McIntyre BluesMaker II: Difference between revisions

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=== Reviews ===

==== Peerless Reviews ====

http://www.peerlesstone.com/node/54

Signature 284 Guitar Amp Head

This is a wonderful sounding amp and there is nothing else like it on the market. It really does put out good tone at low volume. Please see my comments on Lexicon support.

Very feature rich. Two rack space stereo EL84 (fan cooled!)tube driven amp with detachable AC and all the connectivity options you'll ever need: stereo effects loop, slave outs, direct outs with 2x12 or 2x10 cabinet emulation, XLR outs, and 4 or 8 ohm outs. The effects loops are tube driven. Preamp section consists of a 3band eq and preamp gain with push-pull for extra gain. There are also two power amp volume controls that allow you to individually control the amount of power tube saturation of each side. Thus you have the option of preamp distortion, poweramp distortion or both. It's a Class A amp.

Sound Quality: 8

I've played the Signature 284 through two strats, a humbucker equiped LoneStar and a 1960 Custom Shop Closet Classic, and a Carvin DC127 with superdistortion pickups and active electronics. I'm using various floor effects and for a while I used the Lexicon MPXG2 guitar processor. I usually use a Mesa 2x12 with Vintage30's with this amp.

The clean sound of this amp is awesome. I get a lot of low end and rolled off highs from the Boogie cabinet but if I put one side of the amp through the speaker input of a Fender Princeton Reverb cabinet (w/ a Weber C10Q) the 284 sounds just like my Fender amps. So, if your lusting after the Fender clean tone just know that I can't distinguish this amp from a Fender on tape. I thought the hi gain texture was a little different, a bit more modern sounding, tighter with more crunch. I experimented with the preamp tubes (changed to Mullards which I keep in most of my Fender amps) and I then found that the 284 warmed up quite a bit and the overdrive became much smoother, again just like a Fender. However, this amp is much more versatile than a Fender with plenty of hi gain when using the push/pull knob and the bottom end stays nice and tight due to the solid state rectifier. The power section, preamp gain, tone stacks, and effects loop are all tube driven so like true audiophile equipment you can get all kinds of tonal differences by changing the tubes. The only problem with the sound of this amp is that when the extra gain stage is engaged by pulling the gain knob out, the bottom end loosens when the gain is dialed past 12 o'clock. This amp uses Sovtek El84 power tubes and a flabby bottom is a characteristic of these tubes. I wanted to write the review after experimenting more with different power tubes but my experience with Lexicon support encouraged me to go ahead and spit this out to help/warn/inform any of you out there. The flabby bottom when using tons of distortion isn't such a problem when I have hot pickups in the guitar. That is, I can get a lot of preamp saturation without going to far, but if I'm playing a strat and I want a lot of distortion, I fall back on a pedal. This amp is virtually noiseless except when the pull gain stage is used and is cranked! Again, I found the level of this hiss to be a function of the type/quality of 12AX7 I am using. Overall it's quiter than most amps, hell it's only 6 watts per side.

This brings me to what I like the best about this amp: the cranked tube tone at low volume. I don't guess there is too much of a mystery on how it's done: it's class A which sounds better at lower power, it has great direct control of the amount of tube saturation with out greatly effecting the overall volume, and it's only 6 watts per side. I can hear the guitar tone swell and blossom with rich, blah, blah, blah.. That is too say I can make it sound like a cranked Marshall in a outside venue. Excellent tube tone! If I want tighter distortion I can simply roll the volumes back to 2 and crank the preamp gain. With the preamp and tube amp levels in the middle this things sounds like a Marshall JCM800 (just like it says in the suggested settings) but I can always dial in the before mentioned Fender tones. These are just comparisons using my ears, this is an amp with it's own voice not an amp emulator. Speaking of which, if you use a POD, you'll love how it sounds through the receive of the effects loop (GT5 also). You can take advantage of the stereo capabilities to run two guitars at once through different sides or mix wet and dry signals (all via the effects loop).

