PUCKBOY99
Irish Flagologist
A slight review after 2 days:
..........Friggin' badass little amp, my Bruthas!!!!
I got it Tuesday & have been playing it the past 2 days....NICE!!! :32:
First, a small rant: I understand that companies like to keep the costs down & most guys change tubes anyway, but using POS tubes in a $2000.00 amp is a little ridiculous, if you ask me. JJs don't cost that much!!! It came with a JJ 12AX7 in the V-1, unlabled EL34s, and the EF86, 5AR4 & P/I 12AX7 were all labled ARS....WTF is ARS???? (I know, Atlanta Rhythm Section....been humming "So Into You" for the past few days; remember that one???
).
Anyway, I swapped out the stock tubes for a NOS JAN/Phillips 5AR4, NOS Dario Miniwatt EF86, 2 RFT ECC83s, & 2 Sovtek EL34WXTs...completely different amp after that. It was nice stock, but it just came to life & did a little jig on top of the cabinet after the tube swap!!!
On Ch1, it has a nice touch sensitive break-up...hooked up a Vox Wah, Mesa-Boogie Bottle Rocket O/D, & a Boss EQ-20.
Running just thru the amp, it's got a semi clean fat tone...kick on the EQ & it acts kind of like a mid boost for a little more aggressive bite...kick on the Bottle Rocket & it just friggin' soars into Plexi-ville!!!
This is all with the preamp volume set to 1 o'clock & the master set at 9 o'clock....the master is VERY usable: dime the whole deal & it screams!
Still have more playing around to do, but Ch1 is very nice with humbuckers & Ch2 is very nice with single coils...the P-90s sounded great on either channel! :wink:
Both channels are very touch sensitive/responsive & the Master volume is extremely usable on both channels....only downside is you can't A/B the 2 channels, but Ch1 cleans up really nicely if you use the volume knob on the guitar, so I've been living there the past 2 days.
I built myself a 2x12 that looks that looks just like a Marshall Bluesbreaker. I have to say, it looks friggin' sweet!!! Got a Marshall logo from Mojo & threw it on the front...came out pretty nice!!!
I was a little concerned with the speakers that I had (Greenback & G12H30), but they sound super sweet with this amp, in this closed back cab....
I also have a Marshall 1966A 2x12 w/a V30/G12H30 in it...made some "open-back" panels for it for a bit of a different tone.
With just the closed back cab, it's a really nice fat blues rock tone...I then sent the signal to both cabs via a "Y" cable (making sure this would be cool via e-mail to Matchless....I was pleasantly surprised when Phil Jamison himself responded back!)....REALLY big sound with both cabs. I'm gonna try putting the closed back panel on the 1966A to see what that sounds like & also considering building another Bluesbreaker cab only making it a 4x10...whatever..........
Anyway, so far so good....It's been a while since I used the Bottle Rocket; I normally don't use any pedals, but it sounds really good. I forgot how nice this pedal is even though some of the reviewers on HC didn't think so. Again, change the stock tubes & don't dime all the dials & it does its' thing well!
Still got some playing to do, but so far I'm a very happy camper. Much more my style than the Splawn, so that was a nice trade-off & it mixes nicely with the Blue Angel...transitions nicely!
AND....I FINALLY put those Anniversary Seth's in the Hamer....HOLY FRIGGIN' CRAPOLA...this guitar & this amp sound like they came from the same womb. First time trying Seth's & I'm not sure if they're wound the same as the stock ones, but GOD D@MN, they are sweet!!! Completely different guitar than when it had '59s in it!
All in all, it was a very very nice few days off!!!!......Really cool when things work out better than you expected, huh???!! :beerchug:
BTW I'll have to post some pics....it looks pretty sweet lit up!!! :13:
..........Friggin' badass little amp, my Bruthas!!!!
I got it Tuesday & have been playing it the past 2 days....NICE!!! :32:
First, a small rant: I understand that companies like to keep the costs down & most guys change tubes anyway, but using POS tubes in a $2000.00 amp is a little ridiculous, if you ask me. JJs don't cost that much!!! It came with a JJ 12AX7 in the V-1, unlabled EL34s, and the EF86, 5AR4 & P/I 12AX7 were all labled ARS....WTF is ARS???? (I know, Atlanta Rhythm Section....been humming "So Into You" for the past few days; remember that one???
).Anyway, I swapped out the stock tubes for a NOS JAN/Phillips 5AR4, NOS Dario Miniwatt EF86, 2 RFT ECC83s, & 2 Sovtek EL34WXTs...completely different amp after that. It was nice stock, but it just came to life & did a little jig on top of the cabinet after the tube swap!!!
On Ch1, it has a nice touch sensitive break-up...hooked up a Vox Wah, Mesa-Boogie Bottle Rocket O/D, & a Boss EQ-20.
Running just thru the amp, it's got a semi clean fat tone...kick on the EQ & it acts kind of like a mid boost for a little more aggressive bite...kick on the Bottle Rocket & it just friggin' soars into Plexi-ville!!!
This is all with the preamp volume set to 1 o'clock & the master set at 9 o'clock....the master is VERY usable: dime the whole deal & it screams!
Still have more playing around to do, but Ch1 is very nice with humbuckers & Ch2 is very nice with single coils...the P-90s sounded great on either channel! :wink:
Both channels are very touch sensitive/responsive & the Master volume is extremely usable on both channels....only downside is you can't A/B the 2 channels, but Ch1 cleans up really nicely if you use the volume knob on the guitar, so I've been living there the past 2 days.
I built myself a 2x12 that looks that looks just like a Marshall Bluesbreaker. I have to say, it looks friggin' sweet!!! Got a Marshall logo from Mojo & threw it on the front...came out pretty nice!!!
I was a little concerned with the speakers that I had (Greenback & G12H30), but they sound super sweet with this amp, in this closed back cab....
I also have a Marshall 1966A 2x12 w/a V30/G12H30 in it...made some "open-back" panels for it for a bit of a different tone.
With just the closed back cab, it's a really nice fat blues rock tone...I then sent the signal to both cabs via a "Y" cable (making sure this would be cool via e-mail to Matchless....I was pleasantly surprised when Phil Jamison himself responded back!)....REALLY big sound with both cabs. I'm gonna try putting the closed back panel on the 1966A to see what that sounds like & also considering building another Bluesbreaker cab only making it a 4x10...whatever..........
Anyway, so far so good....It's been a while since I used the Bottle Rocket; I normally don't use any pedals, but it sounds really good. I forgot how nice this pedal is even though some of the reviewers on HC didn't think so. Again, change the stock tubes & don't dime all the dials & it does its' thing well!
Still got some playing to do, but so far I'm a very happy camper. Much more my style than the Splawn, so that was a nice trade-off & it mixes nicely with the Blue Angel...transitions nicely!
AND....I FINALLY put those Anniversary Seth's in the Hamer....HOLY FRIGGIN' CRAPOLA...this guitar & this amp sound like they came from the same womb. First time trying Seth's & I'm not sure if they're wound the same as the stock ones, but GOD D@MN, they are sweet!!! Completely different guitar than when it had '59s in it!
All in all, it was a very very nice few days off!!!!......Really cool when things work out better than you expected, huh???!! :beerchug:
BTW I'll have to post some pics....it looks pretty sweet lit up!!! :13:
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