Minor League Rocker

My first 100-watt tube head. That's about what it's good for.

So, rock musicians are really supposed to think about sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll, right? Well, if that’s what you think, you’re leaving something out: gear.

Guitars, amps, cables, pickups, effects - you name it, and musicians obsess over it.

The only thing that makes me different is that I rarely get anything new. I bought my last amp five years ago. My last guitar came two years ago. Last speaker cabinet? Three years ago.

Amps are my obsession, but it’s kind of a difficult one. My current amp is a THD Univalve, a beautiful piece of low-wattage, no-fat, low-fuss machinery. But I’ve had a few outdoor and unmic’d gigs lately, and it’s low wattage has been a bit of a liability for those.

That made me decide to look into a new head, something in the 50-watt range, with a more aggressive distortion. The Uni nails those early-80s Iron Maiden-style sounds. But I wanted some a bit more modern - not the swarm-of-bees sound so prevalent in nu-metal: I still want a good midrange and powerful articulation.

I wanted it to be priced reasonably and built in the United States, too. The benefits of a reasonable price are obvious. Plenty of fine amps are built outside the United States, but I wanted to support those who make a living here. I also wanted to avoid the big guys, and have a single-channel amp.

This is a tall order.

An awesome setup for the studio and for club gigs.

First, the smaller guys are terrible at describing their products. I have clicked on so many “high-gain” amps that fell well short of that sound. Maybe we need a new description, like “modern high-gain.” Too many of these sounded straight out of the 1970s - definitely not the tone I want. If I were an amp builder or describing an amp’s tone, I would put it in terms of type of music, e.g. “This is a perfect amp for replicating George Lynch’s tone from the Back for the Attack album, but with a more modern grind for rhythm parts. If you have the hands for it, this amp can deliver.” Boom!

Second, there are too many amps festooned with three or four channels. That adds up to a long signal chain and a bunch of relays and integrated circuits that increase the chance of breaking down. I really pine for the day when Carvin decides to make a single-channel version of its V3, running on just 50 watts, but with the gain structure of its Channel 1. That would be a great American-made amp for a reasonable price. Maybe even put Power Scaling in it stock!

Third, small builders generally have big prices. Or if they’re reasonably priced, they do one thing that ruins the package for me (Valvetech would be brilliant with a diode rectifier instead of a tube rectifier).

Fourth, let’s talk about sound clips. I don’t trust them. A good engineer can twiddle the EQ to make anything sound good. You really have to play an amp to see how it responds to your touch and to your guitar (or take a chance on eBay). And really, would it kill any of these guys to actually record some clips with a Jackson or ESP instead of a Strat and a Les Paul? That goes to knowing your potential customer, and the small builders are awful awful awful in that regard. That shows even those who don’t have much regard for sound clips that you at least get what they’re looking for.

So … you might be wondering what decision I made for my 50-watter: Well, this one goes to 60: The VHT Deliverance 60. Yes, they’re called Fryette now, but mine pre-dates the name change. Expect a review in a few weeks!