New Video: Marshall JCM900 Dual Reverb (Model 4100 Reissue)

Another deep dive and completing my run of the JCM900 series, the dual reverb. This particular amp is a Reissue model made in 2013, but the circuit is the same as any normal production run JCM900 and is equipped with 5881 power tubes (as most DR’s were throughout the 90s). The tones of this amplifier are great for a certain type of music, but I can also see why some do not like this amp compared to more traditional Marshall circuits.

Additionally, there are LED clippers on the normal channel, and diodes on the gain channel too - as well as a multitude of opamp gain stages and some pre-EQing going on for the second channel. It’s certainly not as analog as other Marshall circuits and even if the diodes were clipped/removed, it’s still largely opamp powered - this amp only has one single preamp tube gain stage in it (amps like 2203’s have 3 for example). Still, I think it really rocks for 90s punk tones and other high gain, bright tone - but it wouldn’t be my first choice for classic rock or old school metal.

New Video: Mesa Mark V Review

It’s been a long requested video - especially after doing a deep dive into the Mark IV - but it’s finally here! In this video I do a similar deep dive into the Mesa Mark V circuit and talk about some of the unique features it has (such as the tube rectifier and Mk I mode) as well as some of its drawbacks in comparison to classic Mark circuits. I definitely miss my Mark IV, but the V definitely has some great tones in it an is a little easier to live with with a very good sounding reverb and arguably better crunch channels.

New Amp: Mesa Stiletto Trident V2

I had been eyeing this Trident on Reverb for quite some time when I finally decided to take the plunge and made an offer. I’ve really wanted to try a Stiletto but really hated the standard headshell’s reptile-skin look, so this beautiful wine red tolex and weave front grille unit really appealed to me.

Sadly, yet another UPS shipping debacle came about with this amp as it was carelessly dropped from so far that it shattered several of the power tubes and all 3 rectifier tubes, as well as cracking the headshell on the bottom side. Talk about a BIG let down!

Luckily Reverb came in and set things straight with a partial refund to cover the damages, but it’s really a shame UPS isn’t being held more accountable. I know I move a lot of gear around but it’s astounding to me just how much of it is damaged! That said, I would’ve packed this amp a little differently than it arrived - I pack my outgoing gear with the assumption that IT WILL be dropped, instead of hoping it won’t be.

Now the issue is waiting for Mesa to make a new headshell - when I called, they weren’t even taking new orders because they are so behind on custom cabinet orders and materials. For the time being, I’ve clamped and glued the box pretty well and at least made it workable, although I’m not sure I’d trust it out on the road - fine for my studio use though.

As for the tones, it’s quite good as expected, with that core Rectifier type DNA to the tone but with a little more attack in the palm mutes. I haven’t had much time to sit with it since I was basically holding it waiting to see if I’d need to mail it back to Reverb - but now that things are all set straight I’ll get to dive in more soon. A part of me expected to hear some similarities to my Triple Crown but it’s really quite different so far - definitely less “British” than that amp. Of course, I still need to order a lot of tubes - with 6 power tubes and 3 rectifier tubes, it’s going to be a very expensive retube job!

New Amp: ENGL InVader 150

I snagged this first-generation InVader 150 from Guitar Center’s used listings, which included the very fancy Z-12 MIDI footswitch. I’ve been looking at ENGL’s for a while but I’m a bit unsure of what they all should sound like - but the Invader, SE, and Savage are all at the top of my list to try, especially after my positive experiences with the Raider 100 combo amp.

I haven’t had much time to open it up, but so far my impressions are very positive. There is a lot of online chatter that does not praise this amp - many players say to go get a Savage instead. I certainly plan to add a Savage to the collection, but it’s hard to say much bad about this amp.

It has four channels, and each is voiced very differently and I think that’s one of the things that works against this amp in the “initial impressions” phase. Most players who leave comments online have usually only played the amp in question for a few minutes in a store or with a friend and that’s not really an informed opinion - I know because I did the same thing before I started spending more time with my gear (a privilege not everyone has, of course). If I found this amp in a store and just wanted to check out its metal tones, I’d probably go to Channel 4 and start ripping, and I might walk away thinking it was a bit flubby and loose, with the feel of something like a Rivera Knucklehead without the aggressive growl. It’s a killer lead channel though, very thick and full for solos. And that’s exactly what the amp designer was after - channel 4 is built for thick, middy lead lines! Channel 3 is the aggressive, punchy metal rhythm tone!

