jc986
Singlecut through Archon
Figured this would be a good introductory post 
I'll start with the clean channel for this amp, because it is just that good. Of any high gain head I've ever played or heard, this is the best clean channel. The only head that rivals it that I've owned is the Mark V. It reminds me a lot of the Mark V's Fat mode (which is fu**ing awesome!!). Tons of headroom, and you are able to run the clean volume (gain) high to get nice edge of breakup tones. There is a bright switch that has a pretty dramatic affect on the sound. It's very bright and glassy when enabled, and quite a bit darker and rounder when not enabled. The only thing I wish PRS would have included is reverb, but I plan to pickup a reverb pedal in the near future to address that.
The lead channel of the Archon sounds to me like a great blend of a Recto, 5150, and an Uberschall. It has a very modern sound, can be dialed in quite a few different ways and sounds great with pretty much any settings. Without the bright switch engaged it reminds me a lot of a Mesa Recto, but without the fizziness that you sometimes get with them. It is also a lot tighter than a Recto, but the general tone seems in the same ballpark. With the bright switch enabled there is a significant bump in the high end bite and I've been able to dial in the most aggressive sounds with the bright switch engaged. There is a ton of gain available, and to me seems like more of a saturation control than actually lessening the gain. Even with the gain at only 9 or 10 o'clock there is plenty for most styles it is just a drier type of gain. As you increase it just becomes more saturated. I like it set to around 1 o'clock for a nice balance of saturation and clarity. The depth and presence controls affect the feel of the amp quite dramatically, particularly the depth control. Lower depth settings have a very tight response, and as you increase the depth control a bit of sag is introduced. Unlike other amps' depth or resonance controls, the tone doesn't become anemic with the depth at lower settings. You can easily introduce more low end if needed by using the bass control and keep everything nice and tight by running the depth at around 9 or 10 o'clock. Lead tones are among the best with the Archon of any amp I've owned. One thing I missed about my old Mark V was the lead tone I was able to get, but with the Archon I don't feel like I'm missing anything.
A couple clips:
Unboosted: https://soundcloud.com/guitarjunkie986/prs-archon-unboosted-bright-on
Boosted: https://soundcloud.com/guitarjunkie986/archon-boosted-bright-off
I'll start with the clean channel for this amp, because it is just that good. Of any high gain head I've ever played or heard, this is the best clean channel. The only head that rivals it that I've owned is the Mark V. It reminds me a lot of the Mark V's Fat mode (which is fu**ing awesome!!). Tons of headroom, and you are able to run the clean volume (gain) high to get nice edge of breakup tones. There is a bright switch that has a pretty dramatic affect on the sound. It's very bright and glassy when enabled, and quite a bit darker and rounder when not enabled. The only thing I wish PRS would have included is reverb, but I plan to pickup a reverb pedal in the near future to address that.
The lead channel of the Archon sounds to me like a great blend of a Recto, 5150, and an Uberschall. It has a very modern sound, can be dialed in quite a few different ways and sounds great with pretty much any settings. Without the bright switch engaged it reminds me a lot of a Mesa Recto, but without the fizziness that you sometimes get with them. It is also a lot tighter than a Recto, but the general tone seems in the same ballpark. With the bright switch enabled there is a significant bump in the high end bite and I've been able to dial in the most aggressive sounds with the bright switch engaged. There is a ton of gain available, and to me seems like more of a saturation control than actually lessening the gain. Even with the gain at only 9 or 10 o'clock there is plenty for most styles it is just a drier type of gain. As you increase it just becomes more saturated. I like it set to around 1 o'clock for a nice balance of saturation and clarity. The depth and presence controls affect the feel of the amp quite dramatically, particularly the depth control. Lower depth settings have a very tight response, and as you increase the depth control a bit of sag is introduced. Unlike other amps' depth or resonance controls, the tone doesn't become anemic with the depth at lower settings. You can easily introduce more low end if needed by using the bass control and keep everything nice and tight by running the depth at around 9 or 10 o'clock. Lead tones are among the best with the Archon of any amp I've owned. One thing I missed about my old Mark V was the lead tone I was able to get, but with the Archon I don't feel like I'm missing anything.
A couple clips:
Unboosted: https://soundcloud.com/guitarjunkie986/prs-archon-unboosted-bright-on
Boosted: https://soundcloud.com/guitarjunkie986/archon-boosted-bright-off
