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Post by Danny on Mar 25, 2007 11:53:16 GMT -7
If one is after the AC30 sound, only deeper and richer and more reliable ...
Stang Ray head + 2x12 cab (G12H + Blue or Gold)
-or-
Tophat King Royale head with same cab
??
Pros and cons? Strengths and weaknesses? Similarities & differences?
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Post by billyguitar on Mar 25, 2007 14:14:29 GMT -7
I think the Stangray is great. I have a Korg AC30 with blues. The Ray won't do everything the Vox will, if that's any help, but it sounds great. Never played a Top Hat. I'm not crazy about their cosmetics and size so I've never considered one. Also the Ray is an AC30-4 sound while I'm sure the Top Hat is more of a Top Boosted Vox. The Ray can get plenty bright so don't think the lack of top boost circuit would be dull toned, far from it.
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Post by Danny on Mar 27, 2007 20:26:07 GMT -7
Anybody else care to weigh in?
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Post by Hohn on Mar 27, 2007 22:02:06 GMT -7
Never played a the Top Hat in question.
Can't say enough good about my Stang Ray with Blues.
jh
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Post by dock66 on Mar 28, 2007 6:47:33 GMT -7
Don't own Top Hat King Royale,but I do have the Emplexador 50,great amp for those Marshall tones.
Definitely agree that StingRay is a great amp with Blues, C-Gold,Weber Blue Dog speakers.
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Post by andrew1 on Mar 29, 2007 20:19:44 GMT -7
I have a King Royale 2X12 (V30 and G12H). I don't have the Ray, but have other Z's (CG, Mazerati and Maz38 Sr). The King is a great amp, but much different than the Z's. In my experience, the major difference is that the Z's have more "punch" and better low end than the King. Having said that, the King is a very *smooth* amp, meaning that it breaks up very evenly (ramps up linearly as the volume increases contrasted with the Ghia which rapidly breaks up, IMO). The King is clearly an AC30 design -- a two channel amp where the first channel is like a non-top boost version (just volume, tone and cut) and the second is a top boost channel with volume, treble, bass, middle, cut master volume. It also has a switch for "fat", "normal" and "bright". The non-top boost channel gets really thick as the volume increases and sounds great with teles (52 Reissue). Both channels will "distort" more than the Z's I have. The master volume on the top boost channel is particularly effective and the treble pot has a unique frequency response -- it seems to "rise" slowly and then quickly takes over near 3/4 of the way up. With humbuckers, it's pretty easy to get a Brian May tone with the King, if you're familiar with that sound. The King can sound clean, but breaks up quicker than the Maz 38, in particular and can;'t touch the low end of Maz. For playing with drummers, etc, the Z's seem to cut through the mix better than the King, yet the King fills out or "surrounds" more evenly (more "ambient"). I think both amps take pedals rather well (not a lot of difference here). Hope this helps -- Get both and have the best of both worlds!
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Post by billyguitar on Mar 30, 2007 8:30:54 GMT -7
Good report!
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