Author Topic: New amp (Read 3842 times)

simonp · « **on:** July 10, 2007, 12:39:37 AM »

I finally made up my mind after 2 months of amp deliberation. I ended up with the Cornford MK50H and the 2x12 cab. As soon as i tried this at Cranes in Cardiff it blew me away. It also made my ears hurt we had it up so loud in the back room :twisted:
This is what I was looking for, loads of bite and also lots of bottom end (something I had really missed with the Speed Twin's open back construction).
There is also so much more difference with the volume backed down, or picking lighter, the dynamics are great.
I used it at rehearsals after only 5 minutes playing with it at home, and even with everything pretty much at centre (apart from volume) it sounded great. We'll see how it goes at Friday's gig.

Crazy_Joe · « **Reply #1 on:** July 10, 2007, 01:41:05 AM »

Damn! that must have set you back a fair bit :P

What style do you play with it?

hunter · « **Reply #2 on:** July 10, 2007, 05:29:34 AM »

sweeeeet 8)

JamesHealey · « **Reply #3 on:** July 10, 2007, 08:37:32 AM »

I bought a Cornford Hurricane yesterday.. Haven't brought it home yet going to pick it up this morning.

I must admit, they're the best sounding amps i've ever tried.

simonp · « **Reply #4 on:** July 10, 2007, 09:13:18 AM »

Quote from: Crazy_Joe

Damn! that must have set you back a fair bit :P

What style do you play with it?

The band do sort of classic rock I suppose, about 2/3 covers, but with our own slant to most covers. Myself I would class as playing rock with a blues bent to my playing, although I do come from a heavy rock and some meal background (Sabbath, Deep Purple from am early age in my record collection).

I suppose given my playing style this amp was bound to appeal to me as it is very much aimed at that sort of thing. Some people had warned me that the Cornford has it's own signature sound and that it might mask the guitar's individuality, but I did not find this, it sounds like it did through the Speed Twin, but bigger, more dynamic and more focused. The upper mids that suddenly jumped out after fitting the Mules is still very much the signature of the Les Paul now regardless of amp.

Yes it was expensive, but then in the grand scheme of things I had 8 years of use from the Speed Twin, so if I only get that out of this then it is a bit over £200 a year so much cheaper than smoking or gambling :)

hunter · « **Reply #5 on:** July 10, 2007, 12:12:04 PM »

Quote from: JamesHealey

I bought a Cornford Hurricane yesterday.. Haven't brought it home yet going to pick it up this morning.

I must admit, they're the best sounding amps i've ever tried.

Splawn :shock: Cornford

:twisted:

simonp · « **Reply #6 on:** July 10, 2007, 12:16:40 PM »

:twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :lol:

_tom_ · « **Reply #7 on:** July 10, 2007, 01:20:41 PM »

That looks great :D I think thats the amp that Jamie Humphries was using when I saw him playing at music live a few years ago - sounded awesome. Perfect hard rock tone if I remember right. I'd love one but they're too expensive for me :(

hunter · « **Reply #8 on:** July 10, 2007, 01:55:32 PM »

Those transformers look like real back killers....

Always lift through your knees, never through the back dude!

8)

simonp · « **Reply #9 on:** July 10, 2007, 02:00:22 PM »

Quote from: _tom_

That looks great :D I think thats the amp that Jamie Humphries was using when I saw him playing at music live a few years ago - sounded awesome. Perfect hard rock tone if I remember right. I'd love one but they're too expensive for me :(

Yeah, absolutely nails the hard rock style of tone, but also does a great bluesy tone woth the overdrive stage off, and rolls back to a lovely rich clean sound with the guitar volume.
My biggets concern about this amp was not being able to get a clean tone and still get the OD, but back off the volume to about half and you can get a reaaly clean tone with a touch of edge if you really dig the pick in. Once I auditioned it and found this works I was hooked. I especially like the clean sound when I turn to full coil tap on the bridge Mule (wired the tone pot on the LP for variable coil tap). Much more change in sound with this amp.

I'll try to find time to recoed some sounds with the new setup and post thwm.

dave_mc · « **Reply #10 on:** July 10, 2007, 02:51:33 PM »

dang, more cornfords!

awesome!

38thBeatle · « **Reply #11 on:** July 10, 2007, 08:18:47 PM »

Nice job.

simonp · « **Reply #12 on:** July 10, 2007, 10:37:29 PM »

Had a go at running my home-made overdrive pedal (a copy of the Dynamic Ovedrive, a tube screamer clone with mods similar to the Keely ones) into the amp this evening, very nice. It kicks the amp into a really smooth overdrive with the amps overdrive out, and with the overdrive kicked in on the amp the sustain is unbelieveable, but still very musical despite LOTS of gain, complex chords still ring out well. You can get a really good chunky metal rhythm sound going with this pedal in the front.

I certainly have a whole lot of sounds now available, ironic that I had to go to a single channel amp to get them though!

I can't wait to see how it goes at the gig on Friday :D

simonp · « **Reply #13 on:** July 23, 2007, 12:00:17 PM »

I had an awsome sound at the gig, I can really come through in the mix without resorting to cranking the volume right up. I love the much fatter sound of this setup.

Ran the Cornford with my new THD Hotplate at rehearsal on Sunday. I had the Hotplate set to -8dB so not too much changing of the sound, but at least I can now actually use the masters to fine tune the volume!
Before the tiniest change made a big difference as I was needing to run (rhythm at least) the volume at about the lowest point the control starts to work.
Running the power stage that bit harder really helps the harmonics jump out. The Mules really cook now and I can get a great Zep style sound.
One thing I have noticed is that I get harmonic feedback with much lower gain than I used with the Speed Twin, but this is great as you can really make notes hang on.
I know the Cornford sound isn't everyone's taste, but this thing is so responsive and the tone puts a smile on my face evey time I hit a power chord :twisted:

hunter · « **Reply #14 on:** July 23, 2007, 12:11:31 PM »

There has been a pretty awesome clip posted over at rig-talk from a MK50H user:

http://www.rig-talk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=18351