A flexible multi-effect pedal that takes inspiration from the eccentricity of vintage recording technology and delivers it through an intuitive user interface.
Chroma Console offers 20 stereo effects, organized into 4 discrete modules: Character (dynamics and distortion), Movement (modulation), Diffusion (time-based effects) and Texture (collection of textural effects). The modules can be used independently or in combination, offering users a wide-ranging sonic palette in the studio or on stage.
With Chroma Console, users can easily re-order effect modules and experiment with different signal chains. This encourages experimentation, like processing reverb through a fuzz, running a reverse delay into a pitch shifter, or sending the evocative, gritty sound of an aging cassette recorder into a stereo double-tracker.
Other unique Chroma Console offerings include GESTURE, a hands-on modulation tool that allows you to record and loop knob movements in real-time. CAPTURE, a 30-second looper, can be used to create ephemeral loops or looped musical phrases.
Hologram Electronics Chroma Console
Features
- Designed and assembled by hand in Knoxville, TN
- Up to 80 user presets for instant recall of your favorite sounds.
- Power via 500mA 9V center-negative adapter (included with pedal)
- Configurable bypass settings: buffered, buffered with trails, true bypass switching
- TRS expression input mappable to any primary control
- Automatic input calibration for use with instrument level and line level sources
Chroma Console is available for $399 USD exclusively on Hologram’s website: www.hologramelectronics.com/chroma-console.
These old-soul musicians smother their classy Fender and Gibson guitars with tasty tremolo and splashy reverb, creating a reverential sound that bridges smooth Motown and slick modernity.
In just seven years since meeting based on a recommendation, Eric Burton and Adrian Quesada formed the Black Pumas, released two albums, and have already been nominated for seven Grammys. However, this fruitful friendship was almost never developed.
Quesada was enrolled at the University of Texas but flunking out due to his dedication to guitar over textbooks. His parents gave him a proposition: Either stay home in Laredo, or return to Austin without a guitar in hand to focus on studying. He went with option B and headed back for school in Austin—or so his parents thought. Quesada took his remaining book money (about $200) and headed to Ray Hennig’s Heart of Texas, where he snagged a Squier Telecaster Thinline. His parents eventually figured out the switcheroo, but Quesada was determined and hasn’t looked back. (Side note: The family obviously sees and supports his musical talents, and attended Black Pumas’ Ryman show the night before the filming of this Rig Rundown.)
That matador move pulled off by Quesada allowed him to become a longtime fixture in the Austin music scene with bands Brownout, Ocote Soul Sound, Spanish Gold, Echocentrics, and Grupo Fantasma (with whom he played for over 15 years, earning a 2011 Grammy for Best Latin Rock or Alternative Album). He started to explore new ideas that didn’t fit the mold for Grupo, and needed someone to narrate his musical vistas. A friend recommended he link up with Austin newcomer Eric Burton, who traded his busking spot on the Santa Monica pier for the bright lights of Sixth Street. The duo met up, and as the results prove, the rest is history.
Before the Black Pumas’ second headlining show at the Ryman Auditorium in downtown Nashville, bandleader Adrian Quesada, bassist Brendan Bond, and band tech Bryan Wilkinson invited PG’s Chris Kies into the hallowed grounds for a chill conversation about their tonal tools. During our time with the Black Pumas, we learned about Quesada’s love for tremolo (he even included it as a secret weapon in a semi-hollow Jazzmaster), Bond’s fateful trip to the Wilco Loft in Chicago, and why a ’59 ES-125 is Wilkinson’s perfect pairing with Burton’s expressive and emotive voice.Brought to you by D'Addario:
https://ddar.io/wykyk-rr
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The Custom Shop Cracks the Code
Black Pumas’ 2019 self-titled debut was like a drug—it soothed, it hypnotized, it recalled the past, it burned slow, and it was an addictive listen. It helped the band tally four Grammy nominations. But in addition to all that attention, it caught the collective ear of the Fender Custom Shop squad, who wore it out for months—so much so, that the team built the above Telecaster. Their aim was to create a guitar that nailed Quesada’s tones on the album, and they surprised the Texan with it. He’s been in love ever since, and mentioned that he’s collaborated on two other Teles—having some input on specs and design—but neither sound as stellar as this one. This one-off Tele is a pairing of a ’60s-style T (sunburst finish with a maple fretboard, standard-sized headstock, small pickguard, and barrel knobs), and a ’72 Telecaster Custom (single-coil-and-humbucker pickup configuration). Since acquiring it, this Tele has been Quesada’s main guitar onstage. He puts D’Addario EXL125 XLs (.009 –.046) on all his guitars, and uses Dunlop Tortex picks with custom printed Black Pumas graphics.
