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What Do We Think
There are 101 ways to dial in this combo! But here’s where we tend to start with a Strat… all switches up and EQ’s at noon. Maybe a little bump of the contour to engage a chimey top end. Gain and Master at 2 o’clock delivers delicious harmonics in the preamp section and gets those 6L6’s blooming in the output section. Just drop the gain a hair for humbuckers if want to keep the take-off point constant, but the amp is remarkably accommodating of all pickup types.
We spec’d the amp with a Celestion Creamback speaker because it really warms up the combo enclosure and makes it sound bigger than its compact footprint would lead you to expect. We have also found that the tube-rectified version of this amp is where it’s at for us. It’s juicier and spunkier than the solid state-rectified version. Once you’ve heard it, you won’t want to go back!
The overdrive channel is footswitchable and features both gain and level controls, ensuring you can dial in the desired drive saturation and volume level to perfectly complement your settings on the clean channel. The drive channel yields vintage-flavored breakup at the lowest reaches of the gain knob, coveted Robben Ford styled solo tones in the middle, and continues all the way to fuzz-like distortions at the upper reaches.
Another reference for the lower to medium gain tones of the overdrive channel would be the guitar work on some of Brothers Osbourne’s more rocking tracks, such as “Shoot Me Straight” and “Skeletons”. Actually, the entire Skeletons album is loaded with the kinds of guitar tones this amp readily produces.
Speaking of tones, let’s dive into the switches for a moment. The deep switch adds a little pillow to the lows, without them getting mushy. The mid switch brings the midrange forward, thick and with just a touch of honk. The bright switch brings the top end out on top in the mix, as you would expect. Yet it succeeds in doing so by adding sweetness and presence instead of introducing an ice-picky texture.
The preamp boost (“PAB”) is active on both channels, sending the overdrive channel over the top or ratcheting up the sizzle on the clean channel. The boost immediately brings the clean channel into ‘90s country territory with that extra “push”, snap and swagger. This function is footswitchable along with the channel switching, giving you four distinct tonal voices accessible without reaching back to your amp to tweak knobs.
And then there’s the half power switch on the back. One thing we love about this amp is its ability to feel and sound full at living room volumes when necessary. Yes, it can flat out slay when you dime the master. But there’s a lot of leeway with this amp. The half power switch gives you some extra compression and “pushed amp” feel at the lower volumes when your sound guy or significant other is giving you dirty looks.
To round out the feature set we have the Contour and Reverb controls. The Contour knob plays like a high pass filter. All the way left is warm and round, right is crisp and bright. It sounds fabulous at noon for a starting point, and can be used to quickly balance different pickup types without fiddling with the full EQ section. The tube-driven spring Reverb is absolutely gorgeous. It thickens and sweetens, yet stays out of the way.
This combo sports a pair of GZ34 tube rectifiers, a Celestion Creamback speaker, Turquoise Suede and Black Sparkle grill. The amp ships with power cable, footswitch and 7-pin DIN footswitch cable.
Specifications
Combo