Allen Accomplice

The amp was built by me from a kit purchased in March of 2001 and assembled within a couple of weeks thereafter.The step by step instructions and colored drawing were quite clear and any confusion was easily cleared up via a phone call or e-mail. It is an earlier version of what's now available on the website. It is a single channel all tube handwired amp with tube driven reverb based on the Fender Deluxe Reverb amp.It utilizes 6V6 or 6L6 power tubes according to the specs, but David Allen had stated that 6K6 tubes are a possibility also.Vintage cloth covered wire was used in this incarnation. Front panel features a single input, volume, treble, bass, reverb and master volume. There's a single toggle on the front panel I chose to wire as the stand-by switch. Rear panel has power toggle switch, speaker jack, extension speaker jack, "Raw" control, and jacks to bias the power tubes without opening up the chassis. There was no graphic face-plate for the rear panel so I made some labels myself. The solidly built pine cabinet is covered in black tolex,features a Fender silver grill cloth and houses a Weber C 12N twelve inch 8 ohm speaker. The price paid also includes an extra set of tubes and a solid state rectifier purchased with the kit.I wish I had waited a little longer for the newer version as it has power and standy switches,raw and middle controls and a bright switch all on the front panel.It also has a slighly larger cabinet which I think provides a little bigger tone. I bought this because I had desire to have a versatile tube amp that I could bias myself as opposed to taking it to a tech everytime new tubes were installed. I did not realize it would lead to an addiction. I like to play rock jazz,fusion,country,blues -you name it. As long as I can do it with a guitar.

Sound quality is so subjective. But you know good tone when you hear ut,right?I currently own about 9 decent electric guitars. Fender Ultra strat with Lace Sensors,Heritage 150CM with a Duncan and a Rio Grande,Gibson LP with stock p/u's, Carvin DC127 w/ stock, Carvin Bolt with Manlius p/u's, Epi Casino w/ stock neck and Rio Grande bridge,Dearmond 335 clone with Schaller Golden 50's, an Electra with Duncans, and a NY Pro $99 sunburst telecaster with upgraded nut,saddles,and Dimarzio Twang Kings (probably the most toneful pick-ups I've purchased so far BTW). This amp sounds good with ALL of them.My usual settings are treble 7-8, bass 3,reverb 2. I like master volume controls and David states that all the negative comments pertaining to it are because most master volumes are done IMPROPERLY. I think Mr. Allen got it right. With the master up and the volume down you can get some great clean tones. The amount of headroom is dependent on which power tubes you are using. I've tried both the 6V6 and 6L6 tubes and seem to have settled in on the 6V6's. Turn the master down a little and increasing the volume in increments yields very pleasing overdriven tones. It's amazing the variety of sound that can be achieved by manipulating these controls.The highs are very musical and never sound harsh or strident. When this amp is pushed hard and starts singing the lows remain intact never becoming loose or flabby. Then there's that "Raw" control. As the control is turned clockwise the tone stack is gradually removed from the circuit. The mids become more prevalent ultimately resulting in an over driven sound akin to Neil Young's cranked Tweed Deluxe. The distortion sounds are pheonominal All the controls do what they are supposed to do, and very well.The amp sounds like what a great Rock and Roll amp should. I've tried to find settings on this amp which render it unusable tonewise, but they don't exist.With all the controls dimed the amp is a tone monster. This amp is loud enough to hang with the band in most situations. I've never had or played a vintage fender Deluxe Reverb that had "that" sound. But I do know bad tone when I hear it and it doesn't apply here. The amp can sound overly bright with single coils, but a twist of a knob either on the guitar or the amp solves that problem rather easily. Overdriven humbuckers sound absolutely awesome. The amp responds remarkably well to picking dynamics and to volume adjustments made on the guitars controls.

I learned so much by building the amp myself. I had a noise problem when I first fired the amp up. It turned out to be a lead dress issue. I am confident that I could depend on this amp but would always have a back-up just in case.What gives me peace is knowing that if I do have a problem I could probably fix it myself. I give this category only a nine because Mr. Allen doesn't manufacture everything that goes into his product. I beleieve he chooses parts that are the best in terms of tone and reliability, but anything can happen. I don't believe a "10" in this category is ever warranted.