Lucky Loaner
The guitar that Quesada used the most prior to Black Pumas was a Gibson ES-446 that marries a 335 with a Les Paul. He loved its woody core tone and its humbuckers’ ability to lasso fuzz in a musical way. He’s retired the steed to the sanctuary of the studio, but stills requires sinewy sounds, so he checked in with Gibson to borrow a 335. They didn’t have one available but gave him this 345, which has proven a dependable sidekick punching in for time onstage and in the studio. Quesada mentions that the Varitone switch is useful for the studio, but he leaves it in position one (bypass) for Black Pumas’ sets.
A Puma and Jaguar Walk Into the Ryman...
And they sell it out two nights in a row! This fresh feline is the result of another partnership between Quesada and the Fender Custom Shop. He wanted another thinline instrument, but already designed a Tele, so he gravitated to the popular offset body style. The alder body with a natural finish is a nod to his first Squier Tele. The pickups are a custom gold-foil (adorned with a coy puma hood) in the bridge and a covered ShawBucker. It features a Fender American Vintage Jazzmaster bridge and tremolo. A striking bound rosewood fretboard with block inlays sits atop a maple neck that is capped with a blacked-out headstock. The 4-bolt neck plate honors Quesada’s Electric Deluxe with the recording space’s logo.
The real magic in this cunning cat is where the Jazzmaster’s rhythm circuit is supposed to reside. In its place is a tremolo circuit because Quesada cooks his tone in that effect like it’s salt and pepper. In 2022, he confessed to PG, “I love everything with tremolo. I put tremolo on everything,” so we should’ve seen this coming. The rocker switch toggles the tremolo on and off, and the two rollers control speed and depth.You're My Boy, Blue!
Adrian adores Fender amps. His Austin-based recording studio is loaded with noteworthy models from the company’s golden years, yet he proudly tours with a Fender Limited Edition Electric Blue ’68 Custom Deluxe Reverb reissue. (It’s worth stating that a proper ’72 silver-panel Deluxe Reverb was in a road case.) The bright tolex covers an otherwise standard circuit, however the stock combo did have a Celestion Creamback in it. But when Quesada’s tech Bryan Wilkinson found and landed the score for his boss off Craigslist, it had been modded with an Electro Voice SRO Alnico 12" speaker. Adrian loved how it sounded, so it stayed in, and he’s been using the combo on tour ever since.
Adrian Quesada's Pedalboard
We’ve established that Quesada lays on some tremolo any time his guitar is plugged in, but another stompbox spice he rarely avoids is reverb. He does acknowledge that amp reverb, especially from Fender combos, is tasty, but having it in a pedal format allows fine-tuning from gig to gig and room to room. Doing the heavy lifting for both effects is the Strymon Flint. (Adrian mentions that he turned Alejandro and Estevan of Hermanos Gutiérrez onto this staple, found on both of their boards.)
The other stomp stalwart has been the Electro-Harmonix Holy Grail that provides a healthy dose of spring reverb. Both ’verbs are engaged for drippy songs like “Fire.” He has a pair of delays: a Line 6 Echo Park used for its tap tempo function, and a Catalinbread Echorec for longer, dreamier repeats. The Boss GE-7 Equalizer works to match the different outputs between his three main instruments. A Catalinbread Belle Epoch preamp/buffer pedal replaced an Xotic EP Booster because it has a second knob for preamp for more detailed contouring.
Any growl or sizzle Quesada needs for his Tele and Jazzmaster, the EarthQuaker Devices Park Fuzz handles it. The Fulltone Clyde Wah Deluxe has stepped in for a different filter sweeper because Adrian digs its full-sounding throw that stays warm from heel to toe. A Jam Pedals Ripple two-stage phaser gets used on a track from Chronicles of a Diamond, and a TC Electronic PolyTune2 Noir keeps his guitars in check.
