So there's a used Audio Kitchen The Big Trees that I'm thinking about buying. I was keen on the amp prior to spotting it as I've always been into the Audio Kitchen sound and features (but could never afford one) and was surprised to see one for sale. But I can't decide whether to buy the amp or buy an attenuator for what I've already got.
So I could either buy a smaller amp and use it with the speaker of my Fryette Memphis combo when I can't push it to the levels it likes to be at, or buy an attenuator (Iron Man II Mini or the Fryette Power Station) for my Fryette. Obviously only I can answer that, but have other people been in a similar situation, and if so what were their experiences?
Other amps I'm interested in are the Cornell Romany, Tone King Falcon, Supro Comet, and Benson Vinny. Ideally I'd buy a Tone King Falcon (because it has an attenuator already inside it and sounds bangin') or a Supro Comet and an Iron Man II attenuator, but I can't afford either of those options right now. The sound I'm looking for is basically a Supro at reasonable levels, that takes pedals well, but can also be driven to hit that 'fuzzy' drive sound that Tweed and Supro/Valco amps are known for.
Comments
The Iron Man is much more a 1 trick pony
The Power Station would be more ideal, but it is also quite a bit more expensive, at least brand new. They do crop up second-hand from time to time though.
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I’ve toyed with the idea of a power station so I could boost the TBT to 50 watts and that would be a killer compact solution when only a head is needed. I just can’t bring myself to buy the Fryette because they are very spotty with QC IME.
Been uploading old tracks I recorded ages ago and hopefully some new noodles here.
Ooh, that's an encouraging endorsement. The few people who I have read who own the amp seem to give it very high praises. Do you use it as an amp driving a speaker or as a preamp?
I had a Weber Mass and tried it with my Fryette. It was really cheap, but I wasn't enamoured by it. I could definitely use it in a pinch, but not as a daily driver I don't think. What 1W Marshall do you use with it? I hated the attenuator on the Marshall Class 5 I had. It was unusable. The amp was either slightly too loud for home use or horrible sounding and too quiet.
At home volumes (wife&kids out scenario) its very crankable without being painful or too antisocial; at home volumes (kids asleep next door scenario) I use it as a low volume pedal platform amp, mainly cleanish.
That's another use I wanted TBT to be able to do: run as a clean platform for pedals. I wanted to be able to choose between pedal gain and amp gain, something that's very doable on my Fryette (and sounds awesome at it) but only at higher volume levels. I assume it takes pedals well and doesn't fall apart if that's one of your uses for it?
also bear in mind that in amp mode, it’s a one channel amp. The clean boost / gain switching is only in pedal / preamp mode.
Been uploading old tracks I recorded ages ago and hopefully some new noodles here.