D
Diplodomare
New member
Hello Team RT,
Been ruining my Rhodes Colossus H-100 for the past month and though I'd share my thoughts:
Not really looking for an amp, but never totally happy with what I had. I've bought and sold many tube heads (list is embarrasing long, but have/had the Mesa MK x's, Recto, Egnater, Bogner, Diezel, Engl, blah blah...) - all great amps in their own right, but none did everything great (clean, light, krunch, heavy, leads...). So one day I heard the H-100 and really liked the clips - kinda unique and unlike other amps. So I emailed Kyle at his shop and ended up talking for hours about amps, tone, BS, etc... In the end I bought one - Kyle offered a killer deal and zero risk on my part. If I didn't like it - send it back.
So I got it a month ago and here's the deal:
- Clean: I like hi gain, but this channel really made me spend some serious time faking my way thru all sorts of clean stuff. Just a damn good clean - not sterile, so active and really sound slike the clean people always describe. Really diggin' this channel. To me it sounds like there is a light chorus going on! So inviting. And this is gain at 9:00 o'clock. Turn it up and get this warm overdrive - fun to strum. OK....done drooling...
- Crunch: I am not often looking for a crunch sound, but this really nails the open and dynamic sound. Can go from clean to AC DC. I like half gain, then use guitar for level of OD. THIS is what tubes sound like!!! Picking the notes out of an open chord - nice. Again, makes you venture off and play something you normally wouldn't. Works well as an alternate clean too.
- Lead 1 and Lead 2: Similar but slightly different in the mids. One is hi-mid, the other low-mid. They both offer tones for rhythm or leads. These channels have straight up great distortion - plenty of gain and easily dynamic with guitar volume or technique. You can tighten or phatten up the signal. All the knobs work - NEED to adjust with ears not eyes!! Hell, I ran zero treble and bass and all mids - super slick. Can be nice and spongy, scooped or dripping with singing mids. Kyle got the MIDS right!!! NO piercing highs. On higher notes, the pick attack is wondereful - a new standard. I never knew what "blooming" was, but now I get it. Notes open up and sing as your technique allows. Smooth describes the lead tone you get - dial in highs to taste. Plenty of bass - I run low and add in global bottom as needed. Also, the mode switch lets you add/subtract gain. This allows even more expressive dynamic sounds without sacrificing sustain. You can ratchet the gain levels so nicely.
There are just so many tones. I use my simple MIDI foot thingy and have control over just about anything.
I play 6-strings so haven't even got into the low stuff (which is what drew me in!!!).
I experimented with different preamp tubes and found another level of frequencies lurking. Some fun sh*t.
Not sure if it is the unique overdrive or plain gooey tubey-ness, but this amp really sounds fantastic!!!
Please contact me with any questions (just my thoughts...).
I hope to post some clips in some form soon.
Sorry for the scattered thoughts...
Thanks for listening,
Diplodomare
Been ruining my Rhodes Colossus H-100 for the past month and though I'd share my thoughts:
Not really looking for an amp, but never totally happy with what I had. I've bought and sold many tube heads (list is embarrasing long, but have/had the Mesa MK x's, Recto, Egnater, Bogner, Diezel, Engl, blah blah...) - all great amps in their own right, but none did everything great (clean, light, krunch, heavy, leads...). So one day I heard the H-100 and really liked the clips - kinda unique and unlike other amps. So I emailed Kyle at his shop and ended up talking for hours about amps, tone, BS, etc... In the end I bought one - Kyle offered a killer deal and zero risk on my part. If I didn't like it - send it back.
So I got it a month ago and here's the deal:
- Clean: I like hi gain, but this channel really made me spend some serious time faking my way thru all sorts of clean stuff. Just a damn good clean - not sterile, so active and really sound slike the clean people always describe. Really diggin' this channel. To me it sounds like there is a light chorus going on! So inviting. And this is gain at 9:00 o'clock. Turn it up and get this warm overdrive - fun to strum. OK....done drooling...
- Crunch: I am not often looking for a crunch sound, but this really nails the open and dynamic sound. Can go from clean to AC DC. I like half gain, then use guitar for level of OD. THIS is what tubes sound like!!! Picking the notes out of an open chord - nice. Again, makes you venture off and play something you normally wouldn't. Works well as an alternate clean too.
- Lead 1 and Lead 2: Similar but slightly different in the mids. One is hi-mid, the other low-mid. They both offer tones for rhythm or leads. These channels have straight up great distortion - plenty of gain and easily dynamic with guitar volume or technique. You can tighten or phatten up the signal. All the knobs work - NEED to adjust with ears not eyes!! Hell, I ran zero treble and bass and all mids - super slick. Can be nice and spongy, scooped or dripping with singing mids. Kyle got the MIDS right!!! NO piercing highs. On higher notes, the pick attack is wondereful - a new standard. I never knew what "blooming" was, but now I get it. Notes open up and sing as your technique allows. Smooth describes the lead tone you get - dial in highs to taste. Plenty of bass - I run low and add in global bottom as needed. Also, the mode switch lets you add/subtract gain. This allows even more expressive dynamic sounds without sacrificing sustain. You can ratchet the gain levels so nicely.
There are just so many tones. I use my simple MIDI foot thingy and have control over just about anything.
I play 6-strings so haven't even got into the low stuff (which is what drew me in!!!).
I experimented with different preamp tubes and found another level of frequencies lurking. Some fun sh*t.
Not sure if it is the unique overdrive or plain gooey tubey-ness, but this amp really sounds fantastic!!!
Please contact me with any questions (just my thoughts...).
I hope to post some clips in some form soon.
Sorry for the scattered thoughts...
Thanks for listening,
Diplodomare