His second board (bottom) bypasses the amp and was specifically built to play roughly with Quesada’s 345, recreating a guitar-into-console overdrive sound that gets pumped into the onstage monitors and PA. To capture that crackly goodness, he runs the 345 into a combination of pedals including a JHS 3 Series Delay, a JHS Crayon, and an Electro-Harmonix Nano POG. Utility boxes on here—Strymon Ojai, JHS Mini A/B, and TC Electronic PolyTune—handle switching, tuning, and power.
P for B
Black Pumas bassist Brendan Bond had the good fortune to hang out at the Wilco Loft in the Irving Park neighborhood of Chicago. He quickly bonded with an old P bass that preoccupied most of his time in the space. Up to that point, his fingers have mostly danced around newer basses, so the allure of vintage gear never tempted him. That all instantly changed (“It was like I was playing a different instrument,” he commented), and when he landed back in Austin, Texas, he took a car right to Austin Vintage Guitars, where he landed this 1974 Fender Precision bass. It’s been his main sweetheart ever since. He puts D’Addario ECB81 Chromes Flatwounds (.045 –.100) on it, and always plays with his fingers in Black Pumas.
Tube Time
Bond has toured with lightweight, class-D bass amps, but now given the opportunity that his own back doesn’t have to lug the gear, he’s bringing out the big guns in the shape of an all-tube, 6550-powered Fender Super Bassman that hits a matching Bassman 410 Neo cab.
Brendan Bond's Pedalboard
Three pedals get the job done for Bond: an Acme Audio Motown D.I. WB-3 Passive D.I., a JHS Colour Box, and a Boss TU-3 Chromatic Tuner.
A '59, But Not That '59
Black Pumas’ singer/guitarist Eric Burton started his career busking in Santa Monica. He’s always accompanied himself with an acoustic guitar, but as the Black Pumas formed and took off, he needed something louder, which pushed him into the hollowbody and semi-hollowbody realm. His main collaborator has been this 1959 ES-125 that is all original and still has its purring P-90. He uses it for the Pumas’ songs “Colors,” “Stay Gold,” “Fast Car,” and “Tomorrow.” Burton’s guitars take D’Addario NYXL1149 Nickel Wounds (.011 –.049).
Stealth Cat
For songs needing more gas and go, Burton will dance with this stock ES-335.
Regal Prince
This prototype was born from conversations with the Fender Custom Shop, who took inspiration from Eric’s connection with hollow and semi-hollow instruments. The Telecaster Thinline has a few special appointments, including a sparkle-purple finish offset with gold hardware and an anodized gold pickguard, conjuring thoughts of the president of Paisley Park. The other interesting bit is the hot P-90 in the neck position.
Mighty Mate
Burton plugs all his guitars into an off-the-shelf Fender ’65 Princeton Reverb.
Eric Burton's Pedalboard
Burton is the band’s lone wireless member. To accommodate his onstage prowling, tech Bryan Wilkinson uses a Radial JDI passive direct box that takes in the XLR from the audio subsnake wireless rackmount and routes it into the first pedal Boss TU-3 Chromatic Tuner. From there, Burton only has a couple pedals—a DigiTech Mosaic to mimic a 12-string for “OCT 33” and a JHS Colour Box for any required heat. A Strymon Ojai turns everything on.
Shop Black Pumas' Rig
Gibson ES-345
Fender ’68 Custom Deluxe Reverb
Strymon Flint
EHX Holy Grail
Catalinbread Echorec
Boss GE-7 Equalizer
Catalinbread Belle Epoch
EarthQuaker Devices Park Fuzz
Fulltone Clyde Deluxe Wah Pedal
JHS 3 Series Delay
JHS Crayon
Electro-Harmonix Nano POG
Strymon Ojai
JHS Mini A/B
TC Electronic PolyTune
TC Electronic PolyTune 3 Noir Mini Polyphonic Tuning Pedal
D’Addario EXL125 XLs (.009 –.046)
D’Addario ECB81 Chromes Flatwounds (.045 –.100)
Fender Super Bassman
Bassman 410 Neo Cab
Acme Audio Motown DI WB-3 Passive DI Box
JHS Colour Box
Boss TU-3
D’Addario NYXL1149 NYXLs (.011 –.049)
Gibson ES-335
Fender Telecaster Thinline
Fender ’65 Princeton Reverb
Radial JDI Passive Direct Box
DigiTech Mosaic
Alex Lifeson’s signature 30-watt, 6L6-powered combo offers tones from clean to scorching, that offer much more than just Rush sounds.
