In this Mäag Masters video, Grammy Award-winning producer, engineer, and mixer Joe Barresi explores the PreQ2-500 Single Channel Microphone Preamplifier with Air Band alongside guitarist Cesar Soto. Renowned for his work with diverse rock and metal bands such as Tool, Queens of the Stone Age, and Avenged Sevenfold, Barresi is celebrated for his skillful and creative approach to production. His contributions have significantly influenced the success of numerous albums in the rock and metal genres.
“To stay fresh is not to do the same thing as everybody else does. I always tell people you don’t need to have a ton of stuff to keep stuff different.
If you look at the inside of this (Preq2-500), you don’t even have to be a genius to see how beautiful it is. I mean, high-dollar caps, really nice switches. There’s not a lot of real estate in here, but there’s a lot of bang for the buck going on inside this box. I found that with all their stuff. I mean, it’s just really well-made.
The 500 does allow me to also take it elsewhere, which is great. On the last event, Sevenfold Record, the guitar player composed a piano piece and he was practicing in the studio we’re working at. It just didn’t feel right to him when he was practicing at home on his own piano. So why not pack up a little lunchbox, do a couple of preamps in there, kick the family out for two days, pop a few microphones down and you can record at home in your 500 rack and it’s super convenient.
I would say knowing how to inspire somebody, and a lot of times it comes out of gear like this. “Hey man, plug you into this. I’m doing this with this.” That might inspire somebody to play better. So the long story longer is just be different.” – Joe Barresi | Grammy Award-winning Producer, Engineer & Mixer
