Cornford Amps

dean111music

I owned a Hellcat years ago which was a great amp. But any love for them now?

I was never interested in The Hurricane or the Carrera but I am now, small combo that you can crank.

Carrera being only 5-9watts i think but with switchable tubes looks great! But maybe not loud enough to keep up with drums unless mic'd?

Anyone selling?

dean111music

Or roadhouse 30 users? any combos out there?

Tuscan777

I've got a Roadhouse 50 combo - I love the breaking up sound but it definitely sits in the blues rock camp. Seems to take pedals well enough and, whilst single channel, the switchable boost gives a good, higher gain option in the same box.

Downsides: weighs a ton and could be seen as a (albeit very good) one trick pony.

CHrisP86

Will never sell my MK50.

I've had a harlequin and a carrera. I didn't mess with valves much but it sounded great on the EL84 side.

I gigged with it once, used it for rehearsals all the time. Was pretty much cranked all the way but sounded amazing because of it.

I wouldn't have gigged it regularly but if you could mic up, would probably be fine.

dean111music

Did the carrera clean up with humbuckers using guitar volume?

CHrisP86

Yes, it cleaned up.  I've never used a pristine clean though so it wasn't something I experimented with much.

stickyfiddle

I really liked the Carreras whenever I tried one.

kennedydream1980

I used a Roadhouse 30 combo for a good while in my covers band.

Set up for heavy crunch with guitar volume full up, roll back to 2-3 on the volume for clean, and anywhere in between for crunchy sounds.

Kick in the onboard amp boost for solos. Sounded great and worked really well. More than enough volume for me, although we always tend to Mic up.

I was using strats with humbuckers in the bridge at the time of owning the amp.

The effects loop is also excellent, I ran a TC mini spark as well as a Hardwire delay and chorus, it sounded excellent.

I'll probably pick up another one at some point.

ThePrettyDamned

I know you've not mentioned it but the harlequin is a shockingly dull sounding amp -very flat and lifeless. Not tried others but heard they're better.

dean111music

That's what I was thinking in my head. I owned the 50 but it was too much. Quite a flat sounding amp if i remember. Not huge amounts of character, nice and smooth with a tight lows.

I would definitely like to give the 30 watt roadhouse combo ago.

kennedydream1980;1133732" said:

I used a Roadhouse 30 combo for a good while in my covers band.

Set up for heavy crunch with guitar volume full up, roll back to 2-3 on the volume for clean, and anywhere in between for crunchy sounds.

Kick in the onboard amp boost for solos. Sounded great and worked really well. More than enough volume for me, although we always tend to Mic up.

I was using strats with humbuckers in the bridge at the time of owning the amp.

The effects loop is also excellent, I ran a TC mini spark as well as a Hardwire delay and chorus, it sounded excellent.

I'll probably pick up another one at some point.

kennedydream1980

dean111music said:

That's what I was thinking in my head. I owned the 50 but it was too much. Quite a flat sounding amp if i remember. Not huge amounts of character, nice and smooth with a tight lows.

I would definitely like to give the 30 watt roadhouse combo ago.

kennedydream1980;1133732" said:

I used a Roadhouse 30 combo for a good while in my covers band.

Set up for heavy crunch with guitar volume full up, roll back to 2-3 on the volume for clean, and anywhere in between for crunchy sounds.

Kick in the onboard amp boost for solos. Sounded great and worked really well. More than enough volume for me, although we always tend to Mic up.

I was using strats with humbuckers in the bridge at the time of owning the amp.

The effects loop is also excellent, I ran a TC mini spark as well as a Hardwire delay and chorus, it sounded excellent.

I'll probably pick up another one at some point.

It was the perfect size and wattage for gigging really, the combo has a nice deep cabinet as well, so it sounds big for it's size.

Tuscan777

My RHouse 50 is up for sale at the mo, give me a shout if you fancy the extra watts (and weight!).

Fretwired

ThePrettyDamned said:

I know you've not mentioned it but the harlequin is a shockingly dull sounding amp -very flat and lifeless. Not tried others but heard they're better.

In fairness it was designed as a recording amp - I loved mine. Got some great tones out of it and it regularly won awards.

simonbeckwith

Just recently picked up a Roadhouse 50 combo and love it! Perfect for blues rock

Rigsby

I used to own a Hurricane, which was a great amp but sold it due to freeing up cash for another purchase. I now gig almost every week with my Roadhouse 30 combo or Roadhouse 50 head and 2x12. Both are built like tanks and are superb at the blues/rock thing.

TheBigDipper

ThePrettyDamned said:

I know you've not mentioned it but the harlequin is a shockingly dull sounding amp -very flat and lifeless. Not tried others but heard they're better.

It's all subjective, but I can't agree. There are some fantastic clean and dirty tones available in mine. What I would say, is it can sound flat if the Master volume is below 2 o'clock (60%) and the Gain is below 9'oclock (25%). Past those, it sparkles. Doesn't have a reverb, of course. 

It's a recording or practice amp, though, not a do-it-all gigging amp. Going from one sound to another often needs more than one control to be altered. 

ThePrettyDamned

Fretwired said:

ThePrettyDamned said:

I know you've not mentioned it but the harlequin is a shockingly dull sounding amp -very flat and lifeless. Not tried others but heard they're better.

In fairness it was designed as a recording amp - I loved mine. Got some great tones out of it and it regularly won awards.

I tried it as a home amp and all I got was a flat,mid heavy sound with little in the way of dynamics. It would probably record a good solo tone though, if smooth mids is your thing. It just sounded flat to me though, regardless of volume. It wasn't all that loud either for 5 watts, but I put that down to the heavy smooth mids and not much top or bottom end. I got way more volume from a mooer little monster ac, which is a very different voice admittedly. Again, that could be a good thing especially for recording. Perhaps I was not the right audience.

KickTheHabit

ive gigged and continue to gig, a MK50II for the last 6/7 years and also tried lots of others too.

The guys in the band always say the Cornford is the ballsiest!

Gadget

Sorry I'm late to the party.

Another massive Cornford fan here.

I've had a variant of every model in the range at some point.

Telejester

I owned hellcat head and it was fabulous, I also owned a harlequin and it sucked big time. I'd sure love to try a hurricane and I thought the carrera sounded awful.

hotpickups

Telejester said:

I owned hellcat head and it was fabulous, I also owned a harlequin and it sucked big time. I'd sure love to try a hurricane and I thought the carrera sounded awful.

I agree two of the best amps I owned too. Wish I'd kept the hurricane still though. Mainly because it was my first real proper amp