Hard for me to believe that I've had the HX/DA for six months - I'm every bit as excited to go into the studio and fire it up now as I was the day it arrived. And this amp is a workhorse; so far it has handled every project I've thrown at it, with ease and great sound.
Here are a few examples of the diverse sounds the amp is capable of:
The first week it arrived, I used it to get some heavy grunge sounds for the Ford F-150 truck ad campaign. Then I used it to get pristine, beautiful clean tones for a furniture manufacturer's campaign. After that, a Brit-pop track for a GM project; then more F-150; a medium gain project for Chevy; 2 more clean spots for the furniture manufacturer; etc. So went the first couple of months, and the following months have been much the same. Right now, it's doing a Rockabilly thing for a client! Rockabilly - from a plexi! Yup. Add a little slapback echo, play clean, and it sits in a mix just fine.
All this from a single-channel amp! And I haven't had to use dirt pedals (as an aside, I'm not the only guitarist on F-150, we had two players on that one, and one of the sounds layered in was very raw because that was what the client requested).
This is not a case of "make-do" with a single one of these styles. I can't afford to "make do" with my livelihood. It's a case of the amp being versatile and extremely capable.
It is certainly as flexible as a 2 channel amp.
"But what if you are playing live and you need great cleans and great overdrive, Les?"
You use the volume control on your guitar to control the amp's gain. I'd submit that with a good guitar like a PRS it sounds as good as, or better than, any two channel amp you can buy. And I've had quite a few of the very best of the 2 channel amps out there. To mention a few, Two-Rock, Mark V, Roccaforte, Tremoverb, Bogner, Bad Cat.
The amp is so quiet that I haven't had to trim out sections where I'm not playing, unless the guitar's pickup is buzzing.
So that's my 6 month report. Six months with the HX/DA being the only amp in my studio, and so far, no glass ceiling. It's all I've needed.
One more note:
The master volume on this thing is so good, that I've taken to recording it in my control room, instead of putting the cab in a recording booth and cranking it loud. I record it lately with a ribbon mic! Low volumes sound just fine, thank you, and it's not blowing the mic up or blowing my ears out. Amazing.
Here are a few examples of the diverse sounds the amp is capable of:
The first week it arrived, I used it to get some heavy grunge sounds for the Ford F-150 truck ad campaign. Then I used it to get pristine, beautiful clean tones for a furniture manufacturer's campaign. After that, a Brit-pop track for a GM project; then more F-150; a medium gain project for Chevy; 2 more clean spots for the furniture manufacturer; etc. So went the first couple of months, and the following months have been much the same. Right now, it's doing a Rockabilly thing for a client! Rockabilly - from a plexi! Yup. Add a little slapback echo, play clean, and it sits in a mix just fine.
All this from a single-channel amp! And I haven't had to use dirt pedals (as an aside, I'm not the only guitarist on F-150, we had two players on that one, and one of the sounds layered in was very raw because that was what the client requested).
This is not a case of "make-do" with a single one of these styles. I can't afford to "make do" with my livelihood. It's a case of the amp being versatile and extremely capable.
It is certainly as flexible as a 2 channel amp.
"But what if you are playing live and you need great cleans and great overdrive, Les?"
You use the volume control on your guitar to control the amp's gain. I'd submit that with a good guitar like a PRS it sounds as good as, or better than, any two channel amp you can buy. And I've had quite a few of the very best of the 2 channel amps out there. To mention a few, Two-Rock, Mark V, Roccaforte, Tremoverb, Bogner, Bad Cat.
The amp is so quiet that I haven't had to trim out sections where I'm not playing, unless the guitar's pickup is buzzing.
So that's my 6 month report. Six months with the HX/DA being the only amp in my studio, and so far, no glass ceiling. It's all I've needed.
One more note:
The master volume on this thing is so good, that I've taken to recording it in my control room, instead of putting the cab in a recording booth and cranking it loud. I record it lately with a ribbon mic! Low volumes sound just fine, thank you, and it's not blowing the mic up or blowing my ears out. Amazing.
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"Built F...err...PRS Tough." (say that with an accent like you costarred in Roadhouse)
