Celtic Edana arrives!

[Gr8Scott]

Time for a first blush review.

First I should go into the packing ScottF did. It was excellently done. Things settled slightly, but the Cherry Edana arrived in one peice with no marks or scratches. He packed it well enough to survive a nuclear attack.

I haven't taken the amp apart to view the insides etc (though ScottF did send me pics of the guts). Can't comment on the wiring personally, but the pics sure seem neat and orderly with the heater wire wound around the B+ I think (I could be wrong) to reduce hum from the transformer. Everything in the pics looks neat as a pin. Both the backplate and the front plate are neat as can be and are appropriately labled. The color is exactly what I asked for and the engraving is perfection. The dome jewel green light is gorgeous. The oxblood chickenhead knobs and switches are all top notch components with nothing slack about them. Tubes were JJ 12ax7 and GT KT66. Rectifier is a GT of some sort, but I can't remember the designation and I've already thrown the box away. All are new and in excellent condition.

The box is flawless fingerjointed cherry with a gibson handle that has gold hardware on it. The backplate on the enclosure is also gold and matches the gold screws on the back of the amp. The section of the enclosure above the KT66 tubes has been taped with heat reflective tape in three layers to protect the wood enclosure. Everything fits together nicely indeed. Scott ordered the enclosure without a handle installed on it so it would be unblemished when he installed the gibson handle for me. He also ordered it 10" tall instead of 9" tall to accomodate the KT66 tubes height better.

I'll describe the sound in a following post to allow room for a proper description.

[casblah]

Re: Celtic Edana arrives!

Send some pics out to us man....

[Gr8Scott]

Re: Celtic Edana arrives!

I used two different guitars through this amp for the purposes of this review. One was a Hamer Daytona USA that has been refretted by TheOdie (he did a stunning job and I wouldn't dream of having anyone else do my work) that is otherwise bone stock. The other is a Korean Hamer Archtop with Dim Bluesbucker bridge and VPAF neck. I also ran a couple of dirt boxes through the amp to see how well it plays with pedals. I brought a Danelectro Fabtone dirtbox that had been modded for less distortion and smoother distortion, so it can pull double duty as an OD box too. I also brought a TS-5 Tubescreamer that's been modded back to TS808 specs, but nothing more. Both pedals were removed from the signal chain if they weren't being used.

General notes about the amp is that it's quiet as a church mouse with no hum of it's own. You don't know it's running until you plug something into it and even then it's so quiet you don't know it's running. This is with the volume at ear splitting levels. The amps general tone is rich and 3D while being chimey and bell like. Given different guitars and pickups being used. Pushed to distortion, the amp doesn't bark like a JCM-800, but more like a pushed tweed amp with just a bit more snap to it. It's natural distortion is warm and just has bucketloads of tone, but I wanted it more for the basic tone and how it plays well with pedals with the volume around 7 or less than for pushing it hard. I wanted liquid tone and that's what this amp delivers in spades. People mention the touch response and that is definitely true with this amp. It will bark if you pop the strings and it will gently sing to you if you brush them lightly. It allows expressiveness that few amps can. There's a sort of compression that happens after it reaches max volume that turns volume into distortion. It takes a bit to reach max volume though and the volume this thing puts out makes my 50 watt Sovtek quake in it's boots. It kills the Sovtek in terms of tone. I mean it absolutely destroys the Sovtek. Whatever guitar you run through this amp, it's always gonna sound different. The Edana doesn't make all guitars sound more or less the same like my classic-50 does. Each one sparkles and shines in it's own way. Different pickup selections sound profoundly different on this amp. Their differences you would notice on another amp are almost magnified in a sense. Bridge pickups get very bright and snappy. Its fendery cleans can cut like a diamond if that is what you are looking for.

The strat sounds phenominal through the Edana. With the volume down low it's fendery and chimey and that quality remains with it as you crank the volume. The amp just seems to sag and sing more when cranked. The controls are responsive and I could dial in or out the exact amount of bass/mid/treble I wanted. I've only begun to explore the possibilities. It will do SRV type sounds with ease (though I haven't got it to precisely nail Stevie's tone in the one day I've had to play it yet). This amp was truly made for blues I think and it does blues unlike anything I can describe. It's SO glassy and smooth with a strat on the #4 position. It totally wails when you do big bends on it. It's somewhat jazzy on the #5 and very nice there as well. Biting and spanky as can be on the #1. Hum isn't too bad on this guitar and I don't think the sheilding is all that perfect on the Hamer Daytona. Running the TS-5 is incredible with the strat on this amp. It's not a SRV copy, but it sure does sound bluesy. I need to experiment a bit more with it to see what kind of sonic possibilities are out there for a strat and TS-5 on this amp. It does a nice "Major Tom (I'm coming home) by Peter Schilling edgy strat tone on the bridge. So far it sounds phenominal.

[Gr8Scott]

Re: Celtic Edana arrives!

