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Carol Ann HS-2


JMick

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Posted

Because I live far from any boutique amp dealers, I listened to hundreds of clips of different amps before selecting the Carol Ann. Not sure if any of you guys play anything like this. It's often categorized with the likes of Two Rock, Brown Note, Fuchs, Ceriatone, and the rest of the "D-style" amplifiers, though there are many (including the builder and owner of Carol Ann Amplifiers himself) who would say such a thing does not exist. Regardless of what you want to call it, I absolutely love it.

 

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I also picked up a Swart AST-Dark Tweed and like it quite a bit, though I can only keep one and am leaning heavily on the brilliant range of the Carol Ann.

 

Here are some amateur recordings of me playing the HS-2 with my brand new H157 which has a pair of SD 59s. The guitar is plugged straight into the front without pedals or anything in the effects loop. I don't play in a band, gig, or have any original compositions, so the clips were directionless. I just made them in order to demo the quality of the rig. I only play at home and had considered soundproofing but this all tube 16 watt amp sounds awesome at bedroom levels. You can hear the sound of picking over the amp, and even at bedroom levels the sustain is awesome.

 

I have a crappy mic which lost quite a bit of the bass, mids and overall richness of the tone, including some of the gorgeous three dimensionality of the overdrive. As a result, the recordings sound just okay whereas it sounds unbelievable in the room. I now appreciate why many experienced players are so wary of "clips." That being said, it's about as close as I'm gonna get until I upgrade the mic so I figured I'd share it with you guys.

 

Does anyone else play a similar amp? Would be interested to hear others' experiences and recordings.

 

 

 

Posted

I know what you mean when you say the recorded clip is much different than the room sound.

 

I do get a sense of the amp on the second clip though. Sound good to me -the kind of sound I get on the neck pickup of my H150 with the tone dialed back a bit. Gets a nice vintage groove.

 

Enjoy the Carol Ann. There's a lot of top players using them.

Posted

Clips sound good, get a pretty good sense of the amp's capabilities. CA's get great 'net accolades. I've not played nor even heard one live... not sure there's a dealer near me.

Posted

Never heard one, Rockabilly here likes them and he seems to know a thing or two. Has it got reverb? I love some verb.

Posted

No reverb on this amp. In addition to the channel master volumes, it has a preamp knob, a drive knob (for the overdrive channel), and a presence knob. I may be becoming a pedal guy and have been looking into a good reverb / echo pedal.

Posted

I had a Triprik for about a year. A really great amp. But I only play in the basement and this was a very powerful 30 watts. And for me, the tone improved with volume so it was overkill for me. Probably one of the best amps for professionals who can take it out and let it breathe. Top quality

Posted

I'm pretty sure this might be my new "gotta-have-it" amp. I was hoping it would take me awhile longer to find such a beast. Now off to start planning/scheming...

 

Great clips!

Posted

I had a Triprik for about a year. A really great amp. But I only play in the basement and this was a very powerful 30 watts. And for me, the tone improved with volume so it was overkill for me. Probably one of the best amps for professionals who can take it out and let it breathe. Top quality

 

The Triptik is nuts! I also loved the OD2 and OD2R but, like you, I play at home and even the 16 watts of the HS-2 is pushing it. It's quite loud and I agree that the best tones are probably found at volumes in excess of those I can reasonably use for more than a minute or two without expecting a visit from the police. That being said, I think the low volume tones this amp produces are outstanding.

 

 

I'm pretty sure this might be my new "gotta-have-it" amp. I was hoping it would take me awhile longer to find such a beast. Now off to start planning/scheming...

 

Great clips!

 

Thanks a lot, I really appreciate that. I would definitely suggest checking out some of the clips on YouTube or on Carol Ann's official webpage for better guitarists and recording quality. I absolutely love my HS-2 but with my talent and volume limitations, I'm just scratching the surface of this highly versatile amp. I posted the clips in large part because to my knowledge, there are no other clips online of the HS-2. Alan Phillips, the owner and builder of Carol Ann Amplifiers, has said the HS-2 is very similar to the OD2R, and here's a guy who actually knows what the heck he's doing:

 

Posted

Never heard one, Rockabilly here likes them and he seems to know a thing or two. Has it got reverb? I love some verb.

