 | Download Example 1 Raw rock rhythm (Epiphone Sheraton) |
| Download Example 2 Clean with vibrato (Godin Dorchester) |
| Download Example 3 Neck roll-off and bridge lead tones (Gibson Les Paul) |
| All clips recorded with a Chandler LTD1 mic pre into an Apogee Symphony I/O to Pro Tools HD9. SM57 off axis to Evil Robot. Slight addition of Lexicon hall reverb in mix. | |
The decision to build the Evil Robot was prompted by demand from Fretted Americana viewers wanting to know more about the mighty little Tonemaster, an amp that was originally made for accordion. Recognizing an opportunity to resurrect a great design and meet a burgeoning demand (and the reality that Phil’s ancient Tonemaster might not live forever), Fretted Americana brought in engineer John Kasha to design and build an updated version of this classic. Enter the Evil Robot!
A Bionic Clone
While Kasha took care to replicate the Tonemaster’s sound and looks, he made the Evil Robot more robust with modern components. The 40-pound amp is packaged in a 20" x 9.5" x 15" cabinet made of Baltic birch ply and covered in a cool brown vinyl that’s complemented by a gold-mesh grille. Ivory-colored chickenhead knobs and a heavy-duty handle add an air of mid-century authenticity. The hilarious “EVIL ROBOT” logo is prominently displayed on a gold panel where the Tonemaster logo appeared on the original. And production amps will have a gold plate on the back of the semi-open back cab commemorating the amp with signatures by Phil X, Fretted Amrericana owner David J. Brass, and John Kasha.
Powered by a pair of 6V6s, the cathode-biased amp produces 18 watts. A pair of 12AX7s, one 12AU7, and a 6AV6 complete the all-tube signal path, and the true point-to-point wiring (no circuit board) incorporates premium American-made components. The 8Ω 12" speaker is handmade in the US and rated at 30 watts.
From left to right, the control panel consists of four inputs (High and Low inputs for channels A and B), followed by a 3-way switch for voicing (Mellow, Normal, and Bright). Loudness A and B knobs share a single Tone control for both channels, while the Vibrato circuit consists of Intensity and Speed knobs with a footswitch jack located just below. Finally there is an orange power indicator light, remote speaker output, a 2A Slo-Blo fuse, and a power toggle with no standby switch.
Play That Funky Music
To say the Evil Robot is funky is an understatement. Its overdriven, throaty, low-watt voicing will appeal to anyone who digs the sound of Valco, Supro, Airline, or Silvertone amps. But the ER has a lot of style and versatility too. This is an amp that begs to be played and explored with each guitar you plug in. Its clean front end highlighted the personality of each axe I employed over the course of the review, revealing the effects of different pickups, wood, and even picks on the tones leaping from the speaker. The Evil Robot will put you back in touch with the nuances of your instrument—it’s incredibly satisfying to play through, regardless of what guitar you plug in.
The first guitar I tried was an Epiphone Sheraton with Tom Holmes 455s (8.55k in the bridge). Running into the Robot’s Channel A High input with the Loudness A and Tone cranked and the switch in the Bright position, I was rewarded with a lush but ragged and boxy grind in the fashion of Alex Lifeson’s 2112 tone—all at a tolerable volume. I quickly became addicted to exploring picking dynamics, and digging in or backing off was often all I needed to clean up the tone or coax a little grit. I also found that it was great for refining and exploring the details and dynamics of hybrid picking. If you’re a stickler for precision, the Evil Robot will reward the detail and touch in your technique. Likewise, it certainly won’t help hide your mistakes if you’re a sloppy player.
Probing the capabilities of the 3-way voicing switch, I found the Mellow setting quite dark. With the Tone backed down it was a little too mellow for my tastes. But with the Tone at its mid setting, the amp gave me a little more top-end bite that was great for jazz chording and leads.
