Belated NAD: HXDA 30 Watt Head!

[MA Pete]

So some of you may have seen my new 30 Watt HXDA head over on my 2020 SC 594 Prototype Thread. I have spent some more time with it, and it needs a proper NAD thread here!

I scooped it up a couple of weeks ago from JD at Guitar Maverick (thanks, JD!), it was a NOS amp with a full warranty, which is cool. It arrived and was dead mint as advertised.

"Back in the day" I was a big PRS amp guy, from about 2009 to 2014 or so. My favorites were the Original Sewell, the MDT and the HXDA, and also my primary gigging amp up in Ottawa Ontario with my band up there was a 2 Channel H 50 Watt Head with a 4 x 10 Cab. I also at one point had a Dallas Head, a 2 Channel C Head, a Sweet 16 Combo, a Blistertone Head, and 2 Channel Custom 20.

With the HXDA, MDT and Blistertone, I found that to get the most killer tones from them, the amps had to be really loud. So I eventually moved on to other amps that got killer Plexi'ish tones at mere mortal volumes.

Fast forward here to 2020, and the amazing Ox Box allows me to revisit those killer "wide open" tones from these great PRS amps, at sane volumes, and even with Headphones when needed. A game changer - *LOVE* the Ox Box!

The HXDA is just as amazing as I remember it. I have been experimenting with the settings, and I am finding I am just leaving the Master wide open and setting tone from the rest of the knobs. The 594s into the HXDA - a match made in heaven!! So many great tones in this amp, clean to edge of breakup, to medium gain, and even higher vintage gain at full tilt (and it loves clean boosts in front of the amp, and Overdrive pedals).

I like it so much that I snagged a second HXDA 30 head and I am having it shipped to my apartment in CA (which is where the new Charcoal 2020 SC 594 "lives") and another Ox Box, for use when I am out there. (That is a REALLY expensive upgrade from my little Boss Katana practice Amp out there, but it will be worth it!)

Last night I was on an 8.5 hour redeye flight from Honolulu to Chicago (was at a Conference out there) and I couldn't sleep, so I read about 5 years of posts here on this Amp Forum. (Les - you win the award for "Most Prolific Poster" of this Forum!! )

Lots of love for the HXDA here!

In addition, Aristotle's comments about another PRS amp model inspired me to reunite with another great PRS amp - Incoming...

 

[Alnus Rubra]

Congratulations Pete, make some beautiful noise!

 

[RickP]

Love the Ox Box. UA knocked it out of the park with that one.

I’ve never played on a PRS amp. It’s a looker! I need to give one a test spin.

 

[watelessness]

PETE!!!! so glad you got one. you're going to totally dig that amp

 

[shimmilou]

Sweet! Congrats

 

[Boogie]

Do I smell an Archon inbound?

Two HXDAs and a mystery amp. This has been a great year for you!

 

[MA Pete]

Do I smell an Archon inbound?

Two HXDAs and a mystery amp. This has been a great year for you!

NOS MDT!

It has been a great year already, and it is still January! (No more new guitars until February...)

 

[FJ4]

Great Amp indeed, congrats Pete!

 

[jxe]

holy smokes you got amps all over the nation.

 

[dmatthews]

Young man there's an amp we all know
I said young man when you've got the right dough
You can play there and I'm sure you will find

Many ways to have a good time.
It's fun to play on the H.X.D.A
It's fun to play on the H.X.D.A

Congrats, that's awesome!

 

[bodia]

Killer! Loved my HXDA, but moved it along due to volume concerns. Trying hard not to look at the Ox Box.....la, la, la la, la....

 

[MA Pete]

Killer! Loved my HXDA, but moved it along due to volume concerns. Trying hard not to look at the Ox Box.....la, la, la la, la....

I will pull together a February get-together - there is not a snowball's chance in hell you will be able to resist the Ox Box after that!!

 

[veinbuster]

Most excellent.

 

[bodia]

I will pull together a February get-together - there is not a snowball's chance in hell you will be able to resist the Ox Box after that!!

Great! (Both versions of great....looking forward to it great, and oh crap, I’m screwed great)

 

[shinksma]

I love my HXDA, so, um, @bodia ... do it!

 

[bodia]

I love my HXDA, so, um, @bodia ... do it!

Ugh!

 

[Alnus Rubra]

Ugh!

Tee hee!

Now where did we land on @Casi1 getting that pink SS?

