Monson
Sonic Automatist
For a while I'd been looking for a smaller practice/coffee shop gig type of amp, preferably with verb and trem, and settled on the Fender. Top contenders were a Princeton 65 RI, a Supro Amulet, a Supro 64 Reverb or a Laney Lionheart 5 watt.
Since I already have an AC10 that can do the British jangle/throaty roar/natural compression thing, the Laney was dismissed. I figured the Princeton and the Amulet would be overkill, and the 64 doesn't have trem, so the Vibro Champ won.
I bought it online without trying one so it was a bit hit and miss, I guess, but I was pleased with the voicing. Build quality seems fine and everything appears well-made and aligned. I picked up the footswitch as well, but wasn't too impressed with that though as it feels a bit naff and frail, but hey, it gets the job done.
Tone-wise the amp is excellent. It's not as scooped as one might expect but sounds nice and full. Coming from British types of amps and amp models, this amp does not have that kind of redeeming compression and it doesn't seem to filter away every second frequency. It's a very honest and in-your-face type of tone, less transparent, so there's no hiding and what you play is what you get.
There's a bit of hum and the reverb adds some hiss as you turn it up, but overall it's a quiet amp, until you start playing. Being a non-master amp everything changes a bit as you turn it up. At 2 it's very quiet, 3 is like normal conversation level - perfectly fine for practice. At 4 to 5 you'll notice more complexity and warmth as the tubes start working. 7-8 is way too loud for home use, and I guess too loud as well for more intimate venues, and I'm fairly certain most marriages will break up before this amp does. When you hit it hard at 9-10, there's some grit and fry, and I guess you could drive it even harder with a TS type of pedal and achieve.. well, something, but too me that's not what this amp is for.
The amp excels at producing a nice clean, but certainly not sterile Fender tone even at low volume, and there's a lot one can do with the in-built effects. The reverb is not a smooth and long affair but rather short, gritty, and with an almost slapback-like character. I like that. It's like a rural town hall, and with the trem engaged the whole thing has a charming wobble to it that is pretty cinematastic. Strumming some major7 and diminished chords I swear I saw Bob behind the sofa. The amp has certainly delivered more than I expected!
Since I already have an AC10 that can do the British jangle/throaty roar/natural compression thing, the Laney was dismissed. I figured the Princeton and the Amulet would be overkill, and the 64 doesn't have trem, so the Vibro Champ won.
I bought it online without trying one so it was a bit hit and miss, I guess, but I was pleased with the voicing. Build quality seems fine and everything appears well-made and aligned. I picked up the footswitch as well, but wasn't too impressed with that though as it feels a bit naff and frail, but hey, it gets the job done.
Tone-wise the amp is excellent. It's not as scooped as one might expect but sounds nice and full. Coming from British types of amps and amp models, this amp does not have that kind of redeeming compression and it doesn't seem to filter away every second frequency. It's a very honest and in-your-face type of tone, less transparent, so there's no hiding and what you play is what you get.
There's a bit of hum and the reverb adds some hiss as you turn it up, but overall it's a quiet amp, until you start playing. Being a non-master amp everything changes a bit as you turn it up. At 2 it's very quiet, 3 is like normal conversation level - perfectly fine for practice. At 4 to 5 you'll notice more complexity and warmth as the tubes start working. 7-8 is way too loud for home use, and I guess too loud as well for more intimate venues, and I'm fairly certain most marriages will break up before this amp does. When you hit it hard at 9-10, there's some grit and fry, and I guess you could drive it even harder with a TS type of pedal and achieve.. well, something, but too me that's not what this amp is for.
The amp excels at producing a nice clean, but certainly not sterile Fender tone even at low volume, and there's a lot one can do with the in-built effects. The reverb is not a smooth and long affair but rather short, gritty, and with an almost slapback-like character. I like that. It's like a rural town hall, and with the trem engaged the whole thing has a charming wobble to it that is pretty cinematastic. Strumming some major7 and diminished chords I swear I saw Bob behind the sofa. The amp has certainly delivered more than I expected!
