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Testipenkissä: Vox AC30S1
”Älä muuta mitään. AC30 on sinun lapsesi, ja sen tarina tulee jatkumaan ikuisesti!”
Näin sanoi Voxin alkuperäisen emoyhtiön, JMI:n, perustaja ja pomo Tom Jennings hänen pääsuunnittelijalle, Dick Denneylle (kuvassa), joskus 1960-luvulla.
Jo ennen kuin Marshall-vahvistimien tuotantoa edes suunniteltiin, Voxista oli jo tullut ensimmäinen brittivahvistimien legenda. Alkuperäistä Vox AC30:tä kehiteltiin vuonna 1959 The Shadows -yhtyeelle, AC15-mallin isommaksi versioksi. Hank Marvinilla ja Bruce Welchillä alkoi nimittäin tulla vaikeuksia saada kitaransoittoansa kuulumaan, koska bändin (ja Cliff Richardin) yleisöt ja keikkapaikat kasvoivat yhä nopeammin.
Vox AC30:n ensimmäinen versio oli yhdellä 12-tuumaisella kaiuttimella varustettu kombo. Kun The Beatles -yhtiön kitaristit alkoivat käyttää AC30:tä vahvistin oli jo kasvanut kahdella 12-tuumaisella varustetuksi versioksi, jota Vox kutsui ”Twiniksi”. John Lennon ja George Harrison olivat myös ensimmäisten joukossa saaneet kombon (silloin) uusimman version Top Boost -piirillä. Maailmaa järisyttävä Beatlemania oli Voxille parasta mahdollista mainontaa ikinä.
Voxin AC30 Twinistä Top Boostilla tuli Vox Amplificationin lippulaiva, joka on edelleen yksi maailman ikonisimpia kitaravahvistimia. Kiitos tästä kuuluu myös kaikille näille kitaristeille, kuten Brian May (Queen), Rory Gallagher, Lenny Kravitz ja U2:n The Edge, joille AC30 on ollut ja/tai on edelleen oman soundin kulmakivi.
Alkuperäisiä AC30-komboja (ja niiden uudelleenpainoksia) arvostellaan usein niiden koon ja painon vuoksi. Joillakin alkuperäisillä 60-luvun versioilla on myös taipumus kuumentua liikaa, vahvistimen uumenissa sijaitsevien putkien takia. Tämän lisäksi kaikki alkuperäiset AC30:t on rakennettu ilman master volume -säädintä, minkä vuoksi kombon omia särösoundeja saadaan tuotettua vain silloin, kun styrkkari pyörii (lähes) täysillä volyymillä.
Onneksi Voxin nykyisestä mallistosta löytyy monta eri nykyaikaisia ja virtaviivaistettua AC30-versioita.
Upouusi Vox AC30S1 (katuhinta noin 780 €) pakkaa AC30:n parhaita soundeja helppokäyttöiseen, master volumella -varustettuun ja helpommin kuljettavaan muotoon.
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Uusi Vox AC30S1 on firman hyvin suositun kiinalaisen Custom-malliston uusin jäsen.
AC30 Single -kombolla on edelleen klassisen Voxin ulkonäkö, mutta yhdellä 12-tuumaisella varustetun uutukaisen kotelo on hieman perinteistä kapeampi. Tämä versio painaa ”vain” 24,5 kiloa, mikä on peräti yhdeksän kiloa vähemmän kuin Custom-sarjan AC30 Twin (AC30C2).
Uudessa kombossa on yksi kanava kaksikaistaisella EQ:lla, sekä master volume -säätimellä.
Tämän Voxin sisäinen kaiku on digitaalinen mallinnus perinteisestä jousikaiusta.
Ihan niin kuin 60-luvun esi-isällä, AC30S1:llä on puoliksi avoin takaseinä.
Vox Custom -sarjan vahvistimet on suunniteltu nykypäivän sähköturvallisuusmääräyksien mukaisiksi. AC30S1:n tapauksessa tämä näkyy esimerkiksi helposti vaihdettavissa ja hyvin tuuletetuissa vahvistinputkissa, metallisessa turvaverkossa (joka estää suoran pääsyn kuumiin putkiin), sekä irrotettavalla sähköjohdolla IEC-liittimellä.
