john_sander's Reviews

Stripped down Jazzmaster quality

A quality Mexican-made Fender with stripped down controls that retains the Jazzmaster vibe. Neck pickup is bluesy but not hollow. Bridge pickup is a rock machine. Both pickups sounds vaguely Strat-like. Floating tremolo takes some getting used-to, but is great for little flutters. Definitely a plug-and-play guitar. Would recommend to anyone looking into offset shapes without many frills.

Look no further

I'm not a huge fan of Boss pedals, but this one is making me rethink that opinion. Can do warbles, can do staccato chops. Gives a nice layer over your tone as well. Would definitely buy a second for the B rig.

Nasty in the best way

I can't see myself getting rid of this pedal. It can do overdrive, distortion, and fuzz. Great for 80s-2000s rock tones. Retains note definition as well.

Classic Fender cleans with a twist

Fender tube amp with reverb - tried and true clean tones. The switch for Bassman or Vibrolux is a unique feature that can help when switching from single coils to humbuckers. The Burn (distortion) channel is where this amp ventures into murky water, as the dual-knob gain structure takes some adjusting to get good tones. That said, if you spend a little time with it, you can definitely coax out the entire spectrum - Texas crunch, Lo-fi fuzz, vintage thrash. This is definitely not an amp for metal, but I pair it with my Marshall DSL100H and I can get any tone I want between the two.

Didn't know what I was missing...

There's a reason Marshall has been the distorted sound of rock and roll for so long. After owning a small solid state Marshall, I wasn't in a rush to get an expensive tube version. Found mine on sale at GC and haven't looked back. Large selection of tones - sparkly cleans, crunchy rhythm, and two explosive lead settings. The independent reverbs are a good feature, as is the effects loop and half power switch. Paired with my Fender Super Sonic, I can't imagine ever needing another amp!

Great value

Ebay. $200. Vintage 30s. Mono or Stereo operation. Amazing little cabinet.

Sturdy construction and usable with all of my heads (4 or 8 ohm settings). I thought this was going to be a joke purchase to just use temporarily, but I've gigged with it continually for 2 years now with no problems whatsoever. Definitely recommended!

Get what you pay for

Great as a practice PA or for small parties. Used it for a garage show. The mic feedbacks like crazy so get a replacement. The speaker cables are also pretty low quality.

If you need a practice PA or something to hook an mp3 player up to this is perfect. If you need a gigging PA, buy something bigger.

Rugged and easy to use

Great A/B/Y box. Equipped with lift, isolation, and polarity switches to negate any types of feedback or interference from ground loops or other electrical issues. It is a passive device and so it has clunky switches and no LED, but those are not a big issue. LEDs would be helpful, especially when switching from both to just one amp, but that's why they have more expensive versions.

As expected

Best/standard wah in the world for a reason. Rugged, straightforward, comfortable. Great used as an EQ setting and also for the classic wah-wah effect. Only downside is a loud/stubborn footswitch under the rocker plate.

Fun but unruly

This thing is nasty, in the best way possible. Goes from distortion to fuzz to chaos. When the toggle is flipped, your amp sounds broken and it's just great for making noise. I have yet to figure out how to use it in a band setting, as it is a bit too intense, but it is loads of fun to play with.

Works well

Smooth switch, accurate intonation, multiple strobe types. Never had a problem with it. Very road-worthy.

Great Drive

Use it for pushing my tube amps and also for a boost. Great range of grit and very musical tone sweep. Very rugged enclosure, smooth footswitch, bright LED, and 9V jack. Does add a bit of mud to your tone, but not an undesirable amount.

Marshall Solid State

Great Marshall for a beginner. Two channels, 3-band EQ, spring reverb, lines in and out. The clean is useable and the distortion can get really heavy, especially good for punk or hard rock. Gets really noisy if turned up near maximum, but can be heard over a drummer. Used it for several gigs in high school. Not great for big rooms, but suitable for practice spaces.

Straightforward and effective

Great amp for practice. Overdrive tone leaves a bit to be desired, but the cleans are true Fender cleans. Takes pedals pretty well and the line in/line out jacks are great for practicing alone. Reverb is very useful and it can get pretty loud for 25 watts solid state.

Haven't tried using it in a band setting but I doubt it would be powerful enough. Definitely best for bedroom practicing.

Versatile and Rugged

I got mine secondhand on Ebay and didn't know what to expect. Each channel has its perks. Channel one goes from clean to crunch and the second channel goes from clean to heavy distortion. The EQ on each channel works well as does the spring reverb. Does everything I need it for. Only minor complaint is that Channel 2 is much louder than Channel 1.

Controls: Channel 1 - Master, Crunch, Bass, Treble; Channel 2 - Master, Gain, Bass, Middle, Treble; Reverb, Aux in, Headphone Out Other: 4 ohm min. speaker out, spring reverb unit, effects send and return

Quintessential phasing sound

Tagline just about says it. Great for solos or adding ambiance to sustained chords. Goes from slight warble to controlled chaos. The enclosure is super rugged. LED and 9V jack are great additions. Not much more to say.

Fantastic but limited

As expected from a British amp, the distortion on this amplifier is killer. With a full rotation of the gain knob you can get anything from blues crunch to near thrash metal. It can also get crazy loud at 15 watts, so having the 7 watt switch is helpful for bedroom jamming or recording. My only slight gripes are the lack of on-board reverb (not a huge deal) and a limited EQ section. With only one tone knob, there is not much tweaking to this amp's sound - it's very much plug-and-play, which is not a big issue as it sounds fantastic.

Rugged construction and great tone. What else can you ask for in a portable head?

Great for price

Style: Great finish and batwing headstock is sweet.

Playability: Thicker neck than a Fender and a bit too much lacquer on the back. Very light and comfortable to jump around with on stage. A bit top-heavy though. Controls are intuitive and easy to use. The push-pull pots are a great addition to this guitar, as you can achieve single-coil and humbucker tone.

Tone: Pickups aren't superb. They block most noise but are somewhat indistinguishable from each other. The neck pickup has slightly less power, but that's about it. The bridge does have a great deep tone that you would expect from an Epiphone humbucker and it pushes amps beautifully.

Thought about trading this guitar in for a while, but a simple neck pickup swap should make it much more versatile.