Henning Cherry Bomb #001?

[SQUAREHEAD]

This amplifier just came up for sale in my area, I recall seeing it for sale quite a few times over the years…
Has anybody here on RT ever owned this one?
What did you think of it?

 

[RaceU4her]

I think jerevil had it?

 

[Racerxrated]

Steve Henning put some Cameron DNA into his amps; I remember hearing MC was pissed about it. Like Jerry of Surreal; MC wasn’t happy with him either. That said, I did hear nice things about the amp.

 

[glpg80]

I owned Cherry bomb #22 or #32, can’t remember. It didn’t have enough gain on tap for me without a boost. It’s a more aggressive metroplex sound wise that seemed to choke your playing in a way that I really didn’t like. It can sound way more heavy with a boost in front and an EQ in the loop.

Steve isn’t making amps anymore - he went out of business. So it’s safe to assume there’s no applied warranty here and he would not release schematics or allow certified repair centers. Since it’s a PCB design you’re buying at your own risk.

I sold mine to fund a real Marshall to modify. It just didn’t give up the goods without a lot of pedal help. I expect that from a metroplex, but for a dedicated amp that was intended to cover all Marshall mods in one by design, it failed to deliver. Just about every amp in my Arsenal has more gain and fluidity on tap than the cherry bomb did except for my metroplex.

Also it’s worth noting the clean channel isn’t clean at all but rather a crunch channel. At the time I wanted something with an actual clean channel hence the 101B.

 

[braintheory]

I had #8 and thought it was ok, but felt the Wizard and Gower I had at the time sounded a lot better. Glpg80 mostly covered in his post the things about it that weren’t for me. I also didn’t like the feel of it much

 

[glpg80]

I had #8 and thought it was ok, but felt the Wizard and Gower I had at the time sounded a lot better. Glpg80 mostly covered in his post the things about that weren’t for me. I also didn’t like the feel of it much

Yeah back then Wizards had not caught on as much as they have recently. To the OP. If you didn’t like your Wizard metal you’re definitely not going to like the CB IMO.

With all of that said, I will say I did try to modify it a bit to add more because the sound was there but it needed more fluidity and more gain under the knob which would allow you to dial it back and add in more upper mids instead of having it sit on 10 all the time virtually scooping your tone since you don’t get the benefit of a pregain bypass cap hi pass filter. But anytime I tried to mod it slightly, the amp would go unstable. He tuned it to absolute max and backed it off and that was his design it seemed.

The amp does sound great with pedals but it just wasn’t what I wanted at the time in features or sound so I sold it.

 

[braintheory]

Steve Henning put some Cameron DNA into his amps; I remember hearing MC was pissed about it. Like Jerry of Surreal; MC wasn’t happy with him either. That said, I did hear nice things about the amp.

The Cherry Bomb I had had some similarities, but overall imo pretty different than my ccv. The feel in the Cherry bomb and CCV imo were almost polar opposites. The CCV kinda plays itself

 

[braintheory]

Yeah back then Wizards had not caught on as much as they have recently. To the OP. If you didn’t like your Wizard metal you’re definitely not going to like the CB IMO.

Yeah back then it was 1996 MC I had. I paid only $2100 for it and it sent many amps packing (most of which were more expensive). I’ve since then had (still have) a 2016 MTL that I like a lot more than that ‘96 MC

 

[glpg80]

I’m not a diode clipping fan so I know the wizard isn’t for me and is partially why I didn’t like some of the other features on the cherry bomb. That’s why I love my Aldrich and my own 74 Marshall. I add clipping diodes with a pedal out front if I need it at all and it just sounds better to me.

 

[SQUAREHEAD]

Thanks guys, I will take a big pass on it, I just saw it for sale and the price was pretty good… But definitely doesn’t sound like it’s anything I’m interested in.

 

[Mailman1971]

I owned Cherry bomb #22 or #32, can’t remember. It didn’t have enough gain on tap for me without a boost. It’s a more aggressive metroplex sound wise that seemed to choke your playing in a way that I really didn’t like. It can sound way more heavy with a boost in front and an EQ in the loop.

Steve isn’t making amps anymore - he went out of business. So it’s safe to assume there’s no applied warranty here and he would not release schematics or allow certified repair centers. Since it’s a PCB design you’re buying at your own risk.