A powerful grab-and-go tube combo with gutsy lead and rhythm tones from an admirably simple control complement. Nice construction quality.
Independent lead and rhythm gain controls would be a plus.
$1,999
Lerxst Chi Combo
mojotone.com
In addition to being one of the world’s most-accomplished rock guitarists, Alex Lifeson is, it seems, a dab hand at product conceptualization, too. The latest evidence is the CHI Combo, a new addition to the Lerxst amp series, which is Lifeson’s collaboration with Mojotone of Burgaw, North Carolina.
The CHI was designed as an easily portable amp that Lifeson can reach for when a last-minute show pops up. It’s ostensibly “Marshall-y” in attitude, though it’s also very much a modern-voiced circuit with footswitchable clean and lead channels. It generates 30 watts via two 6L6EH output tubes and three 12AX7s in the preamp and phase-inverter stages. It’s a straight-ahead amp, wonderfully free of excess features to throw you off course. And while it's perfect for the diehard Rush fan (manual-suggested settings for several Lifeson signature tones, including “Limelight,” “Fly by Night,” and “Working Man,” confirm as much), there’s plenty here to satisfy guitarists outside the Canadian prog-rock obsessives club.
Greek to Me
The CHI exudes a businesslike demeanor, but it’s also stylish enough to stand apart from the scores of lookalike classic clones out there, dressed up as it is in race-grey levant vinyl, red-garnet piping, and black-matrix grille cloth. The logo panel sports a striking red font inspired by the text on the iconic Moving Pictures album cover, and the control panel carries an etched Starman graphic that lights up red when you flip the power switch (there’s no standby on this model). The 24" x 20" x 9", 49-pound amp, with its Baltic birch cabinet, feels solid and substantial, too. Mojotone’s reputation for quality cabinets extends back further than its amplifier business, and the company has supplied many top boutique amp builders. It’s easy to imagine why.
“Access to the fluid, singing tones that define much of Lifeson’s playing with Rush is easy.”
Controls include input gain, lead master, output master, treble, middle, bass, and presence, and there’s a pull switch for a “rhythm clip” function on the input gain, which adds a little dirt to erstwhile clean tones. Around back, you’ll find a jack for the single-button footswitch, a send and return for the effects loop, two 8-ohm speaker outs, and a single 16-ohm out. Inside, the CHI’s circuit is wired across a primary printed circuit board. Three smaller boards host output-tube connections, effects send/return and speaker outs, and the LED array that lights up the Starman. Workmanship is tidy throughout, with neat wire runs and tube sockets that are bolted to the chassis for support in addition to their connections to the respective PCBs.
The CHI’s 30-watt rating comes courtesy of cathode-biased 6L6s. The configuration slightly reins the power from these tubes, which can produce around 45 watts in a fixed-bias configuration, but they can often sound a little juicier and more harmonically complex when cathode biased. The setup also means you can replace the output tubes without having to reset their bias. (We will say, though, be careful when removing or reaching behind the amp’s upper-back panel: A sharp edge on the roughly cut protective screen left this reviewer with a slice on my index finger.)
A Ride in the Red Barchetta
Tested with a Gibson ES-355 and a Fender 1956 Stratocaster Reissue, the Lerxst CHI swiftly revealed itself as a versatile performer—able to do far more than the expected Lifeson-alike tricks that would appear to be its raison d’etre. Going straight to the gained-up lead channel with input gain set at 2 o’clock or more—a route that’s hard to resist on an amp like this—accesses a boatload of muscular grind, sustain, and sizzle. Attaining the fluid, singing tones that define much of Lifeson’s playing with Rush is easy. Dial down the input gain to noon or below, though, and you can tap into plenty of earthy, rootsy rock ‘n’ roll tones. A little tweak here and there delivers everything from gritty classic rock to dirty blues to gnarly garage-rock tones.
Rhythm channel tones will stay relatively clean at pretty hot settings, so you can play loud without sounding muddy. This capability will be a boon for texturalists who need headroom for detailed time-based and modulation effects. But the rhythm channel also works great with overdrive pedals (a TS10 Tube Screamer and Wampler Tumnus Deluxe both sounded excellent). Pulling out the input gain knob for rhythm clip is also an effective tool for adding dirt to the rhythm foundation. The overall level drops slightly, too, but since it’s not a footswitchable function you’re more likely to use this very practical mode with its own gain settings.
