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xxmartinxx « My one time dream amp »
Published on 10/09/11 at 15:37- Three channels
- Shared eq for the second and third channels (mid and high gain)
- A million switches and options
- Optional metal grill
- Four EL34's (also available with four 6L6's called the 101A)
UTILIZATION
Here you have anything but your basic three channel amp. You have a three channel amp with a bunch of switches and convoluted layout. Tweaking this amp is a nightmare. I used to fight with this amp all the time throughout band practice. I could never get the right sound out of it. All of the switches proved useless. I even had the Class A/AB switch option, which was pretty useless as well. Just thinking about eq-ing this amp gives me an instant headache. I did like the mute on the footswitch, though. And the blue LED is a really nice color. The switching was fast and accurate.
SOUNDS
How it sounds depends on what channel you are on. The clean channel is really bad. Just awful. The notes don't bloom or sustain, they just clunk flatly on the neck. The clean sound was the worst part of this amp. The second, mid gain, channel sounded the best. It sounded like the best JCM800 you've ever heard. Some people have claimed that this channel is worth the price alone. I understand what they are saying, but not for me. The third, high gain, channel is a little odd. It is darker than the blue mid gain channel. So much so that it almost seems like you have cotton in your ears. Trying to tweak this channel was a frustrating task. You could hear that there was a good amp in there somewhere, but I could never coax it out.
I attempted to use three different cabinets with the amp. One was a Bogner angled 4x12 loaded with Celestion Vintage 30's. Another was a Marshall reissue basketweave cab loaded with Celestion Green Backs. The last was a Sunn reissue cab loaded with Celestion G12T75's. To my ears, the amp sounded the best with the Green Back cab and probably worst with the Bogner Vintage 30 cab.
OVERALL OPINION
This was my dream amp. I mean that. I had literally dreamed about this amp and how awesome it was going to be. Then I got it and was so disappointed. Like I said, the blue channel was fantastic, but the clean channel was bad and red channel was mediocre. It was not what I had been dreaming of. I tried to make the amp work. I wanted so hard to love it. No matter how hard I tried to embrace the amp, it kept pushing me away.
I honestly believe that if they did away with all the switches, it would probably make the amp sound better. I think that was part of the over all congestion of the clean and red channels.
One other problem I had with the amp is that my amp had the metal grill option. While in use, the hard plastic Bogner logo actually vibrated causing a loud audible buzzing sound. That was a little annoying.
If this is your dream amp like it was mine, I would suggest you try to play one since. I've played a few other since then and I still have a similar opinion of the amp. I wouldn't want you to have the same disappointment I had.
- Shared eq for the second and third channels (mid and high gain)
- A million switches and options
- Optional metal grill
- Four EL34's (also available with four 6L6's called the 101A)
UTILIZATION
Here you have anything but your basic three channel amp. You have a three channel amp with a bunch of switches and convoluted layout. Tweaking this amp is a nightmare. I used to fight with this amp all the time throughout band practice. I could never get the right sound out of it. All of the switches proved useless. I even had the Class A/AB switch option, which was pretty useless as well. Just thinking about eq-ing this amp gives me an instant headache. I did like the mute on the footswitch, though. And the blue LED is a really nice color. The switching was fast and accurate.
SOUNDS
How it sounds depends on what channel you are on. The clean channel is really bad. Just awful. The notes don't bloom or sustain, they just clunk flatly on the neck. The clean sound was the worst part of this amp. The second, mid gain, channel sounded the best. It sounded like the best JCM800 you've ever heard. Some people have claimed that this channel is worth the price alone. I understand what they are saying, but not for me. The third, high gain, channel is a little odd. It is darker than the blue mid gain channel. So much so that it almost seems like you have cotton in your ears. Trying to tweak this channel was a frustrating task. You could hear that there was a good amp in there somewhere, but I could never coax it out.
I attempted to use three different cabinets with the amp. One was a Bogner angled 4x12 loaded with Celestion Vintage 30's. Another was a Marshall reissue basketweave cab loaded with Celestion Green Backs. The last was a Sunn reissue cab loaded with Celestion G12T75's. To my ears, the amp sounded the best with the Green Back cab and probably worst with the Bogner Vintage 30 cab.
OVERALL OPINION
This was my dream amp. I mean that. I had literally dreamed about this amp and how awesome it was going to be. Then I got it and was so disappointed. Like I said, the blue channel was fantastic, but the clean channel was bad and red channel was mediocre. It was not what I had been dreaming of. I tried to make the amp work. I wanted so hard to love it. No matter how hard I tried to embrace the amp, it kept pushing me away.
I honestly believe that if they did away with all the switches, it would probably make the amp sound better. I think that was part of the over all congestion of the clean and red channels.
One other problem I had with the amp is that my amp had the metal grill option. While in use, the hard plastic Bogner logo actually vibrated causing a loud audible buzzing sound. That was a little annoying.
If this is your dream amp like it was mine, I would suggest you try to play one since. I've played a few other since then and I still have a similar opinion of the amp. I wouldn't want you to have the same disappointment I had.