I've been pondering what I'm calling a "midlife crisis" rock amp and it's interesting to see how many amps have a set of features which users and reviewers consistently say they don't want.
A few which spring to mind:
- Insane levels of gain on the drive channel - Rabea mentioned 2 is more gain than he can use on an EVH
- Scoop switches - Every YT review of a DSL hits the tone shift says "oh that's horrible" and turns it off
- 2 channel amps with sparkle clean and mega gain channels and not much between
- Non switchable emulated line outputs - Thanks, but now I can't use my own IRs!
- 8" speakers on small valve amps - They always make amps sound shit even if they would sound good with a 12" or even a 10"
One which might just be just me is switchable FX loops. I've never really seen the point of this as pedals have switches. I suppose if you want to stick your delay on top of your amp and just have the amp foot switch on top of the amp.
Any more?
Comments
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Why? OK, I know, it's to save money. But why do so many companies cripple a perfectly decent amp for the sake of a few pounds more for something that doesn't sound weedy and flat - especially when it may be compared in a shop to other companies' amps which may well have a much better one, even if it's the overused and not always appropriate V30. Brand A's amp with a V30 will wipe the floor with Brand B's equivalent with a Seventy/80 or some OEM piece of junk, even if Brand B's amp actually sounds better when they're both put through the same cabinet.
More technically...
Valve monitoring and auto-biasing systems. Completely unnecessary - valve amps have worked just fine for the best part of a hundred years without lumbering them with solid-state circuitry based on tiny components which instantly self-destruct if a valve happens to short in a particular way and feed hundreds of volts into it - often making the amp very difficult to repair (even if you just want to bypass all this crap, sometimes), and in some cases making even quite large and relatively expensive amps an economic write-off.
By all means fit external bias indicator LEDs and trimmers, these do genuinely make biasing your amp a piece of cake even for people who have no technical skills and are an aid to servicing and reliability, but beyond that the curve goes rapidly in the opposite direction and adding more complexity does more harm than good.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
Now: I haven't run the amp at anything above loud TV volumes and that will likely change my opinion. And I don;t have a sophisticated/discerning ear.
Anyway, just thought I'd mention that. As you were...
Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder
My trading feedback - I'm a good egg
Yeah it applies to pedals and amps. Fixed million decibel boosts that are totally unusable.