...i had a decent sound for a while....went into the studio, and the guy didnt even wanna record it....face it, its not for playing metal. Better than most other shitty effects being sold, but it really doesnt do it if you want an awesome, high gain sound. After i retired this (should have buried it), i got a mesa boogie studio pre amp, you can find one of these on ebay for a little more. GET IT. 5 pre amp tubes, tons of gain, awesome reverb, better tone. Mine died, i got the triaxis, and will never buy any other preamp....no reverb though (cant be perfect)

it never broke, even when i threw it. i wouldnt gig it, nor would i buy a back up....

never had any problems.....replaced the tube....prolly didnt even need too, didnt help any....

I play in a hardcore/metal band (metalcore). It doesnt do it for me. Not nearly as much gain as advertised.....good sound for the buck though. Needs more tubes, better EQ. If it were stolen, it wouldnt be missed. Not much to love, anything mesa makes is better, even the V Twin....can buy this stuff used for around the same price. It did make me focus more on playing correctly, made my playing cleaner, you cant "fake" it with this, like you can with a super shitty stompbox, it doesnt cover up much, so i owe it that. Many people are either praising this, or giving it shit....the people praising it should play though some real equipment....the ones that tear it up....just think....it could be worse....

I am using two normal BC Rich Humbuckers, sounds heavy. I play Death Metal with some Thrash/Speed Metal Influences, fits perfectly. The amp isn't really noisy, it's just okay for metal. The gainiac can make a lot of different metal sounds, thanks to the scoop function. I've read the other reviews. Well, I think these people don't know how to use the gainiac. Turn up the Scoop Button and it will sound heavy. It's as easy as that. Well if you are what i call a "All-Around-Rock"-Guitarist and you have 5 equalizers 3 different cabs 3 amps 15 effects and even much more of this crap then forget the gainiac. This is not for gay guitarist who want to be able to produce a variety of sounds. It's for metal, if you're not a mettaler forget it. I play it with an Behringer 400 Watt cab and it definitively sounds heavy. THE GAINIAC IS ABLE TO PRODUCE THE ATOMIC METAL SOUNDS IT PROMISED.

I think it was made in 2002. The Gainiac is a tube metal amp, it was made for all kind of heavy rock from the early Black Sabbath stuff to strong modern metal sound like Malevolent Creation (or Death Metal like this). It has two channels. The Amp has a Button to switch between the channels and several buttons for the amount of low and high tones. This amp has a Scoop Function, this function allows you to switch between old sounds an newer ones, you just have to turn the button. It's easy to use but there is everything you need.

Well it's a metal amp.
Metal means drink, rock and f***
It was made for it and it will stay a long time by my side.

Never had problems with the amp, don't know

It's a metal amp it has a brutal, agressive, primitve, ruthless, beautyfull distorsion. Buy it if you like to rock!
--------------------
Excuse my bad english, i'm from Germany

I play a washburn dime 333, bc rich nj series warlock, fender custom shop strat, and fender american strat. it has quite a lot of hum when the dirty channel is on and you're not playing - i guess that's just the absurd gain it produces. it sounds great for a really crunchy distortion sound, but the clean channel is nothing spectacular. The 'scoop' feature does give it quite a bit of diversity at the turn of a knob. it would certainly sound good enuff for a live application where 'hi-fidelity' audio doesn't exist. The clean channel did produce just a bit of distortion if both eq knobs were full-on. Overall, no, it can't compete with a nearly-$2,000 triple rectifier, or a tri-axis rackmount, but for under 200 bucks, what can ya expect, ya know?

Bought the amp about four years ago, used it up until this past summer. Very basic features - clean channel just has an eq, dirty channel has the usual - gain amt, level, and eq w/ unique "scoop" control, works like a backwards midrange knob on crack. It has a really sweet distortion sound when you crank the gain and volume - i used it through a 1300-watt qsc power amp and fender cabs. Has a doorbell-style on/off footswitch for the distortion channel. It's nice for the money, but overall it's pretty middle-of the road. I traded up to the sansamp psa-1 b/c i wanted to be able to change the sound on the fly, so midi now lets me do that.

A++++ It may not be the best preamp ever made, but in four years, i didn't have a single problem with it - not even a dead tube (which, by the way, never glowed the way tubes usually do - makes me wonder if it really does much..). I would and have used it to play out w/ no backup. Feel free to beat the hell outta this thing. Crank it for 40 days and 40 nights, and it'll prolly just grin and ask for more.

another A++++ While i didn't deal with the company concerning this particular produce (had a question regarding my intellifex and midimate controller), the gentleman i spoke to was incredible. He knew both products inside and out and was friendly as could be. i must have been on the phone for half an hour learning the things the manual doesn't explain clearly. I never had to deal with repair, so i can't comment on that. But i can say i wish all customer support departments operated like that.

I'm in my 9th year playing now - rack includes nady wireless, samson power conditioner, korg dtr-1 tuner, rocktron intellifex, sansamp psa-1, qsc rmx1450 power amp, and 2 fender ge412 cabs. I can't say i was sad to see the gainiac leave my setup because the sansamp is absolutely phenominal, but it sure was good to me while i had it. I love its ease of use and crunch, but it just wasn't professional enuff for me. I can't say i really compared it to anything, because you can't find another preamp that cheap unless you're talking stompboxes. On the whole, this is perfect for a starter rack setup. And as far as this bickering goes, nobody claimed it was the best the world had to offer. but for the folks using digital modeling like digitech's floor processors and the like, i gotta say, those will turn any sound into an over-produced mess. you need quality in the rest of your setup to make this thing sound good. For the tens of preamps i've played, scores of combo amps, and who knows how many setups, this thing is definitely worth the cash if you're goin for economical. Now if you were satriani, petrucci or malmsteen and you bought this unit, i'd kick you. a 6 for mediocrity, which is more than you can expect for the price.

This thing is as simple as it gets.The manual does'nt really show you more than reading the knobs.This is the perfect preamp if you are looking for a 80's distortion sound.

