D
diagrammatiks
New member
After a year of buying way to much stuff, most of it wrong for me...I got a package today that made me giddy like a school boy.
I picked up the one on top about a month ago and I'd been loving it. I decided to pick up the one on the bottom to do a little comparison. I need a little bit more time before I can say definitely which one I like better but I thought I'd throw up some pron as a place holder. It's a fry-off.
s a Fryette Pittbull Ultralead. It's a 3 channel amplifier powered by the tears of orphans and the skins of baby seals.
Kidding. Here are the real specs.
3 Channels. 120 Watts. Powered by 4 KT88s. 6 Preamp tubes. 4 12ax7s in the gain stage, 1 12at7 as the buffer, 1 12ax7 as the PI.
From panel taken from Fryette's website.
http://www.fryette.com/images/product/UltraLead_FP_Detail.jpg
From left to right:
Hi/low input: Rather then just padding the signal, the hi/low input also slightly changes the coloring of the signal making it brighter on the hi and darker on the lo input.
Lead Channel Controls: Edge - boosts the according to where on the neck the notes are being played. Gain - controls the preamp gain. HI/Normal - 4 stage/3 stage gain selector. Volume - second gain control for the lead channel.
Rhythm Channel Controls: Boost - saturation, solo boost for the rhythm channel. Others same as the lead.
Lead/Rhythm Tone Stack - Treble/Mids/Bass. Shift - changes the mid notch shelving of the tone stack, providing a mid boost across the frequency range.
Clean Channel - Volume - preamp level for the clean channel. Boost - saturation, solo boost, bright - bright boost, others are the same as the lead/rhythm channel.
Equalization - True Active graphic eq like the one found on the Mesa Mark series. Provides -12/+12db of cut/boost across 6 eq sliders.
Volume - Master volume for all 3 channels.
Standby/hi/lo switch - Full power/half power selector
Power - turns the power on.
Rear pannel
Important things: Power/amp mute - genius feature for wet/dry rigging
Slave/line-out - for running into a snaxfxultra
Eq in/out, FX loop in/out, FX serial/parallel, FX hi/lo input, FX level
presence, depth - looks like SMF ran out of room on the front.
Gut shots:
Lot's of board mounted components, power tubes, preamp tubes, other things. SMF defends it to the death. I don't really have a problem with it at all.
Reason for Purchase: I bought the Fryette Deliverance 120 last month and I fell in love with it immediately. Kt88s are my favorite tubes in the world. I also might hate the sound of full on power tube break up. It sounds like crunchy peanut butter or orange juice with pulp. Anyhow, the D120 is fantastic but it's a single channel amp with no fx loop. It's meant to be stripped down but it's almost a bit too simple for any real use other then recording. If it was in a combo it would be a great grab and go but it's not. However, I was concerned that adding a fx loop + channel switching would ruin the raw voicing of the amp. So...fry-off time.
Quick re-cap of the D120 -
120 watt head powered by 4 kt88s. 1 channel. 2 preamp gain controls - 1 master volume - standard tone stack + presence and depth.
The 120 just sounds raw. Like fight club raw. Like chewing glass raw. I really like how the amp is set up. The first preamp gain knob controls the first 2 or 3 gain stages and acts as a level control for the preamp. The second preamp gain knob controls only the last gain stage and acts as a saturation control for the preamp. The more/less switch selects 3 or 4 preamp gain stages. With this 3 controls it's possible to dial in the exact amount, saturation, and feel of the amp to a perfect degree. You can go from thick and crunchy classic rock, to even crunchier modern rock, to smooth liquid metal no problem. This amp easily has the same if not more gain then the SLO100. It's probably one of the highest gain amps I've heard.
Preliminary findings: I wish I could keep both amps. I might. It depends if I find something else cool I like. The D120 is kind of a one trick pony if the trick was to ****ing rock. The Ultralead however hits almost all the notes that the d120 does. It doesn't have the ability to independently dial in the last gain stage which means that there is not as much control over the saturation and voicing but the edge, shift, and boost along with the graphic eq allow a great deal of control in other ways. As such, the Ultralead's lead channel can sound like the D120 even if it doesn't quite feel that way. With the fx loop off and the graphic eq on it gets all the way there. The UL losses some of the punch when the FX loop is engaged and the EQ is disengaged though. If anything, the D120 has a little bit more gain saturation but the UL has it beat in terms of versatility. That settles the Fry-off.
UL review:
Lead Channel - Pretty much everything I ever wanted in a lead channel that's not a SLO. More gain then the XTC, Quickrod, Rivera Ktre, Orange RV100. Neck and neck with the slo. The boost, shift controls provide a level of dial in that the slo doesn't.
Rhythm channel - not sure what this is for? I'll just call it lead channel 2.
Clean Channel - Not Fuchs ods100 or fender blackface or rivera ktre cleans. Better cleans then the QR, RV100. The XTC probably edges this out if you can ever figure out how to dial it in properly.
Awesome Feature - Graphic EQ - this thing works like magic. Completely clean, transparent cut and boosting. I need to play around with this some more but I'm beginning to think I won't be able to live without one.
Annoying feature - Presence, Depth on the Back.
Conclusion - This amp feels to me like an different approach to the XTC's attempts at versatility. Instead of providing controls for everything, it provides controls for things that help you rock. I love the ability to switch the fx loop out. I love the slave out for running into my computer. I love that you can shut things off when you aren't using them. I love the way this amp sounds. Ultralead and SlO friends forever.
