It’s impossible to talk about Music Man amps without bringing up their creator, Leo Fender. And once we start talking about Leo Fender, we can’t help but think of the famous Fender tube amplifiers he also created. And perhaps studying Fender tube amps and Leo Fender would be a great exercise to help understand & appreciate just how awesome Music Man amps are.

Early Wurlitzer electronic keyboards dating before roughly 1962 all featured on board tube amplifiers. Tube amplifiers offer a unique warm & full sound and what could be better to play your Wurly through right?  To many, however, a vintage tube amp can appear intimidating, high-maintenance and something only audiophiles should own. In the world of vintage amplifiers, however, a tube amp is more likely to be easier to troubleshoot should anything go wrong with its functionality.  In general vintage tube amps have large easy to check and replace components, while vintage solid state amps often have smaller, more delicate components. 

Short answer- ‘need’ is a strong word, but your synth tracks would certainly benefit greatly from a preamp.  Simply put, adding a preamp to your synth lines will make them come through a little stronger and have more impact on the mix.  Any preamp, whether they be solid state or tube are designed to make your signal louder.

We have done some A/B testing with one of our favorite analog synths, the Korg Minilogue, and found that a preamp or external tube amp helps the synth to stand out.  It goes without saying that you will be using a wide range of synth voices so where and when a preamp adds the most will vary. 

This vintage tube hi-fi-turned-guitar amp is one of our favorite past restorations.