NAD: New head and cab now weigh less than my pedalboard

vasselmeyer

At the Guitar show in  Birmingham in February (7 months ago, as I post this),  I was looking for a new and  lighter amp after being diagnosed with a spinal condition which meant I have to get my bandmates to help me get my 2x12 valve combo  in and out of the car. It's an Egnater Rebel 30 212 and at 40kg (88lbs), it's too heavy, even though it sounds wonderful.

I got talking to the guys on the DV Mark stand. I only knew them as a PA and bass amp company, but I noticed they had some guitar amps on their stand. They showed me the DV Mark Micro 50 and the lightweight 2x12 cab with Neodymium  speakers. The head  was a  two channel solid state model with built in reverb.   However, it didn't have an effects loop which was a dealbreaker for me as  I play rhythm  through the clean channel with dirt from pedals and then kick in the amp's crunch channel  for lead boost. Any mods and delay I have, need to go post crunch  which meant the model of the Micro 50 they showed me wasn't quite suitable. It was a real shame as the amp sounded great, took pedals really well, had independant EQs and volumes for each channel and was very small and light. It was perfect apart from missing a loop. However, the Italian demonstrator, Stefano Xotta, told me that  there was an upgraded model coming in  April, only two months away at the time. I took advantage of the show deal offered by Manson's and paid for the amp and 2x12 cab to be delivered when the upgraded model arrived.  I mean, it was only two months, right?

Anyway today (Sept 22 2017) the gear finally arrived. I have to say, Mansons were great. They kept me  in the loop with any updates in shipping date changes, offered a refund if I didn't want to wait and were excellent. Well done to Simon and Ralph at Mansons.

Anyway here's the new amp and cab.  The head weighs  1.9kg (4.2 lbs) and is  TINY. The cab is  12.4kg (27.3lbs) with very lightweight neodymium speakers. I can't believe a  2x12 could weight so little. In total  this setup is  14.3kg (31lbs) which is two fifths the weight of my Egnater 2x12 valve amp.
https://fnoqeq.am.files.1drv.com/y4mDORoMexS1zSCSHkRYYAWp60FOoMeUSEv14GB9HRFzsE6pAMz3xs0pT6Ls6gpuOBFOGtbVOAcdQ95L58lVOCIt20eLCCrbsHet742mmI9ste49oTj5MyiFEy6mNHVaNvYYDL3YdAGMUIILWxZ1M2OG8Z3Llqgjz3H5F4s1Z7ioG4pkQWIt9MroJq8wTQ4VOyB?width=660&height=371&cropmode=none

Here's the front panel with  a pick for scale:


Rear panel with  all-important FX loop:


Side view with cooling fan:


And a carrying case, which I wasn't expecting. I suspect  DV Mark threw it in for free as Mansons were hassling them on my behalf and they knew I was expecting this in April (this bloody picture keeps coming out upside down but is fine on OneDrive - weird. The whole albums is here anyway https://onedrive.live.com/?id=748F301D619E6ABE!284275&cid=748F301D619E6ABE).


In terms of sound, despite the size, this is REALLY quite loud. It's quieter than my  Egnater which is a 30W valve job, but I can't get that above 2 in the pub gigs I play anyway, so this new amp will be perfectly adequate. It's really quite bass heavy, maybe not surprising considering the company's bass amp pedigree.  The EQ is pretty effective and I got a very decent sound out of it  using the patented Matt Schofield method.  Using  the coil tap on my  PRS DGT, I got some really lovely funk sounds and with humbuckers and a Marshall Guv'nor, I've got all the classic rock I need. The footswitch (not included) brings in the crunch channel for a lead boost and that cuts through very well despite being a two band EQ. I suspect the bass and treble on the  crunch channel are cut controls so winding them back gives a mid-boost. Whatever, it sounds great. I would say my valve amp probably edges it in terms of tone, especially on the clean channel, which is a thing of beauty on the Egnater, but if you can't lift the amp out of the car without help, then what's the point in having it?

I feel really good about this now. The amp sounds fine and works very well with my setup.  Manson's were great to deal with and I've extended my gigging life for the foreseeable future, now I can lift my gear properly The only problem now is that my flightcased pedalboard from @CustomPedalBoards is heavier than  my amp and if it gets to the point where that gets too heavy, I'd be devastated!

