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Published on 11/25/12 at 16:28Electro-Harmonix has done the guitar equivalent of breaking the sound barrier. The EH 44 Magnum is a 44-watt POWER AMP (yes, that's correct, POWER AMP) that takes up the space of a pedal on your pedal board and can run into an 8-ohm minimum load. The amp (pedal) is extremely simple. There is an input jack for connecting your guitar input signal. There is an output jack for connecting to a speaker enclosure--THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT--DO NOT CONNECT THE OUTPUT TO ANOTHER PEDAL!! USE A SPEAKER CABLE and connect the output to a speaker enclosure. There is a jack for the included power supply (14 vDC @ 2 amps), a "bright/normal" switch, and a volume knob. That's it. Oh, there IS an LED that lets you know when the amp is on. The 44 Magnum can power a 4 x 12 (or two) with relative ease (you'll need a way to split the signal as there's only one output). As you turn up the 44 Magnum not only does it get louder but it starts to break up just as a true tube amp would. It's not the best-sounding overdrive in the world, but honestly, I've heard worse.
UTILIZATION
To talk about the sound one can get out of this amp is fairly futile. It's a simple solid-state power amp whose entire purpose is to accept the input signal where the guitar tone has already been defined and simply allow it to drive a speaker cabinet. It's extremely simple to operate; one only needs to remember two things--1) hook up all of your guitar and speaker cables BEFORE you connect the power cable and 2) you need a minimum 8-ohm load. beyond that, there's a volume knob... turn it up 'till it's loud enough. There's a "bright" switch... flip it if your sound is too dark. That's about it. Oh, and it obviously won't run on batteries.
SOUNDS
I play most of my standard Dimarzio-equipped Neal Moser guitars, Ibanez, and Gibson guitars such as Les Pauls and SGs. I use the 44 Magnum on my back-up pedal board that includes a pedal tuner, MXR Noise Clamp, FB-2 Booster, BOSS Power Stack, MXR Carbon Copy, and all of this runs into the 44 Magnum. I always set this up before I start a gig. If anything goes wrong with my main gear I swap out my guitar cord and my speaker cable and I'm back up and running in about 5-10 seconds.
OVERALL OPINION
This is the perfect backup for a gigging guitar player as it will fit on a pedal board or in a gig bag. Electro-Harmonix also makes a 22-watt version of this pedal called the 22 Caliber. The idea of having a power amp in a pedal format is brilliant--if anything happened to mine I'd get another without hesitation. My only gripe with the pedal/amp is that you have to connect the power lead to turn on the amp. A simple on/off switch would make this the perfect pint-sized power amp.
UTILIZATION
To talk about the sound one can get out of this amp is fairly futile. It's a simple solid-state power amp whose entire purpose is to accept the input signal where the guitar tone has already been defined and simply allow it to drive a speaker cabinet. It's extremely simple to operate; one only needs to remember two things--1) hook up all of your guitar and speaker cables BEFORE you connect the power cable and 2) you need a minimum 8-ohm load. beyond that, there's a volume knob... turn it up 'till it's loud enough. There's a "bright" switch... flip it if your sound is too dark. That's about it. Oh, and it obviously won't run on batteries.
SOUNDS
I play most of my standard Dimarzio-equipped Neal Moser guitars, Ibanez, and Gibson guitars such as Les Pauls and SGs. I use the 44 Magnum on my back-up pedal board that includes a pedal tuner, MXR Noise Clamp, FB-2 Booster, BOSS Power Stack, MXR Carbon Copy, and all of this runs into the 44 Magnum. I always set this up before I start a gig. If anything goes wrong with my main gear I swap out my guitar cord and my speaker cable and I'm back up and running in about 5-10 seconds.
OVERALL OPINION
This is the perfect backup for a gigging guitar player as it will fit on a pedal board or in a gig bag. Electro-Harmonix also makes a 22-watt version of this pedal called the 22 Caliber. The idea of having a power amp in a pedal format is brilliant--if anything happened to mine I'd get another without hesitation. My only gripe with the pedal/amp is that you have to connect the power lead to turn on the amp. A simple on/off switch would make this the perfect pint-sized power amp.