The best sound can be achieved by plugging straight into the Gainiac. I go through the gainiac first,then it goes to a mitsubishi stereo graphic equalizer, and then to my QSC power amp.This produces a metal tone that is better than any digital amp modeler.My QSC pumps 300 watts at 4ohms, you can't get any louder. Also the gainiac runs best at full distortion and full level.The eq on this sucks, so I would use another equalizer. It does'nt have very much midrange so boost it and fine tune it, and barely add any bass or treble when using the gainac. If you anything about tone, don't touch the scoop control, it will make your sound hollow. It is very important to change the tube that it comes with, it is a cheap russian tube. The best tube to use is a groove tube 12AX7.If you are going to use a gainaic, you might as well buy a Hush super c, because this preamp can get noisy.

The gainiac is very reliable. I run it cranked all the time, and it has never failed.

I mostly play thrash/death metal type stuff.The gainiac has provided all the gain I crave. Bottom line,if you can't a serious metal tone out of the gainiac, then you are probably a shitty guitarist. Remember , a great guitarist can sound good on anything..

pretty straight ahead interface

by it self, this is not an off the wall sort of distortion like limp bizkit or korn. sorry kids...if you want to sound like them, you're going to have to either save up for your own mesa/boogie triple rectifier (a double will do just as well live) or do what you can with a line6 toy, which can be really cool.
but james hit the nail on the head in his review. this item is basically faslely advertized! (not really, but is definetly misleading.) trying to sell these things to metal heads at gc was impossible, and i don't blame them for not buying them. the only one that i personally sold was to a guy who wanted an accessory for his triple rectafier---and holy Sh*t!!!
for a really cool tone, plug this sucker into a super distorted triple rec and have the ganiac on the clean channel. you'll hear what i mean. if you don't have a mesa amp readily available, try it out on some pedals and stuff you have. these things aren't too expensive, and i've found some amazing sounds when coupled with some other device. after all, isn't that the whole fun of accessories in the first place?!

spend some time tinkering with this thing, i wish i would have bought one while i worked at gc.

Well it works like an amp so i dont think anyone could have a problem.

The reason i am posting this review is to defend the gainiac. I am talking to these "handicapped" (thats how we call bad guitarists in Greece) guitarists that wrote bad reviews for Gainiac: Open your eyes idiots. it says tube preamp on it!!!!!!!!! Do u know what a tube preamp is? I suppose you dont know, else you would not post this crap reviews. Gainiac will not make you sound like Pantera or Machine Head for example, neither your crappy little amps that you play gainiac on. To make this bitch work you need a decent Fx processor a good power amp and cabs. If you are not having the above dont even consider bying Gainiac, stick to your Metal zones and the rest of your crappy gear and play power chords for the rest of your life(since you are not capable of playing anything else) Apart from that the guitar is another important factor when it comes to tone! If you have a shitty guitar Gainiac will not make it sound better! OOOOOHHH!!! I am feeling much better now! Gainiac is a very good preamp for the price i paid (300Euros) It delivers a great range of tones from ultra clean to distorted! The clean channel is versatile enough from playing spark clean chords to crunchy blues licks. THe distortion channel varies from overdriven sounds to those 80's metal sounds. Motorhead, Ozzy, early Metallica, Judas Priest etc. tones can be achieved with a little tweaking on the knobs.

I use Gainiac for practice at home mostly and i am not planning to gig it, since with my band i play hardcore metal and use the Voodoo Valve or the Art DST 80/80 which have tremendous gain and deliver a wider variety of tones However if i didnt have these two i would depend on it, no questions asked!

Dont know never dealt with them. However rockron is a serious company and its customer support as far as i know is very professional.!!!

In conclusion i must say that Rocktron should not have advertised Gainiac as delivering very heavy distortion that would satisfy even the most brutal players. If you like the 80's metal tones then this amp will do for you. However if you are into pantera/machine head kind of sound dont buy it. If you fit in this category try the Voodoo valve the ART dst 80/80 or (if you find any used ones) Rocktron piranha! This monsters provide all the gain you want!!!!! My Gear is 76 reissue Gibson Explorer, Gainiac, Voodoo Valve, ART DST 80/80, rocktron velocity 120 power amp and Marshall 4x12 cab. I play for seven years and i am into metal (mostly thrash metal) and when i want these 80's tones i play with the gainiac while when i want to sound heavier the voodoo valve or the dst do the job perfect!!!! Keep on picking and watch out what you buy!!!! Expensive gear will not make you better quitarists!

Well Ive read all the reviews people have posted and there really seems to be quite a divide in opinion.

It's called the "ganiac" like a play on "maniac" suggesting the preamp has insane/intense amounts of gain but most reviewers seem to agree it doesnt have as much gain as the name implies

Some reviewers like the gain so give it a 10 however the others whose expectations werent met give it a 1 or 3 People who defend it like to say its analog "no digital" well thats true-however it has only 1 12ax7 so the only way it could produce any overdrive gain is if it is heavily assisted by transistors or IC's (chips)or in otherwords solid state so in actuality this is a hybrid preamp not a "tube pre-amp"

So what does this thing really sound like???
I'm very curious how about somebody posting some sound files? lets hear it!!

two channels- clean and doitee apparently like yer cat'z litter box ya gotta "scoop" it

apparently most people own this for the most one week so how can anybody comment on its reliability??

The Gainiac is a straight up tube preamp. It has Tube gain, output
volume, scoop control, low and high EQ, a clean channel with low and high EQ controls and a foot switch. The foot switch was extra but worth the money. The sound is quite good. I have no problem getting a tight crunch equal to the sounds of Iron Maiden to Megadeth.

The clean channel coupled with my FX board sounds really nice. I can get any sound I need with a rich TUBE compliment. It is easy to setup. I don't need a million crunch settings so I set it and forget it. NO on/off switch is a drag.

Run this unit through the FX loop if at all possible. Going through the front of your amp is double preamping your amp. It won't sound good. This unit is best used with a power amp after all its a preamp!!!!!!!!!

Sound quailty starts at the guitar, to the cords, then the FX,
the amps, the speakers to your ears. The shortfall of any system is the weakest link. Eliminate the weakest link and the sound quality
of any system takes a quantum leap.

