KVR Audio

Hink · Post by **Hink** » Mon Jan 31, 2011 11:22 pm

The FRENZEL FM - DP1 "Dual Pro One" dual channel guitar tube preamp is part of our "INSPIRED" line of products and will give you the classic vintage tones of our Type F(Fender) and Type M (Marshall) tube amps ....and much more. This is the same preamp we use in our FM-5E3 and other similar voiced amps. As with all of our "INSPIRED" Line of products, this preamp was inspired by the vintage 60's amps with the "TONES YOU KNOW"....but it's far from simply a clone....this preamp incorporates features and mods developed over FRENZEL Tube Amps 50 plus years of building and fine tuning amps!

The preamp uses two 12AX7's with DC on the filaments for low noise. The first 12AX7 is wired as a dual input preamp…one Type F input for the vintage smooth warm "F" tones and one Type M input for the classic vintage "M" high mid rock tones. Each input has separate gain controls for each preamp section. The second 12AX7 is a common voltage amplifier with a cathode follower to drive the tone stack. The three band tone stack was designed by the "tube amp God" so no improvements there….but we did add a Master volume. With this tone stack and Gain and Master control combination you can get just about any sound you want.....including great clean tones…or the classic tube preamp distortion that the vintage tube amps are famous for. Also, for you Bass and hollow-body guitar players a Deep Bass Boost pull-switch has been added on the F Gain control to give that Bassman 864 contour for those deep bass tones; and a Bright Switch on the M Gain control for sparkling Treble tones. There is a Trim control on the rear panel to match the input drive level of the amp you are using it with. Also...an added extra…..you can use an "AB-Y" pedal on the input jacks and blend the Type F and Type M preamp sections for your own custom sound.

The preamp is build on a small 10" x 6" x 2" chassis with a bottom cover and rubber feet. It has laminated faceplates front and rear. The front panel controls are Type F Input, Type M Input, Type F Gain with Deep Bass Pull Switch,, Type M Gain with Bright Pull Switch, Bass, Middle, Treble, Master, LED, Power On/Off. The Output jack, Trim control and Power Line fuse are on the rear panel.

The inputs are high impedance and the output is low impedance. This allows the preamp to work as an effects amp between your guitar and the input jack of your amp....or in your amp's effects loop. It will also drive studio mixers or PA amps. If you have never played through a tube preamp.. you are in for a real treat. If you have, you are still in for a trip, because of the combination of Type F smooth warm tones and Type M high-mid overdrive tones and other extras that have been added. It makes just about any tube amp sound better......and for you guys with solid state amps who are craving that vintage tube sound, you can insert it in front of your solid state amp and get that classic vintage custom sound of your own.

PRICE : $295.00 Super Deal Price $195.00

UPGRADE OPTIONS:

1. STEEL CAGE - A retro style metal cage is available in as an option. Please add $80.00 to the price for this option. (See picture)

2. 240 VOLT POWER TRANSFORMER - for operation outside the USA. Add $40.00

3. TWO WATT POWER AMP - At the request of a lot of our customers, we have added a power amp as an upgrade option. The power amp uses a 12AU7 as a Class A output stage which will deliver F and M crystal clear cleans or great overdrive tones at 2 watts of power into an 8 ohm speaker. This allows you to use the FM-DP1 as a low power practice amp as well as a preamp. With this option a speaker jack is added to the rear panel. Please add $90.00 for this option.

read more about Frenzel

http://www.frenzeltubeamps.com/id27.html

fwiw this could be used with ir's, any power amp line in (or fx loop)...this could be the answer for a lot of people looking for real tube sound, low volumes and low cost *cough* *hibidy* *cough*

Hink · Post by **Hink** » Mon Jan 31, 2011 11:45 pm

imagine how cool this would be if someone had an el34 power amp or a 6v6 power amp or both? Of course if someone had an amp with a power amp in or fx loop that had both el84's and 6v6's (like say an engater rebel 20 for instance) that would make this thing very versatile and with it's seprarte inputs it would be like adding 4 amps to their collection.

If just such a person were to have done their taxes like say last wednesday and was getting back a lot more than they expected, even though I'm sure there's a good 4-8 week turn around for the build this could be a real sweet deal. I'm wondering if this deal would last long enough if said person was told their tax check was coming by say the 4th of Feb...I'm just sayin

Hink · Post by **Hink** » Tue Feb 01, 2011 4:01 am

it just occurred to me the ability to use both inputs with an aby switch (whitch I have) is not limited to an aby...it would go great with what is now two of my guitars wired stereo. I did my baritone becasue I had the spare jackplate anyhow so the humbuckers like my LTD MG-750 can either go to one output or each pickup to their own output.

trimph1 · Post by **trimph1** » Tue Feb 01, 2011 5:08 am

...mmmm...got me thinkin'...I could use something like that too....

