Chrissy
Member
- Messages
- 974
Ive had my new Komet 60 for a week now. Had a couple of long sessions at my rehearsal space at gig volume so heres a preliminary review
On receiving this (extremely well-packed) amp I must say its a stunner quality-wise. I have or had about 10 different custom shop or boutique amps and this is right up there with the best. The tolexing is perfect (I chose black with a white V and silver control face-plates for a classic look) and the little details like the finish of the chassis and the threaded bolts for the back of the head cab, the bias point and pot are great. Smells good too, which is important for an amp I think!
I tried the K60 with a Germino 2x12 with Reissue Greenbacks (I know that might not be a good idea in the long run but my 4x12 slant with Heritage Greenbacks wont be here for a week) and an Orange 4x12 with V30 - not the ideal speaker for this amp, but safer when I wanted to hear the Komet cranked! I used an R7 Murphy with Tom Holmes pickups, Tone Pros aluminium tailpiece and Relic Nocaster with stock pickups and Callaham saddles. All cables (instrument, speaker and power) wer Evidence.
First off, regarding the ever-present volume discussion regarding the K60: Whilst its surely not gonna be a practise amp and I wouldnt try and crank it in a pub with people 6 feet from the speaker, its not THAT loud. Compared to my Orange Retro 50 with the master full up (also a 2x EL34 amp) its very similar volume-wise. Even compared to my Germino Classic 45 thru the 2x12 the difference is not that great (I run the Germino with the volume on 2-3 oclock).
First off, heres what I like in an amp. It should be able to set a base tone that is a chewy, full crunch when hit hard, cleans up just thru picking lightly to on the edge tone and goes clean via the guitar volume. Must have good string to string definition, bass should be tight enough that my neck HB on my Les Paul still goes bing on the low e when played clean-ish (no mud), have chewy mids yet still definition and highs that give clarity but must not be at all ice-picky or unpleasant. If I want higher gain I like to use a TIM for OD, Sun Face for fuzz and Beano Boost on mid setting for treble boost.
I started off with the stock tubes and the eq set all at 12 oclock except for hi-cut full ccw (off). Gradual mode. With the LP and the volume around 12-1 oclock that is definitely many of the things that I described above that I like. Responds well to picking changes, has a nice tight bass and seems to cover the whole spectrum of frequencies very evenly. I find the volume control tapered quite nicely so that you can fine-tune the gain without any sudden leaps. The Tele sounds cool here too (prefers the 1 oclock setting more) and even without tweaking the eq, both guitars sound quite well balanced and like a LP or Tele should.
Switching to fast response adds volume, gain and noise too. Whilst gradual is still lively enough to satisfy the way I like to play, I felt the dynamics even more now. The basic tone is a bit rawer if you dont tweak the eq. Gradual is more balanced and fast a bit more gritty from what I noticed. Bear in mind still eq on 12. Great fun to play, but as I tested, I started to head towards the gradual setting for most stuff. Well see Was able to get some VERY beautiful clean tones with the Les Paul and the volumes rolled off bell-like, rich, sweet. (Note: 1000pF cap + 150kohm resistor on volumes of both guitars). The Komet hit it off so well with my Les Paul that I played that guitar a lot. Tele sounded very good as well when I finally remembered to switch every now and then. Nice!
Eq-wise I then did some tweaking to see the range of tones available. There is more than enough bass for my needs (sounded best left around 12), the mids sound great for me at about 2-3 oclock, I had presence up a tad to 1 oclock and treble stayed on 12 oclock. The hi-cut control is VERY useful to sweeten things up if needed. I found it cool to use that when switching from Les Paul (full ccw to Tele 9-10 oclock).
When cranked the Komet is still nice and tight and retains good definition. Sings really well, makes you wanna hold a note. I never set any amp dead clean, but if you did use gradual and volume around 9-10 the clean tone is nice and also has very reasonable volume.
I did some tube swapping too. Tried KT66 which sounded familiar (I have a Classic 45) and 6L6 with a used set of Ruby that I had lying around. I think the 6L& could have a lot of potential and will experiment further here. I replaced V1 first with a Mullard CV4004 which smoothed things out and richened up at the same time (yet does have a little more microphonics than the stock Tung-Sol 12AX7), then V3 with the same tube type also an improvement. I ran out of Mullards and went with a Jan-Phillips in the V2 position.
The power tubes were Svetlanas and only averagely matched (about 5mA off) so I went with a set of Harma EL34 Retro which are matched within 1mA and sound very nice too - a touch richer to my ear. Also put a Valvo GZ34 in.
So there you have it, things are looking good with me and my K60. I cant wait to try it with the Germino 4x12 slant I have coming (Heritage Greenbacks) and also with 2 Scumbag G12H 75Hz clone in the 60W version for my 2x12.
If you have questions, please ask and of course any tips form K60 owners are much appreciated.
