Amps are addictive... I am an addict, and I need help...

[Deleted member 5962]

I had no idea that Tag was involved with this model. How interesting!

It was Tag who got me into Two-Rocks, and the various models they produced were my go-to amps for at least a dozen years, before I became obsessed with the PRS amps (I'll admit that I still like TRs, but I prefer the PRS amps).

Tag has good amp ears.

Les, it will take you a while to read that thread. It's 184 pages now. Trust me, it's worth it. The whole story of the amp chosen, the crazy things they went through to get everything right, etc., but the clips... oh my, the clips. This amp sounds absolutely incredible. Best I've ever heard. You just have to hear this. So even if you pick through the thread, go back to after the amp is in production and just listen to the clips.

I mean this. I know what tones you like and have ready your amp journey to current. YOU WILL BE BLOWN AWAY by this amp. Simply incredible. I've got $20 that says that if you listen to the clips, you'll have one within 6 months. And that goes for some other people here as well. This amp is MAGIC! This IS the holy grail.

 

[dmatthews]

Les, it will take you a while to read that thread. It's 184 pages now. Trust me, it's worth it. The whole story of the amp chosen, the crazy things they went through to get everything right, etc., but the clips... oh my, the clips. This amp sounds absolutely incredible. Best I've ever heard. You just have to hear this. So even if you pick through the thread, go back to after the amp is in production and just listen to the clips.

I mean this. I know what tones you like and have ready your amp journey to current. YOU WILL BE BLOWN AWAY by this amp. Simply incredible. I've got $20 that says that if you listen to the clips, you'll have one within 6 months. And that goes for some other people here as well. This amp is MAGIC! This IS the holy grail.

Holy Kool Aid Batman! And I mean that in a good way.

 

[dmatthews]

 

[László]

I mean this. I know what tones you like and have ready your amp journey to current. YOU WILL BE BLOWN AWAY by this amp. Simply incredible. I've got $20 that says that if you listen to the clips, you'll have one within 6 months. And that goes for some other people here as well. This amp is MAGIC! This IS the holy grail.

Gosh, I tried to edit this post a couple of times, but kept getting an error message, so this is the third try at saying what I meant to say!

I did listen to the clips, but I've truly moved on from the Dumble tone.

I sound best (to me) through the HXDA. In fact, it's my holy grail. The best part is that I don't have to chase after a tone, I have my tone sitting right in my Craptastic basement studio!

The Dumble sound is cool, and heck, I had 6 Two Rock models over the years, so it's not like I don't have experience with it. Problem for me is, the closer you get to Dumble, the more compressed and mid-centered a tone you get. In fact, my favorite Two Rock was the one that sounded least like a Dumble, the Two Rock Onyx Sig.

"Too Marshally," said Tag about that model.

"That's what I like about it," I'd reply.

Tag used to tell me that he loved the squeezed sound of the Dumble that was at Ultrasound in NYC. He called it a "straining" sound.

Well, that's compression. Lots of compression, and not lots of dynamic range. It's what you hear in the clip DMatthews posted above. Heavy midrange emphasis, tons of compression.

That's great for certain things - but it's not what I'm after. I like the looser feel, the greater dynamic range, and the broader frequency range of the HXDA. The vintage Plexi sound just works better for me.

The HXDA is my thing. It's the truest expression of what I hear in my head.

I'm so not gonna mess with 'I'm happy'.

But far be it from me to try to talk anyone else into my sense of taste. We're all different, and that's a great thing, because it allows us to express ourselves in our own ways.

"But it sounds more like a Dumble than your old Two-Rocks."

"Sure does. That's one reason why I'm not going to buy one. The other reasons is that my grail is already in my hands."

 

[matt3310]

My "little" 50 watt amp. lol

 

[tiboy]

I watched this vid and immediately reached out to Lou. Turns out he’s located less than an hour drive from me. Site said one in stock. I was ready to get in the car and end 2020 on a high note. Reality is there is a 15 week turnaround time for the amp. I’m too impulsive and impatient to plan out my life 15 weeks into the future.

There’s an HXDA 30W also available locally. I’ve been fighting that impulsive urge. I think somebody here said amps are addictive. Good idea for a thread title.