I am using all top notch gear. Marshall, Peavey, Acoustic amps.
Ampeg 412 cabs. Rocktron Ganiac, Digitech RP1, BBE 362 and the MOST important Monster Cables, thats it. I can tell you that changing the cables in my system made a dramatic difference. Everything in my setup sounds excellent INCLUDING the Gainiac.

It stands to reason, devices are patched through cables
and if the cables aren't top notch your sound will take a dive.
Any good recording studio has Monster Cable. If you think using
home made cables or run of the mill connections will yield good
sound forget it. Do you think Monster could boast if their cables were a hoax?

THINK, did you ever try to jump a car using bad or small jumper cables. Try jumping a car using lamp cord!!! Why should your sound system be any different. BUY good cables.

It is solid.

Never used them.

Like I said we play hard rock and the Gainiac fairs well with this style of music. I have always favored the TUBE distortion over the processed digital sound and this unit works just fine.

As I said before, I don't need a million distortion sounds onstage
just a few patches on the Digitech RP1 gets me through for clean and dirty work. Set and forget, thats what I'm talking about.

Just a word for the wise, if your looking for that certain sound your guitar hero has, study his rig and duplicate it. If you want your own sound pick and choose your gear as needed. There is a ton of good gear out there. Make sure your cables are top notch.

I HAVE TO DEFEND THIS PREAMP...IT SOUND AWESOME AND IF YOU ARE NOT GETTING TONE YOU DO NOT KNOW HOW TO USE A AMP...I WANTED A TUBE SOUND FOR MY MARSHAL MG-80cd AND THIS PREAMP DELIVERS...MAKES ALL OTHER SOLID STATE AMPS SOUND LIKE SHYYITT.....I HAVE A EDDY VAN HALEN KRAMER AND A JACKSON FUSION AND THIS UNIT GIVES ME A STRAIGHT UP SOLID TUBE TONE...I HAVE OWNED ALOT OF DOD AND BOSS DS-1 DISTORTION UNITS AND THIS UNIT LEAVES THEM IN THE DUST I LOVE IT...BUY ONE !!! THE GUYS THAT SAY THIS UNIT SUCKS PROBABLE CANT WIPE THERE OWN ASSES IF IT WAS PLANTED RIGHT IN FRON OF THEM!!! GAINIAC RULES

Very straight forward design all buttons and knobs

HAVENT BLOWN IT UP YET

BEEN PLAYING FOR TEN YEARS NOW AND I HAVE A BASS GUITAR ALONG WITH THE ERNIE BALL MUSIC MAN, JACKAON FUSION, AND EVH KRAMER...I LOVE ITS TONE TUBES ARE THE ONLY WAY TO GO FOR ROCK TONE....IF SOMEBODY STOLE IT ID KICK THERE AZZ!!!

Piece of cake -- simple 2 channel preamp -- knobs, no digital readouts, simple connections

I see that this preamp is getting bad reviews. It is Rocktron's own fault, but not because they made a bad product. The Gainiac is a good preamp. It is the way they advertise. In the Musician's Friend catalog they advertise this preamp as being able to produce tones for "psycho-nuclear modern metal". I've also seen "enough gain for the most hardcore metal heads".

This is very misleading. Let's start with what the Gainiac is: a simple old-fashioned tube preamp. Having said that, here is the problem: the distortion you get from the Gainiac is an old-fashioned tube sound. The Gainiac gives you straight tube tone. No more , no less. It is almost like Rocktron made this product 2 decades too late. In the 1980's, the Gainiac would have been the shit!! Tube amps back then didn't have a lot of saturated, over the top ,fuzzy crunch. It was a warmer, natural sound -- exactly like the Gainiac. Solid state distortion was frowned upon because it sounded lifeless and sterile and "artificial"

But times have changed! We now have tube amps that are extemely high gain, giving that brutal, over the top, saturated sound, while maintaining "warmth". Digital amps which emulate tubes amps have become popular also, so the battle between tube and solid state is over as far as I'm concerned.

Today's heavy music, both trendy and underground,from Papa Roach to Dying Fetus, is dominated with that brutal, saturated tone. So along comes Rocktron and their Gainaic unit, being advertised as "the preamp" for metal and hardcore. Kids see the ad, save their money, buy it, get it home, plug in, and Oh my God! It sounds like shit!!! Wimpy ass distortion!!

The people buying this thing and giving it a bad review were expecting a certain sound, but they got another. And it's Rocktron's fault. They should advertise it emphasizing the classic tube sound, rather than trying to mislead younger players.

OKay, here's the question: can you play metal with it? I answer with a definite YES!!!!!!!! This preamp rocks!! I love the tone.

Okay, let's be specific. This preamp will not and cannot sound like Machine Head's Burn My Eyes album (one of my fav's). It will however nail Slayer's Seasons In the Abyss album sound to a tee (another favorite album of mine.

This preamp will not give a brutally saturated sound. To many of you this preamp will not have enough distortion. You may need to put in better pickups in your ax. I have a Duncan Invader in my Ibanez and a
stock 490T is my SG, so I have high out pick-ups to start with.

Let me re-emphasize this -- this preamp put's out straight up old fashioned tube tone.

I have to tell you that I use a Rocktron Pro-Gap for my saturated over the top brutal distortion. While the Gainiac can't do what the Pro Gap does, the Pro Gap can't do what my Gainiac does. So I use both for different tones. Don't be fooled by Rocktron's bad advertising, yes. But also don't be fooled by those who say the Gainiac sucks. Today's bands have higher gain amps, yes. But Motorhead and Slayer wrote the book on being heavy, with old-fashioned distortion. Think for yourself!

The Wal wart, like all Wal warts is vulnerable to breakage. But the unit is sturdy. Kept in a rack, it should be fine. No on/off switch is a drag..........

