NGD - Little bit of everything

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KyleBull

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Holy mail delivery, batman.

Got a bunch of items in today that I'm pretty excited about.

My channel peeps have been requesting the Orange Super Crush, Boss Katana and Amp1 Iridium from me pretty much since the beginning of the channel, so I had the folks at zZounds send some demo units out to get some videos done for them. Personally, I'm probably most excited for the Orange because I love my rockerverb and a more affordable, portable solid state version of that would be a really cool piece of gear both for myself, and someone on a budget. Hoping it lives up.

Also, the Badlander 25 showed up from Sweetwater today. Not really sure how I will feel about it tonally, but it's nice and light. to be 100% honest though, the full sized badlander isn't that much bigger or heavier, and I feel like they could have packed this into the same form factor as the mini rec. Not sure why they went with a bigger head enclosure on this one, but I guess it's at least still smaller.

The Wizard 212 was a random GC used score. $459. I'm always on the lookout for unique cabs because I'm probably more into cabinets and speakers than I am amps. This one came loaded with Celestion Lynchbacks, a speaker I have yet to try, and has a unique baffle that angles at a slight degree left and right per each respective speaker. Could create better dispersion and less standing waves, could sound terrible. Curious if anyone else has experience.

Finally, a couple pedals from Germany - a company called Lichtlaerm. Daniel makes a great pedal, whether it be unique overdrives, parametric eq's or preamp pedals, they all seem to sound great while also having a unique voicing. The Gehenna is his newest re-release and there are some good videos floating around on them right now. I'll pr
bably have one up within a week or so, but it's essentially a modern voiced distortion pedal. The Key and Gate is a great gate pedal with 4 cable capability that I got to use before and have been wanting a second ever since. Pumped to have it in the stable.

Overwhelmed with new tones 😄. Hopefully I'll have some time to dig in within the next couple days.

IMG_20221123_132110_001.jpg
Screenshot_20221125_120503_Gallery.jpg
 
Appreciate you posting!

Lichtlaerm makes fantastic pedals. I had their RAT variant and it was wonderful. The delivery guy/girl can just skip gym day when they hit up your place :rofl
 
That Blug is cool. Didn't like small controls on the side but they were fairly set and forget. I really dig the OG Crush head so will be cool to see your take on the Super. That Wizard cab looks nice as well!
 
That black Super Crush is dope looking.

Curious what you think of it @KyleBull

Had a Crush Pro 120 a couple years back and it was fantastic. Maybe the best value for money amp made? Great pedal platform, though I found it hit or miss with some OD’s, otherwise excellent to stack modulation and time based effects on. Lead channel channel did some great vintage British rock tones at lower gain, and got pretty nasty with the gain cranked. (Bordering on fuzzy)

Been wanting to try the Super Crush. Might be a good stocking stuffer to myself this year!
 
Sad Season 2 GIF by Friends

Seriously though, dying to hear your take on the Iridium. Already know the Crush rules, and the BL25 will sound good for those on a diet.
 
I seen a blu amp1 at the local shop for cheap... I think its the first gen version. Anyone know if those sound pretty good for metal stuffs?
 
ALRIGHT DUDES

So, I got to spend a little time with the Amp1, the Orange SC and Wizard cab so far.

Amp 1 - Pretty cool little all in one package. The built in gate works great. Built in boost is not at all my thing, does not tighten/cut lows at all. Sort of colorless and seems to just be a signal boost. The overall voicing is actually pretty good and the thing gets absolutely DUMB loud. It's also pretty sensitive to pickups and overdrives in front. With my balaguer typhon - sh6, I wasn't digging it at first because there was some low mid tubiness that couldn't be dialed out. When I moved to my LTD ec401vf, that guitar is leaner in the lows and it worked really well for the low mid issue, but then the amp didn't seem to have enough low end punch after that so it will be a balancing act. Overall, I feel like it would benefit from an EQ in the loop, but that's just my take. Kind of defeats the purpose in a way, haha

The super crush essentially fixed everything I didn't like about the Crush Pro - most in the weird piercing mid frequenices when you would try to brighten the amp a bit. Overall, definitely strong Rockerverb vibes and it's an incredibly impressive amp at the $499 price point. Wouldn't hesitate to recommend this one for someone wanting the Orange "thing" without breaking the bank.

Finally, the Wizard. Damn! This cab sounds phenominal and I am instantly a big fan of the Lynchback. Initially plugged my 6505+ into it as that's an amp I'm very familiar with and the cab just sounded massive. Would never guess it were a 212 from the next room over. The Lynchback is a super well balanced speaker with a mid emphasis. Doesn't crunch up like a GB, nice and punchy. I really dig it and this cab will be going nowhere

Saving the other items for another time, but today was fun. I did a live stream with the crush pro but it was def a Murphy's Law stream, haha. Not my best work but there are some tones in there.
 
