New department

New from the Blackstar camp - Department 10 tube laden pedals. Some of us had been through Blackstar's initial foray of tube pedals, the HT series. Those were quite a hit when they first debuted but they did not really latched onto any pedal geek's long term interest. This is the subsequent tube in a pedal adventure & they went one up by turning it into a speaker / mic emulator as well if you are into DAWs & stuff. The range consists of a boost, overdrive & distortion unit in the mean time. McRocklin here will show you the dynamics of one of them:

Pic: Blackstaramps

Obscure king

There was a recent hype of tube-infused drive/distortion pedals. OK, it's not that recent (like a decade ago or so) but it's there. Ibanez was in that bandwagon & the Tube King Distortion here is proof. I couldn't see where the manufacturer was going with this series (yes, there's the Overdrive version which I didn't bother with) of pedals because it was a let down in terms of practicality. The overall size & weight were wrong; it's just plain bulky & heavy, compounded by the fact that the features were 'creatively' laid out in a diamond orientation. The plus factor here remains to be tone. It might be the tube factor contributing to midrange presence & warmth, maybe aggression to a certain degree but it's something we've heard before even without tube technology in the system. In today's context, names like Positive Grid, Friedman & Wampler among others, got this covered without the extra tube inclusion. Keeping this one for nostalgia's sake. Anyway, bought this at a clearance price during one of Swee Lee's year end sale which doesn't happen any more, of course. 

Laney: Desktop ironing

This is the talk of town now- Laney's Ironheart Pulse. It's a desktop interface (nothing new) but it features Laney's acclaimed Ironheart drive & those are indeed caged-up pre-amp tubes; the ECC83. In addition to the digital applications, this pedal will double up as your proverbial booster but keep in mind that it needs its isolated power supply. 

Digital interfaces, tube-laden pre-amp boosters- these ideas aren't new but we acknowledge the fact that Laney has added its own signature to the fold. It's a matter of convincing us, players, it'll do good to our tone rather than clutter our boards.

Selling: Kustom Defender 5H

5W tube head, clean channel only. Great for your pedal indulgence :-)

• Selling: Kustom Defender 5H (power cable included)
• Condition: 8.5/10
• Self-collect: CCK mrt stn
• No reservations/ trades
• Queries/ confirmation: subversion.sg@gmail.com
• Price: $100 (final)

Vaporizer (Fender content)

This is a new one by Fender, its very retro looking Vaporizer amp. It hails from the Pawn Shop series of gear so it has a good mix of retro vibe as well as a contemporary feel so nothing feels old. Just a tasty back-dating to proceedings.

The Vaporizer is a 12W all tube amp featuring a pair of 10" drivers as seen here. It may not be your thing if you are a fan of the 12" but Fender's 10", especially featured as a couple, has some of the tastiest cleans around so don't dismiss it just yet.

Simple set of controls would make you more focused on your playing, yes? The 2-input feature here further underscores the fact that it's made for some pleasant cleans.

MI Audio: Flex Smartamp

Come 2013, MI Audio will have this amp as their flagship release; it's a hybrid digi-tube amp.

The amp face you see there is actually a touch screen which functions like the controls of an ordinary amp (duh!) except there's no turning of knobs, all touch & tap. This is the digital section of the amp, it also allows the user to custom set/ pick their amps of choice, coming up with their own unique concoction along the way. I think we're familiar with this nature of amp voicing if we subscribe to iOS technology. 

However, the manufacturer reminds users that the Flex is an 'all-analog path' tube amp leaving only the controls being triggered by digital responses. The dichotomy all along had been the digital technology interference with the traditional tube amp voicings, tampering it in such a way that the output becomes a very calculated response lacking in dynamics & real-time chemistry. 

OK, let 2013 come & we'd see if this freshie is up to the mark, no use being bought in by the sales pitch.

Sold: Killer Ant stack (1W)

Greetings everyone :-) I have some amplifier revision in the works, I am clearing away my Black Heart Killer Ant stack. Don't let the 'stack' overwhelm you, it's a mere 1W amp, strictly clean channel only, featuring a solitary volume knob- that's it. There's nothing wrong with the amp (duh!), in fact, it's in mint condition. The picture above shows how big the stack is, in perspective (compared to the 'standard' half stack like the Marshall there). Remember, it's the whole stack, I'm not selling the head/ cab individually). My Malaysian friends, you know what to do if you are interested, yes?

