Benson Preamp

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postpostrock
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Benson Preamp

Post by postpostrock » Tue Oct 09, 2018 12:42 pm

I love mine. My wife snagged it for me for my birthday. Very handy across the gain range.

Very good as an always on pedal.
Very good as a clean boost.
Very good as low/med gain.
Can get thick/fuzzy.

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popvulture
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Re: Benson Preamp

Post by popvulture » Wed Oct 10, 2018 4:16 am

Haven't played one, but watching the PGS Andy demo right now—sounds pretty killer! Pretty much akin to a Broadcast, no? Tone-wise that's what immediately comes to mind.

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Re: Benson Preamp

Post by postpostrock » Wed Oct 10, 2018 5:16 am

I haven’t played a broadcast personally, but I do think there is some overlap in what the two pedals offer.
I’d actually love to have a Hudson Broadcast to stack with the Benson.

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popvulture
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Re: Benson Preamp

Post by popvulture » Thu Oct 11, 2018 6:35 am

The Broadcast is indeed pretty great. I'm a huge fan of that whole genre of "preamp" pedals vs more straightforward OD... though I'm not sure what the real distinction is, haha. Maybe less EQ? But the Benson does in fact have EQ on it, so maybe they really would stack well together. My only real criticism of the Broadcast is that the bottom end can get sort of flabby at higher gain settings (which I've found with most preamp pedals), so maybe putting that first and then tightening it up with the Benson could be super cool...

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Re: Benson Preamp

Post by Gavanti » Wed Jun 10, 2020 2:36 pm

popvulture wrote:
Thu Oct 11, 2018 6:35 am
The Broadcast is indeed pretty great. I'm a huge fan of that whole genre of "preamp" pedals vs more straightforward OD... though I'm not sure what the real distinction is, haha. Maybe less EQ? But the Benson does in fact have EQ on it, so maybe they really would stack well together.
I know this is bringing an oldish thread back, but I’ve ended up doing exactly this, and it sounds great. My Broadcast Dual is running 24v with the gain trim set at noon, and the Benson goes before it with settings adjusted to whatever I’m playing. I have a Caroline Icarus set to hit either/both pretty hard. I’ve had the Hudson for awhile now and found myself using it more and more with my band. I didn’t think I’d like the Benson as much as I do, but it has great character and will likely be replacing a very reliable ARC Soothsayer if it sounds as good In the band mix as it does at home. The low gain side of the Broadcast works well as a boost for the Benson. Pushed by the Icarus, it has a less thick, more open overdriven tone than the Benson does. Boosting either the Preamp or the high gain channel of the Broadcast yields really fun fuzz tones..

I played around with a SSBS Mini and a Greer Soma too, and both are great in their own way, but the Hudson and Benson ended up working best in my setup.

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