dvadneau
New member
Actually I've now had this for a month or so, but thought I'd share now that I've actually played it in the band, at home and at an outdoor gig.
I narrowed it down after trying out a few different amps that I thought I might like from online reviews:
Vox AC15
H&K 18 Twelve Tubemeister
Fender Blues Jr.
Traynor YCV40
My bandmate also has a YCV40, so I knew it was really nice, but I wasn't crazy about playing the same type of amp together. His has an upgraded speaker, a Red Coat, so I thought I'd see what a stock YCV40 sounded like.
So, I went to a couple of local stores and sat down with 2 of my guitars and my preamp (Digitech 1101) to see what fit.
After seeing Annihilator live for the first time I was influenced to look into the H&K, which had a terrific demo online with a pedal in front. Even without the pedal it sounded fantastic. However, in person, with my guitar, it was not what I was expecting. Goes to show how much so many other aspects can affect demos. I liked the H&K, but ultimately, it wasn't the sound that I felt I wanted. The recent price bump from $849 to $999 didn't help either.
I tried the YCV40-WR, which, in case you weren't aware, has a Celestion Vintage 30 and wine red covering. I would have preferred black or even the blue version. But this amp was used in brand new condition for $250 less than a new one - I don't care about looks that much. The sound was familiar in a very good way, but I didn't want to just jump to this without trying other amps.
The AC15 was actually better than I was expecting. But, it really didn't have the flexibility that I wanted. With no send/return you really need to like the preamp for what it does. It does that well, but it just wasn't enough for me.
I tried the Blues Jr. But, it too sounded very awesome for one thing and I felt I would be too limited.
I went back to the YCV40 and that was it. Wasn't even close.
I originally had the DRRI on my list, but those are really hard to come by used around here, and new they're about $1300.
In the store I actually didn't plug by 1101 into the amps as I would have needed to configure it to go into an amp, which wasn't how I had it setup, and really I wanted to hear the amp on its own first. But, now that I have plugged my 1101 into the YCV40 I can only say wow. I immediately heard the difference between that and my FRFR I was using. The FRFR is great, don't get me wrong, but the 1101 sounds so much better through an actual guitar amp/cab.
This morning I played 4 of my guitars through just the amp's front end, with no 1101, and it was sweet. My SG with the 57 Classic Plus in the bridge was a machine. My Epi LP with the BB3 and the rewound T-Top in the neck was good and the neck pickup sounded very nice. My '85 MIJ Strat with 36th in the bridge was good, but was lacking - or rather, it's too like my LP without the flexibility. I really want to route that thing to give it a single coil neck and middle - you know, a Strat
But, the cake goes to my '91 335 Studio with the Seths. I used that at my gig last week and it was beautiful. Playing direct it sounded like it could sing a song or devour your soul - just epic. I play punk rock mostly with bits of whatever else I feel like, although usual that's finger picked classical'ish or metal.
I'll post some pics later tonight. Not sure if I'll get to clips anytime soon.
I narrowed it down after trying out a few different amps that I thought I might like from online reviews:
Vox AC15
H&K 18 Twelve Tubemeister
Fender Blues Jr.
Traynor YCV40
My bandmate also has a YCV40, so I knew it was really nice, but I wasn't crazy about playing the same type of amp together. His has an upgraded speaker, a Red Coat, so I thought I'd see what a stock YCV40 sounded like.
So, I went to a couple of local stores and sat down with 2 of my guitars and my preamp (Digitech 1101) to see what fit.
After seeing Annihilator live for the first time I was influenced to look into the H&K, which had a terrific demo online with a pedal in front. Even without the pedal it sounded fantastic. However, in person, with my guitar, it was not what I was expecting. Goes to show how much so many other aspects can affect demos. I liked the H&K, but ultimately, it wasn't the sound that I felt I wanted. The recent price bump from $849 to $999 didn't help either.
I tried the YCV40-WR, which, in case you weren't aware, has a Celestion Vintage 30 and wine red covering. I would have preferred black or even the blue version. But this amp was used in brand new condition for $250 less than a new one - I don't care about looks that much. The sound was familiar in a very good way, but I didn't want to just jump to this without trying other amps.
The AC15 was actually better than I was expecting. But, it really didn't have the flexibility that I wanted. With no send/return you really need to like the preamp for what it does. It does that well, but it just wasn't enough for me.
I tried the Blues Jr. But, it too sounded very awesome for one thing and I felt I would be too limited.
I went back to the YCV40 and that was it. Wasn't even close.
I originally had the DRRI on my list, but those are really hard to come by used around here, and new they're about $1300.
In the store I actually didn't plug by 1101 into the amps as I would have needed to configure it to go into an amp, which wasn't how I had it setup, and really I wanted to hear the amp on its own first. But, now that I have plugged my 1101 into the YCV40 I can only say wow. I immediately heard the difference between that and my FRFR I was using. The FRFR is great, don't get me wrong, but the 1101 sounds so much better through an actual guitar amp/cab.
This morning I played 4 of my guitars through just the amp's front end, with no 1101, and it was sweet. My SG with the 57 Classic Plus in the bridge was a machine. My Epi LP with the BB3 and the rewound T-Top in the neck was good and the neck pickup sounded very nice. My '85 MIJ Strat with 36th in the bridge was good, but was lacking - or rather, it's too like my LP without the flexibility. I really want to route that thing to give it a single coil neck and middle - you know, a Strat
But, the cake goes to my '91 335 Studio with the Seths. I used that at my gig last week and it was beautiful. Playing direct it sounded like it could sing a song or devour your soul - just epic. I play punk rock mostly with bits of whatever else I feel like, although usual that's finger picked classical'ish or metal.
I'll post some pics later tonight. Not sure if I'll get to clips anytime soon.