FAKA! said:
I seen a blu amp1 at the local shop for cheap... I think its the first gen version. Anyone know if those sound pretty good for metal stuffs?
Click to expand...
It should say on the back if it's a Mercury, just under the fan. If it's an original 'Silver' version, then there won't be any wording there.

I think the Silver can still get a high gain sound but it's more of a vintage flavour. You'll probably want to use something to boost it / tighten it up for metal? One of the most-requested features was to voice the overdrive channels to be tighter, which is why Thomas designed the Mercury to replace it. The sounds are pretty similar, as far as I know.
 
KyleBull said:
Amp 1 - Pretty cool little all in one package. The built in gate works great. Built in boost is not at all my thing, does not tighten/cut lows at all. Sort of colorless and seems to just be a signal boost. The overall voicing is actually pretty good and the thing gets absolutely DUMB loud. It's also pretty sensitive to pickups and overdrives in front. With my balaguer typhon - sh6, I wasn't digging it at first because there was some low mid tubiness that couldn't be dialed out. When I moved to my LTD ec401vf, that guitar is leaner in the lows and it worked really well for the low mid issue, but then the amp didn't seem to have enough low end punch after that so it will be a balancing act. Overall, I feel like it would benefit from an EQ in the loop, but that's just my take. Kind of defeats the purpose in a way, haha
Click to expand...

I've not played the Iridium myself, but you might be able to use the side tone controls to do EQ tweaks like you're looking for?
They actually let you blend between two different tone stacks / characters for the channels that have it, so you might be able to tweak the amount of low end by turning the tone knobs clockwise? On the Mercury this works to tighten up the Classic channel a little and add some bite, for example.

If the boost works the same as the Mercury, then from 0 to 5 on the boost knob it adds level and extra high-end. Nice for adding sparkle to the Clean channel. Past the halfway point it changes to a gain / mid boost, kinda like a tube screamer (but without cutting low end).
 
Cool thanks
hemmelight said:
It should say on the back if it's a Mercury, just under the fan. If it's an original 'Silver' version, then there won't be any wording there.

I think the Silver can still get a high gain sound but it's more of a vintage flavour. You'll probably want to use something to boost it / tighten it up for metal? One of the most-requested features was to voice the overdrive channels to be tighter, which is why Thomas designed the Mercury to replace it. The sounds are pretty similar, as far as I know.
Click to expand...
Cool thanks!
 
KyleBull said:
ALRIGHT DUDES

So, I got to spend a little time with the Amp1, the Orange SC and Wizard cab so far.

Amp 1 - Pretty cool little all in one package. The built in gate works great. Built in boost is not at all my thing, does not tighten/cut lows at all. Sort of colorless and seems to just be a signal boost. The overall voicing is actually pretty good and the thing gets absolutely DUMB loud. It's also pretty sensitive to pickups and overdrives in front. With my balaguer typhon - sh6, I wasn't digging it at first because there was some low mid tubiness that couldn't be dialed out. When I moved to my LTD ec401vf, that guitar is leaner in the lows and it worked really well for the low mid issue, but then the amp didn't seem to have enough low end punch after that so it will be a balancing act. Overall, I feel like it would benefit from an EQ in the loop, but that's just my take. Kind of defeats the purpose in a way, haha

The super crush essentially fixed everything I didn't like about the Crush Pro - most in the weird piercing mid frequenices when you would try to brighten the amp a bit. Overall, definitely strong Rockerverb vibes and it's an incredibly impressive amp at the $499 price point. Wouldn't hesitate to recommend this one for someone wanting the Orange "thing" without breaking the bank.

Finally, the Wizard. Damn! This cab sounds phenominal and I am instantly a big fan of the Lynchback. Initially plugged my 6505+ into it as that's an amp I'm very familiar with and the cab just sounded massive. Would never guess it were a 212 from the next room over. The Lynchback is a super well balanced speaker with a mid emphasis. Doesn't crunch up like a GB, nice and punchy. I really dig it and this cab will be going nowhere

Saving the other items for another time, but today was fun. I did a live stream with the crush pro but it was def a Murphy's Law stream, haha. Not my best work but there are some tones in there.
Click to expand...

Nice summary. right to the important points, with enough detail but without requiring a TLDR. 😊

Thanks! Now I’m gassing for things I don’t need, LOL.
 
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