HerbieTheRadDorklift
New member
It's a big bugger.
Went down to Machinehead (shop) in Hertfordshire (about 2 hours train from my city) with my Mesa Lonestar, changing at a couple of stations, thinking "Blimey this Mesa's a bit heavy"....Little did I know about the weight of the amp I was trading it for.
Heaviest thing I've ever lifted (!), and the transformers are on the same side for some reason, which didn't help me carrying it through train stations.
I ended up pulling my back out (again), and it really really hurts right now. But it was worth it.
Here it is resting a top my oversized 1x12 I have at home.
It's 200w, but has a stepdown knob, so I can run it anywhere between 20w and 200w. Since the speaker in the cab is 90w, I'm running it lowest I cna at low volumes until I get it in my 4x12
It's a fantastic amp. Here's what I think from the little time I've played it (hour or so).
The cleans are the best I've ever heard, WAY better than my Lonestar's, and that's saying something. The bright switch makes the clean a little too bright for my tastes, especially since I'm using humbuckers.
Crunch channel is very plexi like, cleans up really well too. Can go anywhere from clean, to classic overdrive. It has a "super crunch" button, which to me is like hitting on a tubescreamer... REALLY nice sounds with super crunch on. Unfortunately it's not footswitchable, so you gotta choose.
Those 2 channels have seperate channel volume and gain, but a shared EQ and ISF control. It's not a big deal, you can get great sounds with the same EQ no problem. The ISF control is basically a midshift AFAIK, makes it sound English or American (woody and fat or tight and focused).
OD1 will probably be my main rhythm sound. LOTS of gain on tap, too much in fact, not in a bad way though. To me sounds like a hot rodded Marshall which is exactly what I wanted.
OD2 is similar but even more gain...sounds a bit more Recto-y. Again, shared EQ and ISF.
The master presence and resonance control are an absolute God send, very nice feature, as well as the DPR power reduction thingy which I explained before. It works really well.
It has 4, 8 and 16 ohm toggle on the back, so all cabs are catered for.
It has 6 preamp valves of 2 different kinds (can't remember which...probably 3 x 12AX7, and 3 x 12AU7), and 4 x KT88s.
It's made in Korea, but don't let that put you off. It's EXTREMELY well built, and as I said, a heavy bastard.
They go for £1250ish in the UK, probably more in USA ($2000?), but PLEASE try one. They're excellent!
Went down to Machinehead (shop) in Hertfordshire (about 2 hours train from my city) with my Mesa Lonestar, changing at a couple of stations, thinking "Blimey this Mesa's a bit heavy"....Little did I know about the weight of the amp I was trading it for.
Heaviest thing I've ever lifted (!), and the transformers are on the same side for some reason, which didn't help me carrying it through train stations.
I ended up pulling my back out (again), and it really really hurts right now. But it was worth it.
Here it is resting a top my oversized 1x12 I have at home.
It's 200w, but has a stepdown knob, so I can run it anywhere between 20w and 200w. Since the speaker in the cab is 90w, I'm running it lowest I cna at low volumes until I get it in my 4x12
It's a fantastic amp. Here's what I think from the little time I've played it (hour or so).
The cleans are the best I've ever heard, WAY better than my Lonestar's, and that's saying something. The bright switch makes the clean a little too bright for my tastes, especially since I'm using humbuckers.
Crunch channel is very plexi like, cleans up really well too. Can go anywhere from clean, to classic overdrive. It has a "super crunch" button, which to me is like hitting on a tubescreamer... REALLY nice sounds with super crunch on. Unfortunately it's not footswitchable, so you gotta choose.
Those 2 channels have seperate channel volume and gain, but a shared EQ and ISF control. It's not a big deal, you can get great sounds with the same EQ no problem. The ISF control is basically a midshift AFAIK, makes it sound English or American (woody and fat or tight and focused).
OD1 will probably be my main rhythm sound. LOTS of gain on tap, too much in fact, not in a bad way though. To me sounds like a hot rodded Marshall which is exactly what I wanted.
OD2 is similar but even more gain...sounds a bit more Recto-y. Again, shared EQ and ISF.
The master presence and resonance control are an absolute God send, very nice feature, as well as the DPR power reduction thingy which I explained before. It works really well.
It has 4, 8 and 16 ohm toggle on the back, so all cabs are catered for.
It has 6 preamp valves of 2 different kinds (can't remember which...probably 3 x 12AX7, and 3 x 12AU7), and 4 x KT88s.
It's made in Korea, but don't let that put you off. It's EXTREMELY well built, and as I said, a heavy bastard.
They go for £1250ish in the UK, probably more in USA ($2000?), but PLEASE try one. They're excellent!
