Mooer’s Preamp Live is the affordable amp modeller you’ve been waiting for
50 models, Tone Capture and IR loading onboard comprehensive pedal
Mooer’s Micro Preamps have taken the guitar world by storm - the company added three more just last week - and now the Chinese co has finally released its long-teased, all-encompassing Preamp Live, which promises to be “the ultimate digital preamp modeller for use in a live situation”.
One of our standout stompboxes of NAMM 2018, the Preamp Live can be loaded with 12 independent preamp channels, from a choice of 50 via the supporting software and mobile apps, which operate using USB and Bluetooth.
As well as the preamps, the PL packs a dual-position booster, pre- and post-noise gates, a fully programmable effects loop, channel-switching control, MIDI in and out and a headphone out.
Crucially, it also delivers multiple outputs with optional cab simulation and boasts the ability to load impulse responses for direct recording and live tones.
The Preamp Live can be used in conjunction with your own amp’s preamp, too, via an A/B mode that uses the effects loop to switch between analogue and digital preamps.
Mooer’s even thrown in a Tone Capture feature, which can be used to sample your own amp’s preamp and create new models.
We’re struggling to think of anything Mooer has missed here. Best of all is the price, which clocks in at a tidy $399. Provided the sounds are up to snuff, this might just give Line 6 and Fractal a run for their money…
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The Preamp Live is available now - head over to Mooer for, erm, more.
Mike has been Editor-in-Chief of GuitarWorld.com since 2019, and an offset fiend and recovering pedal addict for far longer. He has a master's degree in journalism from Cardiff University, and 15 years' experience writing and editing for guitar publications including MusicRadar, Total Guitar and Guitarist, as well as 20 years of recording and live experience in original and function bands. During his career, he has interviewed the likes of John Frusciante, Chris Cornell, Tom Morello, Matt Bellamy, Kirk Hammett, Jerry Cantrell, Joe Satriani, Tom DeLonge, Radiohead's Ed O'Brien, Polyphia, Tosin Abasi, Yvette Young and many more. His writing also appears in the The Cambridge Companion to the Electric Guitar. In his free time, you'll find him making progressive instrumental rock as Maebe.
