jimmyohio75
12-15-2011, 01:00 PM
I am a raging gear whore! (mainly just amps) This cannot be disputed. I go through amps faster than Kim Kardashian goes through husbands!
Here are my latest conquests. First some background. I am the lead (and only) guitarist in a hard rock power trio. We play original stuff along the lines of Clutch. Hear our stuff here:
www.reverbnation.com/hawkinshill (http://www.reverbnation.com/hawkinshill)
I don't like dirt pedals for gain. Most I have used suck the bass away and leave you thin and lifeless. My quest for high gain amps began three years ago. Many of the usual suspects have evaded me due to cost issues. I have not owned any Soldano, Mesa, Splawn, Diezel or any other amp costing more than $1200. I have owned Egnater, Orange, Twister, Marshall and a few Vox. After three years of gigs, practices and basic home jamming there are 2 things that I have determined. 1) I don't like lugging around heavy shit. This eliminates all Marshall full box heads as well as any combos that weigh over 55 pounds. I currently own 2 speaker cabs. One 2x12 ADA cab from the mid 80's with greenbacks and 1 Avatar Vintage 1x12 with a Hellatone 60. I also decided that I don't like to constantly transport gear back and forth to our practice space which is a huge warehouse that my drummer owns. After lots of experience with various Orange amps I knew that I had to have an Orange because I just love the crunchy British flavor that Orange amps produce. I will use the Orange for band practice and most gigs. I got the Jet City on a whim to use for home practice. By the way I am a full fledged LES PAUL guy and I won't play any other guitar!! Now the reviews:
Orange Dual Terror: First off I have to thank BrettK7 from Eddie's Guitars. This is my third Orange amp bought through them and they are awesome! I love this amp!! I have owned a Tiny Terror as well as the new TH30 and I like the Dual Terror better than both of them. The TH30 had too much gain (if there is such a thing). The TH30 seemed too smooth and had a tendency to get fizzy whereas the Dual Terror is a bit chunkier and punchier IMO. The DT has 2 channels. The Tiny Terror channel which is exactly like the regular Tiny Terror and the "Fat" Channel which adds quite a bit of gain and thickness to the sound. I use the Fat channel for chunky rhythm and palm muted stuff and I kick in the Tiny Terror channel for leads. The articulation and harmonic quality to the high gain sounds of this head are awesome. It is exactly what I hear in my head. I was very surprised with the clean sounds from this amp. It is very chimey and articulate. It won't rival a Fender clean but it's good enough for me because my band plays nothing clean! The ability to switch from 7, 15 to 30 watts is great too! The master volume on this thing is incredible and it is easy to get high gain sounds at bedroom volume. Orange makes some of the best master volumes I have heard. Based on my history of gear whoring I know none of you will believe this but "this amp is a keeper"!
Jet City JCA22H
Based on the fact that I got this unit brand new from MF for $269 (long story) I have to say that this is the best "bang for the buck" money I have ever spent on guitar gear! This thing surprised the hell out of me. This thing cost less than half of what I paid for the Dual Terror but it sounds very close. The JC actually has more gain on tap than the Orange. There's a ton of gain. The first channel (crunch channel) is based on the JCA20H (which I owned for about a week) but this thing blows the JCA20H away! The crunch channel is great for mid gain and edge of breakup sounds. The second channel, called the "overdrive" chanel is pure balls to the walls chaos. It is based on the famous Soldano SLO gain channel. This channel absolutely rips your face off. I love it. This will be a nice home practice amp that I could easily gig with if I want a change from the Dual Terror. Anyone that wants a high gain amp for little money MUST get one of these. I would put this thig up against most of the higher cost stuff I have played. This is a great amp. By the way, the FOOTSWITCH was included with the amp!!! Nice touch Jet City!! Way to use common sense, something that other higher priced companies seem to lack.
I also just bought (big Xmas bonus this year) a Zoom Q3 audio/video recorder. If I can get this thing working maybe I can add some video and audio of these amps to my review. In summary both of these amps kick ass (am I allowed to say "kick ass" at 42 years old?)