The main reason for my review is to write this.David Allen is the epitome of customer service. Some of you reading this probly have never experienced true customer service. I have spoken to him many times on the phone and he has always taken the time to PATIENTLY speak with me,discuss his products,amp issues, possible modifications,etc. He has assisted me in blackfacing several SF Fenders by providing guidance and parts. He's given me free advice that has done nothing to enhance his bank account. He answers e-mails ,at times, within minutes. In my illness I even had the audacity to phone him on a holiday once(I think Memorial Day) and he spoke to me kindly.While building my first Allen I accidently cut the leads for a filter cap incorrectly and asked if I could re-solder the lead to make it usable. He talked me out of it ( I think he's a perfectionist) and sent me a new cap-before he received my payment for it.He cares about his products, and he cares about his customers.I read the reviews on his products just to see if anyone has anything bad to say about the guy. I also purchase the Class Act head kit and Solemate kit and received that same support.If any of his products or services are of interest to you, you owe it to yourself to give David Allen a try. A "10" doesn't do him justice.

I've been in love with the guitar since birth. I've been playing for appoximately 38 years now. I'm so thankful that guitarists have more choices and better quality instrument now than when I was a youngster. Amp wise I own an old Tusc DF 100 tube/hybrid, SF Pro-reverb(blackfaced),SF Princeton(upgraded),SF Champ,Carvin Nomad,Polytone minibrute,SF Bassman 50(blackfaced), Allen Accomplis,Allen Class Act,Homebuilt 5F2 head, Valve junior combo,and a handful of other solid state amps.By the way, If any of you folks have a SF Fender with the "dreaded" pull-boost or master volume feel free to send them to me as I can make sure those damn thing get disposed of.Unfortunately,as stated before, I have Gear Aquisition Syndrome.I'm getting better, but still find myself purchasing more gear especially amps.In my experience playing at church and other small venues I found that I can't turn my higher power amps up enough to get a decent tone out of them. Someone always telling me to "turn down a little".Consequently I've been migrating to lower power single ended amps that I can crank a little bit to get a decent tone out of . However,if my house was on fire , I'd grab the Accomplis. It is my "desert island" amp. It has an extensive palette of tones that cannot be matched by any of the other amps I own. Emphatically I want to convey that THIS amp is worthy of your consideration. I envision some of the reviewers on HC sitting at their computers with the packing materials for their purchase of the day lying on the floor at their feet while they submit their review and award their 10's.This amp has withstood the test of time and been compared to others on many occaisons.I purchased this amp because it had everything I needed:simple circuit, minimal tone controls, a touch of reverb and versatility. Their is nothing I don't like about this product.If lost or stolen, I'd call Mr.Allen (sometimes I call him Dave) and order a replacement pronto, maybe even let him build this one.Although I did save several hundreds of dollars by building this one myself. If I don't get well,I may buy another Accomplis just for the heck of it.

I built this kit in Feb 07. I was searching for an amp to replace a SF Twin that had been my #1 gig amp for the past 10 years. I wanted a vintage fender type amp that was lighter weight, and lower power, so it would give me that great compressed tube sound at a much lower volume. After a lot of research I decided on the Accomplice, as it turns out, it was the perfect choice. Without channel switching, effects loop, on board effects, etc. it might not be as feature packed as the more modern multi-channel do everything amps, but in comparison to other vintage style amps, I don't believe you could find a more versatile amplifier. The external bias points, impedance switch, ability to use different power tubes,and the "Raw" control more than make up for the rarely used "normal" channel and "tremolo" that it lacks.

The simple description is a great blackface Deluxe Reverb, or Vibrolux depending on which power tubes you have installed, with the ability to blend in some thicker Tweed Bassman type mids with the "Raw" control. I have found the "Raw" is cool when I want my Tele to get a LP Jr type crunch. I only roll it up to about 2 when needed, because it's quite dramatic. Although the tone controls have plenty of range, they seem to be much less drastic, adjust them a little and you get only a little. I have the upgraded 40 watt PT, but stayed with the smaller output transformer by the recommendation of Mr. Allen for a more singing tone. When I really dig in with single coils, the top just compresses and rounds off rather than slicing my head off like my Twin can do. A great clean to medium gain amp for any style that you would desire a vintage Fender tone.

