New Amp: Orange OR100

This is one of those amps pretty high up on my list because I really wanted to compare with my other Oranges, and the nomenclature confuses me a bit.

What I mean is - is this like an OR50 with a clean channel? Or a more classic OR80/120 with an extra channel? Why does this exist when the Rockerverb runs alongside it, since they have such similar features, and how much circuitry does it share in common?

The Orange standard naming is usually that “OR” series amps are single channel, but that still leaves a huge range. For example, the OR15 (great amp) is basically identical to a Rockerverb dirty channel. On the other hand, the OR50 is possibly one of the best amps ever made in my opinion and if I had to pick only 5 amps to keep that’d be one of them, and it shares absolutely nothing in common with the Rockerverb, Thunderverb, Dual Dark, AD30 or otherwise.

Well here it is, and I can finally compare with my other Oranges. Let’s talk features first. It has two channels, the clean is a volume and 2-band EQ, and the dirty channel is volume, gain, and a 3-band EQ. On the rear panel, it has an effects loop, a switch to drop 2 power tubes from the circuit (front panel also has full/half power mode, which is a pentode/triode switch I’m sure), and three footswitch jacks. The channel switch is obvious, but the other two are pretty interesting. “Boost Global” is a fixed volume boost that can be engaged on either channel that doesn’t add much gain (if any at all). “Gain Boost” however adds quite a bit of upper mid emphasis and gain as a result, and with this engaged it equals a Rockerverb in that area.

Now that I’ve done extensive A/B testing, I can confidently say this does not sound like a Rockerverb. It has a different texture, a little looser on the low end, I’d say a hair more “classic” feeling, though this is still a high gain amp and it is no substitute for a classic Orange if that’s the sound you are after.

Here’s where I’m going to complain a little bit though - yes it is a great sounding amp, no doubt about that. However to me, having the “punch” control (like on the OR50) is absolutely crucial to this type of amp design. This amp being so close to the Rockerverb with the same controls just feels like a missed opportunity to set it further apart, to appeal to a different audience. When these amps were new, the OR100 was much more expensive than a Rockerverb and I’m not sure I’d be able to justify that difference especially buying online. There’s a reason the Rockerverb is still going strong while the OR100 is long discontinued and hard to find used at that.

Another issue is the gain boost requiring a footswitch - I have a pile of footswitches so it’s no problem for me, but since it’s on a separate jack, it’s kind of annoying that you’d have to have something plugged in to trigger that gain boost. It’d be nice if you could set it to be on by default whether something is plugged in there or not.

To end on a nicer note, the EQ section on the dirty channel does feel like it has a bit more range to it than a Rockerverb, and as such adds quite a bit of versatility to what this amp can do.

So maybe I’m dreaming a little bit but if I were making an OR100 at Orange today, I’d be taking these bones and adding that punch knob (or a F.A.C. type knob) and voicing the top end to be a little less modern. Let the Rockerverb stay in its space and push this one towards the classic Orange sound. Who knows, maybe someday we’ll see an OR100 Mk2 - the OR30 sure looks like it’s on the right track.

New Amp: KSR Ares

I was scouring the Guitar Center used listings and I spotted a picture of a KSR Juno for a ridiculous price - $1250. The listing title said Ares but lets face it, Guitar Center’s listing titles and pictures are both equally unreliable, so I figured I’d risk it. I already have an Orthos 2 which is a very good amp, but the Juno is appealing to me with the separate EQ’s for the two lead channel modes. Once my order shipped and I saw that the package was only 31lbs, I knew it was going to be an Ares to my disappointment.

Of course, that’s not to say this isn’t a great amp. In this space of smaller amps, although this doesn’t quite count as a “lunchbox” amp, it’s very appealing. It’s kind of like a slightly more serious portable amp, sporting a full 50w power rating and very large transformers, with a choke, and high end components.

This particular amp is technically an Ares “II,” although I don’t think that is an official name. The difference is that this version of the amp has the two 6-way “feel” controls in place of the earlier version which just had 3-position “fat” switches like the Colossus. The Lead channel is the standard KSR/Rhodes style drive, which is gainy and saturated, but extremely polished and I’d say polite sounding, perhaps too smooth. I had the same critique of the Orthos, I felt like the amp was going for an “already mastered” type sound and lacked a little bit of personality and character. Still, these are superb amps if that’s the sound you are after.

This amp basically has the Lead section lifted right out of the Orthos, with a switchable effects loop and two master volumes. When you engage the 2nd master, it also uses the bottom row of voicing configurations, so that does add some versatility to the amp.

One of the biggest gripes I have about this amp (and the Orthos) is that the Master 1 mode has a crunch switch which heavily reduces the gain of the amp, and wow does it sound like absolute garbage. I don’t know what is going on behind the scenes here, but it really feels like it just chops the gain off about halfway between two stages and doesn’t do any other shaping. It’s not really usable to me, the bass is all cut to voice the amp for metal, so the crunch mode is incredible thin and bright sounding, but it also never gets clean sounding or dynamic with the guitar volume like I’d expect from an amp more dedicated to mid-gain tones. Obviously this is not the focus of the amp so I won’t complain too much. I did notice that on the KSR website, you can select a “clean mod” for an extra $250 which makes the crunch switch knock the amp down to an even lower gain level, so I really wonder how effective that actually is.

