mctallica1
Well-known member
I received my Cherry Bomb Friday and got to spend a pretty good amout of time with it over the weekend exploring its capabilities.
Not going to post any pics, because the Picture Diary of the build thread Steve posted is my amp, so you can see A LOT of detailed pics there along with a great description of the build process.
Disclaimer...I am mostly a metal guy, not hair metal, but thrash and modern, so that is the perspective I am coming from. Been playing guitar for almost 30 years now..>WOW.
First thing is the pack job Steve does. EXCEPTIONAL in every way. The box is super heavy and all the packing material is custom made for this amp, including a nice compartment inside the styrophoam for the footswitch.
This amp is HEAVY. Upon initial visual inspection, it looks sturdy as hell.
I had already familiarized myself with the manual, so it was pretty much plug and play.
Steve sent the amp with his settings already dialed in, so that is where I started...You can definitely tell Steve likes to play leads because his settings just beg for single note runs that scream
. I am more of a heavy rythm player, so I tinkered with the settings a bit and came up with tones that fit the bill nicely.
Lets talk about each channel.
Plex Channel.
This channel lives up to its name in a big way. Very Plexi like.
There is definitely that signature Marshall KERRANG in this channel. I love the saturation switch. Not a huge difference on this channel, but it is definitely noticeable. My preference is to the left.
As has been my experience jumping a real plexi amp, I don't have much use for the internal plex jump, but I can definitely see where some folks would love it.
Dynamics with the volume knob on your guitar are fucking awesome on this channel in particular. Amazing.
I currently have this channel set up for an early thrash type tone and it delivers in spades. Additionally, this channel takes a boost REALLY well. I have an OD808 boosting it and it sounds mean as hell for my thrashy rythm playing.
Rod Channel
Fire breathing hot rod tone here! Definitely a modded Marshall vibe. Even with the gain cranked you can hear every note in a chord. Articulation is incredible.
The saturation switch on this channel is more pronounced than on the Plex channel. For my purposes, I like this to the left as well, which adds compression and a good amount of USEABLE gain. FWIW, as the volume goes up, I prefer the switch to the right. Very nice tone tool here! NOTE: Even with the switch to the left, this amp is not overly compressed. It still has a bit of a raw tone, which I think it fucking spectacular. Not sure how Steve pulled this off, but KUDO's!
This channel is set up for more of a modern high gain tone right now. I am getting some thunderous, but tight rythm tones. Articulation on fast picked lines is very nice. FWIW, I am using guitars in standard and 1/2 step mdown right now, so I can't really comment on low tunings.
This channel also takes a boost REALLY well, but it definitely does not need one. I switched a few boosts in and out just to change the flavor a bit and they all sounded really good.
Absolutely love this channel.
The footswitch is also built like a tank and the 3 buttons give me exactly what I need. Loop, Solo and Channel. I have a delay and EQ in the loop right now but only want it on the Rod channel, so it is nice to be able to switch it off and on. The solo switch is perfect for adding some juice for a lead (didn't cover it, but there is a solo volume knob and saturation switch on the amp).
The loop is Series and Paralell. I tend to prefer Series, so having the option is a definite plus...and there is NO tone suckage.
I did replace a couple of the stock preamp tubes. Put RFT's in P-V1 and R-V1. To my ears, the RFT's sound awesome in these slots.
I am sure I am just breaking the surface with this amp, but I can definitely tell you it hangs with ANY of the high end amps I have owned over the years and as far as features go, I think it is better than most. You can tell a guitar player came up with this design because there are just so many useable features in a simple format.
I am certain there are worlds that this amp can do in the rock arena that I haven't even glimpsed.
Steve...Thank you sir for taking the time to create this thing. Truly impressive in every way.
Not going to post any pics, because the Picture Diary of the build thread Steve posted is my amp, so you can see A LOT of detailed pics there along with a great description of the build process.
Disclaimer...I am mostly a metal guy, not hair metal, but thrash and modern, so that is the perspective I am coming from. Been playing guitar for almost 30 years now..>WOW.
First thing is the pack job Steve does. EXCEPTIONAL in every way. The box is super heavy and all the packing material is custom made for this amp, including a nice compartment inside the styrophoam for the footswitch.
This amp is HEAVY. Upon initial visual inspection, it looks sturdy as hell.
I had already familiarized myself with the manual, so it was pretty much plug and play.
Steve sent the amp with his settings already dialed in, so that is where I started...You can definitely tell Steve likes to play leads because his settings just beg for single note runs that scream
. I am more of a heavy rythm player, so I tinkered with the settings a bit and came up with tones that fit the bill nicely.Lets talk about each channel.
Plex Channel.
This channel lives up to its name in a big way. Very Plexi like.
There is definitely that signature Marshall KERRANG in this channel. I love the saturation switch. Not a huge difference on this channel, but it is definitely noticeable. My preference is to the left.
As has been my experience jumping a real plexi amp, I don't have much use for the internal plex jump, but I can definitely see where some folks would love it.
Dynamics with the volume knob on your guitar are fucking awesome on this channel in particular. Amazing.
I currently have this channel set up for an early thrash type tone and it delivers in spades. Additionally, this channel takes a boost REALLY well. I have an OD808 boosting it and it sounds mean as hell for my thrashy rythm playing.
Rod Channel
Fire breathing hot rod tone here! Definitely a modded Marshall vibe. Even with the gain cranked you can hear every note in a chord. Articulation is incredible.
The saturation switch on this channel is more pronounced than on the Plex channel. For my purposes, I like this to the left as well, which adds compression and a good amount of USEABLE gain. FWIW, as the volume goes up, I prefer the switch to the right. Very nice tone tool here! NOTE: Even with the switch to the left, this amp is not overly compressed. It still has a bit of a raw tone, which I think it fucking spectacular. Not sure how Steve pulled this off, but KUDO's!
This channel is set up for more of a modern high gain tone right now. I am getting some thunderous, but tight rythm tones. Articulation on fast picked lines is very nice. FWIW, I am using guitars in standard and 1/2 step mdown right now, so I can't really comment on low tunings.
This channel also takes a boost REALLY well, but it definitely does not need one. I switched a few boosts in and out just to change the flavor a bit and they all sounded really good.
Absolutely love this channel.
The footswitch is also built like a tank and the 3 buttons give me exactly what I need. Loop, Solo and Channel. I have a delay and EQ in the loop right now but only want it on the Rod channel, so it is nice to be able to switch it off and on. The solo switch is perfect for adding some juice for a lead (didn't cover it, but there is a solo volume knob and saturation switch on the amp).
The loop is Series and Paralell. I tend to prefer Series, so having the option is a definite plus...and there is NO tone suckage.
I did replace a couple of the stock preamp tubes. Put RFT's in P-V1 and R-V1. To my ears, the RFT's sound awesome in these slots.
I am sure I am just breaking the surface with this amp, but I can definitely tell you it hangs with ANY of the high end amps I have owned over the years and as far as features go, I think it is better than most. You can tell a guitar player came up with this design because there are just so many useable features in a simple format.
I am certain there are worlds that this amp can do in the rock arena that I haven't even glimpsed.
Steve...Thank you sir for taking the time to create this thing. Truly impressive in every way.
