Velvet Preamp

High Voltage is Here

The Velvet Preamp is true, analog, tube drive that can only can only come from a vacuum tube driven to its absolute limit with many USA made components.

• 200V plate voltage for REAL tube driven sound
• Flip switch tone control - bright, mid, dark
• Vintage light bulb indicator light
• Switchcraft 1/4" Jacks
  
• Point to point wiring
• High efficiency voltage regulator and filter circuit for dead quiet operation
• True bypass
• Sprague Atom electrolytic and Orange Drop tone capacitors
  
• 60-70% NOS vintage parts.
• High Quality 12AX7 Tube (included)
  
• 9v/500mA - negative tip - OneSpot(tm) compatible
• Colors are 500 degree(F) resistant, automotive engine block paint
• Robust tube guard
• Featuring BLNKSPCS original artwork
• Individually hand screen printed
• 9v - 500ma

For more art and prints like featured here, visit www.blnkspcsart.com

Each pedal is hand built, point to point, in Seattle

(Velvet Preamp features the same circuitry as the prototype Robot Black HV)

Reviews:

"Though my pedal collection at this point fills untold shelves, my skepticism for expensive pedals runs even deeper—and the reasons are many. For starters, the world doesn’t need another Ibanez Tube Screamer clone at $300 a pop. (Instead grab the Behringer TO800 at $30; you’ll hardly be able to tell the difference from the original, so say many owners of the originals.) 

And a time when a used Klon pedal runs $2500 or more, the issue is no longer about the sound but a lot of other things. Faux mystique. Herd mentality. People willing to fork over their gigging cash to emperors who have no clothes, but lots of lucre in the bank. And for what? Wherefore novelty? Originality? Economy? Skip the seasick spaghetti vomit artwork and 8 knobs that allow you to endlessly tweak everything, including pubic hair length. I want and we need something simple. Fast. Fun. 

Kudos must go to Seattle-based Loyd Electronics and its Robot Tube Distortion pedal. It’s the voodoobrainchile of Matthew Loyd Smith, who like that other Smith (Josh Smith of JHS Pedals) brings a formidable combination of electrical training and musical skill to the task. His visual aesthetic, as demonstrated by the pedal he sent me to test drive, is lean and sharp. A 12AX7 tube sits cleanly in a cylindrical black grate, mounted atop a bare metal box imprinted with a mysterious Polaroid image that could be straight from a twilight fever dream. Or: Could be industrial. Could be Modern Art. Neat. 

Though this pedal has just two knobs—volume and gain, that’s it—you’d be mistaken to dismiss the Robot Tube for its simplicity, because its tonal colors are complex. Cranked with gain high and volume low, or somewhat vice versa, the stomp box reveals itself as more akin to two devices, with distinctive voicing on either end. Between the bookends of saturated and squashy, or open and crewamy, the Robot Tube writes its own book on distorted tone. 

I found turning its beefy, solid knobs a pure delight; the pedal has enough sweet spots for a canvas full of bullseyes. Auditioned through a P-90 equipped, Strat-style custom build into a vintage Fender VIbro Champ, the Robot Tube gave back more than its share of warmth and tonal pliability. What’s more, tubes are interchangeable between 12AX7, 12U7 and other such preamp types. (It comes stock with a Sovtek 12AX7LPS.) Long live no-fuss experimentation! Need more controls, you control freak? You’ve got an adjustable tube bias trim pot inside. 

But chances are you’ll love the pedal as is, as I did. Tubes breathe, and Matt’s take on vacuum-inspired goodness belongs right up there with the under appreciated Vox Cooltron series and the Ibanez Tube King. It’s dead silent in idle, true bypass in action, hand built the point-to-point way. Thank you Matthew, as the world is once again safe for reasonably priced, boutique distortion that doesn’t sound like Everything Else Out There, but rather like a Loyd."

--Lou

"This is the coolest pedal I have ever bought. With one click, it instantly achieves the tone I have been trying to find for years. Almost zero noise and a great versatility in sound with just the two knobs. Beyond the great sound, it is an elegant and efficient design, infinitely more rewarding to work with and look at than any mass-market piece of gear off an assembly line. I am mostly using using the pedal to run my acoustic guitar signal through. It brings a lush tube sound even when running straight into a PA. Cranking up the levels creates creamy distortion and beautiful overtones. I also use it to create feedback for more experimental stuff. I am not a pedal hound and have not tried thousands of pedals, rather I keep things simple and have tried to get the tone I need with minimal gear. With the Robot Distortion, my guitar rig is complete."

--Scott

Please note - a 1-2 week lead time may be necessary due to ongoing supply chain issues.