Laney....best little amp I've had!

I have for many years collected valve/tube guitar amps and had a small practice amp. This particular amp being a 10 year old Laney LC15.

For those who don't know it's a great little amp that can easily compete with a loud drummer in jam sessions. You could happily use it as a back up amp mic'd through the pa or played through a larger cab for smaller applications!

A few months ago it packed up, I tried to change the vales etc, but no good. Eventually I emailed Laney thinking I would be told to bog off!

However after a few emails I was invited to the site in the midlands by the Marketing Manager, Simon Fraser-Clark. I was shown around the place and they....shall we say more than helpful with the amp!

I can't recommend them enough!

Buy Laney, they look after their customers!

And the amp sounds better than ever!!!

Best small tube (Valve) Guitar Amp?

The Fender Champ was a guitar amplifier made by Fender. It was introduced in 1948 and discontinued in 1982. [1] An updated version was introduced in 2006 as part of the "Vintage Modified" line.

The Champ had the lowest power output and the simplest circuit for all of the Fender tube amps. The Champ had only one power tube, which meant that the circuit is single ended and class A. Five watts and the simple toneful circuit allowed the Champ to be used easily and often in recording studios.

First introduced in 1948, it sported the name "Champion 800" (with 8" speaker), changing a year later to "Champion 600" (6" speaker) with circuit designation 5B1. It was rated at about 3 watts, featuring a "T.V. Front" style cabinet with two-tone blonde & brown vinyl covering. This style lasted until 1953, when Fender's cabinet style changed to the "Wide Panel" design with a tweed cloth covering. Fender also renamed the circuit the 5C1, 5 standing for the decade (1950s), C for the third circuit revision, and 1 was the Champ's circuit designation. The 5C1 circuit was extraordinarily simple, using one 6SJ7 pentode in the preamplifier section to provide a single stage of voltage amplification, one 6V6 beam power tetrode in the power amplifier section, and a single volume knob and no tone controls.

By 1955 Fender started putting its amps in the "Narrow Panel" tweed cabinet with a plastic oxblood color grill cloth[2], and by this time the Champ was officially named the Champ (model 5E1). Through 1957, Champs only had a six inch speaker, but the 1958 model 5F1 featured an 8". The 5E1 and 5F1 circuits used a 12AX7 dual triode in the preamplifier to provide two stages of voltage amplification, and a single 6V6GT power tube to produce about 5 watts. A Champ from this era can easily be dated by the code stamped on the tube chart,[3] by the code stamped on the speaker[4] or by its serial number.[5]

Marshall Guitar Amp - Find the Perfect Amp

Choosing an amplifier for your guitar can be a tough thing. In this article you are about to read, we are going to be reviewing some of the top Marshall Guitar Amps. These amps include the Marshall MG412A, the MHZ40C, the AS50D, the JVM215C 2-channel guitar combo amp, and the JVM205C

1 - Marshall MG412A Angled Guitar Speaker Cabinet

The first Marshall guitar amp we are going to be reviewing is the Marshall MG412A. This amp is slowly becoming one of Marshalls most popular amps for a variety of reasons. It has great sound and the footstep makes a huge difference. It has a diverse sound and is extremely easy to use. If you are new to playing the guitar it is highly recommended you start with this amp.

2 - Marshall MHZ40C Haze Guitar Combo Amplifier

Although this amp only has 40 watts, it produces sound like it has a lot more. You know you have found yourself a good amp when it produces as much noise as an amp with up to 70 watts. The benefit of this amplifier is the fact that because it only has 40 watts the price is cheaper because it costs less money to make.

3 - Marshall AS50D Acoustic Guitar Amplifier

If you play the acoustic guitar, then I cannot see a better amp than this one. It doesn't have all the fancy gadgets that all the other amps have because with the acoustic guitar you simply don't need them. This amp also produces some loud noise at 50 watts.

4 - Marshall JVM215C 2-Channel Guitar Combo Amplifier

This amplifier is probably different than the majority of other amplifiers you have seen. If you have ever played with a combo amp you know how they can sound. This amp can switch the distortion back and forth so quickly you will not be able to believe what you are hearing! It has an outstanding sound tone to it, it is very flexible for beginners all the way to advanced, and is easy to control. The only downside is this amplifier can be a bit pricey.

