NY/NJ Amp Show review..

[Gainzilla]

Just got back from the show and holy crap, my ears are friggin shot!!!! Imagine the worst day at GC and up to the Nth degree. There were actually alot of good players but the volume and constant roar of playing took its toll.

I was going to blow it off but my buddy Joe Z gives me a shout and says "Im going to the Amp Show, wanna ride out with me?" and that was it, we were on our way!!!

It was great to see a bunch of the fellas that I havent seen in awhile; Chris Schmidt, Berklee Bill, Danyeo, Paige, Ivan,Psychodave,Trace from Voodoo,Steve(JohnnyJellybean), I know Im forgetting someone, forgive me!!! Good to see yaz all!!!

On to the amps;

Voodoo V-Rock Dual Channel- Hands down, this was the star of the show for me; Awesome clean and crunch and great lead channel that was harmonically rich and punchy as hell. I LOVED this amp and If I wasnt so in love with my AxeFx, Id have no problem picking one of these up and giggin with it, it was that good. EL34 , hot rodded marshallesque goodness. The cool thing about it was that it covered so much ground sonically, you could easily use this for Blues rock to full on Metal. It had active controls that made it a breeze to dial whatever you wanted in or out...

Cameron CCV-100-Ive always loved practically every Cameron modded Marshall that Ive played but the CCV that I played through was smoking;great feel,great punch and really rich with loads of hangtime... HAd a blast metalling out with everyone through that one LOL!!

Landry 100-Had a blast playing through this head, it was really sweet and organic and to me it was an unbelievabley good Blues Rock/Hard Rock head. The builder, Bill Landry was a really nice guy as well...

Elmwood M60?- This was a great sounding marshallesque head that was very refined for lack of a better word;Polite even LOL!!! Great cleans and crunch, nice lead that was liquid and warm. Jan the builder was a total gentleman.

Wizard Modern Classic 100-This is like the bad seed version of the Elmwood; Raw snarling , full of piss and vinegar and FRIGGIN LOUD!!!! Holy Crap!!!, It was Obnoxiously loud and pretty damn toneful to boot. Its one of those things that you play and you end smiling like the cat that just ate the canary. Its not my thing at all but If I was banging out AC/DC, BuckCherry and just straight up raw loud bluesy rock, this IS the amp. It had a nice amount of gain but I would hit it with a pedal to tighten it up and give it some hang time and liquidity. Did I say that it was loud? Good GOD!!!


It was a fun time though Im kind of over these shows, the best part about it was seeing everybody for sure. I definitely want that damn V-Rock though, Trace has got an assload of great ideas and products... Again, it was awesome to hang with everyone and Joey Z you rule, great hangin with ya Bro!!

Kage

 

[danhops]

Sounds like a good time. I missed it again because Shan is coming home today. Should've been earlier, but the flight was delayed from Va.

What were the V-Rock cleans like? Yeah I know you probably didnt even try it out on clean. I love my 50w single channel V-Rock. Trace rules!!!

 

[Gainzilla]

Sounds like a good time. I missed it again because Shan is coming home today. Should've been earlier, but the flight was delayed from Va.

What were the V-Rock cleans like? Yeah I know you probably didnt even try it out on clean. I love my 50w single channel V-Rock. Trace rules!!!

I loved the Cleans; Spanky, Chimey and full bodied. The amp was an amazing all around amp!!! sucks that we didnt get to meet up... and yeah, Trace rules hard, always great to see that guy, hes about as likeable as a person can get..

 

[Robotechnology]

Great to see you and Joe again. It's been awhile. You were dead on regarding the Landry amp. Really nice amp and super nice guy. I ordered a pair of ET65's from WGS that was sharing the room with them so that should take care of my 65 fix. Everytime I passed by the Voodoo room it was packed so I never went in. Didn't get to check out the Elmwood. I like both the CCM & the CCV. The CCV has something there for me in the mids (I think?) that the CCV doesn't but I could easily live with either. Again, great to see you and Happy Mother's Day to Victoria!

 

[Robotechnology]

Actually you did an find job on the Premier Guitar spot. You played stuff like most of the buyers would want to hear. Happy mother's day to your wife as well!

Man I am wiped out. First off the Wizard amps are SUPER LOUD and sound great.... so much so that I was speechless after hearing them. What? what? I cant hear you... johnnyjellybean is a cool dude to boot

The Elmwood amps are awesome and I really think sound great.

The Cameron amps are still my favorite amp line. The CCV and CCM just flat out crush. I dont know how, but I got suckered into playing a demo for Premiere Guitar while in the Cameron room. I had no idea what to play ....which I was like the whole day. I kinda froze up and basically played the same shit over and over

Metro amps guys are cool and so are the Egnator guys.

I think I pissed off a few amp builders after I pulled out my Timmy pedal. One amp builder gave me a dirty look and didnt want me to use it... I did anyway

It was great seeing all of the old faces and some new ones as well.

