Benson Amps Chimera Preamp Pedal vs Spaceman Redstone
The Benson Amps Chimera Preamp Pedal and the Spaceman Redstone are both pedals sharing transparent. The Benson Amps Chimera Preamp Pedal leans bright and dynamic. The Spaceman Redstone leans warm and aggressive.
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Blended from circuit-archetype lineage, dynamic feel, tone-signal overlap and tone-vector distance — the tone vector itself is derived from editorial description text, not a measured acoustic signal, so this reflects how similarly the catalog copy describes the two, not a lab measurement. Shown only within a gear class, and only where there's enough evidence to be meaningful.33% — somewhat different
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Genres both listings are associated with.- alternative
- blues
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Derived from overlapping tonal signals across both listings.- transparent
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Citation/mention fame — how often this gear is cited across artist rigs and gear discussion.$249via Reverb
The Benson Amps Chimera Preamp Pedal is a FET-based preamp pedal based on the Benson Chimera 30-watt guitar amplifier circuit, substituting FET transistors for the original vacuum tubes. Controls include Gain, Volume, Treble, and Bass. The Treble and Bass controls actively shape the type of gain generated rather than passively filtering the output. 9V DC or battery, 50mA. Priced at $249 from Benson Amps, Portland, Oregon. Described by multiple reviewers as the most amp-like gain pedal, hypersensitive to touch and pick attack through both tube amplifiers and amp modeling systems. Stacks well with other drives, fuzzes, and compressors.
The Spaceman Redstone is a flexible preamp pedal built around a vintage NOS germanium transistor and a discrete op-amp gain cell capable of up to 40dB of gain, paired with a 3-band tone stack for shaping the boosted signal. It offers high headroom for clean-to-driven preamp duties, drawing 9mA at bypass and up to 32mA when engaged, accepting 9-12VDC power. Distinct from Spaceman's fuzz-focused pedals, the Redstone is positioned as a tone-shaping utility preamp rather than a dedicated distortion or fuzz effect.
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Genres this gear is documented as being used in.- indie rock
- classic rock
- bright
- dynamic
- fuzzy
- saturated
- warm
- aggressive