• Selling: Black Heart Killer Ant stack (all tube 1W head + 1x12" cab- Eminence driver)
• Condition: 9/10
• No box provided
• No reservations/ No trades
• Strictly self-collect (collection addr to be disclosd upon confirmation)
• Further queries/ confirmation: dark1349@hotmail.com
• Final price: $350/ RM874

APOLOGIES: No testing... so sorry.

You will be ignored if you ask the following questions:

• Is the amp working?
• Any last price?
• Why are you selling it off?

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Amp SOLD as at 11 Oct 2012- thanks to all interested parties

Solidstate vs tube

It's rather baffling why I even considered another solidstate MG head when I currently own a full tube JVM unit. In amplifier kingdom, tube is king, anything less is simply scum of the earth. Well, that's the mentality when it comes to amplification & the majority embrace of the tube tone.

Is the tube tone really superior to the solidstate technology? The warmth we hear from the former is no contest for the latter, especially in the clean domain. The solidstate technology is, to put it simply, too rigid & lifeless to be appealing to the common ears. This is especially true of amplifiers in the 1980s but technology had come a long way. Manufacturers today (at least the ones who bothered) make sure their more affordable alternatives, always in the form of their non-tube offerings, are on par with their ear candy counterparts. In this light, I believe Peavey & Marshall are moving their soildstate affairs in the right strides.

I've played many amplifiers along the way, the tube superiority is undeniable but I have come to respect the solidstate tone manifestation in terms of clarity especially if one dabbles in guitar solos excessively, quite what I am indulging in since I embraced the amplified guitar tone. This is not an attempt to alleviate the non-tube tones into glory but I must say this tonal manifestation is much different from the tube sound. I've learned to appreciate the tube & solidstate offerings separately & not embrace one to repudiate the other. I make it a point to judge an amplifier based on what I hear per se, devoid of its preferred background or featured brand name. Despite treading the same turf, the tube & solidstate amplifiers serve us differently in essence, this we always forget.

Just because I own the JVM, the MG should not be a de facto repulsion. I am not too keen with Marshall's MG product range, really, but I made it a point to check them out since they were revised recently. To put it simply, the tones are more organic & worth the consideration.

PRS 30W combo amp

It's a fresh involvement for PRS in the amplifier turf but the manufacturer has this 30W combo to appease us bedroom tone buffs. These days, if you don't cater to the different spectrum of players out there, chances are, your coffers wouldn't be as filled up as your adversaries but let's not see this move as a commercial gambit by the manufacturer per se, especially before we hear the product in person...

Marshall: MA series

We recall how productive the situation had been for Marshall amps of late with the (rather) recent introduction of the Haze/ Class 5 models. Well, the MA series are now the latest in the manufacturer's catalogue.

It's also offered in the head format. So what's the big deal, really? The MA series promise to be the most affordable Marshall amp Marshall has to offer so there're no reasons why everyone out there shouldn't own an all tube Marshall tone at home. Now that's a good thought.

Behringer: VT911

The Behringer VT911 is equipped with a single 12AX7 pre-amp tube. Upon activation, try as you might but you can't see the tube glowing in the pedal's innards. This raises the question; is the tube in there working?

Yes it is, but the tube is wired not to glow as evidence of its operation. Part of the reason I bought this pedal was to hear tonal differences upon a tube swap, this would be a better consolation of functionality than seeing some visual indicators. True enough, there was tonal differences, albeit minor, when this procedure took place (default Chinese tube made way for an EHX 12AX7).

There are other manufacturers out there who equip their tube laden products (Eg: Rocktron for its Silver Dragon distortion pedal, Zoom for their G-series multi-FX units) with a small, rear bulb which would light up upon the pedal's activation, to emulate a tube glow. No, you are not short-changed because the tube is functional. Manufacturers do not want owners to be alarmed with a no-glow situation the reason this arrangement was adopted.