So I had been using an Orange Rockerverb 50 head with a huge diagonal 2x12 cab loaded with Celestion G12-65s, great tone and definitely pigeonholed as a stoner and doom amp, because it’s loaded with great classic and hard rock tones. Nevertheless it’s been a long time coming for a smaller rig, and I wanted something with a great clean and gain channel to replace the Rockerverb, and was sold on the Archon by Dave Weiner’s demo.
So I mostly play classic rock, progressive and 90’s British style rock, not at all the Archon’s wheelhouse, but I’ve gotten some amazing tones out of it, some of the best I’ve heard of any amp and I’ve had many of the greats. The thing is, with the bright switch up, the depth low and the gain between 9-11 o clock in getting some killer almost Marshall-y lead tones out of it, which was surprising to me because this is always compared to Mesas and Diezels and Uberschalls, but it has a ton of midrange and the bright switch seems to shift it to the upper mids. The thing I like about it compared to Marshalls is that the treble is smoother and more refined sounding but still cuts. The other surprising part is the celestion G12-75T speaker, it’s about the only celestion I’ve never owned because of the universal hate for it but it sounds killer in this combo. The archon’s lush mid range and smooth treble response compliments the scooped mids and brighter treble of the speaker, and both the amp and speaker and plenty of low end to spare. I was actually surprised at how comparable in fullness this small Combo was to my oversized 2x12.
I guess I just wanted to put this out there because this amp is great with tones outside of where it is marketed and it would be a shame for people to miss out. I’ve been playing it nonstop for a week and still haven’t gotten the gain over noon.
Also one big thing I forgot to rave about it the playing feel on low gain settings, other higher gain amps I’ve used like Mesa Marks, Dual Recs Triple Crowns, Bad Cat Lynx, Marshall JVM, even the Rockerverb seem to fight the player a bit on lower gain settings while the Archon feels liquid smooth even on 9 o clock on the dial, it never feels choked down like the others.
Just really a great job by Mr Smith and Sewell and the rest of the team.
So I mostly play classic rock, progressive and 90’s British style rock, not at all the Archon’s wheelhouse, but I’ve gotten some amazing tones out of it, some of the best I’ve heard of any amp and I’ve had many of the greats. The thing is, with the bright switch up, the depth low and the gain between 9-11 o clock in getting some killer almost Marshall-y lead tones out of it, which was surprising to me because this is always compared to Mesas and Diezels and Uberschalls, but it has a ton of midrange and the bright switch seems to shift it to the upper mids. The thing I like about it compared to Marshalls is that the treble is smoother and more refined sounding but still cuts. The other surprising part is the celestion G12-75T speaker, it’s about the only celestion I’ve never owned because of the universal hate for it but it sounds killer in this combo. The archon’s lush mid range and smooth treble response compliments the scooped mids and brighter treble of the speaker, and both the amp and speaker and plenty of low end to spare. I was actually surprised at how comparable in fullness this small Combo was to my oversized 2x12.
I guess I just wanted to put this out there because this amp is great with tones outside of where it is marketed and it would be a shame for people to miss out. I’ve been playing it nonstop for a week and still haven’t gotten the gain over noon.
Also one big thing I forgot to rave about it the playing feel on low gain settings, other higher gain amps I’ve used like Mesa Marks, Dual Recs Triple Crowns, Bad Cat Lynx, Marshall JVM, even the Rockerverb seem to fight the player a bit on lower gain settings while the Archon feels liquid smooth even on 9 o clock on the dial, it never feels choked down like the others.
Just really a great job by Mr Smith and Sewell and the rest of the team.
