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Well, I've had this thing for a few weeks now, so I have a much better idea of it's capabilities, and it's good and bad points.
When I received the amp brand new, the reverb tank was busted. I didn't notice while playing it, in fact the reverb actually sounded pretty good. Then while moving the amp, I noticed one of the reverb springs actually dangling out of the tank. After contacting B52, the vice president responded to my email almost immediately, and told me he was sending me a new reverb tank via courier. So, this problem, a minor one in my view, has been rectified.
The next issue was a poor connection on the pilot light. No big deal. I pulled out the chassis, and resoldered the connections. Done deal. JGCable was also kind enough to send me a couple of different pilot light lenses. I haven't yet decided which color to go with. I have a green one and a clear one. I'm leaning towards the green one I think.
Next up was a problem with volume fluctuations. When turned up to moderate volumes, the volume, and also the EQ settings (perhaps the CONTOUR) seemed to be cutting in and out. In other words, it was as if I had an EQ/boost pedal hooked up, and someone was randomly stepping on it. This particular problem was worrisome, and the vice president of B52 was very disappointed about it. I told him that I would rather not ship the amp back, so he suggested he send me a schematic so that I could go through the chassis and check everything out. Well, he must have forgotten, because I have not received a schematic as of yet. I will probably e-mail him again and remind him. The good news is, the problem has corrected itself. Perhaps it was a piece of loose scrag floating around in the chassis, or who knows what else, but it has not happened since I took the reverb unit out.
Now as for the sound of the amp, which I guess is really the most important thing, I have very good news. I really have no idea if there is any truth to the idea that tubes have a break-in period or not, but I can say without a doubt, that this particular amp has definitely settled into a very good place tonewise. Out of the box, it was harsh, and did not react well to high volumes. It was loud as hell, but the high end was annoying and brittle sounding. Unfortunately, if you backed the high end off too much, all the crunch started to go with it. Not good. So, whether it was related to the other problem or not, I cannot say, but the amp has settled down, and the high end has smoothed itself out a lot. I am now using it set on the tube A rectifier, and it sounds truly awesome. It actually sounds very much like a Mesa Dual Rec. Thick warm lows, and nice breakup without sounding buzzy at all. I mentioned in my original review that this amp could benefit greatly from a presence control. I still think it would be handy to have that extra control, but it’s not bad at all without it. I tried out my friend’s BBE 462 in the effects loop, and it pretty much has the same effect as a presence control. It clarifies the high end a lot. One thing this amp is not lacking is bottom. It has more bottom than Kirsty Alley!
I can’t speculate on the chance of problems like I had occurring again, but I really think that for the price of this amp it really is a bargain. I am glad I bought it, and I’m very happy with it. I hope that eventually, one of my JCF brothers will buy one of these, and we can have another review whether it backs up or refutes mine.
Oh, and it looks cool too!! [img]/images/graemlins/headbang.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/headbang.gif[/img]
When I received the amp brand new, the reverb tank was busted. I didn't notice while playing it, in fact the reverb actually sounded pretty good. Then while moving the amp, I noticed one of the reverb springs actually dangling out of the tank. After contacting B52, the vice president responded to my email almost immediately, and told me he was sending me a new reverb tank via courier. So, this problem, a minor one in my view, has been rectified.
The next issue was a poor connection on the pilot light. No big deal. I pulled out the chassis, and resoldered the connections. Done deal. JGCable was also kind enough to send me a couple of different pilot light lenses. I haven't yet decided which color to go with. I have a green one and a clear one. I'm leaning towards the green one I think.
Next up was a problem with volume fluctuations. When turned up to moderate volumes, the volume, and also the EQ settings (perhaps the CONTOUR) seemed to be cutting in and out. In other words, it was as if I had an EQ/boost pedal hooked up, and someone was randomly stepping on it. This particular problem was worrisome, and the vice president of B52 was very disappointed about it. I told him that I would rather not ship the amp back, so he suggested he send me a schematic so that I could go through the chassis and check everything out. Well, he must have forgotten, because I have not received a schematic as of yet. I will probably e-mail him again and remind him. The good news is, the problem has corrected itself. Perhaps it was a piece of loose scrag floating around in the chassis, or who knows what else, but it has not happened since I took the reverb unit out.
Now as for the sound of the amp, which I guess is really the most important thing, I have very good news. I really have no idea if there is any truth to the idea that tubes have a break-in period or not, but I can say without a doubt, that this particular amp has definitely settled into a very good place tonewise. Out of the box, it was harsh, and did not react well to high volumes. It was loud as hell, but the high end was annoying and brittle sounding. Unfortunately, if you backed the high end off too much, all the crunch started to go with it. Not good. So, whether it was related to the other problem or not, I cannot say, but the amp has settled down, and the high end has smoothed itself out a lot. I am now using it set on the tube A rectifier, and it sounds truly awesome. It actually sounds very much like a Mesa Dual Rec. Thick warm lows, and nice breakup without sounding buzzy at all. I mentioned in my original review that this amp could benefit greatly from a presence control. I still think it would be handy to have that extra control, but it’s not bad at all without it. I tried out my friend’s BBE 462 in the effects loop, and it pretty much has the same effect as a presence control. It clarifies the high end a lot. One thing this amp is not lacking is bottom. It has more bottom than Kirsty Alley!
I can’t speculate on the chance of problems like I had occurring again, but I really think that for the price of this amp it really is a bargain. I am glad I bought it, and I’m very happy with it. I hope that eventually, one of my JCF brothers will buy one of these, and we can have another review whether it backs up or refutes mine.
Oh, and it looks cool too!! [img]/images/graemlins/headbang.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/headbang.gif[/img]
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