Any word, dislike, like, for B-52 amps?

[SuperReverb2]

http://www.b-52stealthseries.com/AT100.html

One of the guys that went to NAMM said this was one GREAT sounding amp for a VERY cheap price. I know B-52 has been around for a while, but a search of The Gear Page pullled up ziltch. Any thoughts, comments, etc., would be greatly appreciated as the owner is thinking of bringing this line into the store. PA's as well....



Thanks

Chuck

http://www.b-52stealthseries.com/ST6012.html

Combo as well....

[aleclee]

I thought about buying one as a backup about a year ago but it left me flat. IMO, it's a cheap high-gain tube amp. Nothing more, nothing less.

It has a lot of features at a favorable price point and, unlike most amps in its segment you could actually dial out the buzz. The clean channel is about what you'd expect in a budget gain machine.

As for whether the store should bring 'em in, I dunno. My local GC stocks 'em out so that could affect things in terms of local competition. Also, I'm not sure who comprises the target market. I'd guess it's aimed at kids but don't know why someone that price conscious would choose it over a DMA.

I guess it also depends on the volume allowed at the store. It might do well if folks could A/B it next to a DMA at "real" volume.

[SuperReverb2]

Thanks, I appreciate the response. The guy that tried the amp at NAMM is a pretty decent player, but his tastes in music (tone) are VERY different from mine. I agree that the "target" market would most likely be kids that want a TUBE amp at cheap (er) prices, but I was actually hoping that this amp wouldn't be another one of "those" amps.

Thanks

Chuck

They should ship 'em with 5881s, which were in the original B-52!

[SuperReverb2]

[michael.e]

These amps were made initially for GC specifically. The newest version sounds about as good as a Blue Voodoo. Decent sounding amps, I am sure that they are made pretty crapily tho....M.E.

[kmanick]

I went shopping for a combo last week and tried these.
Peavey 6150
Peavey JSX
Marshall JCM 900 Hi gain reverb
The JSX was in the lead, when I walked into GC and said what's
that and the sales guy said the B-52 AT 212 combo.
this thing completely smoked the JCM, and sounded so close to the JSX that it ended up coming home with me.
I don't know about their other products but their AT 212 combo completely kicks ass. I even got it on sale and got an amazing trade in on my Line 6 Flextone Plus II. (the manager was a friend of my buddys drummer) (ended up costing me close to nothing)
I still have till the end of the month to decide it I want to keep it but so far I am loving it
great range of tones you an get out of this.
And thru a marshall 1960Av top it sounds amazing!

[heybulldog]

this is what i remember from my time at gc. the b52 pro audio stacked up favorably against cerwin vega and jbl. we kinda felt tube guitar stuff was good value for the money and the thing that sticks with me is, i don t remember any of it being returned. thats something i cant say about line 6, vox valvetronix and suprise-mesa boogie.

I played one the B-52 AT-100 Tri-Mode Rectifier at Guitar Center and it freakin' blew my mind. One of the guys who worked there asked me to come over with my EMG equipped Ibanez and check out this amp and he actually cranked it for me. My GOD, the entire store was shaking! The clean channel was acceptible for such a high gain amp and the distortion just has balls on top of balls. The amp is also pretty versatile with some EQing. I was able to get everything from soft rock tones to the heaviest death metal tones. The biggest selling point for this amp is the cost. You owe it to yourself to check one out at GC and MAKE SURE that they let you crank it. If they won't let you out on the floor then ask one of the people to take the head into the vault and hook it up to one of the cabs in there.

[kmanick]

UPdate to my original response.
Well I ended up keeping the B-52 combo, and since then I have scored a 5150 combo off of EBay and I'm running these 2 combos in stereo. It's like a huge wall of sound!
The B-52's seem to be pretty fragile though. I had to bring mine back because the low input jack went dead, but they swapped it for a new one in a box, no questions ask (even after my 30 day period expired)
sounds great even at low practice volumes. Put an MXR 10 band Eq into the loop and it really brings it alive even more.
I'm going to put a set of matching JJ's in there down the road,
I'm thinking it will really sound killer then.
Nice amps, but I'm questioning the reliability of them. I'm sure a lot of the parts used internally are cheap and could be an issue down the road.
If I had to play a gig I would take the 5150 and leave this one at home.
The 5150 is a bull and I wouldn't worry about that one shitting the bed on me as much as I would the B-52.

Oh and I've been playing on and off since 1975 so I don't want anyone to think that I'm some kid in the "Target" audience that you've decided on, that can't afford a "real" amp. I've owned just about everything under the sun except a couple of the boutique amps and I'm still pretty impressed with the range of tones I can get out of this thing.
This will probably end up being a really nice practice amp (because it does sound really good at low volumes) that is capable of doing a lot more if I need it too.

[JohnnyGtar]

I was the product development manager for B-52 and I developed the AT-100. I can assure you that it is not crappily made. Very heavy duty construction & massive transformers, etc.

Best regards,

Johnny

Originally Posted by michael.e

These amps were made initially for GC specifically. The newest version sounds about as good as a Blue Voodoo. Decent sounding amps, I am sure that they are made pretty crapily tho....M.E.

[ericb]

Originally Posted by SuperReverb2

Thanks, I appreciate the response. The guy that tried the amp at NAMM is a pretty decent player, but his tastes in music (tone) are VERY different from mine. I agree that the "target" market would most likely be kids that want a TUBE amp at cheap (er) prices, but I was actually hoping that this amp wouldn't be another one of "those" amps.

Thanks

Chuck

I heard 2 guys in a Guitar Center in Albany using them a few weeks ago .. 1 was a salesman. The sounds I heard were the cheesiest distortion I've ever heard this side of a Rocktron Rampage pedal or a Boss Metal Zone dialed in by someone who doesn't know how to use the controls on the Metal Zone.... My disclaimer is I didn't dial it in , and I can dial in pretty much any amp to sound ok. ONCE AGAIN , this is NOT a very valuable obsservation to anyone as it wasn't ME dialing it in ,but I figured I'd post it. Typically I'm an advocate of cheaper amps. I have heard and played lower end Line6's that sound UNBELIEVABLE compared to this, but these guys had no clue how to dial them in. I just read the posts above from the designer and other guys who liked them , so just like I said, mine was an observation only , and not even worthy of an opinion at this poiNT!!!! ERIC

[baron55]

From my information, Bruce Engater actually designed the circuits of those amps. One reason they sound pretty good.

[electronpirate]

I smell sticker-price snobbery here.

I played one, and I thought it sounded better than the Blue Voodoo. For the price point, I thought it was VERY good deal for what you were getting.

EP

[aleclee]

Originally Posted by electronpirate

I played one, and I thought it sounded better than the Blue Voodoo.

Faint praise in my book.

Seriously, if you're into that flavor of high gain, knock yourself out. I spent about half an hour with a B52 trying to convince myself that it would be a great backup amp. I couldn't. I'm not saying it's a bad amp but I couldn't bring myself to pay four bills or whatever pittance they were asking for the amp. I just didn't care for the way it sounded.

If someone likes the way it sounds, it's a bargain. For someone like me who tried it and didn't like it, it's a dust collector at any price.