I picked up the one on top about a month ago and I'd been loving it. I decided to pick up the one on the bottom to do a little comparison. I need a little bit more time before I can say definitely which one I like better but I thought I'd throw up some pron as a place holder. It's a fry-off.
s a Fryette Pittbull Ultralead. It's a 3 channel amplifier powered by the tears of orphans and the skins of baby seals.
Kidding. Here are the real specs.
3 Channels. 120 Watts. Powered by 4 KT88s. 6 Preamp tubes. 4 12ax7s in the gain stage, 1 12at7 as the buffer, 1 12ax7 as the PI.
From panel taken from Fryette's website.
http://www.fryette.com/images/product/UltraLead_FP_Detail.jpg
From left to right:
Hi/low input: Rather then just padding the signal, the hi/low input also slightly changes the coloring of the signal making it brighter on the hi and darker on the lo input.
Lead Channel Controls: Edge - boosts the according to where on the neck the notes are being played. Gain - controls the preamp gain. HI/Normal - 4 stage/3 stage gain selector. Volume - second gain control for the lead channel.
Rhythm Channel Controls: Boost - saturation, solo boost for the rhythm channel. Others same as the lead.
Lead/Rhythm Tone Stack - Treble/Mids/Bass. Shift - changes the mid notch shelving of the tone stack, providing a mid boost across the frequency range.
Clean Channel - Volume - preamp level for the clean channel. Boost - saturation, solo boost, bright - bright boost, others are the same as the lead/rhythm channel.
Equalization - True Active graphic eq like the one found on the Mesa Mark series. Provides -12/+12db of cut/boost across 6 eq sliders.
Volume - Master volume for all 3 channels.
Standby/hi/lo switch - Full power/half power selector
Power - turns the power on.
Rear pannel
Important things: Power/amp mute - genius feature for wet/dry rigging
Slave/line-out - for running into a snaxfxultra
Eq in/out, FX loop in/out, FX serial/parallel, FX hi/lo input, FX level
presence, depth - looks like SMF ran out of room on the front.
Gut shots:
Lot's of board mounted components, power tubes, preamp tubes, other things. SMF defends it to the death. I don't really have a problem with it at all.
Reason for Purchase: I bought the Fryette Deliverance 120 last month and I fell in love with it immediately. Kt88s are my favorite tubes in the world. I also might hate the sound of full on power tube break up. It sounds like crunchy peanut butter or orange juice with pulp. Anyhow, the D120 is fantastic but it's a single channel amp with no fx loop. It's meant to be stripped down but it's almost a bit too simple for any real use other then recording. If it was in a combo it would be a great grab and go but it's not. However, I was concerned that adding a fx loop + channel switching would ruin the raw voicing of the amp. So...fry-off time.
Quick re-cap of the D120 -
120 watt head powered by 4 kt88s. 1 channel. 2 preamp gain controls - 1 master volume - standard tone stack + presence and depth.
The 120 just sounds raw. Like fight club raw. Like chewing glass raw. I really like how the amp is set up. The first preamp gain knob controls the first 2 or 3 gain stages and acts as a level control for the preamp. The second preamp gain knob controls only the last gain stage and acts as a saturation control for the preamp. The more/less switch selects 3 or 4 preamp gain stages. With this 3 controls it's possible to dial in the exact amount, saturation, and feel of the amp to a perfect degree. You can go from thick and crunchy classic rock, to even crunchier modern rock, to smooth liquid metal no problem. This amp easily has the same if not more gain then the SLO100. It's probably one of the highest gain amps I've heard.
Preliminary findings: I wish I could keep both amps. I might. It depends if I find something else cool I like. The D120 is kind of a one trick pony if the trick was to ****ing rock. The Ultralead however hits almost all the notes that the d120 does. It doesn't have the ability to independently dial in the last gain stage which means that there is not as much control over the saturation and voicing but the edge, shift, and boost along with the graphic eq allow a great deal of control in other ways. As such, the Ultralead's lead channel can sound like the D120 even if it doesn't quite feel that way. With the fx loop off and the graphic eq on it gets all the way there. The UL losses some of the punch when the FX loop is engaged and the EQ is disengaged though. If anything, the D120 has a little bit more gain saturation but the UL has it beat in terms of versatility. That settles the Fry-off.
UL review:
Lead Channel - Pretty much everything I ever wanted in a lead channel that's not a SLO. More gain then the XTC, Quickrod, Rivera Ktre, Orange RV100. Neck and neck with the slo. The boost, shift controls provide a level of dial in that the slo doesn't.
Rhythm channel - not sure what this is for? I'll just call it lead channel 2.
Clean Channel - Not Fuchs ods100 or fender blackface or rivera ktre cleans. Better cleans then the QR, RV100. The XTC probably edges this out if you can ever figure out how to dial it in properly.
Awesome Feature - Graphic EQ - this thing works like magic. Completely clean, transparent cut and boosting. I need to play around with this some more but I'm beginning to think I won't be able to live without one.
Annoying feature - Presence, Depth on the Back.
Conclusion - This amp feels to me like an different approach to the XTC's attempts at versatility. Instead of providing controls for everything, it provides controls for things that help you rock. I love the ability to switch the fx loop out. I love the slave out for running into my computer. I love that you can shut things off when you aren't using them. I love the way this amp sounds. Ultralead and SlO friends forever.
