"Your ticket to boutique amp sounds at a fraction of the cost."
This reviewer purchased this item from Same Day Music.
Sound:
First of all, I learned that there's a break-in period with this amp, despite not having tubes. Once that speaker has a few hours on it, the power engine really starts to sing. That "tube" compression sound sets in and we have a definite winner. Both the Leeds and the Blonde pedals sound terrific and less "direct" than a straight to the board set up. I spent some time A/B ing with my Peavey Classic 50. The power engine stacked up to that tube rig quite nicely.
Feature:
The features are pretty basic: Volume, bass, mid, and treble, with the recommendation to leave controls pretty flat. It's got a 1/4" in and an XLR in. I'd like to see a second 1/4 in. That way, you can run 2 pedals with an A/B box. I'd like to do Leeds for dirty and the Blonde for clean, but they don't want you to use both inputs at the same time. I'd fix that. Otherwise, very smartly put together.
Quality:
This thing is solid. I can imagine this holding up to the most rigorous road work.
The Wow Factor:
Sticking with a retro look always works for me. The grille cloth is an almost tweed look with a simple straightforward design.
Overall:
I plan to continue to augment with more Tech 21 pedals. My POd 2.0 sounds tinny and thin with the power engine, but the character pedals really shine. Since these amp models are so stellar, I'll probably pick up an Oxford and maybe a British in the future. Great options for recording. Make no mistake. Recording is a different animal. I've gotten tremendous sounds from an old solid state vox for 25 years, much as I love tubes. Tech 21's stuff is remarkably tubelike.
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