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Download Example 1
Dirty, controls set at 1 o'clock
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Download Example 2
Volume maxed, low input
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| Clips recorded with a 1978 Greco EG-700 single cut through a Marshall JCM800 4x12 cabinet.
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Few social groups are as resistant to the
march of technology than guitarists.
Even while amplifier design has witnessed
drastic leaps in development and we now
have incredibly versatile digital-modeling
units brimming with processing power, huge
sections of the electric guitar-playing populace
still cling to the technology that propelled
records now 50 years old (or more).
The upside of all this evolutionary reticence,
of course, is that great builders are
refining the simple tube circuit like never
before. And few builders embrace the elegant
simplicity of old tube circuits quite like
Adam Grimm of Satellite Amplifiers. Grimm
started Satellite when he built an amp for
the lap-steel player in his Hawaiian band,
and he’s remained restlessly fascinated with
the potential of tube amps ever since. His
ever-evolving line now has 10 models, and
his newest amp—the 20-watt Mudshark—
shows he hasn’t yet surfaced from his deep-dive
exploration of great tube designs.
Like a Bolt from the Blue
The Mudshark’s design specs owe a lot to
the famed Supro Thunderbolt amplifier
from the mid ’60s. Legend has it that
Jimmy Page used a Thunderbolt combo
from this era as his main studio recording
amplifier for the first two Led Zeppelin
albums. Just like the Thunderbolt, the
Mudshark is built around two 5881 power
tubes, a pair of 12AX7 preamp tubes, and a
5Y3 rectifier tube.
The Mudshark features some notable
improvements on the Supro design, however.
Apart from higher build quality, it’s powered
by Mercury Magnetics transformers,
which are highly regarded in boutique circles
because they provide reliable power and
add tonal heft. No matter where I looked,
the Mudshark’s guts were put together just
about perfectly, with flawless solder joints
and tightly routed wiring in the point-to-point
circuit. And if simplicity is a Satellite
hallmark, the plug-and-play Mudshark could
easily be the company’s flagship—it has just
two controls: Volume and Tone. Apart from
those, the high- and low-gain inputs, and the
3-way ohm switch (4, 8, or 16) around back,
there’s nothing to fiddle with.
The Mudshark looks straight-up cool.
It’s covered in gorgeous blue-sparkle vinyl
that’s reminiscent of Kustom’s old tuck ’n’
roll cabinets (although Satellite applies the
vinyl directly to the wood). There were
some small air bubbles and divots in the
material that wouldn’t be noticeable to, say,
fans at a gig, but they were apparent up
close and when I ran my hand over the head
cabinet—a small issue, but one that kept
the amp from being aesthetically perfect.
Serious Bite
Knowing the Mudshark was designed
with Jimmy Page in mind, I grabbed a
Telecaster and a ’77 Greco EG-700 Les
Paul copy and routed the Mudshark
through a Marshall JCM800 4x12. With
the Volume and Tone controls both at
noon, I dug into the Telecaster and was
rewarded with a bark that made the hairs
on the back of my neck stand up. I expected
a tone with vintage vibe, but I hadn’t
anticipated being bludgeoned with it. The
Mudshark is an aggressive predator of an
amp that bares deadly teeth with every
note, remains defined during complex
chord work, and exhibits pick sensitivity
that I have rarely experienced in an
amplifier. It’s very honest, with beautiful
grit and nary an ounce of dampening or
over-compression.
Going for the Kill
Primed to see how hotter humbuckers
would sound, I plugged in the Greco and
explored hard-rock territory. All the sonic
detail I heard with the Telecaster remained
intact, albeit with more growl, sustain,
and thickness. The dual coils drove the
Mudshark into overdrive with the Volume
at about 10 o’clock. As I moved the knob
higher, the volume increased until about
one o’clock. Beyond that, it just piled on
more grit and sustain. When I flipped to
the Greco’s neck pickup position, the tone
remained solid in the low end and sharp in
the highs, reminiscent of the smooth tones
of early Chicago. I’m certainly no Terry
Kath, yet hearing what the amp was capable
of at those settings made me want to rip in
that style like never before.
With humbuckers, I found that setting
both controls at 1 o’clock offered the
most balanced tones and still allowed me to
achieve cleaner tones by easing up on my
attack and dropping the guitar’s volume ever
so slightly. With Tone set any higher than
2 o’clock, the amp became too bright and
slightly brittle sounding. Past 4 o’clock, it
was prone to feedback, too. One other thing
worth mentioning is that, since the amp is
based on a non-master-volume circuit, an
attenuator might be in order for those who
would like to play at lower volumes while
still taking advantage of the amp’s overdrive.
It’s only 20 watts, but they’re
loud watts—
loud enough to gig with.
The Verdict
If you’re a lover of the aggressive, but
smooth and harmonically rich, tones of
classic-rock albums of the late ’60s and
early ’70s, the Satellite Mudshark should
absolutely be on your radar. It’s not the
most versatile amplifier ever, but not having
extra bells and whistles is part of the
allure of this type of design—the simplicity
affords certain raw, in-your-face tones
that can’t be had from more sophisticated
circuits. The Mudshark’s back-to-the-basics
topology works like a time machine back
to early ’60s. Whether you’re looking to
snatch some of Page’s early Zep mojo or
find your own straightforward tone, the
Mudshark is an amazingly inspirational
place to begin.
Buy if...
you’re passionate about authentic
and authoritative late-’60s and
early-’70s rock tones.
Skip if...
you need more flexible features such
as a Master Volume, an effects loop,
and/or a 3-band EQ.
Rating...
