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Audiofanzine FR
Published on 12/13/08 at 06:53
(Originally written by hardbluesbreaker70's/translated from Audiofanzine FR)
- All-tube 30-watt amp.
- 2 x 10" speaker
- 2 channels: clean and boost
- Reverb
- FX loop
- Speaker output
- Footswitch input
- Master volume and dedicated volume controls on each channel
No unnecessary controls!
UTILIZATION
It's plug and play...
Effective EQ so you can easily find your sound
SOUNDS
I play pop music, country, blues and hard rock (Led Zeppelin, ACDC, Deep Purple, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Paul Gilbert, Buddy Guy, American Dog and many more!!!).
I own an Epiphone Standard Plus and a Marshall Bluesbreaker 2 overdrive pedal.
- Clean sound: It's the most Fender-like Marshall. It has a high dynamic range for funky rhythm parts. It provides the crystal-clear character of a Fender and the round and fat bottom of a Marshall. It allows you to play funk gimmicks and nice arpeggios, but also folk songs and wonderful blues licks with a bit of reverb. And it always has an indefinable vintage touch.
- Distortion sound: It all depends on the gain setting. At one quarter of the way, you get a Chuck Berry sound, at halfway you get a Led Zeppelin (think Communication Breakdown) and rock 'n' roll sound, and at three quarters it's ACDC (You shook me all night long and Highway to hell). At the maximum gain, you still get the typical ACDC sound character but with a bit more violence, ideal for hard rock (I personally love playing Deep Purple's Highway Star with this setting). The only con regarding this channel is the noise at full gain. I use my overdrive pedal which has a comparable gain character but without noise.
Note: the examples that I gave here you don't mean that you'll get exactly the same sound. It only means the character is very similar. At full gain, you get a fat overdrive but the sound is still accurate and clear with a vintage touch. Excellent!
- Reverb: I was very disappointed with the reverb because it sounds very thin and too weak. The effect is not clearly audible even with an extreme setting. A pedal surely provides better results.
- Output power: You could think 30 watts are not enough... but these will blow away your windows!!! The output power is enough to play in pubs and small concert halls! This amp is loud BUT its clean and boost channels don't provide the same output level so I use my overdrive pedal.
UPDATE: I just bought a Gibson Les Paul Black Beauty and I can say now that this amp is terrific! It rocks you off your feet. Don't hesitate to use high gain settings since the amp has a pretty good response. I think it doesn't have enough low-end for heavy metal, but it's perfect for high-energy rock and for clean or distorted blues sounds. Awesome!!
OVERALL OPINION
I've been using it for 2 months and I've played live with it.
I love it in spite of its technical problems, but considering the price I paid for it, I won't complain! One last thing: use it with a distortion pedal for soloing.
- All-tube 30-watt amp.
- 2 x 10" speaker
- 2 channels: clean and boost
- Reverb
- FX loop
- Speaker output
- Footswitch input
- Master volume and dedicated volume controls on each channel
No unnecessary controls!
UTILIZATION
It's plug and play...
Effective EQ so you can easily find your sound
SOUNDS
I play pop music, country, blues and hard rock (Led Zeppelin, ACDC, Deep Purple, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Paul Gilbert, Buddy Guy, American Dog and many more!!!).
I own an Epiphone Standard Plus and a Marshall Bluesbreaker 2 overdrive pedal.
- Clean sound: It's the most Fender-like Marshall. It has a high dynamic range for funky rhythm parts. It provides the crystal-clear character of a Fender and the round and fat bottom of a Marshall. It allows you to play funk gimmicks and nice arpeggios, but also folk songs and wonderful blues licks with a bit of reverb. And it always has an indefinable vintage touch.
- Distortion sound: It all depends on the gain setting. At one quarter of the way, you get a Chuck Berry sound, at halfway you get a Led Zeppelin (think Communication Breakdown) and rock 'n' roll sound, and at three quarters it's ACDC (You shook me all night long and Highway to hell). At the maximum gain, you still get the typical ACDC sound character but with a bit more violence, ideal for hard rock (I personally love playing Deep Purple's Highway Star with this setting). The only con regarding this channel is the noise at full gain. I use my overdrive pedal which has a comparable gain character but without noise.
Note: the examples that I gave here you don't mean that you'll get exactly the same sound. It only means the character is very similar. At full gain, you get a fat overdrive but the sound is still accurate and clear with a vintage touch. Excellent!
- Reverb: I was very disappointed with the reverb because it sounds very thin and too weak. The effect is not clearly audible even with an extreme setting. A pedal surely provides better results.
- Output power: You could think 30 watts are not enough... but these will blow away your windows!!! The output power is enough to play in pubs and small concert halls! This amp is loud BUT its clean and boost channels don't provide the same output level so I use my overdrive pedal.
UPDATE: I just bought a Gibson Les Paul Black Beauty and I can say now that this amp is terrific! It rocks you off your feet. Don't hesitate to use high gain settings since the amp has a pretty good response. I think it doesn't have enough low-end for heavy metal, but it's perfect for high-energy rock and for clean or distorted blues sounds. Awesome!!
OVERALL OPINION
I've been using it for 2 months and I've played live with it.
I love it in spite of its technical problems, but considering the price I paid for it, I won't complain! One last thing: use it with a distortion pedal for soloing.