Acme Audio / MTP-66 Motown Tube Preamp

Acme Audio's microphone preamplifier. It replicates the tone of a Motown guitar amp. This all-tube preamplifier can handle both instrument and line-level signals. Drive and compression can also be freely adjusted.

In 1966, the then young and ambitious chief engineer of Motown was tasked by legendary producer Berry Gordy with designing a good way to record multiple guitars and basses simultaneously with minimal bleed, without separating each instrument. The result was the 5-channel Motown box. Later named the Motown guitar amp, this circuit was used by James Jamerson, Dennis Coffey, Bob Babbit, Robert White, Joe Messina, and others for their incredible performances from 1966 to 1972.

And now, you can get all the essential tones of this Motown guitar amp with the MTP-66 Motown Tube Preamp.

This single-channel preamp, the latest in Acme Audio's faithful recreation of Motown gear, is a strict reproduction based on the original 1966 circuit diagram. Furthermore, Acme Audio has added a microphone amp section based on Motown's original design, featuring a triad input transformer, in addition to being an all-tube preamp capable of handling both instrument and line-level signals.

Input and output controls, which were not available on the original, allow for flexible adjustment of drive and compression.

? Adjustable input and output controls

? 15 dB microphone input pad

? Rugged custom steel enclosure

? Custom VU meter

? 115/230 V 50/60 Hz operation

? 36 dB gain

? Classic sound

The sound of the MTP-66 can be heard in the vocals of Josh Kiszka of Greta Van Fleet.

The entire album was recorded using a Neumann 269, MTP-66, and Neve 32264.