Genzler Magellan Pre... looks tasty

[ThinCrappyTone2]

Description
The MAGELLAN® PRE is an all-analog full featured preamp pedal with a wide-range input gain control, 3-band equalization with sweepable mids, our unique foot switchable dual curve adjustable contour circuits, foot switchable mute circuit, aux input, headphone output, balanced/unbalanced main output and balanced XLR direct output. This compact, lightweight pedal brings all of the tone and versatility of our MAGELLAN series bass amplifier designs into a small pedal format.

The MG-PRE-PEDAL is also a great companion to our 4 ON THE FLOOR Classic Overdrive Pedal, CRASH BOX-4 Classic Distortion Pedal and RE/Q 5 band EQ + Filter Pedal.

Features:

• Wide Range Input Circuitry
• Input and Master Volume Controls
• Variable High Pass Filter
• Switchable Dual Contours (A & B)
• Independent Contour Controls
• Same Magellan 3 Band EQ w/Sweepable Mids
• Signal mute
• Preamp Output—Capable of driving a Separate Power Amp
• Aux Input
• Headphone Output
• Studio Quality Direct Out Circuitry w/Pre or Post and GND Lift
• Lightweight Aluminum Chassis Construction
• Operates on any Power Supply Voltage: 9 – 18VDC, either Polarity (power supply not included)
• Dimensions: 6” (152mm) W x 4.3” (110mm ) D (w/ jacks) x 2.5” (63mm) H (w/ knobs and feet)
• Weight: 1.1 lb (0.5kg)

 

[deepestend]

Really does look great. Has pretty much everything you'd want in a pre pedal.

 

[timmo97]

It does indeed check a lot of boxes. I’ll need to educate myself on what’s being described as “contour “ before I consider dropping three C’s on one.

 

[odarellmc]

I have to get one, their 4OTF is excellent. Great to see a new DI without a cab sim!

 

[deepestend]

Yeah, looks great. I really like what's going on with their heads, but feel like it's usually redundant with my setup (preamp at the end of the chain) and plug straight into the effects return. I like to roll like that so that my sound is the same regardless of the amp. Loving my broughton for those purposes, but this is a strong contender.

 

[ThinCrappyTone2]

• Operates on any Power Supply Voltage: 9 – 18VDC, either Polarity (power supply not included)

I am curious if higher voltages affect headroom, or if accepting a range of voltages is just for convenience

 

[wagdog]

I’m not a fan of the Magellan pre-amps (I’ve got the 350) but, honestly, I wished they’d put a DI on the re/Q. That would have checked all my boxes.

 

[odarellmc]

ok so it doesnt take stereo input from the aux in only sums to mono. is this a deal breaker?

 

[Derek Williams]

Looks good! I’m a fan of having the contour selector on a foot switch. I used to have a Magellan 350 which was great, and I found contour A to be close enough to a Darkglass Harmonic Booster to make it redundant.

 

[Bassgeer]

This seems really nice! The contour options really add a lot of flavour!

 

[J.Wolf]

It does indeed check a lot of boxes. I’ll need to educate myself on what’s being described as “contour “ before I consider dropping three C’s on one.

Review forthcoming at Bass Musician Magazine, but "Contour A boosts lows and highs while simultaneously cutting mids, while Contour B Provides a variable pre-shaped curve with attenuated high mids and highs, a low mid bump, and a slight roll-off of the lowest bass frequencies"

 

[thumbslapper]

The contour knob on the M800 is really useful - when I first saw it i was pretty skeptical, but it really works well - nice feature to have 2 contours switchable (would be nice to be able to disable the contour altogether as well, but...)

and tho both 1/4" outputs are line level i'm guessing that can be attenuated by the Master volume if you want to send the pre to a IR pedal for example.

I'm sure its well made, the M800 and 4otf are built like tanks and sound great, I wouldn't expect anything less from this one. If I didn't have a Broughton Messenger I'd be interested...

 

[legalbass]

Genzler is The Stuff. I'm in for life (or, for as long as they're around!) The only way I could imagine their amps or this DI pedal being "more perfect" is a switch to bypass the EQ or perhaps center-detents for the knobs. I love the sound of my Magellan 800, dead-flat

 

[crucislancer]

I am curious if higher voltages affect headroom, or if accepting a range of voltages is just for convenience

Yes, higher voltage will give you more headroom. They have the same feature on the re/Q pedal, not sure about the other 2.

I've been waiting something like this from Genzler for a while. I rarely go amp-less, but I do use a DI for rehearsals. And, I love the fact that it has two contour knobs. I switch between A and B on my MG800, but set them differently, so that's a great feature. And, it has a headphone jack, so maybe I can finally get rid of my ancient Pandora headphone amp.

 

[J.Wolf]

They recommend 12v and up

 

[birminghambass]

Looks nice. Hate to pick nits but why would you put the input on the far left? Kinda makes it difficult to put it on a pedalboard.

 

[odarellmc]

Looks nice. Hate to pick nits but why would you put the input on the far left? Kinda makes it difficult to put it on a pedalboard.

Yeah didn't notice that..

 

[Nightman]

Whelp, there I go looking to buy this new pedal, for what I don’t know. Maybe because it has Genzler on it.

 

[Maxi Funkl]

I have a Genz-Benz Contour 500 2x10 combo, that I love and was really thinking about M800 upgrade.
If I get the amp will I need the preamp or vise versa. But considering my other considerations are either over priced (BP 1 Compact) or hard to come by (Broughton Messenger V2). I might have to go with this. Before the amp. PAS strikes again!

Nathan could make a wet noodle inside a wet paper bag sound outstanding!

 

[darwin-bass]

I’m not a fan of the Magellan pre-amps (I’ve got the 350) but, honestly, I wished they’d put a DI on the re/Q. That would have checked all my boxes.

I'm curious wat you don't like about their preamps and how is the re/Q different?