#169262  by Jon S.
 
Thank you so much (especially as I know I strayed from Jerry's riffs and tones in my clip).

I'm finally at least in the queue now for my first Covid shot though it's yet to be scheduled. But hope is on the horizon. When all of this is finally under control, perhaps a jam somewhere will be possible. If it's by me, I presently have 3 full Jerry rigs, PA with mics, bass gear, and a drum kit in my finished basement ready for action. 8)
wpmartin1979 liked this
 #169264  by wpmartin1979
 
I’m all about taking what Jerry did and doing your own thing with it!! Who knows what he would have been doing/sounding like if he would have stuck around longer!

I wish I still lived in Cali so I could jam with you guys. I lived in West Sonoma County Forestville/Guerneville out on the Russian River for a long time, but had too many kids and needed a bigger house, lol!! Now I’m in Wisco, where my wife grew up. Nice and quiet out here though!
 #169266  by Jon S.
 
I live in Fairfax, Virginia. But my wife's family are in SOCAL and NOCAL so (hopefully soon again) I visit CA often.
wpmartin1979, cyrusj83 liked this
 #169271  by lbpesq
 
We’re across the Bay from S.F. I’ve got several guitar amps, a bass rig, drum kit and PA downstairs. Next time you find yourself in Norcal, let’s make some noise!

Bill, tgo
 #169273  by Jon S.
 
Since this thread is becoming a compilation of both pedal size preamps and power amps, two more honorable mentions:

Demeter TGA-1-180D Mighty Minnie (not a pedal but still small enough for a 'board) https://www.demeteramps.com/index.php?r ... duct_id=95

Taurus Stomp-Head 5.CE http://www.taurus-amp.pl/guitar/stomp-h ... -5-ce.html
wpmartin1979 liked this
 #169279  by wpmartin1979
 
Jon S. wrote: Wed Jan 20, 2021 8:51 am Since this thread is becoming a compilation of both pedal size preamps and power amps, two more honorable mentions:

Taurus Stomp-Head 5.CE http://www.taurus-amp.pl/guitar/stomp-h ... -5-ce.html
Those look sweet!!!! The Taurus looks like a one stop shop.

Here’s a couple more affordable options as well:

Carvin Mach 100
https://carvinaudio.com/products/mach10 ... -amplifier

Seymour Duncan Power Stage 170
https://www.seymourduncan.com/single-pr ... rstage-170

Mooer Tube Engine 20
http://m.mooeraudio.com/product/Tube-Engine-202.html

Mooer Baby Bomb
http://m.mooeraudio.com/product/Baby-Bomb--54.html
 #169283  by wpmartin1979
 
So I don’t mind doing some buying/selling in pursuit of the chase ... this is fun for me and gets me away from my “adult”responsibilities for a minute every day during this wisco winter. The market is strong right now on Reverb.
That being said, given the absence of user reviews on this thread I’ve decided to take this into my own hands. When the dust settles and the smoke clears I will end up with a top notch highly portable Jerry tone rig.

I will be offering my reviews of the following:

Preamps:
Mad Professor Super Black
Shift Line Twin MKII
Joyo American Sound + Sweet Baby Overdrive (affordable option to the Super black?)
Mooer Two Stone

Carvin Mach 100 Power Amp

Look for these reviews over the next few weeks and please feel free to chime in and share your own experience with these products.
strumminsix liked this
 #169284  by wpmartin1979
 
Review #1 - Mad Professor Super Black > Boing! J Rocket Spring Reverb > Carvin Mach 100 > JBL K120

Over the past few days I've had the pleasure of tinkering with the Super Black from Mad Professor. It is a faithful reproduction of a Fender Blackface preamp flanked by the smooth goodness of their famous Sweet Honey Overdrive. All this in the size of a compact pedal.
The unit doesn't have reverb, so you'll need to compliment this pedal with your favorite reverb pedal. I chose the Boing! from J Rocket as it is a faithful recreation of a Fender accutronics reverb unit. It is a great spring reverb that doesn't try to do too much and doesn't get in the way of anything. The Mad Professor is going into the Boing, which is going into a Carvin Mach 100 pedal sized power amp, which plugs into a 1X12 cab JBL K120.

The Carvin is a 50W x2 power amp that is the size of a pedal. It produces a very transparent and powerful signal straight to your speaker cab. You can run it at 50W into a single cab or 50W x2 into two cabs. I'm not sure if it can be "bridged" as the manual doesn't say anything about it, but the 50W into the one JBL speaker is plenty loud for home use and would be fine for gigging with a mic in my opinion. I am only using the power amp at half volume and it is super loud and clear.

