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This is a very sweet 15 watt amp in a small package. It's one of those amps that you just want to crank up and play with for hours I highly recommend it for classic rock, blues and country styles.

It has a master volume configuration. You can get distorted tones at low volumes if you crank up the preamp. If you want to hear the EL84 power tubes come to life, then the master volume can be cranked, and the preamp volume can be lowered. I think the amp really shines when the EL84s are being pushed.

If you play with other musicians at reasonable volumes, then you shouldn't have a problem with headroom (getting clean tones at higher volumes). The balance of wattage and box size seems very fine-tuned. This little guy has plenty of quot;reasonablequot; volume. Also, it really does clean up nicely when you back off on the guitar’s volume control.

The tone controls are pure and simple: volume, bass, treble, master. The amp has plenty of bass response. The bass and treble controls are very responsive; therefore you need to play around with the levels to get that quot;sweet spotquot;. I powered my Marshall 4x12 with it but I like the amp's tone more when it stands alone.

One major attribute of this amp is its dynamics/sensitivity which varies with playing style. I found a setting with plenty of volume, where I could really control the sound with force and guitar volume; playing gently on the strings gets you a nice clean tone and hitting the strings harder gets you a great natural distorted tone.

The distortion is so smooth that you almost don't know it's there. For that reason, I really like it for blues. Many amps are great for either clean tone or dirty tone, but the in-between tones are more of a challenge to attain. This little amp nails the quot;in-betweenquot; tone in a great way.

Great review Steve and thanks to Scott for allowing us to have the option of buying something made by our very own special forum brother. I guess I'm pretty content these days with the stuff I have or I'd build or have Scott build me something....I'm perfectly capable of building something however!

Sounds great Stevo.

There is something special about a decent tube amp in a small combo.

Currently, the amp of mine I play the most is an EL84 amp.

I hope it sells well for Scott.


Thanks guys. I can't sleep. Nervous about tomorrow's game. It truly is a nice amp. So much so, I'm selling me $3000 Two Rock...

Oops I forgot to add that Franklin is very quiet

Yea, the clip that I made for Scott was recorded on a Sony DVD camera.

We were sweet pushing the amp and also running it hot.

Too bad the mike on the camera when into clipping and you could not really hear the tone that the Franklin was easily capable of generating.

We could have played for hours, but Scott had to ruin it by getting back home...

Jeff Seal and I both felt that this amp is a real charm to play through.

Keep up the good work Scott and let me know when you'll be ready to start on 007 (JTM-45)

Stratman

Steve, does this amp have any bias as far as preffering singles or 'buckers?


Originally Posted by StratmanKeep up the good work Scott and let me know when you'll be ready to start on 007 (JTM-45)

Stratman

You are 2nd on the waiting list. Evan is first.


Originally Posted by Benjy_26Steve, does this amp have any bias as far as preffering singles or 'buckers?

I think the preamp push works for single coils more than it does for humbuckers. Single coils are more quot;openquot; and the sound is less compressed when you crank the preamp volume.

When cranking the master volume, I liked my lower output humbucker (Seth Lover) the most. My hot stack sounded great too (single coil tone). I just liked that little extra fatness of the humbucker.