Preamp Pedals

A preamp pedal is designed to emulate the preamp section of a guitar amplifier. Often featuring a solid-state circuit for bullet-proof reliability, some high-end preamp pedals come equipped with genuine valves (like 12AX7s) to provide more convincing tube amp tones. Preamp pedals are popular with contemporary guitarists who prefer portability over sheer power. Often pairing them with power amp or cab simulator pedals, these units allow players to have their core guitar tones quite literally at their feet on just a pedalboard - forming an “amp-less” rig.

There is a lot of crossover when it comes to distortion and preamp pedals. Technically-speaking, almost any distortion pedal can serve as a preamp as it is a gain stage. However, a preamp pedal is usually far more comprehensive, often sporting multiple EQ controls like you’d find on a real amp. Some preamp stompboxes can also have more than one channel, letting you switch between different gain sounds on-the-fly.

Preamp pedals should be placed early in a signal chain. As they are designed to emulate a preamp stage, they can be treated in the same way as an amplifier’s front end. This means that only a tuner or wah pedal should be placed between your guitar’s output signal and a preamp pedal’s input. And if you want to form an “amp-less” setup, modern preamp stompboxes are designed to pair with power amp and cab simulator pedals, both of which would come last in your signal chain.