by Mark Longo

Speakeasy has added a new organ preamp to their product line. Actually, it's a twist on their original preamp that I reviewed some months ago.

I've demoed this new preamp over the last few weeks as a favor to Steve Hayes at Speakeasy to give him some feedback and make suggestions on what should be changed. I'm not employed by Speakeasy or compensated by them. I've returned the preamp to Steve and have not received any compensation in exchange for my feedback or for writing this review. Steve invited me to demo the unit and I did so out of personal curiosity and also to give Steve the benefit of another organ player's perspective and suggestions.

Because I reviewed the original Speakeasy preamp (which will now be called the "Vintage Tube Classic") for this list, I wanted to post a quick sound comparison of the new and old models.

On other note. According to Steve, the rack mount preamps that were recently reviewed on the CloneWheel list are of the new (Howler) design type.

Packaging

Both versions of the preamp can be used with either a Leslie or a mixer/combo amp. There is a Leslie output and a 1/4" output available on both for that purpose. Also, both preamps are available in either rackmount packages or as pedals. The packaging for the two preamp types is identical.

Steve tells me that the new preamp will be called the "Vintage Tube Howler" and the original pedal will be called the "Vintage Tube Classic."

Sound

The preamps sound different and are useful for different purposes. I'll describe the sound of each here.

VINTAGE TUBE CLASSIC

This is the original Vinatge Tube design. This preamp produces sounds of incredible detail and clarity and is heavy on punch, especially in the attack segment of a note. It has all the warmth and responsive sound of classic vintage amplifiers and it's amazing detail highlights the sublties of a clone's sound, such as tonewheel leakage and keyclick. This design has the accent on clarity and punch and is a great choice for use with a tube Leslie, such as the 147 or 122. It delivers a very clear and hot signal to the Leslie, allowing any desired distortion to be provided by the Leslie amp itself.

Speakeasy also recommends that this preamp be used for a Motion Sound Pro-3T, solid state Leslies, or any other rotating device. I can't comment on that as I don't have a Pro-3T or solid state Leslie.

VINTAGE TUBE HOWLER

This preamp has the accent on warmth, tone coloration, and natural harmonic distortion from it's tube circuit. This design offers a wide range of tone control from heavy bass to a very gritty bite when the treble control is boosted toward the extreme. Lots of natural tube distortion is available when cranked. In general this preamp offers more tonal coloration and the potential for more tube distortion than the Vintage Tube Classic. It's at its best when used to connect directly to a solid state device, such as a Leslie Simlulator, mixer, combo amp, or straight into a solid state power amplifier. It also functions well when used with a Leslie, and can provide all the overdrive you want, though it lacks much of the clarity and attack punch of the Vintage Tube Classic when used with a Leslie.

My Opinion

Here's where I give my subject opinions. I'll state my personal bias up front so you can put my remarks in some context.

I use a CX-3 and a Leslie 145 (147 amp) almost exclusively. Once a month or so, I gig using the CX-3's leslie simulator plugged directly into a line mixer. I use the Speakeasy preamp only in gigging situations (I play a real C-3/147 at home). I don't particularly like the sound of a heavily overdriven Hammond. I run my Leslie on "8" at all times and I love the warmth and saturation of that amp when it's run hot, but I try not to feed it enough signal to make it distort much.

Given the above paragraph, I feel that the Vintage Tube Classic is the only option for me. Used with my 145, the clarity, punch, and sheer balls of the "Classic" are simply unbeatable. The notes fairly jump out of the Leslie when I use this preamp. In this sense, the "Classic" is truely a very special preamp.

Using the "Vintage Tube Howler" with my 145, it sounded good and is a perfectly acceptable Leslie preamp, but I felt that it was lacking most of the punch, clarity, and balls that make the "Classic" so special. The "Howler" has plenty of warmth and is capable of a rich tube distortion, but I can get the subtle distortion I prefer from my 145 very easily and I'm not willing to sacrific the punch and clarity for the added distortion possible using the "Howler."

Speakeasy claims that the "Howler" is at it's best when used with solid state amps. I agree. When using the Leslie Simulator in my CX-3 plugged into the "Howler" then into a Barbetta combo amp, this preamp added lots of balls and warmth to the CX-3. It boosts the midrange quite a bit, which fleshes out the CX-3 tone nicely, and it also takes a bit of the sharp edge off the clone's highs.

If you crank the Howler's volume you get tube distortion. Not the "frying eggs" distortion of the big 6550's in a Leslie 147, but rather more of a guitar amp brand of distortion, ala Jon Lord, Steppenwolf, and many others. And you can control the amount of distortion and it's overall character using the treble and volume controls in combination. Adding lots of treble gives you a hard edged, gritty sort of distortion.

So overall, I recommend the Vintage Tube Classic if your primary use involves a Leslie (or perhaps PRO-3T), and the Vintage Tube Howler if you primarily plug into a solid state device.

m a r k   l o n g o
www.HighmarkDesign.com