Grab it! I was listening to a clip of the HXDA I did last year. The whole purpose of the clip was to demonstrate how the amp - at a single setting - responds to the guitar’s volume control and the player’s touch, both of which it does in spades. However, I also was reminded how clearly each fundamental note comes through, even with some solid crunch on the amp. Call it string-to-string definition, or whatever you like, I think the amp has it. I have no idea whether PRS plans an encore with a new model in the HXDA’s lineage, but here’s how the amp responds with changes ONLY to the guitar’s volume. I didn’t touch the amp. This is the neck pickup on both the track that’s got very slight breakup, and (if memory serves) on the crunchier track. I started with the guitar volume on 4, and the crunch track’s guitar volume is at 6. Neck pickup for both on the 20th Anniversary of Private Stock Ltd. that uses Paul’s Guitar pickups at the neck and bridge, and a 57/08 Narrowfield in the middle. If you listen on good speakers or headphones, I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised at how easy it is to get these types of tones with a single channel amp. https://soundcloud.com/lschefman/ps-20-hxda Underneath the gritty harmonics, you can still hear the guitar. That’s pretty unusual! Most amps conceal that. Incidentally, the amp also does clean tones, but I rarely go truly clean. It does harder distortion, too, but I rarely go more gainy. My own thinking is that it’s hard to find amps that will do what this one does, and it’s something that truly, is what a great single channel amp is capable of. I get that PRS will probably come out with a whiz-bang of an encore, but until that happens, I still think this is one hellaciously great amp! If you can find one NOS or in good condition used, really, they’re fantastic amps. Also, it’s mostly hand-wired, is built like a tank, and should last a long time with routine maintenance. Mine is tubed with NOS Mullard 12AX7s in the preamp, and NOS Siemens EL34s in the power amp. I like what these tubes do. Doug Sewell is a brilliant amp builder.
It’s quite different in the frequencies it emphasizes. I think I may have a clip of that one from last year; if so I’ll post it to SoundCloud and edit this post with a link. The clip is of the 30 Watt version, which is the one I have; it gets recorded the most of any of my amps for projects. I love it. I had a 50W version, but since I tend to play with the master volume up, I thought I’d swap it out and try the 30 for recording. The 50 has a marginally thicker low end, but they’re actually the same amp, except the 30 has something on the B rails (whatever that might be, I’m amp design challenged) that reduces output power.
Here's the DG30. as requested by Black Plaid. The first guitar lead is the 594 Soapbar, the second is the 594 Humbucker. The rhythm track is the Soapbar. Recorded about a year and a half ago. Instead of giving a description of the tone, I figure a recording of it shows the differences from the HXDA. These tracks are all one amp setting, with the guitar volume changing to increase the compression and gain. There's some delay going into the front of the amp. This was a quick and dirty piece, written and recorded on the fly, and the cymbals are too bright. I call the track 'Messy" because that certainly describes my playing! Yeah, the cymbals are way too prominent. https://soundcloud.com/lschefman/messy-2-guitars-mstr
Yep, I too have the 30W HXDA, and it is super awesome! If I am just in the mood to noodle, I will sometimes just plug straight in, no effects board. Still looking for a 1x12 extension cab in matching gold paisley to pair up with it.
Here are my settings as of today (I do move the knobs depending on room location and guitar, but these are what I use with that guitar). In case it’s unclear the switches are DA, HX, HX, but at the time I recorded the clip, I set them to DA, HX,DA. The cab is PRS’ Big Mouth 2x12. Maybe your friend can come close with a digital toaster?
Holy guacamole, that DG30 track sounds so good! Messy or not, I am really digging this. Great, now I have an amp to obsess over...