AC30S1:n etuvahvistin käyttää kahta 12AX7-putkea, kun taas päätevahvistimessa pyörii peräti neljä EL84-putkea.
Kombon kaiutin on 12-tuumainen Celestion VX, joka on suunniteltu varta vasten tälle vahvistimelle.
Takapaneelista löytyy lähtö lisäkaiuttimelle (16 Ω), sekä efektilenkin liittimiä.
AC30S1:n EU-versioihin on lisätty myös Eco-ominaisuus, joka laittaa kombon omatoimisesti pois päältä kahden tunnin tyhjäkäynnin jälkeen.
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Upouusi Vox AC30S1 on selkeästi helpompi nostaa ja kuljettaa kuin perinteiset Twin-versiot, mikä on varmasti hyvä uutinen meille kaikille.
Nyt seuraa pieni varoitus:
Vaikka Voxin mainoskuvissa uutta AC30 Singleä esitellään monissa olohuone-tyylisissä tilanteissa, tämä kombo ei mielestäni ole oikea valinta olohuonekäyttöön. Vaikka tässä on kyseessä ”vain” yhdellä 12-tuumaisella kaiuttimella varustettu styrkkari, AC30S1:llä ei ole minkäänlaisia ongelmia tarjota henkeäsalpaavia volyymitasoja. Totta, tässä on master volume -säädin, mutta sen toiminta on – ainakin testiyksilössä – epätasainen juuri potikan alkumetreillä, jossa hypätään hiljaisuudesta lähes suoraan noin 30 prosentin teholle. Tämä vahvistin ei kuulu kerrostaloon tai olohuoneeseen, vaan se haluaa isoon studioon tai Rock-klubin lavalle.
Vaikka uutukaisen toimintasäde on hieman Twin-versiota kapeampi (koska kotelosta löytyy vain yksi kaiutin), Vox AC30S1:n soundit ovat kuitenkin täynnä ehtaa AC30-magiaa. Niin kuin AC30:ssä yleensä, puhdasta headroomia ei ole tarjolla niin runsaasti kuin esimerkiksi Blackface-tyylisissä Fendereissä. AC30:n juju on juuri sen tasaisesti kasvavassa reunasärössä, joka lähtee liikkeelle jo kohtuullisen pienellä gainella, sekä crunch-särön tiheydessä ja purevuudessa.
Tästä pätkästä saa hyvän idean AC30S1:n soundimaailmasta. Gain on säädetty täysille ja vahvistimen säröä ohjataan Fender Stratocasterin volume-säätimellä:
AC30S1:n digitaalisesti mallinnettu jousikaiku kuulostaa erinomaiselta – tämä on ehkä paras putkivahvistimen sisäinen digikaiku pitkään aikaan:
Demobiisissä soitan pätkiä neljästä Vox AC30:llä soitetuista klassikkobiiseistä – ”Wonderful Land” (The Shadows), ”I Feel Fine” (The Beatles), ”We Will Rock You” (Queen), sekä ”Pride (In The Name Of Love)” (U2).
• Wonderful Land – Fender Stratocaster
• I Feel Fine – Fender Stratocaster, Fender Telecaster, Epiphone Casino, Tanglewood TW28-CSN (magneettisella Seymour Duncan SA-1 -mikrofonilla)
• We Will Rock You – Fender Stratocaster
• Pride (In The Name Of Love) – Fender Telecaster & Stratocaster
Mikrofonit: AKG C3000 & Shure SM57
Delay-efektejä on lisätty miksausvaiheessa:
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Minun mielestäni uusi Vox AC30S1 on erinomainen lisäys firman AC30-valikoimaan. Uusi Single-versio tarjoaa miltei kaikkia klassisia Vox-soundeja hieman kompaktimmassa koossa.
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Katuhinta noin 780 €
Maahantuoja: EM Nordic
Kiitos DLX Musiikille testivahvistimen lainasta!
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Plussat:
+ paino
+ laadukas digikaiku
+ efektilenkki
+ soundi
+ kovaääninen
Miinukset:
– master volume -potikan jyrkkyys
– kovaääninen
Review: Vox AC30S1
”Keep it as it is. The AC30 is your baby, and it will go on forever!”
