Best head

ICBM

For what it's worth I was working on a new Marshall DSL15H for the first time today - nothing actually wrong with it, just a faulty valve - and I was quite impressed by the build, it's a lot better than the old DSLs, although still not quite as good as a Jet City. It's made in Vietnam, too!

But the 'Ultra Gain' channel isn't kidding - way too much, to me. Far beyond the point of useful and making it buzzy and harsh in my opinion. JCM800-level gain was with the control at about 9 o'clock. I did manage to dial in quite a nice classic Marshall lead tone with it about there though - but still more than I would want for classic rock crunch, you need the other channel for that, which then means you lose a strictly clean sound if you want one.

I wouldn't rule one out if you really want a *Marshall* tone, though - it does exactly that - and it's loud, for 15W.

thomasross20

What the deuce!? I'm SURE the SIngleman Head was £1295 just yesterday!!

http://www.brunettiamps.com/collections/heads-and-cabs/products/singleman-50w-16w-2w-switchable-power-valve-head


BREXIT???

thomasross20

Found it (and the plexi-style amp) for about £500 less on another European site. 

That price DEFINITELY jumped...

Pleximan:
http://www.brunettiamps.com/collections/heads-and-cabs/products/pleximan-50w-5w-el34-valve-head

thomasross20

Brunetti Pleximan crunch/distortion sounds better than the V30. Cleans, too. 

5W "low power" mode, though - probably stonking loud for somebody in a flat....?

Anybody bought off Musik Produktiv? @Teetonetal ?

--> I'm close to pulling the trigger on a Brunetti Pleximan (no reverb, though) - they sound absolutely amazing!! 
Also loving the Singleman Head and the V40.... I think Brunetti sounds a whole lot more alive than the Victory amps..

thomasross20

Short update as on my phone....

@camf , what a legend. Tried his bogner and then his mjw with power scaling through a very lightweight neo speaker cab - all amazing. I couldn't believe how well the guitar cleaned up on the mjw. Also, I was surprised to like an LP with p90s!

Just tried THR10 which sounded great.  I wondered if I could get away with just modelling as really, the audience doesn't care.

However I tried a suhr badger 30 for the plexi sound and it was great, though didn't have pristine cleans like the brunetti dual channel would. It did sound better than the THR, and the power scaling was a godsend... because those 18 watts were RIDICULOUSLY loud. 98% of the time I'd use 2% of the volume.

Mesa mark v:25 I actually loved ... very well built, nice eq section, just oozed class. BUT the distortion isn't really plexi and that's what I'd look for. Tried to get a good crunch on ch2 but it just wasn't right. It's low powerode is 10W so it sounded ok BUT volume was at 0.0001 or something!

thomasross20

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thomasross20

Part of me did think when I played the THR... just spend another couple hundred on an ID or THR head! Valves definitely sound better though. Fyi volume on the badger IS the power scaling. Very cool.

Adam_MD

You could get a modeller for home AND a decent valve amp for the price of the Brunetti. Also have you played one yet or are you purely going off youtube clips?

thomasross20

I've not played one... 

ThePrettyDamned

Yep, mjw knows his onions with amps - you'll be in very safe hands with him, if you can wait. 

Until then, thr100 or id head?  

I resent the size of the ID head when it's mostly full of air... Such a waste. Cut the chassis in two, stack one on top of the other and put it into a little cab. Are you listening, blackstar?  

ICBM

ThePrettyDamned said:

I resent the size of the ID head when it's mostly full of air... Such a waste. Cut the chassis in two, stack one on top of the other and put it into a little cab. Are you listening, blackstar?  

The other thing I wondered about was to fit a shelf on top of the chassis and cut a hole in the back panel, and then you could use the top half of the head to carry the footswitch and cables, which would make it less useless.

Actually looking at the pic I have here it's not so much half as two-thirds - there's literally nothing above the top of the visible front or back panels… all for show to make it look like a valve amp.

thomasross20

Yeah the size of the ID60 is a joke!!

Seriously, I am SERIOUSLY considering getting the ID60 head... even if just for a backup. 

Also.... playing with the gain on the Badger was cool BUT.... I think I prefer getting my gain from my pedals.
Therefore I think I'm a single-channel pedals guy........ Saying that, that bloody Plexi still turns me on.... Just leave the amp alone and tweak things on my pedal board - simplicity. Which leads me to ask... do I really need a tube amp just for these clean sounds? I dunno.... 

FYI I prefer the sound from my ID260 to the THR10 I played (I know that Yamaha model is smaller...). Close, though - the THR10 sounded quite realistic but a tad fizzy (when switching back to Badger 30). 

thomasross20

By the way, crap day. Went to B&Q and Screwfix and Toolstation to look for self-tapping screws for my new Voodoo Labs attachment for the Pedaltrain 2 I got (the screws you get look sh!t and I've heard they can break off, leaving you stranded...) - however none of these places had them!! Othert han Screwfix, and they wanted £14 for a bag 1000 !! 

As I left Toolstation, I realised I left my car in some other car park and it was stuck behind some massive iron gates. Nobody could help apart from ONE person who was there and had just been served in the store on that plot. Very lucky to have gotten out... !! 

thomasross20

FYI I've been PMing another forumite who had issues with his Singleman Head.... 

thomasross20

Just remembered any more than 4ohm load on an ID60 head will result in volume loss... and my NL212 is 8 ohm (two 16s) so that's not optimal at all... I definitely noticed a volume drop when I connected the NL212 to my ID260 head. Not massive but still..

ennspek

This thread is like Homer's Odyssey but with amps. I'm loving it. Can't wait to see what you get.

thomasross20

Me, too...

ICBM

Not optimal, but it will still easily be loud enough - you'll still get a minimum of 30W. When I tried the ID60 head it was still very loud into an 8 ohm 2x12", it was only into a 16-ohm 1x12" that it sounded noticeable quieter.

thomasross20

The ID260 I usually have at one third volume for gigs I'd say. I may be talking bollocks...

ICBM

thomasross20 said:

The ID260 I usually have at one third volume for gigs I'd say. I may be talking bollocks…

The volume control isn't linear, so that's not a third of the power. If it was purely logarithmic - which it probably isn't either even if the pot is, since it will most likely reach full power before the knob is full up - it would be putting out 12W (from both channels combined) when it was halfway up.

Having heard you play it unmic'ed at a large pub gig I would be very surprised if you were actually using more than about 20W.