5 - Marshall JVM205C Guitar Combo Amplifier

The last amp we will be reviewing today is the Marshall JVM205. Like the amp above, this is a combo amp. The amp is 2x12 in. and comes with 50 watts. If you are planning to just play around with some friends then this will be the perfect amp. However, if you are going to be playing in a concert then this amp probably will not get the job done.

You just read a review of some of the best amps Marshall produces. Don't let the fear of choosing the wrong amp hold you back from playing great music!
Find The Perfect Guitar Amp

There are many Marshall Guitar Amps available today. Find The Perfect One For You!

http://electricguitaramps.info/marshall-guitar-amp

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=David_Wesenburg

The Ultimate Tone - A Book Review of the Best DIY Guitar Tube Amplifier Series

This article is a book review on a series of six books that is the most comprehensive and lucid explanation of guitar tube amp architecture, circuits, tone, components and construction technique for DIYers I have ever found. The review deals with each book separately and recommends purchasing them in a specific order to grow your knowledge in step with your building experience.

Kevin O'Connor of London Power has created a series of books under the main title of "The Ultimate Tone." These books are truly unique and carefully tailored for the Do-It-Yourself (DIY) guitar tube amp hobbyist and boutique amplifier builder. The books have a home-made 'feel' as well... all the illustrations are done by hand and the books are photocopy-printed on 8.5″x11″ paper and bound with plastic spines and clear plastic covers. There are six books in the series now with the most recent being released in the late spring of 2008. You may want to buy the entire series all at once and get a modest savings, but I think you should consider buying them one at a time and digest as you go, building projects along the way. A key point though... you don't necessarily want to buy them in numerical order. I recommend the following sequence:

The Ultimate Tone Volume 3 - Generations of Tone
The Ultimate Tone Volume 5 - Tone Capture
The Ultimate Tone Volume 2 - Systems Approach to Stage Sound Nirvana
The Ultimate Tone Volume 4 - Advanced Techniques for Modern Guitar Amp Design
The Ultimate Tone - Modifying and Custom Building Tube Guitar Amps
The Ultimate Tone Volume 6 - Timeless Tone Built for the Future Today


The Ultimate Tone Volume 3 - Generations of Tone

This is the most important book in the series for the beginning tube amp builder.

Chapters 2 through 4 lay down the foundation of good DIY tube amp construction, filling you in on good electrical connections, grounding technique, lead dress and other wiring techniques, and mechanical layout including assembly methods like terminal strips, turret and eyelet boards.

The subsequent chapters each pick a particular 'iconic' amplifier, each iconic amplifier being a prototypical example of amplifiers of its class, and they are examined in detail as to the circuit topology, peculiar tonal characteristics that result and fatal flaws that the product is notorious for. Kevin provides the original schematics and then shows how you can apply the techniques detailed in the earlier chapters to improve the performance and reliability of the icon without harming the tone. The schematics are redrawn, layouts are provided and mechanical solutions are worked out to make each chapter a complete, self-contained, build-it-yourself amp project.

This process is repeated for several variations of the Champ in chapter 5 (this chapter greatly influenced my own single-ended amp project), then in quick succession: the Bassman, Plexi, 800, Bull Dog, AC-30, Portaflex, SVT, Bass Master, Custom Special, Guitar Mate, Herzog and Laney amplifiers are dealt with.

If you can only buy one book for your DIY guitar amp hobby I'd heartily recommend this one.

The Ultimate Tone Volume 5 - Tone Capture

Volume 5 picks up where Volume 3 left off, with a project-oriented approach and some sophisticated DIY tube amp solutions for guitar and bass.

The book starts off with a chapter overviewing vacuum tube operation called 'tube tone,' followed up by a chapter on guitar electronics and pickup characteristics.

The next two chapters are small projects: Sigma for effects switching and Triple-X for amplifier switching.

Chapters 5 & 6 are on transformers... important components but it made me yawn, sorry.

