Blind Buy....

[Phantasmagoria]

I took a chance with a recent online purchase..

As things stand it's the least I've payed for a new tube amp since I bought my 15W Goldea Rex new for $150 from China many many moons ago. This one cost me $240 (they were $1000 + new back in the day) but is a 50 Watt head. It was listed as NOS/NiB/New and is probably from 2012-13. For that price it might be a return/B stock or something (?) ..no idea But in this day and age you'd be hard pressed to find a 50 watt tube head of any sort for that price anywhere ..even used. So I thought..why not?

It's also a pretty unique/quirky design and that's always been a draw for me. Technically it may be a 'hybrid' of some sort. I still don't fully understand the topology. But has a tube output stage (EL34's) and a couple of 12AX7's in the pre...

From the ^^ demo's I think the amp actually sounds fantastic & the unique quirky part is that it uses relay's and stuff to actually physically reconfigure the output stage/Switch voicings (US Clean/Marshall Crunch/ UK chimey clean [Vox AC 30] & Mesa High gain + various combinations of those amps - Class A-A/B, Triode/Pentode) using regular toggle switches. For $240 (if it still works ) I think this should be a pretty sweet/fun/interesting amp to mess around w/..even using it as a standalone amp, which is what I plan to do. Should be here in a week or so & then we'll see. For the record I think the hi-gain lead tones sound fantastic and that itself more than justifies the cost for me :bigthumb:

But honestly I thought every one of those modes sounded downright excellent.

Anyone have any experience w/ these? I do remember seeing them back in the day...but never paid much attention mostly cuz it was too pricey to be of any interest back the
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[Ascension]

Have a pastor buddy who runs one of those. Kim is a Blues player and gets some killer tones with his. Those amps are no slouch, congrats, as don't see many of this come up for sale.

 

[Ascension]

Another live clip of Kim with one of those amps. A real hidden gem they are!

 

[Phantasmagoria]

Nice! Sweet tones & the dude can play :bigthumb:

Picked this one up from an online store that I've bought a ton of stuff from in the past..amps/cabs and guitars both. They had it listed in their amp section for about $750 for years, then a couple of years ago it had dropped to $600 but when I was idly browsing their site the other day I saw that they were blowing this out at $240 so after a bit of quick online research I jumped on it. The only one I've come across for sale on reverb was still $900 (Plus about $250 for shipping) so they can't be too badly regarded. Plus , as I said I thought the tones were all pretty awesome in the demo's. Worst comes to worst (if it's not working ) I can always return it...

Though it was listed as "new" on their website not "B Stock" or "Used", "Open box" etc...so it should be good.

The truth is most of the young guys here prefer modelers or things like Katana's to actual tube heads/cabs....which work's out nicely for me

 

[donaldr]

This has a Bogner power section and a modelling front end. Put a Friedman IR-X preamp in the return of the effects loop and you will have a very nice amp
I think you can change the topology using midi.

 

[Ascension]

This has a Bogner power section and a modelling front end. Put a Friedman IR-X preamp in the return of the effects loop and you will have a very nice amp
I think you can change the topology using midi.

Actually, it is a real tube amp, not a modeler. It does have some midi capability, but it is as real a tube amp as a new Mesa is. Have played several, they are no joke.

 

[jeremy]

"bogner designed but built to a price point" power section, which is just fine, but its not like they used the power section from an ecstasy. there was a bogner alchemist (i think thats the name?) that was a tube amp but with line 6 digital effects built in. i liked those when they came out, also not terribly expensive. $240 sounds like a great deal for what you got

 

[Phantasmagoria]

Well I was'nt even looking to buy a new amp. (I actually have one on order from the same store due in next month ..so I was'nt particularly looking).

It's just that I thought $240 was a pretty sweet/ridiculous price for a 50W tube amp (even if it does have some kinda hybrid/modeling elements to it. I can't really tell if that the case & I don't really care either cuz I've heard what it sounds like :bigthumb: In many of the customer reviews I read, guys said they thought the tones from the Standalone amp were better than the tones w/ the POD HD 500 or w/e hooked up to it..

..so after checking out how awesome it sounded in a buch of demo's ..I could'nt pass it up. It cost less than a decent pedal. I like the Anderton's demo's 'cause they've always given me a good idea of what stuff sounds like in the room (ie no backing tracks, FX, massive post poduction etc..) It's just the guys and their guitar's plugged into the mic'd amp checking out tones...and Premier guitar's pretty much the same thing..

