What's this? An audio project using a valve, actually described in SILICON CHIP? After all those scathing things our esteemed Editor and Publisher has said in the past about olde-worlde "bottles"? Yes, Leo finally gave in and approved the development of a valve preamp for guitars and other instruments, using the trusty 12AX7 dual hi-gain triode. We had to brush up on valve design to do it but the performance has turned out to be quite impressive, better in fact, than was commonly achieved when valves ruled the electronics world.

Now you can build one up, so you can hear for yourself just how good "valve sound" compares with that from modern solid state gear.