These prophetic words were spoken by Tom Jennings, the founder and head of Vox’ original parent company JMI, in the mid-1960s to his chief designer Dick Denney (pictured above).
Well before Marshall Amps arrived on the scene, Vox became the UK’s first legendary guitar amplifier brand. The original Vox AC30 was developed in 1959 as a larger version of the AC15 for the group The Shadows. Hank Marvin and Bruce Welch started having problems getting themselves heard over the ever-growing crowds they were drawing at ever-larger venues.
The first version of the Vox AC30 was a combo equipped with a single 12-inch speaker, but by the time the Beatles arrived on the scene the amp had evolved into what Vox called a ”Twin amplifier”, meaning a combo with a pair of 12-inch speakers. The Beatles were also the first band to receive AC30s with the company’s (then) new Top Boost -circuit. Vox couldn’t have dreamt up a more potent way of promoting their products than Beatlemania.
The AC30 Twin with Top Boost became Vox Amplification’s flagship product, which still stands today as one of the most iconic guitar amplifiers of all time. This is thanks in no small part to the great guitarists, such as Brian May (Queen), Rory Gallagher, Lenny Kravitz and U2’s The Edge, who made the combo a vital ingredient of their respective signature sounds.
Vintage AC30s (and faithful reissues) are often criticised for being quite large and heavy. Some 1960s examples also seem to have a tendency for overheating, due to the valve layout inside the chassis. Original AC30s also are non-master volume designs, which means that break-up and crunch sounds can only be had close to full volume levels.
Luckily, Vox’ line-up also includes more modern and streamlined AC30-versions.
The brand-new Vox AC30S1 (current Finnish street price around 780 €) takes everything that is great about the AC30, and puts it into a streamlined, master volume-equipped, and much more portable single speaker combo.
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The new Vox AC30S1 is part of the company’s very successful Chinese-made Custom range.
The AC30 Single keeps the classic Vox look, but comes in a narrower cabinet. At 24.5 kg the newcomer weighs a good nine kilos less that the Custom Series AC30 Twin (AC30C2).
The new combo offers a single amp channel with a two-band EQ-section and a master volume knob.
The built-in reverb is digital, and modelled after a classic spring reverb.
Just like the classic Sixties design the AC30S1 also sports a half-open back.
Vox’ Custom Series amps have been redesigned and updated to comply with all necessary safety regulations for modern tube amplifiers. In the AC30S1’s case this means well-ventilated valves that are easy to access, a safety grill to prevent anybody from touching piping hot tubes, and a detachable IEC mains cord.
The AC30S1 uses a pair of 12AX7 valves for the preamp section, as well as four EL84s in the power amp.
The speaker is a 12-inch Celestion VX model, designed specifically for use in this combo.
The back panel offers an additional speaker output (16 ohms) and an effects loop.
EU-versions of the AC30S1 also come with a switchable Eco-function, which will turn the amp off automatically when left running unplayed for two hours.
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The brand-new AC30S1 is noticeably easier to lift and carry than any of the regular Twin versions, which is great news for virtually any of us.
A word of warning first:
Despite Vox’ promo pictures showing the new AC30 Single in different living room set-ups, this isn’t really a combo for noodling on the couch. Despite being a single 12-inch speaker combo, the AC30S1 has no problem whatsoever in dishing out ear-shattering sound pressure levels. Yes, there is a master volume knob, but – at least on our review sample – the pot’s taper isn’t especially even, instead jumping rather abruptly from ”off” to something like 30 percent power. This combo doesn’t belong in a block of flats or in a sitting room, this amp belongs in a full-blown studio or on a club stage.
Despite the inevitably narrower throw of a single speaker (compared to a twin speaker set-up) the sounds gleaned from the Vox AC30S1 are pure AC30 magic. Typically, clean headroom isn’t available in Fender Blackface-style amounts. An AC30’s sound is defined by the smooth and steady break-up at comparatively moderate gain levels, and by the bite and density of its crunchy distortion.
Here’s an example of the range of textures you can get from the AC30S1 with its gain at full, while using a Stratocaster’s volume control:
The AC30S1’s digitally modelled spring reverb sounds terrific; probably the best onboard digital spring reverb I’ve heard in a long time:
The demo track features my covers of four classic Vox AC30 tracks – ”Wonderful Land” (The Shadows), ”I Feel Fine” (The Beatles), ”We Will Rock You” (Queen), and ”Pride (In The Name Of Love)” (U2).
• Wonderful Land – Fender Stratocaster
• I Feel Fine – Fender Stratocaster, Fender Telecaster, Epiphone Casino, Tanglewood TW28-CSN (with Seymour Duncan SA-1 pickup)
• We Will Rock You – Fender Stratocaster
• Pride (In The Name Of Love) – Fender Telecaster & Stratocaster
Microphones used: AKG C3000 & Shure SM57
Any delays were added during mixing:
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In my view the new Vox AC30S1 is an excellent addition to the company’s AC30 range. This combo gives you virtually all of the classic Vox tones, but with far less bulk.
****
Street price in Finland approx. 780 €
Distributor: EM Nordic
Thanks to DLX Music Helsinki for the loan of the review amp!
****
Pros:
+ lesser weight
+ high-quality spring-style digital reverb
+ effects loop
+ sound
+ high volume levels
Cons:
– master volume taper
– high volume levels
Vox AC30S1 – the Kitarablogi-video
• Single-channel design inspired by the AC30’s trademark Top Boost
• All tube design featuring two 12AX7 pre-amp tubes and four EL84 power-amp tubes
• Equipped with a single Celestion-made 12-inch speaker, specially voiced for the AC30S1
• Effects send/return and external speaker output are provided for pairing with pedals or external cabinets
• Equipped with digital reverb that simulates a classic spring reverb
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The demo track features my covers of four classic Vox AC30 tracks – ”Wonderful Land” (The Shadows), ”I Feel Fine” (The Beatles), ”We Will Rock You” (Queen), and ”Pride (In The Name Of Love)” (U2).
• Wonderful Land – Fender Stratocaster
• I Feel Fine – Fender Stratocaster, Fender Telecaster, Epiphone Casino, Tanglewood TW28-CSN (with Seymour Duncan SA-1 pickup)
• We Will Rock You – Fender Stratocaster
• Pride (In The Name Of Love) – Fender Telecaster & Stratocaster
Mics used: AKG C3000 & Shure SM57
Delays added during mixing.
First Look: Vox AC30S1
• Single-channel design inspired by the AC30’s trademark Top Boost
• All tube design featuring two 12AX7 pre-amp tubes and four EL84 power-amp tubes
• Equipped with a single Celestion-made 12-inch speaker, specially voiced for the AC30S1
• Effects send/return and external speaker output are provided for pairing with pedals or external cabinets
• Equipped with digital reverb that simulates a classic spring reverb
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The demo track features my covers of four classic Vox AC30 tracks – ”Wonderful Land” (The Shadows), ”I Feel Fine” (The Beatles), ”We Will Rock You” (Queen), and ”Pride (In The Name Of Love)” (U2).
• Wonderful Land – Fender Stratocaster
• I Feel Fine – Fender Stratocaster, Fender Telecaster, Epiphone Casino, Tanglewood TW28-CSN (with Seymour Duncan SA-1 pickup)
• We Will Rock You – Fender Stratocaster
• Pride (In The Name Of Love) – Fender Telecaster & Stratocaster
Mics used: AKG C3000 & Shure SM57
Delays added during mixing.
Seven bridge P-90s and humbuckers played through an overdriven combo
The bridge pickups of seven different guitars played through a crunchy setting on a Bluetone Shadows Jr. combo.
On the compilation track each guitar takes one turn with the order being:
Les Paul Junior –> Casino –> Kasuga –> Melody Maker SG –> G-400 –> Les Paul Standard –> Hamer
Review: Bluetone Shadows Jr.
Following in the wake of their very popular Shadows Reverb combo, Finnish boutique makers Bluetone Amps have recently introduced a smaller sibling, called the Shadows Jr.
The Bluetone Shadows Jr. (combo starting at around 1,300 €) is a hand-built, all-valve guitar combo, whose sound is based on the classic Vox AC15. Instead of being a straight, slavish copy, though, the Shadows Jr. incorporates many of the up-to-date features that have made Bluetone such a well-regarded boutique maker.
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The Shadows Jr. has the clean and business-like looks that active players truly appreciate. You don’t want to be slowed down on stage by a control panel that’s hard to decipher. The Bluetone is clarity itself.