Starting with chapter 7, all the stops are pulled out and you are in project heaven... Major (200W), Soma 84 (EL84 amp), Standard (the London Power Standard Preamp from 1995 coupled to a 50W amp using four power tubes), Doppelsonde (mixing power tube types), AX84 (discussion on the original goal of a very low output power amp), Kelly (50W from 4 6V6s), and several other projects of lesser scope.

One favorite project I did was based on Kevin's reworking of the HotBox tube preamp pedal from Matchless in chapter 16. I built this pedal in a truly "true point-to-point style" (meaning terminal strips) in a tube pedal enclosure from Doug Hoffman, substituting a Baxandall tone stack and reworking the preamp values to be more Dumble-esqe (non-HRM type).

What would you do to match an amplifier to Yngwie Malmsteen's style? See chapter 18, 'Swede.'

The Ultimate Tone Volume 2 - Systems Approach to Stage Sound Nirvana

Volume 2 is not project oriented. The bulk of the book, chapters 2 through 5, deals with power supply tricks and a comprehensive overview of power amplifiers, including tube, solid-state and hybrid power amps. Chapter 3, on tube power amplifiers, has some very practical information on mods and fixes to Marshall and Fender bias circuits.

I like the 1st and last chapters of Volume 2 the best. The first chapter is a short discussion of sound stages and how you might setup your gear on stage for the best audience/band experience. The last, chapter 6, is called "Pillars of Tone" and in this chapter the major contributors tone at the block-level of a guitar tube amplifier system design are discussed one by one and Kevin provides some very valuable insight into tone shaping throughout the preamp/amplifier.

The Ultimate Tone Volume 4 - Advanced Techniques for Modern Guitar Amp Design

This is the book you'll want to buy if you feel the need to get deeply involved with the power scaling technology that Kevin has developed. Power Scaling, coined and trademarked by Kevin, is the way you can get aspects of power amp distortion (as opposed to preamp distortion) into your tone at bedroom volume levels. Volume 4 is not DIY project oriented but explores the issues, including attenuation, power scaling (both down and up), sag, and power management, tackled by modern guitar tube amp designers.

That said, the second-to-last chapter in Volume 4 might be important for a broader group of enthusiast builders... design philosophy. In this chapter Kevin provides a hierarchical design process that could be used to make key decisions on how you approach your next project.

The Ultimate Tone - Modifying and Custom Building Tube Guitar Amps

There is no volume number in the title of this book, it was the 1st. Personally, I bought it for completeness. I specifically wanted to have the 'perfect effects loop' information, although the loop itself is incorporated into a project in Volume 5. TUT also has some excellent material on reverbs and signal switching methods that is not explained in the other volumes. The first half of TUT introduces/overviews tube amp systems, power supplies & grounds then focuses on preamp and power amp modifications to commercial amplifiers (e.g. Marshall / Fender)... if you are totally new to tube electronics you may want to buy this 1st volume at the same time as Volume 3.

The Ultimate Tone Volume 6 - Timeless Tone Built for the Future Today

In many ways, Volume 6 is a continuation and extension of the material in Volume 4, where Power Scaling is introduced. In Volume 6 a new 'direct control' version of Powerscaling is featured which was introduced in Vol 4 but flushed out with comprehensive circuits and applied to 'sag' and sustain control as well in Vol 6. The new scaling circuits have many advantages for a DIY builder like greater noise immunity and less sensitivity to layout, etc.

I applied the new DC Power Scaling to a Trainwreck clone project and was really impressed with the improvement in 'playability' at lower volumes... the unmodified Trainwreck Express circuit is just too loud for domestic use, needing to be cranked to get the sweet tones it is renowned for.

One of the chapters in Volume 6 is dedicated to the Dumble amplifiers... something I was really looking forward to since many of my hobby projects focus on those circuits. I found this short chapter to be a good introduction to the overall architecture of the Dumble amps, written from the point of view of the evolution from the early modified standard amps that Alexander Dumble started out doing, but I felt the chapter fell short in discussing some of the more important subtleties of the later Dumble models.

Volume 6 also has lots of other material in it, including a great tutorial on designing really high output power amplifiers and a great chapter on high gain amplifier designs with real-world circuits referenced and detailed.

In Summary...

