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The Amp Quest, part 2
by Gayla Drake Paul
the Amp Quest
One Player’s Search for the Perfect Amp Pt. II
Picking out the perfect amp is a personal journey,
as everyone is looking for something different.
Last month, I talked about my need to find a small,
lightweight, easy-to-transport amp with a fantastic
clean tone, a lot of volume and very little selfnoise.
I am playing on an Ibanez Artcore AF-105
Custom, and what follows is my evaluation of all
the amps I tried – and I tried quite a few – and
the amp I finally loved enough to commit to.
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I began with the AER Combo 60 and
Acousticube, some of the best amps I’ve
ever heard my Gallagher acoustic guitars
through. There are some electric players
that use them, mostly jazz players, but
I found the electric to be lackluster and
muddy through these amps. I’ve never
had a better acoustic sound, however, and
can highly recommend them for anyone
looking for a stellar acoustic amp.
I have been using an Ultrasound CP-100
for my acoustic; it’s the right size and
weight, has plenty of power, and my
acoustic guitars sound great with it. I
have also heard of some jazz players
using them, so I gave it a try, but to my
ear it is just not voiced appropriately for
the Artcore’s pickups (Seymour Duncans).
Once again, for an acoustic guitarist it’s
near ideal, and has an input for a vocal
mic as well.
The Marshall MG30 FX was the right
size and had a nice clean channel, but I
felt that it wouldn’t give me the volume I
need to be heard over a drummer. I was
shocked that a Marshall could deliver such
clean tone, and I tried one of the same
series with more power, but it was bigger
than I wanted – I have to fit it in the
back of a VW Beetle – and didn’t deliver
the same tone as the smaller model.
I tried the Tech 21 Trademark 60 several
times. It is a very versatile amp, and seems to have a lot of volume and drive,
but it seemed to break up at a fairly low
volume, which was not what I was looking
for. The big brother, the Trademark
300, however, had a positively delicious
clean sound with enough volume to scare
the neighbors a block over without breaking
up a bit. The tone controls are simple
and allow you to dial in exactly the tone
you are looking for. I came extremely
close to taking this one home, but unfortunately
it wouldn’t fit in my car. So close,
but no cigar.
The Genz Benz Diablo is another sizeable
unit, with a wealth of clean gain,
and power to burn. However, for the
way I play, the attack was too harsh and
there was significant self-noise. The Carr
Mercury and Rambler ultra-low wattage
amps were very appealing, but once
again I was surprised by the amount of
self-noise these amps put out. In order
to get the volume up over the drums, I
started hearing significant amp hum and
the smooth, rich jazz tone began to break
up. I found the attack to be pleasant at
lower volumes, but once I began to push
it the attack became very harsh.
My husband, Curtis, made some phone
calls about the Budda Superdrive 18,
as he heard it had an extremely clean
channel. He talked to some very helpful
people at Budda, and they thought it
would be very much worth my time to
play it, but the closest place I could go
hear it was five hours away, and I didn’t
have the time to make the road trip. I
talked to my friend Pat Smith, formerly of
the Penguin Jazz Quartet, who has ears
I trust, and asked him if he was familiar
with the Budda. He had played them, but
said the only thing he knew them for was
killer rock tones and wasn’t familiar with
the clean side of them at all. He thought
they were great amps, but knowing my
style, he advised that they were probably
not what I was looking for.
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At 20 pounds, compact
(14”x14”x8.5”) and a barking
clean 60 watts, it has the
tone and the oomph I need to
be all that I can be without
breaking my back.
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Pat did suggest I try a Claris Coda R, and
he played his for me over the phone. The
phone line aside, it was gorgeous, rich
and brilliant, with plenty of power and the
right size. If you need to move more air
you can use an extension cabinet as well.
My husband was concerned about recording
with this amp because the woofer
shoots straight down and the horn and
the mid come out the front; this means it
would require an extension cabinet to be
really viable for me. It is an excellent all
around amp and one that got my serious
consideration, but in the end, I declined.
I tried an entire array of Fenders – the
CyberTwin SE, Chorus, ‘65 Reissue Twin
Reverb, DeVille, Princeton Recording
Amp and the Blues Deluxe Reissue.
The CyberTwin is an amazing machine,
incredibly versatile, and if you’re in a band
where you play everything from Jimi to
Townsend to Van Halen to The Edge, I can
see where this amp might be appealing. I
think I found one setting I really liked, and
a few others that were passable, but it
was just not for me – although I do have
to say it was one of the quietest amps
I tried. The rest of the Fender array had
great tone, though the Princeton wasn’t
quite rich enough. The rest of them had
that trademark Fender hum that so many
players really do love, and I understand
that, but in the end they just weren’t right
for my purposes.
