Acorn Amps Solid State Preamplifier
The preamp section of the studio's secret weapon solid state amp — in a pedalboard-friendly box at half the price. Welcome back to Edge of Breakup.
In this episode the Acorn Amps Solid State Preamplifier takes center stage — featuring a Frank Brothers guitar loaded with Righteous Sound Gazing 1991 Pickups, into the Benson Amps Monarch and Benson 2x12" cabinet via the Boss Waza Tube Amp Expander. Watch the original Acorn Solid State demo here: [LINK TO PREVIOUS ACORN DEMO]
The backstory: in a 2021 interview, a relatively overlooked 10-watt Peavey solid state practice amp was revealed to be a studio secret weapon for achieving wiry, aggressive tones for guitar, bass, drums, and vocals — the Peavey Decade. The buzz was enough for Peavey themselves to reissue it. Acorn Amplifiers, based in Atlanta, went further: they built the Solid State, a faithful recreation of the Decade's full circuit including a power amp section capable of driving a real speaker cab from a 9V power supply. This is the preamp-only version of that pedal — same tone, smaller enclosure, half the price.
The Solid State Preamplifier features the Normal and Saturated channels of the original Decade as foot-switchable tone modes. Normal is wiry, sparkling clean drive — the Decade's famous studio character, bright and cutting, with complex harmonic response that behaves like a pushed tube amp even though there's not a tube in the circuit. Saturated is harsher, more aggressive gain — what happens when you push the Decade hard.
Five knobs cover Pre (input gain), Post (output level), and a three-band EQ. The Thick toggle adds heavy low end, additional gain, and a signal boost — and critically, this feature is not available on the original powered Solid State. It's an exclusive addition to the preamp version. The translucent backlit logo indicates which channel is active — Normal or Saturation — at a glance on a dark stage.
The Righteous Sound Gazing 1991 Pickups are designed around the shoegaze era — the early '90s studio recordings made famous in part by solid state amp distortion. The name says it all. Into the Solid State Preamplifier, they're exactly the right pairing.
True bypass. 9-18VDC, higher headroom at 18V. Under 100mA current draw. 1590B aluminum enclosure.
🎛️ Acorn Amps Solid State Preamplifier: https://www.acornamps.com/gear/solid-state-preamplifier
🎸 Righteous Sound Pickups: https://www.righteoussoundpickups.com
🔊 Benson Amps: https://www.bensonamps.com/guitar-amplifiers
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🎸 Frank Brothers Guitar | Righteous Sound Gazing 1991 Pickups
🎛️ Acorn Amps Solid State Preamplifier | Normal + Saturation Channels | Thick Switch | 3-Band EQ | 9-18V
🔊 Benson Amps Monarch | Benson 2x12" | Boss Waza TAE