Kevin's books have a very empirical approach. He encourages you to set aside convention in some instances or not be afraid to try combinations of tubes or even pulling tubes and in all cases clearly explains why it is o.k. and points out any reasons why it wouldn't be o.k. All the examples in the books are very practical and he certainly has the DIYer in mind as he is writing.

Kevin's body of work is truly encyclopedic in nature, and considering that, one feature sorely lacking from his books is any kind of indexing... this is aggravated by the fact that Kevin constantly refers to previous writings rather than repeat himself in a new volume, and it is very difficult to put your finger on the reference even with the other book in hand. Perhaps search engine technology, like Google's ability to search protected content, could be put to good use in this case and provide a kind of 'auto-index' on the web of all of Kevin's books without actually giving away the book itself. Or better yet, how about an e-book format of Kevin's entire collection of TUT books... I think all of the e-book readers include searching capabilities... and Kevin's hand-drawn schematics would probably scale adequately and be very readable on the e-paper displays these devices feature.

Meanwhile, how do you get Kevin's books today? The best way to get the books is to directly order them from London Power Press. They now have a shopping cart on http://www.londonpower.com.
About the author: Mark Roberts blogs on DIY tube electronics at TubeNexus.com. He is avidly involved in guitar electronics as a hobby and dabbles in boutique effects pedals as a business with Cause & Effect Pedals. Please visit the TubeNexus Blog at http://tubenexus.com for more articles and book reviews about DIY Guitar Tube Amplifiers and Effect Electronics.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Mark_Douglas_Roberts

The Four Types Of Guitar Amps

There are a few different types of guitar amplifiers that are on the market today for you to choose from. If you are shopping for a new amp, it's good to decide which type you will want because they are all very different.

The first type of amps that came along had to be the tube amplifiers. Funny thing is, even though the technology of tube amps is fairly old, these amps are still used widely among pro and beginner guitar players. The reason for their popularity is that the tone of these amps is usually very warm and natural compared to the other types. Not only do they sound better, they are usually louder than amps of other types and the same power level. The only thing to remember with tube amps is that they require maintenance because the vacuum tubes need to be periodically changed.

Usually there are two types of tubes in an amp - the preamp section and the power section. Common tubes are 12AX7, 6L6, EL34, and many more.

There are many different brands of guitar amps that use tubes -- Marshall, Soldano, Peavey, Genz-Benz, Mesa Boogie and many others -- especially older and vintage guitar amps.

Solid state amps were invented to replace tube amps (which didn't happen!). Basically, the main difference between tube and solid state amps is that solid state uses transistors instead of tubes. They also require almost no maintenance because there are no tubes to change.

This is not to say that solid state amps are not as good as tube, it just all depends on the application and type of music you are going to be playing.

Some guitarists prefer colliding the two and making what is called a hybrid amp. This type of amps marries both tube and transistor amps into one. Usually there are tubes at one stage of amplification and transistors at the other stage (preamp and power amp)

Recently, digital amps were introduced. These amps use computers and integrated circuits to create the various tones in the amps. Usually, there are a number of different types of effects and tons that you can get. These amps are very versatile.

Examples of some digital amps are Vox Valvetronix, Line6, and a few more. These amps are great if you want to play all different types of music with different types of guitars.


Corey Palmer is a guitarist and musician. Marshall Amps

Bogner Alchemist - Turning Lead Guitar Into Gold

Even from childhood, in his native Germany, Reinhold Bogner was already skillfully welding his soldering iron to create his own guitar amplifiers. After he moved to Los Angeles, his models and amp modifications began to attract famous names from the six-string world including Steve Vai, Steve Stevens, and Eddie Van Halen. So when it was announced that he was putting out an amp made in Line6's factories that would cost less than $1500, it made a big noise.

This new model, called the Alchemist, a handsome-looking 40W tube-amp, is exactly what we'll be testing. It comes in three models: two combos: the first equipped with a 12-inch loudspeaker and the second with two different 12-inch speakers; and an amp head + 2x12 cabinet. This review is about the 2x12 combo model.

