I bought this at a steal of a price from Rich at Stormshadow Toneworks in the UK, a very nice guy who is not only the sole distributor of Fryette amps within Britain but is also a great guitar maker. His designs are all based on famous '80's rock' models and aren't necessarily my cup of tea, but the sounds and feel are all above excellent, and the prices are beyond belief. Check his guitars out here if you're interested in doing a little research on him.
The reason why I was given this amp at such a great price, was because Guitar and Bass Magazine were reviewing this exact piece and had only just sent it back to Rich last week. I guess because Rich and I have been talking for a while now and have become friends, he offered the amp at the reduced price to me first! Awesome guy. Anyway, here is a very detailed review of the amp for those who enjoy reading.
This thing has way more gain than you'd expect for an EL84 30-watt amp. Seriously, with the second channel cranked, the gain maxed and the boost function engaged there is no way you'd need more distortion. You'd certainly need a tighter attack and less power valve compression for the more djentlemenly styles of music out there, but for me it's awesome. And considering I already have a Soldano and a Toneczar Openhaus on the way next year, I have no use for another Diezel-like amp (although the new Hagen has me interesed).
The loop on this amp is actually one of the most important features. It can help fine-tune the volume levels and tone in really intuitive and dramatic ways, without having as many as switches as you'd suspect. Seeing as I have so many pedals in the back and the front, setting the loop in the right way has taken me a very long time. I even managed to give myself a headache from playing the amp at full volume and sitting right in front of it to reach the switches on the back panel. :
Regarding the tone, it is exactly what Fryette imagined when they designed and built it -- it is an amp for those 'in-between sounds'. My Soldano does one thing and one thing only – brutal metal both the doomy and the djenty kind. Which suits me perfectly, but I needed an amp that took pedals more accurately, had a sweeter and brighter clean tone, and hit those knarly stoner rock tones from the 60's and 70's that I love, something the Soldano struggled with.
The clean sounds break up very early. You won't be able to play a high output pick-up guitar with a drummer without it being as distorted as your average tubescreamer overdrive pedal into a clean Fender Twin. Although that is awesome for certain applications, it is not for others. That is where the preamp swapping and tone-shaping effects loop comes into play. I haven't been able to mess with the preamp yet as I have no replacement valves, but the manual tells me exactly what I need to do in order to decrease the gain. And it is a very easy process and isn't set in stone once done.
The tone is sweet, supple, organic, full of life, and crunchy all at the same time. With the clean channel volume maxed out, the sound is alive and sporadic, full of strange and unique frequency flutters that bounce and shine no matter what guitar you're playing or in what setting. The EQ controls are as effective as you'd need them to be, and although the switches only have little affect on the sound, they feel different and are useful for fine-tuning.
The second channel is a tad mushy at times but I knew that when I bought it. You can dial it out but I actually quite enjoy the compression and sustain for soloing and for that uber dirty dirge that I particularly enjoy with the preamp gain down slightly, the volume pushed hard and the seven string strapped on.
Speaking of which, the two input sensitivity jacks are great for matching guitars. It really works as the website describes. The Ibanez Apex seven string particularly loves the amp - which uses Dimarzio PAF pick-ups - even though it usually requires an oversized cabinet and copious amounts of low-end and wattage. It also loves my Strats, though I do have to dial down the treble for the single coils and use a different input, something that can be time-consuming if I were gigging with it.
The reverb is very sweet and nicely controlled for both channels. There is only a global pot for the level but it never becomes washy or overpowering, something I've had a problem with in other amps like the Orange Rockerverb.
The speaker and cabinet design for the combo seem perfect. The open-back construction is a blessing and a godsend from the projectile and directional sounding Matamp cabinet I have for the Soldano. It is warm, open, airy and very organic sounding.
In all I'm very pleased with this thing. So much so that I have not written a second proper review for this amp or took new pictures and just copied my thread from UG. All because I want to stop typing and got out to my music room, crank the clean channel up and play some ear-shattering Circa Survive!
tl;dr
fryette memphis awesome it sound good anywhere all the time i like it big time you should all be jealous
