Post by upfrontguitars on Nov 2, 2009 11:04:02 GMT -7
OK, so I've been playing this amp a couple more weeks now I'm glad to say that first impressions only get better. While I have not gigged with it yet, it has held up well in practice and in jams, mostly through a Z-Best cabinet. After tweaking and fooling around a bit, here are a couple hints/observations.
- I played the usual games with NOS tubes, 5751 versus the 12AX7 in V1, etc. My own conclusion is that the stock JJ's are most most balanced across the spectrum. The 5751 made the amp sound a little thinner, more stringy, and the amp lost a little of its lushness
- If you want a little more compression and slightly earlier clip, try the Groove Tube 6V6GT-R "soft" 1-3 rating. I really like these tubes, they have more airiness to them than the JJ's and on 20W with the volumes on 9-10, you can get a little "hair" with a reasonably hot pickup (such as on a G&L). Not crunch, but character. They work well in my Z28 too with only a minor bias tweak.
- This amp loves middle pickups. Every electric in the house is a Strat or 3-pickup G&L. Middle pickups can be very tough to tame, but this amp has the right combo of brightness, thickness, and sweetness. Some amps just cannot make music with this pickup, but no problem here.
- Everybody talks about the "3D" and all that: Totally true, and even at low volumes I find myself saying, "damn this is a fine amp".
- You Tube is full of videos of people diming their Maz 18's, Ghias, you name it. Anybody ever talk about clean tone? To me you can really tell an amp by it's clean tone. If I can't get a goose-bump tone from moderate volume and no effects, I move on. An amp that that makes you happy when you're not rocking the walls, or still sounds beautiful when you dial down the guitar volume control lets you know how well it's really designed and built. For me the Remedy totally nails this test.
- I played the usual games with NOS tubes, 5751 versus the 12AX7 in V1, etc. My own conclusion is that the stock JJ's are most most balanced across the spectrum. The 5751 made the amp sound a little thinner, more stringy, and the amp lost a little of its lushness
- If you want a little more compression and slightly earlier clip, try the Groove Tube 6V6GT-R "soft" 1-3 rating. I really like these tubes, they have more airiness to them than the JJ's and on 20W with the volumes on 9-10, you can get a little "hair" with a reasonably hot pickup (such as on a G&L). Not crunch, but character. They work well in my Z28 too with only a minor bias tweak.
- This amp loves middle pickups. Every electric in the house is a Strat or 3-pickup G&L. Middle pickups can be very tough to tame, but this amp has the right combo of brightness, thickness, and sweetness. Some amps just cannot make music with this pickup, but no problem here.
- Everybody talks about the "3D" and all that: Totally true, and even at low volumes I find myself saying, "damn this is a fine amp".
- You Tube is full of videos of people diming their Maz 18's, Ghias, you name it. Anybody ever talk about clean tone? To me you can really tell an amp by it's clean tone. If I can't get a goose-bump tone from moderate volume and no effects, I move on. An amp that that makes you happy when you're not rocking the walls, or still sounds beautiful when you dial down the guitar volume control lets you know how well it's really designed and built. For me the Remedy totally nails this test.