While I’m complaining, I also did a lot of A/B testing of this amp against my Orthos 2, which is the 100w version. They both have nearly identical core tones, as expected, both get plenty gainy and overall sound very good for heavier styles, almost akin to a 5150/6505 but with less grit. However, through the same cab and at the same volume level (measured by dB meter), the Orthos is just so much wider sounding. The Orthos has more extended lows and highs, so in contrast the Ares sounds a little… less than it could be. I was surprised because the Ares is pretty heavy for a small amp with plenty large transformers. For someone like me who doesn’t mind playing a 50w+ full size amp at home, I’d rather have the Orthos here, and if I wanted a lunchbox style amp, the Ares is still too large and high wattage. Again, I know I’m being too particular here and I’m sure this amp has its fans, but it just doesn’t speak to me.

Money is a little tight right now so I think this one will have to be returned to GC. Too bad it wasn’t the Juno, now I’m wondering how the 50w Juno would compare with the 100w Orthos…

More pictures here

New Amp: Ashdown Peacemaker 50

This is one of those deep cut amps that really deserves a lot more recognition. Many times when I buy amps, I sort by “price: high to low” when hunting. I don’t always have time to keep going all the way down and I have a tendency to stop once I start to see the same amps over and over (how many 50w EVH 5153’s are there around $800? Must be hundreds at any given time…). Anyway I had some spare time one day and I spotted this Ashdown amp all the way down in the $300-ish range on MusicGoRound. I had no idea what it was so I did a little research - hand wired, turret board construction, maybe some Matamp connection… ok, interest piqued.

Before I get into it, I want to give huge props to the Littleton CO MusicGoRound store, who originally did not have this amp available for shipping and took a little bit of convincing to do so. They did a great job packing it up and it arrived perfectly. It’s a very heavy amp and I appreciate the risk they took shipping it.

It’s a single channel amp with a very interesting story behind it. Ashdown Engineering is a relatively well known UK-based manufacturer of bass amplifiers, although they never seemed to really break into the US market. The Peacemaker series was a (largely unsuccessful) attempt at both breaking into the guitar market and the US market.

The Peacemaker series actually consists of two separate lines of amplifiers, and the naming is a bit confusing. The Peacemaker 20, 40, and 60 are all standard production line, multi-channel, tube, PCB amps. I haven’t played one of these but they are very inexpensive and not all that well regarded. I’d still like to try one for myself though.

On the other hand, the Peacemaker 50 and 100 are both hand-wired amps, designed by Dave Green of Matamp fame, with transformers by John Page. I don’t really know who John Page is and I couldn’t find hardly anything about him online, but he is mentioned both in the release announcement and the sales copy for website listings. These amps came out in 2001. Sometime around 2004, a Peacemaker “Custom” 100 appears on the Ashdown website, but I couldn’t find any more information about this model other than it looks quite a bit different, with a single input and separate master volumes for the high and low modes. I gathered up a lot of information on these amps which I’ll put at the end of this article, but keep reading for a review of this individual amp.

The Peacemaker 50 has two gain controls which are both active all the time, your standard treble/middle/bass/presence EQ section, and a master volume. There are two inputs, the first is a “normal” input, while Input 2 is a “bright” input. Both sound fantastic. It also has a Character Switch on the rear panel, which engages some additional gain stages and adds a lot of cut - it’s still very vintage sounding to my ear. The rear also includes an effects loop and a pentode/triode switch for the power tubes. The Peacemaker 50 as shown here is equipped with KT88 power tubes, while the Peacemaker 100’s came with a quad of EL34’s.

It’s clearly in the same vein as an early Orange or Matamp type design, incredibly thick and full sounding, and fuzzy when gained out. The two gain controls really help in adjusting the sound, something you wouldn’t normally get on an amp like this, so you can keep the amp a little tighter than those traditional designs and with the character switch, much higher gain too. Of course, it does the authentic tones spot on, and playing it through a Greenback equipped 4x12 is a hell of an experience, I half expected to see that all my leg hair had vibrated off at the end of my first session with it.

I usually don’t have much to say about the physical features of an amp, but it’s also a very slick, practical design. There is no top handle, instead there is a handle on either side. The chassis itself doesn’t extend very wide, so you can easily fit large hands on the sides to pick it up, and this is how I carry most amps I own anyway rather than using the top handle. It’s a lot easier on the back. I know there are other amps that do something similar now, like Wizards or the EVH 100w’s, but for 2001 this was pretty innovative.

One of the other eye-catching features of this amp is the front panel VU Meter, which not only works, but is extremely useful. The rear includes a control which allows you to select each power tube and measure the bias right on the front panel. The rear panel is simply held on by velco like a front-loaded speaker cab, and there is a pot and fuse for each tube that you can turn to adjust the bias right there, no multimeter necessary. If you’re happy with the bias, you can then set the VU Meter to show volume… and watch the needle spike up and down as you play. That’s just awesome.

