Horizon Devices Apex Preamp vs Mad Professor Stone Grey Distortion
The Horizon Devices Apex Preamp and the Mad Professor Stone Grey Distortion are both pedals sharing tight, high gain, transparent. The Mad Professor Stone Grey Distortion leans bright. Current prices: $139 vs $119.99.
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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.50% — moderately similar
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Genres both listings are associated with.- Metal
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Derived from overlapping tonal signals across both listings.- tight
- high gain
- transparent
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Citation/mention fame — how often this gear is cited across artist rigs and gear discussion.$139via Reverb
$119.99via Reverb
The Horizon Devices Apex Preamp is a Misha Mansoor-designed high-gain preamp/distortion (built by MXR) that works in front of amps, into power amps, or direct to a board or interface. It delivers tight, aggressive, modern metal gain with a flexible EQ and an Attack control to tighten low end for down-tuned, djent-style playing. It suits progressive and modern metal players wanting amp-like high gain from a pedal.
The Mad Professor Stone Grey Distortion is a high-gain distortion pedal with Volume, Distortion, and Tone controls, the Tone acting as a boost/cut shelving EQ similar to a bright switch. It is built to retain note clarity and a tight low end even at extreme gain, staying usable on extended-range guitars such as seven, eight, and nine strings without turning to mud. Lower Distortion settings behave more like an overdrive, while higher settings deliver a fierce, high-gain attack, making it a distortion pedal that can also function as an overdrive rather than only excelling at one end of the gain range. It is designed to add drive on top of an amp's own voicing rather than overriding it.
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Genres this gear is documented as being used in.- Djent
- Hard Rock
- bright