Funny, I was just thinking to myself today...I wonder if this could be turned into a preamp/the front end of an amp with the addition of an EQ circuit (and depending upon how far one wanted to go with it, a DI section/amp/headphone amp/whatever). Once you mentioned that part of the circuit was similar to the front end of the old Musicman amps, I figured, well why not add some of this lovely saturated transformer tone to a nice Class D power section...![]()
I am still not clear if transformer saturation sounds "lovely" or what it actually sounds like. If the math is correct in saying that LF signals are truly causing some core saturation in this circuit, then I would say it does sound nice with the subtle levels of added distortion it produces. But others have stated that saturation sounds just awful... maybe there is a golden ratio between none and too much.
If you want to use the clipping circuit like the old Music Man hybrid amplifiers, then you could place it in the effects loop of your amp between the pre and power sections. I used it with my Pandora app on my phone (I know... it's not high quality sound) feeding my bass rig and it sounded great, even though it was only a mono sound. IMO, This can be a useful pedal for many applications.
-Frank
