trilby's Reviews

Small and Simple... but Great

The Traynor Dark Horse seems to follow the philosophy of "do one thing, and do it well". It's a lunchbox head that embraces it's simplicity: no effects loop, no direct output, no foot-switches, not even a "Middle" in it's tone stack. Despite that, it's not without its features: "Brit"/"USA" modes for the tone stack, a "Pure" mode for bypassing the tone stack completely, and switchable 15W and 2W modes.

If the Dark Horse has any fault, it's that's its aesthetic can mislead you into thinking the amp is a saturated crunch machine. In reality, it has an impressive amount of clean headroom; with low output single coils and the Gain dimed in the 15W mode, the Dark Horse barely gets into breakup territory while pumping out plenty of volume. Make no mistake, the Dark Horse can get dirty - especially dropped to the 2W mode, which is still plenty loud - but it's headroom and usefulness as a clean pedal -platform may not be what some expect at first sight.

A solidly built (emphasis on 'solid') Les Paul

The 2004 Limited Edition Les Paul Standard is a pretty decent example of a Gibson Les Paul. No weight relief on this one, coming in at an even 10 pounds; it definitely gets left in the case/stand on days where my back is bothering me. Tuning stability is okay, but nothing to write home about, especially for a stop tailpiece. But the Burstbucker Pros sound excellent, the Pacific Reef finish is gorgeous, and the 50's profile neck is wonderfully comfortable especially when paired with the glass smooth ebony fretboard.

Tone built to last

I've used Line 6 PODs (xT Live, then the HD500) live for years, but always felt they weren't rugged (broke the power jack on one) and weren't easily tweakable on the fly. The Helix, on the other hand, is built like a tank and incredibly easy to use.

Swiss Army Knife

As guitarist in an eclectic cover band, it's versatility is invaluable. The ability to 'switch guitars' to fit whatever song/genre I'm doing at the moment is phenomenal, as is being able to quickly flip to Drop-D when hitting some 90s alt-rock or Open G to play slide for a blues shuffle. Forgetting the Variax technology, it's also just a really nice guitar; the neck is super comfortable, it plays well, stays in tune, and the magnetic pickups are very decent. All together, it has quickly become my go-to workhorse.