I've dealt with them through email. Jim is really cool

okay, in review: this is a straight up tube preamp, giving a warm overdriven sound. For blues to metal, I love this unit. Keep in mind, this will not give you saturated, solid state type distortion. This will give you a more classic overdrive sound (think older Slayer)
This is not my only preamp, I have a Pro Gap for brutal distortion.
However, I would not part with my Gainiac. I love the tone. This is how they did it in the old days kids!!

Piece of cake. Very easy to use. Nice big knobs, very user friendly. Not much to mess up.

If your looking for hard crunch / deep distortion, this isn't the product for you. This is what a tube preamp should sound like. I was hoping for a little more gain but I did find some descent sounds. Clean channel is actually descent but it can be difficult to find a crunch sound that sounds good.

Pretty sturdy. I've taken it out a few times. No problems.

No need to deal with the Customer Support on this one. Easy to use and reliable.

I guess I can't complain that much considering I paid 90 bucks for it used. I wouldn't pay the retail price of 225.00 that's for sure. I have been playing for 10 years or so and play mostly hard rock, some punk, little bit o ' blues. I use a Gibson Standard SG / American Standard Strat through Peavy Classic 30's.. I wouldn't buy it again if it were damaged or stolen

3 eq bottons for the distortion channel and 2 eq bottons for the clean channel. NOt even a on/off switch!!!! Only a jackass would get confused with this one...

Very bad distiortion... don`t get fooled!!! this is a 1 tube preamp that DOES NOT JUSTIFY ITS NAME, my old ZOOM 1010 has more gain than this piece of crap!...
I use it through a velocity 100 power amp with my ibanez s1520 and a mesa 4 x 12 cab. GET A METAL ZONE INSTEAD!!!! at least...

its a rack, how could it brake???? i Dont use it with a backup... in fact... i hope it destroys!!

never had to deal with them...

Its ok for the price i guess. BUT IT HAS A POOR DISTORTED SOUND!!!! I've benn plating for 8 years, and if this baby was stolen I would have to send a christmas card to the saint that did it!!.. dont buy this... get a metal zone instead... if money is an issue for you.... cause if its not... get a triple rectifier!!

Strange too. I would say it has a very unique sound, but not the one i'm looking for. You can get nice overdriven sounds, but as soon as you want to scoop out the mids, the thing sounds thin. The clean channel sounds very nice, but it's not loud enough, i have to crank up the FX-unit to get a useful sound-level. By the way: I use it mainly with a Epi LP or a BC Rich Warlock =>Gainiac=>Intellifex=>Peavy Classic 60/60 Power Amp=>Marshall 4x12 and Boogie 1x12. There is a little noise in the distortion channel, of which the Intellifex's Hush takes care of.

Well, 3 EQ's in distortion channel, 2 EQ's (???) in clean. Scoop is nothing else than some kind of reversed mids. There's neither an volume poti in the clean channle, nor an on/off-switch for the unit at all. Strange... (but the EQ's are really effective)

I have gigged with it once, but i had a POD with me for backup. I have it for half a year now, it has not broken yet.

Never delt with them.

If it was stolen I would defenitley buy something else, because i only bought it because it was the cheapest unit i could get. But in the meantime i bought a HK-Attax, which has a sound that better fits to my style. I can imagine there are a lot of people around who like the gainiac's sound very much, but i don't really belong to them. The lack of the on/off swith is really a shame.

Knobs... Need I say more?! Not too difficult people.

Not enough crunch (even when running an external EQ and compressor). It was terribly dissapointing to bring this piece home and find out that your amplifier had more crunch than the unit that you just bought.

Did'nt have enough time to break it since I returned it almost four hours later.

N/A

A bit pricey for something that does'nt quite deliver the goods that it's name bears. If you are looking for a hardcore metal grind, this is not the effect for you. I highly recommend a stomp box over this product.

Total crap!! I can't believe I was dumb enough to buy this thing. You're better off with a Metal Zone or something. It sounds like a cheap-ass Crate solid state combo that a weaksauce high school metal band would play. I have no idea why they call this thing the Gainiac, when it really has very little gain at all. Sounds sort of like the orange Boss DS-1 distortion pedal... ie awful!
If anyone cares, at the time I was playing a Jackson DR-3 with stock pickups (they suck) thru the Gainiac and into a Rocktron Velocity 120 power amp and a BBE Sonic Maximizer.

Rack mount preamp. Has gain, mid, high and low controls. No power switch is pretty lame. No post eq or anything like that. Like every other rocktron preamp, it uses an AC adapter rather than a power cord, which sucks too.

Seems reliable- gets pretty hot, but it never broke or anything on me.

Rocktron is actually very helpful- they have most of their products' manuals available for download, and their tech support folks are cool.

UGH!! Regardless of what style of music you play, steer clear of this piece of shit. Trust me on this one... you don't want it!

it is very easy to use. It has two channels. clean and a lead channel

If you run this in a full rack setup it is ok for lead and clean. It is not good for any thing else because it only has one tube.

No you can not depend on this unit. Don't buy this unit because it sucks it is a wast of money.

? don't know I sent this thing back!

This unit is a pice of shit never consider this unit for distortion. for your own good never buy any rocktron item they make crapy stuff.

simple to use, just plug in and after a few tweaks, your on your way. one 12ax7a tube that doesnt burn very bright.two channels. no on-off switch.

doesnt have the gain that its name implies. it is warm sounding and very nasaly sounding. clean is very good and warm, just bass and treble, no volume on clean channel. this pre-amp sounds better at higher volumes where it gets less nasaly sounding. no nasal tone on clean channel.

it seems to be rugged, havent had any problems yet

never had any contact yet.

doesnt offer enough features for what you pay. lead channel too nasaly sounding. it is warm, better tone when played louder. the tube doesnt seem to be running at high volts. clean channel sounds very good but needs a volume knob. this thing really needs an on-off switch, dont know why they didnt include one, bad mistake. too expensive for what you get, bad purchase on my part and probably a lot of other people too.

