Heavyspender
Published on 04/22/08 at 11:24
This is a solid state amp. Mine is a black-face metal grill, so it doesn't say what the wattage is. But it is reportedly 15 watts, not 38 watts, and I think that is more accurate. There is one input. Also has an output for an 8 ohm minimum extension speaker as well as for headphones. It has two channels, including a clean channel with normal volume knob. The drive channel has drive volume and gain controls. Treble, mid, and bass knobs control both channels. The amp also has a drive select button to switch between channels. No foot-switch capability. All controls are on the front of the amp.
UTILIZATION
Being a practice amp, the configuration of the controls is very simple. I bought it used, so it didn't come with a manual. I don't believe it's necessary to have one, though. As with all my amps, my baseline setting is treble 10, mid 0 and bass 2. And with just this setting, I can get great sounds, especially on the drive channel. (See sounds section.)
SOUNDS
The drive channel definitely suits my preferences for distortion ! (See settings from previous section.) With my baseline settings, the drive channel, has this raunchy, growly, powerful distortion with a wonderful presence to it ! The clean channel is OK. It's probably the worst Fender clean I have played, but that doesn't make it bad compared to other amps' clean channels. And the clean channel takes pedals quite well, so I can live with that, especially with the awesome drive channel ! I play a beginner Ibanez electric through a couple of pedals, specifically a zoom 505 multi effects pedal. When I set the Zoom to the Fender Twin setting, this baby's clean channel sounds awfully close to a fender twin. So I love the sounds that come out of both channels: the drive by itself, and the the clean with pedals through it.
OVERALL OPINION
I have been using this amp for a couple months over a year. I needed an amp right away, so I ordered this off of ebay last year, without really trying anything else. And I am glad I made the choice, especially at only about 50 bucks. I would rather sell my Crate amp than get rid of this one, especially if it can drive an amp cabinet. I have five amps, but I don't want to let go of this one. This is specifically because of the drive channel. I haven't heard a stock distortion channel that I liked better than on this little guy. And that's including the distortion on the Marshall JCM800 ! I just wish the speaker was bigger and the wattage was more. I'd rather try to buy an 8 ohm amp cabinet to attach to the speaker output than upgrade to a bigger Frontman model to find out.
UTILIZATION
Being a practice amp, the configuration of the controls is very simple. I bought it used, so it didn't come with a manual. I don't believe it's necessary to have one, though. As with all my amps, my baseline setting is treble 10, mid 0 and bass 2. And with just this setting, I can get great sounds, especially on the drive channel. (See sounds section.)
SOUNDS
The drive channel definitely suits my preferences for distortion ! (See settings from previous section.) With my baseline settings, the drive channel, has this raunchy, growly, powerful distortion with a wonderful presence to it ! The clean channel is OK. It's probably the worst Fender clean I have played, but that doesn't make it bad compared to other amps' clean channels. And the clean channel takes pedals quite well, so I can live with that, especially with the awesome drive channel ! I play a beginner Ibanez electric through a couple of pedals, specifically a zoom 505 multi effects pedal. When I set the Zoom to the Fender Twin setting, this baby's clean channel sounds awfully close to a fender twin. So I love the sounds that come out of both channels: the drive by itself, and the the clean with pedals through it.
OVERALL OPINION
I have been using this amp for a couple months over a year. I needed an amp right away, so I ordered this off of ebay last year, without really trying anything else. And I am glad I made the choice, especially at only about 50 bucks. I would rather sell my Crate amp than get rid of this one, especially if it can drive an amp cabinet. I have five amps, but I don't want to let go of this one. This is specifically because of the drive channel. I haven't heard a stock distortion channel that I liked better than on this little guy. And that's including the distortion on the Marshall JCM800 ! I just wish the speaker was bigger and the wattage was more. I'd rather try to buy an 8 ohm amp cabinet to attach to the speaker output than upgrade to a bigger Frontman model to find out.