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James... « A fat hazy awesome amp »
Published on 01/28/12 at 19:07The superdrive 18 is one my all time personal favorite amps. Partly because of how simple it is. And how perfect it can really be if you give it a chance.
The design is pretty vox esque. 18 watts. EQ section. Master, volume, drive. Not a complicated amp at all. El84 tubes of course.
UTILIZATION
I have had my superdrive combo for a long long time. I've tried a lot of speakers in it. Including a celestion blue. At the end of the day, the budda stock speaker is actually one of the best speakers you can put in there. It kind of depends what you are going for honestly. This amp can cover a ton of territory. It's not hard to set up. I like to play mine with a Gretsch duo jet most of the time. I play it primarily at church. No matter what other 18 watters I put it up against, it holds its own consistently. Takes pedals like a champ. All you really need is a good delay, a good overdrive, and some mod pedal of your choice to make this a real weapon.
SOUNDS
The Superdrive is fat but not muddy. It has a haze in the low end and a sweetness in the high end. It never sounds harsh...ever. The eq can go a long way toward getting the specific sound you need. As far as gain goes, the superdrive is probably best utilized for those mid gain sounds, or edge of breakup clean sounds. It really rides the area between vox and marshall magnificently. It has the verocity of a plexi with the heavenly jingle of a vox. I really really like the mid gain tones best though. It is just killer with my Gretsch.
OVERALL OPINION
I think these are a tremendous value. I have sat this thing next to a TopHat Supreme 16 and a matchless spitfire. It hangs with both of them no problem. Try one of these. It's shocking how under the radar budda is considering the value. These are well built reliable amps.
The design is pretty vox esque. 18 watts. EQ section. Master, volume, drive. Not a complicated amp at all. El84 tubes of course.
UTILIZATION
I have had my superdrive combo for a long long time. I've tried a lot of speakers in it. Including a celestion blue. At the end of the day, the budda stock speaker is actually one of the best speakers you can put in there. It kind of depends what you are going for honestly. This amp can cover a ton of territory. It's not hard to set up. I like to play mine with a Gretsch duo jet most of the time. I play it primarily at church. No matter what other 18 watters I put it up against, it holds its own consistently. Takes pedals like a champ. All you really need is a good delay, a good overdrive, and some mod pedal of your choice to make this a real weapon.
SOUNDS
The Superdrive is fat but not muddy. It has a haze in the low end and a sweetness in the high end. It never sounds harsh...ever. The eq can go a long way toward getting the specific sound you need. As far as gain goes, the superdrive is probably best utilized for those mid gain sounds, or edge of breakup clean sounds. It really rides the area between vox and marshall magnificently. It has the verocity of a plexi with the heavenly jingle of a vox. I really really like the mid gain tones best though. It is just killer with my Gretsch.
OVERALL OPINION
I think these are a tremendous value. I have sat this thing next to a TopHat Supreme 16 and a matchless spitfire. It hangs with both of them no problem. Try one of these. It's shocking how under the radar budda is considering the value. These are well built reliable amps.