24 posts
Nice little amp, the speaker may have to be replaced. I might have found what I was looking for in this little amp, a grab and go amp without the need of a pedal board, I found one good clean sound and one good overdrive sound both with on board reverb. There are a lot of usable sounds on the thing, but only 2 of them suit my taste, the Super Sonic Model as shipped, I could not really improve on it in the Fuze, and the clean channel as shipped. Several of the metal overdrives were nice, all of the Fender models did not meet up with my memories of those amps, most of which I have had several different versions of.
I have only tried it with 2 of my 5 electrics. The clean channel is a little jangly, and that might just mean a speaker and tube change over time, yet the speaker might just need breaking in, and that will take months at the lower volumes I play at these days. If it were any heavier or larger I would send it back, but the size/weight, and the two usable sounds both with reverb, which are all I need, are keeping it in the casa for another few days of trial. I am not overwhelmed but not too disappointed either.
Sort of like my Hot Rod Deluxe back when. I was not too pleased with it until I did some changes on it.
Tried it with 2 other guitars, sounds Ok with all but the Strat Clone, (which I don't like anyways without a boost and EQ inbetween it and the amp), so playing out with that guitar/amp combo is out of the question. Did plug in the EVM12L and what a volume jump, it is 15% or so louder than the on board speaker (of course the EVM12L's are super efficient).
I dunno, it may have to go back, it may not, a few more days will tell.
The more I use it, the more I like this amp.
Not a Vibrolux for sure, but I like very much the voices from 1 to 11.
I'm still "studying" voices 12 to 15 :)
Voice 16 sounds sterile/flat to my ears.
Ciao!
Marco
I am using the clean channel (channel 1) and channel 13 for overdrives, Just the way they came out of the box without tweaking. I need two sounds, one clean, and one overdrive, and reverb on both slightly. I have turned the bass and trebles way down to 3. And that way the brightness does not hurt. I like a nice round darker mellow sound, which is tough to get with Fender amps, but I am dialing it in a little at a time. Of course if I have to turn the amp up for jams etc. I will have to tweak the tone controls. The amp is nice for what it is. For $350 US dollars with the foot switch included in that price it is well worth it. Lightweight, and portable, and easy on my old bones....
Isn't 16 the acoustic channel?
Howie on the X 2 16 is; Jazzmaster (Flat Solid State Clean)
desertbluesman — Dec 05, 2012Tried it with 2 other guitars, sounds Ok with all but the Strat Clone, (which I don't like anyways without a boost and EQ inbetween it and the amp), so playing out with that guitar/amp combo is out of the question. Did plug in the EVM12L and what a volume jump, it is 15% or so louder than the on board speaker (of course the EVM12L's are super efficient).
I dunno, it may have to go back, it may not, a few more days will tell.
No, it doesn't HAVE to go back Dave. ;) It sounds like it is SO close that just a little more tweaking here and there will take it the rest of the way, especially since you have only had it a few days. :)
Oh, so it's the Jazz Chorus sim. I think that's 15 on my amp. Never use it.
You guys do have me interested in checking out the SuperSonic sim on my amp. I wish Fender would just come out and SAY what the models are supposed to be like line 6 does. Some of them I have no clue what amp it is they are supposed to emulate.
Yep Chris it is now tweaked to my taste. Still it could use a better speaker (I think). Maybe a hemp cone speaker to mitigate the harshness of some of the highs on the clean channel, I have the trebs down so low it sounds a bit muffled (3 on the dial as well as the bass is also on 3) I have the mids turned up all the way in Fuze, and it is that way as it came from Fender I may tweak that a bit, but it is usable as is and it does get brighter as I turn it up without getting too sharp sounding. I think it is the cheapo speaker they put in it (I am hoping) However it may just break in to be mellow enough to add some trebles. It is one good grab and go lightweight amp for my old bones. If I need something louder I do have the HRD stashed away awaiting some musical moments......
Pretty soon the Valve Jr head and EVM12L cab get stashed away in the shed (climate controlled however) to give the HRD some company. I live in a tiny little mobile home (yep I am trailer trash) in an upscale retirement RV Park/Resort in Arizona. so I have no room for 2 amps in my living room. So out the Valve Jr and EVM12L go while I break this amp in a bit.
