Frenzel FM P1 Guitar Tube Preamp

Great little pre amp! Has basic Fender and Marshall sounds. You can really hear the difference between the two. I plug mine into the PA system at church to warm up the sound. Works well,

I use a telecaster with the traditional '52 pickups and a PRS with humbuckers. Both sound great. A little more buzzing with the Telecaster, but that's more a function of the guitar.

Very well built. I expect no issues here.

Jim got back to me on all my questions within 24 hours. Great customer support.

I've been playing about three years. I play in a worship band at my church. I use the preamp mainly there, as I have a custom Bearpaw Growler amplifier for my home needs (the plexiglass one). This preamp does exactly what it says it does on the website. It warms up my solid state equipment. The Marshall sound gives a really nice edge at church.

I bought this for the F channel and I found that the M channel is the perfect KILLER!!!!so now I have to get an AB switch....If you want to gig with this rig buy the handles and a cage....or the rack mount style if it's stricly studio you can get by with out it.

OK Don't laugh, I play a beefed up schecter gryphon with the complete Jerry Garcia "Tiger" Wiring

http://www.dozin.com/jers/guitars/tiger/schematic.html

this is my interim guitar until my custom Jerry Garcia Tiger that is being buit by John Reuter in Tempe AZ is completed. it has 3 Dimarzio Super 2's with an efects bypass switch, a 5 way pick up selector and 3 way coil switches humbucker paralell and single coil........all pedal base effects ran in true bypass using the FRENZEL Amp as the preamp it passes through a DBX parametric EQ into a 1000 watt Crown power amp and that runs my 2 12" HARD TRUCKER style cab loaded with Eminience Patriot series COMMONWEALTH 200 watt speakers.....yes it's overkill but look at Jerry Garcis rig one time and tell me it's simple

so far soooooogreatful

Jim is always available for questions

I use to preamp a 1971 Fender Twinn "just like Jerry's" but I have to say this little baby does it all clean a lil dirty or full on rip your face off dirty......the trick with any preamp is whats the power speaker configuration .....so it's only as good as the rest of your gear bla bla bla ....etc etc

I cant wait to buy the back-up unit this summer, not that I'll need it:)

Thanks Jim

This a new product for this Texas-based amp maker. Their made-to-order amps are just beginning to be recognized as a high quality with a lower price point than most botique amps. The FM P1 custom guitar preamp is basically a 12AX7 tube used to drive two flavors of old-school amps. The F side being a Fender type and the M side being a Marshall type with accentuated mids. Both sides can be ganged together and they each have their own gain adjustment. The other controls are bass, mid, treble, and master. On the back is an output level. Inside are high-quality componants that are hand-soldered with no PC boards. Nice clean layout and excellent workmanship. All mounted in a lightwieght (aluminum ?) chassis. I did not opt for the top cage as I intended to mount this in a cab with a power amp. Another 12AX7 is used to drive the tone stack. No frills ,straightforward tube preamp that just does one thing and does it well.

When I first plugged it up I was somewhat dissapointed at the small amount of power it has. But this is a tone shaping tool, not a distortion box. After getting used to the gain settings in my signal chain, I found that I can get some very nice tube warmth to smooth out my digital effects. I use several amps and was suprised at how nice it makes my solid-state amps sound. I mostly do recording at home and have many digital effects and preamps and was looking to warm them up and it works well for this. This box is dead quiet and sounds best behind the effects and in front of the power amp. Produces a CLEAN sound and just a bit of growl when gain is cranked. I haven't had it long, but I'm guessing it can also be used effectively with acoustic guitar, mics, or even keyboards.

Looks solid enough. I wont be taking it out of my studio, but if you use it to gig with you will either need to get the optional cage or build your own, to protect those tubes.

Jim was very friendly to me, however don't be in a big hurry to receive their products as they are all hand made to order. Mine was promised in 30 days and arrived in 35 days but hey, its hand made and stuff happens. They are probably very busy at these prices.

I'm 55 and have been playing and recording since I was 16. The list of equipment I have used over the years is extensive. I rely mostly on my stock American '79 Strat and 2006 solid maple body Strat with DiMarzio Hums. Several amps from Peavey to Fender to Mojotone and back again. Effects from ART to Roland to Alesis and then some. Too much computer recording software to list. Glad to have this preamp in my arsenal. If it were stolen I would probably be crying over the high-dollar gear that I'm sure the crooks would take first. I am considering getting an EL84 based amp made for me by Frenzel as all their amps are getting great reviews.