I've wanted a second, more basic amp head to keep alongside the VH4 rig for a while now, and I had my eye set on a Cornford MK50HII. However, a week or so ago I saw something that caught my eye in the seconds out section, and today I took a 2 hour drive to go and check it out. Within a few seconds of plugging in I knew I had to buy it.
Elmwood are a fairly unheard of small boutique Swedish amp company, but most reviews out there tend to be extremely positive.
The amp is an EL34 driven 60w head, with a switchable 30w option. It has two channels, each with an added boost function with it's own separate gain knob. The clean channel's boost also has a seperate preamp volume if you want to kick the poweramp harder. There are also twin footswitchable master volumes, a parallel FX loop and global "edge" and "fat" knobs on the back of the amp to tweak the whole voicing.
The aesthetics are very classy - the thick black vinyl used is plush and smooth, and the polished black faceplate with blue LEDs looks great. The logo plate is actually slightly pearlescent and looks better in person than in the pics (it does seem like an identical font to both Bogner and Egnater amps though, which is strange). The cabinet itself is very compact in width, but deep, and feels very sturdy.
Onto the sounds.
The clean channel is absolutely gorgeous. It has an amazing depth and chime to it, with a sparkly high end and round and warm low end. The clarity and bloom is out of this world. As you wind up the channel volume, it breaks up in a beautiful and smooth British-voiced manner. Flick the boost switch on and the gain keeps winding up to an old-school Marshall-y bark without any harshness in the high end. The note definition is shockingly clear at all times. The sound is open and dynamic, but sustains like you're using a compressor. The amp is worth it for this channel alone.
Channel 2 takes everything up a notch to some serious dirt. Again, it's very smooth and fat with no fizz at all, but still with the same sparkling note definition. The sound is huge and it has a roaring fat midrange. It's incredible for hard rock tones, like Nuno Bettencourt's tones with Extreme, but as the gain goes up further, you're into full on metal sounds. With the gain maxed, it's in serious metal crunch territory, with a thick chewy low end. It's not as tight as the VH4 is, but it is open and still incredibly clear with the same exceptional note definition as before. The amp is also very quiet, even with the gain right up. Add a tubescreamer in front, and things get ridiculous, the low end tightens up a tad, and the midrange gets more focussed and pronounced. The sound is just monstrous, think Killswitch Engage, and stays tight and clear even with the F8 in drop E. There's serious djent on offer with appropriate EQing too.
With the amp's boost engaged, you get even more gain to play with and slight increase in compression that makes it incredible for soloing. The sound is fluid and smooth in all the right ways, again with silly note definition. The attack is fast and responsive but still juicy and really encourages you to dig in. The low end doesn't loosen up at all, so you can still use it for rhythm. In fact, at higher volumes the low end seems to tighten up on it's own, so I'm still in two minds about whether or not the tubescreamer is needed when you're playing louder. You can still get the necessary boost for solos by using the second master volume, even if you're using the same settings for rhythm and leads.
I've not really messed with the 30w setting, mainly because the amp still sounds great quiet with the full 60w, but from my limited try it did seem to make the amp compress a tad. I imagine that at rehearsal volumes it will make pushing the power amp considerably easier.
I'd like to add that Paul (Pauldem) was absolutely great to do business with, a thoroughly nice guy and knows his stuff. I believe he's still selling a custom Schecter, do go check it out in Seconds Out.
Enough talk, I'm going to go play some more :)
Nolly