Reliability: 9

I removed the cover and I was a little concerned about some aspects of the construction. If you ever drop this thing, it may be over. It's a tube amp in a rack unit so you need to be a little careful. Most of the wiring is excellent and as far as I can tell high quality components were used. For instance, the tube sockets are porcelain which you usually only see on boutique amps! The wiring is very neat and all the tube sockets and pots are seperated off the PCB. Almost a point to point/PCB hybrid like MesaBoogie uses without so many cheap ribbon cables. The PCB contrunction is very well laid out and labeled thus making this amp easy to figure out and yes, even modify! Oh and the tubes are mounted sidewise and held in place with fasteners. There is a fan to cool things and it is noisless. I was surprised to find NOS tubes in the preamp section. Again the power tubes are Sovtek EL84's, nonmilitary issue. These tubes sound better than the milspecs but these are the tubes that Vox amps eat up in a matter of hours. I used this amp a good bit over the last few months and have had no problems. The power rating for this amp is so low that they will probably last a good while. NOS EL84's would last forever and undoubtedly make this amp sound even better. If you can't justify the extra expense of NOS I would suggest Electroharmonix EL84's.

Customer Support: 1

This amp is readily modifiable so I called Lexicon for a schematic. Also, I noticed that one of the 12AX7 slots was occupied by a 12AT7 and there is sometimes a good reason for making this substitution depending on the circuit characteristics. Otherwise, this substitution can harm the amps tone! The customer support representative at Lexicon refused to send me a schematic. I asked if he would simply tell me which Fender circuit the amp was based on and he flatly stated that that information is not for public consumption. If you know anything about the history of tube amplification from RCA's original schematic sold with their power tubes which evolved into Fender which eventually yielded both Marshall and Mesaboogie, you know how ridiculous this is. Also, many techs would be hard pressed to service and replace parts in an amp without the schematic. I placed a seaperate call to inquire about the tube substitution and spoke with a different representative. He said the amp was "supposed" to have the 12AT7. Then he admitted that he did not know the difference between a 12AX7 and a 12AT7. I made sure I was actually speaking with a support guy for the Lexicon 284 (yeah right). I was again refused a schematic even though noone at Lexicon could answer the simplest of questions. Especially one that could be answered with the blueprint in front of you. I politely pressed the ridiculousness of the situation and I was told to call the Lace people at Lace Music with my querry. Who is Lace Music? They are the folks that actually made the amp for Lexicon. I talked with someone on the phone there who was very helpful. It turns out the amp is based on a Fender circuit but he couldn't remember which one. The 12AT7 was used because of the shortage of good 12AX7's but also depends on the tone of the EQ voicing sought after. A 12AT7 makes the EQ section less responsive but warms up overall tone. I got my freakin' schematic! I was told that he had sent 100 over to Lexicon to give out to the public and didn't understand why they refuse to do so. Lexicon doesn't even own the rights to the amp, they just distribute it. Further, Lexicon has stopped distributing the 284 thus dropping the ball on Lace Music and sticking them with parts for over 300 amps yet to be made. Lace is looking for a new distributor and I was told that talk is under way with at least one huge name in the amp world (I bet you can guess who!).

Just thought you might find this information usful because we are consumers and so we have the chance to vote every day. This is my second negative dealing with Lexicon, and I have read about others here on HC. I'm pretty sure Lexicon is an alternate spelling for moron. Between this and my experience with the MPXG2, I'm sure that reverb is the only thing they do well.

Overall, I am very pleased with the sound quality and construction quality of this amp. I am disappointed that more of them are not out there but Lexicon doesn't advertise it. Whatever, I got mine! If this amp is picked up by another distributor things could really take off. The EL84's sound Fendery clean but have an edgier overdriven tone. The connectivity makes it very versatile and good for most any studio application. I get a lot of different sounds by switching cabinets and speakers with this head. The only problem is the bottom end gets a bit flabby when pushing the amp really hard.

