The X1 Preamp Pedal Wins Premier Gear Award from Premier Guitar Magazine

The X1 All Tube Preamp Pedal wins the Premier Gear Award from Premier Guitar Magazine! Read the review by Shawn Hammond below. 

I’ve never played through the now-discontinued Carvin X100B tube amp, but to me Steve Vai never sounded better than on the stripped-down 1986 track “Blue Powder,” which was recorded to showcase its capabilities. He soared in his inimitable way—but with a tonal immediacy and intimacy that seemed missing through larger rigs.

My listening tastes and tone preferences have long since shifted away from guitar-hero shred. Even so, Carvin Amps' new X1 Tube Preamp—which aims to replicate the X100B’s tones—wowed me. With clean and dirty channels driven by two 12AX7 preamp tubes, a full EQ (bass, mid, treble, and presence knobs), and the ability to use footswitches to switch channels, engage a lead-channel boost, or activate a 5-band graphic EQ capable of drastically re-voicing either or both channels, the X1 offers a truly impressive array of tones ranging from spongy, beautifully compressed cleans to crunchy grit or high-gain sounds perfect for singing leads or evil metal.

Meanwhile, the “cab-voiced/phones” jack lets you record or practice with analog cab-emulation circuitry (2x12 or 4x12) that’s truly dynamic: Rather than sounding like some blanket of digital EQ-ing B.S., it responds to changes in master volume like a real amp. And the speaker output’s 1 watt facilitates late-night practice that can get loud enough to wake loved ones. There’s a bypassable buffered effects loop, too!

Click here to purchase the X1 All Tube Preamp Pedal today.

Click here to read the full review and listen to sound clips.

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