Scratching itches at Coda (Swart, RedPlate, Carr content)

JohnPerry · August 2014

Spent 2-3 hours in Coda yesterday with various amps I'd been wanting to try for ages. An entirely positive experience (thanks Doug). A few brief reflections follow which might or might not help anyone curious about these particular amps.

For context, at home I have a couple of Two Rocks and two silverface Fenders and have in the past had various Carrs, Cornells, Voxes, Fenders, Cornfords, Marshalls and others I cannot immediately recall.

I went to Coda after a tweed or tweed-style that would sound great at reasonably loud home volumes (i.e. somewhere between bedroom and gig levels). The RedPlate Tweedydrive was top of my list but I discounted it fairly swiftly. It had a beautiful blackface-style clean tone. I was far less convinced by the tweed sound and disliked it when driven on any setting, blackface, brown or tweed. It's a small amp and sounds like it when dirty, oddly smaller-sounding than when set clean. Doug at Coda reckons it's a different beast when cranked at a gig. Fair enough, but it wasn't for me.

The Tone King Falcon was nice enough but i need a few more bells and whistles and its core sound didn't strike me as anything exceptional.

The Swart AST master combo was stunning. I have read much about Swarts since first hearing one in the States four years ago and it is interesting how polarising they are. Plenty of folk wouldn't touch another amp. Plenty equally dislike them. I loved this thing. It sounds huge and the tremolo is the best i've ever heard on any amp or pedal (though my Kingsley Bard is close). I had sworn I would only listen to the amp's sound itself, and not its seductive effects, but by God that trem is addictive. The AST master is an AST in a big box with an added master volume, so you can crank it at reasonable levels. It's not a versatile amp, basically one sound with varying levels of dirt but the boxiness i have heard the AST and even AST Pro are guilty of is all gone in that big cab. Lovely thing but at two grand a little pricey IMHO.

Next up was a 1x12 Carr Sportsman, the Princeton-style amp so beloved of @Wazmeister (until he suddenly sold it to @Smogfalls!). I have a lovely 1972 Princeton. The Sportsman is possibly nicer, sweeter and warmer, and has the master volume allowing for a little dirt when you wind the volume up. Lovely amp, beautifully made, as Carrs always are, but ultimately too similar to my Princeton to be worth spending big bucks on. It's not tweedy (though can be, with the volume and mids cranked) but what the hell. If I didn't have an original I really wouldn't have hesitated.

So that's that. Finally I tried a Bad Cat Black Cat 15, a twin-channel el84-type, and decided to buy it almost instantly. It was the most inspiring amp I played yesterday afternoon and scratched a Matchless/BadCat itch I had pretty much forgotten I had got. Today at home, after a tube swap, it is glorious. Fantastic chime and grunt.

Not a tweed though. So I'll keep looking. Maybe @smogfalls can be persuaded to sell me his Lazy J20. Maybe I'll raid the piggy bank and go back for that Swart, which is tweedy enough.

All of which goes to show that you can read/research as much as you like but there is just no substitute for driving a few hours to try these buggers out. You might just set off intending to buy a tweedy 6v6/6L6 RedPlate and return with a BadCat.

MattG · August 2014

You would be impressed by what the swart can do with a decent drive pedal in front of it, with my OCD I can get some really van halen tones from it!

best amp to be combined with fuzz ever

But i know what you mean i was intending to buy a maz 18 or a 65 london pro when i ended up leaving with the Swart, no regrets though

Wazmeister · August 2014

John,

A fantastic and insightful post !

You know, I say this about many areas of our lives; until we try things, we don't know do we ?

I too visited Coda in the past few weeks. I became (suddenly) aware of the weight of my Jim Kelley Reverb,

and also how much I had potentially financially invested in ONE amp. So off I trotted to the excellent Coda, and the excellent and accommodating Doug. I consider Coda my favourite dealership.

More to follow.

BluesyDave · August 2014

Good score and well done for trying a few different amps. It's so easy to go with one thing in your mind and dismiss the unknown without even giving them a chance. Have to say that Coda and Peach are probably my two 'go to' music stores because of the choice and no pressure friendly staff.

mike_l · August 2014

The problem I have with Coda is everytime I go I come back £500 lighter.......