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[[Category:Electric Guitar]]

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+=== Reviews ===
+==== Peerless Reviews ====
+http://www.peerlesstone.com/node/54
+Signature 284 Guitar Amp Head
+This is a wonderful sounding amp and there is nothing else like it on the market. It really does put out good tone at low volume. Please see my comments on Lexicon support.
+Very feature rich. Two rack space stereo EL84 (fan cooled!)tube driven amp with detachable AC and all the connectivity options you'll ever need: stereo effects loop, slave outs, direct outs with 2x12 or 2x10 cabinet emulation, XLR outs, and 4 or 8 ohm outs. The effects loops are tube driven. Preamp section consists of a 3band eq and preamp gain with push-pull for extra gain. There are also two power amp volume controls that allow you to individually control the amount of power tube saturation of each side. Thus you have the option of preamp distortion, poweramp distortion or both. It's a Class A amp.
+Sound Quality: 8
+I've played the Signature 284 through two strats, a humbucker equiped LoneStar and a 1960 Custom Shop Closet Classic, and a Carvin DC127 with superdistortion pickups and active electronics. I'm using various floor effects and for a while I used the Lexicon MPXG2 guitar processor. I usually use a Mesa 2x12 with Vintage30's with this amp.
+The clean sound of this amp is awesome. I get a lot of low end and rolled off highs from the Boogie cabinet but if I put one side of the amp through the speaker input of a Fender Princeton Reverb cabinet (w/ a Weber C10Q) the 284 sounds just like my Fender amps. So, if your lusting after the Fender clean tone just know that I can't distinguish this amp from a Fender on tape. I thought the hi gain texture was a little different, a bit more modern sounding, tighter with more crunch. I experimented with the preamp tubes (changed to Mullards which I keep in most of my Fender amps) and I then found that the 284 warmed up quite a bit and the overdrive became much smoother, again just like a Fender. However, this amp is much more versatile than a Fender with plenty of hi gain when using the push/pull knob and the bottom end stays nice and tight due to the solid state rectifier. The power section, preamp gain, tone stacks, and effects loop are all tube driven so like true audiophile equipment you can get all kinds of tonal differences by changing the tubes. The only problem with the sound of this amp is that when the extra gain stage is engaged by pulling the gain knob out, the bottom end loosens when the gain is dialed past 12 o'clock. This amp uses Sovtek El84 power tubes and a flabby bottom is a characteristic of these tubes. I wanted to write the review after experimenting more with different power tubes but my experience with Lexicon support encouraged me to go ahead and spit this out to help/warn/inform any of you out there. The flabby bottom when using tons of distortion isn't such a problem when I have hot pickups in the guitar. That is, I can get a lot of preamp saturation without going to far, but if I'm playing a strat and I want a lot of distortion, I fall back on a pedal. This amp is virtually noiseless except when the pull gain stage is used and is cranked! Again, I found the level of this hiss to be a function of the type/quality of 12AX7 I am using. Overall it's quiter than most amps, hell it's only 6 watts per side.
+This brings me to what I like the best about this amp: the cranked tube tone at low volume. I don't guess there is too much of a mystery on how it's done: it's class A which sounds better at lower power, it has great direct control of the amount of tube saturation with out greatly effecting the overall volume, and it's only 6 watts per side. I can hear the guitar tone swell and blossom with rich, blah, blah, blah.. That is too say I can make it sound like a cranked Marshall in a outside venue. Excellent tube tone! If I want tighter distortion I can simply roll the volumes back to 2 and crank the preamp gain. With the preamp and tube amp levels in the middle this things sounds like a Marshall JCM800 (just like it says in the suggested settings) but I can always dial in the before mentioned Fender tones. These are just comparisons using my ears, this is an amp with it's own voice not an amp emulator. Speaking of which, if you use a POD, you'll love how it sounds through the receive of the effects loop (GT5 also). You can take advantage of the stereo capabilities to run two guitars at once through different sides or mix wet and dry signals (all via the effects loop).
+Reliability: 9
