Ok, picked my Competition on Monday and because of work ain't had a chance to really try it until today. I ain't got my 4x12's at hand at the mo' so just had to run through my Engl ported 1x12 with V30.
All I can say is WOW!!!!!! This thing is pure hot rod Marshall to the bone - great tones with minimal tweaking and even just running through a 1x12, this baby roared like a lion. I ran my Intellifex in the loop for a touch of reverb and delay and also to attenuate the amp a bit using the output control. I had gain at 12 o'clock and master (on pentode 50w) at about 10 o'clock. Tones as follows -
Gear 1, OD 1 - Early Van Halen/Michael Schenker tone. This is VHII straight up. But by lightening the attack, any 70's rock tone is possible. Rolling off the volume produced a great clean tone too - not Fender shimmery clean, but great all the same.
Gear 1, OD 2 - 80's heaven, just like all those classic modded tones that we all hankered over . Think Lynch, DeMartini, Jake E Lee or even Slash. I'd think I'll be using this for rythym work most of the time.
Gear 2, OD 1 - Starts where Gear 1 left off, but adds a great dollop of low end chunk. Also smoother and possibly more AOR such as Winger, Schon etc.
Gear 2, OD 2 - Into serious gain here along the lines of 1987 era John Sykes and also very much like Doug Aldrich's Cameron modded Marshall JMP's.
Gear 3 just adds more gain taking off from Gear 2 and on OD 2, soloing takes on a very liquidy, compressed feel that just seems to sustain for as long as you want.
The amp as a whole has a tight feel and although there is more than enough gain for most peoples need's, it remains clear and articulate. You can't hide behind any mud or fizziness so technique becomes impotant, although the rewards are very satisfying. I can't wait to run this baby through my 4x12's!!!!! All I can say is believe the hype!!!:14:
