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The Antidote is a 45-watt, two-voice head that delivers soaring KT66-driven tones reminiscent of everything from early JTM45s to ’70s JMPs.

Not long ago I was searching high and low for a Marshall JMP from the ’70s. These aren’t terribly difficult to find—they pop up from time to time online, and even at big-chain guitar stores with used instrument sections. The problem is that the JMP is a longtime favorite of amp modders. Many dubious modifications can lurk beneath the surface of these amps. I've heard horror stories about mismatched transformers, “special” caps, and midrange boosts. Not wanting to gamble on a potential lemon, I shifted my search to newer amplifiers built for vintage tastes.

That search led to the doorstep of Dr. Z, a company with a reputation for vintage-sounding circuits that always seem to deliver something extra. Their latest is the Antidote, a 45-watt, two-voice head that delivers soaring KT66-driven tones reminiscent of everything from early JTM45s to those ’70s JMPs I’d been lusting after—all from a beautifully uncluttered and easy-to-operate six-knob control set.

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Though the Nace M1-18R will exceed the budget of most casual players, it verges on being a work of art and can be a dangerous weapon in the studio and small-to-medium sized stages.

In the very first minute of my phone conversation with Art Nace, he pointed out that he wasn’t a guitar player. Ordinarily, that would be a red flag. But I also realized that fresh eyes and ears—and ideas—could be a real advantage in a market where many companies just knock off the classics. And even if Nace isn’t well versed in jazzy chord substitutions, he definitely knows what makes things tick.

Nace steeped his mind in tube hi-fi projects at an early age and later worked in the aerospace industry—a nice curriculum vitae for a tinkerer who would ultimately succumb to the amp-building bug.

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The pairing of Egnater''s Armageddon and AR-412 cab is a fantastic setup for the modern metal guitarist who wants extreme gain, total control, and exceptionally tight delivery.

The Armageddon is Egnater Amplification’s flagship offering to modern metal guitarists. Egnater has dipped their toes into the high-gain waters before—notably with the Vengeance amplifier. But the Armageddon’s extensive features, incredible power, and skull-crushing tone make it quite unlike any amp they’ve released before. It’s geared towards the modern metal guitarist who needs a window-rattling amp that can be tweaked to perfection in any situation. And with 120 tube-driven watts, the triple-channel Armageddon delivers pure metal fury, blistering overdrive, and knockout clean tones.

Metal Command
The Armageddon’s all-tube circuitry is housed in a durable steel chassis and generates that bludgeoning 120-watts of power from a quartet of 6L6 power tubes. The standby switch also serves as a half-power switch, so it’s easy to drop down to 60 watts for lower volume and headroom. The preamp’s substantial array of six 12AX7 tubes glow menacingly—ready and willing to help unleash the Armageddon’s merciless overdrive.

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