It's pretty bulky, (two 12-inch speakers take up a bit of space!) heavy (80 lbs), and has a very nice neo-vintage look to it. Everything looks solid and ready to take a beating. Even though it's manufactured in Line6's shops, it's still a Bogner! Other more expensive models of the brand therefore become "Custom Shop" class. As for looks and finish, the grid, the logo, knobs and small diodes all look well made and give the amp a respectable look. Everything about the amp exudes the quality of the brand.

But let's see if the Alchemist can really transform lead into gold ...

Inside the alembic

One look at the specs is enough to see that it's really got 40-Watts (class-AB power) under the hood, but you can also reduce the power by half. This is very handy when you want to stay in good relations with your neighbors while pushing the amp a little... Careful however, because even at 20 watts, the Alchemist produces some serious sound! As for tubes, it's got two 6L6 power tubes and five 12AX7 preamp tubes; pretty classic. As for the two 12-inch speakers, this amp features a Celestion G12M Greenback and a G12H Anniversary Celestion. This configuration is rather interesting, because you'll be able to get two quite different sounds during recording: nice touch! The Alchemist therefore includes conventional, but quality, components.

In terms of inputs and outputs, there's of course the guitar-in on the front panel, plus two speaker outputs (8/16 Ohms and 4 Ohms) on the back panel. An XLR connection is used to connect a 4-button foot switch (included) to control channels, boost, delay, and reverb. Lastly, there's an FX loop and blend knob. Note that the loop is buffered and non-by passable so the "dry" signal never leaves the amp, so as to not to degrade the signal with an external element.

Mixing the Elements

As for settings, keep in mind that the amplifier provides two channels: the "Gold" channel which is intended to excel at clean and crunch sounds, and the "Mercury" channel, which turns to higher gains. For the first channel there are typical knobs: gain, bass, mid, treble, volume, plus various switches: Clean/Crunch, Bright, and Deep (to add low-mids and bottom-end). Above the Gold/Mercury switch there's a Boost switch which, when applied to the Gold channel, adds gain and thickness (with more low-mids to your sound). On the Mercury channel, the boost adds gain and fattens your sound without necessarily increasing its volume. For this second channel, there are also gain, volume, and EQ knobs but also a Punch switch which, when set to the left, gives a more classic Californian tone, and when set to the right, a more British high-gain tone. The Mid Shift switch will cut mid frequencies.

In terms of effects, the Alchemist features a delay (with a tap delay button that lets you quickly adjust its speed to tempo) with three types: ducking (quick cuts), analog, and tape (tape delay). It's also possible to adjust the number of repetitions via the 'Repeats' knob. The amp also features three reverbs: spring, hall, and plate selectable via the appropriate switch.

Given the number of switches, there should be a lot of sonic "alchemy" possible ... Let's check it out!

The Sound

For starters, you can take a look at Bogner's website, which has many audio samples. You'll hear that the Alchemist sounds great when played with single-coil pickups and slightly overdriven ... It quite nicely reproduces the typical Stratocaster sound and the Nocaster Twang! No problem with crunch sounds and the amp responds well to picking variations (thanks to the tubes ...): a good flick of the wrist gets the Alchemist to crunch in a nice way, tasty! This undoubtedly adds more expressiveness to one's playing. The example with a Les Paul doesn't do justice to this magnificent instrument, its characteristic roundness is missing a little bit...

The samples recorded with a Hamer reveal a rather fat and gritty sound, but slightly muddy, which may please some and annoy others ... It's a matter of taste! This amp is recommended more for fans of stoner rock rather than shredders who usually prefer a very precise and cutting sound. The amp has a tendency to lose definition in the low-mids. You get the impression that it responds more like a vintage amp rather than a modern hi-gain amp.

With regard to my own sound samples, a Gretsch G5129 was used, equipped with DeArmond single coil pickups and a Sennheiser MD421 microphone placed in front of the amp. A tip for mic placement with this amp: there's a wooden bar placed vertically in the center of each speaker, which is convenient as a marker for placing the mics in front of the speaker cones, since the covering is opaque. As I am not permitted to publish on this article links which point to my sound samples, you can check them out on the original Bogner Alchemist article published on en.audiofanzine.com. You can hear a definite difference between the two speakers which in turn multiplies the tone possibilities.