The design of the chassis is also just gorgeous, with a heat shield between the power tubes and the preamp tubes. It has enormous heavy transformers along with a choke. Interestingly, the mains transformer is marked for a Peacemaker 100, but the output is the 50w version. This is normal as all of the Peacemakers were staged as if they were 100’s, then some set up as 50’s near finishing. Interesting that there are even tube sockets for another pair of power tubes, you’d think they’d just leave empty holes there or use a simple plastic cap.

I actually emailed Ashdown to ask about the transformers, as well as request a schematic, and that leads to another interesting discovery. I actually got a reply back from Dave Green himself, who still works at Ashdown Engineering, and while he says there is no schematic available, he had an interesting anecdote about the design of the amp:

it was made specifically for a certain artist wjho had an “appetite for destruction” and tuned whilst we were in the states

I don’t mean to be dense, but does he mean the amp was originally designed for Slash? If that’s the case, there is zero online information about that. Perhaps it was one of those deals that they couldn’t say for a while. I’m not a huge Slash fan but I do know he was playing his own signature Marshall 2555SL’s around that time, and this Peacemaker definitely sounds nothing like a 2555. Then again, he’s with Magnatone now so I have no idea, maybe he wanted a different amp for studio use or some other purpose - it’s not like professional players just use one amp forever or anything. Either way, very interesting and if anyone knows more, please let me know.

Alright, I have a couple more loose ends to tie up, for those who care about little details. I’m going to put all of the pictures into galleries at the end to save space because this article is already far too long.

First, very early Peacemakers had slightly different knobs than mine. Promotional material and some pictures I located of another for sale with serial number 0006 have silver color with 8 small dots on the face. For comparison, my amp is serial number 0016… no idea how many were made in total but I’d be amazed if it was more than 50. Here are some photos of that SN 0006 Amp:

Second, I have photos of what appears to be a prototype or very early Peacemaker 100, dated 2001, without a silk screened rear panel and a different internal layout. I found these on an amp repair shop’s facebook page (sorry, I have forgotten exactly where now). This one also appears to be in the “birdcage” cabinet instead of the traditional wooden cabinet, which was optional. Photos of that amp:

Third, these amps were actually spun off into another brand name called “Hayden.” The Peacemaker 20/40/60 also made this transition, but I have never seen a Hayden Peacemaker that wasn’t the “custom” version which is different from my amp. There are quite a few other very cool looking Hayden amps, with a whole series of UK made hand wired amps. The Hayden website existed from 2005-2020, but sadly I can only get useful info out of the archive from around 2008, and by then the hand wired Peacemakers are long gone. The Custom is the one with the two master volumes, but interestingly the Hayden versions have both high and low inputs, while the Ashdown version only has the single input. Here’s a photo of the Ashdown version of that amp compared with two Hayden’s I was able to find from old Reverb listings:

Final bits here, the official announcement of the amps from NAMM 2002, a screenshot of the Ashdown website circa June 2004 of the Peacemaker Custom. I was not able to find the original Peacemaker website page, it looks like the site used some now unsupported discussion board back then, so I wasn’t able to locate the peacemaker page. I did scour over an hour of footage from a 2003 Beyonce concert at Wembley to find a shot of her guitarist Shaun Carrington using one in that show (the bassist is also using an Ashdown amp at this time). The last photo is of Stevie Salas, I think with his band The IMF’s here.

Here is the manual for the Peacemaker series amps, prior to the “Custom” version.

And a Brochure for the Peacemaker Custom series circa 2004.

Here are more photos of the amp itself.

As I dig down into some of the other Ashdown/Hayden amps, I have to say I am very interested. The Classic Lead looks and sounds great, and so does the Vanquish/AGM30 and Speakeasy. Thanks for reading!

New Amp: 1999 Brunetti 059

Thanks to a friend of mine located in Europe, I was able to get my hands on one of these amps. Brunetti is fairly unknown here in the US but I’ve been lucky enough to play an XL and own a (still partially broken) XL-REVO II, and both of those have been fantastic amps.

The 059 is a more classic voiced amp, aimed a little more at vintage hard rock tones than the XL or XL REVO which are both fire breathing metal monsters out of the box (not that they can’t do great vintage tones too of course).

The panel looks a little complicated at first glance, but it makes sense once you are up close. The first three knobs on the left near the input are the gain controls - one for each channel, Clean, Crunch, and Solo. Then each channel has a 3-band EQ and a master volume control, and these are cluster together in this “stairstep then drop” pattern - bass, middle treble, then the one towards the bottom is the volume control right next to the push-button channel select switch. Each channel also has some addtional tone shaping options I’ll cover individually.

The clean channel is really fantastic for a high gainer, with a lot of lively character that makes it interesting to listen to - it’s not flat or sterile at all. The gain control has a bright switch attached which has a very strong impact on the tone especially with single coils and adds a lot of sparkle. It’s not a feature heavy channel, but the tone is superb.

The Crunch and Solo channels are similar looking, but they do have a clearly audible difference in their basic structure. The Solo channel is much looser and thicker by default, but not in a metal-amp saturated kind of way, which might put some players off. It’s really aimed more for your thicker, flowing, 70s era solo tones - I hear Highway Star solo tones in it.