BluesyDave · August 2014

Only £500......you're really not trying are you?

Lodious · August 2014

I tried a Bad Cat (can't remember which one) last time I was there and I loved it. Deffo on the hit list.

57Deluxe · August 2014

Just a general observation for those interested:

A < REAL > Tweed amp a'la Deluxe or Twin is a bloody handful. Unless you want Neil Young Balls-to-the-Wall drive and fluster, you have to really work for the tone by continually dialling up and down your guitar tone/vol pots and the little available control on the amp. ( Vol only happens at 2 and by 3 and a half is all out).

You will get complex harmonics and several sweet spots but you have to be on top of your game finger wise as you hear every slippy/sweaty fingering.

Many of the amps you suggested have a Tweed sound, but their more modern circuits will be much more forgiving and a somewhat neutered version of the classic/vintage ragged trousers 'Tweed 'Experience'!

richardhomer · August 2014

JohnPerry;21379" said:
I went to Coda after a tweed or tweed-style that would sound great at reasonably loud home volumes (i.e. somewhere between bedroom and gig levels).

I tried a Bad Cat Black Cat 15, a twin-channel el84-type, and decided to buy it almost instantly. It was the most inspiring amp I played yesterday afternoon and scratched a Matchless/BadCat itch I had pretty much forgotten I had got. Today at home, after a tube swap, it is glorious. Fantastic chime and grunt.

I used to own a Bad Cat Cub IIR and used at the levels you describe, it was the best sounding amp I've owned.

As I type this, I'm trying to remember why I sold it....

IvisonGuitars · August 2014

@JohnPerry What tubes did you decide on for the Black Cat, John?

Interested in experimenting with mine.

JohnPerry · August 2014

I had some in a drawer actually. Couple of old Mullard 12ax7s, a Telefunken 12ax7 and a Mullard ef86. They are less harsh and brittle sounding than those Chinese ones the Bad Cats seem to get shipped with

koss59 · August 2014

I bought a Blackcat 15 last year after trying to tame Matchless amps and struggling for ages. As soon as it arrived I posted my Two Rock to Doug in exchange for a Blackcat 30. Best amps I've ever owned.

IvisonGuitars · August 2014

My Black Cat has a half power switch, taking the 30w down to 15w, are the newer ones the same?

The ONLY criticism is that the 2x12 Black Cat is so bloody heavy!

JohnPerry · August 2014

Yes but I think the half-power hurts the tone actually. Not as full sounding to me, and the overdrive sounds rattier

koss59 · August 2014

Yes I agree it doesn't sound as good, I don't really see the need when the master volume is so good anyway. @miserneil the great thing about the newer ones is that they have foot switchable channels which each have their own master, this means you can have one channel set dirty and one clean so turns it into a true 2 channel amp

Clingy · August 2014

Great post....another visit to Coda long overdue as I have been meaning to try a Swart for ages. Need something smaller and more portable than my Matchless. Doug is always very helpful and patient.

ICBM · August 2014

JohnPerry said:

Yes but I think the half-power hurts the tone actually. Not as full sounding to me, and the overdrive sounds rattier

Are you resetting the impedance to half that of the speaker(s)?

If not that will cause a mismatch and alter the tone.

JohnPerry · August 2014

No. Will give it a go later. Thanks for the steer.

Skipped · August 2014

JohnPerry said:

I went to Coda after a tweed or tweed-style that would sound great at reasonably loud home volumes (i.e. somewhere between bedroom and gig levels).

That is pretty loud! But is exactly where I am. (Just goes to show that "home levels" can vary a lot.)
Your post was an interesting read and very useful.

mike_l · August 2014

BluesyDave said:

Only £500......you're really not trying are you?

I only went in for a few picks.......

IvisonGuitars · August 2014

True, @JohnPerry & @koss59 it's definitely not as full sounding. The impedence on my 2 12's is 4ohm as standard so it won't make a difference unfortunately. MV is great though as mentioned so it's usually alway on full power.

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Scratching itches at Coda (Swart, RedPlate, Carr content)

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