NAD: Morris Custom

[jonny toetags]

Finally arrived this week: Morris Custom RockGrinder Gold
Easily one of my most anticipated purchases as well as one of my best.
This amp is just perfect in every way. It has a woody/organic tone that I just fell in love with.
It's extremely sensitive to guitars, pickups and speakers.

Dealing with Glen Morris was a pleasure. Every step of the amp build was discussed and he would not let the amp leave his workbench without being 100% satisfied with it.
I don't normally post NAD/NGD or NPD, but I think people should really check out Glen's work.
http://www.morrisamps.com

He actually came up with a new design while building my custom order so my chassis is labeled "RockGrinder Gold prototype #1"
PTP/handwired with quality parts. He punches his own chassis and gets custom transformers.
All the cosmetic are customizable (faceplate, headshell, knobs) as well.

After the holidays I plan on ordering one of his cabs as well.

Bryan aka Troublehead.....you're the next Morris victim, so post a review when you get it.

 

[troublehead]

 

[Code001]

Very awesome!

 

[troublehead]

Mine shipped today..........prototype # 2

Can't wait for the arrival !

 

[JackBootedThug]

very cool.

 

[jonny toetags]

Mine shipped today..........prototype # 2

Can't wait for the arrival !

That looks awesome!

The only 2 'prototypes' in existence!

 

[killertone]

How about a description of how they sound? Hi gain, low gain, clean, what are we talking here? Marshallish, Bognerish, none of the aboveish?

 

[jonny toetags]

How about a description of how they sound? Hi gain, low gain, clean, what are we talking here? Marshallish, Bognerish, none of the aboveish?

Here are some clips:
http://morrisamps.com/sounds.php

I'm not good at explaining amps, but the Morris has this great woody/organic tone and feel that i just fell in love with.
It really has it's own thing going on.
I find it has a Dumble thing going at times, but higher gain.

 

[troublehead]

Mine arrived today and I only had about 15-20 minutes to play it.

I'm going to give it a real workout tomorrow

 

[troublehead]

Had some noise issues but I figured it out with some help from Glen.

WOW !!!

Clips very soon

 

[jonny toetags]

Very cool. You guys need to make clips.

I'll make some clips when i get another cab with a V30/G12H30 combo in it (What Glen says sounds best with the amp)

 

[troublehead]

Well, I've had the Morris long enought to give it a thorough review if anyone is interested.

I had a short learning curve with the amp, but now I can say that I will probably never buy another amp unless it is something COMPLETELY different !

I don't know what Glen does in this amp as I know nothing about amp building/design. However, this thing is so responsive (like JC mentioned) to changes in things like guitars, pickups, speakers, etc. I have owned numerous amps that sound like a slight variant when changing guitars, tubes, etc. But this amp takes on a completely different chracter when making these changes. In fact, at one point Glen e-mailed me and told me to try it with the pre-amp tube covers off. I always thought that was "TGP" corksniffery. But when I did it, the amp opened up and took on a new character. Needless to say, they are staying off ! Just that really small things like this have a big difference in the overall tone is pretty amazing.

The 2 cloned channels can go anywhere from clean (not Fender clean mind you, but something totally unique) to gained out JCM800 territory. And all of this can be achieved at low volumes. Not conversation volume, but really manageable "at home" volumes. The description of his master volume is one of the things that steered me in his direction. The voicing is really hard to describe because it doesn't sound really close to anything I have ever owned. I would say it is in the Marshall "camp" but has a smoother voicing kind of like a Bogner Shiva (but without the compression and really dark sound). IMO, it can get pretty bright, but that is easily fixed with the Presence knob on the back. Plugged straight in, it will get you stuff like ZZ Top, Zep, Aerosmith with gain to spare. Then you can roll off the guitar's volume and get a really good clean without ever touching the gain knob. With my Barber Direct Drive out front (as a clean boost) it can easily get into stuff like Van Halen, old Maiden/Priest, hair metal, etc. The limits of the gain (with an OD pedal) without compressing too much will get you to about Kill Em' All Metallica for example. It IS NOT a modern voiced, bottom heavy amp. In fact, this amp is everything that I so much wanted my Splawn Competition to be. I hate to mention JCM800 as it is really nothing like it, it never gets piercing/harsh/ratty sounding. Just very full/thick/smooth with the picking dynamics of a JCM800.

The loop works flawlessly and doesn't color the sound at all. It sounds amazing with both my Digtech Hardwire reverb and delay pedals. It also has pro level compensation but I don't have any rack effects.

One thing that really amazes me is how the amp sustains forever without creating a ton of pre-amp gain. You can hold a note forever at lower volumes with the gain at around noon and no boost pedal. When you let a chord ring out, it seems to get "fatter" rather than fade out. I have always heard of "bloom" and I guess that is what this is. Anyway, it sounds good

The 3 position "texture" switch is cool, but not crucial to the amp IMO. It sounds best in the middle "nuetral" setting to my ears. The "fat" setting helps thicken up my strat but I still think I prefer it in the middle.

I highly recommend Glen's amps if you are in the market for something different. But don't plan on getting this exact amp. Glen informed me last night that JC's amp and mine will remain 2 of a kind I think he is going to do some slight modifications and put the final product in a "big box" due to lack of space in our smaller chassis.

So far, I have tried G12H30's and Vintage 30's (and a mix of both) with the Rockgrinder. To my ears, the edge goes to Vintage 30's. I am also going to try some WGS Veteran 30's soon. I have used them in the past and I think they might work even better with this amp. Glen doesn't like Greenbacks, but I would imagine thay would work well if you are able to push some more volume to them.

I know you guys want to hear some clips and I plan on doing some as soon as I get the time. I'm slammed at work coming back from the holidays.

 

[steve_k]

I like the ? on the CLEAN control. Looks simple and solid. Throw some clips out here. Shouldn't take long to tweak.

Steve

 

[jonny toetags]

Great review Bryan