so i went on saturday to try this amp out. i hate this process with a passion akin only to that of having a string break on you and losing blood like you were bitten by a vampire with a finger fetish. that is to say, a heluva lot. why? because i just can't get to grips with an amp in a shop. even in my small, acoustics-unfriendly study i feel like there's more of an affinity. i imagine a few of you may have an inkling of which i am speaking about.
on to the amp. i tried it out using a chinese tokai les paul. nice axe, by the way, great feel and very pretty charcoal colour, but it must have been standing around for a while - it went out of tune more often than justin bieber going through puberty. bad, bad old strings. the clean channel is - how do you say? - out of this world. clear and warm at the same time, note definition beyond description, but i suppose these days that's the kind of stuff you'd expect out of most tube amps. still, what can i say? this one spoke to me. the o/d channel i wasn't 100% sold on, but i wasn't fiddling around with it, and i was in a tiny space, so i didn't completely crank it. it sounded like it still had plenty to give. with the little i did do with it, i managed to get it to break up nicely, even though the pickups were probably not terribly hot (and still had plastic over them, although i'm not sure what difference that makes - someone help me out?). i'm willing to bet my p90s and dragon ii's will do a lot more to this amp, and i'm sure a bit more drive would help too.
in short, i would buy the tct35c. but my wife has given me a budget for my 40th, and the amp, plus a good boost and reverb pedal (essential to any home, i reckon), would probably do the trick. also, it's not shy in the looks dept. one thing to be aware of - it weighs about as much as your average chevy camaro.
coolio
dh
on to the amp. i tried it out using a chinese tokai les paul. nice axe, by the way, great feel and very pretty charcoal colour, but it must have been standing around for a while - it went out of tune more often than justin bieber going through puberty. bad, bad old strings. the clean channel is - how do you say? - out of this world. clear and warm at the same time, note definition beyond description, but i suppose these days that's the kind of stuff you'd expect out of most tube amps. still, what can i say? this one spoke to me. the o/d channel i wasn't 100% sold on, but i wasn't fiddling around with it, and i was in a tiny space, so i didn't completely crank it. it sounded like it still had plenty to give. with the little i did do with it, i managed to get it to break up nicely, even though the pickups were probably not terribly hot (and still had plastic over them, although i'm not sure what difference that makes - someone help me out?). i'm willing to bet my p90s and dragon ii's will do a lot more to this amp, and i'm sure a bit more drive would help too.
in short, i would buy the tct35c. but my wife has given me a budget for my 40th, and the amp, plus a good boost and reverb pedal (essential to any home, i reckon), would probably do the trick. also, it's not shy in the looks dept. one thing to be aware of - it weighs about as much as your average chevy camaro.
coolio
dh