This is a single-channel all-valve combo running in Class AB mode giving you maximum output power at just over 10 watts.
The Shadows Jr. is designed around a trio of 12AX7 preamp tubes and a pair of EL84s powering the speaker. The combo’s power valves are cathode-biased, which means that swapping tubes won’t necessitate a trip to your friendly amp technician.
Bluetone is one of the very few amp makers who use torroidal power transformers. These doughnut-shaped devices (the black thing in the upper left corner) are lighter and more dependable than traditional transformer designs, and they offer more exact tolerances. As a valve amp is highly dependable on a stable and electronically quiet power supply for superior tone, Bluetone decided on using torroidal transformers early on, and they’ve never looked back.
The Warehouse Guitar Speakers Green Beret is an excellent choice for a strongly Brit-flavoured combo. Bluetone break in all of the speakers they use with low-frequency sine waves.
Despite being a compact single-channel combo amp (weighing only around 10 kg), the Bluetone Shadows Jr. offers an amazing amount of different clean and gain tones, thanks in no small part to the amp’s PPIMV master volume and the three-step OPC-switch.
PPIMV stands for ”post-power inverter master volume”, which is the preferred way of master volume design at Bluetone Amps, because it eats up the least amount of an amplifier’s tone, when in use. And if you turn the master volume knob all the way up, a PPIMV design makes the master volume ”disappear” electronically, making it completely transparent.
OPC, on the other hand, stands for ”output power control”. On the Shadows Jr. you have a choice of three settings, giving you 0.2, two or the full 10 watts of power, respectively. The magic of the OPC circuit is that it will turn volume levels down very noticeably without changing the tonal character of your settings, while also leaving almost all of the dynamics intact. Many lesser output power designs will turn a clean setting into an overdriven sound when you select a lower output level. The Shadows Jr. will sound almost the same on ten, two or 0.2 watts – the small tonal differences are the result of the speaker being driven differently. With the OPC at the lowest setting you will get approximately 95 percent of the full ”Shadows Jr. experience” at bedroom/apartment block volume levels. That’s fantastic!
The back panel gives you a choice of using the internal speaker or an external 4- or 8-ohm cabinet.
Bluetone have also included their tasty buffered, switchable effects loop with a dedicated volume control. When the loop is not in use, the circuit can also serve as a handy lead boost.
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Are you looking for a cool little tone machine with a strong Vox-y flavour, and no-compromise build quality? You should do yourself a favour and try the Bluetone Shadows Jr.
The Shadows Jr. ticks all the right boxes:
You get that classic clean tone with that sweet mid-range ”attitude”. A clean tone that is lively, but never glassy or brittle.
With the front-end volume near the other extreme you’ll get overdrive and distortion that is more gritty and dynamic – think later era Beatles, windmilling Townshend, or multilayered May – than creamy and compressed.
But don’t forget to check out the wide scope of break-up Blues and Rock ’n’ Roll sounds to be had between 11 and 2 o’clock on the volume (gain) control (depending on the guitar used). You’re in for hours of wailing soloing and chunky rhythms without ever needing an overdrive stompbox.
Here’s a Gibson Les Paul Junior on its own:
Demo track number one features two rhythm guitar tracks – a Fender Stratocaster (stereo left) and a Gibson Les Paul Junior (right) – as well as a Hamer USA Studio Custom on lead duty:
The second demo track features a Gibson Les Paul Junior (rhythm left), an Epiphone Casino (rhythm right), and a Fender Telecaster (lead guitar):
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The Bluetone Shadows Jr. is a fantastic little tone machine for the Vox-inclined player, who likes warm clean tones, dynamic break-up sounds, and gritty late-Sixties/early-Seventies dirt.
The build quality is miles ahead of any mass-produced guitar amplifier – this is a handcrafted boutique-grade valve amp. Modern additions like the PPIMV master volume, the OPC circuit, and the switchable effects loop, also raise this amp above any vintage-style copies.
For many the crucial question with low-wattage amps is volume. How loud is the Bluetone Shadows Jr?
Let’s just say that if you’ve only ever tried 10-watt tranny combos before you’re in for quite a surprise! These are ten (-plus) watts of British-style valve amp majesty, with every last ounce of loudness wrung out of the power amp and speaker.
