NY AMP SHOW review

[Denim n Leather]

Went to the NY Amp Show with Philking today. As far as I know, no one from this forum was there, though there were several members of the Seymour Duncan forum there as both exhibitors as well as attendees.

To sum up the experience: There are a LOT of great amp and pedal manufacturers our there right now. There are also a LOT of mediorce ones. And there are a LOT of over-hyped/bad/meh/me-too ones out there.  I will limit my comments to just the manufacturers that were represented at the show, however. A full list of exhibitors can be found here: http://www.ampshow.com/

Attendance was light, as might be expected from a show focusing on +$2,500 amplifiers and +$200 effects pedals. There were also virtually NO women there -- it was a real sausage fest. PDT_008 

HOT PRODUCTS

(This is in no particular order -- just as I see them on the Exhibitor List)

SMF GUITARS. I plan on sending an unfinished body to Scott to have carved. His work is first rate! (www.smfguitars.com)

ANALOG-MAN PEPPERMINT FUZZ. This is definitely on my to-buy list now.

ATTITUBE AMPLIFIERS. Astounding hand-made amplifiers coming from Korea. At 1/3 to 1/5 the price of comparable amps in the US of A, this amp is as good (or better) than any other low wattage, boutique amplifier I have tried.

BROOKWOOD LEATHER. Amazing straps. I will probably get a Double Treble strap first, however, at the same price.

CREATION AUDIO LAB MW-1. These guys also make a fantastic clean boost, but the MW-1 stole the show. Any gigging or recording guitarist should own one of these!

ELMWOOD AMPS. I forget the name of their little 38/19 watt amp, but in Vintage mode, this amp SLAYS.

CAMERON AMPLIFIERS. These amps do everything that the Splawn does, with an even great focus on metal (not as versatile as a Splawn). I was blown away by the depth, richness, and tonality of these amps!!

HERMIDA AUDIO ZEN DRIVE. Perhaps the only 'original' idea out there in boost pedals. Fantastic.

HIWATT HI GAIN AMPLIFIER. Really, really, REALLY good sounding amplifier!

GIG-FX CHOPPER. This pedal gets my vote for Most Unique Pedal of 2009 thus far. I want one!

LOLLAR PICKUPS. At a fraction more than the cost of a Seymour Duncan or DiMarzio, I found these pickups to be tonally correct and yielded a great sound.

SOLID CABLES. They make the most lust-inducing loudspeaker cable I've seen, if a cable is able to instill lust, that is. PDT_008

METRO AMPS. I think these are kits. Regardless, they are SMOKING. Plexi-style amps with incredibly fast transients and a smooth, musical breakup. Rock Players Heaven can be had from these amps with ease!!

SOMMATONE AMPLIFIERS. These amps made me forget I want a Bruno Pony 50. Yes, they are that good!! Listening to a Sommatone was like listening to a high end recording of one of the best sounding amplifiers you've ever heard ... but LIVE!! A little on the price-prohibitive side, but VERY tempting amps. This amp with a Rebel Yell-loaded guitar will MELT FACES!!




MOST DISAPPOINTING

CAROL ANN AMPLIFIERS. I still don't understand the Dumble craze. Very meh sounding amplifiers.

EGNATER AMPLIFIERS

METROPOULOS AMPLIFIERS. Same guys that make MetroAmp, but this stack sounded ... BAD!

MAD PROFESSOR AMPS/EFFECTS

VOODOO AMPS. Trace is UBER NICE, but shouldn't be making amplifiers. Terrible.

FRACTAL AUDIO. Not much to say. Modeling still has a long way to go to catch up to an good amp head.

LANDRY AMPS. Not worth any asking price, to be honest.




HONOURABLE MENTION

BRUNO AMPS for donating a 2x10 cabinet for raffle even though they weren't an exhibitor.

PREMIER GUITAR MAGAZINE for sponsoring the show and giving away a ton of swag.

PIGTRONIX EFFECTS for being very cool and making REALLY unique pedals. Even though I can never see myself buying one, I would recommend their product to anyone looking for something truly unique.

WAREHOUSE SPEAKERS

65 AMPS LONDON. 65 Amps didn't exhibit, but they loaned a London combo to Analog Man for their room. Amazing amplifier!!

LAVA CABLE; great DIY pedal cables and other goodies.




I think that covers everything. I'm sure Phil will correct me if I've forgotten anything. :)

[Antag]

Good review D'n'L, sounds like fun.

What was disappointing about Egnater?  I played with an M4 preamp at Feline's workshop & thought it sounded fantastic, I want one... :)

[hamfist]

What did you think the Hiwatt Hi-gain amp did particularly well ?    I've not played one myself, but they've been around for a while, and no-on ever seemed to get enthusiastic about them.

[lulusg]

Excellent review!! The analog man fuzz caught my attention as I have been looking for a good one, interesting your take on the amps , (the Splawn & Cameron, as I was following it on the Splawn forum),  that Sommatone looks great.

[dave_mc]

that sounds great, thanks for the review, ben. i remember a guy on another forum went last year and had a lot of nice pics, it looked really good.

Any more info on those attitube amps? I hadn't heard of them before, but if you're right about the quality and value (and you normally are), they might be worth considering. If we don't get the usual UK markup, which triples the price, that is. :lol: i know i tried the blackstar artisan 15 (also made in korea), and i didn't really like it- i think you said you didn't like blackstar either? I assume these are a lot better... :)

[MDV]

What didnt you like about egnaters?

[Denim n Leather]

What did you think the Hiwatt Hi-gain amp did particularly well ?    I've not played one myself, but they've been around for a while, and no-on ever seemed to get enthusiastic about them.

