T
TheArchitect
Guest
I spent the weekend looking at amps hoping to find something that would give the classic Marshall tones I love plus killer clean and and something a touch more modern for instrumental lead melody playing. These are the findings:
1) Triple X
I played this amp through a Marshall Greenback loaded cab and a Vintage 30 loaded cab. While the amp could be tailored to work respectably with both it definitely took to the V30's much better. I tried the 2x12 combo as well and I think this amp truly needs and is voiced for the PV speakers.
The clean channel was much better than I would have expected. On the whole it was a more modern clean sould but the dampening control made a big difference. With "loose" setting the amp took on a vintage character which suited my style best but with the tighter setting took on a tighter more controlled quality that woulod be suitable for more modern rock sounds. This was true for the crunch and lead lead channels. Speaking of those channels, they both had WAY more gain than I think anyone should ever need. I set the gain at 9 o'clock and had all the sustain and gain I could ever use. More gain just created a lot more noise and made the tone get very brittle and unpleasant.
Overall, this is a nice modern tone flavored amp that isn't a good fit for me but would suit a player looking for modern metal tones. I do leave the door open to revisit this amp with the speakers it was designed for but I think my answer lies elswhere. The Satriani amp on paper sounds like it maybe more inline but that remains to be heard.
2)Mesa RectoVerb 1x12 combo w/ 6L6 tubes
This amp was interesting as it was the first time I have bothered to seriously put a Mesa through its paces. I found the clean channel to be fairly versatile. Depending on which preamp option was used you could get a very clean, balanced tone that was very nice, on the rawer since you could get a very throaty cranked fender vibe from it but it was a better more bottom end oriented than vintage fender tones.
The gain channels was interesting as well. The modern gain was dead nuts Dream Theater if you so chose. Not necessarily a bad thing but that isn't a primary tone for me. The Raw setting on this channel was much more to my liking. With some EQing I could get a respectable brown sound, something akin to 80's era Scorpion/Dokken/ Ratt. Overall I thought this was a very big sounding and versatile amp but I couldn't quite get the smoothness I would like to see out of the gain channel. This may be a result of the 6L6 power tubes which tend to have a bit more bight than the EL34 power tubes that can also be used. I will likely revisit this amp to try the EL34 tubes and perhaps a head version
3) Fender Blues Jr.
With the master cranked and the preamp set to taste you get something comparable to vintage fender bark. A very nice tone but with no option for something higher gain and a bit fuller on the lowend this isn't what I need. I have this tone covered.
4) VHT ST 50 watt.
I tried both the head version through V30's and a 2x12 combo version. This amp was really very impressive. The gain channel provided a very smooth but not over distorted rhythm voice and with the additional gain stage added by the boost function it jumped right up into a very nice range for solo playing both in terms of gain and volume boost. The assignable EQ was excellent for dialing in a variety of tones. The clean channel on this amp was also very good. Perhaps not as distictive as classic fender clean but it had its own thing going on that was very cool.
Well those are the amps I have test drove so far. Others on the list include a Satriani model, an Ecstacy and a Wizard.
1) Triple X
I played this amp through a Marshall Greenback loaded cab and a Vintage 30 loaded cab. While the amp could be tailored to work respectably with both it definitely took to the V30's much better. I tried the 2x12 combo as well and I think this amp truly needs and is voiced for the PV speakers.
The clean channel was much better than I would have expected. On the whole it was a more modern clean sould but the dampening control made a big difference. With "loose" setting the amp took on a vintage character which suited my style best but with the tighter setting took on a tighter more controlled quality that woulod be suitable for more modern rock sounds. This was true for the crunch and lead lead channels. Speaking of those channels, they both had WAY more gain than I think anyone should ever need. I set the gain at 9 o'clock and had all the sustain and gain I could ever use. More gain just created a lot more noise and made the tone get very brittle and unpleasant.
Overall, this is a nice modern tone flavored amp that isn't a good fit for me but would suit a player looking for modern metal tones. I do leave the door open to revisit this amp with the speakers it was designed for but I think my answer lies elswhere. The Satriani amp on paper sounds like it maybe more inline but that remains to be heard.
2)Mesa RectoVerb 1x12 combo w/ 6L6 tubes
This amp was interesting as it was the first time I have bothered to seriously put a Mesa through its paces. I found the clean channel to be fairly versatile. Depending on which preamp option was used you could get a very clean, balanced tone that was very nice, on the rawer since you could get a very throaty cranked fender vibe from it but it was a better more bottom end oriented than vintage fender tones.
The gain channels was interesting as well. The modern gain was dead nuts Dream Theater if you so chose. Not necessarily a bad thing but that isn't a primary tone for me. The Raw setting on this channel was much more to my liking. With some EQing I could get a respectable brown sound, something akin to 80's era Scorpion/Dokken/ Ratt. Overall I thought this was a very big sounding and versatile amp but I couldn't quite get the smoothness I would like to see out of the gain channel. This may be a result of the 6L6 power tubes which tend to have a bit more bight than the EL34 power tubes that can also be used. I will likely revisit this amp to try the EL34 tubes and perhaps a head version
3) Fender Blues Jr.
With the master cranked and the preamp set to taste you get something comparable to vintage fender bark. A very nice tone but with no option for something higher gain and a bit fuller on the lowend this isn't what I need. I have this tone covered.
4) VHT ST 50 watt.
I tried both the head version through V30's and a 2x12 combo version. This amp was really very impressive. The gain channel provided a very smooth but not over distorted rhythm voice and with the additional gain stage added by the boost function it jumped right up into a very nice range for solo playing both in terms of gain and volume boost. The assignable EQ was excellent for dialing in a variety of tones. The clean channel on this amp was also very good. Perhaps not as distictive as classic fender clean but it had its own thing going on that was very cool.
Well those are the amps I have test drove so far. Others on the list include a Satriani model, an Ecstacy and a Wizard.
I love amp shoppin