Now for the Korean Archtop with the Dim pickups. Just running plain with the guitar straight in the bluesbucker is bright and snappy like a single coil (it's sonically like a P90) without the hum. It will jangle hard enough to rattle your fillings out of your teeth. Gotta keep the treble in control on the bluesbucker or run a distortion pedal with it. This guitar seemed to love more mids dialed in on the tone stack and cranking the amp delivered a nice edgy distortion with plenty of touch sensitivity. The amp has a deep rumbling bass to it that just feels tight and good. This bass is way more present with the Archtop and it will destroy lesser quality speakers quickly when cranked past 4 on the volume knob. The neck pickup sounds super warm and fuzzy with this amp. It's jazzy yet not inarticulate when clean or moderately pushed. When pushed the distortion is SO thick on the neck. Slightly muddy sounding and very rounded, but the distortion is SO tubey and warm that it just melts in your ears "like buttah". The muddy quality is easily removed while keeping most of the warmth by changing to the middle pickup mode. Add the fabtone to the mix and you've got a huge sound. It gives the amp a cranked/modded JCM-800 sound no problem. Positions #3 and #2 sound very thick and even warmer (if that's possible) with the danelectro running. I've heard soldano's that sound like this, but that's about it. The amp gets huge with this pedal running through it cranked. The bridge sounds like a P90 running through a cranked marshall with the pedal, but the attitude is a bit sharper and more rude than I expected.

[Gr8Scott]

Re: Celtic Edana arrives!

Pics will come tomorrow if I have time. Gotta paint the Mustang then.

Final thoughts. - I LOVE this amp. I'll never sell it or part with it. Everything else will either be sold or modified because I don't want or need it anymore. I've heard amps that almost sound as good, but none that are better. It sounds incredibly boutique and has enough flexibility and sweet tonal bliss to keep me happy for the rest of my life. That doesn't mean I won't be owning other amps, (I will need something quieter to practice on that still sounds good) but I will devote most of my energy to getting a good cabinet for this amp and getting the right pedals for it. There's no sense keeping a bunch of nags around when I've got a thoroughbred in the stable with no shoes on.

[Armotron]

Re: Celtic Edana arrives!

Sounds like your using the #1 Bright Channel? On the normal for me it seems a bit more british... more mids and better for that marshall overdrive... while the bright channel is always more snappy and round and bluesy. Best of both worlds really if you like both Fender cleans and Marshall od.

[Gearjoneser]

Re: Celtic Edana arrives!

Your amp is so beautiful, it's almost as fun to look at as it is to play it.
That's definitely the type of amp to use as a basis for OD pedals, since it's rich and fat. I'd recommend buying a matching 2-12 or 4-12, so it's a complete set. I think it'd look killer with a cherry colored 2-12 with an oxblood grillcloth that matches the knobs, and white piping that matches the faceplate. Congrats...I'd love to have that exact amp, but I'm starting to think I need another amp like a hole in the head.

[Scott_F]

Re: Celtic Edana arrives!

Wow. I'm glad you like it. Aren't honeymoons great?

When you get a chance, PM me and let me know how the amp "shifted" inside. I didn't think there was any room at all for anthing to shift. I want to improve the packing if I need to.

On the rectifier, it's a JJ 5AR4.

On the wires stuff, the heater wires don't wrap the B+, what you are seeing are the high voltage wires running to the can caps that I twist and get out of the way of anything signal related.

Mahalo!

[BigDreamer]

Re: Celtic Edana arrives!

please get us some clips if you can!

[Stratman]

Re: Celtic Edana arrives!

please get us some clips if you can!

Ya, I got to get some out also... Real soon now...

Glad to see that that heat tape works and that the amp came through without shipping damage, they really are works of amp magic.

Been gigging in Houston with it for about two months and everyone loves it.

[Gr8Scott]

Re: Celtic Edana arrives!

It didn't so much shift as it settled in. Any stuffing will compress and not rebound after time and a few repeated compressions. Shift wasn't really the right word to use. "Packing in" is a more accurate term. I don't think it's possible to pack it any better than you did. I could have picked the box up and hurled it across the room into a concrete filled cinderblock wall and it would have been fine.

I primarily used the bright channel. I'll shift it over to the dark channel and see how things go with the bridge pups. It's a first day review. I spent a LONG time playing around with it to just call it one day. Honeymoon isn't even close to over. My ears are ringing like hell though. Gotta get some hearos.

I forgot to mention the ***** switch. Nice feature. It adds a little more aggression to the tone stack. A bump to the mids too. Very nice feature. Love it!!!!

[Gr8Scott]

Re: Celtic Edana arrives!

I won't be making clips for some time. I'm not used to anything but DI recording. Mics are a whole new ballgame for me.

[Scott_F]

Re: Celtic Edana arrives!

Be sure to jumper the channels when you get a chance.

[Gr8Scott]

Re: Celtic Edana arrives!

I jumpered a little bit and used the Y cable too. Good stuff right there.

[PUCKBOY99]

Re: Celtic Edana arrives!

Be sure to jumper the channels when you get a chance.

EXACTLY what I was gonna say....

In SWEET mode, it is just that...SWEET....but eventually, I jumpered the channels in *****Y mode & run it as my dirty channel with the Fuchs doing the cleans.

Very very happy for ya'....GREAT AMP!!!

Oh, and I concur: humbuckers sound good, but I love single coils thru this amp!!!!

Granted, I'm primarily a single coil guy, but they just sound so fat & full with the Edana

As for your 1st pedal acquisition, I highly recommend the SD SFX-03