I'm a fan of Swart amps, but Carol Ann are a little too thick in the lower mids for me, and I think that's the reason so many people like them as they beef up the lead tones. They sound like Eric Johnson in a box. I think many Strat players can benefit from that kind of thickening, but I don't play Strats, other than when people specifically ask for them when I do studio gigs. I'm sure that many people would complain that I like my lead tones a little on the thinner side:)

 

This clip at 2:05 exemplifies what I think lead tone should sound like, I did it with a Les Paul and a TopHat Club Royale. I can get this

sound with a SWART amp. So if you meant that I like SWARTs you were correct! And Swart amps have great REVERB!!!

Posted

I'm a fan of Swart amps, but Carol Ann are a little too thick in the lower mids for me, and I think that's the reason so many people like them as they beef up the lead tones. They sound like Eric Johnson in a box. I think many Strat players can benefit from that kind of thickening, but I don't play Strats, other than when people specifically ask for them when I do studio gigs. I'm sure that many people would complain that I like my lead tones a little on the thinner side:)

 

This clip at 2:05 exemplifies what I think lead tone should sound like, I did it with a Les Paul and a TopHat Club Royale. I can get this

sound with a SWART amp. So if you meant that I like SWARTs you were correct! And Swart amps have great REVERB!!!

 

Rockabilly, I've enjoyed all of your clips. I didn't see one posted here, will you try to post again? I would love to hear what lead tone should sound like.

 

Agreed that the Swart is great.

Posted

 

Rockabilly, I've enjoyed all of your clips. I didn't see one posted here, will you try to post again? I would love to hear what lead tone should sound like.

 

Agreed that the Swart is great.

 

Sorry about that JMick whoops... like I said it's a 2:05 http://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=6605960

 

Those little Swarts are amps that work with my sensibility, but I bet guys that use high gain for sustain would hate them:)

No way are you getting those Eric Johnson tones out of the Swart without a pedal!!!

 

Just goes to show there are many ways to skin a cat so to speak!

 

And IMO what lead tone should sound like, is what YOU hear in your head, and what resonates with you personally. I think most people make music connections to their favorite artists because they connect either emotionally and even sometimes physically with the music those artists created. I think we're all drawn to certain tones, and as musicians we chase them our whole life.

Posted

A bit late to the party here, but nice amp! I own a couple of Carol-Anns myself. I love these amps!

 

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I don't have many clips, but here's one of the Texas 50:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-ueC1TzwtQ

 

These amps wouldn't work for what I do... BUT.... I could see a fusion player loving one of those Texas 50s! Really nice thick lead tone with liquid sustain. I can tell the guy in the video is having fun riffing his brains out.

you posted is having a ball playing throught that amp!

Posted

Holy Cow, I've been hearing about Carol Anns for a long time..just occured to me that it is my wife's first and middle name. Kinda odd it just dawned on me. Wifes and gear maybe occupy different sections of our consciousness.

 

Maybe I'll get her one for Mother's Day. Brilliant.

Posted

Holy Cow, I've been hearing about Carol Anns for a long time..just occured to me that it is my wife's first and middle name. Kinda odd it just dawned on me. Wifes and gear maybe occupy different sections of our consciousness.

 

Maybe I'll get her one for Mother's Day. Brilliant.

 

Can't go wrong. ;)

Posted

Holy Cow, I've been hearing about Carol Anns for a long time..just occured to me that it is my wife's first and middle name. Kinda odd it just dawned on me. Wifes and gear maybe occupy different sections of our consciousness.

 

Maybe I'll get her one for Mother's Day. Brilliant.

I am now going to ask my girlfriend to legally change her name to Vintage Marshall Plexi.

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