Ampfest 2010.....Featuring the NATAS :)

[FortinAmps]

Couldnt get on yesterday for some reason... but it looks like it's all been said here already.
I gotta add, the NATAS was INSANE, I had a short blast on that for a bit, I felt it was a very 'upfront' feel and felt like it had a ton of presence and gain, and my Tone Zone'd Charvel was prolly too much noise for that amp. That and some suk playing... The combination in standard tuning wasnt suited to any nuances I'd normally attempt (and fail)... 4 me, it's real millitant.. And surprisingly, once Ralphie plugged me into the Engl cab, things got fun!! Thanks boys!!!!
I think its very well suited to DROPPED tuned guitars, I'm sorry my C# Ibanez stayed home!
ex: Greg was killin' on the thing and sounded Real tight as he continually de-tuned from A440 to L flat.... ALL the dropped tuned guitars cut the room with TOTAL authority with no flub or breakup thru the NATAS, it took all those frequencies with ease. IMO If you play in a dropped tuning this is THE Amp... f'n awesome...

Thanks H, glad you dug it and thanks for making it down. I loved hearing you rip through it!

I think I'm more suited to Mike's Cali, Scotty's amp has versitility, but the sag, forgiveness and sponge-y goodness I need to milk a note or two and still get away with any alternate picking nonsense I'd bring. In all, once again, I am COMPLETELY blown away with the versatility in Mikes amps and I want a Cali Mod really bad and really soon...

Cool, glad you found your glove. Sorry that I won't be able to do a mod for you in the near future but hopefully next year, I will surprise you with something even better

I couldnt help but notice AGAIN that Mike Fortin is a Volume FREAK, he drives ALL his amps at 200 mph and makes SURE you get every/all possible nuance/combination out of his amps, and then kiks the OP tranny in its ass an pins the thing till the speakers beg forgivness! I also couldnt help but notice as this happened all the old F'ks like me with earplugs in running for cover or standing off to the side of the room, while the young guys were 'front and center' of the cabinet, some sans earplugs... BRING THE PAIN!!!!!!!

I really had a total blast. Thank you Mike!!! Thank you Ralph!!!! I Love you guys...

WHAT!!!!!! Was it that loud? If the cabs had parallel outputs, I would have connected four 4x12's to the amps

Cheers,
Mike

 

[FortinAmps]

Sounds like an awesome time!
Would of been great to A/B all these great amps!

That is the one thing that blew me away about Mikes amps.
Every one has their own personality.
With the exception of the Meathead having the Bones channel, every amp was unique in every aspect.
There was not a bad tone to be found in any of them.
Carl had the Natas swingin jazz style for God sakes.

Thank you very much and I am glad that you noticed that. That was an intentional objective.
I want to hear Carl jazz it up on a Herbert next time, with an 8 string guitar LOL.
Cheers,
Mike

 

[FortinAmps]

Wish i could have made it. I can't say enough good things about my Cali mod, it rips. See you guys next time.

Danny, you were missed buddy. You have to make it out next time. I want to hear you through the Natas. Glad you are still digging the Cali.
Cheers,
Mike

 

[FortinAmps]

I said it once, and I'll say it again, no modded Marshall is comparable to the Cali, in my opinion. I can't wait 'till you start on mine, Mike

The Natas was really a killer amplifier. Anyone who goes for it won't be disappointed (and if they are, you can sell it to me )

I can't wait 'till we do this again

Thanks Greg, it was great hanging with you.

Cheers,
Mike

 

[FortinAmps]

Hey guys, just rolled out of the rack as I woke up this morning and my back is in knots and could not move. Thanks god it happened today and not yesterday, my cali is still in the trunk even as no way can I get that out right now.

Most important is that it is always so cool to see the boys again and shoot the shit, even though it is a mother to get down there it has a feel that we were just there several weeks ago. I learn more shit from these 4-5 hours than I do in months browsing the boards, real presence is indeed far better than typed words. Had my Nikon and Q3 and did not even bother to break either of them out, was just having too much fun with the boys so fuck the press release shit.

