jimijames
New member
Re: The Amp Review Thread
This is a follow up review (IDK if we're allowed to do these, but it's short).
The amp has 3 speaker outs - a 4 ohm, 8 ohm, and 16 ohm. I had it through a vintage 30 when I wrote that review - which is a very efficient speaker I found out. I have it through a v30 and a Mojotone 25w greenback thingy - I forget the name specifically. But they're wired in parallel for 4 ohms, and with the amp cranked, I get ringing in my ears after more than 5 minutes of full volume.
Through a les paul with a pgb, at full blast, this thing sounds righteous. I mean that - the snarly midrange of the pgb is a perfect compliment for the amp. I swapped the pgb for a 59/custom, with UOA5, which IMO is also very good, but the low midrange makes the guitar sound heavy (vs. mean with the pgb). Playing the les paul through it makes me understand the "les paul, marshall, cord" school of thought. It only does one sound. But, God - what a sound.
My favorite guitar through this amp though, is a homebrew telecaster deluxe with a Jerry Donahue bridge, and the equivalent of a seth neck (kind of), and 500k pots all around. The clean sound is very distinctly un-fender - you don't have that "bounce" or whatever you call it. Instead it's like playing a bottle of old scotch. Smooth and rich, and just so good. Jazz chords ring out with a clarity that I can only describe as haunting. Because the pickups in the telecaster are so much lower output, I also have basically the entire volume knob, which is where the pedals come in.
I may expose myself as a luddite here, but I don't know why people need to add gain stages to amplifiers. My telecaster --> GGG Marshall Bluesbreaker Clone --> Baby will, is enough gain for anything I would ever, ever, want to do. It's harmonically rich, and maybe because telecaster bridges are supposed to be slightly microphonic, pinch harmonics just jump out. FWIW, the MBB clone is also on high level/low drive, so it's (mostly) causing the preamp tubes to clip.
The volume control is super useful in getting a clean sound, but it's not "touch sensitive" in the sense that I could tweak the volume knob slightly and still keep up with a drummer while achieving a pristine clean sound. 18w is not a lot of headroom and no matter how good the sound is, it just isn't an end-all be-all amp. I mean, if you had like 30 of these amps a la brian may, then yes. But as a desert island amp, unless you have a really good sound guy you're limited to medium sized indoor stuff.
In the abstract, "how good does it sound" category, I give it five out of five stars. I'm seriously very happy with it. If the score takes into account how loud you can play cleanly, then I would give it closer to something else. I'm going to have to revise this post in the morning.
This is a follow up review (IDK if we're allowed to do these, but it's short).
The amp has 3 speaker outs - a 4 ohm, 8 ohm, and 16 ohm. I had it through a vintage 30 when I wrote that review - which is a very efficient speaker I found out. I have it through a v30 and a Mojotone 25w greenback thingy - I forget the name specifically. But they're wired in parallel for 4 ohms, and with the amp cranked, I get ringing in my ears after more than 5 minutes of full volume.
Through a les paul with a pgb, at full blast, this thing sounds righteous. I mean that - the snarly midrange of the pgb is a perfect compliment for the amp. I swapped the pgb for a 59/custom, with UOA5, which IMO is also very good, but the low midrange makes the guitar sound heavy (vs. mean with the pgb). Playing the les paul through it makes me understand the "les paul, marshall, cord" school of thought. It only does one sound. But, God - what a sound.
My favorite guitar through this amp though, is a homebrew telecaster deluxe with a Jerry Donahue bridge, and the equivalent of a seth neck (kind of), and 500k pots all around. The clean sound is very distinctly un-fender - you don't have that "bounce" or whatever you call it. Instead it's like playing a bottle of old scotch. Smooth and rich, and just so good. Jazz chords ring out with a clarity that I can only describe as haunting. Because the pickups in the telecaster are so much lower output, I also have basically the entire volume knob, which is where the pedals come in.
I may expose myself as a luddite here, but I don't know why people need to add gain stages to amplifiers. My telecaster --> GGG Marshall Bluesbreaker Clone --> Baby will, is enough gain for anything I would ever, ever, want to do. It's harmonically rich, and maybe because telecaster bridges are supposed to be slightly microphonic, pinch harmonics just jump out. FWIW, the MBB clone is also on high level/low drive, so it's (mostly) causing the preamp tubes to clip.
The volume control is super useful in getting a clean sound, but it's not "touch sensitive" in the sense that I could tweak the volume knob slightly and still keep up with a drummer while achieving a pristine clean sound. 18w is not a lot of headroom and no matter how good the sound is, it just isn't an end-all be-all amp. I mean, if you had like 30 of these amps a la brian may, then yes. But as a desert island amp, unless you have a really good sound guy you're limited to medium sized indoor stuff.
In the abstract, "how good does it sound" category, I give it five out of five stars. I'm seriously very happy with it. If the score takes into account how loud you can play cleanly, then I would give it closer to something else. I'm going to have to revise this post in the morning.