I wish all of your wives/mothers a Happy Mothers Day...

 

[thiswaythatway]

Wish i checked out the Vodoo amps but it was always crowded in there. The Wizard amp just blew my ears out but it sounded great. The Elmwoods were cool, and the Camerons rocked as usual.

Bummer that Fractal wasn't there. Good to see some of you guys again.

 

[Hollywood]

Hey danyeo did ya see Nick and Mark Cameron there?

 

[AmpliFIRE]

Yup....it was a great see all of you guys again! The first room that Dan and I went into was the Wizard room...and my hearing was pretty much shot for the rest of the day after that . Anyway, some of my highlights were the Modema M90, Cameron CCV, Metro JMP, Carol Ann Tuncana/OD2, Wizard Modern Classic and Superiaria 50. Too tired to give a review of each right now, but they were all cool as hell. I wish I could get my hands on a CCV...because I would pick one up right now no questions asked! That amp just flat out kills. I think a Metro JMP might be in my future though

 

[AmpliFIRE]

Hey danyeo did ya see Nick and Mark Cameron there?

Nick and Chris were there, but Mark wasn't

 

[Hollywood]

Wonder what happened with that? Hey, did Chris have his CCM there?

 

[RockStarNick]

The Wizard amp room has a 100W full stack consistently blasting at full tilt. It was INTENSE!

Kage - sorry I missed ya bro. Your description of the Wizard amp is spot on.

I gotta say, I was SUPER impressed with the Sommatone amps. Jimmy Somma is an awesome guy, and his amps are no nonsense rock and roll tone machines.

 

[projectx102]

Holy crap. My left hand is sore today... I have not felt this soreness in years. I think I should play more often

Did you get to play the Landry Dave? I got hung up with the kids(my wife went to the doctor and needs surgery) and couldn't make it down to the show.I did a gig with mine last week with my blues/rock band and just about everyone in the joint commented on how great it sounded.I let the guitarist from the local
AC/DC tribute use it as well and he smoked through it.

 

[projectx102]

Holy crap. My left hand is sore today... I have not felt this soreness in years. I think I should play more often

Did you get to play the Landry Dave? I got hung up with the kids(my wife went to the doctor and needs surgery) and couldn't make it down to the show.I did a gig with mine last week with my blues/rock band and just about everyone in the joint commented on how great it sounded.I let the guitarist from the local
AC/DC tribute use it as well and he smoked through it.

I didnt actually play the Landry amps, I did hang out in the doorway and listen though. They sound good, but didnt seem to grab me with anything new, but to be fair, I really need to play one of their amps myself to pass judgement

You can play mine anytime bro!

 

[rocker]

Did you try the Voodoo V-Rock Dave?

 

[70strathead]

[I think I pissed off a few amp builders after I pulled out my Timmy pedal. One amp builder gave me a dirty look and didnt want me to use it... I did anyway quote]

Dave, Why would bringing a trusty OD to an amp show piss off amp builders? I don't leave home without mine.

A

 

[70strathead]

[I think I pissed off a few amp builders after I pulled out my Timmy pedal. One amp builder gave me a dirty look and didnt want me to use it... I did anyway quote]

Dave, Why would bringing a trusty OD to an amp show piss off amp builders? I don't leave home without mine.

A

I guess a lot of builders think their amps dont need it. I told them it is not about needing a pedal, it is about me WANTING to use it. One guy was really annoyed until he heard how it sounded. I even used it in the Cameron room. Nick seemed to like it.

I was in the Metro room and cranking around on a full stack with the pedal hidden...then people started to realize that I had a pedal on

Sounds like a stunt I would do. and i have ! Especially for me since i dont play humbuckers and have low output pickups, i have to have an OD on hand. I mean i can understand amps that have loads of gain already there, but even i remember when i visited Mark C in his old N. Hollywood shop and tried out one of his Marshall Mods, he actually had a tube screamer i wanted to use with a stock setting on his amp...just so that i can hear the difference. Its player's preference they should be happy they may make a sell!

 

[Gainzilla]

Yeah, I never got why some builders get the feathers in a ruffle because some uses a boost/OD/Distortion pedal with an amp. Besides doing what they were made to do, there are other uses and purposes for using them that doesnt take away from an amp.

 

[MrDan666]

Forget bringing the Timmy pedal... next time REALLY piss them off and wheel in a rack full of Furman PQ-3's

 

[johnnyjellybean]

The Wizard amp room has a 100W full stack consistently blasting at full tilt. It was INTENSE!

Kage - sorry I missed ya bro. Your description of the Wizard amp is spot on.

That was at 4 1/2 or 5. Full tilt is at around 7 to 7 1/2. There was more left in it!!

 

[PeteLaramee]

Thanks for the reviews, guys. I would've loved to have gone, but just couldn't swing it.

I tried the first version of the V-rock and liked it so I'm very curious about the updated one. Same goes for the two channel Hex and WD.

I'm sure I would've checked out the Cameron CCM while I was there.