MOOER Micro PreAMP 001 Gas Station

The MOOER Micro PreAMP 001 Gas Station is a mini preamp pedal that packs the preamp section of a tube amplifier into a small stompbox enclosure. MOOER positions it as an equalizer, booster and preamp in one unit, built around two channels of a German high-gain amplifier from the early 2000s¹.

according to RockBoard's PedalPedia, the Gas Station "re-creates 2 channels from a German amplifier that really changed the game in the early 2000's for heavy tone chasers seeking extreme saturation yet beautifully balanced harmonics and a tightly focused bass response"¹. The maker does not name the amp itself, only its nationality and era, which points the description at the wave of German-built metal amps of that period.

Two channels from an early-2000s German amp

The Gas Station is the first model in MOOER's Micro PreAMP series, a line of mini pedals that model the preamp sections of well-known tube amplifiers. RockBoard's PedalPedia describes the series as "sonically accurate digital recreations of the preamp sections of popular tube amplifiers," captured by directly analyzing real tube amps². Each pedal in the range carries dual channels, an integrated speaker cabinet simulation and dual operating modes¹.

For a player, that means the Gas Station can sit at the end of a pedalboard and feed a power amp, a PA or a recording interface, with the cab simulation handling the speaker-voicing step. Guitar Interactive Magazine's Jonathan Graham described the series as micro preamp pedals modeling tube amps, noting that "MOOER has been collecting samples from all kinds of different tube amps"³.

The series features, as MOOER lists them for the Gas Station:

• Dual channels¹
• Dual operating modes¹
• Integrated speaker cabinet simulation¹
• Equalizer, booster and preamp functions in one unit¹

The two channels give independent gain, volume and EQ parameters on models across the series, as Guitar Interactive reported of the range³, letting a player set up a rhythm sound and a lead sound and switch between them.

How it works and how it is powered

The Micro PreAMP series works by modeling the preamp stage of a specific amplifier rather than offering a generic voicing. RockBoard's PedalPedia says the recreations were made by directly analyzing real tube amplifiers². The Gas Station's target is a German amp from the early 2000s, a period MOOER characterizes as producing extreme saturation with balanced harmonics and a tight, focused low end¹.

Analog or digital?

MOOER's own product page gives both descriptions. The series text calls the Micro Preamps "sonically accurate digital recreations of the preamp sections of popular tube amplifiers"¹, while the specification table on the same page lists the circuit type as analog¹. The maker's pages for other digital models in the range, such as the Micro PreAmp 013 Match Box, carry the same pairing of descriptions⁴. Players comparing circuits should note that MOOER presents the series as digital modeling with an analog-listed circuit type, and the maker does not resolve the two terms further.

Where it sits in the Micro PreAMP range

The Gas Station is the 001, the first of the numbered Micro PreAMP models. Later entries cover other amp territories, and the press coverage of the range shows how far it spread:

The one model in the range the maker's own figures cover in detail here is the 001 Gas Station. MOOER's product page lists its current draw as 300mA¹, a figure worth noting for anyone planning a pedalboard power supply, since it is higher than many compact preamp pedals. The same page gives the pedal's width as 000.00 mm¹.

Press coverage of the later models noted an optional built-in cab sim across the range⁵⁶.

A player drawn to the Gas Station's German high-gain brief might also look at the Micro PreAMP 016 Phoenix, which targets a similar family of amps in a later numbered model⁷, or the Micro PreAMP 010 Two Stones for a different amp model in the same series².

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