Purple Nightmare Preamp (demo/review)

[CoolGuitarGear]

Now and again, gear comes along that blows me away, and I am sure others have had that experience. The Purple Nightmare Preamp (based on Driftwood Amp’s flagship Purple Nightmare head) follows suit with incredible sound and indispensable features. Do understand that although marketed as a ‘preamp,’ which it is, it also is a 2W (Mosfet power) amp with two 12AX7 tubes that can drive cabs from 4-16 Ohm. This amp/preamp has an internal charge pump that converts a 12V 1.5A input to 250v DC plate voltage to replicate a full amp head response and sound.



Is it loud enough (though a 4x12) not to be drowned out by a heavy hitting drummer? Well, this is an amp made for hard rock to high-gain (although light rock is possible) and it may not cut mustard beyond a practice and recording amp, but there are easy solutions, which Driftwood Amps addresses. You can go direct to another amp’s power section (FX Return), and use the Purple Nightmare as a preamp, integrate the PN with another amp via the 4-cable method, thus providing another amp solution, go direct to the front end of a clean amp, or go to a separate power amp and then to a cab.

The demo video goes through the different features, along with sound samples, but I will address those here and in brief. There is the amp section, but also a built-in Tube Screamer style overdrive section. Both can work independently (so that when the amp section is off, the TS OD still is available in the chain to boost another amp), or they can work together (when you bypass the amp, the TS OD turns off as well). The tone and aggression can be set to low-gain or high-gain, although note that ‘low’ gain is on the moderate to hard rock side of things, unless you keep the Gain down and your guitar’s volume knob backed off. (In that regard, my Ibanez Quantum has very clean pickups and I can get dirty clean sounds from this amp; and so, it depends how hot your pickups are.)

The amp section’s main controls are basic, including Volume, Gain, Bass, Mid & Treble, and every bit of the EQ section is usable and provides a good range of tones – no flabby bass or shrill treble. And to further carve your tone, there is Rumble (tight low end mids) and Sharp (which brings out the highs and acts like a Presence knob). Driftwood also added its famous ‘Sizzle’ switch (off/lo/hi), which does just that. This is not a high-end treble response, but ‘bacon frying on a grill’ quality, which has a slight fuzz characteristic, but not exactly. It does not sound like a fuzz, and so… sizzle likely is the best term, or perhaps a smooth grainy growl.

The TS section does as much for the tone, and aggression, as does all the other controls. There is no mid-hump with this TS, however, and it coordinates and sounds so great with the amp section – a perfect pairing. Overall, there is so much gain and bite that an external OD is unwarranted. The TS has Volume, Tone, and Gain controls. With its Gain up high (and the amp’s low), it sounds very different than with the TS Gain low and the amp’s Gain high, thus producing different tonal qualities in that respect, besides altering compression.

And so, we have an amp that also doubles as a preamp, which has a built-in ‘Burn’ channel via the TS OD. There are two clipping stages, the first of which has more of a hard rock sound, whereas the second stage enters metal territory. Possible tones range considerably, although there may be a ‘Purple Nightmare’ sound quality; but I find this amp far more flexible and ranging than something like a Diezel amp, which I do like. But the PN can thrive in different realms, from the dark, thick, and woolly to a great mid-scoop 80s, to modern punchy metal as you mix in more mids. The quality of the gain is growly, but the ‘grain’ is not overly robust and rumbly, not to be confused with the Rumble knob, which produces tighter low-mids. What further impresses me about the Purple Nightmare is that it has its own unique characteristics… it does not sound like you are playing a Diezel, a 5150, an ENGL, etc., thus providing a distinct alternative to those wanting a sound that is less mainstream, yet very pleasing to the ears. Of course, your cab choice and quality is as important, but I did use a V30 4x12 cab IR in my demo and it does come across slightly different, almost like combining a V30 with a Rectifier cab.

The Purple Nightmare Preamp has so many useful features, yet it is not confusing to use. Quickly, you get a sense of what switch to flip or knob to turn as you dial into killer tones, whether straight-on rock up through to industrial metal mayhem. The Driftwood window is a nice feature, glowing purple and making for a visible target on a dark stage. All the pots feel good to the touch, and it has good quality construction with an aluminum chassis, measuring 23cm x 15cm x 4.5 cm (approx. 9 x 6 x 2 inches) and weighing only 974g or 2.1 pounds. If you are into hard rock or metal, the Purple Nightmare Preamp needs to be a serious consideration. I have other high-gain preamps and amps (e.g., Kraken, Diezel Herbert, etc.), which are slightly less expensive, but definitely not as impressive as the Purple Nightmare.