Mooer Micro Preamp Series & Baby Bomb 30 Power Amp

TOTAL GUITAR SEPTEMBER 2017
98
These are tiny! You can’t be serious...
An amp in a box pedal is nothing new – after all, the earthshaking
AmpTweaker line is more or less just valve amp preamps modelled
with discrete circuitry. What is new, however, is the diminutive
form of these astonishingly small units. They may look cute, but
paired with the Baby Bomb 30 power amp, you might blow your
neighbours’ eardrums, let alone your own – so treat them with a
little caution.
How convincing is the Le Preamp series?
All of these preamps have a real valve in them as part of their
design, so they all pack a fair bit of wallop and saturation even
at lower volumes. Like the amps that they are based on, they
have clean and lead channels, though the EQ on the lead channel
is better.
What about the cab simulator?
The Torpedo CAB takes a line out from any of the preamps, and
applies power amp simulation and the same cabinet simulation
Okay, so how do they sound?
The Fender Blackface model (Regal Tone) comes surprisingly close
to a Fender clean tone, while the Vox (Day Tripper) has a similar EQ
range to a real Vox, but is diffi cult to dial in with a classic bright Vox
chime. Out of the more ‘rock’ amps, the Marshall JCM900 model
(UK Gold 900) is the most convincing. It saturates nicely with a
boost or drive in front, although it does lack clarity when cranked. In
general, the higher-gain amps like the 5150 (Fifty-Fifty 3) and Diezel
(Gas Station) are less realistic, although with the gain rolled right
back to about 9 o’clock, the 5150 is almost a passable ‘5150 in a box’
distortion sound, even if it lacks the defi nition and punch of the
original amp.
found in Two Notes’ high-end Torpedo Live and Torpedo Studio rack
units. The CAB is a hefty piece of kit out of the box, but can also be
extended and edited on a PC. A common ‘gotcha’ with this kind of
cab simulation is that if you’re not used to the sound of your amp
and pedals close mic’d, then you’ll want to edit the presets to move
the mic back to give more of a ‘room’ sound.
What’s the difference between the preamps?
The Le Clean is a Fender-voiced preamp, the Le Crunch is Marshall-
like, and the Le Lead is a high-gain modern tube amp. All of them
have the same control layout and speaker simulation, although not
as good as that found in the CAB. They also boast a fusion knob.
MooeR MICRo PReaMP
SeRIeS & MooeR BaBY
BoMB 30 PoWeR aMP
Small and mighty
tWo NoteS Le PReaMP &
tWo NoteS toRPedo CaB
Tone heaven at home
TH
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AS
S
T
A
T
I
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N
£104
£94
£419
£249
TYPE: Preamp and Power Amp
in micro pedal format
POWER: 9V DC centre-negative
(preamp), 24V DC (supplied
adaptor – power amp)
KEY FEATURES: Large choice of
preamp voices, three-band EQ, EQ
toggle on the Baby Bomb 30
CONTACT: Strings & Things
01273 440 442 www.
stringsandthings.co.uk
aT a gLance
TYPE: Preamp, power amp
and cab simulation
POWER: 12V DC (adaptor supplied)
KEY FEATURES: Valve-based
preamps with a variety of outputs,
Torpedo CAB offers studio-grade
cab simulation and PC editing
CONTACT: Audio Distribution Group
[phone] www.
audiodistributiongroup.com
aT a gLance
TGR297.gear_test.indd 98 8/16/17 12:41 PM