Winter NAMM 2017 highlights - Amps

[stratguy23]

I went to NAMM this year for 2 days and wanted to share some of what I saw. I'll be starting threads in the Pickups, Guitars, Amps, and Pedals sections. Please note the following disclaimers:

DISCLAIMER 1: These previews are by no means comprehensive. I was at NAMM for only 2 out of 4 days. There are, like, 10 billion things there. I only checked out what interested me.

DISCLAIMER 2: Guitars and Amp threads will be more substantial because those interest me most. Pedals and Pickups threads will be skimpy because those don't demo well in the NAMM environment.

DISCLAIMER 3: My 5 year-old phone has a terrible camera.

Enjoy!

NAMM 2017 Guitars thread
NAMM 2017 Pedals thread
NAMM 2017 Pickups thread

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1a. Vox MV50



View attachment 77937

My hands down "best in show" for NAMM this year.

Tube preamp, solid state Class D power section. 1 pound, literally fits in the palm of your hand. Tube is a Korg "Nutube" - not new technology, but fairly new in guitar amps. The Nutube is a true triode tube in a tiny form factor (stick of gum, perhaps). Tube life is ~30,000 hours so basically you never have to replace it. Street price is $200, so these should sell like hotcakes.

These amps are AWESOME, all 3 flavors - Rock (higher gain, think pushed AC), AC (jangly AC), Clean (all headroom, i.e., pedal platform.) They felt so good to play. I bet the Rock and AC ones will cannibalize sales of the AC15; they are that good. The matching 8" cab amazingly sounds great. Vox is doing something right here.

MV50 is head and shoulders above the "tiny hybrid" competition - Orange Micro and Peavey Piranha. I've played all of those, and while Micro and Piranha aren't bad, MV50 is actually GOOD.

50 watts is @ 4 ohms, so in reality you are only getting 25 or 12.5 watts. That's OK, because Vox is working on a

1b. Vox 150 watt Nutube prototype





I did not get to play through this. But it looks promising, no?

2. Peavey Invective 120





This is the sig amp of Misha Mansoor from Periphery. It is one of the smartest designed amps I've ever seen. Evidently the idea was to eliminate tone-related pedals and put all that functionality into the head.

So you get a clean channel with adjustable overdrive that goes all the way up to classic rock territory. Then you get a noise gate and a Tube Screamer. Then you get the 5150 Block Letters amp verbatim. In the back you have 2 effects loops and 2 9V power sockets for powering pedals (cool!). There is also a clean boost (I'm guessing that's the "Master Boost"). You can switch down from 120 watts to 60 watts in the back.

The whole thing has MIDI, not for knob settings, but for switches/things being turned on/off.

I asked if a smaller wattage version would be available. The answer: "No comment." I take that as a yes.

3. BluGuitar Amp1, BluBox



The Amp1 is not new; it was introduced in 2015. But it's new to me, and more than timely in the current trend of ever-smaller amps. Smaller here doesn't mean small power. It's 100 watts in the space of a double-wide pedal.

Yes, there's a power section, so it's an actual amp. Converse to the Vox MV50, the preamp section is solid state (all analog, no digital modeling), and the power section is tube, albeit a "Nanotube" that seems to be of Russian origin, as opposed to the Japanese made-Nutube in the Vox.



The BluBox is the actual new product for 2017. It's a cab and mic placement sim box, with 16 cab options and a knob that sweeps mic placement from center out to edge. This is a middle ground between the several switches available in a SansAmp and the all-cabs-and-speakers-are-fair-game multiplicity of digital IRs.

I heard both Thomas Blug and Jennifer Batten demo the Amp1-BluBox combo at NAMM. Their demos sounded great, though they are 2 of the finest guitar players alive today and could make anything sound good.

As far as I know, there aren't really competitors for these products. The Quilter Tone Block is probably the closest true amp, power-wise, in a pedal size, but it has fewer features and isn't meant to be foot-operated like the Amp1. Digitech is coming out this year with the CabDryVR cabinet sim pedal, but it has fewer cab options and no mic placement options.

