Frenzel Frenzel FM - DP1 Dual Channel Preamp

Tube preamp. Handmade in Texas, March 2009. 2 inputs with separate GAIN control, F=Fender, M=Marshall. Shared EQ, Treble, Mid, Bass. MASTER. You can switch between or combine the two inputs with an ABY pedal. Straight forward operation. I like that. I do wish there were separate tone & master controls for each input... and Frenzel does make one like that... but more about that later.

In a word... wonderful. Playing through a Gibson ES-135 with C57s and running the FM-DP1 into the FX return of a 30-watt dual 6L6 head feeding a 1x12 Genz Benz cabinet, I can cook up all kinds of tones from smoky jazz to balls-to-the-wall rock. I'm no Fender expert, but the F channel gives me some very sweet, clean tones. Cranking the gain moves you into vintage crunch territory. I can't say it sounds exactly like a Fender... 'cause I don;t know. But its very useable for clean sounds. Now I do know a LOT about Marshall sounds... and I LOVE the M input. Cranked, it reminds me of my Marshall Jubilee - which I sold after getting kicked out of 2 apartments! LOL! But I have always missed that sound. The FM-DP1 brings me home again. One thing you can't do very effectively is switch between the F and M channels. The problem: shared EQ and master. The settings I use of the F channel do not work well on the M channel, and vesa-versa. That said... working within its limitations, this thing is tone monster with three working channels, F alone, M alone, F+M.

I have added an all-tube SiB VariDrive to the front end... before my VooDoo Labs Amp Switcher. And with its 2 levels of GAIN, that gives me a NINE CHANEL amp! With both pickups on, using the tone/volume controsl on the guitar i can get ANY tone I've ever heard. Who needs modeling? One of my favorite settings is with F GAIN around 11 o'clock - but slamming it with the VariDrive maxed out. Pure Boogie! Also love to dime the M channel with the VariDrive turned about halfway up, playing on the bridge pickup. R&R heaven!

Its very new... no problems so far. Generally it seems well made, neat, PTP wiring inside. But the bottom plate bellys somewhat, because the only screws are on the ends... allowing a place where dust & dirt can get in... don't like that and I plan to lock that down better.

Its become the centerpiece of my recording rig and lives in the studio... so I'm not sure if would take to being hauled around to gigs. As I gig mostly in crapy bars, so i use a cheap tube amp for that. I order the optional cage... a must, I think.

This is tricky. I could give it a "10" or a zero. Here's why: Jim Frenzel is great a answering email... almost always in the same day. And I had a lot of questions... BUT you must pay in full for the amp when you order... and there is NO RETURNS! So, you are taking a chance.. if you don't like it.... you are stuck with it. Turns out, I like it very much. But going in, I didn't know that. Also: no warranty. None.

***EDIT: There is a one-year warranty! in my review i mistakenly said there was none. my bad!

The other thing: the six weeks build time turned into 12 weeks! A long time to wait.

I'm a 20-year vet of bar bands, singer-songwriter circles and such. Play all kinds of music. Have a modest recording studio at home... and this preamp is perfect for that environment. If it were stolen, I would replace it with the FM-800, which DOES have separate EQ/master sections for each channel. That would make this better suited to playing live. If Jim had a better return policy, I would have order that from from the get-go. But a $400, I wasn't willing to take the chance.

Tube Preamp with two inputs: type "F" input for "fenderish" tones, and a type "M" for "marshally" tones. Gain for each separate input. Bass, Middle, and Treble knobs. A master volume knob. It also has a Trim pot for the output to insure that you don't overload whats coming after it in the signal chain. Pretty straightforward. I only wish it had a presence knob. I would say, that I wish it came with a separate eq for each input, but Frenzel sells a preamp with that added feature for more money. I've looked at alot of preamps out there and I don't think there is one in this price range that has this many features and this much versatility. I'll knock it down to 9 for lack of a Presence knob.

I use this preamp with an old 70's Epiphone Wilshire with humbucker pickups, a strat outfitted with Seymour Duncan Alnico II Pro single coils for the neck and middle and a Seymour Duncan SSL-5 in the bridge, and a tele with Rio Grande Muy Grande pickups. I will say at the outset that I have never played a Marshall amp. I am more used to the sound of a Fender amp. So I can't vouch for the authenticity of the Marshall input. But I will say that the Marshall side sounds great. It really sings with the Epiphone. I turn the gain and master full up and set the trim on the output so that it goes into my amp with just a little boost on the volume. The brightness of the marshall side really works in its favor, because when I roll back the volume on the guitar, the pickups clean up really nice and keep their clarity. I then have the gain control right at my fingertips while I play, turning it up for raucous solos and down for soft chimey mood chords. The tele works well like this as well without too many adjustments to the eq, because I have hotter pickups in it than a normal tele. The strat on the marshall side is a tad bright. I have to turn the treble down for this. The single coils in the strat require a little bit more messing with the eq to get it set right on the Marshall side, but once it's set right, it gets its own sweet tone going. The strat is much more suited to the Fender side. I find it much easier to dial in a good tone on that side. But then again i'm used to Fender amps. I haven't tried my epiphone or my tele on the Fender side yet, because they sound so well suited to the Marshall side. I think the Fender side really nails the Fender sound. I use it for a nice warm clean sound. It doesn't have a bad sound when the gain is all the way up, either. It has a very usable tone when dimed, but I don't use the Fender side for that, because the Marshall side does it a little bit better and gets more gain.
I read the other reviews about this preamp saying that it didn't have enough gain. I guess it really depends upon what you have after the preamp. The gain it does have is a really good harmonically rich gain. If you have a decent tube amp behind it and you set the trim volume on the output just right, you can really end up with a lot of gain. Maybe the other reviews were talking about the type of gain this preamp gets. The gain is not a metal shredding gain. It's an old school gain.