Now back to the Mad Professor. All I can say is, WOW! My first impression was to ask myself, "what have I been missing?!" I didn't realize that something like this was possible. Having a FYD TRP preamp, I am easily able to compare what the real thing should sound like, and let me tell you, this little guy comes really close. Going into the Carvin, I have the settings pretty much the same as I have them on the FYD, with the Treble all the way up, the bass all the way down and the Midrange at around 4 (10 o clock). I have the presence at around 3 o clock, the gain all the way down and the volume at noon. SOUNDS LIKE A FENDER TWIN!!!!
I found that using the volume knob on my guitar came in handy to switch between rythym and lead tones (without using the overdrive). So I set up the pedal so that with the guitar volume on 10 I could get some nice sparkly lead tones, then I am able to dial the volume back to 7 on the guitar and get the perfect levels for strumming.
But the true magic of the Super Black happens when you kick on the overdrive. The Sweet Honey is perfect for Jerry Lead tones. It doesn't sound that great with the preamp side off, but MAN with the preamp and the overdrive both engaged you can really hit the sweet spot for Jerry lead tones. Its the stuff dreams are made of!
I know this sounds like high praise, but this little guy deserves it. This is the closest thing to "Jerry in a box" that I have come across. I used my Strat with Voodoo 69s and Stratoblaster, as well as my Eastwood Tiger with DiMarzio Super 2 split middle and my Carvin with DGN JG Single middle coil pickup. In all three cases the unique tone of the guitar was able to shine through and make its own mark on the tone.
The only drawback to this setup is the absence of tubes. The more I played, the less it bothered me and I found myself getting lost in the goodness of the tone and the amazement that this small footprint was creating something so substantially great. But when I went back to the FYD/Mosvalve later that night, the tube goodness of the FYD washed over me and it made me realize that tubes really offer something that the Super Black cannot offer.

That said, for $225 - $275, I would highly recommend the Super Black. Go ahead and sell all your other overdrive pedals. Screw it, go ahead and sell all your amps. Pick yourself up a Carvin Mach 100 and a Mad Professor Super Black with a 1x12 JBL cab and call it a day! Or just plug the Super Black into your favorite power amp and give it a try. It may not be an FYD or an SMS, but it does deliver the goods in a format that fits into the palm of your hands.

In my next review I will be looking at the Shift Line Twin MKII, which is supposed to bring the goodness of a Twin Reverb in a pedal sized package, but this time through a tube. I am looking forward to giving this one a go. Also, I will be looking at the Joyo American Sound for those budget minded heads and seeing how it stacks up to the Super Black when paired with the Joyo Sweet Baby (clone of the Sweet Honey). The American Sound and Sweet Baby can be bought for around $60 (for both pedals!).
 #169285  by Jon S.
 
>> Screw it, go ahead and sell all your amps.

Yikes, by starting this thread I've created a monster!!

:lol:

>> The only drawback to this setup is the absence of tubes.

If it truly nails the sought-after tones, I'd call this not a drawback but a plus.
wpmartin1979, brbadg liked this
 #169286  by wpmartin1979
 
Jon S. wrote: Sat Jan 23, 2021 8:22 am >> Screw it, go ahead and sell all your amps.

Yikes, by starting this thread I've created a monster!!

:lol:

>> The only drawback to this setup is the absence of tubes.

If it truly nails the sought-after tones, I'd call this not a drawback but a plus.
I’d say it nails the tone but without the warmth/depth of what tubes provide (this could become an issue at super high volumes, not sure)
I know I sound enthusiastic, but that is my nature. After all, that’s what got me into the Dead and eventually on Cheese tour.
Disclaimer: my review is subjective and I am somewhat a novice in this category compared to the elders on this site. I am, however a skeptic by nature and am always willing to question anything in pursuit of the truth.
Also, I avoided doing a video because camera speakers just don’t do justice to discerning nuances of tone. I do have recording capabilities and a sure m57, but am not familiar with how to create and/or upload sound clips...sorry.
 #169287  by gdrfk1990
 
I use the suncoast f2p. I spoke with the builder he said it's a clone of the Alembic f2b(dual showman BF Circuit) on channel 1 and channel 2 is a Bassman circuit. It gets a great tone..
http://www.suncoastanalog.com/F2p%20Tube%20Preamp.htm

I am curious about the effectrode it claims to be a BF circuit with a line out and a cab sim. as well. So you could send it into a power amp or right into the board / DAW ..

I send mine into a quilter 101 mini head and use a Wampler faux reverb for reverb > k120 it's an extremely portable rig.

I wouldn't get anything without a 12ax7... in the words of Brad No Tube No Tone...
wpmartin1979 liked this
 #169288  by lbpesq
 
I’ll be interested to hear about the Mooers. I’ve looked at them for a while, but was overwhelmed by the options ... I think they have something like 20-30 different amp versions! I’ve tried and sold the EHX 44 Magnum and Quilter Microblock power amp pedals. Both seemed more tuned for hard rock/distortion. The Vox MV50 mini amp was cool, it employs a miniature tube, but not enough clean headroom. (I’m always looking for a mini rig to use both for a backup and grab ‘n go jams).

The newer Quilter Interblock 45 looks interesting, but I don’t know anyone who has tried one yet.

My two bitches about these small units are 1) lack of reverb, and 2) honking big power supplies. I looked at the Carvin 100 pedal and the power supply looks bigger than the pedal itself! (Same problem with the Vox MV50).

These days, my small rig is a Quilter 101 Mini Reverb which I really like. I recently picked up a DV Mark Micro 50 II which I’ll be comparing to the Quilter when I get the time.

Bill, tgo
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