Amp Decision

[Daryl Jones]

As soon as my HBII arrives I just know I'm gonna be Jonesing (no pun intended) for a new amp and so far I'm leaning heavily toward the Archon 50 Combo. When that happens I'll probably flog my Mustang 25 and keep my Katana 50. I don't have the electronics to make use of a DID and I don't ever expect I'll get into anything really crazy with a recording setup either. I have friends that have that stuff if we ever get together and want to get nuts anyway. But I was thinking since I already have the Katana with that nice acoustic channel, it would make sense (OK I could justify it) to run my Piezo into the Katana and run the mags through the Archon. Until that day I can squeeze a bit more out of the Mustang when I want to run both hookup leads on the HBII. I know there's a bizillion options to look at, but I'm pretty smitten with what I hear in the Archon after playing my SE Custom through it. Yeah, I've thought about an acoustic amp too but...well, I want the Archon.
What say you gurus?

 

[AZGiant]

Daryl, if I can make a suggestion. Blend the tones of the Katana and the tube amp. I do it now with my Blackstar and it is silly. Solid state tight sound with the air of tubes mixed together. Let them both be crunched or pushed and see what you get out of it.

The Archon and the Katana will sound awesome blended together

 

[watelessness]

i had great success running my P22's piezo through the clean side of my archon 100. i never gigged my HBii so i cant make a direct comparison, but i imagine you'll have a similar result. for example, the acoustic sound for the first half "suite madam blue" , then stomping on the amp's channel switch while flipping the pickup toggle to mag. pure delight

 

[Daryl Jones]

I guess it was kind of a no brainer question really, I think I already knew the answer. But me being still kind of in the experimental stages with PRS guitars and being mostly a garage/house player I was reaching a bit. Really appreciate the replies/info. I think this will be a fun time for me though.

 

[Nice F Holes]

Get what you like. life is too short for justification, and once you have what you've always wanted you won't care about the money spent. This is from my own experience, and time and money wasted 'not justifying' the gear I really wanted. Now I have it, I love it, and I play a lot more.

I like playing my SE HBII's Piezo through my Mesa Mark V head into a full range speaker. It's a great combination of full range acoustic tone with tube amp dynamic response. It sounds more full and alive than when I play straight through a powered JBL PA.

 

[Toolmaster Of Brainerd]

I have a katana 50 and an Archon 100.

Ever since buying the Archon I've barely put any time on the katana at all. Every time I turn it on I'm like 'yeah that sounds okay but I miss my Archon already'

 

[CarleeSavage]

The Katana's acoustic channel is a neat feature, and running the Piezo through it while using the Archon for the mags sounds like a solid plan.When it comes to gear choices, it's all about what makes you excited to play. And hey, you've got friends with recording setups if you ever want to get wild with it.When you're wrestling with decisions like this, tossing a coin can be a fun way to break the tie. Sometimes, it's the simplest solutions that work the best.So, I'm curious, did you end up going for the Archon 50 Combo? How's it working out for you?

 

[Daryl Jones]

The Katana's acoustic channel is a neat feature, and running the Piezo through it while using the Archon for the mags sounds like a solid plan.When it comes to gear choices, it's all about what makes you excited to play. And hey, you've got friends with recording setups if you ever want to get wild with it.When you're wrestling with decisions like this, tossing a coin can be a fun way to break the tie. Sometimes, it's the simplest solutions that work the best.So, I'm curious, did you end up going for the Archon 50 Combo? How's it working out for you?

Not yet, real life sort of got in the way. Being on a fixed income now I have to hedge the bets every now and then. Racing season is over and now it's financial recovery time before winter hits and then the GAS thing will kick in full bore. The amp and hopefully a McCarty will happen.
I did a small outdoor gig with my Hollowbody through the Katana (acoustic channel) and used my Mustang for a PA, but the mic was pretty weak. Just brought home a Yamaha mixer and will run my powered speakers through that from now on. Works well in my basement, but outside is a whole different thing. Don't really do much of that anyway, just for friends and family gatherings.