DreamTheaterRules — Dec 06, 2012Oh, so it's the Jazz Chorus sim. I think that's 15 on my amp. Never use it.
You guys do have me interested in checking out the SuperSonic sim on my amp. I wish Fender would just come out and SAY what the models are supposed to be like line 6 does. Some of them I have no clue what amp it is they are supposed to emulate.
It is an acquired taste that Super Sonic amp sim Howie. It is very mellow but over driven sound on the X2. Not at all harsh sounding like the Fender sims, the high gain sims on 14 and 15 also seem interesting, I just might have to tweak those in Fuze and see what they are about, so far it is the Super Sonic that I use on all of my overdrive lead sounds. I simply want two good sounds that I can use all of my guitars on and I found them, I even tweaked the amp to make my Strat Clone usable I just turn the trebs all the way off, and that brings it sonically into the realm of tone I like, I leave the bass on 3 and the mids on 10 on the cleans and left the SS sim the way it came for leads with the trebs all the way off for the noiseless single coils. Usable that way.
I think a speaker is all you need.
Also, given your tone preferences, I'd think you'd have gravitated away from single coils by now.
While the X2 is new, there are lots of info on speaker choices for the XD at The Gear Page. Ragin Cajun (sp) was popular. I'd also look at a Warehouse 10.
But heck, again given your tone preferences, I'd consider an alnico speaker. More $ but most are fat and smooth.
Man Fender was on the ball I called them Tuesday afternoon for a new treble knob, the one on the amp when it arrived was to loose it slid right off the Pot shaft easily, so today when I went to the mail box there was one in the mail waiting for me. Problemo fixed.
The Ragin Cajun is popular for the SCX2 but I like the curve of the Little Buddy a little better according to the PDF files of each, it has much less of a treble peak at 2K than the Cajun, and it is essentially flat from 80 Hz up to 1.6 Khz. It has that hemp cone as well. But that is all in the future as is the amp is worth the little bucks it cost me and I have decided to keep it. As for single coils, I don't like the sound of them and I never did, but with my Blues Driver as a boost and with the Blues Driver tone control all the way off it sounds great, almost like a higher power pup. I simply turned the Trebles all the way off on that amp and it sounds great. Super for those jangly rhythms and very nice for clean and overdrive so that made my choice to keep the amp. All of my guitars work with it. That is the trick.
Kinda funny though I was concerned with too much brightness of the X2, and when the amp got here the treble knob was broken.
I wonder if that is some kind of message from the great muse. Turn the trebs down Daver, and that will do the trick. ;~)
LOL, and yeah, good call on the Little Buddy. it's less bright than the RC. I think you should look at some Weber alnico speakers. That might be right up your ally!
Second, from what you are doing with the pedal, you might be better off with a Screamer type pedal that rolls of top and bottom. The BD is kind of a bright pedal. I bet you'd LOVE a Barber LTDv2. Roll the top off with the internal trims... more transparent than a screamer... Bet you'd dig it.
I really thought I might dump my Vibro and move up to one of these but MAN!!! Every time I listen to my Special 6 Ultra, it blows me away. The Ultra channel is brutal! And the boost switch (which really just removes the tone stack, but boosts mids in doing so) is a GREAT solo boost. That combo at about the same price as the X2 would probably be really nice. The gig I do now with my Vibro XD is one I don't need any more power for. I play with un-mic'd acoustic guitars so it never goes above 3.
Off topic. Sorry LOL
Dar recommended the BD2 when I got my Hot Rod Deluxe way back in the early Watering Hole days. So I bought it and kept it but never had much use for it, but it is in my pedal board, so I found some uses for it, like just giving the tiniest touch of overdrive to mitigate the pick attack on clean sounds, one day I tried it to boost/EQ the Agile Strat clone using it, and viola, I began to use that guitar more because of it.
I don't need the BD2 in front of the X2 however, I just turn the trebs all the way off for the Agile, and it works great even without the boost of the BD2.
I am liking this amp for what it is, simple to use, clean and overdrive and reverb on board. Stash a guitar wire and the channel/efx switching pedal & wire in the bottom of the amp, put the amp cover on (soon to be shipped amp cover that is) and off I go, guitar in one hand amp in the other, one trip in, one trip out.