Imo, if there are no hitches, this will be a pretty killer sounding amp ...and not just for $240

 

[Phantasmagoria]

This has a Bogner power section and a modelling front end. Put a Friedman IR-X preamp in the return of the effects loop and you will have a very nice amp
I think you can change the topology using midi.

From what I hear in those demo's/user opinions/reviews I could safely give the IR-X a miss and it's already a very nice amp :bigthumb:

 

[Phantasmagoria]

Actually, it is a real tube amp, not a modeler. It does have some midi capability, but it is as real a tube amp as a new Mesa is. Have played several, they are no joke.

Well it does have a couple of preamp tubes in it .....and what's obviously an EL34 output section. As far as I know that's a tube amp.

Even if it does have a couple of clipping diodes in the pre (or the modeleing equivalent of them) who cares..so many amps have that

It is obviously a very sweet sounding amp ..and that's what matters :bigthumb:

 

[Phantasmagoria]

It's also a good sign that they don't seem to come up for sale much. I could only find one on Reverb ,,and that shipped from Portugal for $900+ which is almost what they sold for new back in the day (plus about $250-300 for shipping)

If this one is'nt broken..I think I got myself a pretty good deal :laugh2:

 

[donaldr]

Actually, it is a real tube amp, not a modeler. It does have some midi capability, but it is as real a tube amp as a new Mesa is. Have played several, they are no joke.

From Music Radar: "DT50 offers a more integrated system, effectively mating the digital preamp and tone stack with an analogue power amp."

 

[jeremy]

i think its a pod hd front end with an added 12ax7, then a 12ax7 pi and el34 power section

 

[donaldr]

Something like this, I think one of the 12ax7 is used for a boost gain.

 

[jeremy]

gotcha. i know theres two 12ax7s and two el34s in the amp, i havent seen a schematic to see what the first one does

 

[Phantasmagoria]

From Music Radar: "DT50 offers a more integrated system, effectively mating the digital preamp and tone stack with an analogue power amp."

Well the Line 6 guy (guy with the radio voice) in the Premier Guitar video said it was all tube :laugh2:

Thats what confuses me.

All that I care about is that it absolutely sounds like a great tube amp ..at least to my ears.

As someone who owns/plays tube amps, modelers & analog solid state amps in almost equal measure and does'nt care which is which as long as they all have a tubey feel and sound & enough gain for shredding solo's (whether actually tube amps or not). this is a complete non-issue for me...

When Chapman started playing those solo's I was 100% sold ..cuz TONE :bigthumb:

And come on ...$240? Why would I even have to think about it :lmao:

 

[jeremy]

its not all tube, theres plenty of digitial stuff in there

 

[Phantasmagoria]

Which as I said is a non-issue/100% fine with me. In fact I'd prefer it 'cause I like things that are a bit quirky/different/work differently.........as long as they sound good which this one most definitely does to my ears :bigthumb:

If you look at the amount of times people throw SS/digital pedals in front of their amps ranging from actual distortions to drives to boosts of every description ...Im not sure how many players have anything approaching "pure tube tone" anyway :lmao:

 

[Phantasmagoria]

Having said that I'm still not too clear about the configuration. I mean the Line 6 rep clearly said "all tube" & so did Lee in the Anderton's video ..he then said the amp had four main "topologies" which changed as physical changes were made to the "output section" which included changing the bias, neg feedback etc.. so it's not as simple as sticking a modeler in front of a power amp and calling it a day ..obviously.

In the last bit of the Andertons video (shred -o-rama) ,Lee Anderton changes the sound of the high gain lead completely just by switching to Class A /Triode mode ..where it sounds like a high gain version of a Vox AC30 with the grainy texture and all.

He did'nt mess w/ the preamp or topologies or w/e at AT ALL. Frankly it's an intriguing thing that's going on under the hood w/e it may be........ and I like it​

 

[Phantasmagoria]

Btw (not saying it's necessarily the case here ..but) two preamp tubes can easily take you up there gain wise. My "All Tube" Laboga The Beast 30W Plus head (the name says it all :laugh2 is easily one of my gainiest tube amps (if not my very gainiest) & features all of two Preamp tubes for it's two (clean & dirty) channels ..just saying