Not too many surprises, the samples confirm what was said above. The delays are pretty classic sounding and can give your sound a nice coloring if used sparingly. Same for the reverts: quite nice sounding and very appropriate for most situations. These sound examples were designed to enable the reader to hear the difference between each switch of the amp.

Bogner set out to make an accessible amp and it seems he's succeeded. We are in the presence of an amplifier that costs less than $1500 (for the 2x12 model) with two channels with very different personalities and two speakers that considerably expand its sonic palette. Add to that a small neo-vintage look, a clean sound that crunches as it should and a fat distorted tone and you get an amp that's built to please.

Conclusion

Of course, those who love to complain will say that it weighs a ton, that you'll need tweezers to tweak the tiny switches, and that it's impossible to get a modern shred-like distortion tone out of it. They wouldn't be wrong. But the Alchemist has personality, and that means it probably won't please everyone ... But what guitar amp does? The big pluses:
A Bogner for less than $1500!
Manufacturing Quality
Good clean/crunch sounds
Two different speakers
A wide range of tone possibilities
The choice of 40 or 20 watts
The look
Quality of the reverb and delay


Drawbacks...
Not easy to carry: heavy and bulky
Switches: small and not easy to get to
Distortion sounds that won't appeal to everyone!
Sarit Bruno manages content and editorial line for Audiofanzine

AudioFanzine offers benchmark testing/reviews of products, software or instruments and articles of a tutorial nature, all of which are systematically illustrated by exclusive videos or audio extracts. Addressing a universal audience, both amateurs and professionals alike, Audiofanzine.com addresses musicians as well as sound engineers, home-studio recording enthusiasts, and audio and lighting engineers.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sarit_Bruno

Bogner Alchemist - Turning Lead Guitar Into Gold

Even from childhood, in his native Germany, Reinhold Bogner was already skillfully welding his soldering iron to create his own guitar amplifiers. After he moved to Los Angeles, his models and amp modifications began to attract famous names from the six-string world including Steve Vai, Steve Stevens, and Eddie Van Halen. So when it was announced that he was putting out an amp made in Line6's factories that would cost less than $1500, it made a big noise.

This new model, called the Alchemist, a handsome-looking 40W tube-amp, is exactly what we'll be testing. It comes in three models: two combos: the first equipped with a 12-inch loudspeaker and the second with two different 12-inch speakers; and an amp head + 2x12 cabinet. This review is about the 2x12 combo model.

It's pretty bulky, (two 12-inch speakers take up a bit of space!) heavy (80 lbs), and has a very nice neo-vintage look to it. Everything looks solid and ready to take a beating. Even though it's manufactured in Line6's shops, it's still a Bogner! Other more expensive models of the brand therefore become "Custom Shop" class. As for looks and finish, the grid, the logo, knobs and small diodes all look well made and give the amp a respectable look. Everything about the amp exudes the quality of the brand.

But let's see if the Alchemist can really transform lead into gold ...

Inside the alembic

One look at the specs is enough to see that it's really got 40-Watts (class-AB power) under the hood, but you can also reduce the power by half. This is very handy when you want to stay in good relations with your neighbors while pushing the amp a little... Careful however, because even at 20 watts, the Alchemist produces some serious sound! As for tubes, it's got two 6L6 power tubes and five 12AX7 preamp tubes; pretty classic. As for the two 12-inch speakers, this amp features a Celestion G12M Greenback and a G12H Anniversary Celestion. This configuration is rather interesting, because you'll be able to get two quite different sounds during recording: nice touch! The Alchemist therefore includes conventional, but quality, components.

In terms of inputs and outputs, there's of course the guitar-in on the front panel, plus two speaker outputs (8/16 Ohms and 4 Ohms) on the back panel. An XLR connection is used to connect a 4-button foot switch (included) to control channels, boost, delay, and reverb. Lastly, there's an FX loop and blend knob. Note that the loop is buffered and non-by passable so the "dry" signal never leaves the amp, so as to not to degrade the signal with an external element.

