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Soldano X88-IR -3-Channel All-Tube Stereo Rackmount Preamp
The Soldano X88R is considered by many guitar players as the holy grail of rack mount tube preamps. From its inspiring Soldano tone to distinctive purple anodized panel, the X88R is one of the world’s most sought-after pieces of vintage gear used by countless professional musicians including Peter Frampton, Warren DeMartini, Michael Landau, Steve Lukather, Lou Reed and Lee Ritenour to name a few. The new X88-IR continues this legacy by preserving every ounce of Soldano’s legendary tone, with updated modern features tailored to meet the needs of today’s professional players. To fully appreciate the new X88-IR, we must first look back into its history.
History of the original X88R:
The initial idea for a three-channel Soldano rackmount guitar preamp came from Bob Bradshaw, rack builder to the stars. According to Mike Soldano “If not for Bradshaw’s request, the X88R would never have happened. I thank Bob Bradshaw for his idea and for his trust in me to make it happen.” Here’s the story:
In 1987, Steve Lukather began using the new Soldano SLO-100 heads. Bob Bradshaw built Steve’s rack system and toured with him to ensure it always worked flawlessly.
While visiting Bob’s shop in North Hollywood, Bob discussed with Mike what a pain it was to haul around three amps just so Steve could get his various sounds. Steve’s complicated wet- dry-wet rig also needed heavy dummy loads to get a low level “slave” signal from the power amp’s output to run into the effects. This large rig generated extra wear and tear and expense, as shipping and handling those heavy amps and load cabinets required more truck space and crew labor.
Mike agreed that using his SLO-100 heads just to obtain a rack-system-friendly 0db output signal was inefficient. This was especially true because the SLO’s revolutionary cascading gain design already provided all of Soldano’s iconic tone in the preamp section.
Bob requested Mike to build an all-tube preamp with three independent channels, clean, crunch, and overdrive, that could be integrated with his switching systems and replace all that heavy gear. When it was done, Bob wired it into Steve’s rack, it was big smiles all around and history was made.
By the Summer of 1988, Soldano developed a production version of this preamp, the first of which was purchased by Warren Cucurullo. The X88R was the first of its kind, and the first truly professional stand-alone guitar preamp.
Nearly four decades later, Mike Soldano’s new X88-IR is a masterpiece that expands on the original X88R with new key features and upgrades.
FEATURES:
-Three Channel all-tube stereo rackmount preamp
-Soldano’s famous cascading-gain design
-Hand built in the USA
-Tubes: 5 x 12AX7
-Limited Lifetime Warranty
-Dimensions (2-unit rack space): 19” (W) x 10.25” (D) x 3.5” (H)
-Weight: 10 lbs.
FRONT PANEL:
-Purple Anodized front panel
-All Channels - Preamp Level, Bass, Middle, Treble, Output Level and Bright switch
-Channel 1- Bright switch and selectable Normal/Altered Mode: Fender style Normal Mode, Boosted clean Altered Mode
-Channel 2/3 - Fat Switch, Bright Switch and selectable Crunch / Overdrive Mode
-Master Level Control
-Headphone Output jack with Level Control
-IR cabinet simulation (bypassable)
-6 IR presets, individually programmable per channel /mode: Load your own IRs via the Software Editor
BACK PANEL:
-Voltage selector switch - Mains Fuse must be changed (please read manual)
-USB (type B 2.0) connector to connect Software Editor: Includes a 6’ USB cable
-MIDI/Footswitch Input
-MIDI Phantom Power input jack
-¼” Main Outputs
-Stereo XLR Outputs with Level Switch and Ground Lift Switch
-Ultra-transparent stereo series effects loop: Mono Send and Stereo Return jacks, Level Switch
SOFTWARE EDITOR:
-Easy to use USB Editor Software
-Save up to 128 MIDI presets
-Load and organize your IR library: Includes 12 IRs to choose from
-Midi Presets allows you to select: Channel, Channel mode, Assign different IRs for all three channels, Low-Pass and High-Pass Filters, Power Amp three position Depth Switch, Power Amp three position Presence Switch
SKU: X88IR
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