MikeS
Bengalsologist
This is my first tube amp purchase in 20 years, and so far so good. The amp is plugged into my homemade 2x12 with a pair of Celestion Greenbacks. I spent the first two hours playing around with the settings through various guitars while resisting the urge to play "We Die Young" and "Them Bones" on repeat. I've been playing PC-based emulators for years, and I almost forgot how satisfying it is to turn a real knob.
The master volume is fantastic. I could very easily make enemies out of the neighbors with this, but the tone is still great at low volumes. The JBE voice on the dirty channel sounds massive and is one of the main reasons I bought this amp. Instant smile. The clean channel is clear and has plenty of chime. I don't have many pedals, but the clean channel took a tube screamer circuit very well. There's no onboard reverb, so a reverb pedal is likely in my future.
I haven't had a chance to try the emulated output yet. Maybe tonight, just to make sure it works, but I'm in no hurry. The last proper amplifier I had (DSL50) I sold several years ago in favor of an interface and emulators. I spend my work days in front of a screen and lately have realized that because I had no desire to come home and extend screen time that I was playing less and less. I'm excited to be back to playing without being tethered to the computer.