This unit is a no frills, easy to use preamp. This unit will need tweaking to you preferences, like any preamp

Okay, here's the deal. This unit offers the straight-up tube tone. It has a warm, clean sound, like a vintage amp. Maybe "organic" would be a better word. I would not consider it "brutally saturated". So all you kiddies with your Metal Zones and
buzzing bee distortion pedals will probably not like this, although the Gainiac, ironically, is the tone you are really going after. Ultimately you want to get your crunch sound from your amp rig, not some crappy pedal.

I run the gainiac to a Rocktron Velocity 120 power amp, then to an old Peavy 4x12 cabinet. People tell me I have great tone -- "You don't have that damn swarm of bees sound!"

Another thing to think about is your guitar. Is it a piece of crap?
Do the pickups sound weak? The Gainiac is very dependant on these factors. If you have weak pickups, you are not going to get a lot of
distortion. I have a Ibanez S. I customized it with a Duncan Invader. Lotsa crunch, baby!

Reading a lot of the reviews here, I think some of you fruitcakes are running this PREAMP(!) through the front end of your amp, like a distortion pedal. If you are not going with a rack set up, you need to run this into you fx return (line in) jack on your amp. If you don't have an fx loop and don't plan on getting a full rack set up DO NOT GET THIS UNIT. This is not a distortion pedal!!!!!

Okay, let me sum this up. The Gainiac is a preamp that gives you the straight up TUBE tone. From blues to hardcore/metal(that's me)this thing provides the crunch. While not the best thing out there, the Gainiac is an affordable and great sounding way to graduate from pedals.

You can depend on it. It has a flimsy walwart transformer, so you know all the problems with that. But being a high gain device, the external transformer definitely cuts down on the noise. I have 2 Gainiacs, just in case, but I am compulsiove about stuff like that. This is a reliable piece of equipment

I have emailed the company, always with a prompt response within a couple of days.

I would like to customize this thing, with a rear input, a tuner out jack. We'll see

I play metal/hardcore. I know there are better preamps out there, but right now all I can afford is the Gainiac. Having said that, this thing still delivers the straight up tube tone. It does need a rear input jack and a tuner out jack.

ONe final word. Rocktron tries to sell this thing based on its SCOOP
knob, which is a midrange control. You can really obliterate the mids
on this thing. I find that that is NOT what you want to do. The tone is really hollow and it really sucks the life out of the tone and it seriously cuts down on volume. I keep the Scoop knob on about
12 oclock. It really cuts through the mix of your band, really in your face.

as easy to use as any stompbox. You would have to be really dumb to get tricked up by this

Not as harsh as originally intended but it has a very clean distortion that lets big fat chords come though without being muddy.

would't throw it out of a car but I don't feel woried about it breaking all the time.

no experience here

compare the price and it costs only a bit more than a metal zone or some other junk stompbox. It sounds worlds better. I don't think you can go wrong owning one.

THIS UNIT IS VERY BASIC TO USE. FINDING THE SOUND YOU WANT IS EASY.

I THINK THAT A LOT OF PEOPLE HERE ARE RUNING THIS UNIT THROUGH AN AMP ALL BY IT'S SELF. THIS UNIT IS NOT MAKE TO DO THAT. I AM RUNING THIS ROCKTRON UNIT INTO A LEXICON MPX500 THEN I RUN ALL THAT INTO A ALESIS 3630 COMPRESSER. I WOULD LIKE TO SAY THAT IS UNIT IS NOT A STAND ALONE PRE-AMP. USE IT IN A RACK SETUP. DONT USE IT LIKE A DISTORTION PEDAL. I PLAY BALCK METAL DIMMU BORGIR/EMPEROR ECT. IT ASSIMIULATES THEIR DISTORTION SOUNDS PERFECTLY.

I HAVE HAD THIS UNIT FOR ONE YEAR. NO PROBLEMS YET

I HAVE NOT USED CUSTOMER SUPPORT.

I HAVE BEEN PLAYING FOR 8 YEARS AND I HAVE TRIED MANY UNITS. THE ROCKRTON UNITS SOUND QUALITY AND DISTORTION QUALITY DEPENDS ON YOUR SETUP. ONCE AGAIN DO NOT RUN THIS UNIT STRAIGHT INTO A AMP BECAUSE IT WILL SOUND LIKE SHIT. OVERALL THIS MAKES A GOOD RACK/POWER AMP PRE-AMP
IF I LOST THIS I WOULD BUY IT AGIAN. I DO WISH THAT IT HAD REAR INPUTS.

I mainly use this with an ESP f-207. I run through a hush super c, and an aphex aural exciter type c2. When I run through the exciter the scoop feature on the gainiac makes THE HEAVIEST TONE you can imagine. Its about as low end and scooped as possible. With the EMG Hz pickups I get some noise but thats what the hush is for. I think the difference between good tone and bad tone with the gainiac just depends on your setup. All those wimpy stompbox distortions do is make noise.

The features are what you'd expect. Crazy scoop and good low end control. Who cares about clean sounds out of a preamp thats made for gain. As far as the power button...What the hell is everyone complaining about. If all of these people have racks why don't they have a power strip? Goddamn. Its easy enough to mess with. It is however a one trick machine.

I changed their crap tube to a sovtek and it improved the sound slightly, i've had absolutely no problem with it. It just sits in a rack what the hell could happen to it?

N/A

I think this thing works great. Currently I play out of a shit 30 watt crate amp most of the time. I only wish I had a bigger amp to really crank.

This thing is very easy to use, it's got all the basic controls, BUT THIS STUPID PIECE OF CRAP HAS NO ON/OFF BUTTON! Got a Mid-scoop control that works pretty good to kill the mids, and each low/high has a - setting to.

This thing may look "Cool" but it's a stupid peice of ! In all these magazines, they say it's sooooo special, but it sucks!. It has like, no gain! Never will you ever get any heavy sounds with this dumb thing. My dog has barked a better tone than this thing. You can't do anything to the ONE crappy tube in it, it's a small little log of shit!

You can't depend on it, cause it sucks! Like I said it's a peice of crap, and dumb. I suppose it's dependable, but I'd never use it at a gig even with backup, never!

Well, the Rocktron company was very nice to send me lots of info on their products. I've never delt with them but by e-mail.

