Musikmesse 2018: AMT intros 5 mini-format tube preamp and drive pedals
AMT's new mini-format tube preamp/OD pedals, looking like five little transformers. · Source: gearnews.com
Siberian effect pedal and amp maker AMT brought a series of five new preamp effect pedals to Musikmesse. Each has a 12A7 tube housed in a metal cage for true valve tone. What the pictures below don’t really show is that all the pedals are in a mini-format enclosure. And there’s additional functionality planned for the future, too.
AMT Blocks
The new series consists of five pedals, each giving a different spin on the same theme. They’re all in the preamp/overdrive ballpark, with slightly different features and tones available. All feature a 12A7 tube mounted vertically into the top of the pedal, below which are the controls and switches. It’s encased in a metal grill, which looks like it can take quite a bit of punishment. It also smacks a bit of old military hardware, or an engine block or something. A unique look, shall we say.
Five-Part Series
Let’s take a closer look at the five pedals. Each is named with a letter that gives you an idea about the kind of tone you can expect. All have a three-band EQ accessed via three very tightly grouped controls. The knobs taper off towards the top, so even though they are very close together, they are surprisingly easy to play around with.
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- AMT A Bass Preamp tube mini medal · Source: gearnews.com
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- AMT D Preamp Overdrive tube mini medal · Source: gearnews.com
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- AMT F Clean Preamp Overdrive tube mini medal · Source: gearnews.com
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- AMT M Preamp Overdrive tube mini medal · Source: gearnews.com
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- AMT RS Preamp Overdrive tube mini pedal · Source: gearnews.com
The “M” is a Marshall-style preamp/overdrive. You can switch between the two modes using the DR/PR on the side. “F” is a clean tone in the style of a Fender amp, apparently. This one has a big plastic footswitch rather than the smaller metal switch you normally see. This is a prototype model, but the bigger switch size makes a lot of sense because you can stomp onto the top of the pedal to switch it on and off without hitting the knobs on the top. With a smaller footswitch you have to place your foot just right to step on it with your toe, which might be a bit tricky when playing live. It’s unclear at this point which footswitch type the final production models will have.
The “F” model has two selector switches. One adds a mid-boost, and one does something called “tone shift”. There’s also a Bright switch to, well, brighten the tone. It also has a footswitch output to let you switch other footswitch-enabled gear on/off when you toggle the pedal on/off. Nice touch.
Rounding off the other models, “A” is a bass clean preamp pedal with the standard controls. “D” is a Lead pedal touted as offering a Metallica-like sound while “RS” is a Mesa Boogie Rectifier-style lead sound pedal with an added switch for two different tone settings, one with a brighter sound, the other with more “balls” (to quote the booth staff).
Future Pedalboard
Each pedal has a slot in the bottom with a card sticking out that looks like like an old Nintendo cartridge. Apparently, this will be used to hook up to an upcoming modular pedalboard system that AMT says will be able to do lots of cool stuff. An interesting angle which we’ll report on when we hear more.
Price and availability
The pedals are to cost in the area of EUR 190 each, which sounds fair, especially given that AMT are envisaging a scalable modular system with more functionality than a stand-alone pedal. We don’t yet know when the pedals will be available.
More information
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