 

[stratguy23]

Re: Winter NAMM 2017 highlights - Amps

4. Fryette Valvulator, Sound City rebirth





This is a 1 watt tube amp oriented for home studio use. You get switchable gain settings, 3 band EQ, defeatable and adjustable cab and mic sim. This is a high-quality, made in USA product. I played a beat-up old Hamer through it, and it sounded phenomenal, with a strong Marshall flavor in the drive section.

Evidently the guitarist for a chart-topping pop/rock band tours with this as his fly rig. He just plugs into FOH and rocks.



Fryette has revived the Sound City brand. The 2 models are the Master 100 and Master Lead 50. I did not play any of the Sound City amps, but I certainly heard the guy in the demo booth do so. He sounded amazing - and LOUD, like a proper Hiwatt experience. The matching cabs have speakers by Fane, fittingly.

5. Electro-Harmonix MIG-50



F*** YES. You may remember the extremely small batch run of these from last year. They are working on getting the required certifications to allow them to go into regular production this year.

6. Orange Rocker 15







At last, an Orange one can crank in the bedroom. No, the Micros don't count, because they get loud fast, especially with decent cabs, and even the smallest Crush amp (the 20) also gets loud fast. This goes down to 0.5 watts. And, just as importantly, will also come in black.

 

[stratguy23]

Re: Winter NAMM 2017 highlights - Amps

7. Mesa Triple Crown







This isn't an official NAMM product, because as far as I can tell, Mesa did not exhibit at NAMM this year. But Framus did, and they had a Triple Crown in their booth, so I had to try it.

True to its name, it rules.

3 channels. The first is a clean that reminds me a lot of the Lone Star - thick and rich. The second is a Marshall. I actually laughed at how straight-up Marshall it was. The third is the Mesa we all know, smooth high gain.

The overall vibe is just solid and heavy. This is truly one of those "needs no pedals" amps. Unlike other Mesas, I had no problems dialing in good tones. They were just there. This amp is awesome.

8. Quilter MicroBlock



[Stock image]

I didn't try this out, but may give it a go in the coming year. It is a 45 watt solid state amp in a pedal. It looks to be direct competition for the EHX Magnum 44, as street price looks to be the same, $150. My general impression is that the Quilter Tone Block is of higher quality than the Magnum 44, so if they kept that same quality in the MicroBlock, people might start switching to it.

9. Wampler Bravado



[Stock image]

I didn't get to try this out, but I saw a whole bank of them at the Wampler booth. This is a 40 watt 6L6 pedal platform amp. It only makes sense that pedal manufacturers would start making pedal platform amps. Earthquaker Devices had that one 2 years ago, but no one could afford it. Street price of the Wampler looks to be $1900... just like the Earthquaker Devices amp ($1850). Hmm...

 

[Kamanda~SD]

Re: Winter NAMM 2017 highlights - Amps

mmmm Sovtek...I mean.... Electro Harmonix....

 

[IMENATOR]

Re: Winter NAMM 2017 highlights - Amps

50 watts is @ 4 ohms, so in reality you are only getting 25 or 12.5 watts. That's OK, because Vox is working on a

1b. Vox 150 watt Nutube prototype

How about plug it into a pair of 1x12 @ 8ohms wired in parallel or a 2x12 cab @ 4 ohms? That is the typical combo amp plus extension cabinet and I would think it may be a gig-able loud-enough configuration?

 

[Rand-O-Monium]

Re: Winter NAMM 2017 highlights - Amps

Wow...

Thnx & Well Done!!!

 

[Mincer]

Re: Winter NAMM 2017 highlights - Amps

I was there, too, for 4 days. That place is so big, that I missed every single one of these. Every single one. I did try some nice amps, like a little Supro in the Eastman booth, and a few Friedmans. Amps are generally hard to demo as it is so noisy there and you can't really crank it up.