Hink · Post by **Hink** » Tue Feb 01, 2011 6:22 am

the only catch is it's a true roll of the dice, all sales are final, period, end of story, no cancelling, no returns (but of course there is a warranty against defects but not change of heart)

Hink · Post by **Hink** » Thu Feb 03, 2011 6:18 pm

I'm surprised how little interest this has generated with the 'tube amp crowd', I had a great exchange of emails with Jim Frenzel yesterday and I'm pretty confident I will be ordering this by the first of the week. I was curious about a couple of things and he answered all my questions and quickly.

My first thought is to use this like my boogie is set up and cascading this pre into the pre-amp on my egnater for which he replied is a common use of the pre. Some reviews I read confirm that his design is very quiet and works very well in an fx loop as well. I was concerned that if I got the 2 watt amp that I might have issues running it with zero load, of course I have the Weber Attenuator but if I'm using the frenzel as basically a tube pre-amp before one of my amps I might want to use the attenuator on my amp and not at this stage. However there is an internal load built in so I can use it as just a pre-amp with no worries.

So I'll be ordering it with the 2 watt amp but I will not be getting the cage, truth be told my first amp that I built with my father from a ham radio as a kid looked like a beat up, dirty version of this. So I'm thinking having it 'open' will be fun and seeing how I'm not taking it anywhere it should stay safe.

The many possibilities this thing adds is pretty cool, before my card using a sim should give sims a more natural feel, by itself into my card and then using an ir is another great use, ahead of an amp or even PODs will work great and pretty quiet and of course a two watt class A amp will work great with speakers and mic'ng them.

BTW he does have another model the FRENZEL HB 1 Hot Box Tube Preamp "Demon Box" but I'm feeling confident that the FM-DP1 is the better choice for me at this time.

Dean Aka Nekro · Post by **Dean Aka Nekro** » Fri Feb 04, 2011 6:46 pm

Want. I do not have 7ender clean tones available and it seems worth it for that alone (well i can get just fine clean sounds but still, you know?

some more would be good). The pull deep is a feature i like, I have pretty much every 'M' type sound i could ever need but to able to easily blend it slightly sounds like a treat. Thanks for the heads up mate

RE: $90 for the power-amp you are considering, I think i would go for it as it will be plenty loud into your 4x12" for mic'ing aswell as practice as its in a single-ended class A config it will be much louder than the modest rating

Hink · Post by **Hink** » Fri Feb 04, 2011 7:00 pm

well, 195 dollars for the pre-amp, 90 dollars for the two watt amp option...310.50usd with shipping. I wont see it for a while because it's all point to point hand wired (no circuit boards) and built when ordered (in other words they do not stock this). So there is no turning back now.

So this means I am holding off on the Jet City 20 watt amp for now, I'll probably order it after I get the Jet City iso cab which is still not in stock. I also plan on getting a Jet City 1x12 from JRR, I'm just not sure which one.

love them taxes, I have an NS2 and the passive radial re-amper coming today, it would have been yesterday but I screwed up my address and they sent it to my old address. I got a call from ups informing me of my mistake

Hink · Post by **Hink** » Fri Feb 04, 2011 7:02 pm

NEKRO.MACHINE wrote:Want. I do not have 7ender clean tones available and it seems worth it for that alone (well i can get just fine clean sounds but still, you know? some more would be good). The pull deep is a feature i like, I have pretty much every 'M' type sound i could ever need but to able to easily blend it slightly sounds like a treat. Thanks for the heads up mate

RE: $90 for the power-amp you are considering, I think i would go for it as it will be plenty loud into your 4x12" for mic'ing aswell as practice as its in a single-ended class A config it will be much louder than the modest rating

I'll keep you posted how long it takes and how I like it

trimph1 · Post by **trimph1** » Fri Feb 04, 2011 8:03 pm

Hink wrote:the only catch is it's a true roll of the dice, all sales are final, period, end of story, no cancelling, no returns (but of course there is a warranty against defects but not change of heart)

I don't think it is a huge drawback in that sense. I'm pulling some money together to get it as well...

Hink · Post by **Hink** » Fri Feb 04, 2011 8:42 pm

Thank you very much for your order! Your payment was received and your order is now in the production schedule. Our present backlog of orders is about 4 - 6 weeks. Please note that this is just an estimate and the actual time may vary. We will keep you updated on the status of your order and email you the tracking info when your order ships.

now I wait

Hink · Post by **Hink** » Sat Feb 05, 2011 5:19 pm

Frenzel added me to his friends link page

http://www.frenzeltubeamps.com/id34.html

stanlea · Post by **stanlea** » Sat Feb 05, 2011 6:17 pm

Does this thing can act as a preamp and deliver a line level signal ? Maybe I'd take one to plug in my AD converter.

Hink · Post by **Hink** » Sat Feb 05, 2011 6:56 pm

yes, that was one of my questions as well...basiacally the two watt amp is an option but even with the pwer amp it's still a pre-amp too and there is no need for a speaker load either. It's 195 without the two watt amp and an additional 90 dollars for the 2 watt amp.

stanlea · Post by **stanlea** » Sat Feb 05, 2011 7:36 pm

Yes I saw that on ebay.

Hink, you mean "but even without the power amp", I guess...

FRENZEL FM guitar pre-amp, in the house (with first impressions)