 

[dmatthews]

I watched this vid and immediately reached out to Lou. Turns out he’s located less than an hour drive from me. Site said one in stock. I was ready to get in the car and end 2020 on a high note. Reality is there is a 15 week turnaround time for the amp. I’m too impulsive and impatient to plan out my life 15 weeks into the future.

There’s an HXDA 30W also available locally. I’ve been fighting that impulsive urge. I think somebody here said amps are addictive. Good idea for a thread title.

I'm a "want it naaaooowww" guy too. That said, it feels like the weeks go by rather quickly lately.

 

[Deleted member 5962]

Site said one in stock. I was ready to get in the car and end 2020 on a high note. Reality is there is a 15 week turnaround time for the amp.

Oh yeah, guys in line waiting for these. None in stock.

I'm sure some of Tag's clips would make you gladly wait in line for 15 weeks.

 

[Deleted member 5962]

I did listen to the clips, but I've truly moved on from the Dumble tone.

Ok, so I lost $20. LOL Still, for fun, and when you get a chance, check out some of the clips he put up there. Some he says are at talking volume and he's using his 594 semi hollow and it sustains like crazy. And like I said, this would not be "my style" amp either, but it's so great I'd buy one in a heartbeat if I had the other amps I wanted and wanted to add a lifetime amp with tones the others can't do.

 

[László]

Ok, so I lost $20. LOL Still, for fun, and when you get a chance, check out some of the clips he put up there. Some he says are at talking volume and he's using his 594 semi hollow and it sustains like crazy. And like I said, this would not be "my style" amp either, but it's so great I'd buy one in a heartbeat if I had the other amps I wanted and wanted to add a lifetime amp with tones the others can't do.

I did listen to all the clips as soon as you posted about the amp, if only out of curiosity. It's a great Dumble style amp, no doubt about it!

While I wish I still had my Onyx Signature V. 2 as one of my secondary amps, it was its own thing. Though it was Dumble-influenced, it wasn't pure Dumble. I wasn't as happy with my subsequent T-R Custom Reverb Artist 1 and 2 models that were much more like Dumbles. I liked them, but didn't love them.

However, the journey to replace them eventually led to the HXDA, and I'm glad I found the 50W in 2013, and the 30W a year later. After 6 years, the honeymoon is still on! The HXDA led me to the DG30, and that's my #2 amp. I've had that since 2014 as well.

The Mesas (Fillmore, Lone Star) are here because I occasionally need a different kind of sound for my ad work. They're not in the exalted league of my PRS amps. But I actually like them more than the Dumble style amps. I've had the Lone Star for several years longer than I had any of my Two-Rocks, which tells me something about my possibly low-brow taste.

 

[RickP]

Great discussion here!

Update on the Vox. Took it to my guys in Houston, and a solid state rectifier, a capacitor, and some TTLC (tech tlc) and it’s running great. Sounds like a Vox, just wish I had a pair of Silvers to throw in there!

I’m still very happy with the HXDA(s) so I’m going into the new year in a good spot now. Plenty of options!

 

[greg777]

Amps are the other side of the tonal pallet. Really are amazing. Cabs make another part.

 

[Serious Poo]

Am I alone up on this chair, or do others suffer from this amp(ule) addiction to glowing glass?

I'm pretty slooty when it comes to amps. My latest is a Driftwood Purple Nightmare 100 Watt head. It's a fire-breathing metal amp designed for extended frequencies but capable of some surprisingly impressive vintage Fender & Marshall tones. It goes perfectly with the oversized Coffee Cabs 4x12.

I'm also super into the Synergy preamp system, and have over a dozen different preamps I like to use with my rack system.

We're moving soon, once we get all settled in I'll post some pics of the new studio.

 

[WEDGE]

Are the Synergy models close to a Kemper in terms of tone and feel? The system is intriguing.

 

[Serious Poo]

Are the Synergy models close to a Kemper in terms of tone and feel? The system is intriguing.

They're rackmount tube preamp modules made by amp makers like Engl, Diezel, Morgan, Fryette, Soldano, Bogner and Metropoulus. When used correctly with a hjgh-quality rack power amp, they sound/feel like a really great amp. I'm really happy with what the Synergy created, and have replaced all of the legacy preamps in my guitar rack with Synergy modules. I also have a desktop Synergy unit for direct recording into a TwoNotes IR system, a few pieces of outboard gear, and into my DAW.

I'm not into modeling amps so I couldn't tell you how they compare with those.