I really dig the smaller amps, and I've gone through a bunch the last couple of years looking for the right one. I loved the Mark V25 and liked the Mini rec, but found the master volumes just didn't push loud enough when I was in a band situation. I've also played around with every little amp I could get my hands on, from Orange to EVH, to the 6505 mini head. All of them are good, but I realized that lacking big bottle tubes may have kept me out of the mini amp market. I guess I just need the big 6L6s.
That's why I've been so interested in the Tremonti head, a smaller amp with 6 12ax7s and 2 6L6s. I saw the video with the main engineer saying if he just replaces the power transformer and ups the voltage, it's a 50 watt amp. I can see what he's talking about, and I think the 15 watt label is underselling the amp a bit! It's DEFINITELY able to go louder with more of a usable sweep of the master volume knob than the two Mesa mini heads I've owned in the past.
So here's my take on it, it has the throaty, low-mid grunt of a Dual Rectifier with the treble/presence of a 5150. It also has impossibly too much gain, I keep the knob at 9 or 10 o'clock and it's already in the brutal range. The EQ knobs work a little too well too, as a slight nudge to the bass or mid knobs reveals a completely different sound. The clean channel is pristine and amazing, and the pull boost knob gives a slight bit of crunch putting it into Plexi gain territory (though not exactly Marshall-esque).
All these pro's, and one big con... the effects loop has a 60Hz hum that is a bit annoying at low volumes. It's not the tubes, not pedals or rack gear. When a guitar is plugged in and nothing is in the effects loop, it's dead silent. Putting even just a patch cable in the effects loop makes the amp hum. I knew this was a talked-about defect in these amps going in, so I knew what I was getting. The only other downside is that there is a big change in volume from 1 to 2, similar to the old Mesa Mark IIIs. The amp goes from whisper quiet to coliseum volume a little too quickly, and the master volume could have used a taper. To bring it down to bedroom levels, I literally set the effect send on my MS3 to 4%, this amp is that loud.
You know what's funny, I'm not even that big a fan of Tremonti or Petrucci (though I highly respect them both), but both these amps are exactly what I love playing through.
That's why I've been so interested in the Tremonti head, a smaller amp with 6 12ax7s and 2 6L6s. I saw the video with the main engineer saying if he just replaces the power transformer and ups the voltage, it's a 50 watt amp. I can see what he's talking about, and I think the 15 watt label is underselling the amp a bit! It's DEFINITELY able to go louder with more of a usable sweep of the master volume knob than the two Mesa mini heads I've owned in the past.
So here's my take on it, it has the throaty, low-mid grunt of a Dual Rectifier with the treble/presence of a 5150. It also has impossibly too much gain, I keep the knob at 9 or 10 o'clock and it's already in the brutal range. The EQ knobs work a little too well too, as a slight nudge to the bass or mid knobs reveals a completely different sound. The clean channel is pristine and amazing, and the pull boost knob gives a slight bit of crunch putting it into Plexi gain territory (though not exactly Marshall-esque).
All these pro's, and one big con... the effects loop has a 60Hz hum that is a bit annoying at low volumes. It's not the tubes, not pedals or rack gear. When a guitar is plugged in and nothing is in the effects loop, it's dead silent. Putting even just a patch cable in the effects loop makes the amp hum. I knew this was a talked-about defect in these amps going in, so I knew what I was getting. The only other downside is that there is a big change in volume from 1 to 2, similar to the old Mesa Mark IIIs. The amp goes from whisper quiet to coliseum volume a little too quickly, and the master volume could have used a taper. To bring it down to bedroom levels, I literally set the effect send on my MS3 to 4%, this amp is that loud.
You know what's funny, I'm not even that big a fan of Tremonti or Petrucci (though I highly respect them both), but both these amps are exactly what I love playing through.