Ventura
Well-known member
Been messing around on the Slax....
Ch.1 is outrageously awesome - I love love love the bite that it has. It's not Fender/Vox clean, it's not piano-like or rounded and smooth like so many other amps (and, c'mon, the purpose of "Clean" is to actually be "Clean" but as I've joked so many times before, who really gets an amp like this for strictly cleans, whatever, up for debate....). But that little bit of grit that the Clean offers is outrageously tasty. And yes, goes to Marshall'esque territory with the gain past 2pm, but it's different from a Marshall, or Marshall type tone in that it's not "dry". It's really grainy and sweet and has a bit of that Bogner "juiciness" to it. Can't really describe - you really gotta sit down in front of one and give 'er to know.
Ch.2 is awesome. Fucking love this channel. And what I love about it is IT DOESN'T HAVE TO DO METAL ONLY (in fact, the whole amp "doesn't have to do metal although it will crush when it does!!), it's a super inspirational channel. SO CLEAR. So the gain's all over the map with my playing along with Mids, Thump, Global Presence - the notes just ring and ring and ring with sustain, and you can hear all notes beautifully well - no matter how much of a soup you're holding chord-wise in your hand. Jaaaaayzeus!!! What a hoot!!!!!!!!!!
Ch.3 - wow. Okay. I've only ever used the term "nuclear" on 2 other amps. The Purple Mod TJ, and the Rev.2 (when it's dialled *just* right). Ch.3 on the Slax is absolutely nuclear!!!!! But - BUT!!!!!!!!! - it doesn't lose focus, clarity, girth, breadth, detail, or note articulation - still - even on this high-gain channel - it doesn't muddy up. I've had this thing at about 11-11:30am on the MV, and it's obscenely loud (my guess is the PTs start to kick into squish mode around 2pm which doesn't add to more volume, just different sensitivity...the 100W headroom is there at noon on the dial for sure, after that it's likely tubes getting pushed, tone getting more rich, less stiffness even though it's not "stiff" per se, things changing, but I can't destroy this house, just saying....it's fkn loud!!). Sustain is incredible. It's a brighter amp but not shrill (also highly sensitive to a variety of guitars and pickup types too!!). Not glassy and not glaring. The JJ is a darker amp - and seems similar but has a totally different flavour - kinda like the Slax is "Hot and Sour" Chinese soup, extra spicy at that; the JJ is "Chicken Udon Noodle Soup", extra spicy. Christ I'm at a loss for words here. But ya, it's a highly HIGHLY functional amp that doesn't just rest "squarely" on the point of chugga-chugga-broot-broot!! It has character, style, sophistication, breadth, really DELICIOUS tones throughout, it's not a JJ100, it's not meant to be a JJ100, it's the Slax...
Holy FKN wow, Folks!!!!!!!
More playing this weekend - but in the meantime - holy FKN wow!!!!!!
Ch.1 is outrageously awesome - I love love love the bite that it has. It's not Fender/Vox clean, it's not piano-like or rounded and smooth like so many other amps (and, c'mon, the purpose of "Clean" is to actually be "Clean" but as I've joked so many times before, who really gets an amp like this for strictly cleans, whatever, up for debate....). But that little bit of grit that the Clean offers is outrageously tasty. And yes, goes to Marshall'esque territory with the gain past 2pm, but it's different from a Marshall, or Marshall type tone in that it's not "dry". It's really grainy and sweet and has a bit of that Bogner "juiciness" to it. Can't really describe - you really gotta sit down in front of one and give 'er to know.
Ch.2 is awesome. Fucking love this channel. And what I love about it is IT DOESN'T HAVE TO DO METAL ONLY (in fact, the whole amp "doesn't have to do metal although it will crush when it does!!), it's a super inspirational channel. SO CLEAR. So the gain's all over the map with my playing along with Mids, Thump, Global Presence - the notes just ring and ring and ring with sustain, and you can hear all notes beautifully well - no matter how much of a soup you're holding chord-wise in your hand. Jaaaaayzeus!!! What a hoot!!!!!!!!!!
Ch.3 - wow. Okay. I've only ever used the term "nuclear" on 2 other amps. The Purple Mod TJ, and the Rev.2 (when it's dialled *just* right). Ch.3 on the Slax is absolutely nuclear!!!!! But - BUT!!!!!!!!! - it doesn't lose focus, clarity, girth, breadth, detail, or note articulation - still - even on this high-gain channel - it doesn't muddy up. I've had this thing at about 11-11:30am on the MV, and it's obscenely loud (my guess is the PTs start to kick into squish mode around 2pm which doesn't add to more volume, just different sensitivity...the 100W headroom is there at noon on the dial for sure, after that it's likely tubes getting pushed, tone getting more rich, less stiffness even though it's not "stiff" per se, things changing, but I can't destroy this house, just saying....it's fkn loud!!). Sustain is incredible. It's a brighter amp but not shrill (also highly sensitive to a variety of guitars and pickup types too!!). Not glassy and not glaring. The JJ is a darker amp - and seems similar but has a totally different flavour - kinda like the Slax is "Hot and Sour" Chinese soup, extra spicy at that; the JJ is "Chicken Udon Noodle Soup", extra spicy. Christ I'm at a loss for words here. But ya, it's a highly HIGHLY functional amp that doesn't just rest "squarely" on the point of chugga-chugga-broot-broot!! It has character, style, sophistication, breadth, really DELICIOUS tones throughout, it's not a JJ100, it's not meant to be a JJ100, it's the Slax...
Holy FKN wow, Folks!!!!!!!
More playing this weekend - but in the meantime - holy FKN wow!!!!!!
