Post by mfirst on Apr 3, 2013 14:47:53 GMT -7
Let’s talk about how big a pair of pants a man needs.
So, Doc says, “You’re gonna need your big boy pants…”
That is true if you are really gonna open this thing up. I’ve not had a chance to really open it up
for more than a minute or so. So take
this for what it’s worth.
When I first plugged into the Antidote, I was expecting to be blown out of the room with
volume, which was not the case at all.
It’s not a Mazerati GT, where it all comes on at once. The volume sweep of this amp is very
wide. It doesn’t take long for it to
begin to have a little hair either. I
started with the volume knobs set at about 10:00, EQ section at noon across the
board. The volume was very reasonable! Working the volume knobs on the guitar make
for a wide variety of tones. Adjusting
the blend knobs make it so you would rarely have to touch the EQ knobs. They can be used for fine adjustments, but
the amps sounds great with everything at noon.
As you push the volumes up toward noon it does get loud, but it could be managed with an
airbrake for volume sensitive venues.
Based on my memory, the Antidote is less gritty at noon than the
Remedy. I don’t think I’d say it’s less
overdriven though. The Antidote drive is
smooth, especially in vintage mode.
Now let’s revisit the tones at lower volumes. Knobs
worked between 9:00 and noon. The
vintage mode is very smooth. There is
not a harsh tone in it, even with a tele bridge pickup. Don’t be afraid to run the normal volume
higher than the hi volume. The Antidote
will make super warm round tones.
Setting the hi volume higher than the normal volume will open up plenty
of brighter tones, and in vintage mode they are still nice rounded tones. I think this is just a quality of KT66s.
The thing about the Antidote that is really blowing me away is the harmonic complexity of
the amp. With the volumes both set 10:00ish
the clean tones are awesome from this amp, something I wasn’t expecting. Playing nice big chords with these settings
will yield excellent note definition, along with a big low end authority, and a
nice high end ring. It’s as though the
notes bloom as the chord sustains. The
only analogy I can really think of is it’s like the notes roll around in those
big tubes longer than normal.
Modern mode brings a lot of the same feel , but the tones are brighter and the lows are
tighter. There is tons of punch with the
modern mode kicked in. You’ll really be
able to feel it hitting you with the modern mode. The modern mode also introduces a bit of a
boost in volume. I think this is more
pronounced when the volumes are lower.
When you get into the natural drive of the amp the vintage/modern
difference is more of a feel difference than a volume difference.
I ran an OCD in front with the amp on vintage mode and got excellent distorted tones at very
reasonable volumes. A good overdrive
pedal seems to interact well with the natural harmonic content of this
amp. It seems to take pedals well, but
then again I’ve only run one pedal through it, so YMMV.
From the time I had to sit down with this amp it seems to be another great design from
our Tone Doctor. This amp sounds
absolutely killer when it’s cranked up, but there aren’t sweet spots. The cranked up tones have the authority that
everyone is expecting from this amp, but there are countless beautiful tones in
this machine, and not all of them will clear the neighborhood.
So, no matter what pants size, I think this is an amp that every player will enjoy.