Effects Bay

A few days ago, @pelossus was asking me about the Electro-Harmonix .22 Caliber pedal. This thing is pretty dang cool. It’s a 22 watt power amp, and apparently there are no issues with ohms and cabs, so it’ll work with any cabinet.  Simple set up with bright / normal switch and volume. I think this could be a great little practice amp for sure.

Here is the official description:

The Electro-Harmonix 22 Caliber Power Amp is a versatile 22W guitar head that fits in the palm of your hand. Its excellent tone and extreme portability guarantees it a spot among your mainstays for performance, rehearsals, or recording. The 22 Caliber delivers everything that you would expect in a much larger amplifier. Though the input and gain structure was optimized for guitar it will work great with other instruments as well. Just plug it into any 4-, 8- or 16-Ohm speaker, and you’ll get a big, sweet musical sound. Crank the 22 Caliber’s volume, and it’ll go into overdrive—like a vintage amp with a single volume control. Flip on the bright switch to add some bite and definition.

The volume knob controls the volume or loudness of the amplifier. As you turn the Volume knob clockwise, the 22 Caliber’s output gets louder. At a certain point in the knob’s travel, the output will start to overdrive. At this point, you are beginning to exceed 22 Watts on your loudest notes. Turning the volume knob further clockwise will produce a more overdriven sound from pure power amp saturation. When engaged, the power amp’s bright switch adds a subtle high-end boost presence to your output signal. When in the normal position it is defeated yielding a signal that passes from input to output uncolored.

Plug the output of your guitar, effects pedals, or any other instrument into the input jack using a standard 1/4″ instrument cable. Connect the 22 Caliber’s output jack directly into almost any speaker cabinet. Use a speaker cable between the Electro-Harmonix 22 Caliber and speaker cabinet as you would with any power amplifier, though you can get away with using an instrument cable if absolutely necessary. Additionally the speaker cabinet must have a power rating equal to or greater than the 22 Caliber’s output power capability. A speaker cabinet with a 30W rating is recommended. Electro-Harmonix has always been a supporter of the portable musician, particularly when it comes to amplification. The 22 Caliber power amp surely proves that great things come in small packages.

But.. how does it sound? I found this video on EHX (by Guitar World).. and it sounds pretty good!

You can pick up the Electro-Harmonix 22 Caliber Power amp for only $106.50 at Musician’s Friend.

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This morning, a friend of mine from high school days sent me a link to this interview of Paul Rivera Sr. of Rivera Amplifiers. I’m a big fan of Paul Rivera and his company. I currently own a Rivera Knucklehead 100 head (vintage grey model). Love that head, it’s too freakin’ loud, but sounds great.

Rivera definitely make some great stuff. That Clubster Royale sounds awesome! Any other Rivera owners out there?

Popularity: 6%

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I figured I haven’t asked a ‘community question’ in a while, so yesterday I asked the following question to Twitter and Facebook – “What amp(s) do you play through?“. I like asking these questions to see what people are using out there. Here were the responses:

Twitter

paylor1970 @effectsbay Marshall JVM 410H for live gigs. Just a small Crate for practicing at home.
Guitarblogstar @effectsbay Laney A3012 series 2 valave amp ..its delicious
GiantGentle @effectsbay ah… That’s a secret!
esmasqueunjulio 1974 Fender Twin Reverb
michaeljantz @effectsbay Fender Blues Deluxe!
palavarela @effectsbay ’76 Marshall Super Lead modded by Dave Friedman and Bogner Ecstasy 101B
ERiCtheBuLL @effectsbay Line 6 Spider 3 HD150 through a matching Mk2 4×12 cab.
meneermeijer Blackstar HT5-S totally rules.
palmheroes @effectsbay Epiphone Valve Jr.
Goosoniqueworx @effectsbay Fender Bassman 135 (modded) and Swart Space Tone
SuspendedStudio @effectsbay epiphone valve jr
sbos @effectsbay Chris Custrom Christal – Handmade fender champion-like head
jasonsaurus @effectsbay the chosen amps: http://www.myspace.com/musicworkscharlotte
AndrewElmore @effectsbay i play through a Fender Frontman 212 Reverb, but I would love to one day get a hold of a Super or Deluxe
AustinRemington @effectsbay i play through a vintage Rivera Knucklehead 55. I love that amp oh so much.
dnamusicrocks @effectsbay Line 6 spider II …an old one
TeeAreBee @effectsbay a Raven RG200, a Line 6 Spider III 15 Watt, and a Crate Blue Voodoo head into a Peavey Cab.
PeterBerki @effectsbay I like orange, but they’re too expensive. Carvin X100b for me. 600 made in usa tube
aS_hayashi @effectsbay Marshall 1987X! Would play through a 1959 but it’s too heavy for my to lug around to gigs in my small car.
markgrundhoefer @effectsbay Carvin MTS3212.
ajp71555 @effectsbay Vox AC15CC1 & Peavey Valve King Royal 8
joelcyu @effectsbay blues jr. !
chunter16 @effectsbay Raw signal to desk or PA.
ariasjose @effectsbay none, I just plug a XLR from the table to my Line 6 X3 Live… and for practice I just use headphones!