 

[backporchpicker]

Re: Winter NAMM 2017 highlights - Amps

Great pictures. Thank you for taking the time to provide a glimpse, it must have been a wonderful couple of days, wish I was there.
What I see though is a lot of glitz, kinda like amps are going Las Vegas.
Really, has anyone ever improved on this and the original line up of Fender tube amps? Well, Marshall did come up with an offshoot that also set a standard which has not been achieved again

 

[jeremy]

Re: Winter NAMM 2017 highlights - Amps

some people would suggest ken fischer, randall smith, dave reeves, alexander dumble and some others have put out some fine products. granted i love my old fender reverb and tweed amps but there has been plenty of great products since then

 

[stratguy23]

Re: Winter NAMM 2017 highlights - Amps



Hm, this photo of the MV50 isn't appearing for whatever reason (there might be a limit to # of pics in a post). I'll try to re-upload this photo when I get home.

Just to give an idea of how small it is, the other picture shows 4 of them lined up end-to-end on top of a 1x12.

I wonder if it will run into the same issues as the other tiny hybrids, where the amp is so light that a wrong tug on the cable to the guitar will pull the amp off the cab. The Quilter Tone Block (200 or 201) is a little more substantial at 4 pounds and thus might avoid that issue when used as a head. Of course, the Quilter is all solid state, but it would be a viable alternative to the Clean MV50 as a lightweight pedal platform head.

 

[stratguy23]

Re: Winter NAMM 2017 highlights - Amps

How about plug it into a pair of 1x12 @ 8ohms wired in parallel or a 2x12 cab @ 4 ohms? That is the typical combo amp plus extension cabinet and I would think it may be a gig-able loud-enough configuration?

Yep, those would certainly do the trick. I don't know how common those configurations are in off-the-shelf cabs. I'm sure people will try to gig with them this year, so we'll be able to read about those experiences.

 

[stratguy23]

Re: Winter NAMM 2017 highlights - Amps

Wow...

Thnx & Well Done!!!

Haha, glad you liked it! I hoped that others might nerd out on this stuff as much as I do

 

[stratguy23]

Re: Winter NAMM 2017 highlights - Amps

I was there, too, for 4 days. That place is so big, that I missed every single one of these. Every single one. I did try some nice amps, like a little Supro in the Eastman booth, and a few Friedmans. Amps are generally hard to demo as it is so noisy there and you can't really crank it up.

Haha, I probably missed everything cool that you saw also. I tried the Friedman Smallbox 50 - AMAZING. Maybe the best amp I've ever played. It sang and danced and made me sound better than I am. I've never had an amp do that.

If I had known you were going to be there, I would have tried to meet up. Next year, maybe?

 

[stratguy23]

Re: Winter NAMM 2017 highlights - Amps

Great pictures. Thank you for taking the time to provide a glimpse, it must have been a wonderful couple of days, wish I was there.
What I see though is a lot of glitz, kinda like amps are going Las Vegas.
Really, has anyone ever improved on this and the original line up of Fender tube amps? Well, Marshall did come up with an offshoot that also set a standard which has not been achieved again

You are completely right - it is pretty glamorous, at least for the big brands. Some companies even hire models to greet people in the booths (Gibson is the worst/best at that).

I love Fender amps, but to me the main shortcoming of the classic models is the feature sets. They come with stuff I don't want (tremolo/vibrato, reverb, etc.) and lack some nice modern conveniences (power scaling/attentuation, etc.) Some of the amps are too big/heavy for me... and I wish the Princeton Reverb came in a 12"...without the reverb or vibrato, haha. I would just like a 1x12" clean pedal platform with no frills, and Fender would be the best company to do it. Instead I have to look at Dr. Z, etc. for that.

 

[stratguy23]

Re: Winter NAMM 2017 highlights - Amps

10. Seymour Duncan PowerStage 170



[Stock image]

Not to keep bumping my own thread, but I just learned of this Seymour Duncan NAMM offering. Ironically, I didn't spend much at the SD booth *because* it seemed to have constant musical performances there, i.e., it was always so loud you couldn't talk to anyone.

