Sweet 16 owners please help

[Blackbear]

I bought a Sweet 16 when they first came out and was never able to get a good sound (clean or distorted) and finally gave up trade it in on another PRS guitar. I noticed that the Sweet 16 underwent at least 2 revisions since it came out. My question is, did the revisions make a significant difference in the sound of the amp? I really wanted to like this amp and would love to hear how people are using this amp.

 

[zebraprs]

I think it totally depends on what you were looking for it to do... The S16 is a nice amp but it does not do everything. Doug has made some mods for it and I think the most significant mod is the clean mod... they move some things around and gives the amp a lot more clean headroom..

 

[Boogie]

.totally depends on what you were looking for it to do...

Agreed. Plus, single channel amps work best applying a different formula to setup and operation than you do a 2 ch amp, so it's almost a philosophical difference, too. I'd suggest talking with someone that owns one and can brainstorm thru your issues. In the right conditions, the S16 is one of my favorite amps, period. The latest version seems to be the most popular.

 

[shinksma]

OK, major necro-thread activity:

I have read about the changes made to the Sweet 16 over the years. How can one know what any particular sample happens to be? Are the tuxedo ones the earliest, the charcoal maple fascia the latest, etc? Is it by year of manufacture?

Although I just bought an Archon, I continue to toy around with the idea of a much smaller PRS amp that I could gig with, maybe - but it has to be "not loud" for most applications (I occasionally use a 10w acoustic practice amp as a "monitor" and it can get "too loud" for the rest of the band). Of course, whatever I get needs to take Pedals well, including dirt. So the Sweet 16 is on my radar. By definition, the Sweet 16+ (at 45w) would be too much.

Just exercising my curiosity...but I did that last summer, and it led to an Archon recently, so one never knows...

 

[Egads]

My Sweet 16+ sounds great at lower volumes. The master volume circuit is amazing. The amp shines with a tiny push in the preamp gain, and the master where you need it.

 

[justmund]

So why not an Archon 25 then?

 

[shinksma]

So why not an Archon 25 then?

I have thought of that - in fact, it was the first thing I considered. But the Sweet 16 comes in head form, and I have a 1x12" cab I could use with it, so I want to explore that possibility too.

But yeah, the Archon 25, in 13w mode, might be just the ticket.