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Thread: This is the "Real Deal" 2007 Fender Custom Shop Masterbuilt EVH Eddie Van Halen Frank

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    This is the "Real Deal" 2007 Fender Custom Shop Masterbuilt EVH Eddie Van Halen Frank

    I'd love to play one for 30 mins just to see how it feels but what a heap of shit.

    Interesting he said the action was incredibly low.


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    $25,000???
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    I think they are worth more than that now, that was how much they cost retail when they first went on sale.

    To be fair it must take a lot of work but it is all a bit crazy.

    There is a 1997 Gibson Slash "Snakepit" signature guitar selling for $100k.

    https://reverb.com/uk/p/gibson-custo...paul-1996-1997
    Last edited by Seshmeister; 12-17-2021 at 10:46 AM.

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    People who buy that shit are not players but just bored collectors with too much money on their untalented hands. Back when I worked in a music store some asshole paid over $12,000 for Gibson L-5 that he never intended to play buy rather place inside a display cage so his other rich untalented asshole buttfucker friends could see for themselves what a asshole he was.

    Look where Hendrix's Woodstock Strat is today


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    Oh, and speaking of buttfuckers. This just churns my stomach


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    If they ever do a reissue of this guitar, this is the one I want:



    Trevor Rabin's early 60's Strat. I'd so put that in a case and be a smug asshole about it.

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    Not to sound TOO much like a nitpicky cunt, but I have memories of when I was starting to play guitar in the early 1980s, and seeing pics of Ed's guitars that he was using mostly for live work from 1978 through 1983 and thinking back then how cool it would be to play THOSE guitars.

    I bought a Charvel San Dimas in 1990. Basic guitar: two double coils, standard Strat-style non-locking tremolo, one volume knob.

    Come 2005 or so, started looking to get a second guitar. At that point, I think it was Charvel who was starting to sell San Dimas-style models with the designs of those iconic EVH / CVH-era guitars. I recall they were running for $1,500 or so back then.

    While that price was a little higher than I wanted to spend for a second guitar, it wasn't beyond the realm of possibility for me financially. I was seriously considering the model that looked like the guitar Ed was playing around the Van Halen II period...the black one with the yellow stripes. Plus, I knew from owning one for ages that Charvel makes quality guitars: even their lower end stuff in terms of price are still quality guitars.

    In the end, I went with an Ibanez for my second guitar and had my 1990 San Dimas mildly upgraded in terms of the wiring.

    I didn't get the EVH replica because...well, it's a replica. Even a replica that pays minute attention to detail is still a replica. The point being that I used to daydream in my early teens about playing the actual guitars Eddie was playing, and playing an Eddie Van Halen replica now obviously isn't the same thing, to the point where the prices of the replica are pretty much irrelevant in terms of my desire to actually own one.

    That being said, I have read a lot of comments from a lot of players - both amateur and pro - regarding the Eddie Van Halen Wolfgang series guitars, and literally all those comments were positive.
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    I think typically the EVH stuff is way cheaper and better than the San Dimas these days.

    I also think there is a big difference between getting a replica frankenstrat , doubly especially that one, and getting an EVH Wolfgang.

    I feel slightly awkward playing a Wolfgang through my EVH amps in front of an audience but I have done it few times. I wouldn't dream of ever playing one of those replicas in front of an audience though unless you are in a tribute act it would seem ridiculous fanboy stuff.
    Last edited by Seshmeister; 12-17-2021 at 10:34 PM.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Seshmeister View Post
    I think typically the EVH stuff is way cheaper and better than the San Dimas these days.

    I also think there is a big difference between getting a replica frankenstrat , doubly especially that one, and getting an EVH Wolfgang.

    I feel slightly awkward playing a Wolfgang through my EVH amps in front of an audience but I have done it few times. I wouldn't dream of ever playing one of those replicas in front of an audience though unless you are in a tribute act it would seem ridiculous fanboy stuff.
    The Fender factory in Mexico probably makes the best guitars for the money. That’s where the run of the mill EVH’s are made. I picked up a EVH 5150 Deluxe guitar. It doesn’t look like a VH fanboy guitar and it’s got the thin Charvel styled neck and not the Wolfgang neck. The newer ones have the cool cutoff button. Mine has a ebony fretboard so it’s a bright sounding guitar but you can dial the brightness down using the EQ pots on the amp. But the EVH stuff is well built. I’ve never had a problem with a 5150 amp other than tubes wearing out. The EVH speaker cabs are great. The guitars are no-none sense work horses. I like the EVH EL-34 5150 amps. I think they have a warmer sounding crunch channel and the high gain channel is still decent. If you are more into a heavy sound than a classic rock sound and want better reliability a 5150 loaded with Sovtek 5881 tubes will go to hell and back. Probably the most reliable power tubes still made and they sound great in high gain amps. They will sound like an old Fender clean. Not the greatest for Classic British tones.
    Last edited by Nitro Express; 12-18-2021 at 01:19 PM.
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    I love my EVH 5150 III head, what's not to love about an amp where you don't need a distortion pedal and only need the gain at 1 o'clock? I've been gigging it since it came out, never had it above 10 o'clock volume but its been completely reliable.

