S
stevieb
Just another guy, really.
Recently, I decided to sell an amp- it was going to be either my Super Champ XD, or my '95 Champ 25SE. As part of my decision-making process, I posted a thread ("Fender Super Champ XD or Champ 25SE- Which To Sell?") and played the four tube amps I have here to compare, and also decide which is coming to the gig I play tomorrow evening. Then, things got interesting...
The 4 amps are:
Fender Super Champ XD
Fender Champ 25SE
Ampeg Reverberocket 212 re-issue
1977 Fender Silverface Deluxe Reverb
Note they are listed in ascending order of cache' among guitarist tone-questers. Also in order that I was playing them. The guitar i used was my Epiphone Les Paul with Burstbucker Alneco 5's.
Got as far as the Ampeg, then had to stop for a bit. When I got back to it, Gale was home, so I asked her to listen from the other room, and pick out the amp she liked the sound of, best. I played each one on it's cleanest channel, and tried to keep EQ, reverb, etc. as close to the same output setting as I could. All amps were right next to each other, in the corner of the room. Background noise was minimal. I played the Champ 25SE first, then the SCXD, then Ampeg, then DR.
Now, Gale is no tin ear- two of her daughters have wonderful voices, one of those twins having earned a degree in vocal music from FSU- Gale was very involved in their development as vocalist, attending recitals, concerts, etc. Gale herself sings in our Uniterian Universalist choir, and our director (certainly no slouch, she a faculty member at The Kennesaw State U's department of music) recently asked Gale to move to soprano, because of Gale's voice, ability to sing strong yet blend, and Gale's "ear ability." The one "qualification" Gale lacks is any biased opinion on guitar amp tone- she has never played electric guitar, later would admit she did not know anything of the reputations of the 4 amps, and was in the other room- a true blind (thought not double-blind) test.
But here's the thing: She liked the tone of the Champ SE the best. The Ampeg ran a close second, the DR a distant third, and the SCXD dead last. Her ranking the SCXD last was no big surprise- it having the only 10-inch speaker of the bunch (although it is an upgraded Eminence Ragin Cajun,) but I was quite surprised the DR was so far back in the pack. She said the SE sounded the cleanest- and darned if she isn't right.
To be sure, there are some factors that may be skewing the results: The DR's vintage JBL speaker could probably do with some work, as could the amp- I have not had either serviced in the three years I have owned it, and I suspect the previous owner hadn't for several years, either. The tubes did check out "good" about 3 years ago, and there is not excess cap-driven noise, but I imagine the amp could use a good going-over. The Ampeg has it's original Ampeg-stickered speakers, and recently came out of the shop where it received a going-over because it stopped working- not expressly to optimize it's tone, but the tech said he looked over everything he could to make sure there were no gremlins lurking. The SE has a replacement Jensen "Special Design" speaker in it, which could have made something of a difference, but I wouldn't think that much of one.
But isn't that interesting? I hope to repeat the experiment, with the same speaker driven by all 4 amps, but for now, I am awed. Who'd thunk it?
The 4 amps are:
Fender Super Champ XD
Fender Champ 25SE
Ampeg Reverberocket 212 re-issue
1977 Fender Silverface Deluxe Reverb
Note they are listed in ascending order of cache' among guitarist tone-questers. Also in order that I was playing them. The guitar i used was my Epiphone Les Paul with Burstbucker Alneco 5's.
Got as far as the Ampeg, then had to stop for a bit. When I got back to it, Gale was home, so I asked her to listen from the other room, and pick out the amp she liked the sound of, best. I played each one on it's cleanest channel, and tried to keep EQ, reverb, etc. as close to the same output setting as I could. All amps were right next to each other, in the corner of the room. Background noise was minimal. I played the Champ 25SE first, then the SCXD, then Ampeg, then DR.
Now, Gale is no tin ear- two of her daughters have wonderful voices, one of those twins having earned a degree in vocal music from FSU- Gale was very involved in their development as vocalist, attending recitals, concerts, etc. Gale herself sings in our Uniterian Universalist choir, and our director (certainly no slouch, she a faculty member at The Kennesaw State U's department of music) recently asked Gale to move to soprano, because of Gale's voice, ability to sing strong yet blend, and Gale's "ear ability." The one "qualification" Gale lacks is any biased opinion on guitar amp tone- she has never played electric guitar, later would admit she did not know anything of the reputations of the 4 amps, and was in the other room- a true blind (thought not double-blind) test.
But here's the thing: She liked the tone of the Champ SE the best. The Ampeg ran a close second, the DR a distant third, and the SCXD dead last. Her ranking the SCXD last was no big surprise- it having the only 10-inch speaker of the bunch (although it is an upgraded Eminence Ragin Cajun,) but I was quite surprised the DR was so far back in the pack. She said the SE sounded the cleanest- and darned if she isn't right.
To be sure, there are some factors that may be skewing the results: The DR's vintage JBL speaker could probably do with some work, as could the amp- I have not had either serviced in the three years I have owned it, and I suspect the previous owner hadn't for several years, either. The tubes did check out "good" about 3 years ago, and there is not excess cap-driven noise, but I imagine the amp could use a good going-over. The Ampeg has it's original Ampeg-stickered speakers, and recently came out of the shop where it received a going-over because it stopped working- not expressly to optimize it's tone, but the tech said he looked over everything he could to make sure there were no gremlins lurking. The SE has a replacement Jensen "Special Design" speaker in it, which could have made something of a difference, but I wouldn't think that much of one.
But isn't that interesting? I hope to repeat the experiment, with the same speaker driven by all 4 amps, but for now, I am awed. Who'd thunk it?