So after ripping on Channel 3 and playing with the very dynamic EQ, I see why some might feel like Channel 4 isn’t their thing - if you took both of these channels and stuck them into two different amps, they might’ve sold better.

I also saw another misconception about the bright switch online, where it only works on channels 1 and 2. This is not true - it works on all channels, but the written manual is not clear about this. I contacted ENGL directly to confirm this and it’s true - on channel one, it’s clean, and the bright switch makes it… brighter. But on channels 2, 3, and 4, they described it as more of a “tone” or “mid boost” switch. The way it changes the tone of those channels is completely different - i.e. it’s not boosting the same frequencies, it is different per channel you are on.

And that’s probably the best way to talk about the switching - with the Z12 MIDI footswitch, you can store your settings for each channel - which includes if the bright switch, hi gain mode, fx loops, master A or B, etc are all on. Since that footswitch has lots of buttons, you can get 8+ different sounds from the same amp - you’re just stuck with the same EQ for the 4 main channels. That’s pretty cool - versatile AND a great sound.

Overall, I’m very impressed with this amp. I see that in the V2 they have renamed the bright switch on the front panel to “tone” - I’m not surprised, and if I had to guess there are only marginal circuit differences in that amp. I still plan to add a Savage and maybe a few others - so far I haven’t had an ENGL I didn’t love.

New Amp: VHT Pittbull 45

Recently, I’ve been trying to get rid of combo amps and focus more on heads. With my studio setup, it’s easier to collect and stack the heads and just run long speaker cables to a cab positioned by my mics than move around combos - so one amp I never thought I’d own is a Pittbull 45. When this head popped up on Guitar Center’s used section, I jumped on it - only 165 or so head versions were ever made of this amplifier.

This one dates from 1996 and is actually amp #0007 made - James Bond would be proud (even if it has an extra zero). This means it’s very early in the run and uses an EL84 powered spring reverb circuit - very cool. It is definitely one of the most lush and amazing sounding reverbs I’ve heard in an amp but it has one major drawback - it clearly affects the tone when engaged, even if the mix is turned down. Luckily it’s footswitchable but there is enough of a volume and tone change I think it’d be hard to really make the best of live. I’m just recording at home and can work around it no problem - but it’s no surprise to see that later Pittbull 45’s had a revised tube reverb circuit powered by an EF86 tube - likely similar to my 50/CL’s EF86 tube reverb.

In addition to the EL84 for the reverb, this amp is powered by a quad more EL84’s (for 5 total) and sports a 5AR4 tube rectifier. The feel of this amp, especially the clean channel, is just plain inspiring. Later models had a Class-A mode switch on the rear but this particular amp is restricted to Class-AB. I would love to play one of these in A mode but I really find it hard to believe it could get much better than this.

The drive channel is much less like the modern VHT/Fryette tone you might expect - it’s warm, bright, and full with incredible touch sensitivity. With the gain rolled down, the footswitchable “boost” has a more pronounced effect too - great for punchy solos or even enough gain for classic metal. This is a pretty stark contrast to my 50/CL which can hit metal tones right off the bat, and adding the boost is only a small push further. That amp is also far darker and tighter - still one of my all time favorite tones - but certainly less capable of accurately portraying some classic rock tones.

One other surprise is that this amp is VERY loud, and hard to tame. There is no overall master volume unlike my 50/CL (which sounds great even at low volumes), only the channel volumes which really only open up in the first quarter turn - which is quite loud at that point. Luckily, squeezing a volume box into the FX loop makes it much more manageable and keeps the volume tamed for home recording just fine.

I’m not sure exactly what I expected from this amp but the lower gain and brighter tone really blew me away - another one of those “best kept secrets” and probably an amp very few would realize makes such a perfect vintage rock machine (especially with the “Pittbull” line being mostly considered to be “metal” amps). I can’t wait to find even more tones in this one.