Yeah so the Natas, I can say without hesitation that there is no other amp out there like it when it comes to metal. Some may like the voicing and some may not but as far as tracking and overall volume imo it is in a whole new realm. It was very interesting and saddning at the same time to hear my cali rip it up and then the Natas just go way about it in shear volume while staying together 100%, it told me what I thought that with Mike's builds you truely are getting a superior amp. VHT on roids type pounding and clarity but raised another notch. It's clean channel is outstanding as well, above average I will say now since we did not have benchmarks to a/b with at that time. The real hip thing was to hear guys like Nick and Greg wail away on it, Mike's stuff shines with killer chops in the metal riffing department. JUst shows me that good players bring out the great in amps.

Yes I will be spammig this week to fund my 100% deposit on the Natas. The hype curtain has been lifted as 12-14 guys have all heard the amp, played it, and have their opinions. The amp is for real and has lived up to what Mike was saying would come. For the guys that dress up their amps with matching stuff and fancy covers you will be happy to know the red chassis looks very nice and will provide great photo ops.

Now for the bro bro ass slapping.......................

Great to speak with you Carl and hope your possible upcoming projects come to be, you work hard to network and you have good mojo coming to you. Always a treat to see you play, you are a great influence to me to get me in the basement on a nightly basis.

My boy H aka Gainiac, thank you for bringing your "A" game as you don't know how much I love when you get into the grove. For the guys that were not there H settled in and was just burning the joint down

Greg, get over to the Asylum and tell H to get your HOM card! Good to see ya again bro and damn that Dean you have sounds great, cool there was something else there other than charvels

Nick, very cool to meet you and thanks for bringing the CCV with you, I am glad you said the tubes were hammered because I knew that amp had more into it and did not want to be negative towards it. That Carvin is one nice guitar. Your Aldrich fucking smokes!!!!!!! One of the best Camerons I have ever heard.

Ralphie!!! We talk too much so I got nothing for you Always great to see you man.

Mike, thanks for the beers and we will be speaking in a month or so I heard you played after I left fucker!!!! Steve came running to the parking lot yelling Fortin was ripping it up

To my bestest drilling buddy Joe, you rule bro!!!

Dave and Danny, I missed you guys and Dave......I had fucking 9 hours of driving invested


yeah that's all I got and now going back to bed.

Hey Scott, thanks so much for making the trip as well as picking up Kage on the way.
Thanks for the kind words about the Natas. Give me a ring this week.

One more funny thing was that a lot of the metal playing guys dug the Bones alot, real interesting thing that was for me.

It might be the fact that many of us are use to the modded Marshall format and the Bones is the closes to that format then the Meathead or Natas. Also the Bones was the only one completely loaded with EL34s. 6L6 and EL34 mix was present in the other 2 amps.

Cheers,
Mike

 

[FortinAmps]

Wassup Gents!! I took a break after the ampfest and I haven't been online much. Ive been meaning to catch up for days but I was pretty out of it LOL! I've been staying up late for the last week and it finally caught up to me


I can pretty much mirror what everyone else said. It was great to hang out with a great group of people and as the years keep rolling by I've come to the realization of just how lucky I am to know all of you and I can't tell just how fun this is for me.

First and foremost Id like to thank everyone for comming out. I know it can be a pain in the ass driving to one of these things especially if you are out of state ,so I really do appreciate you guys making it down and it's always great to see you all!

Mike, you are the best and your amps simply kill. I love the fact that all of your amps are different and that there is still more to come!! It was great seeing you and I wish you all the success in the world.

Dave, Man brother, We were all really bumbed out that you couldn't make it but everyone understood your predicament lol! Trust me, I would have most definitely done the same thing and the scary fact is that traveling is only going to get worse

Danny, Paige, Ivan, I missed you guys but hopefully Next time you guys can make it!! Maybe we can have a fest out your way again sometime soon

Scotty! You are a brother from another mother and it's always great to see you! I agree that we talk all the time and that's a great thing but it's even better when I get to hang with you! Your enthusiam is second to none! Now get that back in check!!

Joey Z. Man ...You were tearing it up and thanks so much for comming out to hang. I hate to say this to you but that Northern cacalacky place that you moved to aint where you are supposed to be LOL You are a NY'er and my master plan is to get both you and Mike Fortin back here pronto It was great to see you and we will talk soon! BTW, "H" needs your phone number!

Stevie!! Awesome to see you brother! I'm truly glad that you dug all of the amps. I''ll bring the axe-fx rig down to your studio as soon as you can move your arms again LMAO! That personal trainor should be shot for maming you


Greg!! You are like a long lost friend bro and I often have to remind myself just how young you are LOL!! Damn I'm old!! It's always great to see you and hang out with you and talk amps and just shoot the shit in general. We will most definitely get together soon and I need to pick you brain about recording and such! You are very welcome about Dinner and I had a blast with you guys!