    Only issue for me is the well known one that you can't really use the clean channel live because it shares the volume with the crunch channel and so it's no use live if you wanted to switch between the two during a song.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Seshmeister View Post

    Only issue for me is the well known one that you can't really use the clean channel live because it shares the volume with the crunch channel and so it's no use live if you wanted to switch between the two during a song.
    Fuck just noticed they have fixed that in the new ones, credit to them for listening to customers. I wonder if I can get that done to mine as a mod...

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    Wow further reading and people have been modding the amp themselves like this for 8 years, I never thought to look.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Seshmeister View Post
    I think typically the EVH stuff is way cheaper and better than the San Dimas these days.

    I also think there is a big difference between getting a replica frankenstrat , doubly especially that one, and getting an EVH Wolfgang.

    I feel slightly awkward playing a Wolfgang through my EVH amps in front of an audience but I have done it few times. I wouldn't dream of ever playing one of those replicas in front of an audience though unless you are in a tribute act it would seem ridiculous fanboy stuff.
    Which, I've never played a Wolfgang, but were I to play one and liked how it felt/played, I wouldn't have any reservations about buying one. Certainly far less reservations than buying one of those EVH classic replicas, which as you say unless one is in a Van Halen tribute band...just EVH idolation to an extreme...like, I've spent more than a bit of time over the last 40 years learning Eddie's licks, and even I wouldn't want one of those replicas, although I suppose people do. I just remember seeing a clip of John Mayer with one of those Franky replicas playing Panama live onstage and he looked goddamned ridiculous.

    I've also heard a lot of complimentary things about the EVH amp line as well.

    I haven't played in front of an audience for almost thirty years now, so the two guitars I have - the old San Dimas and the newer Ibanez - are more than sufficient for my needs as a player these days (in point of fact, I'm thinking about getting a run-of-the-mill nylon string Spanish-style acoustic, because I rarely play my electrics and don't currently have an acoustic). The newer Ibanez, which has a Floyd Rose, cost me slightly less than a thousand...and truth be told it has spent more time in the case than being played, because I love my San Dimas. And my 15 Watt Peavey amp and my half-dozen pedals suit me fine...I'm not playing out professionally, so I don't need a rack-mounted effects board, and I don't need the Marshall stack I had thirty years ago anymore...most of the time when I do drag my San Dimas out of the case and play for a bit, I don't even plug into the amp.

    All that being said, I still DO kinda want that EVH Art Series Bumblebee guitar, though... ; )

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    I own the $1700 Frankenstrat and the $900 Bumblebee. Those are last year’s prices. They’re already creeping up in price to $2000 and $1100, respectively. There is a point they get overpriced according to each own’s budget and for what they are really worth. I am shameless. I would play either one at a rock gig. It could be a conversation piece and I don’t give a fuck what anyone thinks. I wouldn’t play at a blues gig because the form doesn’t follow function in that setting.
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mushroom View Post
    I own the $1700 Frankenstrat and the $900 Bumblebee. Those are last year’s prices. They’re already creeping up in price to $2000 and $1100, respectively. There is a point they get overpriced according to each own’s budget and for what they are really worth. I am shameless. I would play either one at a rock gig. It could be a conversation piece and I don’t give a fuck what anyone thinks. I wouldn’t play at a blues gig because the form doesn’t follow function in that setting.
    I just play what I feel like playing at the time. Lately it’s been a Les Paul Standard. I went through a Telecaster phase. If I want a wiggle stick I will either grab one of my Kramer’s or the EVH 5150 Deluxe.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Seshmeister View Post
    I love my EVH 5150 III head, what's not to love about an amp where you don't need a distortion pedal and only need the gain at 1 o'clock? I've been gigging it since it came out, never had it above 10 o'clock volume but its been completely reliable.

