Sessionette 75

Davey.C

Well, I have been playing guitar for 35 years and I love my Sessionette. Loud and easily transportable. I put my guitar through a delay pedal, but other than that, all sounds on the amp are useable. Fantastic.

Funktupfairy

Hello All. New to the thread, and new to the Sessionette. Please be gentle

Funktupfairy

Can someone explain to me the difference between a Sessionette 75, and an Award Session 75?...
Also, I have a chance of an Award Session 75 or a Fender Deluxe 85. Anyone with experience of these two can you point me in the direction of which is the better amp. They are both going for £50? Thanks for your time.

impmann

Put simply - the Sessionette 75 is the earler one, the Award Session model is the later one. The Sessionette is a small cube with the controls on the top facing up (a la AC30) and the Award Session 75 is larger with the controls on the front.

In terms of sound, they do sound different - and it depends on your own tastes as to whether one sounds better or not.

"The better amp" is a bit moot - the Fender Deluxe 85 is a good amp, and so is the Award Session. I think use your ears and decide which you prefer. At £50 each, either is a bargain.

ICBM

At £50 each, buy both! Then decide at leisure and sell the one you like less for a profit...

They are very different - the Fender has more of the classic deep, reverb'ed clean tone as you would expect, but the distortion channel is widely regarded as pants, and for once I tend not to disagree . The Session won't have as good a clean sound, but the distortion is better... even for me, and I'm not really a fan.

Voxman

I had one of the later 1x12 Sessionette 'mosfet' combos. It was well built and rugged. The mosfet versions were definitely better than the originals. It was Ok but It wasn't great because it lacked warmth and was too sterile sounding. The reverb was decent and it was a loud little bugger. The cleans were a bit flat with no sparkle but the distortion was reasonable although it got a bit flubby in a band mix at volume. I kept it for a couple of years but sold it because it simply didn't inspire. Came with a neat little footswitch though to channel switch and kick in reverb.

ICBM

Voxman said:

I had one of the later 1x12 Sessionette 'mosfet' combos. It was well built and rugged. The mosfet versions were definitely better than the originals. It was Ok but It wasn't great because it lacked warmth and was too sterile sounding. The reverb was decent and it was a loud little bugger. The cleans were a bit flat with no sparkle but the distortion was reasonable although it got a bit flubby in a band mix at volume. I kept it for a couple of years but sold it because it simply didn't inspire. Came with a neat little footswitch though to channel switch and kick in reverb.

That’s pretty much exactly how I feel about them too - pretty good build quality and loud, but uninspiring tone... very ‘solid state’ sounding.

I’ve never got the love for them that some people seem to have. But I would certainly not turn down a working one in anything like decent condition for £50. At worst, the speaker is probably worth near enough that much.

57Deluxe

was also gonner say buy both cos you will need that Sessionette as a backup for when the Deluxe goes down!

57Deluxe

@ICBM ;;;;; - <Quote> "That’s pretty much exactly how I feel about them too - pretty good build quality and loud, but uninspiring tone... very ‘solid state’ sounding."

I know you not keen, but you really need to have a listen play through my Rockette 30 to see what a superb sounding amp it is with all sorts of guitars/pedals and music styles. Honestly, if I could only have one amp it would be this for it's sheer glorious classic Tweed era tones and no fuss/cost of ownership and portability.

But then 32 years of solid ownership you gonner know how to dial your amp!

BenSirAmos

I've fallen into and out of love with Sessionettes over the years. But if I saw one for £50 today I'd buy it without hesitation. 

Funktupfairy

Thanks guys for your input. I was led to believe that the ‘cleans’ on the Award 75 was really nice. Funds(wife!) won’t allow for me to buy both but, must admit, my heart is set on the Award 75, unless someone can convince me otherwise?
again, many thanks for your input. Oh yeah, I’ve just received my ‘Cleartone’ cables. Great service! Suppose I’d better have a jam and try them out!

chromatuna

I used a Sessionette 75 for years. The cleans were very good with my Strat or humbucker equipped Yamaha SG, the drive channel was very good too and I never needed to use a drive pedal with it. What led me back to valve amps is the dynamics, that little bit of give, and that little something extra in the clean tones, something just a little more natural to my ears. Regarding the dynamics, it's not such a problem on the drive channel with its natural compression but if were to use another Sessionette or similar I would use a very subtle compressor or limiter for the cleans

ICBM

Funktupfairy said:

Thanks guys for your input. I was led to believe that the ‘cleans’ on the Award 75 was really nice. Funds(wife!) won’t allow for me to buy both but, must admit, my heart is set on the Award 75, unless someone can convince me otherwise?

No, they're about equal. If you prefer the Session, buy that. The cleans aren't as 'Fendery' as the Fender, but they're definitely OK. The bigger difference is that the overdrive on the Session is much more usable.

It's probably marginally the better buy too, they seem to sell for a little more than the Fender.

Funktupfairy

Thanks guys for your input. I was led to believe that the ‘cleans’ on the Award 75 was really nice. Funds(wife!) won’t allow for me to buy both but, must admit, my heart is set on the Award 75, unless someone can convince me otherwise?
again, many thanks for your input. Oh yeah, I’ve just received my ‘Cleartone’ cables!