+I removed the cover and I was a little concerned about some aspects of the construction. If you ever drop this thing, it may be over. It's a tube amp in a rack unit so you need to be a little careful. Most of the wiring is excellent and as far as I can tell high quality components were used. For instance, the tube sockets are porcelain which you usually only see on boutique amps! The wiring is very neat and all the tube sockets and pots are seperated off the PCB. Almost a point to point/PCB hybrid like MesaBoogie uses without so many cheap ribbon cables. The PCB contrunction is very well laid out and labeled thus making this amp easy to figure out and yes, even modify! Oh and the tubes are mounted sidewise and held in place with fasteners. There is a fan to cool things and it is noisless. I was surprised to find NOS tubes in the preamp section. Again the power tubes are Sovtek EL84's, nonmilitary issue. These tubes sound better than the milspecs but these are the tubes that Vox amps eat up in a matter of hours. I used this amp a good bit over the last few months and have had no problems. The power rating for this amp is so low that they will probably last a good while. NOS EL84's would last forever and undoubtedly make this amp sound even better. If you can't justify the extra expense of NOS I would suggest Electroharmonix EL84's.
+Customer Support: 1
+This amp is readily modifiable so I called Lexicon for a schematic. Also, I noticed that one of the 12AX7 slots was occupied by a 12AT7 and there is sometimes a good reason for making this substitution depending on the circuit characteristics. Otherwise, this substitution can harm the amps tone! The customer support representative at Lexicon refused to send me a schematic. I asked if he would simply tell me which Fender circuit the amp was based on and he flatly stated that that information is not for public consumption. If you know anything about the history of tube amplification from RCA's original schematic sold with their power tubes which evolved into Fender which eventually yielded both Marshall and Mesaboogie, you know how ridiculous this is. Also, many techs would be hard pressed to service and replace parts in an amp without the schematic. I placed a seaperate call to inquire about the tube substitution and spoke with a different representative. He said the amp was "supposed" to have the 12AT7. Then he admitted that he did not know the difference between a 12AX7 and a 12AT7. I made sure I was actually speaking with a support guy for the Lexicon 284 (yeah right). I was again refused a schematic even though noone at Lexicon could answer the simplest of questions. Especially one that could be answered with the blueprint in front of you. I politely pressed the ridiculousness of the situation and I was told to call the Lace people at Lace Music with my querry. Who is Lace Music? They are the folks that actually made the amp for Lexicon. I talked with someone on the phone there who was very helpful. It turns out the amp is based on a Fender circuit but he couldn't remember which one. The 12AT7 was used because of the shortage of good 12AX7's but also depends on the tone of the EQ voicing sought after. A 12AT7 makes the EQ section less responsive but warms up overall tone. I got my freakin' schematic! I was told that he had sent 100 over to Lexicon to give out to the public and didn't understand why they refuse to do so. Lexicon doesn't even own the rights to the amp, they just distribute it. Further, Lexicon has stopped distributing the 284 thus dropping the ball on Lace Music and sticking them with parts for over 300 amps yet to be made. Lace is looking for a new distributor and I was told that talk is under way with at least one huge name in the amp world (I bet you can guess who!).
+Just thought you might find this information usful because we are consumers and so we have the chance to vote every day. This is my second negative dealing with Lexicon, and I have read about others here on HC. I'm pretty sure Lexicon is an alternate spelling for moron. Between this and my experience with the MPXG2, I'm sure that reverb is the only thing they do well.
+Overall, I am very pleased with the sound quality and construction quality of this amp. I am disappointed that more of them are not out there but Lexicon doesn't advertise it. Whatever, I got mine! If this amp is picked up by another distributor things could really take off. The EL84's sound Fendery clean but have an edgier overdriven tone. The connectivity makes it very versatile and good for most any studio application. I get a lot of different sounds by switching cabinets and speakers with this head. The only problem is the bottom end gets a bit flabby when pushing the amp really hard.
 ----
 [[Category:Electric Guitar]]