Can't be bothered to take my own photo, so here's the pic from the ad when it was for sale:
Bought from
@HHwarner of this parish, it is making me grin a great deal. He was a lovely bloke to deal with too. I stayed and chatted for about half an hour, and he let me try out his other gear (SG, Les Paul, 1-watt JCM800, POD HD500—all very nice).
In his music room, it sounded incredible (he let me crank it up, so clearly his family and neighbours are supremely understanding), and that was just with a G12-T75 4x12 cab. When I got it home, I was a bit disappointed that it didn't sound as good, but then I was using an attenuator at bedroom volumes into a 1x12 V30 cab, so it was never going to be the same.
I've been letting it rip a bit more today (still with the Motherload attenuator, still at bedroom volume, but this time the bedroom volume of an antisocial person). It's an absolute beast. I'm really chuffed. It was between this and a 5150iii. I think I'd have been happy with either (and I'd still like a 5150 eventually), but this amp is very me.
Discoveries: It has a ton more gain than I was expecting. I thought it would have only a touch more gain than my old 2061X, but actually I don't need a pedal even for widdly stuff. Even before you get the power stage cooking, the preamp alone has enough gain for 80s metal. I probably will use a pedal because I'm a menace to good taste, but I don't need it.
When it runs out of headroom, notes on the wound strings sound woofy, like an old fuzz pedal (or a bit like a phaser in the low part of its sweep). They sound like they're about to break into feedback, but they never do, just sustain in a farty way. I'd prefer it if the low notes stayed tight even when the power stage is going nuts. The 2061X stayed crisp all the way up. The fully-cranked 800 is still a good sound though. Is this woofiness normal for an 800? It reminds me a bit of way low notes sound on an Orange AD30 at full shout, although the fartiness is more extreme on the Orange.
Cranking up the master volume makes it sound more aggressive, with more upper-mid bark. I thought it would get darker and fatter with volume, but actually it sounds darkest with the preamp cranked and the volume low. The brightest sound is with the master cranked and preamp low (because of the bright cap). I'm curious how it would sound without the bright cap. Currently, if you do the AC/DC thing of cranking the master and turning the gain down, it's hard to get a great tone because the amp gets so bright (although it's still cool with the treble turned down, and the treble pot is a lot more effective than some old Marshalls I've played). I'd be nervous about changing anything though, because it sounds so good.
It's also made me love playing different guitars again, because it seems to exaggerate all the differences between my guitars. I spent more than an hour this morning switching between all my guitars and comparing them. My Les Pauls sound by far the best, but the neck pickup on a Strat into this amp is the most Tom Morello-tastic thing ever.
This was a good buy. I am happy.
Comments
Actually, Scara, could you check something for me?
(It's Lee B by the way)
Does the tone get noticeably brighter and twangy when the gain is lowered?
One of my favourite sounds in my 2203 is running the gain a bit lower which seems to bring out the pick attack a bit more and making up for the loss with a boost.
That always works well for me, and kinda brings in some of that Bogner bright switch B1 type sound that can be found on the Ecstasy.
Be interesting if your original 2204 does the same kinda vibe.
Hope you're keeping well, man. x
Enjoy.
Hey Jonny. Nice to see you on here. You still in London?
Your old Jubilee is long gone I'm afraid. It went to another forumite - @fastboy - and then on somewhere else. I just couldn't get it to sound like others do. Plus I rarely had the chance to give it any real welly and I have never liked V30s when they are run at house volumes.
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