to preamp or not to preamp, that is the question

[liddokun]

How many of you guys have an active preamp on your guitar? By preamp, it could be some aftermarket pre, DIY jfet pre, etc.
What is your opinion on how a guitar pre sounds in general, as oppose to a preless guitar?
I'm thinking of throwing a simple j201 preamp on board my guitar, I kind of want to know what benefits I'll get, other than better gain.

[m-theory]

Try it and see what YOU think.  It works for Clapton. 

[oldrocker]

I put the Jack O. simple buffer in my flying V.  It seems that the tone control is more responsive than with a passive setup.  That's IMHO.

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc93/ftrock/fvbuf3.jpg
http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc93/ftrock/fvbuf4.jpg

[slideman82]

great idea! a Jfet buffer... why not a Ge PNP buffer? Battery will last forever!

[d95err]

great idea! a Jfet buffer... why not a Ge PNP buffer? Battery will last forever!

Germanium devices are generally noisy, so that's definately not something you'd want first in your signal path all the time.

[liddokun]

I put the Jack O. simple buffer in my flying V.  It seems that the tone control is more responsive than with a passive setup.  That's IMHO.

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc93/ftrock/fvbuf3.jpg
http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc93/ftrock/fvbuf4.jpg

I generally never even use my tone controls on my guitar, only when using the neck pickup. I don't even have a tone control hooked up for my bridge pickup.

[petemoore]

  I never had a detectable problem with 10' cables, like they say, longer runs [like over 20'] draw power.
  I like to compare anything else long or in bypass mode to : exactly 1 sturdy 3'' cable between guitar and amp.