 

[WA Paul]

I used to have the 30watt HXDA combo. Used a Fryette PS2 with it for volume control and a transparent FX loop. Problem was I still liked to play it a bit too loud for the missus so now Tucson Thump gets to enjoy it.

Totally killer with my Laguna DC594!

Always wanted to try an MDT...

 

[MA Pete]

Update here - got the MDT on Saturday. Terrific amp! Very much as a remember it, similar to the HXDA but a little more modern and a little more gain and saturation. For me it felt like it had a little too much overlap with the HXDA. Without the Ox Box, the HXDA didn't have quite enough gain versus the MDT (or the Blistertone). With the Ox Box and the ability to dime the MV on the HXDA and have reasonable volumes, there is plenty of gain on tap now. So I returned the MDT today.

The MDT has a sweet spot of tone that is to die for, that "one tone" that you see in Paul's demos, that is killer for riffs, rhythms and leads, more saturated than the HXDA wants to be, but not overly saturated like a lot of the more modern amps can get.

There was a nostalgic reason I felt I should get an MDT. In 2012, I went to the PRS Factory to spec my first personally spec'ed Private Stock. That evening, after an awesome dinner with Paul and the PRS team (and Eric C from Willcutt Guitars), we went over to Paul's Studio and checked out the amps. He had a 100W head that was basically in the development chain of the Sewell/MDT that we played that night. He handed me his Paul's Guitar Private Stock, his personal guitar at the time, and asked me to check it out, and then left for a bit. The cab was below us in the garage a (2x12, I believe), and the door was cracked to allow the sound to barrel up the stairs at us, it was dimed. It was pretty surreal, it sounded absolutely amazing, and also was a cool experience. I was sitting at the top of the stairs jamming out some riffs and noodling some leads enjoying the amazing tone, when I felt a presence behind me - Paul had come back and was standing behind me just listening and watching, I don't know how long he was there for. He gave me a nod and then walked back into the Studio to talk to Eric.

So for me there is a connection between the MDT and that great night at Paul's studio. But no worries, I discovered I don't really need an MDT, I am extremely happy with my 30W HXDA.

I got a bunch more time in over the weekend with the HXDA and the 594 collection - wow, really an amazing amp when you can dial in whatever settings on the MV and the HXDA Gain and Bass Gain, and separately control the volume, with the Ox Box.

This is now my favorite amp!!

 

[bodia]

Update here - got the MDT on Saturday. Terrific amp! Very much as a remember it, similar to the HXDA but a little more modern and a little more gain and saturation. For me it felt like it had a little too much overlap with the HXDA. Without the Ox Box, the HXDA didn't have quite enough gain versus the MDT (or the Blistertone). With the Ox Box and the ability to dime the MV on the HXDA and have reasonable volumes, there is plenty of gain on tap now. So I returned the MDT today.

The MDT has a sweet spot of tone that is to die for, that "one tone" that you see in Paul's demos, that is killer for riffs, rhythms and leads, more saturated than the HXDA wants to be, but not overly saturated like a lot of the more modern amps can get.

There was a nostalgic reason I felt I should get an MDT. In 2012, I went to the PRS Factory to spec my first personally spec'ed Private Stock. That evening, after an awesome dinner with Paul and the PRS team (and Eric C from Willcutt Guitars), we went over to Paul's Studio and checked out the amps. He had a 100W head that was basically in the development chain of the Sewell/MDT that we played that night. He handed me his Paul's Guitar Private Stock, his personal guitar at the time, and asked me to check it out, and then left for a bit. The cab was below us in the garage a (2x12, I believe), and the door was cracked to allow the sound to barrel up the stairs at us, it was dimed. It was pretty surreal, it sounded absolutely amazing, and also was a cool experience. I was sitting at the top of the stairs jamming out some riffs and noodling some leads enjoying the amazing tone, when I felt a presence behind me - Paul had come back and was standing behind me just listening and watching, I don't know how long he was there for. He gave me a nod and then walked back into the Studio to talk to Eric.

So for me there is a connection between the MDT and that great night at Paul's studio. But no worries, I discovered I don't really need an MDT, I am extremely happy with my 30W HXDA.

I got a bunch more time in over the weekend with the HXDA and the 594 collection - wow, really an amazing amp when you can dial in whatever settings on the MV and the HXDA Gain and Bass Gain, and separately control the volume, with the Ox Box.

This is now my favorite amp!!

I’m so screwed.....