Drunk Beaver's Trainer TS-15 Preamp Perfectly Captures that Small Amp Dynamics and Punchy Character
Small combo amps are renowned for having a somewhat different output character to their bigger usually higher wattage siblings. They usually come in smaller cabinets which overall don’t tend to do that more expansive, deeper and higher headroom soundstage you can get from larger varieties. They are more typified as having more of a mid-range character and punch - in part because of the mechanics and acoustics of the smaller cabinets they inhabit.
The Trainer TS-15 Preamp is Vitalii Bobrov’s exacting take on the celebrated Traynor Solid State TS-15 15-Watt Amp - the Pride of Canada! Which has actually been discontinued for some time now despite its massive popularity over an extended period. For reference I include a picture of the original Amp that the pedal is based on :
You can see that they share the same 4 main controls, where on the actual Amp inspiration they are labelled - Volume, Bass, Treble and Master - the Master being a 3-way Switch - Hi/Mid/Low. On the Preamp Pedal they are labelled Treble, Bass, Master and Gain as is more conventional. While in reality Volume becomes Master in our example and Master becomes Gain - just to make it more emphatic.
This can be quite a bright sounding Preamp - spanky / sparkly / splashy quite typically - with some excellent bite and crunch textures. You can get some quite spikey tones if you're not careful how you dial it in - and it took me just the briefest of time to fully acclimatise to the pedal's character and profile - as all those controls are quite interactive and slight movements can yield quite significant changes to the character of the output.
This is quite a distinct voice - and that slightly midsy focus generates some really pleasing punchy crunch tones where I'm happiest operating really. The two band passive EQ is rather expansive and gives you a vast range of flavours from the core TL072CP Opamp.
These key insights from Vitalii himself :
"The main feature is that the TL072 Opamp is running at ±15V using 2 charge pumps (2 x TC1044S). This gives you 30V of headroom. For reference, the Klon has ~27V."
"Also it's an exact replica of the TS-15 Preamp part, with the addition of Master Volume (the Traynor has only a Volume one, but it controls Gain), and it has an output buffer (to allow it to work nicely with other pedals/amps)"
"Half of the PCB is related to the ±15V power section, while the Preamp itself has a relatively very small circuit."
My own current Preferred Settings are - Treble at 2, Bass at 3, Master on 7, and Gain on 8.
Gain range is higher level mid-gain really - with lots of nuances at the lower gain end for some really bright and spanky output as such.
As the demo shows - there are lots of useful tones onboard - and there should really be something for everyone here. These have just recently been re-stocked on the Drunk Beaver Reverb.Com Store - in fact - been and gone for that batch! - Next batch is now due late December at the usual exceptional value $120 price tag.
This is quite a distinct sounding Preamp pedal which I think many will like. Are any of you considering this? In fact who has one already? Let us know you favourite settings!
Demo
12 Degrees of Saturation 2023 Compact Edition
