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Gear Finds: Amps

Check out these excellent amps from some of the best brands in the industry.


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Archon 50W Head

PRS Guitars
$999

Greek for “ruler” or “lord,” the PRS Archon is a commanding 2-channel amp with versatile overdriven tones and sparkling cleans with plenty of headroom. Designed with five gain stages before the master volume, the Archon’s lead channel is voiced to cover everything from Classic Rock to Metal with full, lush distortion. The clean channel provides rich tones that retain clarity even at high volume, and there is ample headroom, creating an excellent platform for pedals. The Archon has remarkably responsive tone with incredible note separation, whether you’re playing on the clean channel or chugging on the lead.

The PRS Archon is powered by two 6CA7 power tubes, which fall between EL34 and 6L6 tubes, offering the best of both worlds. 6CA7’s are warm, full, and articulate with smooth high end and tight low end. They chug, distort, and get heavy without over-saturating, and they sing without becoming harsh.

Badlander 50 1x12 Combo

MESA/Boogie
$2649

Delivering a sonic and weight profile that’s a bit more lean, the Badlander™ 50 holds its own while adding a distinct tonal character to the Badlander Series. Even more aggressive, yet with an inviting, effortless feel, it’s ready to go places where less power is the call. Two channels feature 3 new dynamic Modes as its 100-Watt counterpart. CLEAN, CRUNCH and CRUSH repeated supply the gain, shaping power and an urgent personality to navigate any venue. Here in the Badlander 50, the 2-Channel preamp hooks up with two different and perfect power displacements that enhance everything from clean to clipped to wildly saturated. The 50-Watt setting delivers bold authority and the highest headroom while the 20-watt setting finds the power tubes re-wired for Triode operation that unveils greater clipping potential and a mid-scooped, harmonic-laden response that reveals trademark EL34 Tone.

TAD 6L6GCM-STR REDBASE™ PREMIUM Selected

Tube Amp Doctor Musikhandels GmbH
$41.50

As the first tube of the new TAD REDBASE™ series, the TAD 6L6GCM-STR REDBASE™ has a powerful but always well-defined bass range, with clear, silky and transparent highs - offering plenty of headroom.

In every setting, the TAD 6L6GCM-STR REDBASE™ responds directly and with great dynamics, from soft and warm to punchy and powerful, without ever losing detail or depth.

An effective upgrade

The TAD 6L6GCM-STR REDBASE™ is the recommendation for lively clean sounds as well as powerful broadband multi-channel amps. This makes the TAD 6L6GCM-STR REDBASE™ an effective upgrade for virtually any amp that uses 6L6GC or 5881 tubes.

SLO Mini

Soldano
$249.99

The SLO Mini head is a 30-watt powerhouse with the same rich overdrive and crunch as the original amplifier. This ultra-compact head delivers searing harmonics, and the perfect balance of gain, sustain and tight touch response that the SLO has become famous for.

THR30 II Wireless 30-watt Modeling Combo Amp

Yamaha
$869 $549

No matter where you are, you can plug into a Yamaha THR30 II Wireless and experience realistic tube tone. This battery-powered combo amplifier includes a full arsenal of guitar and bass amp emulations, along with mic models for your acoustic-electric and flat modes for everything else. Ditch your pedalboard — the THR30 II Wireless’s 3-band EQ, and a great-sounding selection of modulation effects, echoes, and reverbs, have you covered. Bluetooth support enables you to stream backing tracks — with full Hi-Fi quality — through the THR30 II Wireless’s stereo speakers. The THR30 II Wireless also includes plug-and-play USB connectivity for recording and playback, along with a built-in wireless receiver for performing cable-free.

Katana-50 MkII 1 x 12-inch 50-watt Combo Amp

BOSS
$279.99

The BOSS Katana-50 MkII is the latest installation in BOSS's esteemed line of Katana series amplifiers. And whether you're interested in accessing its pummeling 50-watt output section and platform-perfect 12-inch speaker to amplify your existing modelers and preamps, or in building your dream tones from the ground up to create the ultimate all-in-one gig and practice solution, take it from Sweetwater — the Katana-50 MkII is a powerful tool in the hands of any electric or acoustic player. Cab-emulated outputs and monitoring make the BOSS Katana-50 MkII a truly silent stage and studio guitar solution, while multichannel footswitch support provides hands-free remote access to every sound in your arsenal. New amp variations and access to 60 timeless BOSS effects within the BOSS Tone Studio editor make the 50 MkII a tone tweaker's holiday.


Archetype: Tom Morello is designed to precisely model the guitarist’s longtime amplifier and speaker-cabinet rig, incorporating key processors that replicate his signature sounds.

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A flexible fuzz conjures a unique voice with a vintage accent, with a helping of delectable overdrive sounds on top.

Inhabits a unique tone space on the Brit-fuzz spectrum. Rich low- and mid-gain overdrive, boost, and distortion sounds. Top quality. Thoughtful design.

Highest gain fuzz sounds can be toppy.

$285

Great Eastern FX Co. Focus Fuzz
greateasternfx.com

5
5
4.5
4.5

Fuzz boxes don’t get much prettier than the Focus Fuzz from Great Eastern FX Co. And if you’re into mid-to-late-’60s fuzz, you may well find they don’t come much cooler sounding either. Great Eastern founder David Greeves describes the sound of the Focus Fuzz as something between a Tone Bender, a Fuzz Face, and a Dallas Rangemaster. Citing those touchstones is not unusual when reaching for a way to describe a new vintage-style fuzz. But in the case of the Focus Fuzz, Greeves isn’t making offhanded claims. The Focus Fuzz truly seems to thread a line between the open, bassier qualities of a germanium Fuzz Face and the fierce, metallic, buzzy compression of a Tone Bender. At lower gain settings, it approximates the performance of a Rangemaster in many respects. It’s responsive to playing guitar volume and tone dynamics. And it’s even tempered at both ends of the gain spectrum, too. Moderate gain settings dish bushels of killer overdrive sounds and jangly near-clean tones. If you can’t find a cool dirt sound here, you might consider frog farming instead.

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Tuttle and Strings first recorded together on Strings’ 2017 release, Turmoil & Tinfoil.

Photo by Alysse Gafkjen

Looking back on their latest releases, the two bluegrass phenoms and friends sit down with one another to talk musical heritage, stage fright, gear, and more.

In any music scene, it’s natural that talented contemporaries will find each other and form fast, harmonious fraternity. It’s no surprise, then, that Nashville-based bluegrass virtuosos Billy Strings and Molly Tuttle became close friends and collaborators as early as 2017—when they were both just 24—and, as is now somewhat common knowledge, were one-time roommates. Tuttle was first featured on Strings’ full-length release, Turmoil & Tinfoil, and a few years later, Strings guested on Tuttle’s Grammy-winning 2022 album, Crooked Tree, on the track “Dooley’s Farm,” while performing together often in the interim.

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