Old folks need simplicity. ;D
oh the BD is a good pedal. I was just saying that it's not the ideal pedal for your tonal preferences.
I haven't even tried pedals in front of my Vibro XD. I'm going to try an OD and Comp but just to see if that works for my gig since I don't have a channel switch for it. Currently when I switch to a song requiring more gain, I just switch to a different sim, and all solo boosting is done via the guitar volume control.
I finally got the X2 up and installed under my computer desk. I also hooked my pedal board in front of it with an A/B switcher and took my GNX2 outta the shed (it still works surprisingly) and hooked that all up to the A/B switcher for the harmonies which I do on one song. The Valve Jr and EVM12 are now banned from the living room & have gone back to the shed. The X2 with the super sonic patch equals the tube distortion stomps for nice smooth overdrive, I can now still use the BD2 for the boost and the tonal difference I need for the Agile without messing with the tone control on the amp.
I am liking that X2, one thing that helped it was getting it up off of the floor. I have a laminate floor I installed 5 or so years back and it reflects sound in a way I do not like. I am confident I can take that out for most jams etc, and have enough oomph to get the sound across to be capable with anything that is in the acoustic volume of a set of drums.
I am a fan of hemp cones, and hemp rope, and the wacky herb. I think the Weber ceramics are just as sweet as the AlNiCo, and cost far less. Mine's a Silver Bell ceramic/hemp, and it sounds flat-out awesome. Really fat bottom end and a lot of warmth, even at bedroom levels.
Tubescreamer? Not the pedal I'd pick for dbm. A honey bee, though, would be ideal. Much of the Barber line is good for that kind of tonality, too, and cheaper than the honey bees, at least until I sell my clones. I'll be making a couple of Barber-based pedals soon.
Looked at the Weber's Charger, the ones you talked about above have this huge cover on the back, non removable. Don't know it they would fit inside the cab.
But for now the on board speaker is sounding better and better as I use it and get used to it. So I am not in the market for a speaker just yet, maybe in a few months.
Of course it won't fit... it's a 12" speaker! The Silver Ten would fit, though, as would any standard 10" speaker. If you're happy with the 10" speaker, there's no need to swap it out.
However, I think the biggest upgrade for that amp is going from 10" to 12". If you want a bigger bottom end and a more balanced tone from low to high, no 10" you swap in is going to make that happen.
I tried it through one of my EVM12L's and what a tonal difference, the EVM12L is a much more efficient speaker than the on board 10" speaker and added a bunch of volume to it. So far the on board speaker is breaking in little by little, and getting less crisp/harsh each time I play it. I am liking this SCX2 amp more every single day I play it. The Valve Jr head and EVM12L have joined my HRD in the shed, banned from the living room for "who knows how long". Best amp purchase for the dollars in many years. Since the HRD 6 or 7 years ago.
Well the clean channel is getting a little better as the speaker breaks in a bit. The Super Sonic Model is what I use for leads and it sounds like a nice simulation at the lower volumes I use at home, I have no idea what it will sound like turned up, I have to wait until the snow birds fly from here to try that. However I think I will have to hook the tube stomps back up for a little more overdrive realism. Not that the SS model is bad mind you, just a little lifeless at lower volumes kinda like the Bogner Alchemist I sent back. Still the amp is a keeper.
For the bucks, I got what I wanted, a quick grab and go lightweight amp with decent cleans, decent overdrives, and a good reverb, all on board. Stick a guitar wire and the pedal in a nice gallon baggie and stuff it in the back of the amp, put on the just received amp cover, and out the door I go, amp in one hand guitar in another. One trip out, one trip in.
I think right after the holidays I will pull the trigger on the hemp cone 10" Lil Buddy and see what happens with that. And maybe a set of JJ tubes after that if it needs more help. I will have to get the BIAS probes from Eurotubes and set the BIAS at optimum levels to my ear, and with the specs Bobbo advises. I bet with those upgrades the amp becomes a tone monster (I hope anyways).
I got a 10% off coupon so I pulled the trigger on the Eminence Lil Buddy. $71 shipped.