With the OPC and the master on full, this little chap will easily get you into trouble with your neighbours in your block of flats on clean tones alone. If you don’t need 100 percent clean tones, the Shadows Jr. will easily get you through many rehearsals and gigs in small venues. And there’s always the option to stick a mic in front of the speaker.
So, don’t expect a Heavy Metal-type volume onslaught, but be prepared for some serious business.
****
Bluetone Amps Shadows Jr.
Prices starting from 1,300 €
Contact: Bluetone Amps
Pros:
+ Handmade in Finland
+ Master volume
+ OPC
+ Effects loop
+ Sound
+ Value-for-money
Review: Blackstar Artist 15
In a way Blackstar Amplification’s new Artist Series breaks new ground for the British amp maker.
Until now most of Blackstar’s designs were based on the typically British tones of EL34 and EL84 power tubes, often associated with Marshall designs.
The new Artist combos feature power amps built around 6L6 valves, as used in many of Fender’s classic designs. According to Blackstar the new Artist amps are designed to combine the best bits of the typically British Class A tone (with two ECC83s in the preamp section) with the dynamic range and chiming top end of a 6L6 power section.
Kitarablogi.com was given the opportunity to take the smaller Artist model – the Blackstar Artist 15 (current price in Finland: 799 €) for a spin.
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The Blackstar Artist 15 looks like a typical Blackstar combo – black vinyl covering and a dark grey grille cloth.
For a combo that comes equipped with a single 12-inch speaker the amp’s cabinet is rather large. The reason for the cabinet’s size becomes clear when you look at the Artist 15 from behind.
The combo’s Celestion V-Type G12-speaker has been placed deliberately to one side of the combo. Blackstar doesn’t tell us exactly why this configuration has been chosen, but I’d wager that the idea behind this is to harness the benefits of a large, stiff front baffle and a larger cabinet – namely: a crisp attack, and a warm, full bottom end.
Celestion’s V-Type comes loaded with a ceramic magnet. According to Celestion this speaker combines a classic tonality with a modern power rating.
The Blackstar’s back panel sports a whole array of connectors for things such as external speaker cabinets, a speaker-emulated line out, an effects loop, as well as the channel footswitch that comes with the amp.
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Blackstar’s Artist 15 is rated at 15 watts of output and features two preamp channels:
Channel 1 is the so-called boutique channel, designed to put the least possible amount of components between your guitar and the speaker. This channel sports only two controls – Volume and Tone – before the signal is sent on to the master section.
Channel 2 gives you the full Blackstar-experience – you’ll find separate Gain and Volume knobs, a three-band EQ section, as well as Blackstar’s proprietary ISF-control. Setting the ISF knob to zero will result in bright and sinewy Fender Blackface-style sounds, while ISF at full on will give you muscular, Marshall-type tones from this channel.
In addition to the Master Volume control, the Artist 15’s master section also includes the level control for the combo’s very nice digital reverb.
Channel 1 clearly has a much rounder and warmer basic tonality than the (more versatile) second channel. With clean settings Channel 1 will give you a fuller mid-range compared to the more Fender-like, chimey Channel 2.
Here’s what Channel 1 sounds like played clean with an Epiphone Casino (first clip) and a Gibson Melody Maker SG (second clip):
…and here’s Channel 2 played with the same guitars:
The Artist 15’s channels also differ in the amount of gain they offer:
Channel 1 will take you from clean all the way to Rockbilly-style breakup and traditional Blues overdrive, while Channel 2 offers more than enough dirt for chunky Rock tones.
Here’s Channel 1 at full gain (Casino and Melody Maker SG):
…and here are two clips of Channel 2 with Gain full up:
The rhythm guitar tracks on the demo song have been recorded with a 1970s Japanese ES-335 copy (made by Kasuga; left channel) and a maple-necked Fender Stratocaster (right channel). The lead is played on the Kasuga:
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The new Blackstar Artist 15 isn’t your typical two-channel combo, which offers you a clean channel and a dirty channel. This is a valve amp that’s all about choices and flexibility.
Blackstar have noticed that pedalboards are becoming en vogue again, which is why their new Artist combos offer enough headroom for clean tones in both of their two channels.
