New amp from Port City, The Sterling - UPDATED 10-2-12

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hthomas

hthomas

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Port City is debuting a new modded marshall style amp this weekend at SEGAS 2012. This is a amp I have been lucky enough to build/design and bring to the Port City line.


Mic'd clips to come next week.

After lots of input from you guys and our dealers, we added the presence knob.

PORT CITY STERLING(changed name from Onyx)
The Port City Sterling is 50w hand wired single channel amplifier. It is a no frills and thrills amp. Simply plug in and play. It can cover medium gain rock tones to more modern day rock tones. Using your favorite overdrive or boost pedal will send the amp into high gain territory. The Sterling has a big and tight bottom end, aggressive midrange, and smooth high end that cuts through a band mix. You can get good low volumes tones but this amp is designed to be turned up. The Sterling is very sensitive to your guitar and will clean up very nicely with your guitar’s volume knob.

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CLIPS


 
Looks cool! I love "No Frills" type amps. It has Budda dials too!
 
Looks awesome Harris! Can't wait to hear the clips.
 
cupcaketwins":3kt6n7q3 said:
hthomas":3kt6n7q3 said:
nitro":3kt6n7q3 said:
No presence knob.
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there is internal trim pot
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Not a good idea
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My thought as well...why did you design it that way? I use my presence knob all the time to fine tune my high end to what I'm hearing on stage and/or to the speaker cab that I'm using.

That said, the amp looks great...congrats :thumbsup: When can we hear it?
 
Have to agree with the masses here, no time to pop open the chassis under a dark stage light. Presence on the back at the very least!
 
the lack of a presence will not be an issue trust me. The way this amp is, it isn't needed. Not all amps have them and this is one of them. Shoot James Lugo or LakeCurd a PM, they got to play the amp this past weekend. They'll tell you how it sounded.
 
hthomas":3d1pekak said:
the lack of a presence will not be an issue trust me. The way this amp is, it isn't needed. Not all amps have them and this is one of them. Shoot James Lugo or LakeCurd a PM, they got to play the amp this past weekend. They'll tell you how it sounded.
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You're counting on someone using the same guitar/speaker setup you have? There are too many variables with cab/speaker/pickup combinations, potential customers are asking for it...seems like a simple fix.
 
hthomas":1zrs3nc9 said:
the lack of a presence will not be an issue trust me. The way this amp is, it isn't needed. Not all amps have them and this is one of them. Shoot James Lugo or LakeCurd a PM, they got to play the amp this past weekend. They'll tell you how it sounded.
Click to expand...

I was going to post my review here shortly but this seems like a good place to do it.

I wanted to start off my thanking Port City and the friendly folks there, I really had fun. They had great pedal boards lined up to plug into and make the rig feel as complete and real world as possible. I dig that since I never find myself truly with nothing inline with the amp but just my guitar.

I first introduced my self as Luke from RigTalk and hthomas instantly said "you wanna play it" not how are you doing or how is the dog, its like come check out this awesome amp. I hope htomas takes this as a complement, he has worked very hard on this amp and its something to be proud of.

Now about the amp, I forgot what the specs where so I really was going in blind to the demo. It was kinda nice just using my ears for once. I believe htomas brought his personal les paul that lugo played. That's the same guitar I used for the demo. Will all the gains and eq at noon I played a few chords and chucks in drop d. The feel of the amp wasn't loose or tight. Somewhere unique and in the middle. It had punch and dynamics of a traditional hot rod marshall with higher mid gain voicing.

I would say in retrospect the feel of the amp is what most impressed me. I would say this amp is better suited for Slash than Van Halen. if that makes any sense.

The os2x12 sounded fantastic as well. By far the biggest sounding and looking 2x12 i have played.

The boost pedal was just insane with amp as well. it really seemed like a true extension of the amp. Most natural and transparent boost I played to date.

Had fun but really need to play the amp cranked to make a final judgment. Segas had a 80db rule which for non engineers is a loud dinner party.
 
briango2000":2dl5yrbz said:
hthomas":2dl5yrbz said:
the lack of a presence will not be an issue trust me. The way this amp is, it isn't needed. Not all amps have them and this is one of them. Shoot James Lugo or LakeCurd a PM, they got to play the amp this past weekend. They'll tell you how it sounded.
Click to expand...

You're counting on someone using the same guitar/speaker setup you have? There are too many variables with cab/speaker/pickup combinations, potential customers are asking for it...seems like a simple fix.
Click to expand...
Agreed. The presence is one of the most important controls on an amp IMO. Not having one is a mistake. $3 pot, a cap and some wire? C'mon...
 
I appreciate all the input, advice, and kind works. Thanks everyone!
 
Thanks for the heads up that Two Rock had an Onyx, it's been be discontinued so thats why it didn't show up when we searched to see if it was taken. We have changed the name to the Sterling.

Clips with a zoom recorder coming later on today. Mic'd clips coming in the next week or so
 
Here are clips done by a Zoom recorder at SEGAS 2012
Hope this gives a better representation than the previous iPhone clips.


 
Sounds really sweet! A little bit 2205' ish and silver jubileeish but bit more refined and clear I'm thinking.
 
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