New Amp Day!

[fulltone1989]

Hi all,

So here's my contribution to the tidal wave of new gear we've all been getting recently! I bought a Fuchs ODS mod from a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe before Christmas and received it last night. UPS came around 8 so I only had a few hours to riff on it, but so far I am extremely happy. The amp is extremely responsive to my picking dynamics, and the volume knob - more of a gain reduction than overall volume which I love in an amp. The Reverb is also very nice, and I was comfortable just plugging straight into the amp whereas I usually use an OD and RV7 for effects. The Master volume is extremely useful, sounds great at bedroom practice levels. I'll have a chance to try it with the band this weekend, and I can't wait. I had a little issue matching the clean and OD out volumes, but I imagine with a little more time with the amp I will solve that. Here's the feature set:

Half Power Switch
Series/parallel loop w/ trim (no idea what the trim does, waiting for Andy Fuchs to get back to me)
Footswitch w/ OD and PAB (preamp boost, take the knobs out of the equation and uses the 3 switches for EQ)
Pull knobs on the low and OD out - I have no idea what these do, as I was inspecting the PCB after playing and noticed these.
Reverb and Presence - Makes Madison Square Basement sound nicer! The Reverb doesn't turn into a surf fest either which is cool.

I tried it through a V30 as well as a RWB and the bass was a tab loose with the RWB but that's the same with my Soul-O 45, I didn't really use the V30 all that much to be honest so I am excited to give it a run through tonight after work.

Now for the picture, the snakeskin looks less lame in person!

[Heady Jam Fan]

Dude, I would tear that damn snakeskin off of that amp.
And turn it into pants.

Does Andy have a manual or description for what all the functions are? Might be helpful.

As for managing the volume across channels, sometimes what sounds off in the basement / at moderate volumes will sound just right live / when keeping up with a drummer.

[ShockedAndPersuaded]

Nice score man!  Prepare yourself as this might be the last amp you ever play. I say play because there's many more Fuchs amps to be had.    I share the same feelings as you on the volume knob response from your guitar with these amps. Definitely more of a gain reduction than volume loss. My TDS 100 is the same way. Can't express how much I love it. I'll share my experience with you on a few things. As usual, YMMV. On speakers I've found that while it's not terrible these amps don't respond 100% with V30's. I've got two in JG-1 HT cab and it's no where near as beautiful and lush as my 2x12 Brown Soun cab with vintage EV's. The G12-65's are also really nice. A little more akin to the greenback flavor IMO. The trim switch lowers the return signal for use of rack and pedals together. Line level of some rack gear isn't as high as pedal levels. I use it mostly in the normal position. Also if your amp is a hand tuned build the low pull knob engages a different value cap. Basically in is the "Carlton" value and out is the "Ford" value.  It's really one of the most versatile amps I've ever owned and I've had just about everything you can think of. Last thing to offer is get to know your controls and try all settings you can think of. These amps take some time to dial in but once you do it's nothing short of bad ass. Congrats on the new amp!

[fulltone1989]

Dude, I would tear that damn snakeskin off of that amp.
And turn it into pants.

Does Andy have a manual or description for what all the functions are? Might be helpful.

As for managing the volume across channels, sometimes what sounds off in the basement / at moderate volumes will sound just right live / when keeping up with a drummer.

Haha I thought about retolexing, but it might not come out so hot. Definitely a unique piece though. I'm looking forward to playing it with the band this weekend and gigging it soon enough, I hope that the "problem" is solved. Playing around with the OD in trim will help too I imagine. I've been talking with Andy, and he's really helpful.

Nice score man!  Prepare yourself as this might be the last amp you ever play. I say play because there's many more Fuchs amps to be had.    I share the same feelings as you on the volume knob response from your guitar with these amps. Definitely more of a gain reduction than volume loss. My TDS 100 is the same way. Can't express how much I love it. I'll share my experience with you on a few things. As usual, YMMV. On speakers I've found that while it's not terrible these amps don't respond 100% with V30's. I've got two in JG-1 HT cab and it's no where near as beautiful and lush as my 2x12 Brown Soun cab with vintage EV's. The G12-65's are also really nice. A little more akin to the greenback flavor IMO. The trim switch lowers the return signal for use of rack and pedals together. Line level of some rack gear isn't as high as pedal levels. I use it mostly in the normal position. Also if your amp is a hand tuned build the low pull knob engages a different value cap. Basically in is the "Carlton" value and out is the "Ford" value.  It's really one of the most versatile amps I've ever owned and I've had just about everything you can think of. Last thing to offer is get to know your controls and try all settings you can think of. These amps take some time to dial in but once you do it's nothing short of bad ass. Congrats on the new amp!