With that in mind, it’s worth noting that the CHI’s gain staging, and the knobs that control it, take some getting used to. Since input gain controls the drive level for both channels, you’re tied to finding a compromise between them, then balancing the lead output via the lead master control, and the overall volume of both channels at the output master. Including just one more knob to allow for both rhythm gain and lead gain controls would be more intuitive. As it is, the setup certainly works once you get the hang of it, and both channels can sound great, but it sometimes requires a little deviation from your ideal tone on one channel or another.
The Verdict
The Lerxst CHI combo is a convenient, versatile amp with more than enough punching power to keep up with a heavy drummer, and still sounds great when reined in to basement practice levels. While saturated rock sizzle is very much its forte, the medium-grind overdrive tones are appealing, and both cleans and clipped settings on the rhythm channel are useful and satisfying. Independent rhythm and lead gain controls would have been a plus, but the CHI combo has much to offer just as it is, whether you’re a Rush fan or not
Alex Lifeson Lerxst Chi Amp Demo by Zach Wish — Run the range of Rush riffage! | First Look
PG contributor Tom Butwin demos the AirSonic W. Reverend Founder Joe Naylor has been on a quest to meld a solidbody’s sustain and attack with the rich, big tone of a semi-hollow. Naylor’s sonic dream is now a reality.
Reverend Airsonic W Solidbody Electric Guitar with Rosewood Fingerboard - Periwinkle Burst
Radically thinner wings and thru-body f-holes allow the body to resonate intensely, while a thick center ridge establishes solid sustain. Harmonics shimmer, single notes sing, and power chords ring like a bell at stage volume. Add in overdrive, and the controllable feedback is a thing of beauty. With the forearm and stomach contours, this guitar is light and comfortable. The Airsonic W has Railhammer Humcutters that capture the clarity and dynamics of a P-90 without the hum. A Wilkinson WVS50 IIK Tremolo in the bridge rounds out the package. If you’re ready to make a unique visual and sonic statement, the Airsonic W is for you!
Three brawny, chiming British amp voices, and a million colors in between, shine in an immaculately conceived and constructed 16-watt, EL84 combo that roars and sweetly sings.
Oodles of Brit tones that sound fantastic at low, or shockingly loud, volumes. Built like an old Benz. Touch-responsive and dynamic. Deep, addictive tremolo.
Expensive!
$3,240
Carr Bel-Ray
carramps.com
Playing the 16-watt, EL84-driven Carr Bel-Ray is, at times, flat-out, ecstatic fun. It’s alive, reactive, responsive, dynamic, and barks and chimes with a voice that spans a siren’s song and a firecracker. It lends snap and top-end energy to humbuckers, can turn a Telecaster bridge pickup lethal, or make a Rickenbacker 12-string brash and beautiful at once. It can also make you forget stompboxes exist. Most of my time with the Bel-Ray was spent without a pedal in sight.
Carr Bel-Ray Amp Demo | First Look
As the EL84 power section suggests, the Bel-Ray offers many paths to British amp tonalities. Three different voices—V66, H73, and M68, accessed via a 3-way switch—approximate Vox, Hiwatt, and Marshall sounds, respectively, and each genuinely, sometimes uncannily, evokes its inspiration. The three voices are only jumping-off points, though. The superb onboard attenuator enables huge sounds at civilized volumes, and the creative preamp section and volume-taper toggle can recast each voice profoundly. So can the flexible EQ, which shifts and morphs the Bel-Ray’s many tone colors in elegant and painterly ways. The tremolo, by the way, is rich, thick, and luxurious.
The Bel-Ray’s delectable tone-tasting menu is high-end stuff. Prices start at $3,240 for the combo and $3,150 for the head. But the Bel-Ray’s bold palette is unusually expansive, which can make a lot of amps very redundant. Compact, handsome, lovingly crafted, multifaceted, and way louder than its dimensions suggest—the longer you delve into the Bel-Ray’s potential the more the price tag makes sense.
Immaculately Executed
The Bel-Ray isn’t expensive for its hip sounds alone. We’ve raved about Carr quality before in Premier Guitar, and the Bel-Ray suggests Steve Carr’s standards are as high as ever. I’ve seen pricey custom furniture put together much less exactingly. And the substantial amp chassis and the circuit, handwired on terminal strip, almost suggest a kind of virtuous overbuilding—the variety that makes old Volvo and Mercedes-Benz engines go a half-million miles.