Here are some real bad cell phone pics:
http://i642.photobucket.com/albums/uu144/james149/dualterror.jpg
http://i642.photobucket.com/albums/uu144/james149/jetcity.jpg
Here are my latest conquests. First some background. I am the lead (and only) guitarist in a hard rock power trio. We play original stuff along the lines of Clutch. Hear our stuff here:
www.reverbnation.com/hawkinshill (http://www.reverbnation.com/hawkinshill)
I don't like dirt pedals for gain. Most I have used suck the bass away and leave you thin and lifeless. My quest for high gain amps began three years ago. Many of the usual suspects have evaded me due to cost issues. I have not owned any Soldano, Mesa, Splawn, Diezel or any other amp costing more than $1200. I have owned Egnater, Orange, Twister, Marshall and a few Vox. After three years of gigs, practices and basic home jamming there are 2 things that I have determined. 1) I don't like lugging around heavy shit. This eliminates all Marshall full box heads as well as any combos that weigh over 55 pounds. I currently own 2 speaker cabs. One 2x12 ADA cab from the mid 80's with greenbacks and 1 Avatar Vintage 1x12 with a Hellatone 60. I also decided that I don't like to constantly transport gear back and forth to our practice space which is a huge warehouse that my drummer owns. After lots of experience with various Orange amps I knew that I had to have an Orange because I just love the crunchy British flavor that Orange amps produce. I will use the Orange for band practice and most gigs. I got the Jet City on a whim to use for home practice. By the way I am a full fledged LES PAUL guy and I won't play any other guitar!! Now the reviews:
Orange Dual Terror: First off I have to thank BrettK7 from Eddie's Guitars. This is my third Orange amp bought through them and they are awesome! I love this amp!! I have owned a Tiny Terror as well as the new TH30 and I like the Dual Terror better than both of them. The TH30 had too much gain (if there is such a thing). The TH30 seemed too smooth and had a tendency to get fizzy whereas the Dual Terror is a bit chunkier and punchier IMO. The DT has 2 channels. The Tiny Terror channel which is exactly like the regular Tiny Terror and the "Fat" Channel which adds quite a bit of gain and thickness to the sound. I use the Fat channel for chunky rhythm and palm muted stuff and I kick in the Tiny Terror channel for leads. The articulation and harmonic quality to the high gain sounds of this head are awesome. It is exactly what I hear in my head. I was very surprised with the clean sounds from this amp. It is very chimey and articulate. It won't rival a Fender clean but it's good enough for me because my band plays nothing clean! The ability to switch from 7, 15 to 30 watts is great too! The master volume on this thing is incredible and it is easy to get high gain sounds at bedroom volume. Orange makes some of the best master volumes I have heard. Based on my history of gear whoring I know none of you will believe this but "this amp is a keeper"!
Jet City JCA22H
Based on the fact that I got this unit brand new from MF for $269 (long story) I have to say that this is the best "bang for the buck" money I have ever spent on guitar gear! This thing surprised the hell out of me. This thing cost less than half of what I paid for the Dual Terror but it sounds very close. The JC actually has more gain on tap than the Orange. There's a ton of gain. The first channel (crunch channel) is based on the JCA20H (which I owned for about a week) but this thing blows the JCA20H away! The crunch channel is great for mid gain and edge of breakup sounds. The second channel, called the "overdrive" chanel is pure balls to the walls chaos. It is based on the famous Soldano SLO gain channel. This channel absolutely rips your face off. I love it. This will be a nice home practice amp that I could easily gig with if I want a change from the Dual Terror. Anyone that wants a high gain amp for little money MUST get one of these. I would put this thig up against most of the higher cost stuff I have played. This is a great amp. By the way, the FOOTSWITCH was included with the amp!!! Nice touch Jet City!! Way to use common sense, something that other higher priced companies seem to lack.
I also just bought (big Xmas bonus this year) a Zoom Q3 audio/video recorder. If I can get this thing working maybe I can add some video and audio of these amps to my review. In summary both of these amps kick ass (am I allowed to say "kick ass" at 42 years old?)
Here are some real bad cell phone pics:
http://i642.photobucket.com/albums/uu144/james149/dualterror.jpg
http://i642.photobucket.com/albums/uu144/james149/jetcity.jpg