I sold mine to fund a real Marshall to modify. It just didn’t give up the goods without a lot of pedal help. I expect that from a metroplex, but for a dedicated amp that was intended to cover all Marshall mods in one by design, it failed to deliver. Just about every amp in my Arsenal has more gain and fluidity on tap than the cherry bomb did except for my metroplex.

Also it’s worth noting the clean channel isn’t clean at all but rather a crunch channel. At the time I wanted something with an actual clean channel hence the 101B.

I was gonna buy a CB myself. Had like 3 guys I trust told me stay away for this very reason.
I tend to like some gain that I can back off. Not a amp that I gotta run 100 percent and still struggling.

 

[thegame]

...he went out of business. So it’s safe to assume there’s no applied warranty here and he would not release schematics or allow certified repair centers. Since it’s a PCB design you’re buying at your own risk.

Not cool at all. I remember that guy was just about the most argumentative SOB I've ever seen on these forums. Like, he would write volumes of replies in arguments about the most petty, mundane stuff. One of those types that will never, ever admit to being wrong about anything. Besides, who wants to own an amp that immediately brings to mind that God awful Warrant song?

 

[japetus]

Not cool at all. I remember that guy was just about the most argumentative SOB I've ever seen on these forums. Like, he would write volumes of replies in arguments about the most petty, mundane stuff. One of those types that will never, ever admit to being wrong about anything. Besides, who wants to own an amp that immediately brings to mind that God awful Warrant song?

Ahhhh the good ole days!!

 

[JackBootedThug]

why did he leave here? I know people just move on with life and find other distractions but he was building and selling a fair amount if I remember correctly. Him and "Roberto" savage were big buddies also...Bob was funny as shit at times...

 

[rottingcorpse]

I had that exact amp for a short minute like 4 years ago. Was excited to get the first production Hennings amp in my collection. Traded a VHT D-120 for it and the guy I got the CB from said the volume pot on the VHT I sent was scratchy so we traded back. Let's just say I liked the D120 way better and was glad to get it back. I thought the CB was a beautiful looking and designed amp,but I quickly realized it wasn't for me. My Gutierrez modded 800 is far more brutal and the CB was more rock...and I hate having to use a boost which I'm sure would have brought the CB closer to what I like. But DAMN if the CB wasn't beautiful looking inside and out. He built that amp with love,IMO.

 

[japetus]

why did he leave here? I know people just move on with life and find other distractions but he was building and selling a fair amount if I remember correctly. Him and "Roberto" savage were big buddies also...Bob was funny as shit at times...

Last I heard, Bob bought a huge boat and was freelancing as a mercenary for hire in the Indian Ocean taking down Somali pirates. That was a few years ago, so I don't know now.

 

[LP Freak]

Bob still shows his face once in a while

 

[Dino 939]

Not cool at all. I remember that guy was just about the most argumentative SOB I've ever seen on these forums. Like, he would write volumes of replies in arguments about the most petty, mundane stuff. One of those types that will never, ever admit to being wrong about anything. Besides, who wants to own an amp that immediately brings to mind that God awful Warrant song?

?,
Close our books and walk home.

 

[Wizard of Ozz]

why did he leave here? I know people just move on with life and find other distractions but he was building and selling a fair amount if I remember correctly. Him and "Roberto" savage were big buddies also...Bob was funny as shit at times...

I heard they got married and opened a chain of bathhouses in San Francisco?

Those amps sucked ass btw. Several had repair issues with little help from the builder end.

 

[Beyond Black]

I had that exact amp for a short minute like 4 years ago. Was excited to get the first production Hennings amp in my collection. Traded a VHT D-120 for it and the guy I got the CB from said the volume pot on the VHT I sent was scratchy so we traded back. Let's just say I liked the D120 way better and was glad to get it back. I thought the CB was a beautiful looking and designed amp,but I quickly realized it wasn't for me. My Gutierrez modded 800 is far more brutal and the CB was more rock...and I hate having to use a boost which I'm sure would have brought the CB closer to what I like. But DAMN if the CB wasn't beautiful looking inside and out. He built that amp with love,IMO.

The CB is indeed a beautiful amp to look at, unfortunately that’s all I liked about it. I couldn’t move that amp quick enough.