The Crunch channel on the other hand has a much more defined low end for rhythm riffing, and still has plenty of gain on tap, but won’t satisfy for the most extreme metal styles without a boost. I do find this channel to be a bit anemic until the yellow “Shift” button is pressed, which adds a ton of low mid chunk to the sound. For my playing style, the Shift stays on all the time but I can see a use case with lower gain tones without it, or especially as a variation on a clean or “edge of breakup” type tone. Basically, you can get that type of sound with the gain turned up on the clean channel, or with the gain turned down on this channel - very nice.

Both channels have a “mellow” switch, and this cuts some of the high end and tapers it off more quickly. It interacts well with the presence control, and you can get some unique tones by arranging them opposite to each other (ex high presence but mellow on, or vice versa). And the last interesting feature is the “crunch/solo tone reverse” which simply swaps the tone stacks between the two channels. This lets you use the Solo channel’s higher gain but with the tone settings (and tighter low end) of the crunch channel. It’s not a perfect channel clone or anything, and it’s not intended to be, it’s just a nice feature for giving some versatility to either channel because you effectively have two different sets of EQ with different circuit values you can use for whatever you need.

Other features include an effects loop with send and return controls, a line out, and has many functions that are MIDI controllable. It also has the very cool feature of a 1U rack space underneath the chassis, something I’ve only seen from Brunetti and is a great home for my Yamaha SPX90.

I did have to rewire this to 120V, but the transformers still had the wires all ready to go and taped off. I sent a quick email to Marco Brunetti (who has been very responsive to my emails!) who confirmed I had the right wires, so it was an easy job.

Of course, this keeps fueling my need to acquire more Brunetti amps. There is a second edition of the 059 with some different features I’d love to compare with, and I’m also really wanting a Pirata 141. The Pirata 141 “valvemix” has a knob that allows the user to adjust the amount of two different power tubes in the circuit - by default a pair of 6L6 and a pair of EL34. This is similar to the Egnater Renegade (which I had, and sold) but I’m interested to hear Brunetti’s take on this idea, especially since the Pirata seems geared a little more towards high gain sounds than the Egnater was.

Either way, I’ll be keeping my eyes peeled for more of these great amps!

New Amp: Diezel VH2

I’ve been watching this amp sit at a local shop for a while - one I’ve talked about before, and funnily enough, the same place I got my Diezel Einstein last year: Jimmy’s Vintage Music. If you are ever in the Tampa or Central Florida areas, I’d HIGHLY encourage you to go check out this shop. It’s run by one guy - Jimmy of course - and he maintains one of the best high end vintage guitar stores I’ve ever seen. I feel lucky to live close enough that I can make it out there occasionally, and now that he updates the site pretty often with new gear, it’s really convenient (I remember when he used to list occasional things on craigslist but you never really knew what he had in stock back then!).

Anyway, he’s had this VH2 for a little while. It’s an amp on my list, but I always figured I’d eventually get my hands on a VH4 someday so it was never a huge priority, especially for the prices I was seeing them for elsewhere online. After seeing the price drop on this one locally though, I had to jump on it, so I drove down there last week with a pair of Ibanezes as potential trades. I ended up keeping the guitars… no problem there, and I suspect Jimmy’s clientele are more into the classic Fender/Gibson type stuff. I have to mention that Jimmy is a really great guy to deal with - he was honest about what he could and couldn’t take in trade based on his regulars, and still gave me a really fair price on the amp to buy it outright. Let me put it this way, I’ve been there many times, and I’ve always left very happy.

No surprise, the amp is in pristine shape - original footswitch included. These have only been out for a few years, and this one is quite recent by my standards as a 2021 model. This is a two channel amp designed for a little more mass appeal, sort of your entry point into the Diezel sound for the low low price of $3000 brand new. A quick overview of the model lineup at the time of writing: The VH2 is the least expensive model in the lineup of “full size” heads, alongside the Hagen, Herbert, and VH4, all of which are $4000+. There is also a line of smaller form factor heads - but unlike other manufacturers, the smaller heads are still beasts, with the VHX and D-Moll sporting 100w power sections. The other “small” heads are the 45w Paul and BigMax (with the BigMax being the least expensive in that form factor at $2500 with only a single channel).

In short, if you want to get into the Diezel sound, the VH2 is the go-to amp for a lot of people just based on price and features alone. The VH2’s Channel 1 is based on the Paul’s clean channel, which is well regarded for a high gain amp. The real highlight though, and I suspect the main reason most are interested in this amp, the VH2’s Channel 2 is supposedly the same as the VH4’s famous Channel 3.

I’m not as familiar with the buzz around this myself - I’ve listened to some Tool, like a few tracks, but it’s not the tone I dream about late at night (that’s not to say it isn’t good of course). I also know Smashing Pumpkins and Billy Corgan are big users of the VH4 in general, channel 3 included. I wouldn’t dare call it “overhyped,” but there is definitely a subset of guitarists who are a bit fanatical in their appreciation of the VH4 Channel 3’s sound and whoever uses it.

