The Millionaire is inspired by the nasty, brutal and loud Solid State Amps of yesteryear, taking particular inspiration from an old favourite - The Peavey Musician 400 (and other similar amps of the era) while utilising a streamlined set of controls and expanded functionality to help you get those unique drive tones quickly and easily.
The Millionaire is an extremely flexible drive device, with two switchable channels, a 3-band EQ and DI output - all helping to deliver interesting solid-state distortion to anything you throw at it! The left 'SAT' footswitch switches between low and high gain channels. The low gain channel (green) has a tendency to be brighter, with a sharper attack, helping cut through dense mixes and leaning into the harsh distortion these old solid-state amps are known for. The high gain channel (red) yields more distortion and a sludgier tonality, perfect for heavier styles of music, or a 'lead' boost. The gain control on both channels has a VERY broad range and can take you from virtually clean on the green channel to a brutal distortion on the red channel.
The EQ section is lifted from Peavey amps from the era, with a low shelf set at 100Hz (‘Bass’) and a high shelf at 3.5Khz (‘Treble’), as well as a middle ‘bell’ set at about 500Hz, capable of both boost and cut, giving a significant amount of control over the midrange. The mid band’s Q gets sharper at the high and low extremes of the control, meaning extreme boost and cut settings can have a very “sharp” or “aggressive” sound. The combination of these controls gives the user a great amount of control over the tone, and the aggressive nature of the extremes of these controls can create some very interesting sounds, particularly scooped sounds, as well as biting, bright tones that these amps have become famous for.
The Millionaire includes an Active DI output. The DI is useful for both live and in-studio situations, where you can use the Millionaire as your ‘amp’/preamp and run the DI output to a mixer or recording system. This is particularly useful on bass, where the Millionaire can offer an all-in-one distortion + amp + EQ + DI solution for streamlining your rig. The DI output is always active, even when the Millionaire is in bypass, and runs in parallel to the ¼” output, meaning both outputs can be run at the same time - a good solution for recording a DI signal before your amp without the need for a dedicated DI box. As the Millionaire is designed as a full recreation of the preamp section of an amplifier, it can also be used directly into a power amp or effects loop return.
The Millionaire can only be run on +9VDC Centre Negative power, do not power it using anything else! The Millionaire uses an internal Charge Pump to boost the input voltage to the same voltage levels as used in the Peavey ‘Musician’.
Controls:
Gain – Controls the amount of preamp gain. Turn it down for clean tones, and turn it up for more distortion.
Master – Master output volume of the Millionaire.
Low – Low shelf EQ at 100Hz. Turn it above noon to boost and below noon to cut.
Mid – Middle Bell EQ at 500Hz. Turn it above noon to boost and below noon to cut. The Q gets sharper at the extremes of the control.
High – High Shelf at 3.5Khz. Turn it above noon to boost and below noon to cut.
Sat Footswitch – Switch between low gain (green LED) and high gain (red LED) channels. Channel selection is saved and displayed in bypass.
Engage – Engage/Bypass the Millionaire.
Input/Output – ¼” unbalanced audio. The Millionaire will accept instrument and line-level signals.
DI output – Active DI Output. Signal still passes through the DI output when the Millionaire is in bypass. DO NOT supply the DI output with Phantom power!
Power:
The Millionaire takes standard (boss style) 9VDC centre negative power, with a 2.1mm barrel. Do not run it on anything else!
All Dirty Sock Effects have a lifetime warranty against manufacturing defects and normal wear and tear. If it breaks, I will fix it :)