Thanks! I honestly hope so, as one of my resolutions is to stop with the impulse pedal buys and focus on only getting consumables (strings, speakers, tubes) or a 1-in 1-out rule. I played a Blackjack 21 MK II at work and it sounded kickass too, Fuchs makes some killer stuff and his service is top notch.

That TDS sounds like a fantastic amp though, I bet you can get some killer Herring tones from it. That's the tone I am trying to dial in now, smooth fluid sustain when the OD circuit is in. It does that to an extent on the clean side haha but I am still very new to dialing it in and I know what I will be doing this weekend. Would you say the V30 tames the bottom end a bit? I will definitely try an EV but since I have to pull the chassis anyway to swap speakers I don't think it will fit. G12-65's are real popular over on TGP but fundage may restrict one or the other, not both. Heady's and your praise and knowledge of the EV has me leaning towards that, and I'll probably sell some junk to get a Thiele cab for it too.

Since it's a mod, I am not sure if it is the HT version, but since stock ODS's (ODSi?) ship with an OD and reverb Footswitch, and mine has a PAB and OD switch it leads me to believe it was modded with additional options before it left Andy's. The low pull is another indication too, but it was late so I'll have to verify. I plan on trying my ARDx20 w/ Amaze0 in the loop, but im going to play around and see if I like the series or parallel option better than another.

I was just twisting knobs and flipping switches last night and found some great clean tones by accident, and I am excited to see what the future holds with this amp, thanks again!

[fulltone1989]

Would you say a Thiele or an open back cab has tighter b0ttom end for the EVM12L? I think I'm gonna get a new one.

[Heady Jam Fan]

Would you say a Thiele or an open back cab has tighter b0ttom end for the EVM12L? I think I'm gonna get a new one.

With a closed back you should have more bass and will be more directional, open back will sound more spacious.

[fulltone1989]

Would you say a Thiele or an open back cab has tighter b0ttom end for the EVM12L? I think I'm gonna get a new one.

With a closed back you should have more bass and will be more directional, open back will sound more spacious.

Awesome, I'll see how it sounds in the open back before I buy more gear lol. I got one off TGP, an OEM version FWIW

[fulltone1989]

So my EVM12L arrived today and I immediately popped it into my open back DRRI cabinet. Now I know what I was missing with the Fuchs. Excellent cleans, nice flat response that really puts out what you put into it, sensitivity-speaking. The high end is very present, more so than my Emi RWB but the bass was tighter and the low notes didn't get fuzzy at all at high volumes for the house. I'm not much of a reviewer but I definitely dig it and it really brings the tone of the amp out and makes the notes bloom into harmonic feedback much easier.

Total boat anchor though, for a speaker. At gig volumes I hope the DRRI baffle holds up. Seems sturdy enough though.

Mine has the tabs that you push down to insert the speaker leads, not solder tabs. I plan on zip tieing the cable to the cable so the stress is on the cab not the speaker, you guys do something different or just have the EVM12L attached to a speaker jack plate?

[Heady Jam Fan]

So my EVM12L arrived today and I immediately popped it into my open back DRRI cabinet. Now I know what I was missing with the Fuchs. Excellent cleans, nice flat response that really puts out what you put into it, sensitivity-speaking. The high end is very present, more so than my Emi RWB but the bass was tighter and the low notes didn't get fuzzy at all at high volumes for the house. I'm not much of a reviewer but I definitely dig it and it really brings the tone of the amp out and makes the notes bloom into harmonic feedback much easier.

Total boat anchor though, for a speaker. At gig volumes I hope the DRRI baffle holds up. Seems sturdy enough though.

Mine has the tabs that you push down to insert the speaker leads, not solder tabs. I plan on zip tieing the cable to the cable so the stress is on the cab not the speaker, you guys do something different or just have the EVM12L attached to a speaker jack plate?

It is a great speaker. I love how fast and punch the attack is with the flat cone - it doesn't absorb any energy, just pushes air.

