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mooseherman
Published on 05/15/09 at 11:32
This all-tube amp head is a 120 watt powerhouse. There's a 1/4' input and two footswitch inputs. There are two channels, Vintage and Hot (which function just like typical clean and distorted channels would.) There are the standard bass, middle, treble, master and presence controls on both channels. The vintage channel also features a bright switch that has three positions, and the Hot channel has a dampening switch that has two positions. There is also a Sensitivity switch for a -6dB pad that works pretty well. Finally, it also has an effects loop.
UTILIZATION
The setup for this amp is far from simple. To use all the features on the footswitch, you need two cables (unless you only want to change channels or turn the effects loop on/off, to be able to control the dampening switch you need an extra cable.) Getting a good sound was difficult for me, it offers a nice range of options but none of those options sounded particularly good to me. The manual helped me pretty well, but it still took a while for me to figure out everything.. It's almost a case of having too many options to work with on a practical level.
SOUNDS
I play a bluesy, rootsy kind of rock music, as well as some really noisy experimental stuff as well. I found that this amp doesn't suit my style as well as I'd hoped. I tried using it with a Fender Strat '67 reissue, and had some difficulty with it. The vintage channel had to be cranked in order for it to sound good, and the Hot channel just gave too much noise and not enough signal. It also wasn't a good noise that would add atmosphere to a good song, it was just the kind of noise that robs you of gain. I wasn't crazy about anything except the Vintage tone when it was really bright and cranked, and usually that was too loud for my purposes. Living with your parents or with roomates would make such loudness a huge nuisance. However, I must say that the amp is pretty well suited for much heavier styles of music. A friend of mine brought a Gibson Les Paul over to play and he used this amp. It actually sounded really good since we were switching it up and playing some heavy, grunge/punk sounding music. So I can't rate the sounds from this amp low; even though it's not for me, it might be great for others.
OVERALL OPINION
I only had this amp for about a year before I sold it to the aforementioned friend. It ended up working out much better for him. I liked how heavy it could get, but rarely found myself justifying such a booming, heavy sound. I ended up going with a Marshall combo that worked really well for a few years. I think that one can't really complain about the price. I've seen more expensive amps that deliver far less. I wouldn't buy it again, but I'd recommend that punk/metal/hardcore players at least check it out.
UTILIZATION
The setup for this amp is far from simple. To use all the features on the footswitch, you need two cables (unless you only want to change channels or turn the effects loop on/off, to be able to control the dampening switch you need an extra cable.) Getting a good sound was difficult for me, it offers a nice range of options but none of those options sounded particularly good to me. The manual helped me pretty well, but it still took a while for me to figure out everything.. It's almost a case of having too many options to work with on a practical level.
SOUNDS
I play a bluesy, rootsy kind of rock music, as well as some really noisy experimental stuff as well. I found that this amp doesn't suit my style as well as I'd hoped. I tried using it with a Fender Strat '67 reissue, and had some difficulty with it. The vintage channel had to be cranked in order for it to sound good, and the Hot channel just gave too much noise and not enough signal. It also wasn't a good noise that would add atmosphere to a good song, it was just the kind of noise that robs you of gain. I wasn't crazy about anything except the Vintage tone when it was really bright and cranked, and usually that was too loud for my purposes. Living with your parents or with roomates would make such loudness a huge nuisance. However, I must say that the amp is pretty well suited for much heavier styles of music. A friend of mine brought a Gibson Les Paul over to play and he used this amp. It actually sounded really good since we were switching it up and playing some heavy, grunge/punk sounding music. So I can't rate the sounds from this amp low; even though it's not for me, it might be great for others.
OVERALL OPINION
I only had this amp for about a year before I sold it to the aforementioned friend. It ended up working out much better for him. I liked how heavy it could get, but rarely found myself justifying such a booming, heavy sound. I ended up going with a Marshall combo that worked really well for a few years. I think that one can't really complain about the price. I've seen more expensive amps that deliver far less. I wouldn't buy it again, but I'd recommend that punk/metal/hardcore players at least check it out.