    Only issue for me is the well known one that you can't really use the clean channel live because it shares the volume with the crunch channel and so it's no use live if you wanted to switch between the two during a song.
    I have the 50 watter with the concentric pots and that gives you separate Volume/Gain Controls for the clean and crunch channels. It’s a great little amp. I noticed it was what Wolfgang was using when he went on tour.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Terry View Post
    Which, I've never played a Wolfgang, but were I to play one and liked how it felt/played, I wouldn't have any reservations about buying one. Certainly far less reservations than buying one of those EVH classic replicas, which as you say unless one is in a Van Halen tribute band...just EVH idolation to an extreme...like, I've spent more than a bit of time over the last 40 years learning Eddie's licks, and even I wouldn't want one of those replicas, although I suppose people do. I just remember seeing a clip of John Mayer with one of those Franky replicas playing Panama live onstage and he looked goddamned ridiculous.

    I've also heard a lot of complimentary things about the EVH amp line as well.

    I haven't played in front of an audience for almost thirty years now, so the two guitars I have - the old San Dimas and the newer Ibanez - are more than sufficient for my needs as a player these days (in point of fact, I'm thinking about getting a run-of-the-mill nylon string Spanish-style acoustic, because I rarely play my electrics and don't currently have an acoustic). The newer Ibanez, which has a Floyd Rose, cost me slightly less than a thousand...and truth be told it has spent more time in the case than being played, because I love my San Dimas. And my 15 Watt Peavey amp and my half-dozen pedals suit me fine...I'm not playing out professionally, so I don't need a rack-mounted effects board, and I don't need the Marshall stack I had thirty years ago anymore...most of the time when I do drag my San Dimas out of the case and play for a bit, I don't even plug into the amp.

    All that being said, I still DO kinda want that EVH Art Series Bumblebee guitar, though... ; )
    The Wolfgang is pretty much like a Les Paul. It was designed by a famous guitarist but people buy them because they like the guitar. I was watching a guy in a country western band playing a Wolfgang and he was getting this really good country tone out of it. People play all sorts of stuff on Wolfgang guitars.

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    https://www.sweetwater.com/store/det...watt-tube-head

    These are fun. Lot’s of great sounding 20 watt amps being made now. If you are just playing at home it’s all you need but you could gig with it. I like to have a cab onstage because I like to generate feedback. Then you run a line out to the board.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Nitro Express View Post
    The Wolfgang is pretty much like a Les Paul. It was designed by a famous guitarist but people buy them because they like the guitar. I was watching a guy in a country western band playing a Wolfgang and he was getting this really good country tone out of it. People play all sorts of stuff on Wolfgang guitars.
    I can imagine that. The average concertgoer likely does not know the Wolfgang / EVH association. Only a small percentage would recognize the Frankenstrat or Bumblebee.

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    I love the Friedman Mic NO MO direct box. You just run it between your amp and speaker cab and run a line to the mixer. Nobody is using racks anymore unless they are in a major act. It’s stomp boxes now and if you are doing fly out gigs it’s what you can fit in a carry on bag. Lot’s of options.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Nitro Express View Post
    https://www.sweetwater.com/store/det...watt-tube-head

    These are fun. Lot’s of great sounding 20 watt amps being made now. If you are just playing at home it’s all you need but you could gig with it. I like to have a cab onstage because I like to generate feedback. Then you run a line out to the board.
    I can get good feedback out of my Fender Deville 410. Perfect for me for a gig. Mic it if we have a soundboard and let the soundman balance it out.

    I just picked up a Fender 65 deluxe reverb 22 watt 112 (reissue series). They have a long classic pedigree. Too much social life (and ski season) cutting into guitar time!

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    Quote Originally Posted by Seshmeister View Post
    I love my EVH 5150 III head, what's not to love about an amp where you don't need a distortion pedal and only need the gain at 1 o'clock? I've been gigging it since it came out, never had it above 10 o'clock volume but its been completely reliable.

    Only issue for me is the well known one that you can't really use the clean channel live because it shares the volume with the crunch channel and so it's no use live if you wanted to switch between the two during a song.
    How about a volume pedal?

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    Quote Originally Posted by Mushroom View Post
    I can imagine that. The average concertgoer likely does not know the Wolfgang / EVH association. Only a small percentage would recognize the Frankenstrat or Bumblebee.
    The pickups are interesting. The neck pickup is actually hotter than the bridge pickup but it’s mounted farther away from the strings. Both pickups are hot but you can tame them nicely with the tone knob. One secret to the EVH pickups is one coil has more windings than the other coil. This gives a more lively tone and it’s why EVH pickups are not as dark sounding as a regular humbucker. They have more of a single coil vibe to them and that’s why you can get country picking tones out of a Wolfgang. They kind of sound like a beefy Telecaster.

