DG30 versus 2 Channel H Questions

[Texas_minor_blues]

I am loving my 2 channel H and I am wondering if any of you have had the opportunity to really play a DG 30 as well as the 2 channel H and give me some inssight as to the major differences.

 

[aduayer]

that's interesting... I was planning to post my comments on my new DG30 and I saw this topic.
Well, I used to have a 2 channel "H" with a 2x12" PRS Big Mouth cabinet. Amazing, if you ask me.loved that amp, but it's wasn't exactly what I wanted. The clean channel was too clean and I've never got the broken clean sound that I liked. I found out that I am not a 2 channel kind of guy. I like to find a clean sound and build up with effects what else I needed. but the "H" amp is a terrific amp.
then I found the DG30. It was easy to find the broken clean sound that I just love and use the guitar volume know to control how much clean I want. Next step was to find what kind of boost and distortion I needed to get what I was looking for. I have a nice election of boxes so I tried Ibanez TS9, Fulltone OCD, Z Vex Box of Rock, Bogner Ecstasy Red, EWS Little Brute Drive, Xotic SL Drive and Mesa Boogie VTwin. Long story short, I have the Xotic EP Booster on all the time and the Mesa's VTwin to dial the amount of distortion I need. It's the best guitar sound I had in years.

 

[László]

Long story short, I have the Xotic EP Booster on all the time and the Mesa's VTwin to dial the amount of distortion I need. It's the best guitar sound I had in years.

Funny thing, I use the EP Booster a lot with my DG30, too.

I wish I still had my V-Twin to try out with the amp. That was a super-nice box!

One thing I will say is that the fundamental nature of the two amps is (to my mind) very different. And I don't mean because one has two channels, and the other has one channel. The basic sounds you start with on each amp are different, before you dial in any grit at all.

The DG is a wonderful, beautiful sounding amp, but it's not easy to describe the tones. It doesn't fall into the usual Fender/Vox/Marshall/Mesa etc. descriptors. It does its own thing.

For example, the EL84s aren't your typical EL84s; they're 7149s, the military version the Russians used, and the plate voltage is cranked so that they need fans to keep from blowing up. This creates a very unique tone. The clean tone is thick enough to cut with a knife. The OD gives you not the typical overdriven Marshall or Mesa sound, but almost a halo of harmonics that seems to float above the notes.

I think the DG would be a nice compliment to your amp.

It's a different kind of amp to be sure, but I also think it's an amp an experienced player would get a lot out of.

 

[aduayer]

I totally agree with you LSchefman. Completely different animals, but I think we can get a good sound from every good amp. Sometimes isn't exactly what we want, but after a few gigs where I could only bring my guitar and some effects because I had to use the bar /club's back line I got used to find a sweet spot and build from there. With that approach in mind, the DG30, to me, is a better sound foundation then the "H", but the "H" is a much more versatile amp.
In a perfect world, I would buy an Archon so I could have all the sound palettes I like in just 2 amps.
And I think Mesa Boogie should reissue the V.Twin Pre Amp pedal. It's such a tone factory with 2 distortions and the clean mode and is die hard unit. I have mine for almost 20 years and it saw a lot of action, liquid, smoke and all sort of abuse... well, I think PRS could / should come up with an Archon meets VTwin kind of unit... just saying

 

[László]

Yes, the V-Twin is a very cool piece of gear, no doubt about it, and built like a tank, too.

I gave mine to a friend, who still uses it. I was on one of those "only guitar, cable, and amp" kicks and thought I had no use for pedals. Hah! Was I ever foolish...