CustomPedalBoards

@vasselmeyer  well matey, if that does happen, then i think the new little MS3 boards we do are just the ticket.
they are so small and light. the MS3 does most stuff, plumb in an exp pedal which can do, vol, exp, wah and 3 stomps, and your away!

guitarfishbay

Guitar amp manufacturers really need to get on to this micro/lightweight trend!

Bass guys are getting all the cool new stuff.  

guitarfishbay

guitarfishbay said:

Guitar amp manufacturers really need to get on to this micro/lightweight trend!

Bass guys are getting all the cool new stuff.  

LOL.

Only just twigged this is a guitar setup.  That'll teach me for looking at pictures first before reading the text.

Great news everyone!  There are more lightweight microheads now.

Modulus_Amps

Eric Gales used one on his recent UK tour, sounded pretty good actually, size and weight is becoming more of an issue for allot of players

clarkefan

What's important is @vasselmeyer 's point about extending his playing career, good for you man, pleased for you Put castors on the cab, extend it longer

Did I miss it or what are the neo speakers?

olafgarten

clarkefan said:

What's important is @vasselmeyer 's point about extending his playing career, good for you man, pleased for you Put castors on the cab, extend it longer

Did I miss it or what are the neo speakers?

They are DV Marks own speakers, can handle 150w each. 

Erjimipey

Has the headphone out any cab simulation? That looks like an interesting unit for home use as well...

vasselmeyer

No, the headphone out is post EQ and post reverb but no cab emulation. The V1 of the amp had balanced XLR out but no FX loop. That didn't have cab emulation either. 

Erjimipey

vasselmeyer said:

No, the headphone out is post EQ and post reverb but no cab emulation. The V1 of the amp had balanced XLR out but no FX loop. That didn't have cab emulation either. 

Thanks!

vasselmeyer

Well I gigged this amp for the first time last night. It sounded lovely and this was the easiest load in/out I've had for years. I found it a little harder to dial in for the venue as the EQ has a much wider range for each control than my previous amp but I got there in the end. 

This one's a winner and I think I can put my Egnater up for sale soon. 

rsvmark

@vasselmeyer - how did you find the cab in particular. I am having a serious think about a neodymium loaded cab. I may drop short of a solid state amp, being a Luddite or go the whole hog and get a kemper... But I am seriously interested in your opinion of the cab sound

vasselmeyer

@rsvmark ; It's an open-backed 2x12. The first thing is how light it is. It really is quite amazing. Having had heavy combos (Vox, Laney, Egnater amongst others) this has one handle and can be lifted easily with one hand. 

In terms of the sound, certainly with the DV Mark amp, it was able to get really bass-heavy which I found surprising for an open-backed unit. There's plenty of treble there too but I found it fine to dial in for the room. 

It's a side by side 2x12 and we were short of space so I turned it on its end and ran it in vertical orientation which I think gets the best out of a 2x12 anyway. 

All in all, I was very happy with it. I can't see myself going back to normal speakers now. 

rsvmark

vasselmeyer said:

@rsvmark ; It's an open-backed 2x12. The first thing is how light it is. It really is quite amazing. Having had heavy combos (Vox, Laney, Egnater amongst others) this has one handle and can be lifted easily with one hand. 

In terms of the sound, certainly with the DV Mark amp, it was able to get really bass-heavy which I found surprising for an open-backed unit. There's plenty of treble there too but I found it fine to dial in for the room. 

It's a side by side 2x12 and we were short of space so I turned it on its end and ran it in vertical orientation which I think gets the best out of a 2x12 anyway. 

All in all, I was very happy with it. I can't see myself going back to normal speakers now. 

I know how light they can be- which is why I am interested in them. Have you A-B'd it with your old kit? How does it sound in comparison?

vasselmeyer

My previous rig is closed-back with a V30 and an Elite 80. I'd say the new one with the neodymium speakers was almost identical but I needed a slight boost in the upper mids from an EQ pedal to get the same sound. At gig volume I didn't notice any difference.