Mixing the Elements

As for settings, keep in mind that the amplifier provides two channels: the "Gold" channel which is intended to excel at clean and crunch sounds, and the "Mercury" channel, which turns to higher gains. For the first channel there are typical knobs: gain, bass, mid, treble, volume, plus various switches: Clean/Crunch, Bright, and Deep (to add low-mids and bottom-end). Above the Gold/Mercury switch there's a Boost switch which, when applied to the Gold channel, adds gain and thickness (with more low-mids to your sound). On the Mercury channel, the boost adds gain and fattens your sound without necessarily increasing its volume. For this second channel, there are also gain, volume, and EQ knobs but also a Punch switch which, when set to the left, gives a more classic Californian tone, and when set to the right, a more British high-gain tone. The Mid Shift switch will cut mid frequencies.

In terms of effects, the Alchemist features a delay (with a tap delay button that lets you quickly adjust its speed to tempo) with three types: ducking (quick cuts), analog, and tape (tape delay). It's also possible to adjust the number of repetitions via the 'Repeats' knob. The amp also features three reverbs: spring, hall, and plate selectable via the appropriate switch.

Given the number of switches, there should be a lot of sonic "alchemy" possible ... Let's check it out!

The Sound

For starters, you can take a look at Bogner's website, which has many audio samples. You'll hear that the Alchemist sounds great when played with single-coil pickups and slightly overdriven ... It quite nicely reproduces the typical Stratocaster sound and the Nocaster Twang! No problem with crunch sounds and the amp responds well to picking variations (thanks to the tubes ...): a good flick of the wrist gets the Alchemist to crunch in a nice way, tasty! This undoubtedly adds more expressiveness to one's playing. The example with a Les Paul doesn't do justice to this magnificent instrument, its characteristic roundness is missing a little bit...

The samples recorded with a Hamer reveal a rather fat and gritty sound, but slightly muddy, which may please some and annoy others ... It's a matter of taste! This amp is recommended more for fans of stoner rock rather than shredders who usually prefer a very precise and cutting sound. The amp has a tendency to lose definition in the low-mids. You get the impression that it responds more like a vintage amp rather than a modern hi-gain amp.

With regard to my own sound samples, a Gretsch G5129 was used, equipped with DeArmond single coil pickups and a Sennheiser MD421 microphone placed in front of the amp. A tip for mic placement with this amp: there's a wooden bar placed vertically in the center of each speaker, which is convenient as a marker for placing the mics in front of the speaker cones, since the covering is opaque. As I am not permitted to publish on this article links which point to my sound samples, you can check them out on the original Bogner Alchemist article published on en.audiofanzine.com. You can hear a definite difference between the two speakers which in turn multiplies the tone possibilities.

Not too many surprises, the samples confirm what was said above. The delays are pretty classic sounding and can give your sound a nice coloring if used sparingly. Same for the reverts: quite nice sounding and very appropriate for most situations. These sound examples were designed to enable the reader to hear the difference between each switch of the amp.

Bogner set out to make an accessible amp and it seems he's succeeded. We are in the presence of an amplifier that costs less than $1500 (for the 2x12 model) with two channels with very different personalities and two speakers that considerably expand its sonic palette. Add to that a small neo-vintage look, a clean sound that crunches as it should and a fat distorted tone and you get an amp that's built to please.

Conclusion

Of course, those who love to complain will say that it weighs a ton, that you'll need tweezers to tweak the tiny switches, and that it's impossible to get a modern shred-like distortion tone out of it. They wouldn't be wrong. But the Alchemist has personality, and that means it probably won't please everyone ... But what guitar amp does? The big pluses:
A Bogner for less than $1500!
Manufacturing Quality
Good clean/crunch sounds
Two different speakers
A wide range of tone possibilities
The choice of 40 or 20 watts
The look
Quality of the reverb and delay


Drawbacks...
Not easy to carry: heavy and bulky
Switches: small and not easy to get to
Distortion sounds that won't appeal to everyone!
Sarit Bruno manages content and editorial line for Audiofanzine

AudioFanzine offers benchmark testing/reviews of products, software or instruments and articles of a tutorial nature, all of which are systematically illustrated by exclusive videos or audio extracts. Addressing a universal audience, both amateurs and professionals alike, Audiofanzine.com addresses musicians as well as sound engineers, home-studio recording enthusiasts, and audio and lighting engineers.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sarit_Bruno