puddinstone
01-07-2009, 12:43 PM
I just bought a new Samamp V.A.C 25 and have been putting it through it's paces at the rehearsal space besides my Matchless. This is the first new amp I've bought in sometime but because, it's from a small builder (very few used ones) and because I wanted to support my local shop, I choose to buy it new....well that and the fact that it sounds great!
For those of you who don't know this is a 25 watt amp with a VAC control using light bulbs to control wattage. The settings are 25, 18, 11, 5, and 3 watts. The most obvious change when choosing these settings are an increase distortion (increase in harmonics/overdrive) and compression (or "sag" as some like to call it). Though there is a volume decrease it's not as much as you would think.
My amp has a Jenson Neo (jet...tornado model). It's very light for an amp this size, I'm sure, partly due to the neo. This amp has the most features of any amp I've had in quite some time but it's quite refreshing having this range of sounds from one amp. I can get a sparkly clean all the way up to ranging metal distortion (much more then I would ever need). On several of the knobs there are push/pull switches for adjusting certain aspects of the amp. The 2 I find most useful are the "voice" and "eq" switches. I feel like these can take the amp from Vox-y to more Marshall-y. More sparkle or more middle range punch. I played this amp looking for something more in the marshall range but something not too far away from my Matchless. This fits the bill perfectly!!
I think when I was looking to buy my Matchless had this amp been around I would have seriously thought twice about dropping the cash that I did. For $1500 new (after tax) this amp makes my jaw drop. I have not played an amp recently that I've been this excited about.
I have no affilation with Samamp and bought this amp new. I really think this is a great amp given the features, price, weight, and most importantly, the sound!
For those of you who don't know this is a 25 watt amp with a VAC control using light bulbs to control wattage. The settings are 25, 18, 11, 5, and 3 watts. The most obvious change when choosing these settings are an increase distortion (increase in harmonics/overdrive) and compression (or "sag" as some like to call it). Though there is a volume decrease it's not as much as you would think.
My amp has a Jenson Neo (jet...tornado model). It's very light for an amp this size, I'm sure, partly due to the neo. This amp has the most features of any amp I've had in quite some time but it's quite refreshing having this range of sounds from one amp. I can get a sparkly clean all the way up to ranging metal distortion (much more then I would ever need). On several of the knobs there are push/pull switches for adjusting certain aspects of the amp. The 2 I find most useful are the "voice" and "eq" switches. I feel like these can take the amp from Vox-y to more Marshall-y. More sparkle or more middle range punch. I played this amp looking for something more in the marshall range but something not too far away from my Matchless. This fits the bill perfectly!!
I think when I was looking to buy my Matchless had this amp been around I would have seriously thought twice about dropping the cash that I did. For $1500 new (after tax) this amp makes my jaw drop. I have not played an amp recently that I've been this excited about.
I have no affilation with Samamp and bought this amp new. I really think this is a great amp given the features, price, weight, and most importantly, the sound!