Nick!! It was awsome to see you again and thanks so much for comming out and lugging all your stuff! That carvin was bad ass and You know how I feel about the cameron stuff so it was no surprise to me about how good the amps sounded. Well that's not totally true..... That Aldrich that you have is the sickest sounding cameron ive ever heard LMAO!! That's an amp that you get burried with Tell your bass player I said wassup and it was great meeting him to! BTW.....You are both sick for not wearing ear plugs....

H and Kage.... I don't need to say anything to you guys... You know I love you and if you didn't...You now have it in writing! With that said, we need to hang more often, so let's make it happen

Carl!! YOU RULE... Nuff said. If it isn't enough that you are an amazing player, you are also one of the nicest guys on the planet and I wish you all the success in the world. It's always a pleasure hanging out with you and the guys I promise that I will learn the first lesson you taught me and Im comming back for more!!

the4thlast1 (Wasn't sure if you wanted me to use your real name LOL )
It was great to meet you and I'm glad that you and "B" came out and Id most definitely be into a Jam!! You are another guy who surprised me with the no earplugs in the ear LMAO

As far as an amp review I'll let everyone else post their opinion since I'm biased (to alt least 90ma)

oh Yeah.................MIKE FORTIN IS A VOLUME WHORE...... There... I said it

Hey Ralph, Great to see you again and thank you for the hospitality!
I love the new avatar pic

Haha, Volume Whore....how many others of you had hurting heads the rest of the night?

Start cleaning out your garage Talk soon !
Cheers,
Mike

 

[FortinAmps]

Volume whore is an understatement, holy shit are his builds loud! Not sure what Nitros2400 was tuned to but damn that amp held together awesome and it was starting to hurt to be in there I really need to learn to gallope like Nick and Greg, Kage and I were laughing it up driving back making these noises trying to replicate the tones guys were getting as Mike's amps are stupid percussive

Man I wish I had taped H going at it as he went into the zone, that was one for the books. If he was a woman I would have fucked him right there on the spot

Haha, I'm glad that dude brought that wicked low tuned guitar. After we found that the input cord was defective, we got some cool thumpy tones out of it.

 

[FortinAmps]

Hey Fellas, it was great to hang on Saturday!!! It was great to finally meet Greg, Carl, Chris and especially Mike Fortin. Of course its always great to see Ralphile,H,Steve,Joe Z and Scott( Great riding with ya even if we spent a long ass time on the road!!, Thanks again)

On to the Amps...

The Meathead was way over the top for me, There is so much going on with that amp and so many damn tones in there and it really is a masterpiece of build quality with a host of ver smart, intuitive useable features. Straight up Kitchen sink Amp..

The Natas was truly something to behold. Im not really a metal guy but after playing it for a little bit, I cant see any Modern Metal player turning their nose up at this thing. Very modern voicing, Ridiculously fast attack and tracking coupled with a very harmonically rich tone that was clear as a bell no matter where you were gainwise and trust me, this thing has gain to spare. However, it should be mentioned that this thing did a great job of putting out some very useable 80's tones as well which surprised me, I inititally figured that it would be a one trick pony and it had a bit more versatility than I would have given it credit for.. I Should also mention that both of Mikes Amps had really nice cleans, full of chime and sparkle...

The one that did it for me was Scotts Cali modded SLP reissue. Straight up classic modded Marshall with feel for days. Not much to say other than I was Blown away and after playing it, Im seriously thinking about going the same route with a pedal board and calling it a day...

Ive been so busy and out of the loop for almost a year now and forget about not playing for that time, not hanging with you guys for all that time sucked and it was great to hang and have some laid back fun.. Thanks for the Ear Plugs Ralph, They were a Godsend!!!

Kage

Hey Kage, great to finally meet you and thanks for making the trip out from NYC! We'll be talking soon about that amp.
Cheers,
Mike

 

[FortinAmps]

I'll tell you, Mike is pretty good at tweaking amps for a deaf man .

Seriously, Mike, watch your ears or you're going to start voicing amps that sound like ass

I'm glad everyone is saying it. That Cali was one of the stars of the fest for sure. I'm REALLY happy you brought it Scott.

