Sweet 16 Plus??

[MTrip]

One of the most fun parts of XPRS2012 was getting the chance to talk to Doug Sewell, who is a heckuva nice guy. But I had a specific question for him. I had recently decided to buy a Sweet 16 combo, based on the demos and reviews I'd heard and read. Being a strictly basement player, a nice low-power PRS amp seemed like a good choice for me. After I unboxed the amp (only a few weeks ago) I noticed that it was labelled as a "16+" but didn't pay much attention in my rush to dime that baby. Yowza. I loved it and did some online research which turned up - exactly nothing. So I cornered Doug after one of the demo sessions this weekend and asked him about it.

Well, his reaction was to nearly fall down laughing. He said, "Before I say anything else, do you like it? And did you notice it was kinda loud?" After hearing an affirmative answer to both, he told me the story (with the help of Mike Clark, who was also sitting there amused). Basically, he said, it's a "joke amp" - apparently an unnamed Nashville client wanted a Sweet 16 and Paul asked Doug to "work his magic" on one as a prank. So he jacked the power up to 40+ watts (apparently using 6L6 in place of 6V6 tubes) and swapped in a different speaker (Warehouse Guitar Speakers ET65) and sent it off. A little time passed, and Doug got a call from Paul - 'What the hell did you do to that amp? And more importantly, did you write it down?'. Turns out the un-named client *loved* it, so they made a few more.

Bottom line is I got what Doug and Mike described as a CAD amp at a core price. Apparently there are fewer than 20 of them out there - anybody else lucky enough to have gotten a hold of one?

 

[László]

Sounds like you got really lucky! Cool story!

 

[wilerty]

Don't have one, but would like one ... with a loop.

 

[Boogie]

Bill, did you hear the Grissom demo of that amp? Very impressive, especially for the power rating. The '+' would push it into the "too loud to crank" category for most of our venues, though.

MTrip, how do you like the ET65 in that combo? With a cool story like that, it has to sound good.

 

[MTrip]

The only thing I don't like is that I haven't had the chance to play with it nearly as much as I'd like to! But honestly I'm too much of a rookie to know the difference - this is my first tube amp. The ET65 is apparently the 16 ohm version.

Repeating what somebody else said, I can't get over how patient and approachable all the PRS folks are. Doug couldn't have been nicer, and then later a friend and I spent about 20 minutes talking to one of the amp builders upstairs (whose name I sadly didn't catch) who seemed like there was nothing he wanted to do more than to talk with us. At one point he handed us a HXDA chassis with nothing but the two power transformers on it - ooof. I can't imagine how I'd even pick up the full head!

 

[crgtr]

Doug Sewell is THE MAN!!!!! He worked some more magic on my Dallas & it's a monster! He is the nicest guy. Very patient too! Treated me like I was the artist the entire time.

 

[Boogie]

Treated me like I was the artist the entire time.

Dude, newsflash: you ARE the artist! <_<

 

[crgtr]

Dude, newsflash: you ARE the artist! <_<

Yea, RIGHT! Thanks though! Awesome time there this year. Can't wait until next year!

 

[László]

The only thing I don't like is that I haven't had the chance to play with it nearly as much as I'd like to! But honestly I'm too much of a rookie to know the difference - this is my first tube amp. The ET65 is apparently the 16 ohm version.

Repeating what somebody else said, I can't get over how patient and approachable all the PRS folks are. Doug couldn't have been nicer, and then later a friend and I spent about 20 minutes talking to one of the amp builders upstairs (whose name I sadly didn't catch) who seemed like there was nothing he wanted to do more than to talk with us. At one point he handed us a HXDA chassis with nothing but the two power transformers on it - ooof. I can't imagine how I'd even pick up the full head!

If I can do it, you can do it.

 

[docbennett]

Regarding the OP and the Sweet 16+.....

I took mine and added an Ethos OD TLE to it...now, my Sweet 16+ has become a two channel Dumble with tones ranging from crystal cleans to infinite sustain and increased touch sensitivity on the leads. There was a 16+ on Ebay recently being sold by one of my NJ neighbors. Here is a link...he describes it pretty accurately, so this is for information and NOT sale purposes...if inappropriate please excise the link...no affiliation with the seller, and I am using it just to aid in the description of this fine amp!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/PRS-Sweet-16-PRS-Custom-Amplifier-Signed-/170909547054?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item27cb00ba2e


Mine:





Can't decide whether to install this "Jade Glow" facia or not....

 

[MTrip]

Thanks for the very interesting info. Seems like after doing a few of these custom mods they put a limited number into production. I noticed that the one on ebay had a 4ohm speaker, mine is 16. No signatures or CAD emblem on mine.

 

[Boogie]

So, is the low-end growl of the standard 16 still apparent in the 16+? Adding that extra headroom, IMO, would change the break up character dramatically. Do any of you guys run the master wide open?

 

[docbennett]

Notice...mine doesn't say "+" on the front...handwritten on the back with the signatures...I am guessing that each one might be a little different...mine was built before yours as well, judging from the dates on the back.

 

[docbennett]

So, is the low-end growl of the standard 16 still apparent in the 16+? Adding that extra headroom, IMO, would change the break up character dramatically. Do any of you guys run the master wide open?

Since the low end growl you are referring to doesn't compare with the Blistertone or the MDT (or the HXDA for that matter) I run the master at full volume into the Ethos OD....I then use the controls on the Ethos to effectively make this a 2-channel amp.

 

[docbennett]

Thanks for the very interesting info. Seems like after doing a few of these custom mods they put a limited number into production. I noticed that the one on ebay had a 4ohm speaker, mine is 16. No signatures or CAD emblem on mine.

Funny...mine had a built in 8 ohm, so when I use it with my 2X12 PRS cabinet, I set it at 4 Ohms. I am guessing that the one on Ebay is similar to mine and that he just unplugged the extension cab and forgot to re-set the Ohm rating toggle. I do that a lot. I would have a hard time imagining that they made this amp with 4, 8 AND 16 ohm combo speakers...I'm guessing that his version is the same as mine....8 Ohms, set for 4 when using the extension with the combo speaker.

Reason for my theory....if the main combo speaker was 4 ohms, what would you set the rating for when using an extension? 2 Ohms???? Wouldn't work.

 

[László]

The Ethos Boost is a really sweet sounding pedal. I'd buy one in a second, but while it's somewhat reminiscent of a Dumble sound, it's not all that close. What's missing is the taut, nasal push in the mids, and growl in the lower mids. Then again, I'm not hearing Dumble in the MDT clips I've heard so far, either, as awesome as that amp sounds, and I'd love to have one, I dunno if those OD tones are there. Clean, maybe.

I do keep in mind that there are lots of different sounding Dumbles out there, but as a fan/owner of certain Dumble style amps, I'd have to say...great pedal, very nice sparkle and adds something awesome to the clean tones, but not Dumble. Hopefully Tag will chime in here, as he owned a Dumble and made many clips of it that he could probably link for reference!