I took the Peavey Valve King 212 home
for a test drive. It was rich and lively, had
a great clean channel, and the dial on the
back that allows you to go from Class A
to Class B was extremely cool. I liked it
a lot, but at 64 pounds I would have had
to love it. I think it was really intended
for rock gods and not for steamy songwriter
goddesses. I also tried the 112
version and didn’t like it near as much – it
just didn’t have the richness of the 212,
though the weight and portability were
definitely more in the ballpark.
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You owe it to yourself to take
the time to figure out what you
really want from your tone and
what you really need from your
amp before you start looking.
The adventure is well worth it.
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The real surprise of the entire quest was
the Peavey Bandit 112 – I love these
amps, and I would love to pick one up
as a backup and jam session amp. The
T-Dynamics technology was a stroke of
genius on somebody’s part down there
in Mississippi – I loved the control I had
over my attack, as well as the rich and
vibrant sound. In fact, while I was playing
a couple serious players came over to
check out the rig because the sound was
that impressive. They couldn’t believe it
was a Bandit, either. Who knew? It had a
slight hiss at higher volumes but no hum,
and was a serious contender.
Before I made
a final decision,
my husband
was doing a
web search to see
if there were any
other amps out there
that we had missed and
discovered something called a Henriksen
Jazz Amp, handmade in Colorado, that
looked extremely promising. We read all
the specs online, and the next day called
the factory to learn more. Bud Henriksen
and I seemed to be very much on the
same page about tone, self-noise, size,
weight, and power – all of my major
concerns. He and Curtis talked at length
about his recording concerns as well, and
it seemed to be the answer to his issues.
With a generous return policy and a
remarkably reasonable price, I decided to
take a chance and order it.
At 20 pounds, compact
(14”x14”x8.5”) and a barking
clean 60 watts, it has the tone
and the oomph I need to be
all that I can be without breaking
my back. It doesn’t break
up at the higher volumes, so
I can push it over the top of
the drums and still be satisfied
with the tone. It’s effortless to
transport. Curtis loves the fact
that he can record at a decent
volume and get no self-noise,
and it’s easy to mic. There is a
5 band parametric EQ instead
of tone knobs – you can get
the exact tone you are looking
for by minutely controlling the
frequencies. It has one volume
control, one input, one line
out and can power an 8-ohm
cabinet if
you want to
move more
air. Finally we had
found amp bliss!
In the end, I learned a lot about guitar
amps after months of searching. You owe
it to yourself to take the time to figure
out what you really want from your tone
and what you really need from your amp
before you start looking. The adventure
is well worth it. What I’ve discovered is
there’s an amp for every style of playing
and every level of engagement, at a multitude
of price points. Getting the right tool
for the job is not only going to make you
sound better, but it will inspire you and
make you a better player.
Comments, Rants and Raves
Scot Sier on 8/29/2007 3:26:00 PM
To bad the trip to play a Budda Superdrive 18 combo was 5 hours! We are known for both killer rock and clean tones. You can listen to a few audio track samples on our web site at www.budda.com. Click on the temple of tone page.
Thanks,
Budaguys
jlc on 9/9/2007 8:34:00 AM
I own a fender twin reverb, super reverb, mark iv, budda 18, gibson super gold tone 30 watt head, and find all these amps to re very quite, it is only when you use certain effects in front of them that they may all generate noise, hum etc, i play mostly jazz and i hate, hum or any noise that i am not making, i play at realatively low volumes, and i think that if your guitar, ie strats, p90 pups, etc. aren't making much noise, and any of the amps that i have listed are working properly the noise is minimal or non existent. Ground loops etc. may have to be dealt with in a multi amp set up. biggest problem most are fairly heavy.
mvaraha@mac.com on 11/21/2007 2:23:00 AM
I don't have one, but I'm curious why she didn't mention Roland.
I may be wrong, but I always thought they represented the industry standard of clean. But, I've only known keyboard players that used them. I would have told her to try Roland since a lot of jazz guys use them.
Jeff Coggins on 11/24/2007 11:42:00 PM
I'm extremely surprized that she didn't check out Polytone. They seem to be exactly what she's looking for. Incredible solid-state jazz amps. We had them at the special fine arts center I went to in high school and they sounded fantastic.
http://www.polytoneamps.com/
ol' goober on 12/3/2007 2:23:00 AM
thanks for sharing gayla.
Chris on 3/13/2008 8:46:00 PM
Funny how the Polytone guy found this place, but most can't find Polytone! I agree, they are good amps though, just hard to find, and even harder to get ahold of a human being that is associated with them.
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