ART DST Eighty/Eighty arrived today.

[Inazone]

I'm taking a chance with this thing at our next gig, meaning no tube EQs or power amps. It's the first time I've ever played live with strictly solid state gear, but there's still a gremlin loose in my pedalboard, causing it to cut out now and then...so I'm going to the dark side. Sort of. ART's "Xtreme" distortion sounds the same, whether in a pedal or rack pre, and this is basically the DST-4 preamp and a Pearce power amp mounted in a ridiculously oversized shell. Looking at it from the back, it's obviously just two single-space rack units in a huge Tolex-covered enclosure.

It should keep the gear nerds (my crowd) guessing for a while, eh?

[lerxstcat]

Yeah, those look like an old Marshall at first glance, the style of the headshell anyway. I always thought they LOOKED cool, and I like the Xtreme distortion. As long as you don't push the power amp too hard it should sound pretty good.

Good luck, let us know how it goes!

[jacksonaxes]

can you put them in a rack?

[Inazone]

It appears so. At some point, I'll try doing exactly that. The inside "rack" screws are a bit tough to get at, at first glance anyway, so I'll probably hold off for now.

So far, I've spent my time with the amp just cycling through the presets and finding something that will work for me as-is. The basic premise of the presets is that each combines one of the four preamp types with one or more effects. The preamp and effects can each be bypassed via button or footswitch, which essentially gives me what I need for a clean/rhythm/lead setup. In that regard, it works exactly the same as the Xtreme pedal.

[Inazone]

I used it at practice tonight. My brother couldn't make it, so it was just drums, bass and one guitar. In any case, power will NOT be a concern! I am used to running a 60-watt tube amp fairly loud, but I never had the ART over 6 to keep up with the other guys...and we play loud! I didn't stray far from the presets, and found several that would work great live with minimal tweaking. I ran the head into my Jackson 4x12 cab with no additional EQ or effects. The speaker dampening button worked very slick, basically making a closed-back cab sound open or vice versa.

I would have to say that ART did their homework in matching the distortions and effects to work well together, especially through the power amp. I'm not kidding when I say this is the best tone I've ever heard out of a solid state amp. The mid-sweep control makes it relatively easy to dial in a convincing tube tone, and the effects are true stereo, very audible even through a single (stereo) cab.

$140 well spent!

[thebisch]

I tried the combo version of this amp a few months ago. IMO it was a killer amp and pretty much smoked the modeling junk avalible today.

[chrisolson]

Wow! $140!! That's a DEAL considering Xtreme pedals are fetching nearly $100 these days.

There's one of these down at Twin Town. I may have to give it a shot.