I Play Blink-182 stuff to Pantera and Metal. I've been playing for 3 years. I've never read a report on it that said it sucks, but it does, BADLY!I have a Crate GFX-212 And a Strat-Clone with a Hot Rails pickup which sounds awesome through anything but the Paniac. I have a Metal Zone stompbox that sounds pretty cool. If someone stole that Ganiac from me, they'd probably bring it back and give me some money to buy something else. I hate everything but the Ganiac writing on it. However the - on each freq. is ok.

THERE IS NO ON,OFF SWITCH,YOU SIMPLY DISCONNECT THE ADAPTOR INCLUDED WITH THE UNIT. ON THE PANEL YOU HAVE SCOOP AND GAIN DIALS TO SET THE DISTORTION TO YOUR PREFERRED REQUIREMENTS. THERE IS ALSO A CLEAN CHANNEL WHICH IS SELECTED BY SWITCH, A PEDAL TO SWITCH BETWEEN CHANNELS IS NOT INCLUDED!!THERE IS NO ABILITY TO SAVE TYPES OF DISTORTION AND CALL UPON THEM WHEN NEEDED YOU SIMPLY PLUG IN, SET YOUR DIALS AND GO,THIS LEAVES NO ROOM FOR CREATIVITY.IM SURE NOBODY WANTS TO HAVE TO PLAY AROUND WITH THEIR RACK ON STAGE!!!!

ON BUYING THIS RACK I WAS VERY FOND OF THE DEFTONES, MANY OF THEIR SETTINGS CAN BE FOUND ( PROVIDING YOUR USING A HUMBUCKER WITH A HIGH OUTPUT).ON TRYING TO CREATE MY OWN INDIVIDUAL HEAVY SOUND ( WITH A HOT RAILED TELECASTER )I BECAME EXTREMELY FRUSTRATTED.I TRIED CRANKING DOWN THE DISTORTION LEVEL ONLY TO BE HORRIFIED BY SHALLOW TONES,THE MANUAL CALLS THESE 'CLASSIC BLUES.'WETHER IT BE DEATH METAL OR HEAVY ROCK THE SOUNDS ARE HERE BUT CAN BE PRODUCED MORE SATISFYINGLY BY USING DIFFERENT METHODS.I USE A FENDER ROC PRO AMP WHICH GIVES ME PLENTY OF WARM DISTORTION.

IVE HAD THE RACK A YEAR AND HAVE HAD NO PROBLEMS SO FAR.I DROPPED IT ONCE,IT SURVIVED!!!!!HOWEVER I DONT USE THE RACK ALL THE TIME, I OFTEN SIMPLY USE MY AMP.

I HAVN'T BEEN PLAYING THAT LONG BUT I CAN STILL SAY IM UNHAPPY WITH THE RACK.I DO LIKE METAL AND AT THE TIME I WAS LOOKING FOR A METAL SOUND BUT BY SIMPLY USING MY AMP DISTORTION I HAVE FOUND MORE SATISFACTION. IM SURE THEIR ARE DISTORTION PEDALS OUT THERE WHICH DO A BETTER JOB, PERHAPS THE 'BIG MUFF?'THE GANIAC WOULD BE A HELL OF A LOT MORE PRACTICAL AS A PEDAL.INVESTING IN AN EFFECTS RACK WITH DISTORTION IS WHAT I WISH I HAD DONE.HAD IT BEEN PROGRAMMABLE IT COULD HAVE BEEN A WINNER FOR ME,IF I WAS RUNNING IT THROUGH A POWER AMP I THINK I WOULD PROBABLY GET MORE SATISFACTION, IT LOST SOME OF ITS PUNCH THROUGH MY FENDER ROC PRO.

Ohh, it's extremely easy to use, as long as your power supply is within 5 feet of the machine. If you want to turn it off, guess what, you must manual disconnect the adapter from the BACK of the unit! (Turning it on same result) Who needs a manual for this machine, everything is self-explanitory: low, mid-scoop, and high end sound, and of course level and distorion (gain).

Jackson guitar through a marshall combo vs65r?. through clean channels it sounds great, JUST CRANK IT UP 100%! Distortion- turn all knobs to 10+ dbs and your good to go for a great crunch effect. dont expect Eq on this machine though. Clean- more vibrant clearer sound anly because you can use it as a master eq. sounds good at 0 dbs, both knobs. plus you can add extra push to whatever setup you have just by turning them up a little more. overall, great crunch for $150.

HELL NO!!! The damn thing caught on fire. (+ 0 dbs all) The sound had me convinced that I shouldn't use any thing else in rack units, up until that shit happened. AC adapter became easily worn after repeated disconnection and reconnection everytime you turn it on or off. Hell i had to get two adapters right before its smokey death.

Why bother with repair , it wont matter very long.

It did offer exactly what i wanted GAIN, just don't expect it to be a permanent investment.

It does not add something more to youe existing natural sound. As a preamp its clean channel is bad.

As far as the gain channel is concerned, you can have some Metallica kind of sounds and It has a nice sound when you lower the gain to its minimum level. That is the only nice thing about this machine.

It has two channels and so easy to use but unfortunately It does not have a level control on the clean channel, thats too bad, if your poweramp does not have a volume control then :)

You can only use it like a pedal distortion but a rackable one. But again it has no foot switch with it, you have to buy it your self.

It has only one tube, 12AX7. And it does not seem like it will get broken or so. Do not put all ypur trust to this preamp unless you have a good gig and you want to use this additional.

Bad, poor I accidently broke its nobe and tried to make contact with the factory. Finally I couldn't. And I made it myself, in some other way.

It has a bad deep hush sound. I excluded it from my rack. I will not use it with my gear. I do not find it rich but I am using it when I need to play with a student. I plug it to another amp, give it to the other person when jamming.

Simple 2 channel preamp: Overdrive channel: 3 EQ knobs (bottom, scoop,top), level, tube gain; clean channel 2 EQ (bottom, top)

Input,Output Jax, Footswitch jack

Uses one 12AX7 preamp tube;

Simple manual for a simple unit

If felt I had to defend the Gainiac because it is getting a bad rap with these reviews. I think it provides AWESOME tone. Anything you want from sweet creamy overdrive to brutal metal sounds.