For pedal users the big advantage of the Artist 15’s architecture lies in the fact that the combo offers two high-quality clean variants in the same amp. Channel 1 is a back-to-basics boutique-/AC30-style channel, while Channel 2 offers a much broader range of clean tones, all the way from Fender to modern Marshall.
Of course, you’re free to use the Blackstar Artist 15 in the traditional channel-switching fashion, too, which will give you a top-notch clean sound from Channel 1, and a very versatile array of quality overdriven and distorted tones from Channel 2.
Either way – the Blackstar Artist 15 hits bull’s-eye, in my opinion, and I can only recommend checking one out for yourselves.
****
Blackstar Artist 15
799 €
Finnish distribution: Musamaailma
Pros:
+ workmanship
+ clean headroom
+ versatile amp sound
+ great reverb
Review: T-Rex Replicator
Danish effects specialists T-Rex have caused an enormous stir with their newest guitar pedal. Their new stompbox – called the Replicator – is a genuine, all analogue tape delay, hand-assembled in Denmark. These days tape echoes in themselves are rather rare beasts, but T-Rex ups the ante by giving us the first tape delay with a built-in tap tempo function!
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What is a tape delay?
The tape delay was the first studio effect invented (back when Rock ’n’ Roll was in its infancy), and it was produced by ”misusing” an open-reel tape recorder (hence the name).
The magnetic tape recorder – originally called the Magnetophon – was a German invention from the 1930s, which used a plastic tape coated with magnetisable material as its recording medium.
An empty – or wiped – magnetic tape has all the metal particles in its magnetisable surface pointing in the same direction. The result is silence (in theory) – or rather: some tape hiss.
During recording the recording head transforms the incoming audio signal into magnetic bursts of different strength, wavelength and polarity, and magnetises the tape’s metal particles, rearranging them into different magnetic clusters. During playback these ”magnetic ripples” are picked up by the playback head and translated back into an audio signal.
In tape recorders, such as open-reel studio machines or C-Cassette recorders, many different factors affect the audio quality of the playback. These factors include things such as the physical condition of the tape, tape width, tape speed, the condition of the parts involved in the mechanical transport of the tape, as well as the exact position of the playback head in relation to the tape.
Most C-Cassette players have/had only two heads – one erase head, plus a combined recording and playback head – but reel-to-reel tape recorders in the studio usually came with at least three heads (erase, record, playback). Thanks to the separate recording and playback heads the studio engineer was able to listen to the recording in progress as it sounded on the tape, while it was being recorded (to listen for tape distortion or tape defects/drop-outs).
Because there is a small physical distance between the recording and playback head, there’s always a short audible delay between the signal being recorded and the playback off the tape. The length of this delay is directly dependent on the distance between the two heads, as well as on the tape speed.
In the end, a recording engineer somewhere hit upon the bright idea to use the studio’s backup tape machine as an ”effect processor”. The engineer used the main recorder in the usual way, to record the song’s final (live-) mix off the mixing console’s master buss. The spare tape recorder was fed only the instruments and vocal parts (from the mixer) which needed to receive tape delay. If you mixed the output of the second recorder’s playback head into the recording desk you got a single delay effect. By feeding a small portion of the delay signal back into the delay tape machine’s input you could get multiple delays.
Tape delays meant for live use usually come with more than one playback head, which makes it easier to fine-tune the length of the echo effect, and which makes rhythmic delay patterns possible. Almost all mobile tape echoes use tape loops as their recording medium.
The T-Rex Replicator comes equipped with four tape heads:
The black head is the erase head, next in line is the record head, followed by two playback heads.
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The T-Rex Replicator (current price in Finland: 849 €) comes in its own, vintage-themed ”vinyl leather” carrying bag, which contains the Replicator itself, as well as its power supply, a second tape loop cartridge, the owner’s manual, and a set of cotton swabs (for cleaning the heads with a drop of isopropyl alcohol).
The Replicator is quite a rugged pice of gear, made to withstand onstage use.
The 24 VDC power supply, though, seemed a little weedy in comparison.
The back panel offers the following connectors:
There are the input and output jacks, as well as two connectors for expression pedals, should you want to control the delay time (tape speed) and/or the feedback on the fly.
