Edit: Condensed review at very bottom.
I was able to spend quite a bit of time on the test drive at the seller’s house yesterday and was unimaginably stirred by this amp and my G&L Legacy loaded with a Bare Knuckle Abraxas humbucker and two 63 Veneer Board single coils. I intended on breaking up this mint pair to sell the cab, but that’s not going to happen anytime soon.
Let’s dig into the tone!
Controls for test:
Master: 9:00, Bass: 10:00, Mid: 12:00 (not in Modern), Treble: 2:00, Drive: 2:00, and Rhythm: 9:00 (not in Brite). This was LOUD.
Clean:
I spent 75% of the time on the amp’s clean channel, which was very clear, touch sensitive, chiming, and just brimming with harmonics all over the fundamental. Leaving the chords I strummed and notes I hit to sustain was really beautiful, as there were heaps of overtones blooming from the decaying notes. I had to mute the strings to check if I was getting feedback, but that wasn’t the case at all. This really is Vox territory – and not just Vox territory, GREAT Vox territory. There’s something else at play in this side of the circuit and it’s just magical. It’s more than just a Vox graft, because I’ve played a nice one before and there’s something intangible about this side of the amp that I really appreciate.
Drive:
After spending so much time running through the Legacy’s pickup positions, I was really hesitant to move over to the Drive channel. I had prepared myself to be let down.
I’ve owned amps renowned for their lead tones - Boogie MKIV/V/DC-3/DC-10, JSX, 2 Splawn Quickrods, Marshall TSL, Fargen Olde 800, 57 5E3 Tweed Dlx, and more. I’ve been getting my tones by running various dirt pedals through my Top Hat Ambassador 35 and it’s been really sweet. I didn’t expect anything much from this side of the SuperDrive.
Wow. Wow. Wow.
Where has this amp been all of my life? I have to tell you that I’m just beside myself thinking about the experience of driving this amp last night. I was worried about the trebles being too attenuated and round. I was concerned that the amp would have a thin and gutless midrange. I was prepared to grieve over an overly squished waveform and lack of dynamics. I was afraid this would sound like my old Boogies. I was prepared for the guitar to take on a stiff and unforgiving feel.
I worried for naught!
You absolutely cannot describe this amp without coming across as a food critic. It is that good. I've never played an amp that had such a good integrated overdrive circuit.
The feel of the drive channel is haunting me. It turned the cold, hard strings of my guitar into warm spaghetti under finger. Every strike of my pick was like driving my hand into the smoothest and most freshly baked loaf of Italian bread. The feel AND tone are pure chewy goodness. The crazy thing is this is with the Drive @ 2:00 and I didn't need to hear it above this to decide this amp's fate.
– We have found the perfect blend of power amp and preamp overdrive.
At this level, my other amps felt stiff and inorganic, inexpressive, and unforgiving. Here, it could easily handle Country, Classic Rock, and Pop with absolute authority.
Let me make it known that this amp is not spongy at higher drive settings. This amp did not collapse into an unintelligible and obnoxious blob of quivering hiss and mush. With the gain up, the SD can easily swing Hard and Progressive Rock styles, and even venture over into Metal without sweating. I’m not going to be playing Metal with this amp, so the Drive where I had it was perfect. The ability to control the amp with picking dynamics and the guitar’s volume and tone controls makes this amp a keeper.
I sat in front of the cab and off axis. What struck me as odd about this rig is the lack of beaminess; the amp sounded consistently great regardless of where I was with respect to the speaker cab. I haven’t experienced this before and I can’t say that I have an explanation other than the cab being superbly engineered and matched with the best possible speakers for the application. Chords near the nut were fat, clear, and sustained in the most amazing way. This amp growls in the most beautifully aggressive way. I can see it really blurring the lines between genres. Palm mutes are tight, chunky, and elastic. The sustain decays beautifully, with harmonics falling off of the notes like sparks from a roman candle.
Some describe the lead/solo tone as round and they are correct. This does not equate to dull in the least. This amp has the tremendous ability to cut through the mix without slicing heads off or giving the impression of a soft, rolled back tone pot, Jazz lead. It’s in the Goldilocks zone. AND! As you move up the neck, notes above the 12 fret sound so thick and juicy! Pick strikes at volume were like cannon discharges. This kind of feel is so inspiring – and the tone is one that would grab the attention of any guitarist. I’m not a Les Paul guy, but I’d love to hear one through this. I bet it would be a really fun rig. The overdrive on this thing is so clear. It will expose slop in your style and you will be left standing cold, naked, and alone on stage if you haven't been practicing. Unlike the aforementioned amps, this one has all the right frequencies present for a perfect live tone. No thundering bass or cymbal clashing highs. It's got it's own slice of the sonic pie and unless your bassist is clueless about his midrange knob, I can't see how this amp wouldn't sit perfectly in a mix.
I have owned and designed amps running the following power tubes in class A and AB: EL34, EL84, 6V6, and 6L6/5881. I have finally realized that I am an EL84/6BQ5 guy. Now that I think abou t it, these output tubes contributed to so much of the enjoyment that I recollect having with my former amps: Peavey Classic 30 and Mesa DC-3 (RUN and buy the EQ version of the head if you can. This is Boogie’s finest amp and no one knows it). Despite differences in preamp topologies, there’s a certain something that bonds these three amps and places them in a special place in my heart. SO thick, rich, clear, and powerfully emotive.
The heart and soul of the only amps that have had such an impact on me is the 6BQ5 power section - but this Budda amp has driven my enjoyment for playing these types of amps to such a deeper level.
As it stands now, these amps are relatively inexpensive on the used market. There is no logic for this aside from the typical Churn you see on the boutique market.
These amps are solid gold - a perfect clean channel that morphs into the perfect crunch channel that morphs into the perfect drive channel? It's a no brainer. The Drive channel truly picks up where the Rhythm channel leaves things. I am going to be removing 2 overdrive pedals from my board and keeping one as a backup in case my amps goes down. The volume balance issue that I've read about did not exist during my test drive and my ears are still ringing.
I can't wait to hear how the Crawler in my current build will fare. It may be too "round" so to speak, but I have zero issues with swapping it for the Abraxas in my soon to be backup guitar is that's the case. The Abraxas is godly through this amp.
