Thread: Still Searching
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Old 12-03-2017, 07:49 PM
EasyEd EasyEd is offline
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Join Date: Jun 2013
Posts: 658
Default Still Searching

Hey All,

Ok so I been searching out amps for a while.

Yesterday my son and I went to a local store to try a Katana 100. Disappointing to say the least. It kept dropping the low strings on full chords no matter how many dials you turn. Bouncing around the presets some would lose the upper strings. It sounded like a modeling amp. Maybe it's better if you can mess with it a lot but I was surprised. We played a bit at trying to get that clean sparkly fender chime which is the one sound I want for sure in any amp I buy with no luck. It seemed like it kept wanting to sound like a Marshall. This was only an hour or so of messing with it but it was a let down.

Then for fun we tried the fender gt40 about which.I heard a lot of bad. No question it had the fender sparkle an chime vibe but as the volume went up the more brittle and harsh it got like a modeling amp often does shedding the tubular warmth. It did not have any of the muffled boxy sound I've read about. We only spent about 10 mins on it so maybe it is better than the little we heard - it was way ahead of the Katana though in this to be honest very limited test.

To cleanse our ears we did spend a few mins on a Princeton and a reverb deluxe of course at triple even quadruple the price.

The more I play an listen to amps the more I know I'm a fender guy. There are a number of boutique amps that get there and offer more but I can't justify those. It doesn't mean I don't like vox or Marshall but they aren't my wheelhouse. My son is predominantly marshall.

So the search continues for an inexpensive low wattage practice amp that nails fender twin style tone.

-Ed-
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...Spent all I had to buy this Martin
An I been richer since I did
Even though I can't afford to change the strings...

from Blaine Larsen's Song "If Merle Would Sing My Song"
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