Open Box Acoustic A Series Acoustic Instrument Preamp and DI Pedal Level 1 Regular

Tried this unit two ways; 1. Direct into my amp 2. Into a sound system. First it yielded only loud static. Disconnected it and tried again, nothing but noise. The only way I heard my guitar was to hit the "bypass preamp" switch. Tried it with their power supply and just on battery.

I bought this on sale and I am not disappointed.

The first time it plugged this in to the house system it worked very well. The second time it had loud hissing, popping, static. I had to use a direct box instead. I would not buy this item again.

This is a great little acoustic pre-amp in a pedal.

I considered many different preamp pedals before deciding on this one. My final decision was based on features and price, and this one looked like it would be the best choice for me. I have used this plugged into a PA and directly into powered PA speakers. It is very easy to use and has many very useful features. The guitars I am using have onboard preamps (ukulele too), but this gives more control and additional EQ options, and all this is very useful to have control of your sound in performance situations. The main controls are pretty straight forward; Input Gain controls the input level, and at the other end is a Master Volume to control the output volume. The EQ has Low, Mid, and High controls, with the addition of a Mid Frequency control to adjust where the Mid control is adjusting the tone in the range of 500 Hz to 1.2 kHz. The Feedback Elimination system is very useful. And there is a button to turn this feature on or off. Footswitches include a Bypass Preamp switch and a Mute switch. I really appreciate having a mute switch built into this unit. There is a standard 1/4 inch instrument input and also an 1/8 auxiliary input. FX Loop! I use the effects loop for modulation and time-based effects. There is no bypass switch for the effects loop, unfortunately. I think that would be a necessary addition to future versions of this unit. Outputs include standard 1/4 out, XLR balanced out (I use the XLR out to the PA), and 1/8 inch headphone out. There is a ground lift button, which is a necessity and works great. A power supply is provided but this unit runs of 9V DC, negative center @ 45 mA, so it can be connected to your pedal power supply if you are using one, which will save space on your pedalboard. I am very happy with this purchase, and happy to have more control of my sound when playing acoustic instruments.

I purchased a Takamine Acoustic/Electric a long time ago; however never had the opportunity to play through an amp until a purchased a Spark 40 a couple years ago. The guitar sounds tinny, even through the bass Spark. This pedal changed everything after just a few minutes fiddling.