Okay, hype aside how does it sound? Well, I haven’t played a VH4 yet so I really can’t compare to that yet. I will say it’s a chunky sounding amp, but much brighter than the Herbert Mk1 when I A/B tested them. It also has far less gain than I expected, and a little less low-mid gut punch. I think I had in my mind it was going to be a heavy metal amp, and it can be, but it’s certainly less saturated than the Herbert for example, and it doesn’t get as gainy as my Einstein either. Of course, boosting with a tubescreamer sounds great, a la single channel JCM800, but this is no Marshall clone by any stretch. It’s hard to say really, because I need to spend a little more time with it to really feel out what it can do. It didn’t blow my socks off immediately like I felt the first time I played a Herbert, but I think a lot of that is just my approach to a new amp, where I crank the gain and rip out some heavy riffs. That’s not to say it isn’t an excellent amp for heavier tones, I think I just need to coax it a little bit more and admittedly I’ve been busy, so I’m only a few hours into spending time with it as I write this. It does get a little undefined with the gain too high, so that’s kind of limiting - in order to keep some clarity, I have the gain at about 1-2 O’clock, but that’s not enough saturation for my liking.

As for the clean channel, it’s an acceptable clean channel but it definitely doesn’t wow me. It’s very flat, and probably great for effects or with an EQ to shape your sound to what you want, but on its own it’s a bit plain. It does sound really good with the gain cranked up as a pseudo-crunch channel though, with very natural feel to the overdrive.

Construction, fit and finish, and quality are all absolutely top tier and it shows. The preamp tubes are PCB mounted but that never bothered me, but I know some feel differently especially in this price range. It has absolutely massive transformers, and my understanding is that these are the same ones as the full size VH4. Of course, it still has me thinking about the VH4 and wondering what I can get out of that amp’s Ch2 and Ch4… I guess that’s the point.

More pictures here

New Amp: 2005 Brunetti XL R-EVO II

I have been on the lookout for a nice Brunetti amp to try for quite some time, but here in the US they are quite hard to come by - and expensive when they do show up. I wasn’t too particular on the model, I wanted to get to “know the brand” and what makes in unique and sometimes that means casting a wide net, similar to the way I handled ENGL (which started as one amp and now I’ve had 9 of them!).

Brunetti has been making amps officially since 1993, starting with the Mille! preamp. This led to a full-size head version which is probably the best-known Brunetti amp on my side of the pond, the XL “Extra Lead.” The XL was a 3-channel high gain amp available in 2-power tube and 4-power tube configurations for 60w or 120w respectively. This design had a separate EQ for the clean channel, but the “boost” and “xl” channels shared an EQ, though they retained separate gain and volume controls, along with a few voicing switches.

Next in this lineage is the amp I have recently acquired, the XL R-EVO II.

This amp differs from the original XL, with separate EQ’s for all 3 channels, although lacking the front panel switches. Like its predecessor, it also has a unique physical feature; the 1U rack mount slot. I always thought this was a really cool idea, and the head box itself is not much taller than your standard Marshall style shell. It isn’t particularly deep, but my beloved Yamaha SPX90 fits perfectly.

So how does it sound? Pretty good! Cleans are quite scooped, bright and sparkly, but most importantly highly customizable with a lot of range in the EQ. I also love a clean channel with a gain control, so you can get a little bit of hair on it if you prefer a pushed clean tone. It’s very elastic feeling to play, and I have to say this is one of the best clean channels I’ve heard on a high gainer - it almost feels like there is a compressor on all the time and makes spanky rhythms and clean fills a lot of fun to play. The XLead channel really rips - super high gain, and super saturated tone. I don’t have a schematic but it really feels like it’s in between that SLO-5150/6505 territory, and it stays surprisingly together even with the gain near max. The Depth control of the power amp enhances this a lot, and interestingly the depth control all the way maxed (in the “extra” area) doesn’t flub out or overwhelm you, and adds a lot of low-mid punch. That’s not to say the bass is rolled off though, it’s full sounding and depending on your pick attack and/or speakers, it can get a bit squishy. I like this feel when playing, and it makes lead lines stand out really well, but it’s not going to do that ultra-tight Mesa Mark type sound (and I wouldn’t expect it to anyway). My sources tell me that the Mille! and original XL circuit is heavily SLO inspired, so that makes sense, and comparing this amp side by side with my Soldano Avenger I can hear some similarities, but the Brunetti is a bit more polished and polite at neutral EQ settings. I’d love to know the exact differences between the XL and this XL REVO under the hood.

Now the one issue - I bought this amp As-Is, with a non-working Boost channel. I was able to work out a very good deal and it was worth the risk… this won’t be the first amp to come through my hands that I needed to repair. Luckily, it seems like it’ll be an easy fix, as the entire amp sounds fantastic except the boost channel which has a loud buzzing sound (probably open ground from a cracked solder joint). I’ll take a look with my tech team and fix it right up.

Don’t worry, I didn’t let them actually touch the inside of the amp. Safety first!

Great amp to have in the collection, and now I really want to get an original XL, or one of the other cool older Brunetti amps like the 059 or Mille!.

It’s also worth mentioning that Brunetti is still in business and currently producing amps, cabinets, and effects pedals. In fact, there is a current production Mille being offered this year, as well as a flagship boutique head called the “Mercury.” Definitely worth checking out.