For more of the Local Dokles, I could plan a mini ampfest at my house/studio. Unfortunately there won't be any Fortins there (yet), but I have quite the back yard, and I'll supply BBQ food if you guys bring the beer, which you never seem to have a problem doing anyway . The quarters are a bit tight, so make sure you take a shower before you come

Anyone who is interested, PM me!

Haha, I brought my ear plugs with me....but by the end of the day they didn't seem to help much

No worries, I mainly only let the volume loose at these amp fests.
Cheers,
Mike

 

[FortinAmps]

Hey, it was nice to meet all you cats yesterday, I had a good time. This is Chris, Im the dude who brought the Mills cab. Anyways I forgot to mention this yesterday but the bass player from my band and I have been talking about trying to put together a jam session type thing that could be maybe once or twice a month.

Basically we could have some set chord progressions , nothing to crazy but nice things to solo over. I figure we could have as many as 5 or so guitar players and just take turns soloing and playing the chords. My bass player is pretty nasty and would def keep a good groove goin. If anyone is interest let me know, no pressure at all.

Hey Chris,
Thank you for coming down and hanging out! Always great to meet new people
Hope to see again at the next one.
Cheers,
Mike

 

[FortinAmps]

Hey guys this is Brandon, I was the guy with the blue esp in "drop q" I just wanted to pop in and say thanks and that I really enjoyed the ampfest. It was really nice to finally put some faces to the names at HC, as well as meeting some of you RT guys

I think everything has already been covered in here, Mike builds some ridiculous amps. They are both mean and clean. Can't say enough about the versatility of each of the amps. They go from the meanest tightest rhythm tones to the most pristine cleans. Each amp has its own nuances yet they all have very smooth singing lead voices. Thanks again for coming down Mike I wish I would have known about the fest a little earlier, I'd have planned better and brought some more gear lol. But all in all I had a great time.

Hey Brandon,
Awesome to meet you. I was very happy that you brought down that low tuned guitar
Thanks for the kind words and I hope that you'll attend future fests!
Cheers,
Mike

 

[FortinAmps]

how's the Natas voiced?

big and boomy like a Recto or Herbert?


Marshall times a zillion?

It does not have the type of bottom end like a Herbert. It does have a lot of bass response but more of the chest pounding type
Cheers,
Mike

 

[FortinAmps]

The NATAS reviews are exactly what I thought they would be.

Sounds like a blast. Hopefully I will get to play a NATAS soon...

Hey Jason,
It would have been killer if you were there! I think you'll dig it more than your Hulk mod.
Drop me a line when you are back from tour. We'll see what we can do about getting a Natas out to your neck of the woods for a possible TX type of amp fest.
Hope all is well with you!
Cheers,
Mike

 

[FortinAmps]

Hey guess what I was trying to be nice and post some stuff for guys who are either not in NY or have never even heard a Fortin like myself before the ampfest. Theres alot of speculation and hype over these amps and for good reason, alot of people want to hear them so I took the time to set my camera OUT OF THE WAY so it didnt get knocked over and broken by the 20 guys running around all excited from the amazing amps in a cramped room. So if you base total judgement on buying an amp soley on my lame youtube video than your an idiot I'm sorry...

I figured I would be nice and set my camera up since NO ONE ELSE DID, but guess what you got your wish all the clips will come down and now no one will hear mikes awesome amps

Sorry guys and sorry mike
-Brandon

Thank you for all the effort into doing the video. I didn't see it btw, a little late hitting this thread. No worries man, the main reason for wanting to check the stuff before it goes up is for quality and mainly editing. The last amp fest there was wicked long clips, people tuning, long pauses with no audio....it would have been great to edit down the audio to like 50 seconds of actual audio and then make all the clips the same level. These fests are mostly about playing and hanging. When people get too involved with doing video and documenting it, they loose face time with the amps. Hope to see you at the next one!
Cheers,
Mike

 

[FortinAmps]

wow that natas looks badass !! wonder if there are any quality clips to do justice? anyone?

Working on getting some quality clips happening. Many other things to get off the plate first. The Natas is still a prototype and have another voicing session to do with it.
Stay tuned!
Mike

 

[FortinAmps]

So what was everybody's favorite cab/speaker combination with the Fortin amps? Particularly with the Meathead.

