Agileguy_101
Master of his Domain
So I picked up a new amp a few weeks ago, but I never got around to doing a write up on it. For those that will immediately ask for clips, I don't have any yet, but I do hope to have some up soon. Maybe I can get around to it next weekend. Anyway, on to talking about the amp:
This thing is awesome. I mean, incredibly awesome. I once had a Dr. Z SR. 65 for a few months, which is to my understanding a souped up, tube rectified 800 clone, and for a long time that was my benchmark for high gain Marshall tones. Well I am pleased to report that between the Plexi and 800 channels, this has become my new benchmark for Marshall tone.
For those not in the know about this amp, it's a US made Egnater (at the time of this review, the ONLY US made Egnater) aimed at capturing a wide gamut of Marshall tones. The story is that Sweetwater had Bruce Egnater teach one of his amp building seminars at a Sweetwater store and they were so impressed with the modded 800 type amps that Bruce was teaching people to build that he was commissioned to make an amp exclusively for Sweetwater. This amp incorporates much of what Bruce teaches in his classes - namely an incredible JCM800 amp - but also adds a vintage channel in the vein of a late 60's Plexi. Unfortunately, the channels are not footswitchable, but I really don't mind. Bruce says that keeping them separate makes for better tone, and who am I to argue? The amp sounds fantastic on both channels. It's not that bad if you just treat the amp as if it is two separate amps in one head. And honestly, each channel sounds so damn fantastic that I would be more than willing to buy them as separate amps, finances permitting.
While the SW-45 may not seem at first to be lavishly appointed, under its simple control panel you are treated to a level of versatility that I have rarely experienced in a single channel amp. You have the standard Marshall controls - a 3 band tone stack, gain and master volume, and a presence control. But, and this is in my opinion the most important part of the amp, you have a density control. But more on that later. I have found all of the tone controls to be quite powerful in helping the user dial in a sound that will fit any guitar, cabinet, or tonal goal within the Marshall range.
Let's start with the vintage (Plexi-voiced) channel. I was very surprised by this channel, mostly by the cleans. The Marshalls I've played in the past have never had as detailed cleans as this amp - they are quite Fender-esque in their lushness. I think part of this is due to the density control, which enables you to dial in more fatness than one would typically find in a Marshall style amp. The density control is the key to the versatility of this channel - normal marshall cleans are in there with the density around 10 o clock, but as you push it to around 1 or two the cleans get fuller and more detailed. I don't find the density to be as useful on the dirty tones of this channel, but that's mostly because the dirty tones on this channel are pure plexi crunch and rock, and messing with that forumla is almost sacrilege. With the gain cranked I can roll down my guitar's volume for very nice cleans, dig in a bit for some nice breakup, and pull the volume up to 10 for Zeppelin level awesomeness. I don't have an LP but I can tell that a LP and this channel would be a match in heaven. I just love how many classic tones lurk in this amp - Zep, Van Halen, Bad Company, and so many 70's rock tones are just a power chord away.
I love how well this channel takes pedals - I can use my klon clone to boost an already dirty tone into awesome rock dirty goodness, my marshall in a box pedal to take the cleans up to awesome Marshall crunch. The amp also has an effects loop for the people like me that want to get fancy and run delays, mods, and verbs into it, and it takes them fantastically.
On to what many people consider the main attraction of this amp - the JCM800 channel. I can't say enough great things about this channel, it really is incredible. It's fantastically versatile - it's got a huge range of gain, the tone controls let you go from classic marshall mid grind to more modern scooped drop gain type tones, but not without that unmistakable marshall midrange. In standard or Eb tuning, I can dial in cheesy 80's butt rock tones a la Poison, Ratt, and Warrant all day, and that's with the gain around half. I can dial in a surprising amount of fatness from this channel, due in no small part to the density control. I've used this amp with guitars tuned as low as drop B and it handles the low frequencies with grace. I can see this amp doing great things in a two guitar band with the other guitarist using a more modern amp like a Mesa Rectifier or an Orange Rockerverb.
One thing that impressed both my friends that played this amp the other day and myself is the clarity that the modern channel has. Even with my PRS CE24 (59/C Hybrid bridge and WLH neck) tuned to C standard and the gain around 3 o clock, you could still clearly discern every note within a chord, and I'm not just talking power chords.
For a 50W amp, I'm neither disappointed at the volume/headroom nor overwhelmed by it. It's a perfect compliment to my Bassman, and running them in stereo is even more awesome than you can imagine. I'm definitely a 50 watt kind of guy.