More pictures available here

New Amp: 2004 Soldano Hot Rod 50X Plus signed by Mike Soldano

I’ll admit, I splurged on this one and probably paid a little too much. I had my heart set on an Avenger, and I finally was able to check that one off my list just a few months ago. I thought my Soldano GAS was through, but when I spotted this red tolex, white chassis Hot Rod I decided it was worth a shot.

It has two less power tubes than my 100w Avenger, but gains an extra preamp tube for the effects loop. This amp design is closely related to the budget Jet City models such as the JCA50 or the JCA22 which I am intimately familiar with - I did my first ever amp circuit mods on a JCA22.

The first Hot Rod amps were basically more budget minded SLO’s, lacking the crunch mode and the large DeYoung transformers that made those amps famous, starting production in 1991 with the single channel 50w model. 100w models came later in 1994, and the plus version, like mine, started in 1995. These were made until 2005 before being replaced with an updated version for 2006, which removed the slave out from the rear and added a depth control to the front panel, sort of combining together the Avenger line and the Hot Rod line into one (aptly named the “Hot Rod Avenger”). There is also a Hot Rod 25, introduced in 2012.

The naming can be a bit confusing, but the original Hot Rod amps had two inputs and a very stripped down 6-knob, single channel design. The plus models added the second channel but sacrificed the low input. The Avengers first came out in 2003, and were similar to the single-channel Hot Rods, with the same two inputs and one channel, adding the depth control, and removing the effects loop along with a few tweaks to the voicing for more aggressive tones. This was during the era of ever-more-complicated multichannel amps, and a sizable number of guitar players really wanted that stripped down amp design, thinking even having the effects loop present negatively affected the tone - I’m not sure I believe that myself, but I’m sure that had a part in influencing the Avenger design.

Anyway, back to the Hot Rod. This is a great sounding amp, with the classic Soldano lead tone - bright, punchy, and extremely clear. It sports all Mercury Magnetics transformers. The “normal” channel also sounds quite good, although it shares the EQ with the overdrive channel so it does have some limitations there. Still, it feels quite natural when switching channels, keeping the same core tone with less gain and a hair brighter with the preamp knob set at half or below. The overdrive channel gets quite gainy but can be a little loose on the bottom end without a boost, but its open character means it’ll take that boost very well. I’ve played it a few times boosted with a Klon Clone and it takes the natural tone of the amp and kicks it into high gear, or alternatively using a Boss SD-1 or Tubescreamer and the bottom end tighten up while the mids get more prominent - great for solos or metal rhythms, especially with lower tunings. Truly a staple of high gain tones, and for good reason - and quite different tonally from its estranged family (Rectos and 5150/6505’s).

This particular amp was signed by Mike Soldano at some point, but it isn’t dated. I speculate that it must’ve been pretty recent, perhaps the amp had a health check in Seattle and that’s when it was signed. The amp is in absolutely minty shape so either way, it was very well taken care of.

More photos available here

New Amp: Hughes & Kettner Triamp Mk 1

This is another amp I occasionally look for because I suspect it would be an amazing bang for the buck snag, especially with the current Mk 3 Triamp retailing for a whopping $4400. In contrast, Mk 2’s are hovering in the $1300 range and this old Mk 1 only ran me about $650. In particular I was waiting to find one that had either the original footswitch or the MSM-1 Midi controller installed - well I really lucked out because this particular one came with both!

It’s in pretty good condition all around, and it is a very heavy amp with a lot of tubes. These were available with either a quad EL34 or quad 6L6 power section - mine has EL34’s. The preamp contains 8x 12AX7 tubes, plus another 12AX7 phase inverter - so 13 tubes total. The only amp with more that I own are Mesa Triple Rectifiers, with 14 total tubes, though there’s a lot more in the power section there. Interestingly, the Fender Super-Sonic 100 also has 13 total tubes.

The previous owner did replace the back panel with a nicely cut piece of wood, which has the reverb tank attached to the back - this is normal for Mk1 Triamps, though the original back plate would’ve been a metal grate. I’ve never seen another amp mount the reverb tank this way, and the RCA cables go directly into the rear panel of the amp, where a master reverb control sits. I found the reverb to sound very good, although this is an aftermarket tank so I can’t comment on the factory configuration - but usually a bad reverb has to do with the circuit more than the type of tank itself in my experience. The drawback is that with a single mix control, it’s difficult to dial in reverb to your liking for cleans or light crunch tones without ending up with too much on your higher gain tones.

This is effectively a six channel amp as well, so it does make a few sacrifices in getting you there. These channels are separated into 3 “Amps,” where they have separate gain controls but shared EQ and master volume controls. I was pleasantly surprised at how closely matched the volume levels were between channels, but there are some issues especially on “Amp 1,” which is the cleaner side of things.

Amp 1’s two channels, A and B, are voiced noticeably apart. “A” is much brighter and spankier, but gets a very nice dirty tone with the gain turned up too. The drawback is that “B” is a bit darker and fuller sounding, so that shared master volume can be a problem here if you prefer two gain extremes - for example, using B as a crunch tone with the gain up and A for a very clean sound is not really workable in a live situation. With the controls near noon, they are closely volume matched though.

