Rehashing what appears to be a popular topic on Stickist, but hopefully from a different angle (or at least I haven't found anything posted in the last few years) -

(Please note that I'm speaking from ignorance here, since I really don't have a lot of experience in this area. I also know that tone and sound quality can be very subjective and dependent upon one's musical goals.)

Background: I have a Stick with a Stickup coming, and my current amp is a single-channel combo. Amp upgrade will likely happen at some point, but not likely in the near term. I need to sum / mix / combine / smoosh the two mono signals into the one input channel.

One option is a stand-alone preamp box that has a mono output (e.g. StepABout, SP2). Another option is a small mixer with high-Z inputs on at least two channels.

Looking at the recommendations for the preamp boxes, it appears that most of the recommenders are looking for a preamp that is small-enough to fit on a pedal board. I wonder how much weight is given to the size of the units - is the sound (clarity, accuracy) and tone quality on these significantly better than would be found on a small mixer in the same general price range?

I’ve have not come across a mixer preamp in the same price range as an sp2 that’s sounds nearly as good when used in combination with a stickup. Have not seen one recommended hear either with that low cost/ nice pre-amp feature set.


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Haven't tried the StepAbout but the SP2 is a great preamp. Always use it on my pedalboard.

Is your plan to run a preamp into your combo? Just remember that by its very definition, your combo amp already has a preamp in it. So if you pickup an outboard preamp and plug it into your combo, you'll be double preamping. That's not necessarily a problem but you just have to realize that the resulting tone will be colored by two preamps so it won't necessarily be an accurate representation of the sound of ... say ... an SP2.

Does your combo have an FX send/return in it? If it does, you might consider running whichever external preamp you buy into the FX return. This bypasses the preamp in your combo and goes straight into the power amp/speaker.

Thanks, Mike (and Ruly for the reinforcement): I had kind of expected this of the SP2, being that it (like the StepABout) was designed specifically with the Stick in mind. I had also seen small mixers recommended, and kind of wondered how the two compared.



Yes and yes. The preamp would also function as a way to combine the dual mono signals into the single mono input for the amp, while hopefully being of sufficiently-good quality to keep when the combo gets replaced. The SP2 looks like it fits that bill pretty well.

I'd likely end up with an outboard EQ and more of a small PA-type setup. However, learning first, equipment upgrades as they make sense.

Luckily, my combo does have an FX send / return, and I intend to use that rather than going through the on-board preamp. (I read your suggestion about this from an earlier thread: point well taken.)

What about using a line selector pedal like the Boss LS2 maybe? Not a preamp but allows you to sum the two signals into one mono output.

That sounds like it would probably work, in conjunction with the combo's preamp, and would be a bit cheaper than the Stick-centric preamp options.

Since I was likely heading in the external preamp direction anyway (especially since it looks like the combo will be going away sooner rather than later), I just went ahead and bought an SP2.

Now I just need "everything else"...