NAD: Gone back to digital

grayngrayn Frets: 880
I've mainly been a valve amp man but have had a few solid state amps and previously, one digital amp.
A Blackstar ID 260 TVP, that was a good amp, which I ultimately found had too many things too fidle with.
Never really got the sound I wanted, even though it did clean and heavy overdrive, pretty well.
After having a brainstorm and selling off all but my acoustic amp, I decided to go back to digital.
Basically my main guitar is now a Rickenbacker 660, that I intend to use mainly for singer/songwriter and space rock stuff.
After a little 'net research, I got it down to 3 possibles.
Blckstar ID Core 150, Boss Katana 100 2X12 and Fender Mustang GT200.
I've always preferred the 2X12 (2X10) sound, to single speaker combos.
The ID Core was the first to be dismissed, as I figured it's immersive stereo effect would be lost on stage and I'm not carazy on it's layout.
The Katana has a lot of supporters and it was my initial favourite but I've always thought it looked cheap and again, the layout is not what I wanted.
That left the GT200.
I am very aware of the large support for the previous Mustang series and how some folk look down on the GT series.
I also watched a couple of video reviews that didn't favour the GT at all.
But even though videos are a poor way to judge an amp, I listened to some that just went through a lot of the amp's 108 presets.
And to be honest, there was a lot there, I liked.
So I decided to try one for myself, plugged in at the shop and went through a ton of the presets.
Because I'm unlikely to be doing any deep sound creating or getting settings from the pros.
And I was impressed, so took it home.
I've now had time to play through every preset and take time with anything that got my attention.
There's a lot of very good sounds here and to my ears, the GT200 does mild crunch and valve warmed clean tones, really well.
Also it does some great, subtle effect settings, as well.
In fact, out of the 108, I found 21 I that will definitely be using.
I remember, on my old Blackstar, I found 5 or 6 and it couldn't nail that valve warmth or mild crunch at all.
So despite it's unspectacular reputation, I was very pleasantly surprised by this amp and it's sounds.
I don't think it sounds like it's being played through Hi Fi speakers, like one reviewer said.
The only fettling I intend to do do, is create setlists, for the presets I've really taken to.
And I actually prefer the way the GT looks, to it's predecessors,
It's reasonably solidly built, yet really light, too.
It may not be to some folk's taste but for me, it's proved a great buy and at not a lot of cash.
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Comments

  • Always good when you get something that just works for you.  Happy new amp day.
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  • ChuffolaChuffola Frets: 2025
    edited October 2018
    I had the little GT40 for quite a long time and LOVED it as a small home amp. Sounded great for what I wanted, so I imagine the big ones are grand. The Fender models were excellent and the clean / low gain sounds were excellent. 

    I think there's a new firmware coming out soon for them which will change things significantly too.

    I sold the GT but it was just as good at the small(ish) desktop amp as a THR (although I appreciate that you aren't looking for a practice amp - my point, I suppose, is it was unfairly maligned at release due to a fair few youtube videos - especially ones comparing it to a Katana, which really is a different beast).

    Enjoy. 
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