New Video: Jet City JCA22 Review

A quick run through of this Jet City amp, in this case the 22 watt 1x12 Combo, but shares the same basic design and circuit as the JCA50/100 models. This amp punches well above its weight especially for the price, and the EQ section feels very interactive and can get you a wide range of tones. Additionally, the simple design makes it a great platform for modding so if there is a tone you can’t get stock, you can probably get it through modding, and it’s also a great amp to learn some simple mods and circuit changes on.

New Video: Marshall JCM900 Mk III and SLX Review

An in-depth discussion of these two different amps - that share the same model numbers! I go over the model range briefly and explain some of the circuit differences before getting into some sound samples and riffing.

New Amp: Marshall JCM900 4100DR Reissue

I’ve heard very little in the way of good reviews of the “dual reverb” series of JCM900 amps, but after picking up an SL-X and then later going through multiple Mk III’s, I really just had to find out for myself. I missed the boat on picking up 900DR’s for $300 or $400 on craigslist, but when this one popped up on Guitar Center’s used section - and even better, a nearly brand spanking new Reissue model - for not much more than a 20 year old one, I couldn’t resist.

That said, I’m not afraid of an old amp, and I understand components and suppliers may have changed since the original run, but this amp will sound 95% the same as an original run. I’m not going to pay the $2900 (!!) these cost new, but for 900 bucks, I really couldn’t turn it down.

Okay, so now it’s in my hands… and how to put it tactfully…. I am not a fan of this amp. It’s bright, lacks punchy bass, and just overall falls flat next to the SL-X, 2203x, and 2210 that share the shelf with it right now. What it does do incredibly well however is that raspy 90s punk powerchord thing - which it does nail perfectly. Of course there are ways to make it sound better, such as an EQ in the loop, or a boost pedal in the front and the gain on the amp turned down. I’ve also read that disconnecting the diodes can improve the sound, but I really think from looking at the circuit that it’s more of an EQ issue than anything specific to the diodes - my 2210 is one of, if not my absolute favorite amp and that has diodes too.

Now I don’t want to sound too harsh, it’s a fine amp for that specific sound that it does, it’s just not a sound I would choose for myself. It’s aggressive and bright, but I can see why these were so lamented, especially since I have a 2ch Mesa Recto here too, it’s direct competition at the time, and that amp is superior even for mid-gain sounds, which neither of these amps were really designed for. Still, I’m holding onto it because it does complete the collection - with this amp I now have every main line Marshall head in recent memory, and it’s very useful for comparison and context on how circuit designs changed over time - this was an extremely innovative amp design wise for its time.

New Amp: Bad Cat Cub 40R Player's Series

So I had a few hundred bucks in Musicians Friend credit that had to be spent on something - I acquired this by buying used gear from GC via the MF website, but they caught on to that and stopped awarding points for used gear, and to make matters worse, I couldn’t use my points on more used gear. I don’t buy many brand new things, so I had some trouble deciding what to do, so I started skimming the Open Box equipment at MF.

I had previously been interested in Bad Cat amps, after trying to buy one on three separate occasions from GC, all of which were cancelled without notification (seems to be a common move by GC). I’d also considered just hunting down a VOX AC15 or AC30 - I really just wanted that classic, British flavored clean amp that wasn’t another Marshall.

This Bad Cat 40R popped up on open box for a good discount, and after watching some reviews and reading about them online, I decided to pull the trigger. The amp arrived, with the only clear damage to the front plexiglass logo which was coming completely off of the amp.

I try not to get overexcited when it comes to good gear, in the same way that I try not to be overly critical of gear I don’t like, but this amp deserves a lot of praise. The quality, fit, and finish is all excellent, and even the digital reverb sounds fantastic. The amp itself has both a traditional 12AX7 as well as a unique EF86 preamp (much like famous VOX and Matchless amps, as well as other boutique makers), and this can be footswitched. There is also a fat mode, also footswitchable, which can be used on either preamp mode. So even though it is not technically a channel switcher, the underlying texture and feel to the amp can be adjusted via footswitch very well - I’d consider the EF86 with Fat Off to be one of the best clean to mid-gain tones I’ve ever heard out of an amp.

