The Evil Robot ...thoughts?

[Stonebandit]

Anyone out there rockin with either of these bad boys?

From all Y-tube accounts, Could this be my next amp?
Sounds mighty smooth and then the break-up sounds awesome.
Thinking the CR version though combo would be a dream with two of those speakers in there.

 

[stephenwz968]

I had one for a bit - great amps with a cool sound. Very tweed like, but with their own flavor. Takes pedals really well, and sound awesome when cranked up. I kinda wish I hadn't sold mine...

 

[Stonebandit]

Thanks Stephen.

We have a Distributer here in Australia, however they are across the Bass Straight.
So I'd be taking a punt on just ordering it without trialing it.

So a safe bet seeing as I'd like a Tweed styled amp.

I have my Tiny Terror with the Les Lius in front for that tone currently.
I know not ideal, but hey not too bad. Use what you got...................

 

[fritferret]

i owned one of the hand-wired heads. outstanding amp, and not a single ice-pick frequency in the thing. just warm and smooth w/ a nice bite. the od is an extension of the clean, which is a good thing. the amp is very versatile, imo. you just need to know how to use your volume control. i mean phil x AND paul jackson, jr. the tremolo is gorgeous. i wish i could find that in a pedal.

if you're looking for a single channel amp, it's really hard to go wrong w/ the evil robot. i couldn't get a bad sound out of it.

 

[fritferret]

Is it a proper Magnatone vibrato? Ever looked at the Magnavibe?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJ9eqDaJm6E

awesome! that's really close!

 

[Stonebandit]

i owned one of the hand-wired heads. outstanding amp, and not a single ice-pick frequency in the thing. just warm and smooth w/ a nice bite. the od is an extension of the clean, which is a good thing. the amp is very versatile, imo. you just need to know how to use your volume control. i mean phil x AND paul jackson, jr. the tremolo is gorgeous. i wish i could find that in a pedal.

if you're looking for a single channel amp, it's really hard to go wrong w/ the evil robot. i couldn't get a bad sound out of it.

This sounds like really good news that I have my eyes and ears on the right amp.
Looks like I might place an order in for one of the CR 30 RÔBOTS, in an hours or so once the shops open up over this side of the world !

Now, it will be a question on whether there are any in the country....

Keep you all posted over the next few hours. 8.30am now on a Sunday, so it will maybe 10*ish when I find out. Good work being a 7 day a week store. I'm liking that.

The conversion rate isn't too bad, I think the listed price is sitting at AUD $1099 or the .CR30 prior to shipping.

Sorry Wallet, however it does not seem like an unreasonable asking price for some of the sounds I've heard from it. And the feedback so far.

Question thou ....

How come some of you had one then let it go?

 

[bluesjuke]

Didn't they stop the hand wired versions or am I mistaken?

 

[Stonebandit]

They may just done a limited run, not sure.

I'll see what stock there is over here in Oz

 

[Stonebandit]

One or two Handwired,'s left and less than a handful of CR30`s.

No Head or Speaker cabs new.
Thou have found a Head and Speaker combo for sale - asking AUD$3000

 

[Gas-man]

i owned one

Past tense?

You no longer own it?

Why did you move it?

 

[davebc]

I had my buddies hand wired Evil Robot here for a 6 months. He was one of the first guys to have one built.

Expected a killer amp, but instead it was a TOTAL problem child,

Some bazaar voltage issue I suspect?

Half the time it would work, the other half the tone was what you'd hear playing while shutting you amp off, this really thin, low power fuzz, transistor.
It was intermittent.

Can't believe they let it out the door. They sent another pair of 6v's which was never the problem.

When it was working, it sounded the best with my Esquire, ok, but not really happening with Strats, Les Paul's usually always sound great.

I think it's collecting dust now, what a waste of dough.

 

[fritferret]

Past tense?

You no longer own it?

Why did you move it?

hated to see it go, but i unloaded it for another amp. i'm one of those dumble guys, so i sold the robot to buy a second welagen. nothing against the robot at all. it's just that d tones is where my heart is.

 

[fritferret]

something was obviously wrong w/ that amp. shouldn''t have been a waste of money, because he should have sent it back or at least sent it back for repair. the amp comes w/ a warranty. i'm sure the amp didn't leave their shop that way.

me and two friends bought robots all at the same time. each one sounded incredible and never had any issues at all. all of the amp sounded awesome every time they were turned on.

I had my buddies hand wired Evil Robot here for a 6 months. He was one of the first guys to have one built.

Expected a killer amp, but instead it was a TOTAL problem child,

Some bazaar voltage issue I suspect?

Half the time it would work, the other half the tone was what you'd hear playing while shutting you amp off, this really thin, low power fuzz, transistor.
It was intermittent.

Can't believe they let it out the door. They sent another pair of 6v's which was never the problem.

