GuitArtMan Posted October 3, 2010 Posted October 3, 2010 For a list of the manufactures go here: http://www.ampshow.com/ Sorry no pictures. My wife grabbed the good camera for some SciFi/Fantasy convention. My favorites in no particular order: Tungsten Crema Wheat - An up graded 5e3 Tweed Deluxe. He uses bigger transformers so it can push 20 watts from a pair of 6v6s instead of the customary 12. More headroom (which I like) and a very nice break up. It was a sweeter tone, but still raw, than I remember my Clark Beaufort having when pushed. Like all 5e3, very touch sensitive. I thought about trying to make a deal on the spot... there’s still time to drive up to LA... 65 Amps London - All your favorite British Invasion tones in one amp. It sounded Voxey. It sounded Marshally. It sounded Moxey. It sounded Varshally. It just sounded darn plain good! Very loud for 18 watts. I wanted one till I saw the price tag, ouch! Electroplex Rocket amps - These were some of my favorite boutique amps back in the 90s. He made (and still makes) a 50 watt, 4x10 amp that just frickin’ kills. Two channels; the clean channel is clean, with lots of chime, shimmer, sparkle and depth. The overdrive channel is so smooth and touch sensitive and yet has a nice bight with great harmonics. This is one of the best overdrives I’ve heard on an amp. The guy took some time out of the amp business (he was only doing it part time) to raise his kids. Now he’s back, I’m glad he is, I wan’t one of his amps. Lot’s of different models now with different cabinet combinations as well. Bludotone - Not sure which models I heard. One was definitely Dumble style and sounded great, but that wasn’t the one that turned my head. They had a 100 watt head, going into a Hermida 2x12 that sounded frickin‘ amazing. Some guy was playing a tele into it, and it had to be one of the most touch sensitive amps I have ever heard. Went from clean, to crunch, to scream all with the guitars volume knob and touch. Sweet, sweet tone! I leaned forward to see the name and I can’t for the life of me remember what it was called. It wasn’t the High Planes Drifter - though they did mention that. Brown Note - Another amp from Dumble side of the universe. This had the classic somewhat dark, smooth, smokey, singing tone that make the D amps so popular. The new Vox hand wired AC15HW1X. I have the older AC15H1TV and love it. This definitely has a new take on the classic Vox voice. The ef86 channel is gone, in it’s place are some new voicing options and a bypass-able master volume. This was one sweet sounded little amp. Fractal Audio Axe-Fx - I’ve been wanting to hear this since I first found out about them several years ago. I’m glad I did, but left with mixed emotions. I couldn’t get a chance to demo it/play it myself and the people who were demoing it didn’t do it any justice. The first was some knuckle dragging drop tuned neanderthal that couldn’t play two chards that went together to save his life - let alone three. His attempt at shredding was the musical equivalent of sticking your head in a blender. The next was some chick rock star wannabe - she had the guy trying to dial in some grungy tone for her noodling. Finally some other guy got on who could do something with just about any tone/effect the vendor trough at him. Unfortunately, he and the vendor wanted weird effects. I never did get to hear it’s straight ahead amp modeling. I wanted to hear Vox AC430, Marshall 100 Watt Plexi, Black Face Super Reverb, JTM 45, etc., etc., etc. Instead I got to head space bleeps and flying saucer effects. One thing I can say: I don't like the interface. The vendor was using a lab top to call up the presets and do the tweaking. Hope that software comes with the unit. Highlight: Phil X in the Goodsell amps suite. If you’ve not heard/seen Phil X, do yourself a favor and google him. The guy has got some serious chops and his videos are a hoot. Just try and watch one and not smile - can’t be done. He was playing a Trusart tele style, though a mystery buffer (was it a Red Plate buffer) into one of the Goodsell amps. OMG!
koula901 Posted October 4, 2010 Posted October 4, 2010 Great report, GuitArtMan - wish I could have been there, but from the looks of the list, I would have been overwhelmed with all those amps to try out. Liked the pic of guitar art and I tried to copy/paste it into her for y'all, but couldn't. Maybe Fred Zepp will help.
rjsanders Posted October 8, 2010 Posted October 8, 2010 Great report, GuitArtMan - wish I could have been there, but from the looks of the list, I would have been overwhelmed with all those amps to try out. Liked the pic of guitar art and I tried to copy/paste it into her for y'all, but couldn't. Maybe Fred Zepp will help. this one? (if so, it was: - right click on image - save to Desktop - under "Attachments" of my reply, Browse, select the file, and "Attach This File")
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