The Normal setting opened up the ER considerably, and I spent most of my time tinkering with the amp in this mode. Without dedicated bass and treble controls, it can be a balancing act to get precisely the voice you’re looking for. But it’s never difficult to get a great sound, and the range is still quite wide—especially for a low-power amp.
It’s worth noting that the 3-way switch is only a 3-way on Channel A. On Channel B, you only have the use of high and low tone settings. And the 3-way switch is constrained by the Tone knob in the sense that you must back the Tone down to 4 o’clock or so to engage the Normal and Mellow modes. It’s a quirky circuit, but useful and expressive once you get the hang of things.
Moving on to a Fender Strat revealed
the Evil Robot’s range of clean tones and
spank. I got all the quack you’d ever want
out of the bridge-plus-middle pickup
position, and the neck pickup was biting,
chiming tonal bliss—perfect for serious
chicken pickin’. In the same mode, I tried
my Creation Audio Labs Holy Fire pedal to
see how the amp sounded in high-gain territory.
With the extra boost, the Evil Robot
howled, screamed, and kicked its way into
beautiful fits of musical rage where rich
harmonic feedback knocked me off my
feet. Meanwhile, a Richmond Dorchester
wired with Lace Alumitones helped me
crank out some gutsy slide tones that could
run with the dirtiest old, vintage combos.One of the really special bonuses of the Evil Robot is the fantastic Vibrato circuit. It can be taken out of the chain any time with the included footswitch, but I found myself pretty addicted to the effect over time. Unlike a lot of vibrato circuits, it doesn’t overpower the signal, but remains strong as notes fade. And belting out big power chords or ripping lead lines with a tasteful, controlled vibrato blend really expanded the amps available colors.
The Verdict
In an increasingly airbrushed, homogenized, and antiseptic world, it’s easy to forget that you can’t always model the magic of pushing an amp beyond its limits. The visceral impact of an amp ready to blow is always an inspiration to me. And the funky character that the Evil Robot communicated in this operating environment was right up my alley.
The Evil Robot is overflowing with potential for many kinds of players. It doesn’t do modern scooped mids or endless high gain. But it’s uncommonly responsive to pick attack, drive, and dynamics. The simple but effective circuit and excellent vibrato is more than enough to justify the price, and from what I witnessed, this amp is built to last. It’s almost impossible to capture the mojo of an amp as battlescarred as Phil X’s Tonemaster. But this amp will certainly outperform the original in terms of stability and power. Coming together on a project that many people have been asking for, Kasha, Brass, and Phil X have done an outstanding job.
Buy if...
you want funky, cool, retro tones and more in a stable, solid, compact low-watt combo.
Skip if...
bells, whistles, knobs, and FX loops are an absolute necessity.
Rating...
Street $1595 - Fretted Americana - frettedamericana.com |
Gibson originally launched the EB-6 model with the intention of serving consumers looking for a “tic-tac” bass sound.
The Gibson EB-6 was announced in 1959 and came into the world in 1960, not with a dual-horn body but with that of an elegant ES-335. They looked stately, with a thin, semi-hollow body, f-holes, and a sunburst finish. Our pick for this Vintage Vault column is one such first-year model, in about as original condition as you’re able to find today. “Why?” you may be asking. Well, read on....
When the EB-6 was introduced, the Bass VI was still a glimmer in Leo Fender’s eye. The real competition were the Danelectro 6-string basses that seemed to have popped up out of nowhere and were suddenly being used on lots of hit records by the likes of Elvis, Patsy Cline, and other household names. Danos like the UB-2 (introduced in ’56), the Longhorn 4623 (’58), and the Shorthorn 3612 (’58) were the earliest attempts any company made at a 6-string bass in this style: not quite a standard electric bass, not quite a guitar, nor, for that matter, quite like a baritone guitar.
The only change this vintage EB-6 features is a replacement set of Kluson tuners.
