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John Suhr, Badger 18, Color "Black",
EL-84 Power Section
18 Watts
Cathode Bias-All Tube Design
Power Scaling
Tube Buffered Effects Loop
The Suhr Badger is the first of many Suhr-branded amplifiers
we have planned for the future. Nearly a year in the making and in the concept
stage in John's mind for an even longer period of time, the Badger
has been John's labor of love and the crystallization of his vision of the
ultimate low-wattage cathode-biased all-tube amplifier. Tonally, the Badger
imparts a distinctly British flavor with the EL-84 output section, but it
doesn't quite sound like any of classic UK vintage amps.
The Badger has its very own tonality with a very
broad range of sounds covering a wide spectrum of clean to overdriven tones
typically not found in amps of this class. This new little beast of an amp also
offers unmatched flexibility with a defeat-able Drive control (pseudo master
volume), the defeat-able Power Scaling feature for great cranked amp tones at
low volume levels, and a tube-buffered effects loop.
From warm three-dimensional crystal clean tones with a surprising amount of
headroom for an amp within this power range class, to spine-tingling
on-the-verge-of-breakup sounds that are super touch-sensitive to your picking
dynamics, to sweet and singing bluesy overdrive lead tones, to broad and
open-sounding crunch rhythm sounds that are ideal for classic rock riffing, to
juicy and fat lead sounds with the right amount of grease and sustain for fusion
and classic rock single-note playing, the Badger does 'em all with authority,
character, and tonal quality that simply has to be heard to be believed.
The Badger sounds big – really big! Plug this little monster into
a 4x12 and you will not believe that the broad soundstage this amp covers is
coming from such a small power section. Low-wattage amps typically sound small,
but not the Badger; this beast sounds as big as most 50 and 100 watt heads
without a lot of bass and other such artifacts of big amps.
The Badger can operate in 3 distinct modes for a variety of
musical situations. The first is the non-master-volume mode. When the Drive and
Power knobs on the far left of the front panel are turned all the way up, they
are out of the circuit. This means the Gain control on the far right becomes the
volume control. The EQ section of Treble, Middle, and Bass act as normal.
This is the ultimate in simplicity like the great non-master
vintage amps and ideal for playing in small clubs and venues where you can
really get the power section involved in the tone you're getting. The second
mode of the Badger kicks in once you bring the Drive control into the circuit.
The Drive controls the amount of signal being sent into the power section, which
in turn controls the volume level. The Gain knob now acts as a preamp gain
control. This mode is the familiar "master volume" setting on
virtually all modern guitar amps being produced out there today. The third
mode engages the unique and extremely effective Power Scaling feature. In this
mode, the Drive control becomes like a secondary gain control and the Power knob
controls the overall volume. With careful balancing of the settings of the Drive
and Power control knobs, you can get power tube overdrive from moderate to
bedroom volume levels with a full transparent tone without the squashed
compression artifacts of most attenuators and load boxes. With the Badger,
you now have total control over your tone and volume from the clubs to churches
to garage rehearsals to home recording to late-night practicing in your bedroom.
The Power Scaling feature, licensed from London
Power, lowers the wattage to the power amp, allowing the power
tubes to clip. The tubes run cooler and aren't running as hard compared to using
the speaker load while still retaining the interaction of the tubes and
speaker(s). This proprietary technology allows the output power of an audio
amplifier to be dialed down from 100% to less than 1%. This requires a
modification to the amplifier's power supply.
Unlike external attenuators or load boxes, which interfere with the
amp-speaker interface, Power Scaling does not alter that relationship between
the output tubes and the speakers. Tube life will be greatly enhanced by the
Power Scale circuit as well. What you get is improved transparency, less squash,
more natural and pleasing compression, and the sound of the power tubes working
hard. Add the tube-buffered effects loop with a fixed level send for use with
both instrument-level pedals and line-level rack effects and you've got one very
versatile tone machine ready for a variety of environments and musical
situations.
Click here for our Video Review
Sales To United States Only.
Item AJS11 |
