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Ok, no clips. [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img] We spent a lot of time A/B/Cing stuff, and came to the following conclusions, or at least I did:
1) The Vetta is a great sounding amp, but it ain't a soldano. In a mix live, or in the studio I think it would do the trick, but playing one amp at a time in your face, it just doesn't have the complex tone the SLO or even the HR has. I might have been able to dial it in a little closer with some post eq on the amp and a little compression, but I was more interested in the SLO vs HR.
The SLO is a better sounding amp. No doubt. It has a more hifi 'clarity' and string definition. Also has more high end, but it's not icepicky like a Fender, or irritating like some amps. Wonderful wonderful great sounding amp.
However, the HR held up EXTREMELY well. Mine sounded thicker than the SLO, and had more warmth, most likely the XL mod in action. At times we had the bass to 0 and it was about as bassy as the stock SLO with bass on 6, at least at moderate volumes. (loud bedroom playing/anger people in the house, but not in the neighborhood)
Some of the tonal differences are likely from the XL mod on the HR, and also the tubes used, possibly. To get the same ballpark tone as the SLO, we had to give it quite a bit more presence and treble, and cut the bass considerably. Also wasn't quite as gainy as the SLO, but this could have been the tubes also. The high end on the HR was nice but trashier sounding than the SLO. A good comparison would be a 60s muscle car (the HR) vs a modern high performance car. The HR still has as much clarity as any high gain amp I've owned, and gets this great aggressive 'snarl' to it.
Question is... is it worth twice as much? Right now, it isn't for me, but I'm going to see how the HR does at practice first, and then possibly at a gig. One thing that does keep me from buying any really boutiquey amp like an SLO or Bogner is that I hate getting my gear 'smoked out' from playing bars... I would almost rather keep the HR, and save up gig $ for a bit and then buy an SLO to just use at home.
I think that some people might actually prefer the HR over an SLO on tone alone, IF they wanted something that was thicker and had a little more trash in the high frequencies. I prefer the SLO, but the HR is still a keeper.
Pete
1) The Vetta is a great sounding amp, but it ain't a soldano. In a mix live, or in the studio I think it would do the trick, but playing one amp at a time in your face, it just doesn't have the complex tone the SLO or even the HR has. I might have been able to dial it in a little closer with some post eq on the amp and a little compression, but I was more interested in the SLO vs HR.
The SLO is a better sounding amp. No doubt. It has a more hifi 'clarity' and string definition. Also has more high end, but it's not icepicky like a Fender, or irritating like some amps. Wonderful wonderful great sounding amp.
However, the HR held up EXTREMELY well. Mine sounded thicker than the SLO, and had more warmth, most likely the XL mod in action. At times we had the bass to 0 and it was about as bassy as the stock SLO with bass on 6, at least at moderate volumes. (loud bedroom playing/anger people in the house, but not in the neighborhood)
Some of the tonal differences are likely from the XL mod on the HR, and also the tubes used, possibly. To get the same ballpark tone as the SLO, we had to give it quite a bit more presence and treble, and cut the bass considerably. Also wasn't quite as gainy as the SLO, but this could have been the tubes also. The high end on the HR was nice but trashier sounding than the SLO. A good comparison would be a 60s muscle car (the HR) vs a modern high performance car. The HR still has as much clarity as any high gain amp I've owned, and gets this great aggressive 'snarl' to it.
Question is... is it worth twice as much? Right now, it isn't for me, but I'm going to see how the HR does at practice first, and then possibly at a gig. One thing that does keep me from buying any really boutiquey amp like an SLO or Bogner is that I hate getting my gear 'smoked out' from playing bars... I would almost rather keep the HR, and save up gig $ for a bit and then buy an SLO to just use at home.
I think that some people might actually prefer the HR over an SLO on tone alone, IF they wanted something that was thicker and had a little more trash in the high frequencies. I prefer the SLO, but the HR is still a keeper.
Pete
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