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I played one of these at a store and it was surprisingly GOOD.

the grille cloth is like microsuede or whatever and it feels good, great for dongrubs (before you sell it on ebay etc...).

ALSO:

Sloan wrote:ALSO:

► Show Spoiler

william wrote:

was that sloan props?

anything anyone said after i realised the domokun idea is fairly irrelevant, i am getting one and i am doing that.


thanks for all the input, tho!

i think ill make a tiny little 4 ohm 4x6 cab for it, but ill have to figure out what itll look like. maybe ill screenprint a little domokun backdrop onto the cloth.

The build quality is really, really low. The little stuff like jacks and the volume knob (which is just a chicken head attached to a Cermet trimmer) is easy enough to replace. Where you'd run into trouble is the stuff Mike mentioned - the transformers and the speaker. Plus, the humming problem would always be there no matter what.

For $200, you could get a much better sounding and better made solid state amp.

If yr set on tube, the Epi Valve Jr. is probably a better choice in terms of build, and it doesn't have the humming problem as badly. You could also save yr pennies and get the new Orange AD5 combo that comes out next year or the ValveTrain Concord, both of which would be under $500 and hold their value better.

None of them look like that monster thing, though.

the transformer is the only thing im worried about. i can change some of the little things, as you said.

even the speaker isn't that big of a deal, if i really need to change it. jensen makes a MOD 6" speaker.



looks like i can get one new on ebay (the amp) for around 160.

and the speaker for around 20 bucks.

the controls and jacks will cost almost nothing, and there are only 2 tubes, if they even need to be replaced.

of course thats like the whole amp. but still, domo. c'mon.

DuoSonicBoy wrote:The build quality is really, really low. The little stuff like jacks and the volume knob (which is just a chicken head attached to a Cermet trimmer) is easy enough to replace. Where you'd run into trouble is the stuff Mike mentioned - the transformers and the speaker. Plus, the humming problem would always be there no matter what.

For $200, you could get a much better sounding and better made solid state amp.

If yr set on tube, the Epi Valve Jr. is probably a better choice in terms of build, and it doesn't have the humming problem as badly. You could also save yr pennies and get the new Orange AD5 combo that comes out next year or the ValveTrain Concord, both of which would be under $500 and hold their value better.

None of them look like that monster thing, though.

Good points, but the Epiphone sounds completely different to the Fender.

One thing that annoys me is that they put a jewel light on it, on the back where you can't even see it. How much extra does this add to the cost of the amp? Why bother, particularly if it can't be seen?

I was looking into one of these but i am thinking i will go blackstar (though i have heard there are a few problems with them i hope they iron out soon).
Anyway in my research i came across this guy who makes mod kits for these to eliminate hum here is his ebay page:

http://stores.ebay.co.uk/alnicomagnet

And here is a video of how the mods helped eliminate the hum:

[youtube][/youtube]

He also posted one of how the amps sound with the mods as well:

[youtube][/youtube]

They sound pretty good to me.

Also this guy does a comparison between the original, the reissue and the mercury magnetics mod (which i couldn't find on ebay but i am sure you can google for places to get one).

[youtube][/youtube]

The mercury magnetics mod sounds pretty good to me, breaks up nice and early from the sounds of things.

wow, fibus! thanks for all the info!

No worries man, by the way though i am in no way affiliated with that guy nor have i used any of his mods so i can't vouch for them personally but they sound pretty good in the clips to me and are pretty inexpensive (especially compared to the mercury magnetics mod).

I've always like thte idea of the Mercury Magnetics mod, but it is silly expensive, like three times the cost of the amp.

Fibus wrote:
Also this guy does a comparison between the original, the reissue and the mercury magnetics mod (which i couldn't find on ebay but i am sure you can google for places to get one).

[youtube][/youtube]

The mercury magnetics mod sounds pretty good to me, breaks up nice and early from the sounds of things.

Someone posted this a while back, the stock one sounds miiiiiles better than the reissue with the Mercury mod! Obviously the original sounds even better, though..

Yep, I don't like that mod, why would I want that much breakup from a 5 watt amp? The stock sound is much better, and in that video they all sound pish anyway. I'd post some samples of recordings n stuff but they all went in the GREAT HARD DRIVE CRASH OF '08. Condensor mic and a bit of distance from the cloth is proper nice.

Speaking of champs, rob, any more thoughts on doing the "I send it to you, you return it, send it back, we both keep on rockin'"?

Doog wrote:

Fibus wrote:
Also this guy does a comparison between the original, the reissue and the mercury magnetics mod (which i couldn't find on ebay but i am sure you can google for places to get one).

[youtube][/youtube]

The mercury magnetics mod sounds pretty good to me, breaks up nice and early from the sounds of things.

Someone posted this a while back, the stock one sounds miiiiiles better than the reissue with the Mercury mod! Obviously the original sounds even better, though..

I dunno i keep comparing the stock reissue to the original and there is no comparison. I like the modded one because at least it sounds different, why mod an amp if you can barely distinguish it from the unmodded one? Saying that though i do agree that the original sounds hands down the best and i guess anyone going for a champ is looking for cleans not dirt. Plus i don't think the mod is anywhere near worth the price it costs.

Fibus wrote: Saying that though i do agree that the original sounds hands down the best and i guess anyone going for a champ is looking for cleans not dirt. Plus i don't think the mod is anywhere near worth the price it costs.

really?i thought low watt amps were all about dirt...

It's a fender though. I'm not saying they're not about dirt but I want me fender amps to have a good chunk of clean before they grit up, even at five watts. It's what they do best.

william wrote:

Fibus wrote: Saying that though i do agree that the original sounds hands down the best and i guess anyone going for a champ is looking for cleans not dirt. Plus i don't think the mod is anywhere near worth the price it costs.

really?i thought low watt amps were all about dirt...

When i was looking at one it was mostly for some low level cleans with a bit of dirt at the top end but more about the cleans than anything else. I know you mentioned you were looking something that breaks up quickly though so i guess different strokes. I would rather go the blackstar route if i was looking for dirt.

I never expected to get much by way of clean when I boguht mine. It might be a Fender, but it's five watts and it's got a tiny speaker.

Somehow, the Epiphone Valve junior feels like it's got a lot more head room. I'm sure it doesn't, I probably only get that impression because I always use the high gain channel on the Champion, which gets dirty fairly soon, but all the same, I think the Epiphone's much better for clean stuff.

BacchusPaul wrote:I never expected to get much by way of clean when I boguht mine. It might be a Fender, but it's five watts and it's go
t a tiny speaker.

Somehow, the Epiphone Valve junior feels like it's got a lot more head room. I'm sure it doesn't, I probably only get that impression because I always use the high gain channel on the Champion, which gets dirty fairly soon, but all the same, I think the Epiphone's much better for clean stuff.

have you watched sloans demo?

that thing is dirty at like 11 o clock on the dial.

Mine's is the head and I've only ever put it through a 412 cab. Could the dirt in Sloan's demo be speaker distortion?

Also, I think it depends a lot on what guitar you put through it. It almost one get proper dirty at all with the neck pickup of a Jag-stang, but dirties a lot sooner with my Epiphone Emperor Regent.

BacchusPaul wrote:Mine's is the head and I've only ever put it through a 412 cab. Could the dirt in Sloan's demo be speaker distortion

Sloan's is/was the head version too:
[youtube][/youtube]

"It may not sound loud right there, but it's actually really loud- the cabinet is right there.. and it's just like PKKCHHHHH!"