The little Kill Dry-switch mutes the dry (uneffected) signal in the Replicator’s output. This is a very handy feature, should you want to run the Replicator connected to a parallel effect loop, or to a mixing desk using a send/return-bus.
The T-Rex Replicator offers you six controls and four footswitches to control its functions:
The On/Off-switch does what it says on the tin. When the delay effect is off the Replicator’s tape loop stops running.
The Heads-switch gives you access to the effect’s three delay modes by switching the playback heads on or off. A green light means you’re using the long mode (delay times of approx. 250 – 1.200 ms), red stands for short mode (125 – 600 ms), while orange means you’re running both playback heads simultaneously for a rhythmic delay pattern.
Stepping onto the Chorus-switch will introduce deliberate wow and flutter (tape speed fluctuations) to produce a chorus-style effect that can be fine-tuned with the corresponding control.
Tap Tempo does what it says on the tin. Although this is quite a normal feature on digital delay units, the Tap Tempo-switch on the Replicator is huge news for tape delay fans. T-Rex have developed a system to control the unit’s motor digitally, making it possible, for the first time, to synchronise a tape delay precisely on the fly.
The Saturate-control holds a pivotal role for the sound of the Replicator’s delays. Depending on its settings the effect can either be clean and dynamic or greasy and overdriven.
Adjusting the Delay Time- and Feedback-controls on the fly can produce some wild and wonderful effects (in Feedback’s case up to and including self-oscillation).
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Despite being a child of the Sixties, who has used a tape echo as the main effect in his first band’s PA-system, I have to admit that I’ve grown accustomed to the clarity and precision of digital effects. My first reaction when I tried out the Replicator for this review was ”Is it supposed to sound like this, or is there something wrong?”
Alas, it didn’t take long for the memories of a distant past to return, and I started to really enjoy the genuine old-school tones emanating from the Replicator. You should remember, though, that the Replicator is meant as a handy, portable tool for the guitarist or keyboard player. You shouldn’t expect Queen-style ultra-long, studio quality delay sounds from a compact unit such as this.
Tape speed is of course the most important variable, when it comes to the audio quality of the delay effects – short delay times (= faster running tape loop) will naturally result in cleaner and more stable sounds than long delay times (= a slow running tape).
The first audio clip has been recorded with the shortest possible delay time, while the second clip lets you hear the Replicator running at maximum delay (both clips feature all three head modes):
In my view, the T-Rex Replicator is a portable tape delay of professional quality. You should keep in mind, though, that a genuine analogue tape echo is always (!) a low-fi device in comparison to a digital delay pedal. But it is exactly this authenticity, the slight greasiness, and the sense of unpredictability a genuine tape echo conveys, that makes the Replicator such an enjoyable piece of equipment. The T-Rex’ delay never sounds tacked on, instead it becomes a natural part of your guitar signal’s harmonic content.
I’d say it is hard to overemphasise the advantages this unit’s tap tempo-function brings. The Replicator makes synching your delay child’s play.
I used the T-Rex Replicator to record two demo tracks, which show off the effect’s sounds in different musical contexts:
Demo Track 1
Demo Track 2
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There’s no beating about the bush about this – the single restrictive factor to seeing the Replicator creep into the pedalboard of each and every guitarist is the unit’s steep price. Most players will baulk at a price tag of over 800 euros for a ”lo-fi effect”, and rather opt for one of the numerous tape delay modellers, like the Strymon El Capistan.
The Replicator, which is lovingly assembled by hand in Denmark, will find most of its clientele among vintage collectors and well-heeled boutique guitar and amp connoisseurs. If you run your original 1950s guitar through an equally vintage amplifier, running an authentic, mechanical tape delay unit will be like the icing on the cake. Especially, if the tape delay is as reliable and easy to use as the T-Rex Replicator.
Is the T-Rex Replicator the best genuine tape delay ever? To my knowledge, there are currently three different new tape echo models on the market – each of them sound great. I would pick the Replicator, though, because it is small enough to fit on a medium-to-large pedalboard, and because of its nifty tap tempo feature.
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T-Rex Replicator
849 €
Finnish distribution: Custom Sounds
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Pros:
+ hand-assembled in Denmark
+ tap tempo
+ two playback heads
+ easy to exchange the tape cartridge
+ authentic sound
+ compact size
Cons:
– flimsy PSU cable
– price
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