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    Ed liked the offset pickups because it helped his tapping and harmonics ring out, but he needed the power and punch of a humbucker. The pickups offer a good balance of both power chunk and ringing sustain.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Mushroom View Post
    How about a volume pedal?
    I’m back to using a Super Lead and setting the neck pickup on a Les Paul clean and having the bridge pickup full up. Then you use the pickup toggle switch to shift between the two. It still works and still sounds great.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Terry View Post
    Not to sound TOO much like a nitpicky cunt, but I have memories of when I was starting to play guitar in the early 1980s, and seeing pics of Ed's guitars that he was using mostly for live work from 1978 through 1983 and thinking back then how cool it would be to play THOSE guitars.

    I bought a Charvel San Dimas in 1990. Basic guitar: two double coils, standard Strat-style non-locking tremolo, one volume knob.

    Come 2005 or so, started looking to get a second guitar. At that point, I think it was Charvel who was starting to sell San Dimas-style models with the designs of those iconic EVH / CVH-era guitars. I recall they were running for $1,500 or so back then.

    While that price was a little higher than I wanted to spend for a second guitar, it wasn't beyond the realm of possibility for me financially. I was seriously considering the model that looked like the guitar Ed was playing around the Van Halen II period...the black one with the yellow stripes. Plus, I knew from owning one for ages that Charvel makes quality guitars: even their lower end stuff in terms of price are still quality guitars.

    In the end, I went with an Ibanez for my second guitar and had my 1990 San Dimas mildly upgraded in terms of the wiring.

    I didn't get the EVH replica because...well, it's a replica. Even a replica that pays minute attention to detail is still a replica. The point being that I used to daydream in my early teens about playing the actual guitars Eddie was playing, and playing an Eddie Van Halen replica now obviously isn't the same thing, to the point where the prices of the replica are pretty much irrelevant in terms of my desire to actually own one.

    That being said, I have read a lot of comments from a lot of players - both amateur and pro - regarding the Eddie Van Halen Wolfgang series guitars, and literally all those comments were positive.
    The wolfgang are the best guitars I have played ever, but i am not a pro lol... I bought the replica played it once and I hanged it on my wall for inspiration but I dont like the feeling of strat models. I prefer wolfgangs specials. I have a slash les paul but the neck is not to my liking, so I never play it. I had a san dimas back in the 1990s I think I still have it but its probably not in a playable state now. When guitar fever hits once a year I take a look at the stealth and wish I had one but I dont feel I am good enough to splurge 5K on a guitar. Maybe one day when I retire I will say fuck it and get one...
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    Quote Originally Posted by Nitro Express View Post
    The Fender factory in Mexico probably makes the best guitars for the money. That’s where the run of the mill EVH’s are made. I picked up a EVH 5150 Deluxe guitar. It doesn’t look like a VH fanboy guitar and it’s got the thin Charvel styled neck and not the Wolfgang neck. The newer ones have the cool cutoff button. Mine has a ebony fretboard so it’s a bright sounding guitar but you can dial the brightness down using the EQ pots on the amp. But the EVH stuff is well built. I’ve never had a problem with a 5150 amp other than tubes wearing out. The EVH speaker cabs are great. The guitars are no-none sense work horses. I like the EVH EL-34 5150 amps. I think they have a warmer sounding crunch channel and the high gain channel is still decent. If you are more into a heavy sound than a classic rock sound and want better reliability a 5150 loaded with Sovtek 5881 tubes will go to hell and back. Probably the most reliable power tubes still made and they sound great in high gain amps. They will sound like an old Fender clean. Not the greatest for Classic British tones.
    EVH EL-34 5150 amps are beasts, I got the 50 watts and one can go deaf with volume at 2...

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    axe fx III or fm-9 are the thing to go for now.

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    Quote Originally Posted by So this is love View Post
    EVH EL-34 5150 amps are beasts, I got the 50 watts and one can go deaf with volume at 2...
    I run mine into a 1x12 cab with a Celesian Redback in it. I put the cab in a storage room off my practice area. I crack the door a bit. It sounds great and you can crank the amp up. If the cab is in the same room forget it. The Redback can take 150 watts but it sounds like a 25 watt greenback. You aren’t going to blow the speaker. I Like to feel it and not just hear it.

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    The best thing about the Wolfgang’s are the necks and when you break the neck in, it’s really good. I like the arched top Wolfgang’s. They play better because the neck tilts back more and the strings are higher. The geometry is better than a flat top.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Mushroom View Post
    How about a volume pedal?
    I think that could change the sound also the 2 channels share the same gain which isn't ideal.