Facebook

Jahn Xavier It’s all about portability for me. I use a Fender Blues Jr & a Blues Deluxe, depending on the desired tone or size of the venue – both have been heavily modded/rebuilt by Ben Fargen at Fargen Amplification. Also replaced the first 12AX7 in the Jr with a 12AY7, which got rid of that “boxy” sound they can have (as well as that notorious Fender ‘volume jump’”. ALso have Celestion G12H30 speakers in both.
John Elliott I have a Roost Session Master which is like a Marshall copy also with two 12 inch Celestion speakers. Mmmm changing the valves – I have 12AX7s- I might give that a try
Marcelo Donati I use a Behringer V-ampire, but I really want a Fender Stage 112 SE!
Tom Spencer Matchless Lightning 15 Reverb. Yes.
Russ Benoit Just traded in my Crate V50 today for a Fender Frontman 25r. I was sad to see the tubage go, but with 2 small kids I *never* got to play the amp at a decent volume, so away it went.
David Brown Fryette SigX and a TruTone 2×12 loaded with Celestion Blues.
Mike Jackson 1st gen fender cyber-twin. You reminded me to look for a repair place (rotory knobs went iffy) and found one down the street from the office! Nice!
Bill Thompson Two Fender 59 Bassman Reissues,… (((STEREO)))!
Dave Jones Fender 1994 tweed Blues Deluxe and a more recent tweed Blues Junior with Jensen speaker. About to drop a Weber 12F150 into the BDx V1 replaced with a 12AY7 in the BJr and a 5751 in the BDx. Otherwise running Tungsol 12AX7 and 6L6/5881 and JJ EL84 respectively for the amps. Yeah I’m into tubes right now Oh & a volume box in the FX loop to tame that crazy volume on the Blues Deluxe
Frank Levine Fender Blues Deluxe RI. My practice amp is a Kustom Tube 12.
Lionel Oberto JVM 205H
Justin Vigeant Peavey Classic 50 410 & Fender Blues Jr… looking to upgrade to a Dr Z Maz 18 possibly in the upcoming year.
Garrett Haynes Deluxe Reverb Reissue
Anne-Marie Perry Roland Jazz Chorus 120
Ronald Neely II Markbass Little Mark II LE
Kevin Kelsey Peavey Classic 50 410 and a Fender Blues Jr.
T.J. Harris Randall RM50 with Top Boost module (adding a Plexi module soon)
Ron Hostetter Old Fender Stage combo. Love it.
Bryan Aspey Tech 21 Trademark 60
Andrew Johnson Selmer treble n bass sv50 head into old 4×12 cab…

Please feel free to continue the discussion by posting a comment below!

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I found a pretty cool deal on Amazon.. I’m thinking some of you might jump on this. I know, I know, this isn’t a pedal, but it’s a pretty awesome deal on a amp. I found the Krank Chadwick Series 2-Channel tube head on Amazon. The head normally lists at $2,199.00, but is on sale for a crazy amount! It’s on sale for $1,025.35. We’re talking HALF OFF of list. This amp is available at Musician’s Friend for $1,499.00, so it’s  totally a great deal. At Amazon it also ships with FREE super saver shipping.

Here are the details of the head:

One of the most versatile amps in the Krank stable, this footswitchable 50W two-channel head has distinctly british vintage tone. The dirty channel features a 3-band eq, gain, volume, fixed parametric shift, gain boost and unique “envelope” that allows users to decide how hard they want to push the preamp into the power section. The clean channel really shines, offering a 3-band eq, volume and gain that produces sparkling cleans to distinct plexi-style overdriven sounds. Features include an active effects loop, ohm and voltage selectors, line out.

I found the official Chadwick Demo as well by KrankAmplification

You can pick up the Krank Chadwick 2-Channel Tube Guitar head at Amazon for $1025.35 (which includes FREE super saver shipping).

