Mile End Effects - Echolette NG-51 Preamp

The old German Klemt Echolette tape echo machine has always remained mostly overshadowed by other more famous tape echos of the era, but those who know these golden boxes love them for their unique sound, especially when it comes to their massive sounding preamp. If you’ve ever heard the tube driven Echolette preamp, you’ll know that it can achieve everything from an impressive glassy volume boost (with a TON of volume on hand) to an absolutely monstrous chewy fuzz-like overdrive that leaves the hairs on the back of your neck standing on end. As well, these preamps are much celebrated for their very unique tone control that interacts with the gain structure of the preamp as well as hitting an amplifier in a brilliant way. This tone control is peculiar in that it works by cutting bass below 12 o’clock or cutting treble above 12 o’clock with a “flat” frequency response at noon on the pot.

My initial goal in recreating this sound in a reliable form (much like my efforts with the PreAmp 150) was to create a stand alone, tube driven preamp unit (even implementing that famous ‘magic eye’ tube VU meter), but when time constraints and cost started to become an issue, I went back to the drawing board and opted to use solid state concepts instead to achieve similar operating characteristics to the ECC83 tube. In this emulation of the original tube driven units, I have spent an obsessive amount of time testing JFET transistors, aiming to get them to operate and respond harmonically in the same way that my old Telefunken ECC83 driven machine operates. Here, I really think I have managed to encapsulate that sound by selecting JFETs that operate only in a very specific range and by feeding them a much higher internal voltage than a standard 9 volt power supply can give. This offers the quite frankly absurd volume boost and headroom that a tube running at a high plate voltage gives (though that voltage is also switchable via a toggle on the top of the pedal should you decide to want the lower headroom 9v internal voltage…another flexibility in the sound!).

All this is to say that this preamp sounds absolutely wonderful and I am proud to add it to the Mile End Effects family for as long as I can source these transistors (which in the not so distant future will actually become quite an issue and threaten my ability to actually make these).

Demos coming soon!

CONTROLS

LAUTSTÄRKE- Overall Volume/Gain of the preamp

KLANGREGELUNG - Tone Control. Below 5 cuts Bass frequencies, above 5 cuts Treble frequencies.

KONTROLLE BIAS - Controls the JFET bias. Can be used as a secondary gain control as well for added flexibility

The toggle on top boosts the internal voltage. To the left boosts to 27vDC and to the right keeps an internal 9vDC.

This pedal can ONLY be operated using a 9vDC centre negative power supply. Anything higher will damage the pedal.

Warranty & Returns

All New products are covered by the manufacturers new warranty. Please check their website for the length of warranty and warranty conditions. If an item you receive is faulty get in touch with us ASAP. Second Hand products come with a 4 week warranty from us. If there is an issue let us know ASAP! This covers normal use and does not cover accidental damage, misuse, wrong power plugged into it, modding, water damage or any other damage caused by mistreatment. Just treat it nice and all will be good!

Shipping

We send A LOT of packages every week so don't worry about the shipping side of things!

We've never lost a thing and your awesome new gear will be packed up really well to avoid any damage in transit.

If your order comes in before 2pm we will ship it same day. Most of the time we pack things up all the way to 4pm so just call if you need it to leave same day after 2pm.

We ship mainly with Australia Post but may use a courier depending on location and size of the package.

Free Post ships with Australia Post standard and expected shipping times are between 4-6 business days depending on location. It will be longer to outside of metro and rural areas.

Express Post will usually be with you next business day in metro areas of QLD, NSW, SA, VIC and TAS. WA will take 2 days to metro and extra days after that to out side metro and rural areas.

Everything we ship has a tracking number with the exception of some power cables and smaller envelope packages. You will be emailed tracking once your order has been shipped!

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