Reviewed by:
DethMike, on october 27, 2008
2 of 2 people found this review helpful
Price paid: $ 350
Purchased from: Musiciansfriend.com
Features: This amp has everything I could ask for, 150 watts stereo that is a gift to the sense of hearing. It has a wonderful clean channel with 3 band EQ and reverb, the clean channel you can opt to Switch to Overdrive. Then, there's the dark side...
The "Hot" channel is there in full, bass, parametric middle, and treble let you shape your sound as you see fit, along with reverb for this channel as well. This particular amp also features an "X-mode" Switch. This allows you to make your palm mutes really sound punchy, and scoops some more of your mid-range out. It also has a resonance control to allow you to sculpt your sound even further. It also features an effects loop for you to hook up your own effects, send and return of course, and is also able to be hooked up to a footswitch. The only thing I wish this amp had is a headphone jack for quiet practice, but I find turning down your resonance is a decent substitute for a headphone jack. I can crank this amp up halfway, and it will drown out my drummer and my other guitarist during band practice. Insane eh? I still didn't tell you the big suprise, it's solid state. // 9
Sound: I tried this amp out at my local guitar store (Hot Licks), and it stood apart from any of the other amps I had tried out. This amp does exactly what it's name tells you: Blasts tone everywhere. It blasts so much tone that you might blast some tone in your pants. I have played through it with my two guitars, my Jackson with Dimarzios, and my Gibson faded Flying V, and I think you could plug a hello kitty guitar into this amp and still sound kick-ass. I'll start on the lighter side... The clean channel sounds perfect at any level. I can't think of any words to describe it except that it sounds like a guitar is supposed to sound. When you hit the overdrive Switch, you get a perfect bluesy tone, wonderful for pentatonics. On to my favorite part, the Hot channel. This amp has so much brutality in it that it may turn you into a sadist. The best part about it is the gain. It has an amount of gain that makes your tone quite noisy when it is on full, which I find to be a good thing, better to know that when you're on 7 that there's more to come other than having your amp on 10 and thinking, "This is it?"
I currently play on this amp with my Flying V, and I couldn't be happier. I play mostly brutal music, metal and powerviolence, and this can give me the sound I want. The parametric middle range provides me with sound I have not yet began to conjure. The bass will not sound like garbage when you turn your volume up, and that's a blessing for me, because I love to have a beefy, somewhat crunchy, and a bit of sizzly when I play, much like a taco. Whatever distortion you're looking for, this amp can put it down. For those who love brutality, when you tune down to drop C or B, the low end crunch soars. You can also mess with your middle ange and get phenomenal lead tones. // 10
Reliability & Durability: This amp has yet to fail me and I've had it for a little over two years. I haven't had the chance to play a gig yet, but I would definitley use this as my primary. I don't see how you could break this amp unless you really tried to, it resembles a tank. It does, however, have 2 vents on top of it, which could fall victim to rain or spilled beer. // 8
Impression: I compared this amp with a Marshall 50 watt, which cost $30 more than this, and it disappointed me with it's weak distortion. This amp gives me all I need; A plethora of tone variety, heavy distortion, and a delightful clean side to boot. that's all I need. // 10
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