Photo by Ken Lapworth
Gibson, Fender, and others during this era would in fact call these basses “baritone guitars,” to add to our confusion today. But these vintage “baritones” were all tuned one octave below a standard guitar, with scale lengths around 30", while most modern baritones are tuned B-to-B or A-to-A and have scale lengths between 26" and 30".)
At the time, those Danelectros were instrumental to what was called the “tic-tac” bass sound of Nashville records produced by Chet Atkins, or the “click-bass” tones made out west by producer Lee Hazlewood. Gibson wanted something for this market, and the EB-6 was born.
“When the EB-6 was introduced, the Bass VI was still a glimmer in Leo Fender’s eye.”
The 30.5" scale 1960 EB-6 has a single humbucking pickup, a volume knob, a tone knob, and a small, push-button “Tone Selector Switch” that engages a treble circuit for an instant tic-tac sound. (Without engaging that switch, you get a bass-heavy tone so deep that cowboy chords will sound like a muddy mess.)
The EB-6, for better or for worse, did not unseat the Danelectros, and a November 1959 price list from Gibson hints at why: The EB-6 retailed for $340, compared to Dano price tags that ranged from $85 to $150. Only a few dozen EB-6 basses were shipped in 1960, and only 67 total are known to have been built before Gibson changed the shape to the SG style in 1962.
Most players who come across an EB-6 today think it was a response to the Fender Bass VI, but the former actually beat the latter to the market by a full year.
Photo by Ken Lapworth
It’s sad that so few were built. Sure, it was a high-end model made to achieve the novelty tic-tac sound of cheaper instruments, but in its full-voiced glory, the EB-6 has a huge potential of tones. It would sound great in our contemporary guitar era where more players are exploring baritone ranges, and where so many people got back into the Bass VI after seeing the Beatles play one in the 2021 documentary, Get Back.
It’s sadder, still, how many original-era EB-6s have been parted out in the decades since. Remember earlier when I wrote that our Vintage Vaultpick was about as original as you could find? That’s because the model’s single humbucker is a PAF, its Kluson tuners are double-line, and its knobs are identical to those on Les Paul ’Bursts. So as people repaired broken ’Bursts, converted other LPs to ’Bursts, or otherwise sought to give other Gibsons a “Golden Era” sound and look ... they often stripped these forgotten EB-6 basses for parts.
This original EB-6 is up for sale now from Reverb seller Emerald City Guitars for a $16,950 asking price at the time of writing. The only thing that isn’t original about it is a replacement set of Kluson tuners, not because its originals were stolen but just to help preserve them. (They will be included in the case.)
With so few surviving 335-style EB-6 basses, Reverb doesn’t have a ton of sales data to compare prices to. Ten years ago, a lucky buyer found a nearly original 1960 EB-6 for about $7,000. But Emerald City’s $16,950 asking price is closer to more recent examples and asking prices.
Sources: Prices on Gibson Instruments, November 1, 1959, Tony Bacon’s “Danelectro’s UB-2 and the Early Days of 6-String Basses” Reverb News article, Gruhn’s Guide to Vintage Guitars, Tom Wheeler’s American Guitars: An Illustrated History, Reverb listings and Price Guide sales data.
Originally released in the 1980s, the Victory has long been a cult favorite among guitarists for its distinctive double cutaway design and excellent upper-fret access. These new models feature flexible electronics, enhanced body contours, improved weight and balance, and an Explorer headstock shape.
A Cult Classic Made Modern
The new Victory features refined body contours, improved weight and balance, and an updated headstock shape based on the popular Gibson Explorer.
Effortless Playing
With a fast-playing SlimTaper neck profile and ebony fretboard with a compound radius, the Victory delivers low action without fret buzz everywhere on the fretboard.
Flexible Electronics
The two 80s Tribute humbucker pickups are wired to push/pull master volume and tone controls for coil splitting and inner/outer coil selection when the coils are split.
For more information, please visit gibson.com.
Gibson Victory Figured Top Electric Guitar - Iguana Burst
