That'll buy you a whole lotta weed.

ohiogoldrush wrote:Hello,
I am currently looking to buy some more gear and I am on a budget of $500. At the current moment I am happy with my mic collection but am looking for a good mic pre or any type of outboard gear. I know $500 can't get me very far but was wondering if anyone had any advice that could get me the most bang for my buck. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

If you are good with a soldering iron:

Gyraf GSSL buss comp
JLM Audio Baby Animal mic preamps

FMR RNP
Avalon mono pre
API I think has a pre in that range
Groove tubes brick

I like the sound of all of those pres; see if you can listen to them.

Shure M67s can be moded to be a 4 CH pre for about $5 in parts. I have 4 of them and at most payed $30 for one and payed $5 for the cheapest. I like how they sound too. You will need External Phantom power (I gotUsed 4 ch phantom power on Ebay for $20)

If you look real hard you might find a used Sytek for around $500. I got mine for $600. Jfets instead of BB.

I can second the RNP and Brick Kayte mentioned. They both can be found on the used market for a reasonably small pile of duckets.

I like the preamps in my Tascam 320B mixer (20X4X2X1) and I bought it for $300. If you have an 8 Track it is the shit. Cool EQ too.

You can look for Ward Beck Pres and Chanel modules. All the time, just a couple of Hund-o. Those can be a chore to mount up. (Power sup., Edge connectors... etc)

I have been curious about the EH 12ax7 preamp. They look modifiable.


Ebay man, Ebay. Just scour that bitch every day.

Buy a big shovel and a shitload of bricks and dig an echo chamber in your back garden.

johnnyshape wrote:Buy a big shovel and some bricks and dig an echo chamber in your back garden.

Like THIS?

japmn wrote:If you look real hard you might find a used Sytek for around $500. I got mine for $600. Jfets instead of BB.

This was going to be my suggestion. It's been a while, but I think I paid 400 bucks for mine.

I understand that I'm answering the thread title and not the actual post, but here it is anyways:

Both my bass and my amp (Ovation Magnum/Traynor YBA-3) were less than $500 each. Those are my fav. sub $500 pieces of gear. I know there are better deals out there, but thats all I got.

I was gonna say YBA-1A for sure, but again, that's an answer to the thread title, not the original post.

no idea about pres and what they cost.