Well, I now have time to do a very quick review... i took some time to rewire my board, add some pedals and took over some others, change some cables, etc...
What can I say about the SP2...? I had a while ago a stepABout which was a very cool device : every tweaking was so musical, the basses were so smooth. It felt like my old SWR amp. I gave it up because it was so bulky and took really to much place.
I give the SP2 a try. About the pros :
- the size!!! It's made in a enclosure similar to the MXR stompboxes, so you can squeeze it everywhere on a board.
- the sound is very "neutral". I've always found that the natural sound of the Stick is a bit thin and crisp. If you leave the controls at noon, you will exactly play with the sound of the Stick but with more gain. I don't know how much gain the preamp can provide, but it's huge. I basically cut a bit the highs ( highs can be very crispy if cranked), and boost some bass, especially for the bass strings to have some boooooooooom. The preamps are dead silent, really.
- you plug the Stick using a standard stereo jack. I find this option very convenient but maybe it's just me.
- you have two outputs option, that can be combined and used simultaneously : a stereo out, and a sumed signals out (mono).
- the cool thing for stompboxes users is that you can power it with a standard 9V power supply.
- the price is very well put.

The cons :
- a headphones output is lacking but I know that it can be possible to add one (some guys from the AFSTG asked for it, and this option may be studied if there is a "global" order from customers)
- A bit less musical than the StepABout.

I do think that it's a different product from the StepABout : they're not from the same league, sound wise, price wise. But it's nice to have different options on the market. I'm curious to know what some of you who have purchased this preamp think about it after some weeks of use.

I now use it everytime with my rig. I promised to the AFSTG guys a sonic review a while back, I'll let you know if I find some time to record it.
I'm opened to any questions you have

So are you talking about that M&M preamp pedal? I don't know what the sp2 is, but I'm thinking it has that stepabout preamp? Or maybe Im thinking of something else. What is the official model name and where is the website? I'm really curious if it beefs up the tone a bit like an analog preamp? I know what you are saying about the 'slightly thin tone(only on melody side in my opinion with stickup). So I just use a compressor or tube sound on the melody side.

Do you think it evens out the tone at all. Or has some sonic magic type thing? I guess I'm still not sure about preamps in general. I know alot of bass ones sound too bright and crispy like old swr(presence knob was evil)and that guitar amps color the tone too much for me.

Good review mate! Glad you are liking it.

Non, it's a preamp made by sfx sound : http://www.sfxsound.co.uk/mainpage.asp?page=home

grozoeil wrote:

Well, I now have time to do a very quick review... i took some time to rewire my board, add some pedals and took over some others, change some cables, etc...
What can I say about the SP2...? I had a while ago a stepABout which was a very cool device : every tweaking was so musical, the basses were so smooth. It felt like my old SWR amp. I gave it up because it was so bulky and took really to much place.
I give the SP2 a try. About the pros :
- the size!!! It's made in a enclosure similar to the MXR stompboxes, so you can squeeze it everywhere on a board.
- the sound is very "neutral". I've always found that the natural sound of the Stick is a bit thin and crisp. If you leave the controls at noon, you will exactly play with the sound of the Stick but with more gain. I don't know how much gain the preamp can provide, but it's huge. I basically cut a bit the highs ( highs can be very crispy if cranked), and boost some bass, especially for the bass strings to have some boooooooooom. The preamps are dead silent, really.
- you plug the Stick using a standard stereo jack. I find this option very convenient but maybe it's just me.
- you have two outputs option, that can be combined and used simultaneously : a stereo out, and a sumed signals out (mono).
- the cool thing for stompboxes users is that you can power it with a standard 9V power supply.
- the price is very well put.

The cons :
- a headphones output is lacking but I know that it can be possible to add one (some guys from the AFSTG asked for it, and this option may be studied if there is a "global" order from customers)
- A bit less musical than the StepABout.

I do think that it's a different product from the StepABout : they're not from the same league, sound wise, price wise. But it's nice to have different options on the market. I'm curious to know what some of you who have purchased this preamp think about it after some weeks of use.

I now use it everytime with my rig. I promised to the AFSTG guys a sonic review a while back, I'll let you know if I find some time to record it.
I'm opened to any questions you have

I also owned a StepABout and now use the SP2, and agree with most of the above. The fact that the SP2 has a sizeable amount of headroom for a small unit, makes it a great device for driving computer sound cards and small mixers. The StepABout offers more EQ shaping and "warmth", and works well as a front end floor unit, particularly in a live setting (but I found the battery option was poorly implemented and designed). For recording and portability, the SP2 works better on every level for me.

Cheers,
Andy

SP2 looks really good for half price of StepABout...

but if you want the "matrix switch" of StepABout, try talk with SFX guys and mix in the same box the SP2 and MX16:

I always like to mention the D-Tar Solstice as a possible contender. It's a nifty 1/2 rack box that sounds great & will handle up to 4 signals at once.
It also has an effects loop, mute tuner output.

Cheers,
Andy

Oh I see, thanks for the info. That psudeo stepabout router is totally sleek looking. Where did that come from? The graphics make it look uber spaceage. Looks like people across the sea have been making some sick products. I just wish all this stuff was cheaper, oh well. The sp2 mini design is neat too, glad its micro sized as things tend to get out of control(space wise) when designing a high quality rig.

I didn't know that one. How much is the retail price for that?

About $320 US from Gollihur etc. I bought a used one for about $180 a few years ago. It's a very handy box to have around - similar in size and function to the old Raven Labs preamps (but even more like a "Swiss army knife"). Once again, the EQ is fairly basic compared to the StepABout.

http://www.d-tar.com/solstice.shtml

Cheers,
Andy