This is COOL. And totally in line with the above-mentioned trend of amps on pedalboards. This looks to be a direct competitor to the Quilter Tone Block 201.

To compare:

• BluGuitar Amp1: 100 watts, tube power section, 4-channel footswitchable amp as a pedal, street $800
• Quilter Tone Block 201: 200 watts, all solid state, has gain but probably used as clean pedal platform, can be mounted on pedalboard but laid out like a head, weight 4 lbs., street $450
• Seymour Duncan PowerStage 170: 170 watts, I'm guessing all solid state, clean pedal platform in a pedal format, weight 2 lbs., street $400

Yes, you want headroom with solid state, but I'm guessing that most people won't have reason to test the 170 of the PowerStage, much less the 200 of the Tone Block.

The PowerStage is 2 pounds lighter than the Tone Block, is $50 cheaper, and is explicitly laid out as a pedal. So it's likely the best pedalboard candidate out of all the above. Just add a few drive/effects pedals to taste and have a complete rig, except for cab, on a pedalboard.

Again, this is COOL. I'm looking forward to this, SD.

 

[Phantasmagoria]

Re: Winter NAMM 2017 highlights - Amps

View attachment 77957

Who needs a Bravado when you can have a...



...BRIVIDO!

 

[dave74]

Re: Winter NAMM 2017 highlights - Amps

Would love to hear a good review of the Mig50, and maaaaaaaan that Triple Crown would be nice to own for all it has to offer.

 

[Coma]

Re: Winter NAMM 2017 highlights - Amps

The Triple Crown is one of those amps that I saw one demo video for and decided to never look at again. It just seems so cool and versatile. I love my EVH 5153 and I'd hate to start feeling like its not up to snuff by comparison, so I'll shut the lid on pretend there's nothing else to look at

Not a Periphery fan by any means, but I AM really curious about that Peavey. Esp since it seems to take more than a few design cues from the 5153.

 

[TwilightOdyssey]

Re: Winter NAMM 2017 highlights - Amps

Thanks so much for posting these photos!

 

[Gone_Shootin]

Re: Winter NAMM 2017 highlights - Amps

10. Seymour Duncan PowerStage 170

View attachment 77981

[Stock image]

Not to keep bumping my own thread, but I just learned of this Seymour Duncan NAMM offering. Ironically, I didn't spend much at the SD booth *because* it seemed to have constant musical performances there, i.e., it was always so loud you couldn't talk to anyone.

This is COOL. And totally in line with the above-mentioned trend of amps on pedalboards. This looks to be a direct competitor to the Quilter Tone Block 201.

To compare:

• BluGuitar Amp1: 100 watts, tube power section, 4-channel footswitchable amp as a pedal, street $800
• Quilter Tone Block 201: 200 watts, all solid state, has gain but probably used as clean pedal platform, can be mounted on pedalboard but laid out like a head, weight 4 lbs., street $450
• Seymour Duncan PowerStage 170: 170 watts, I'm guessing all solid state, clean pedal platform in a pedal format, weight 2 lbs., street $400

Yes, you want headroom with solid state, but I'm guessing that most people won't have reason to test the 170 of the PowerStage, much less the 200 of the Tone Block.

The PowerStage is 2 pounds lighter than the Tone Block, is $50 cheaper, and is explicitly laid out as a pedal. So it's likely the best pedalboard candidate out of all the above. Just add a few drive/effects pedals to taste and have a complete rig, except for cab, on a pedalboard.

Again, this is COOL. I'm looking forward to this, SD.

It is very cool, but in terms of something to put on your pedal board, I would say that the Quilter Micro Block is more competition than the others you mentioned. Yes, it's less than half the wattage, but for less cost, you could have a pair of Micro Blocks and have a stereo rig. Again, yes, less wattage, but given the choice between 90 watts in stereo and 170 in mono, I would still go for the stereo option.