Amp 2’s channels follow the same basic voicing - “A” is brighter while “B” is darker and fuller. Both have similar amounts of overdrive available, and it seemed like anything but the most extreme settings kept the volume very close between them. This is definitely a British crunch inspired channel and the extra voicing/gain control is great for going from a rhythm or lead sound in that classic rock crunch realm.

Amp 3 changes things up a bit, with “A” being a bit of a “super crunch” channel (I’m hesitant to call it high gain, in the modern sense), while “B” is a much more saturated sounding high gain sound. It’s not really brighter or darker than A - maybe a little more hair on top - but a lot more gain available than A has even with A’s gain maxed out (which is still very tight feeling, impressive). Amp 3B definitely scratches my itch for instant gratification, it sounds and feels great to play, is voiced in a way that sounds great through both my V30’s and G12T75’s even with the EQ controls at noon, and gets saturated enough for classic metal tones and other heavier styles. It does not get nearly as saturated as many modern high gainers - this is no Diezel Herbert or Peavey 5150 kind of sound, it is much more polite than that. It also keeps it together a bit more, with less lows and extreme highs compared to something like a Rectifier or V-EQ’d Mark. I’d put it squarely in the more classic high gain territory and I’d prefer to use a boost on either A or B mode if I needed a more modern heavy sound. That doesn’t make it any less great sounding for what it does.

Here is the factory 7-button footswitch, which allows switching of any of the 3 “amps” and their A/B modes on the fly. The last button is for the effects loop, and this does not affect the Reverb - too bad. I figure they may as well have just done 8 switches so I could turn the Reverb off, and that single knob is a big limitation as I mentioned before. I haven’t used the MSM-1 yet, but I do wonder if the Reverb can be turned on/off via MIDI, which might solve the issue.

Interestingly, the Triamp Mk2 gives up its Reverb completely, so I figure others had the same complaints that I do about it. Personally I’d rather have the Reverb than not though, so while I haven’t played a Mk2, I’m very happy to have this Mk1. From what I’ve read, the Mk2’s main changes are related to the balance between Amp 1 A/B and Amp 2 A mode, so I wonder if that amp fixes my complaints about the volume differences when playing Amp 1 dirty. The Triamp Mk3 version solves that issue entirely by being a true 6-channel amp, where all channels/modes have separate gain, volume, and EQ controls, plus a noise gate. Apparently the Mk1 is more reliable as well, but that’s all hearsay - and judging by the very complicated looking internals of this amp, I’m sure it’d be a complicated amp to fix if something did go wrong.

Tangentially, these original Triamps came paired with a 4x12 cabinet that contained a quad of UK-made Celestion G12M25 Greenback speakers. I actually bought one of these cabinets earlier this month, but sadly the original speakers were all gone and replaced with some generic garbage so I had to return it. I’ve seen a handful of these Greenback equipped 4x12’s floating around in the $400-500 range, which these days is an absolute steal for that set of speakers, if they are still present. Eventually I’ll find one for myself, but I think it’s also worth noting that the original design of this amp was to be used with Greenbacks. I think that says a lot about why it excels so much in some of the more classic crunch and metal sounds. In contrast, the matching cabinet for the Mk2 switched to the more common V30 speaker, and the matching Mk3 cabinet is a H&K made speaker - no more celestions.

Overall, a really great sounding amp with great features.

More photos available here

New Amp: Rivera Knucklehead K-Tre

There are few groups of amps that are perpetually on my list to buy, with the end goal of eventually trying and comparing them all. One of those is the Rivera Knucklehead series, which started with a two channel amp which was more of a “Fender Clean + Slightly Gainier JCM800” kind of thing, back when that was a more novel idea. Next came the 3-channel Knucklehead Reverb, famously used on a handful of metal albums but most notably on Slipknot’s first few records, and sporadically since - this resulted in the KR7 Mick Thomson signature amp, which is the version that I own. Generally speaking I don’t like “signature” stuff, but I couldn’t refuse the price of the KR7 - but I’d have preferred a standard KR100.

While the 3-channel KR55 and KR100 amps were being produced, a new model called the “Knucklehead II” came out, which was a simpler design that was kind of a hybrd between the old and new Knuckleheads. The II had a fender-like clean channel, but instead of a crunch channel, the second channel of the II was an all out high gain monster. This amp seems to be pretty unpopular - someday I’ll find out for myself.

Then came this amp - the K-Tre. This is clearly based on the II, with the same headshell size and a nearly identical front panel. I didn’t realize quite how old these amps are - this one dates from 2006. The modern K-Tre Reverb is again another very similar amp, just adding a spring reverb single control for it, and that version is still available brand new today. In fact, according to the Rivera website at the time of writing, even this non-reverb K-Tre is still available, but I couldn’t actually find one for sale anywhere (whereas the K-Tre Reverb is readily available in stock at Sweetwater and other retailers).

Most chatter online is that the reverb and non-reverb K-Tre amps sound different from each other, with a few comments that the Reverb version is more aggressive and modern sounding. I have to wonder if this is a case where there were some circuit revisions along the way, so comparing a 2024 K-Tre vs a 2024 K-Tre Reverb would likely sound identical, but obviously comparing a 2006 K-Tre vs a 2024 K-Tre Reverb would sound quite a bit different because it has nearly 20 years of voicing, design, or part revisions since then.