I think folks are bashing this unit because they were so used to solid state distortion sound (which is ok - I had a Crate head for a few years), that when they finally got a tube preamp that promised a brutal sound they were expecting a certain sound.

The fact is that the Gainiac is a TUBE preamp. For the money, this a great preamp.

It does, in fact, get brutal metal/hardcore distortion -- if you know what tube distortion should sounds like!! Tubes give better tone more often than not, than transistors or ICs.

But hey solid state distortion is very cool -- Dimebag has GREAT tone!!! But I was looking for a warmer tube sound -- and then Gainiac delivers.

Oh yeah, my rig: Gibson SG-X (with stock humbucker), into the Gainiac Preamp, then Rocktron Velocity 120 Power Amp, which drives an older PEAVEY 412m 4x12 cabinet. This makes for a killer halfstack.

The unit's a little noisy at the higher gain settings, but so what? I play heavy music!!

I am not interested in imitating the sounds of my favorite bands -- I am looking to forge my own sound.........Rocktron will help me accomplish that. My band only plays the music we write

The only thing I don't like is that there is no ON/OFF switch, and the clean channel doesn't have a level control (what's up wit dat?)

I have gigged with this unit. I don't have a backup, but my rig has delivered everytime.

THANKS ROCKTRON

T

I have e-mailed them a couple of times, always a prompt response.

I requested a manual, and I received it pretty quickly

I play metal/hardcore. This unit provides awesome tone for the money, if you understand what tube tone is and should sound like !! Get rid of your Metal Zones, Grunge Pedals, Death Metal pedals, TubeScreamers (Keep your Randall heads though!!!)

If you are like me (no money !!), the Gainiac can bring you into the world of tube overdrive for a very attractive price.

Hell, y'all should thank Rocktron for the Gainiac.

I

Easy to use, level, high, low, mid scoop, gain for the distortion, high and low for the clean. There are no rear inputs so i don't like it in my rack, it has a wallwart which takes up alot of room too.

I run it through my Randall head and I think it sounds like garbage, I should have sent it back, you can get a ton of low end out of it, but there is so much treble. The mid scoop is nice and all, but it still sounds like crap. There isn't a lot of distortion, I really don't mind but it was advertised as haveing a lot. I replaced the tube and it still sounds like crap. I would not recommend buying it.

I have it in a rack case, it isn't broken and I've had it for over a year.

Never dealt with them

I play hardcore, I really wasn't very happy with the way it sounds, I wish I would have sent it back actually. The fact that it doesn't have rear inputs and uses a wallwart pisses me off. If it didn't have so much treble it wouldn't be to bad. Over all, this thing sucks.

I can't believe that everyone is giving this unit the shaft. I play everything form toad the wet sprocket to tool and if I may add I use a voodoo valve online, patchmate, intellifex ane velocity 150 "all Rocktron" and this amp is the only Rocktron piece that gives you the absolute straight tube tone. I think everyone else complains because the music they play is needing that tinny paper metal tone that pantera used on the cowboys from hell album. My voodoo valve is perfect for that and if these ganiac bashers want that tone they need to realize great tone takes money. My rack system is the best around thanks to Rocktron. YOU GUYS KICK ASS

Rocktron "All of it"
Voodoo valve online
Patchmate
ganiac
all access
intellifex
velocity 150

100%

support is ok......they need more training
I actually had a Rocktron tech tell me the patchmate wasn't meant to combine effects?????!!!!

great!

Its exremely easy to use. Its pretty plain and simply.

I usually dont subit reviews but this time i felt like i had to....just to warn others...the product is the worst, thinest and loosest distortion i have ever heard. I expected it to be deep, crunchy and scooped sound but it was the worst $200 i ever spent. I sent it back after about a week of suffering.

Its dependable. Thats about its only good quality.

I play extreme death metal and this was the worst piece of crap i have ever played in my life. I would have rather wiped my butt with 2, $100 bills. That would have been a better use than spending it on the Gainiac.

I must say that this tube preamp is very easy to use.You never have to try long to get a good sound out of it.I just plug in and play.

I use the Gainiac with a fender amp and after my boos rw-3 for reverb.The distortion is very natural but it sounds great at high volumes or with really good power amps.There's a scoop control to cut the mids which adds the the tone warmth or you can get the right heavy tones.It sounds really great for its prize.

I can depend on it but wouldn't use it on a gig without a bacup

Never dealt with them

I'm into Dream Theater,Savatge and like Gainiac but its still not great.If you don't use it with other equipment like an efx preamp the sound might be boring or weak.I wouldn't buy it again if it were stolen or lostbecause you can't get diffrent types of tones and thats what i especially need.The best feature is that it sounds great if you add reverb or a mild chorus.It's greaty on the stage but not in the studio i think.

Very straight forward. Excellent EQ section, and the scoop control is simple and effective. Manual's minimal, but you don't need one...

This amp's aptly named. The few high gain settings I tried before returning it sounded quite nice, with decent responsiveness. I kept the gain setting around 12 o'clock for the most part, but this little preamp can get brutal...

Couldn't say - had it hooked up to my rig for exactly one hour.

dunno

Look, this thing isn't so much a preamp as a glorified overdrive pedal in a rack. It claims to have two channels, but there's no LEVEL setting on the clean channel, so as soon as you begin to turn up the distortion channel in search of that perfect dirt, you create such a disparity in levels that there's no way you can switch back to the "clean channel" and actually expect to use it. I don't know what the hell Rocktron were thinking when they were designing this thing, but for the sake of one level pot on the clean channel, I would have kept this preamp to incorporate into my set up. As it is, it's useless to me (and, I'd imagine, damn near anyone else who wants to use it as their sole preamp into a power amp in a rack set up). It would work fine in front of a combo or a head, where you could use the amp's volume controls to adjust level and keep the distortion and clean channels at an even level... Oh well...

