Massive Unity's TAE 10th Anniversary Preamp packs a whole lot of Brian May-esque tube-drive tones in a stompbox

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By ( Guitarist, Total Guitar ) published

The analogue Tube Amp Empulator is portable, pedalboard friendly and has a speaker emulated output

(Image credit: Massive Unity)

Massive Unity has announced a special 10th-anniversary edition of the TAE Preamp – a powerful preamp unit in a guitar effects pedal, inspired by Brian May's warm valve overdrive .

The TAE 10th Anniversary Preamp features Tube Amp Emulator technology, designed by by session-player Danny Gomez (who was also behind Orange Amps' OMEC Teleport audio interface) and Pablo Díaz de Rada, which offers realistic analogue valve amp tones and dynamic response that can be used in a variety of contexts.

Massive Unity says the TAE 10th Anniversary Preamp can be used as an amp simulator, preamp, or as an overdrive unit. The enclosure has a footswitch for on/bypass and three large dials for gain, tone and volume.

The top-mounted input/output jacks make it a pedalboard-friendly setup, ideal for live rigs, and there is a speaker emulated output that profiles an open-back 2x12 cabinet loaded with “Alnico Blue” speakers – in other words, the Celestion Alnico Blue speakers as favoured by Brian May in his Vox AC30s. The pedal is powered by 9VDC.

The Massive Unity TAE 10th Anniversary Preamp is available to preorder now for €299 (£269 approx) from Danny Gomez direct or from other Massive Unity dealers. It ships mid-October. See Danny Gomez for order info.

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Jonathan Horsley
Jonathan Horsley

Jonathan Horsley has been writing about guitars and guitar culture since 2005, playing them since 1990, and regularly contributes to MusicRadar, Total Guitar and Guitar World. He uses Jazz III nylon picks, 10s during the week, 9s at the weekend, and shamefully still struggles with rhythm figure one of Van Halen’s Panama.

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