Its great with my Mesa that is super midrange-focused, but I didn't dig it with my Twin - it can obviously handle the Twins bass, but there was just too much bass and very little mids (a lot of people love it with a Twin though, I think SRV fans particularly). I'm sure the Fuchs DR has more mids though (I haven't even tried it with my DR).

I didn't worry about doing anything special with the speaker wire, but mine is in a 112 extension cab.

[fulltone1989]

Yes very efficient, is that the word? I just really like how it takes the tone of the amp without adding their own flavor. The RWB is good at that too but the EVM12L is more "honest" I would say.  I wasn't really paying attention to the punch and attack when I was playing last night, could you delve into that a bit further?

[Heady Jam Fan]

Yes very efficient, is that the word? I just really like how it takes the tone of the amp without adding their own flavor. The RWB is good at that too but the EVM12L is more "honest" I would say.  I wasn't really paying attention to the punch and attack when I was playing last night, could you delve into that a bit further?

Efficient means a high ratio of physical (acoustic) energy put out relative to the electro-magnetic energy put in. The EVM is efficient, as are most Celestions (like the V30, CL80, Gold, Blue).

An amp builder was describing it this way recently: a speaker with a ribbed cone bends at the ribs, essentially making many smaller speaker cones within the single speaker cone. These 'smaller speaker cones' produce the high-end content. Thus American speakers usually have more ribs and greater high frequency content while British speakers have fewer ribs and more midrange character. Other companies, such as EV made a flat cone, but thin or tapered enough to bend a bit and give the high frequencies.

But the flat cone won't bend to the degree a ribbed cone will - I think the ribbed cones absorb some of the energy at the attack of notes, essentially compressing the initial attack, while the flat cone like the EV jumps to life immediately at the attack, not hiding anything. I guess you could say its more efficient at the attack than ribbed speakers that soften the attack. Sound-wise, this is the opposite of sag that is produced in tube-rectified amps when they are pushed to the point where they don't have enough energy during the attack on notes and thus compress and smooth out the attack.

Combined with the low-end of the EV, its very punchy. With a Mark series Mesa that has a very punch midrange (and bass) and fast response in general, the combo hides nothing in your playing. People either love this or hate it. I personally love it. But I always wished there was something like the EV with less bass - even if you role off the bass on your amp and use a TS9 to suck in bass, compression and distortion down the line still produces notable lower harmonic content. So I'm always considering whether I want the punchy EV or the tighter bass of a Celestion that just doesn't produce bass as low as the EV.

[Stecks]

Looking at those multimeters is giving me horrific undergrad physics E&M lab flashbacks.

So if we get a Blossom and/or Star Lake date this summer, we should meet up and compare.  I should spend more time researching this but I pretty much like my amp as it is, as do the pros who gig with it when they're in town.  But I'm sure it could always use some love

[Heady Jam Fan]

Looking at those multimeters is giving me horrific undergrad physics E&M lab flashbacks.

So if we get a Blossom and/or Star Lake date this summer, we should meet up and compare.  I should spend more time researching this but I pretty much like my amp as it is, as do the pros who gig with it when they're in town.  But I'm sure it could always use some love

For sure brother, I really hope we get a show.

[fulltone1989]

OMG your trolling my NAD thread and ruining my karma!

[ShockedAndPersuaded]

Sorry for the late response. Here's my experience with the EV. I have a 1x12 Boogie theile cab, a 2x12 Brown Soun, a Hard Truckers JG-1, and a Marshall 4x12. Out of all these cabs my 2x12 Brown cab sounds the best with the EV. The theile sounds really big for a 1x12 but the low end in the Fuchs seems to get muddy and smeared. The HT is just painfully loud. Between the efficiency of the EV and the throw that cab has it's pretty much an outside gig only set up. However, it made for really nice Jerry tones.  Imagine that.  The 4x12 was absolutely gorgeous. I had an X pattern of 2 EV's and 2 Tubby alnico speakers. Put all of that in a road case and you've got yourself a rig that's too damn heavy to deal with on your own. The Brown cab, which originally had the NiCo's in it, has an oval port on the back. For my style and tone I find this set up to work best. You get the nice open, airy feel of an open back but retain the tight low end of a closed back with the tuned port. It's still pretty heavy. About the same weight as a Twin.

The TDS is pretty sweet. It's like an ODS and a Clean Machine in one amp.  LOTS of tonal options. I've tried several diferent types of speakers and the EV just fits the bill for me. Clean, uncolored, and solid low end.