Review-Blueverb 2 x 10

I recently purchased mude's 2 x 10 Blueverb combo (what a great guy to deal with) and here are the early returns:

1. 2 x 10 combo , 2 EL-34's, Bassman transformer, Super Overdrive voicing. I looked at ordering at new head back in November but passed at the time; as it turns out, this amp provides what I was looking for.

2. I was concerned that the EL-34's wouldn't result in Fender Blackface Cleans. I was flat out wrong; beautiful, shimmering cleans, and killer footswitchable reverb and trem. ALL the great things about the blackface amps even in an EL-34 format. I'm primarily a blues guy and I think I'll spend most of my time in the "not" input jack, as opposed to the "hot" input jack.

3. The best lack of distinction with the pentode/ triode switch in the pentode mode that I've ever heard. No difference (other than volume).

4. The amp really shows it's true colors when you start to crank it up and dial in the dirt. Given the voicing and the power tubes, you do not get a lot of low end "whumph" but as the amp gets louder, it can get either more "Marshally" or more like a Super based on where you have the controls. The setting I like the most is about 3/4 Super Reverb with about 1/4 Marshall giving the amp the grit, snap and attack that a Marshall has.
Think of a Super with a touch of Marshall bright and snarl added in. I used to have a Dr. Z Maz 38 that when cranked I called "Marshall lite"; its like that without the inherent brightness in that amp. Back off and its blackface clean.

5. I never thought of SRV tone as "loose and bluesy", but that's how the manual describes it and its exactly what the "Soul" control does. The difference is pronounced when you run the Soul control from zero to 10; at zero, the amp is very compressed and "tight", then, it gets looser and rounder as you increase it. My sense is that defined and tight would be at 1 or so but SRV would be 9 or 10. 10 with a lot of dirt already dialed in gets mushy.

6. A military tank would be jealous of the way its built. At headache volume, there isn't a shake, rattle, or roll. Standing in front of the amp at big volume, you just sense that every bit of vibration is channeled out thru the speakers.

7. I haven't even put a pedal in front of it yet (Fulltone FD 2, Reissue tube screamer). More on that later.

8. I plugged it into a Carr open back 2 x 12 cab instead of the 2 x 10's and it did not seem to help the low end any but it did lose some definition and focus. It doesn't seems a match with that cab, but I might try the 2 10's with the 2 12 s and see how that works.

9. I know its the honeymoon, but, blackface cleans, drop dead trem and reverb, with the ability to get "Marshally" as you open it up, built like a tank, with a great look and vibe and lots of flexibilty. Does that sound like something that people have been looking for?

10. Only cons so far- it ain't light (gotta be 50 plus; probably 10 pounds more than my 2 x 10 Victoria Victoriette ) and the lack of low end "whumph" (but again, with the EL-84's and the Super Overdrive voicing, that's probably exactly how the amp is built).

11. One other thing- I gotta believe that if you're looking for the perfect SRV tone, this amp in he normal voicing with a 15" speaker and MAYBE 6L6's (all to increase the bottom end) has gotta be as close as it gets.


So far, so good would be quite an understatement.

 

UPDATE:

1. After emailing Smitty, I ran the amp with the 2 x 10's in the combo along with a Carr open back 2 x12 cab. Wife and kids left so I opened her up pretty well and it gets even better. More low end, more thump. Still not Twin thump, but again, I don't think its built to provide that. Just MORE of everything with the extra cab.

2. Took just the combo to practice yesterday. Again, amazed at the cleans- Smitty calls it " unrivaled even order harmonics" ; I call it "amazingly sparkly" and SO easy to hit the overtones when you relly dig into the strings. GREAT lightly distorted tone with the bridge and middle pups engaged in an EJ strat (that great "ripping" sound). Kept the "Soul" control low just to try it and it resulted in very tight, compressed cleans, with even more sparkle than when the Soull control is dimed.

Still haven't engaged a pedal- I'm starting to think I don't need one.