Again, I hope to have some clips up soon, I'm just a bit busy with work and school. I'll shoot for recording some stuff next weekend, but no promises. If you've got any questions, ask away. And before you complain about no pictures, here's one. Ignore the Mesa, I traded it for the aforementioned PRS.
This thing is awesome. I mean, incredibly awesome. I once had a Dr. Z SR. 65 for a few months, which is to my understanding a souped up, tube rectified 800 clone, and for a long time that was my benchmark for high gain Marshall tones. Well I am pleased to report that between the Plexi and 800 channels, this has become my new benchmark for Marshall tone.
For those not in the know about this amp, it's a US made Egnater (at the time of this review, the ONLY US made Egnater) aimed at capturing a wide gamut of Marshall tones. The story is that Sweetwater had Bruce Egnater teach one of his amp building seminars at a Sweetwater store and they were so impressed with the modded 800 type amps that Bruce was teaching people to build that he was commissioned to make an amp exclusively for Sweetwater. This amp incorporates much of what Bruce teaches in his classes - namely an incredible JCM800 amp - but also adds a vintage channel in the vein of a late 60's Plexi. Unfortunately, the channels are not footswitchable, but I really don't mind. Bruce says that keeping them separate makes for better tone, and who am I to argue? The amp sounds fantastic on both channels. It's not that bad if you just treat the amp as if it is two separate amps in one head. And honestly, each channel sounds so damn fantastic that I would be more than willing to buy them as separate amps, finances permitting.
While the SW-45 may not seem at first to be lavishly appointed, under its simple control panel you are treated to a level of versatility that I have rarely experienced in a single channel amp. You have the standard Marshall controls - a 3 band tone stack, gain and master volume, and a presence control. But, and this is in my opinion the most important part of the amp, you have a density control. But more on that later. I have found all of the tone controls to be quite powerful in helping the user dial in a sound that will fit any guitar, cabinet, or tonal goal within the Marshall range.
Let's start with the vintage (Plexi-voiced) channel. I was very surprised by this channel, mostly by the cleans. The Marshalls I've played in the past have never had as detailed cleans as this amp - they are quite Fender-esque in their lushness. I think part of this is due to the density control, which enables you to dial in more fatness than one would typically find in a Marshall style amp. The density control is the key to the versatility of this channel - normal marshall cleans are in there with the density around 10 o clock, but as you push it to around 1 or two the cleans get fuller and more detailed. I don't find the density to be as useful on the dirty tones of this channel, but that's mostly because the dirty tones on this channel are pure plexi crunch and rock, and messing with that forumla is almost sacrilege. With the gain cranked I can roll down my guitar's volume for very nice cleans, dig in a bit for some nice breakup, and pull the volume up to 10 for Zeppelin level awesomeness. I don't have an LP but I can tell that a LP and this channel would be a match in heaven. I just love how many classic tones lurk in this amp - Zep, Van Halen, Bad Company, and so many 70's rock tones are just a power chord away.
I love how well this channel takes pedals - I can use my klon clone to boost an already dirty tone into awesome rock dirty goodness, my marshall in a box pedal to take the cleans up to awesome Marshall crunch. The amp also has an effects loop for the people like me that want to get fancy and run delays, mods, and verbs into it, and it takes them fantastically.
On to what many people consider the main attraction of this amp - the JCM800 channel. I can't say enough great things about this channel, it really is incredible. It's fantastically versatile - it's got a huge range of gain, the tone controls let you go from classic marshall mid grind to more modern scooped drop gain type tones, but not without that unmistakable marshall midrange. In standard or Eb tuning, I can dial in cheesy 80's butt rock tones a la Poison, Ratt, and Warrant all day, and that's with the gain around half. I can dial in a surprising amount of fatness from this channel, due in no small part to the density control. I've used this amp with guitars tuned as low as drop B and it handles the low frequencies with grace. I can see this amp doing great things in a two guitar band with the other guitarist using a more modern amp like a Mesa Rectifier or an Orange Rockerverb.
One thing that impressed both my friends that played this amp the other day and myself is the clarity that the modern channel has. Even with my PRS CE24 (59/C Hybrid bridge and WLH neck) tuned to C standard and the gain around 3 o clock, you could still clearly discern every note within a chord, and I'm not just talking power chords.
For a 50W amp, I'm neither disappointed at the volume/headroom nor overwhelmed by it. It's a perfect compliment to my Bassman, and running them in stereo is even more awesome than you can imagine. I'm definitely a 50 watt kind of guy.
Again, I hope to have some clips up soon, I'm just a bit busy with work and school. I'll shoot for recording some stuff next weekend, but no promises. If you've got any questions, ask away. And before you complain about no pictures, here's one. Ignore the Mesa, I traded it for the aforementioned PRS.