I still dig the V30s with it

 

[FortinAmps]

I had fun and it was actually the first ampfest Ive been to. You all seemed like a great bunch of dudes and I felt welcome to be there, thanks for that. Brandon and I just happened to notice the post and decided to swing by kind of last minute. I didnt even realize that it was mostly a Fortin ampfest until I got there. I thought it was gonna be a bunch of guys bringing there own personal stuff. Either way it was cool and I was happy to meet some other players and fellow gear whores of NY. We had no idea that there was a problem with a previous ampfest and videos being taken. Anyway its all good , lets not let a couple guys who werent even there turn this into a pissing match.

It is always great to see and meet new faces. I'm glad that you guys felt welcome because you were Feel free to bring anything you want to the amp fests and I hope to see you again at the next one at X-mas time I wish I had time to check out that Fireball that you brought as you said it had something special to it. Please bring it next time.
Cheers,
Mike

 

[FortinAmps]

Whats Cookin everyone ?

I made it back to NC safe and sound ... The drive took longer than expected ..14 hrs !! Thanks to Washington DC doing late nite road work , teenage daughters needing to stop , me needing to stop for a smoke since I wont smoke in the car with my girl and her daughters . I would have posted sooner but the cell reception at my dads sucks. So, getting internet on the lap top and phone was a no go . Then I was delirious from being up at 9 am then leaving at 9 pm then driving and stopping and driving and stopping etc. for 14 hrs killed my ass for a day or two .

I am very thankful i drove my ass up to NY and got to Hang with all of my friends . It was a great experience being part of a piece of Fortin History . All of Mikes work is becoming Epic for Metal Heads . The 5150 was huge for all new style of metal players . Now Fortin amplification can crush all comers . I hope Mike become new flavor in Metal

The NATAS is so focused . The guy tuned to G with a bottom string of .072 didnt flub in the least bit . If being tuned to G ( ) and no loose flubbery , that was pretty amazing . The guys sitting on the floor were jumping up saying that it was vibrating their balls !!!!!!!!

Mike you are truly amazing at what you do !! Everything ive played or heard so far is like a dream come true ... I think of a tone that would be amazing and there it is coming from the speakers attached to your Amp ...

I like the cab that 4thlastone brought the best , the Mills with the V30s . I liked it the second it got plugged in .

For anyone who missed out , YOU MISSED OUT !!! Not only on Mr. Fortins alchemy of tone but on The level of talent of the guys who played through those amps . These guys made those amps sing , grind , thump and scream !!! Mike was the wizard from the wizard of oz but not hiding behind a curtain . He showed us what his work is capable of by tweaking each amp for every style of player that was there . From Ralph's amazing singing shred to Carl Roa's violin like playing , Gregs sick chest thumping tight rythmical jack hammering ... Then Scotty tore up on his Most amazing freak of a Cali Mod , Stevie Just showing his beginnings of an addiction to the Meathead's pure tone of the Amp gods . Kage you said you took time off from playing ?! Sure didnt sound like you were rusty or missed a beat brother , you sure you werent sneaking in play time ? Mike you shocked everyone / thread !!!

H ... I am pissed ... I was outside when you were playing . When I came back in all I heard from everyone was "did you hear how that guy just tore that amp up?" ... next time . And a HUGE thank you for once again being my coach and watching over me , I felt SOOOOOOOOOOO nervous playing in front of the 20 or so talented people that were there . Funny thing ... if you look at the pic of everyone covering their ears ... look who is playing ... id say it was from my horrible mindless wankery instead of that volume ... c'mon everyone fess up !!! That pic is so EPIC anyway you want to take it ... Looks like a bunch of Parents standing around while some kid is making those awful screeching sounds on a violin !!

The worst thing of the day .. was saying good bye to everyone .. I really hate good byes but , I know ill see everyone again in the future . Hopefully the near future !!

Ralph .... thank you thank you thank you thank you . I was like a leech that didnt want to let go and go back to NC !

Steve thanks for picking me up and taking me back ... reminded me of when we were kids in the 80's drivin around in the old nova !!

Joe

Hey Joe,
Great seeing you and hanging after the fest. I almost didn't recognize you when I first pulled into the parking lot. Last time I saw you, you had long hair and a stash.
Good luck in NC, it is a much slower pace than LI
Cheers,
Mike

 

[FortinAmps]

Thank you again to everyone for making the effort to come out and hang, I greatly appreciate it

My website is back up and running. Will be uploading Natas info shortly.
Until then here are a couple of pics before I threw it in the car for the trip down to NY.

Cheers!
Mike

 

[Lead_sound]