MatrixClaw
Roadie
- Messages
- 291
As I teased in my last NAD with the Sig:X and JVM, I had another amp arriving early this past week - but unfortunately I was on vacation and wouldn’t get to play it until we got back. I was hoping to fire it up Saturday, but time got away from me. Finally got a chance to plug in tonight…
This isn’t the type of amp I’d normally chase, but lately I’ve been trying to push myself into different styles. I’ve found forcing myself outside my comfort zone tends to spark more creativity, so I like keeping at least one lower-gain amp around to mess with.
My last run down that road started with a ’68 Deluxe Reverb. I loved it, but it really only had one sound I loved and it had to be loud to get there. That eventually turned into a Mesa Express 5:25, then a 5:50 head and finally a Fillmore 25, which was easily the best of the bunch.
The funny thing is all three Mesas ended up doing something I didn’t expect: they could do high gain better than anticipated… which meant I just kept using them for high gain until I eventually realized my other amps simply did that job better.
So this time I decided to go a different direction: pick something that lives firmly in the low to mid gain world and leave it there.
Enter the Carr Artemus.
And I have to say… if plugging into my Megalith Gamma for the first time was exciting, plugging into the Artemus was borderline a religious experience
For cleans and low-to-mid gain tones, I honestly can’t imagine wanting much more. It lives somewhere between a Vox AC30 and a Deluxe Reverb, and can lean convincingly in either direction. The Top Boost and half-power switch add a surprising amount of flexibility while still keeping the amp firmly in that lower-gain territory, which is exactly what I wanted.
If I had to nitpick one thing, it’s the lack of built-in reverb. That said, reverb has honestly been pretty underwhelming on most amps I’ve owned that included it, so it’s probably not a huge loss. Still, given Carr’s reputation, I imagine they’d do it right.
The cleans and edge-of-breakup tones are absolutely exceptional. There’s a complexity to them that feels deeper than most Vox or Fender circuits I’ve played. It’s also shockingly loud. Even at 15w this thing shakes the room. Since there’s no gain control and you have to turn it up to get the magic, that magic comes at a pretty serious volume, but man… it’s glorious.
Overall I’m ridiculously excited to spend more time with this one and see how it reacts with different guitars. It’s deceptively simple, but there’s a lot hiding under the hood.
Also worth mentioning: this might be the most beautiful amp I’ve ever owned.
This isn’t the type of amp I’d normally chase, but lately I’ve been trying to push myself into different styles. I’ve found forcing myself outside my comfort zone tends to spark more creativity, so I like keeping at least one lower-gain amp around to mess with.
My last run down that road started with a ’68 Deluxe Reverb. I loved it, but it really only had one sound I loved and it had to be loud to get there. That eventually turned into a Mesa Express 5:25, then a 5:50 head and finally a Fillmore 25, which was easily the best of the bunch.
The funny thing is all three Mesas ended up doing something I didn’t expect: they could do high gain better than anticipated… which meant I just kept using them for high gain until I eventually realized my other amps simply did that job better.
So this time I decided to go a different direction: pick something that lives firmly in the low to mid gain world and leave it there.
Enter the Carr Artemus.
And I have to say… if plugging into my Megalith Gamma for the first time was exciting, plugging into the Artemus was borderline a religious experience
For cleans and low-to-mid gain tones, I honestly can’t imagine wanting much more. It lives somewhere between a Vox AC30 and a Deluxe Reverb, and can lean convincingly in either direction. The Top Boost and half-power switch add a surprising amount of flexibility while still keeping the amp firmly in that lower-gain territory, which is exactly what I wanted.
If I had to nitpick one thing, it’s the lack of built-in reverb. That said, reverb has honestly been pretty underwhelming on most amps I’ve owned that included it, so it’s probably not a huge loss. Still, given Carr’s reputation, I imagine they’d do it right.
The cleans and edge-of-breakup tones are absolutely exceptional. There’s a complexity to them that feels deeper than most Vox or Fender circuits I’ve played. It’s also shockingly loud. Even at 15w this thing shakes the room. Since there’s no gain control and you have to turn it up to get the magic, that magic comes at a pretty serious volume, but man… it’s glorious.
Overall I’m ridiculously excited to spend more time with this one and see how it reacts with different guitars. It’s deceptively simple, but there’s a lot hiding under the hood.
Also worth mentioning: this might be the most beautiful amp I’ve ever owned.