    3 years ago Fender released a kit so that you could retro fit the extra volume and gain controls but you can only do it at an authorized Fender place and looks like it's $200 or so. I would happily do that but after a couple of hours looking I can't find anywhere that does it in the UK. A workaround would maybe be a good quality EQ pedal but it still means hitting two pedals when switching from 1 to 2 or 2 to 1 which isn't ideal and also doesn't solve the gain problem.

    Most of the time it's not been a big issue for me I just use the volume on the guitar but it does make the amp effectively 2 channel not 3. It's extra annoying because the clean channel is really good.

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    The Peavey 6505 (former 5150) amps are pretty good too. I have the 6505MH. It does the low wattage thing and has a USB out, shows up as an instrument in a DAW. Don't play the Wolfgangs through it too much, so far mostly the Ravelle and the Fireman. I found the matching Peavey cab a few months after I got the amp.

    Those cheap OLP EVH knockoffs have necks that are pretty close to the Wolfgang carve. I have three, last one I got was black sparkle and I just might stripe it. I haven't tried one of the Sterling copies but I bet the neck is similar to the Wolfgang carve.

    I picked up a couple EVH hard cases for my two newer Wolfgangs. I'd like to find one for the Peavey.
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    Quote Originally Posted by twonabomber View Post
    The Peavey 6505 (former 5150) amps are pretty good too. I have the 6505MH. It does the low wattage thing and has a USB out, shows up as an instrument in a DAW. Don't play the Wolfgangs through it too much, so far mostly the Ravelle and the Fireman. I found the matching Peavey cab a few months after I got the amp.

    Those cheap OLP EVH knockoffs have necks that are pretty close to the Wolfgang carve. I have three, last one I got was black sparkle and I just might stripe it. I haven't tried one of the Sterling copies but I bet the neck is similar to the Wolfgang carve.

    I picked up a couple EVH hard cases for my two newer Wolfgangs. I'd like to find one for the Peavey.
    I had a 6505+ and it never gave me any trouble.

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    The Wolfgang neck is basically a Kramer Pacer neck. Ed built his 5150 Kramer out of Pacer parts. They glued some extra wood to the headstock so they could cut a hockey stick peg head. They scanned that Kramer neck and based the Musicman and Wolfgang necks on it. Then Peavey and EVH made a compound radius fretboard. This makes playing in the upper registers easier.

    Van Halen guitars shouldn’t be all that expensive. The bodies are basswood and the necks are hard rock maple. Not much to them. So yeah you could make pretty good overseas copies that would play pretty good. You can save money not using birdseye maple in the neck and basswood isn’t expensive. Where you want to put the money is in the tremolo system. I like the original Floyd Rose ones because the metallurgy and build quality are good. You want good quality pickups as well. You could save some dough just putting one pickup in.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Seshmeister View Post
    I think that could change the sound also the 2 channels share the same gain which isn't ideal.

    3 years ago Fender released a kit so that you could retro fit the extra volume and gain controls but you can only do it at an authorized Fender place and looks like it's $200 or so. I would happily do that but after a couple of hours looking I can't find anywhere that does it in the UK. A workaround would maybe be a good quality EQ pedal but it still means hitting two pedals when switching from 1 to 2 or 2 to 1 which isn't ideal and also doesn't solve the gain problem.

    Most of the time it's not been a big issue for me I just use the volume on the guitar but it does make the amp effectively 2 channel not 3. It's extra annoying because the clean channel is really good.
    People use that amp just for the clean channel. Ed mostly used the red channel. They figured most people got a 5150 to go balls to the wall. They later found people were using all three channels so they redesigned the amp to be a proper three channel amp. I’m glad I didn’t buy the early ones and waited.

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    Well if anyone knows how to get it modded in the UK please let me know.

    I'm surprised that I can't find an answer to this on the internet I may need to actually telephone some humans which is always the last resort in this day in age.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Seshmeister View Post
    Well if anyone knows how to get it modded in the UK please let me know.

    I'm surprised that I can't find an answer to this on the internet I may need to actually telephone some humans which is always the last resort in this day in age.
    Modding it might be a bitch. It’s circuit board construction which can be tricky to mod. Also anytime you change something on a amp you can change the tone. Amp designers take a lot of time laying the traces on their boards out because the length of the trace and the placement of the components all affect the tone. Amp design is more of an art than a science. You definitely would want to hear a modded amp before having your own modded. You would hate to have those extra controls added and find that nice clean tone has gone to shit.

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