I also think it is interesting that the Knucklehead II is considered one of the “bad ones.” It looks the same as the Tre, but the II has even more tonal shaping options - a master volume for the clean channel, and the gain channel has pull switches on all 3 EQ controls (Sweet, Scoop, and Bass Boost). The Tre’s (both my 2006 and current production) don’t have any pull controls on the gain channel. Not that more controls means better tone of course.

To make things even a bit more confusing, I’ve seen a Tre Reverb with a 1999 date code, but the earliest “II” I can find is from 2003. So I have to wonder if the “II” was designed to be an upgrade of sorts to the K-Tre models, but fell flat for whatever reason - voicing changes, or maybe the extra tweaking added by the pull controls just confused people. We guitar players are a fickle bunch, and plenty of amps have died unceremonious deaths due to “it’s complicated to dial in” perceptions even if the actual amp circuit and tone was identical to its predecessor (Peavey Butcher II comes to mind…).

So, convoluted history aside, this is a really awesome sounding amp. I find it unique sounding compared with the KR7, and definitely different than the Bonehead. The clean is no surprise - Rivera excellence - and the gain channel I’ve heard compared to a Mesa Rectifier which I can see, but the low end feels a lot different on the Rivera. It can get a little muddy if you aren’t careful with the Foundation control, but keep it in check and it tightens up nicely. Overdriven chords are extra chunky and it’s a little easier to play than the KR7, if that makes sense. It can do metal gain levels right out of the box, but a boost in front really helps keep that low end in check, so I wouldn’t pick this over say, a 6505 or Uberschall for the same basic type of sound. I’d actually put it in a very similar category to the Elmwood M90 I just picked up too, it’s an amp that has its own very unique voicing and sound, can do ultra high gain, but my favorite tones are somewhere in the “heavy crunch” territory, and I’d boost it for faster palm muted riffing. Now to try a II… and a Tre Reverb… and a K55…

More photos available here

New Amp: Elmwood M90

The first time I’d ever seen - or heard rather - an Elmwood was in an Ola Englund demo video (back when it was just “FearedSE”). I remember thinking it sounded awesome, added it to some metal playlist on my old youtube account, and promptly forgot about it for most of a decade.

But let’s face it, I have a lot of amps, so now it’s time to explore some of the more uncommon, less popular stuff. Sometimes that means quirky budget amps like last week’s Peavey Butcher, but this time, it’s this Swedish made monstrosity.

It’s a pretty small head, physically speaking, but plenty heavy with large and uniquely shaped transformers. This is the big brother to the Elmwood M60, and as far as I can tell the only difference between the two is that this M90 is a KT88/6550 equipped amp while the M60 sports a pair of either EL34 or 6L6 power tubes. Both have the same controls and features - two channels, each with drive/boosts, and a pair of master volumes. Later M60’s also have a pentode/triode standby switch for power tube operation - looks like the M90’s always operate in pentode mode.

This particular amp seems to have lived an interesting life - it was sold on Reverb over 8 years ago, and at that time it had the stock piano black plastic face panel. It was traded on TGP, this time with a new dark wood grained panel, behind a plexiglass front, and newly printed control names - before popping up again on Reverb in 2023 and then traded in to GC where I got it. It looks like they used the correct font, but they couldn’t replicate the “M90 Modena” logo that normally goes about the power and standby switches. Additionally, they misspelled “Drive” on both the channel 2 drive switch and drive amount controls - it’s a minor thing, but what a weird thing to screw up… why not just reprint?

Cosmetic issues aside, it’s a very good sounding amp. The clean channel is particularly exceptional, and adding the boost really feels great - a useful crunch setting without just sounding like a pedal, or some other sacrifice made to add some oomph to a channel that otherwise would prefer to be clean. The drive channel is very mids heavy, and can do heavier metal styles right out of the box with the boost engaged. This boost also seems to cut bass in just the right way, so it stays tight and focused just like using an external boost - I’d love to see a schematic on this one, and I’d be interested to know if this is a tube boost (I doubt it, I guess?) or a more pedal-like diode or opamp clipper.

This aggressive built-in boost with its adjustable control knob reminds me a little of a progenitor of the modern Driftwood amps. This Elmwood dates to somewhere around 2009, a solid 5 years before the first Driftwood amps came out. Of course that’s not to say that no one has ever put a tubescreamer-like circuit into an amp before or after this, just interesting the way it looks/feels on this amp.

This amp is no rectifier or 6505 clone that’s for sure though, for better or worse. That mids-forward sound, even when boosted, is always present. It’s a great amp for developing YOUR tone and sound, but it wouldn’t be my choice if I wanted to cover some classic Recto, Mark, 6505, or even Marshall sounds. I hate this cliche, but it truly is “kind of its own thing.” What this really means is that some people will just not like this amp, while others might love it - it’s more specialized than others in this category. I think it got a bit of a “metal” reputation, but I actually think the place it excels the most is in some crunchy modern hard rock, and I bet it would sound absolutely insane in stereo with a wider/scooped amp like the aforementioned Rectifiers.

More photos available here