Real tube tone. The Markbass Vintage Pre doesn't need to imitate. Thanks to the integrated 12ax7 tube, you get all the warmth and saturated drive you'd expect from a valve amp, just in pedal form. Don't let its name fool you, however, as this rich tone extends way beyond just vintage tube tones. Two independent distortions allow you to access the full gain spectrum from creamy, warm drive to gritty, crunchy higher gain tones. The integrated boost circuit gives you the ability to take things up a notch whenever required with +6dB of clean boost available on tap. Huge tones, regardless of settings; versatility is one of the Vintage Pre's many strengths.
Speaking of strengths, the Vintage Pre's detailed controls give you total freedom to dial in a wide range of tones. The 4-band EQ is an ideal size giving you expressive control; with the mid response split between two controls, you can accurately sculpt your tone and presence. The 3-way switch that sits in the centre of the pedal lets you set the tonal foundation: 'Old' gives you the classic vintage tube tone with a scooped treble response, 'Cut' is a mid-scooped setting, while 'Flat' is your standard flat frequency response. Finally, the 'Blend' knob allows you to carefully tailor the balance of dry signal and affected, wet signal, expanding your tonal arsenal even further.
Now for Markbass' box of technical tricks. The 'Balanced DI Out' is a real DI Box with transformer, optimised to offer tonal purity across the frequency spectrum and eliminating the need for an external DI unit- you'll quickly become every sound engineers' best friend. The RCA output and TOSLINK make this pedal the perfect studio tool. With a switchable sample rate of 44.1/48/96KHz, you're guaranteed pro-quality audio every time, whether in the studio or on stage. The final touches are the 'Aux In' input and headphones output, allowing you to use the pedal silently, again ideal for silent recording, or just practicing.