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The following is a guest post review of the Raven RG200 2×12 Combo Amp by George DesRoches. If you are interested in guest posting, please contact me!

The Raven RG200 amp is a well priced bargain amp that I believe is only available at Guitar Center. It is large, loud, and amazingly clear. With it’s 200 watt power, it is without a doubt the most powerful amplifier you can get in its price range. Like all Raven amps, it is covered in a soft black material and has a black metal grate in front of its dual speakers. This 2×12 solid state amp is amazingly priced (and to make it better is almost always on sale, reduced all the way down to the price of the RG100 at time). With it’s punchy and amazingly clean tones, this amp is perfect for people who get their tone from pedals (like I do).

The RG200 has two channels: a lead channel (distortion) and a rhythm channel (clean). Both sides you have the three band EQ knobs, and a Level knob, and the Lead channel has an added gain knob. The rhythm channel, especially with a slight reverb (which is included, and will be described later) is perfect for clean tones from any pickup, though it sounds particularly good when a bridge humbucker is used. Even with the added reverb, though, there is little coloring of the tone with the amp, so you get as direct a song as possible, making this amp PERFECT for musicians who prefer to make their tone with an array of pedals. I myself prefer the use of stompbox effects over amp sounds because you literally can control every aspect of your tone by stepping one of several boxes.

The lead channel is unfortunately not as great as the rhythm channel. It’s distortion is, for lack of a better way to put it, crappy. That’s the drawback to all of the Raven amp models: the distortion kinda really sucks. There’s probably somebody who likes it, but the distortion is too weak to do any metal or hard rock, yet too hard to do anything seriously bluesy. To be honest, you get a more natural sounding overdrive when you turn up the amp all the way on the rhythm channel (which you can, which makes that channel even COOLER). As stated above, you have the three band EQ (Treble, Mid, and Bass), a Channel level, and a Gain, though the only knob that really makes a difference is the level knob, because the distortion isn’t one you can really tweak.

Besides the two main channels, you have both an internal effects loop and ports for an external effects loop. The amp comes with 16 effects/dual effects: Spring, Room, and Hall Reverb, a Flanger, a Rotary effect, an octave generator (low octave, not high octave), an “autowah” effect (a modulation effect that makes it sound like a wah pedal is opening and closing at a steady and unchangeable rate), a “Rotoverb” effect (rotary/reverb), a Tremolo, a Phaser, a Delay, a Chorus, and a Slapback, as well as 3 crossover effects: Tremelo reverb, delay reverb, and chorus reverb. You can activate the internal digital effects loop by either pressing the DSP button on the front panel or by using an external dual latching foot switch (a BOSS FS-6 seems to work best). The first switch changes the channel (which can also be changes by a button between the channel knobs on the front panel), and the second turns on/off the internal effects. There is also a level knob to alter the level of the selected effect (chosen with an adjacent knob), but there is no what to control rate, depth, or any other parameter. As a note, I’m almost positive that while there is anything connected to the amp through the external effects loop in the back, the internal effects cannot be used.

The amp has, as said before, ports for an external effects loop and a footswitch (all of which using basic 1/4″ cables). It also has a 1/4″ input for headphones (which doubles as a “record out” port). To put it plainly this amp is a bargain amp: massive volume and cleans for mediocre distortion and effects (though to be honest the standard reverbs are pretty good sounding. I have the spring reverb on at all times to make my sound more spacious). It really is a loud amp, though, so I honestly recommend that, unless you want massive volume and an amp that needs pedals to play with, you’d be better off getting something like the Peavy Vyper 60 Watt amp or something around the same price. It’s a good amp, and it sounds great with pedals, but just because it’s 200 watts doesn’t mean it’s a great deal. To put it plainly, you get what you pay for, and the volume and moderate cleans don’t compensate for the lead channel and effects.

About the author:
George DesRoches

My gear: Fender HSS Stratocaster, Dunlop Dimebag Darrel Cry Baby From Hell, BOSS MD-2 MegaDistortion, DS-1 Distortion, TR-2 Tremelo, CH-1 SUPERChorus, and DD-20 Giga Delay, with a Raven RG200 amp and a Line 6 Spider III 15 watt when needed.

Check out my band, T.R.B., at http://www.myspace.com/teearebee

You can follow George on Twitter (@TeeAreBee)

The Raven RG200 Combo Amp can be purchased for $349.99 at Musician’s Friend

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