I just saw this deal in an email from Musician's Friend. (No association.)
Since this device has been discussed quite a bit on Harp-L, I thought some
of you might be interested in it. They are selling the ART Tube Pre-Amp for
only thirty bucks.
I use what must be an ancient one, as I got it before the turn of the
century.
I've been using a Rode mic with it to record harp on a project where all
other tracks were recorded in a master studio with grown-up mics, mic-pre's
and a/d converters. I can hear the difference but it's a nice one - the
harp sounds just a little dirty, but still sweet.
Not that I wouldn't prefer to work on the best equipment, but I wouldn't
use the ART if the result were unacceptible.
Here's the cool thing. If I don't have a budget to use a big-boy studio
for my guitar, I of course record here at home. In this case I go direct
with the guitar - no mics, and the ART makes a terrific guitar direct
box. Way, way better than the dedicated guitar direct box I was using.