I'm not too sure about the reliability of this product. I haven't had it long enough. But it seems like pretty good workmanship. There are pictures of Frenzel's wiring on his website, and it looks like really good work.

Haven't had a problem with this amp, but I have sent emails to the company. They have responded to my emails promptly and have been very helpful and polite.

This thing is only around two hundred dollars. There are pedals that sell for more than this. I really don't know how he can sell a full on preamp like this for so cheap. In fact, one the reasons I hesitated to buy this was because it was so cheap. Most boutique amp and pedal makers make you pay out the nose for tone. It doesn't matter how much it cost for them to make it, if it sounds good they drive the price up. I thought that this was to good to be true. After hearing an amp that my friend bought from Frenzel, I was convinced that if his amps sounded this good, then his preamp has to be worth getting. I am satisfied with this preamp.
Now for the obligatory "if somebody stole this preamp from me would i buy it again". Yes i would, unless i had enough money to buy a Frenzel amp instead. If you have very little money, do yourself a favor and buy a cheap tube amp with just a gain, tone, and master volume knob, then get one of these to go in front of it.

This Tube preamp was made about 2 weeks ago. Jim hand makes them as you order them, so quality really isnt a worry.

The preamp is faily versitle. It does all cleans well. It fetures two inputs. One called F input which gives a fenderish sound and one called M input which gives a marshallish like sound (more mids). Once the gain is cranked on either of these inputs you get a dirty tone great for blues/classic rock. It does not have enough gain by itself to venture in punk, rock, metal ect. No effects loop but why would you need one in a preamp. the only output is a line out which does not do to well with headphones. theres also a trim control for the line out. EQ is controled with 3 knobs. treble, bass and mids. manages to shape the tone fairly well, but for the most changes just switch between your F and M inputs. I really would have liked to see more gain as i play more rock stuff. im sure frenzels other preamps would have this but i havent got enough money at the moment. Plus, putting a boost pedal in front of it gives it a heavyer edge. Would have been 10 if there was more gain, but for what it is, it does mighty fine

Using a ibanez sz prestiege with emg 81/85. Wrong guitar for this preamp. personally dislike the emg's but no funds to change them. I play prg rock that goes into metal beifly. The preamps cleans are perfect, but i need more gain for the style. i boost it as much as i can with a boost pedal but its still a bit iffy. only downside for the sound is the lack of gain. Its not noisey at all... dead quite. which is amazing for a tube preamp. Like i said before, it does clean and dirty unless you have other pedals to drive it. I do have a big muff clone which does do well with preamp to get the gain i need at times. If i had funds id run this in the effects loop of a laney gh50. use the lany's gain and frenzels clean... infact after buying this i think id just get there best preamp or there twin/plexi 25 watter.

either way the preamp sounds great

Got it shipped to australia. didnt work when it got here. turned out a tube had died. replaced the tube and tada, it works. Cant really comment because ive only had the thing a day. but its built bloody strong and with the additinal cage you cant go wrong. Im not going to include the tube factor in the rating because its the same as all tube preamps/amps. there always going to die sometime

Emailed jim himself about 10 times. Answered within 24 hours each time. Pretty sure he goes thourgh all his emails daily. Was able to diagnos the tube problem with my preamp thourgh emails. Great guy. Cant say enough about customer support

been playing 5 years, and i know a fair bit about gear now. Own me ibanez guitar which i would change to prs if i had the funds. Have a bunch of pedals and a h&K redbox for recording on the fly. couple of 2nd hand rack units. basically anything i can afford. No amp at the moment. if i had the money i know exactly what id buy though. If this was stolen or lost id be pissed off. But id probably buy one of the newer preamps jim has on offer. Mainly because i would like more gain. But dont let that fool you. I havent heard better cleans in my life (im sure they exist though). Also this thing is cheap as hell, which makes it a great buy. All frenzel products are super cheap. Id defenetly buy a plexi/twin with i had the money. man that would be sweet.