View other reviews for this product:
mooseherman
Published on 03/24/10 at 18:04
This is a relatively unknown tube amp. There are two connections, 1/4" for input. There are also two channels, clean and effects. This amp has a cool feature where you can adjust the wattage. That goes from 75 to 150. This makes even the grainiest, most overdriven tones possible even at lower volumes if necessary, while still enabling you to rock the casbah with a really loud sound. There are two inputs for each channel. The effects channel contains phaser and reverb effects.
UTILIZATION
Getting a good sound on this is great as long as you don't expect too much out of the effects. This amp definitely will suit almost any type of music, as long as it's not heavy metal. But with a pedal, even that's possible. The effects are unfortunately difficult to manage, and don't usually have the flexibility that I need. That's actually the only category where this amp loses points for utilization.
SOUNDS
Forget the effects on this guy. They're irrelevant. What is relevant is the supremely awesome tone that this thing is capable of. The wattage adjustment makes almost any tone practical. Cranking up the gain on this amp is wonderful, it manages to really make the amp respond drastically to your playing. I've noticed that the entire vibe of a song can change based on how lightly or heavily I strum or pick. The natural compression on this thing is phenomenal as well, it's given me some great lead tones without needing a pedal for compression or gain or anything. Of course, adding those things has some good results. The only issue is noise, a noise gate might be necessary for most people who really want to push this thing hard. Considering that most people would want to do that, it's a concern that one should be ready to deal with. Using pedals, especially fuzzes and distortions, tends to only amplify this problem. Noise gates are the way to go. This thing is ideal for anyone who likes the sounds that come naturally to an electric guitar, great tones for blues/rock/country and and combination of them. Might be a bit too much for jazz unless you really roll it off, but if you're a jazzhead, you'd be better off looking elsewhere.
OVERALL OPINION
I love the tone of this above all else. It's seriously heavy, which might be an issue for old folks! Really though, make sure that yours has wheels and that you are physically capable of lifting. The effects aren't my cup of tea, so that's the only weakness, along with noise. Definitely a really cool amplifier for players who are seriously in control of their playing, dynamic-wise, it has the most insanely high dynamics ratios I've played in a long time. Gives my Fender Twin a run for its money!
UTILIZATION
Getting a good sound on this is great as long as you don't expect too much out of the effects. This amp definitely will suit almost any type of music, as long as it's not heavy metal. But with a pedal, even that's possible. The effects are unfortunately difficult to manage, and don't usually have the flexibility that I need. That's actually the only category where this amp loses points for utilization.
SOUNDS
Forget the effects on this guy. They're irrelevant. What is relevant is the supremely awesome tone that this thing is capable of. The wattage adjustment makes almost any tone practical. Cranking up the gain on this amp is wonderful, it manages to really make the amp respond drastically to your playing. I've noticed that the entire vibe of a song can change based on how lightly or heavily I strum or pick. The natural compression on this thing is phenomenal as well, it's given me some great lead tones without needing a pedal for compression or gain or anything. Of course, adding those things has some good results. The only issue is noise, a noise gate might be necessary for most people who really want to push this thing hard. Considering that most people would want to do that, it's a concern that one should be ready to deal with. Using pedals, especially fuzzes and distortions, tends to only amplify this problem. Noise gates are the way to go. This thing is ideal for anyone who likes the sounds that come naturally to an electric guitar, great tones for blues/rock/country and and combination of them. Might be a bit too much for jazz unless you really roll it off, but if you're a jazzhead, you'd be better off looking elsewhere.
OVERALL OPINION
I love the tone of this above all else. It's seriously heavy, which might be an issue for old folks! Really though, make sure that yours has wheels and that you are physically capable of lifting. The effects aren't my cup of tea, so that's the only weakness, along with noise. Definitely a really cool amplifier for players who are seriously in control of their playing, dynamic-wise, it has the most insanely high dynamics ratios I've played in a long time. Gives my Fender Twin a run for its money!