Benson Amps Benson Preamp

The Benson Preamp is a preamp pedal from Benson Amps, retailing at $249¹. It gives the player four controls to work with: Volume, Drive, Bass and Treble¹. It is acclaimed for its juicy amp-like tones, which span from clean boost to spitty fuzz, and is described as not quite as sag-y².

The result is what Guitar.com described at launch as "amp-like" boost, overdrive, fuzz, EQ and buffer behavior in one box¹, and what Guitar World later called "juicy amp-like tones that span from clean boost to spitty fuzz"². Delicious Audio has described it as an overdrive/distortion that "slowly conquered the ears of a growing number of guitarists"³.

A JFET preamp drawn from a tube amp

The Preamp is acclaimed for its juicy amp-like tones, which span from clean boost to spitty fuzz, and it is described as not quite as sag-y². Chris Benson told That Pedal Show that he never expected the pedal to take off: "I never expected the pedals to take off I was like oh we'll make 200 of these right"⁴.

For a player, that lineage is the point of the pedal. Rather than a conventional overdrive circuit, it is an amp preamp translated into solid-state parts, which is why press coverage describes its range in amp terms, from clean boost through overdrive to fuzz¹². Guitar World noted it is "not quite as sag-y" as the tube amp it comes from, while still praising its amp-like tones².

The control set is deliberately amp-like too. Guitar.com noted at launch that there are only four controls to play with¹:

History and versions

Benson Amps sells the Preamp at a list price of $249¹. Chris Benson told That Pedal Show that he never expected the pedal to take off: "I never expected the pedals to take off I was like oh we'll make 200 of these right"⁴.

The pedal's circuit has since traveled beyond the original gray box:

• Germanium Preamp: a sibling pedal from Benson Amps, with a Bass control that works as a high pass filter and a Treble control that works as a low pass filter⁵.

The price has held steady: Guitar World still listed the Benson Preamp at $249 in 2026, alongside £259 and €295².

The Germanium Preamp sibling

Benson's Germanium Preamp is based on the Preamp pedal with one important tweak, in the maker's words: "the replacement of the first FET transistor with a germanium gain stage - stolen from our servo-biased Germanium Boost" pedal⁵. Benson describes it as "an alternate universe take on our flagship pedal that marries the incomparable feel of the germanium with the careful equalization and tone controls of the preamp pedal"⁵. Its Bass control is a high pass filter and its Treble a low pass filter⁵.

Delicious Audio wrote that the Germanium version, built on experience Chris Benson gathered while working on the Germanium Boost, is "slightly less gain-heavy, but that delivers a more refined and balanced tone compared to its FET predecessor"³. Pedal of the Day noted it "builds on the first pedal that Benson ever released"⁶.

What reviewers said

On That Pedal Show, Dan found the pedal "lovely" and "honest" sounding⁴. Of the Germanium Preamp, the same show found "the edges aren't as sharp and because of that it it feels like butter to play"⁴.

Guitar World, writing in 2026, called the pedal "acclaimed for its juicy amp-like tones that span from clean boost to spitty fuzz"². Pedal of the Day, reviewing the Germanium Preamp in April 2024, wrote that "each new pedal that is released by the Benson Amps crew seems to top the previous one, continually adding to their impressive and wide-ranging sonic lineup"⁶.

On That Pedal Show, Dan found the Preamp's overall sound lovely and honest: "that's uh lovely honest is the word that comes to to mind"⁴. Of the related Germanium Preamp, the same show found the attack edges are not as sharp and it feels like butter to play⁴.

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