It's a modified version of an Ampeg Reverberocket complete with luscious reverb, bias trem, 7591 output tubes and a Cannabis Rex speaker. The cab is based on a Dr Z with a nod to Ampeg in the blue tolex.
I asked Ryan to build me this after playing a friend's original 60s one on a visit to Wellington earlier in the year. The tone is really unique, the overdrive is very bottom heavy which makes it really smooth and creamy. It has a fairly prominent mid range and there's a lovely compression that exaggerates the note attack but also adds a really nice thickness behind the note. The clean is absolutely beautiful and the dirty tone is perfect for the kind of soul/funk/roots/jazz that I favour.
It's basically the original circuit but with a James tone stack (aka baxandall- just treble and bass), VVR and a few other tweaks. The tone stack has robbed the amp of a fair bit if gain so Ryan suggested making the bass control defeatable (basically switching it back to the original circuit). This has the effect of a fairly large boost and makes the amp sound bigger and more raw.
The process of refining it was a great experience. Ryan called me in when he had the initial build and showed me some of the options I could go for like different negative feedback settings (it started out on a switch but we just picked my favourite one and made it permanent) and different tone stack values. We went back and forth with the tone stack a couple of times until he had the final cabinet and speaker combo and then fine tuned it to match that. The end result is terrific. He is a very clever chap.
Here are some tone clips:
Three guitar parts and bass all recorded using this amp:
I'm in Love (Bobby Womack)- Robin Avalon guitar, both humbuckers.
Reverb Noodling- Robin Avalon guitar, neck humbucker.
P-Bass demo:
Here are a couple of dirty clips. These are both using a Les Paul Special Doublecut with P-90s.
I really love it. Everything I've recorded with it so far has just sat beautifully in the mix with little or no EQ or compression. All of my guitars sound great through it but the Avalon is an absolute pleasure.