The amps sounded clean, with lots of detail, even with the gain pushed, but not edgy, spitty, nor did they sound 2 dimensional like the Voodoo amps. I've always loved Hiwatt cabs, and this show only reinforced my opinion. They are the tightest sounding cabs on the planet!

[Denim n Leather]

What didnt you like about egnaters?

They were dark and chalky sounding.

[Denim n Leather]

that sounds great, thanks for the review, ben. i remember a guy on another forum went last year and had a lot of nice pics, it looked really good.

Any more info on those attitube amps? I hadn't heard of them before, but if you're right about the quality and value (and you normally are), they might be worth considering. If we don't get the usual UK markup, which triples the price, that is. :lol: i know i tried the blackstar artisan 15 (also made in korea), and i didn't really like it- i think you said you didn't like blackstar either? I assume these are a lot better... :)

They are just looking into distributors now. I will tell you this -- for $1,000 for the head AND cab, it represents the only true bargain I've come across in high end amplifiers. For an additional $200 you get an amazing power-scaling foot pedal that looks like a volume pedal, but isn't. Volume goes down, but the tone stays the same.

This amp pisses all over the little cr@pstar, Tiny cr@ppers and other toaster-sized amplifiers.

This is a real high end amplifier (hand made, all valve, hand wound transformers) for the rest of us.

[hunter]

I'm surprised you dig the Elmwood Stinger. What for particularly?

[CJ]

that sounds great, thanks for the review, ben. i remember a guy on another forum went last year and had a lot of nice pics, it looked really good.

Any more info on those attitube amps? I hadn't heard of them before, but if you're right about the quality and value (and you normally are), they might be worth considering. If we don't get the usual UK markup, which triples the price, that is. :lol: i know i tried the blackstar artisan 15 (also made in korea), and i didn't really like it- i think you said you didn't like blackstar either? I assume these are a lot better... :)

They are just looking into distributors now. I will tell you this -- for $1,000 for the head AND cab, it represents the only true bargain I've come across in high end amplifiers. For an additional $200 you get an amazing power-scaling foot pedal that looks like a volume pedal, but isn't. Volume goes down, but the tone stays the same.

This amp pisses all over the little cr@pstar, Tiny cr@ppers and other toaster-sized amplifiers.

This is a real high end amplifier (hand made, all valve, hand wound transformers) for the rest of us.

the washer/dryer style cabinet is quite unique! and $1000 for both? that is quite a good deal for anything handmade.

[PhilKing]

Ben pretty much covered it.  The big thing for me was that I didn't really see anything that was making my wallet sweat! 

The worst amp from both sound and aesthetics had to be the DAR Superaria 50.  If you like amps and speakers with blue light shows based on the volume you play at, perhaps you might like it if you are wearing earplugs (it is also $5,500!). 

The little Elmwood was the Stinger. 

Jason Lollar makes some of the most off the wall pickups around (there was a 1930's ES300 pickup, lots of Charlie Christian's, a single coil P-bass, Mustang Bass, some weird fan shaped acoustic pickup --- you get the picture).

Industrial Amps looked interesting and from what we heard sounded good and weren't priced out of the world.

The peadlboard from hell was interesting because of the shear number of pedals on it (all sorts of manufacturers too).

They had a couple of interesting clinics, one with the manufacturers of some of the amps (including Jim Somma of Sommatone, George Metropoulos (Metro and Metropoulos amps), Trace Davis (Voodoo amps),  Alan Philip from Carol-Ann amps and Michael Ross as the moderator.  The Amp Biasing clinic as like watching paint dry, but I did get to ask a question (btw.  Don't try to demonstrate the difference between Cathode and Fixed bias and Class A, AB and B with so much reverb that it drowns out everything and a guitar that is harsh and an amp that is spikey!).  The pedal pushers was also cool to hear the different opinions.

The place wasn't great and the ####!! who was playing shred on the Metropoulos 100W stack so loud that you couldn't hear anything in the room across the atrium should have had his nuts cut off with an E-string (you can tell this bothered me - he was so loud that while he was playing you could hear him everywhere else in the place).

So would I go back next year - probably as it was interesting and there are sure to be some more things around - I think they need a Bare Knuckle stand too, and I know where there are a lot of guitars with the pickups!

[dave_mc]

They are just looking into distributors now. I will tell you this -- for $1,000 for the head AND cab, it represents the only true bargain I've come across in high end amplifiers. For an additional $200 you get an amazing power-scaling foot pedal that looks like a volume pedal, but isn't. Volume goes down, but the tone stays the same.

This amp pisses all over the little cr@pstar, Tiny cr@ppers and other toaster-sized amplifiers.

This is a real high end amplifier (hand made, all valve, hand wound transformers) for the rest of us.

sweet, thanks ben. I found the website (before you answered), and the 15 watts and no master volume kind of scared me (i struggle to crank even my valve junior without having to faff about with earplugs etc.), but if there's a power scaling option, that's gotta be cool. Would be nice if they let you buy it as a head only, would save a bit of money, and also be more attractive for people who already have cabs...

i know what you mean about the other small amps. The valve junior's not amazing, but nice for what it is, and the price is right, but i've never been too fond of those TTs etc., where the price is high enough that (personally) I'd want something better, and prefer to save slightly more.

How was the mode switch on the attitube? Did it make a big difference to the tones? (I'm guessing the one you tried was the one on the attitube website)

[Denim n Leather]

Yep, 3 position switch. I found each mode to be unique and totally use-able. This amp is going to make waves when it hits outside of Asia!

[dave_mc]

sweet, sounds great, i'll definitely keep an eye out for one to try if they ever make it over here :D thanks for the heads-up :)