Any Allen Amp Fans?

[RJLII]

After a recent trip to visit Victoria Amps in Chicago I was pretty set on the Regal model joining my harem. Since then however, I've been made aware of the Allen Brown Sugar. The Regal will take 6V6, 6L6, 5881, or EL34 tubes in singles or in pairs, mix and match. It's a nice amp.The downside is that it only comes with a 15" speaker and only the most basic tone controls. It's got a tone as thick as a milkshake, but there's not much variety on tap. The Brown Sugar on the other hand, will take 6V6, 6L6, 5881 and EL34 in (in pairs only) is Cathode biased, has Bass, Mid, Treble, Presence, and Raw controls. It's also availible in 1X12, 1X15, and 2X10 configurations. It looks like a good companion to my Rambler, with lots of old school tone potential and reasonable early breakup using 6V6 tubes.

 

Any Allen fans out there? Anyone ever played through a Brown Sugar?

[iim7v7im7]

Sure, David builds great amps...I just sold my Allen Accomplice. It was a AB763 circuit, fixed bias, 6V6 (22w) or 6L6 (35w) with a raw control and master volume. I have never played through a brown sugar....

[fxdx99]

I've an Allen Accomplish Jr 1x12 combo. It's been my main gigging amp since I got it. Based on a Deluxe Reverb it has the Raw control as well, which is useful for setting the amount of grit you want on the amp. Great amp voicing (imho). Very versatile - I have a master volume on it, too. The 'easy bias' feature on the back of the amp is slick and a great feature for swapping tubes quickly. Victoria makes some good amps, too and it all depends on what you're looking for I guess.

[212Mavguy]

Allen is wonderful.

 

Boutique amps for boutique guitars!

[gary0313]

I've never played through one myself, but I heard Steve Freund play through an Old Flame once and he got a great Chicago blues tone out of it. He had another guitarist do some tunes who played more of a British blues style and by tweaking a few knobs he was able to nail that tone as well. Seems they are very versatile amps and definitely on my wish list.

[mad dog]

You're talking two of my favorite amp makers. An Allen Encore head has been number one for me for about 3 years. I wanted the Brown Sugar, and still do, but the VR inspired Encore was too good to pass up. Mine was built by someone other than David Allen, actually before he marketed his kits. That person convinced David to sell him the chassic, faceplate, parts list and layout, then sourced all the same parts David used. Later the Encore became Allen's most popular amp and kit. Two minor quibbles aside (miswired ohm switch, missing resistor in reverb recovery circuit), this head has been way more than satisfactory. The RAW knob is worth the price of admission. Same with the bias vary tremelo. As with the VR that inspired it, the Encore is not strictly a clean machine. Beautiful overdrive at higher volumes, more if needed via the MV. It has a smaller OT than the Olf Flame. Someday I will own a Brown Sugar, and can highly recommend Allen amps in the meantime.

 

Lately picked up a Victoria Trem de la trem. Second Victoria I've owned, it's the coolest amp. Everything I try from Victoria sounds alive, just right. This one is no exception. Hard to go wrong with either brand.

[bolero]

Allen was one of the original boutique amp builders...he started sellling kits as well as prebuilt amps, originally

 

very highly regarded

[TalismanRich]

I looked long and hard at an Accomplice Jr that was consigned at Guitar Emporium. It was a very nice sounding amp, but at the time, I was looking for a little more clean headroom. The Patriot fit the bill better. I've already got the Marshall and Peavey for the overdriven sound.

 

Having both would have been nice.....

 

Allen amps use premium parts, and if David builds it, you can be sure it's a first class job. He pays attention to the little details.