The Bel-Ray’s tube complement is nearly identical to those found in 18-watt Marshalls, AC15s, and Watkins Dominators, which are the Bel-Ray’s most obvious design touchstones. But rather than use three 12AX7 preamp tubes like those circuits, the Bel-Ray trades one 12AX7 for a pentode EF86. It adds a lot of pop and kinetic energy to the basic voice. It also works with a partial master volume, situated just after it, to lighten the load on the power tubes when you use the amp in the volume-taper toggle’s less-aggressive low position. An EZ81-based tube rectifier adds a welcome touch of contour to the Bel-Ray’s often hot and toppy response and widens the amp’s touch responsiveness spectrum. The Fane F25 12" ceramic speaker also helps broadcast the Bel-Ray’s fiery side while smoothing the toppiest peaks. Carr’s excellent attenuator enables operation between zero and 2 watts, or you can use the wide-open 16-watt mode. In both modes, and at virtually any setting, the Bel-Ray dazzles with its power, many personalities, and electric presence.
Warning! Explosives on Board
If you’re accustomed to vintage Fender, Gibson, Ampeg, and other American amps in this low-mid-wattage power category, you might be startled at how loud and feral the Bel-Ray can be. At 16 watts, it sounds and feels as loud and feisty as some 30- and 50-watt combos. At 2 watts it sounds just as full bodied and full of fangs, just quieter. Only when you spin the attenuator to the noon position (presumably about 1 watt) does the amp start to sound considerably thinner.
“There aren’t many guitars the Bel-Ray won’t love or illuminate in the most flattering light.”
Each setting on the voice switch, which affects the EQ section only, effectively reroutes the tone stack through three completely different sets of circuit values, shifting frequency emphasis and pass-through gain. The individual voices vary in gain (the Vox-y V68 is lowest, the Marshall-y M66 is highest) and can sound completely distinctive with many, many tone shades between them. As a result, there aren’t many guitars the Bel-Ray won’t love or illuminate in the most flattering light. PAF humbuckers, and their thick overtone profile, predictably blur some differences between the voices, but also generate dynamite, white-hot, and throaty tones and push the Carr to bellowing volumes that sound nothing like 16 watts. Good humbuckers are also a great vehicle for exploring the Bel-Ray’s superb dynamism and touch sensitivity. I rarely used a pick with my SG and the Bel-Ray, because I could coax such clear-and-sweet-to-searing extremes via touch dynamics and my guitar’s volume knob alone.
Telecasters, which are a particularly tasty match for the Bel-Ray, come alive with the same dynamism, sensitivity, responsiveness to volume and tone attenuation techniques, and varied touch intensity—enabling travel between dew-drop-delicate bell tones and screaming, edgy Jimmy Page daggers. A Rickenbacker 12-string with toaster tops was among the most revelatory pairings. With a little extra midrange kick, overtones danced in kaleidoscopic light. Turn up the gain, though, and the Rick will roar.
While the Bel-Ray could happily live its long life without ever meeting a pedal, it sounds fantastic with them. There is plenty of air in the Bel-Ray’s many voices to accommodate and communicate overtone intricacies in reverbs and complex modulation effects. And fuzz paired with the Bel Ray is a psychotically hot combination that cannot be missed.
The Verdict
The Bel-Ray is an impressive and handsome piece of kit. It’s also a reminder that an amplifier is arguably the most important piece of your signal chain. Everything sounds awesome through this amp. Technical pickers will love its sharp precision, but it overflows with slashing punk energy and dynamism, has enough headroom to communicate the details of alternate tunings and odd effects, and sounds spectral, full, and fantastic at both ends of its impressive volume range. About the only thing you won’t get from the Bel-Ray is a wide range of blonde and black-panel Fender sounds, though you can get really close, if extra-zingy, approximations in a pinch.
The price is hefty. But depending on your music and the settings and spaces you create it in, the Bel-Ray opens up many more possibilities than any AC15 or 18-watt Marshall would offer on its own. Also, the sense of craft in this amp offers its own kind of enjoyment. It’s a thoughtful, clever, beautifully built thing to behold. It’s also fun. Fun enough to make you fall asleep at night smiling and giddy, grateful that electrified, amplified music exists.