FM-800Z "Rocker 800"
 

The  FRENZEL FM-800Z  "Rocker 800" dual channel  guitar tube preamp is part of our "INSPIRED" line of products and  will give you the classic vintage tones of our Type F(Fender)  and Type M (Marshall)  tube amps ....and much more. Those of you who watch our auctions know that we sell retro conversion and vintage amps with of our Type F and Type M custom vintage tube preamp circuits. A lot of our customers use the Line Out jacks on these amps to drive other amps and they have asked us to build them custom preamps...so we decided to add stand alone tube preamps to our product line. You can use these preamps to drive your solid state amps to generate the classic 60's vintage tubetones. The FRENZEL FM - 800Z preamp was inspired by the vintage Bassman and JCM800 amps ...but it's far more than a clone....this preamp incorporates features and mods developed over FRENZEL Tube Amps years of building and fine tuning amps!
 
The preamp uses four 12AX7's to create two separate preamps each with its own Input Jack,  Gain control, Tone Stack and Master control.  The outputs are fed to a common Output Jack.  This allows you to create two distinct sounds and with the use of an AB pedal on the Input Jacks.  The output jack has a Trim control which allows you to match the output level to the input level requirements of the amp you are driving it with.

The The F section preamp  is voiced like the classic Bassman.  The M section  is voiced like the classic JCM800. The three band tone stacks were modeled after the original Fender and Marshall stacks and we added a Master volume after the tone stack.  With the combination of the separate Gain control, tone stack and  Master control you can get just about any sound you ever dreamed of.....including great clean tones of the Bassman...or that fantastic tube preamp overdrive distortion that the Marshall JCM800 amps are famous for.

 
The preamp is very compact. It is built on a 12"x 8"x 3" chassis. It has laminated faceplates and a bottom cover plate with rubber feet. This is a rock solid point-to-point hand wired amp that uses only the best of parts...low noise tubular polypropylenes caps, metal film resistors, Switchcraft jacks, ceramic sockets, etc. The input jacks are isolated from chassis and it uses a star ground system and DC on the filaments for very low noise.

The front panel controls are Type F Input, Type M Input, Gain, Bass, Middle, Treble, Master, Power On- Standby - Off. The  Output jack, Trim control, and Power Line fuse are on the rear panel.
 
The inputs are high impedance and the outputs are low impedance. This allows the preamp to work as an effects amp between your guitar and the input jack of your amp....or in your amp's  effects loop. It will also drive studio mixers or PA amps.  If  you have never played through a tube preamp.. you are in for a real treat. If you have, you are still in for a trip, because of the combination of Type F smooth warm tones and Type M high-mid overdrive tones and other extras that have been added.  It makes just about any tube amp sound better......and for you guys with solid state amps who are craving that vintage tube sound, you can insert it in front of your solid state amp and get that classic vintage  custom sound of your own.
 
PRICE : $495.00      SPECIAL SALE PRICE $395.00   

CLICK HERE TO ORDER
 
UPGRADE OPTIONS:
 
1.  VINTAGE  CAGE - A retro style metal cage to protect the tubes...plus with chrome side handles for easy transport is available in  as an option. Please add $115.00 to the price  for this option.

2.  CUSTOM PREAMP VOICES - We can provide a wide range of preamp voices including the Fender Blackface Twin and Marshall Plexi. Specify the voices you want on the Order Formin the Upgrades section. There is no extra charge for this upgrade.

3. 100 - 240 VOLT  POWER TRANSFORMER - for operation outside the USA. Please specify line voltage. Add $40.00
 
4. STEREO OUTPUTS OPTION - Separate output jacks and level controls to use as a stereo preamp $Add 25.00
 
5.  POWER AMP -  At the request of a lot of our customers, we have added a power amp as an upgrade option. The power amp uses a 12AU7 as a Class A output stage which will deliver F and M crystal clear cleans or overdrive tones at 1 watt of power into an 8 ohm speaker. This allows you to use the FM-800Z as a low volume practice amp as well as a preamp. With this option a speaker jack is added to the rear panel. Please add  $90.00 for this option.

6. RACK MOUNT CHASSIS - Studio pro grade rack mount ventilated chassis assembly. Removeable covers.Add $250.00. ( See picture)

7. CUSTOM CABS AND ENCLOSURES - Please see our Cabinets  page for a variety of custom built cabinets and enclosures including head cabs, combo cabs, speaker cabs,  rack mount chassis, road cases etc.




REVIEWS:

YouTube Video - This is a link one of our customers sent us. It is a video review of several preamps including FM-800Z (The FM-800Z  starts at about 8 minutes into the video) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPSDvTvz9P4

VINTAGE CAGE UPGRADE

RACK MOUNT CHASSIS UPGRADE