The fat mode is very interesting because it also adds quite a bit of treble brightness that cuts - really good for a lead line or a snappy rhythm tone. I think one of the best things about this amp is that it really makes pedals in front sound incredible. At the moment, I have a daisy chain of overdrives - an Ibanez TS7, Boss SD-1, Klon Centaur clone, and a Fulltone OCD clone, and each of them has an awesome rendering through this amp. On top of that, switching between 12AX7 and EF86, and fat mode on/off, changes that core texture to the tone which is then accentuates whichever overdrive is turned on. Every good tone needs a good foundation and it is hard to think of many amps that do this better.

I also think it’s worth mentioning that I called Bad Cat one afternoon after the amp arrived and actually spoke to John Thompson, the designer and founder of Bad Cat Amps - he just picked up the phone like it was any other day. That’s impressive for a company that has grown in size and success, I’m not sure if even I would do that if I owned a company. He and I talked about tones, interesting albums, and how great I thought his amp was and some of his thoughts behind the design of it - really just an enjoyable conversation. I asked if I could buy a replacement logo to fix mine, and they actually sent one out to me free of charge, something I really didn’t expect and I would’ve happily paid for the logo piece or at least the shipping - really above and beyond as far as interactivity and I’d point to Bad Cat as one of the premiere examples of a company that is really in touch with their customers both before and after the purchase, something that seems less and less common these days. So hats off to John and his team at Bad Cat for the great experience, and on top of that a truly superb amp that completely exceeded my expectations, all I really wanted was a VOX-y clone and it is so much more than just that. John also mentioned he has a few vintage Marshalls - and I’ve heard some clips of amps like the Lynx and Hot Cat, and I have to admit those are very much on my radar at the moment, if they are half as good as this one they will be top tier amps.

New Amp: Orange OR50 - Wow!

I’ve had the Thunderverb, Rockerverb, and Dual Dark for a while now - each has its own thing going, all are pretty modern sounding flavors and I love having the option of playing any of them. People have been telling me to try a single channel Orange like a recent OR50/OR100, or a vintage OR80/OR120. I thought to myself, “how much better could they be?”

Well I am here to say that now that I have gotten an OR50 in my hands, I can’t understate just how good this amp is. I thought the Thunderverb was my favorite of the bunch before, because it did classic tones better. That’s still true, but the OR50 just knocks that one out of the water. Like other single channel, no compromise amps, it lacks a lot of comforts that modern channel switchers have, no effects loop for example, but it certainly makes up for it in tone.

The thing that surprises me the most about this one, is that its core tone and voicing is surprisingly similar to the Dual Dark, when the DD’s mids are turned up. Although the OR50 has a bit less gain, it still has a ton - much more than the Thunderverb - but it also cleans up better than any of the others. Putting the gain right at noon is an amazing edge of breakup sound, one or two notches higher and we’re in classic rock territory. One or two notches lower and it’s crystal clear clean - truly amazing. In fact, I wish I had two, with an ABY switcher, because that would be an incredibly rig all on its own.

I have to mention one of the things that gives this amp so much depth is the “punch” control. This behaves like a presence control but it’s hard to describe, because it doesn’t feel that simple. Maybe it’s a placebo effect or I’m just hearing things, but it sounds like there is more going on - without adjusting the gain at all, even the tiniest adjustment to this control, especially in the mix, can make a tone go from smooth, muted, sludgy, or bright, clear and cutting. With the gain turned up high, this control alone can turn this amp into a 70s fuzz monster, or the turned the opposite direction, into a cutting modern metal tone - and it has a 3-band EQ after that for even further adjustment. I’ve tried some non-traditional settings - ex. turning the treble to max but the punch way down - and gotten some truly incredible sounding and unique tones that I just can’t wait to use for something.

I know it’s still no classic OR80/120 sound, but I really didn’t think it got much better when it came to Oranges until I got this one. This has become one of my most played and most treasured amps - one of the last ones that will ever leave my collection that’s for sure. Next, I need to get my hands on an AD30…