Chris
PS Also tried the parallel attenuation with a Dr Z airbrake and that is not bad at all.
On receiving this (extremely well-packed) amp I must say its a stunner quality-wise. I have or had about 10 different custom shop or boutique amps and this is right up there with the best. The tolexing is perfect (I chose black with a white V and silver control face-plates for a classic look) and the little details like the finish of the chassis and the threaded bolts for the back of the head cab, the bias point and pot are great. Smells good too, which is important for an amp I think!
I tried the K60 with a Germino 2x12 with Reissue Greenbacks (I know that might not be a good idea in the long run but my 4x12 slant with Heritage Greenbacks wont be here for a week) and an Orange 4x12 with V30 - not the ideal speaker for this amp, but safer when I wanted to hear the Komet cranked! I used an R7 Murphy with Tom Holmes pickups, Tone Pros aluminium tailpiece and Relic Nocaster with stock pickups and Callaham saddles. All cables (instrument, speaker and power) wer Evidence.
First off, regarding the ever-present volume discussion regarding the K60: Whilst its surely not gonna be a practise amp and I wouldnt try and crank it in a pub with people 6 feet from the speaker, its not THAT loud. Compared to my Orange Retro 50 with the master full up (also a 2x EL34 amp) its very similar volume-wise. Even compared to my Germino Classic 45 thru the 2x12 the difference is not that great (I run the Germino with the volume on 2-3 oclock).
First off, heres what I like in an amp. It should be able to set a base tone that is a chewy, full crunch when hit hard, cleans up just thru picking lightly to on the edge tone and goes clean via the guitar volume. Must have good string to string definition, bass should be tight enough that my neck HB on my Les Paul still goes bing on the low e when played clean-ish (no mud), have chewy mids yet still definition and highs that give clarity but must not be at all ice-picky or unpleasant. If I want higher gain I like to use a TIM for OD, Sun Face for fuzz and Beano Boost on mid setting for treble boost.
I started off with the stock tubes and the eq set all at 12 oclock except for hi-cut full ccw (off). Gradual mode. With the LP and the volume around 12-1 oclock that is definitely many of the things that I described above that I like. Responds well to picking changes, has a nice tight bass and seems to cover the whole spectrum of frequencies very evenly. I find the volume control tapered quite nicely so that you can fine-tune the gain without any sudden leaps. The Tele sounds cool here too (prefers the 1 oclock setting more) and even without tweaking the eq, both guitars sound quite well balanced and like a LP or Tele should.
Switching to fast response adds volume, gain and noise too. Whilst gradual is still lively enough to satisfy the way I like to play, I felt the dynamics even more now. The basic tone is a bit rawer if you dont tweak the eq. Gradual is more balanced and fast a bit more gritty from what I noticed. Bear in mind still eq on 12. Great fun to play, but as I tested, I started to head towards the gradual setting for most stuff. Well see Was able to get some VERY beautiful clean tones with the Les Paul and the volumes rolled off bell-like, rich, sweet. (Note: 1000pF cap + 150kohm resistor on volumes of both guitars). The Komet hit it off so well with my Les Paul that I played that guitar a lot. Tele sounded very good as well when I finally remembered to switch every now and then. Nice!
Eq-wise I then did some tweaking to see the range of tones available. There is more than enough bass for my needs (sounded best left around 12), the mids sound great for me at about 2-3 oclock, I had presence up a tad to 1 oclock and treble stayed on 12 oclock. The hi-cut control is VERY useful to sweeten things up if needed. I found it cool to use that when switching from Les Paul (full ccw to Tele 9-10 oclock).
When cranked the Komet is still nice and tight and retains good definition. Sings really well, makes you wanna hold a note. I never set any amp dead clean, but if you did use gradual and volume around 9-10 the clean tone is nice and also has very reasonable volume.
I did some tube swapping too. Tried KT66 which sounded familiar (I have a Classic 45) and 6L6 with a used set of Ruby that I had lying around. I think the 6L& could have a lot of potential and will experiment further here. I replaced V1 first with a Mullard CV4004 which smoothed things out and richened up at the same time (yet does have a little more microphonics than the stock Tung-Sol 12AX7), then V3 with the same tube type also an improvement. I ran out of Mullards and went with a Jan-Phillips in the V2 position.
The power tubes were Svetlanas and only averagely matched (about 5mA off) so I went with a set of Harma EL34 Retro which are matched within 1mA and sound very nice too - a touch richer to my ear. Also put a Valvo GZ34 in.
So there you have it, things are looking good with me and my K60. I cant wait to try it with the Germino 4x12 slant I have coming (Heritage Greenbacks) and also with 2 Scumbag G12H 75Hz clone in the 60W version for my 2x12.
If you have questions, please ask and of course any tips form K60 owners are much appreciated.
Chris
PS Also tried the parallel attenuation with a Dr Z airbrake and that is not bad at all.