When it was working, it sounded the best with my Esquire, ok, but not really happening with Strats, Les Paul's usually always sound great.

I think it's collecting dust now, what a waste of dough.

 

[fritferret]

This sounds like really good news that I have my eyes and ears on the right amp.
Looks like I might place an order in for one of the CR 30 RÔBOTS, in an hours or so once the shops open up over this side of the world !

Now, it will be a question on whether there are any in the country....

Keep you all posted over the next few hours. 8.30am now on a Sunday, so it will maybe 10*ish when I find out. Good work being a 7 day a week store. I'm liking that.

The conversion rate isn't too bad, I think the listed price is sitting at AUD $1099 or the .CR30 prior to shipping.

Sorry Wallet, however it does not seem like an unreasonable asking price for some of the sounds I've heard from it. And the feedback so far.

Question thou ....

How come some of you had one then let it go?

the only reason i sold was to raise money for a second welagen amp. i love d style tones more than any other tone and wanted to get another d flavor. for the stuff i play, when i need a non-d tone, a nice pedal is sufficient. if my bread and butter was non-marshall rock tone, i'd still have the robot, no question about it. the robot is easily in my top two or three non-d style tone amps.

 

[Dirtybanjo]

can anyone tell me how the c30 takes fuzz pedals. specifically fuzz face type pedals

 

[davebc]

something was obviously wrong w/ that amp. shouldn''t have been a waste of money, because he should have sent it back or at least sent it back for repair. the amp comes w/ a warranty. i'm sure the amp didn't leave their shop that way.

me and two friends bought robots all at the same time. each one sounded incredible and never had any issues at all. all of the amp sounded awesome every time they were turned on.

Because the problem was an intermittent one I can see how it could have gone undetected.

It was a cool amp and it was a fun amp when it worked, but the ER really struck me as "best in class" or anything unique tone wise, certainly not the same '"character" as the original Magnatone Phil X plays in the video. (old iron, old speakers)

 

[Stonebandit]

Just paid up the initial deposit!!!!!

CR30 is a coming ----- soon.....

 

[cander328]

I own the head and 2x12 in the original post and I have talked myself into and then quickly out of selling the set 3 times now.

The good:
1) it is an extremely responsive amp that is just really enjoyable to play. My main amp is a Two Rock v1 CRS and the ER is the only other amp that I have played that I just get lost in playing because of the way it responds to subtle changes in pick angle or attack. Although I have a long way to go this experience has significantly improved my playing.
2) It is surprisingly pedal friendly, especially for pedals that like to see an amp nearing breakup.
3) Cranked it yields a tone that while not D-style smooth is also not a Marshall tone but it has it's own refined tweed thing happening.
4) The 2x12 cab is incredibly light and makes taking the head and cab out not unreasonable to do. The cab also sounds fantastic - nice tight bass with great highs without the "ice pick".

The bad:
1) The cab and head cab are made of what seems like 1/4 inch wood and it has no corner protection. Because of this I have been reluctant to move it much which is a shame given how light it is but I am sure the weight is also a factor of the thinner wood.
2) I played it at church and left the cab while just bringing the head back and forth. It worked great but I ended up removing the Evil Robot logos (simple to unscrew).
3 )If you are looking for a mid scooped Fender tone then this is not it and with just a single tone knob you can't dial it in to get that tone. This thing is full on in your face even when played clean.
4) You can't hide behind this one. Even when cranked it is very articulate.
5) The head has a fan that is on all the time and can be a bit loud for those looking for a completely quiet experience (live with my cab mic'ed it was not an issue but I would think it might be more of an issue in a combo).

 

[rippingrudy]

From watching all the demo videos my take is that the hand wired version is the only one to buy. It sounds nice and rich and has a nice, thick breakup at high volumes. But... who the heck is gonna dime an 18 watt amp in the "real world". I do club and bar gigs and we'd get fired if I ever did that.

The Asian model (EVR C30 I believe) has NEVER sounded good in any demo I've seen or heard. It's thin, harsh and lacks any kind of character and is entirely forgettable the second after you hear it. It just sounds like "nothing special" to me - it's not a bad tone, it's not a good tone... it's just blah.

The worst thing about both Evil Robots is that there are lots of other amps you could buy that would do a better job for way less money and with better tone. Just my opinion.... sorry. haha

One final thing... if you watched some of those Vids from Fretted Americana with Phil X you hear him say that he used his original "Tonemaster" amp to add something different to his recordings - it was not his "main amp" - it was used for "color" to make the sound bigger because it had a unique tone.

Just buy a Marshall. hahaha

 

[cander328]

From watching all the demo videos my take is that the hand wired version is the only one to buy. It sounds nice and rich and has a nice, thick breakup at high volumes. But... who the heck is gonna dime an 18 watt amp in the "real world". I do club and bar gigs and we'd get fired if I ever did that.
/QUOTE]

That is where the 5 and 8 watt settings are helpful