UberMetalDood
New member
I played the head a couple of times, then spent the last 3 days with the combo version. This is the PRS 2 channel amp with Heyboer transformers. There are basically 2 versions of this 50w amp design; one with EL34's and Mercury Magnetics transformers, and mine with 6L6's and Heyboer transformers.
These amps are made by PRS and designed by Doug Sewell who I've heard great things about, but never tried his amps. This amp has a lot of great features. Each channel has independent EQ and volume/gain controls and master volumes. It has one of the best reverbs I have ever heard. The manual describes it as a "universal depth" control, and I don't know if that describes it well, but I sure like the reverb a lot.
I love that it has toggle switches for the channels and bright controls. One weird thing about the amp is how the FX loop send/return controls work. I don't really understand it yet but somehow it controls the power of the amp. Turning them up adds volume/gain. It works like variable power scaling so you can actually get a great tone from this 50 watt amp low volume.
Another kick-ass feature is the external bias which you can adjust if you want to go from 6L6 to 6V6 power tubes. I can't wait to try 6V6's in this amp. That's something I'm going to try as soon as I can find out how to set the bias for those tubes. I have a set of JJ 6V6's waiting already.
One thing about this amp is that it doesn't have a tremendous amount of headroom. You can get very clean sound but not as loud as it can get. You have to keep the gain at 10:00 or below which reduces the volume. Somehow, you must find the sweet spot between the clean master volume, FX send/return, and gain controls to get the perfect pristine clean tone.
It can deliver all kinds of bluesy cleans in spades. The way the amp responds to your playing makes it a whole lot of fun playing with the gain maxed out on the clean channel. It's like a cranked Fender.
Another weird thing about these amps is how the EQ controls interact with each other. For instance, if you change the treble then the bass and mid controls react differently. Same thing if you adjust either the mid or bass. I don't know how it's supposed to interact, and the sucky manual doesn't tell you either.
One more note is that it's not a tremendously loud 50 watts. My Engl Screamer and Marshall DSL50 are both 50w but louder than this one. It's not a big deal though because I bought this primarily for home recording and band practice. It has enough volume for up to medium size gigs so volume is not really an issue.
It comes with a Celestion Vintage 30, but I think this would be a great candidate for an Eminence Governor or G12T75. Well, I can think of a number of Eminence speakers I'd like to try in it like the RWB.
With this amp, I also used an Xotic BB Preamp and Maxon OD820. The overdrive on this amp gets fairly fluid but not capable of really thrashing without a little boost. The amp distortion is very good once you figure out how to dial in the interactive tone controls (some difficulty), but it sounds so much better with my pedals. The Xotic BB Preamp is fast becoming my favorite OD pedal. It's great for everything from a clean boost to an overdrive, and boy does it add everything you want to the "H" series amp.
The BB Preamp has treble and bass controls and also adds some inherent midrange so it makes the amp distortion sound even warmer and rounder and tighter. It's a pretty transparent sounding pedal. My OD820 is also a magnificent pedal itself. It's not as transparent as the BB, but what it adds sounds incredibly good.
In my overall opinion, these amps are of incredible quality and tone and features too, but they sound even better with pedals. They're made in the USA with the best components. There is nothing cheap about these amps. My first thought still persists: "Why is this amp only $1650 when PRS guitars cost a fortune?" You would think that amps of this quality would be sold for thousands, but PRS has managed to make them fairly affordable. If not the best value in the price range, they're a top contender.
I will post more info after I install the 6V6's.
These amps are made by PRS and designed by Doug Sewell who I've heard great things about, but never tried his amps. This amp has a lot of great features. Each channel has independent EQ and volume/gain controls and master volumes. It has one of the best reverbs I have ever heard. The manual describes it as a "universal depth" control, and I don't know if that describes it well, but I sure like the reverb a lot.
I love that it has toggle switches for the channels and bright controls. One weird thing about the amp is how the FX loop send/return controls work. I don't really understand it yet but somehow it controls the power of the amp. Turning them up adds volume/gain. It works like variable power scaling so you can actually get a great tone from this 50 watt amp low volume.
Another kick-ass feature is the external bias which you can adjust if you want to go from 6L6 to 6V6 power tubes. I can't wait to try 6V6's in this amp. That's something I'm going to try as soon as I can find out how to set the bias for those tubes. I have a set of JJ 6V6's waiting already.
One thing about this amp is that it doesn't have a tremendous amount of headroom. You can get very clean sound but not as loud as it can get. You have to keep the gain at 10:00 or below which reduces the volume. Somehow, you must find the sweet spot between the clean master volume, FX send/return, and gain controls to get the perfect pristine clean tone.
It can deliver all kinds of bluesy cleans in spades. The way the amp responds to your playing makes it a whole lot of fun playing with the gain maxed out on the clean channel. It's like a cranked Fender.
Another weird thing about these amps is how the EQ controls interact with each other. For instance, if you change the treble then the bass and mid controls react differently. Same thing if you adjust either the mid or bass. I don't know how it's supposed to interact, and the sucky manual doesn't tell you either.
One more note is that it's not a tremendously loud 50 watts. My Engl Screamer and Marshall DSL50 are both 50w but louder than this one. It's not a big deal though because I bought this primarily for home recording and band practice. It has enough volume for up to medium size gigs so volume is not really an issue.
It comes with a Celestion Vintage 30, but I think this would be a great candidate for an Eminence Governor or G12T75. Well, I can think of a number of Eminence speakers I'd like to try in it like the RWB.
With this amp, I also used an Xotic BB Preamp and Maxon OD820. The overdrive on this amp gets fairly fluid but not capable of really thrashing without a little boost. The amp distortion is very good once you figure out how to dial in the interactive tone controls (some difficulty), but it sounds so much better with my pedals. The Xotic BB Preamp is fast becoming my favorite OD pedal. It's great for everything from a clean boost to an overdrive, and boy does it add everything you want to the "H" series amp.
The BB Preamp has treble and bass controls and also adds some inherent midrange so it makes the amp distortion sound even warmer and rounder and tighter. It's a pretty transparent sounding pedal. My OD820 is also a magnificent pedal itself. It's not as transparent as the BB, but what it adds sounds incredibly good.
In my overall opinion, these amps are of incredible quality and tone and features too, but they sound even better with pedals. They're made in the USA with the best components. There is nothing cheap about these amps. My first thought still persists: "Why is this amp only $1650 when PRS guitars cost a fortune?" You would think that amps of this quality would be sold for thousands, but PRS has managed to make them fairly affordable. If not the best value in the price range, they're a top contender.
I will post more info after I install the 6V6's.