I play metal, use a Ibanez RG-470 with EMG-89 pickups. This preamp is pretty tame when it comes to distortion. I was under the impression that it had a lot of gain...well I was disappointed. Although I may try it as a booster soon. The clean channel is very tasty actually..nice crisp warm tube tone. So if you're wanting extreme gain, go somewhere else...this preamp would better suit someone into alternative, where they want overdriven sounds...not brutal sounds.

1 U Rack preamp containing a single 12AX7 tube. Simple controls, 2 channel, clean and overdriven. Scoop control for removing midrange (up to 30db cut). No where near as much gain as I was hoping for.

It's pretty tough, well built metal case. Pretty simple PCB design, the only problem you may have is a tube going...but since this unit is pretty low gain (by my standards) I would be surprised if it failed in a hurry

Very good, I emailed them a number of times regarding power supplies, right through to the sound I was meant to be getting out of it, and had a useful reply within 12 hours every time.

Well overall was a bit disappointed, but I'll hold onto the unit, I may find it good as a booster. The clean channel is nice, I'm sure this unit would suit a lot of people nicely.

At first glance, this preamp may seem easy to get a specific sound from but after listening you'll definitley need to take a little time to get the warmth out of it you are accustomed to from a tube amp.

Once you've got your setting correct(I'm into Dream Theatre, Extreme) for your style of music, the sound is acually not bad. The "Scoop" control, or mid range cut/boost is very delicate and a few well spent minutes on it can mean the difference between the tone of your life and being buried in the mix.

I've only had it for about 3 months and have yet to gig with it, but so far it seems solid.

I haven't dealt with them on this peice but in the past I've used rocktron gear (HUSH 1 + 11 ) and they have been very helpful and concerned about customer satisfaction.

When I first played through it, I thought it was the secong coming. After using it for a while it has settled in with the rest of the pack, but for the money it is a very solid piece of equipment. It really depends on the sound you're looking for. I don't think Mesa Boogie has anything to worry about but it is very good in its price range.

very easy to use, simple nobs for tone and destortion level.

i thought the destortion was week. if you are running it through a marshall 2100 it will sound good cranked but i get more shred out of my korg g1.

seemed pretty tough.

i took it back and got no problems but thats more the store than the company,

as i said i took it back because it just didn't have the gain i was looking for. i traded it for a peavy rockman tube preamp and compared to the gainiac it is 10x better. you really need a powerful tube amp to get hard crunch out of it...i'm talking 100-200 watts cranked.

Simple layout...bottom, scoop, top, level, gain on dist.channel, bottom and top on clean channel. Clean channel has no level control and runs at unity. If you can't get good sounds in a matter of seconds, you're an idiot.

I was using this with a crate G40CXL and an Epiphone G-400. The overall sound was a little brassy, but that was due to the dual 8" speakers of the amp. EQ is very effective in both channels. Gain can go from heavy blues to rip your head off distortion. I can get Mesa Dual Recto to Marshall Super Lead sounds with ease. From Bad Religion to Metallica, the distortion was there. Clean was good as well, but I recommend using the unit with amp EQ for a little more post-Gainiac sweetening. Clean sounds great with a little chorus and reverb.

Only had it for 2 months. No problems.

Didn't deal with them.

Would buy it again in a heartbeat. I sold it, the Crate, and a guitar for a Marshall 50 watt combo that doesn't give me the sounds that the Gainiac did. Amazing price for the sound quality. My only gripe was the lack of a power switch. To turn it off, you had do disconnect the wall wart from the unit. This will wear out a power supply in a hurry.

It's very simple. Just like a, well it is a two channel (pre)amp. The scoop might throw somebody that has no experience with guitar junk

My setup is pretty low-fi. I run it straight into my Peavey musician head. I use a lot of pedals (well, compared to most) so there is some clipping in the clean channel, but I like the fact that it dirties the signal up a bit. This is a very hi-gain piece of equipment, so when you switch to the distorted channel there is some hum. I've been able to minimize it significantly when I make sure all of the other equipment is functioning properly and the chords/power supplies are good. The fact that I use a lot of wall warts probably contributes to the noise I experience. I think you can get a good number of sounds out of this...not nearly as many as the ads say, but enough to keep me happy. Although, I haven't been able to achieve that Smashing Pumpkins kill-your-family tone with just the gainiac, I've come close by adding a distortion pedal (Tubescreamer or Dean Markley overlord) in front...I give it a six because when the scoop is increased, the gain of the unit decreases, which makes me pretty ill because it sounds pretty crazy all scooped out.

I haven't gigged with it and nothing's happened, so I guess it's pretty good. It's been banged a few times, but not very hard...I can't really rate this until I've gigged with it...

I've never had to deal with Rocktron...their stuff is pretty solid, so I doubt I'll ever have to

I don't know if I'd buy it again. The fact that the scoop diminishes the gain really irks me...but, it is a loud sucker, and you can get a lot of cool noises with it and some additional pedals...eventually I'm gonna purchase an all tube amp (a Twin, hopefully) and I'd like to hang on to the old gainiac and see if I can molest the Twin with it...

Brutal distortion when run through a pickup like a Duncan Full Shred or JB.

This is a very cool Rackmount preamp. It has 1 12AX7 tube and is completely analog. No digital crap here. Lot's of gain. Problem is that it really sounds good at high volumes. Definetely not a practice effect. Since it only has a level control (which is how much of the effect is pumped into your rig) you have to run it direct, unless your amp has a seperate volume control for effects, such as the Mesa Dual Rectifier. I run a Crate Blue Voodoo 60 watt combo, so I'm stuck with running direct, which is fine by me since I like the low end on the crate. Over all it's a great investment if you want high gain at a low price and no frills tone. Very easy to operate since there is only a chanel select switch and 6 knobs : high and low on the clean channel and high, low, and mid-scoop on the gain side. Level applies to both channels.

You won't need a back-up. It's a metal box that is well made. Just bring an extra tube.

Haven't needed any yet.

I'd buy it again and tell anyone who's into metal or rock to get one. I'm interested in hearing it trough a Mesa Boogie 50/50 stereo power amp.