I guess the amps weakest point would be that it was assembled by me. I am completely confident in it, because it is made up of only premium parts and I took a lot of care in building it. David Allen himself may be the best feature of the amp if purchased as a kit. He answers emails everyday, and often within a couple of hours. Although I would agree with David that you should not buy the kit just to save a little cash, it is a simple step by step instruction manual to follow, which reminds you of common mistakes along the way. I have been doing simple mods, cap changes, and my own biasing for a few years, so I didn't really go into this kit a complete newbie, but it was my 1st complete amplifier project. Definitely pay the extra cash for David to expertely assemble it, if 20+ hours of detailed, and attentive work doesn't sound like fun to you.

Mr. Allen is a great guy to deal with. He seems to care more about how his product fits your needs than how great he is for creating it. What other manufacturer will actually encourage you to modify their product to fit your personal style, rather tell you how much you should like their design in the first place.

I've been playing for 20+ years, and perform 90-100 gigs a year. I have been a tone nut for years, building custom guitars, modifying effects and amplifiers in search of the "sound". One amplifier can't do it all, but this one covers a lot of styles with ease, and ends my search for that sound in my head. Without a doubt, the best amplifier I have ever owned. Now what am I gonna do instead of firing up the soldering iron...I guess this means I have to actually practice guitar.

I think I built this in about 2003. I built this amp because I wanted pre-CBS tone but the age of the components of vintage amps spooked me. Very versatile. I play rock & R&B. This is a single channel amp...imagine the vibrato channel of a BFDR with some very interesting additions. I built it using 6V6 power tubes with a single 12" Celestion G12 H-80. I was amazed that you can build an amp that sounds that good. I have since switched it over to 6L6s (You can do this with a simple bias adjustment.) and am running in as a 2X10 with one Weber P10N and a Mojotone ceramic 10" that could pass for a Jensen C10N if the lable was removed. For the price of one amp you get something that can sound very similar to a Tweed Deluxe, a BFDR, a Tweed Super and a BF Vibrolux. Want to record?... put in the 6V6s. Need a little more clean headroom at a gig?... go with the 6L6s.
I went with the Tweed/Oxblood cabinet and it still looks great!

I am into matching amps with pickups. In general, I like Dr. Z for single coils, Tweed amps for Humbuckers, an a Blackface with P-90s. I think this amp sounds great with anything you want to throw at it. Its not a noisy amp at all. There is a feature David added called a "Raw" pot that increases the raw feed from the tubes. This pushes the amp from clean into dirty for lack of a better description. I like the graduated responsiveness of the tone and volume controls. The tube saturation is added very smoothly as you crank up the amp.

Bullet-proof. Very stable. No problems in three years.

David Allen is the most helpful guy on the planet. He pretty much wetnursed me through the building of this amp. I called him up with some pretty weird amp ideas and he always gave me good counsel. If you can make it through building this amp, you won't ever need a warranty again. The instructions are excellent with fabulous illustrations.

I've been playing over 30 years. Strats, Teles, PRS, Ricks, Taylors, Silhouetes, Les Pauls, ES-355, several BF and Tweed amps and a DR. Z and a small recording studio and work shop that I use for weird musical science. I learned enough from this project to fix pretty much anything made by Fender prior to 1965. Also, I learned that I can build other amps from scratch and as much as I like David and his amps, the cat's out of the bag. I'm working on tweeking a Tweed Bassman circuit as we speak. If you want to learn about creating awesome tone there is no better teacher than a Allen amp project to get you started.

..bought it in kit form...Imagine a blackface Deluxe Reverb, with seperate bass, mid, and treble controlls, PLUS seperate tone for the reverb,, (VERY useful), and a "RAW" control that boosts upper mids and gain. This amp does everything from sparkling clean to hard-rock raunch to Valco-ish honk. With the options I chose, it's 22 watts with 6V6 output tubes. 12" Eminence Red White and Blues speaker. I play a variety of things, rawk, punk, blues...this amp kicks major a$$, and records VERY well. My Marshall JCM900 and Mesa DC10 can be difficult with mic placement in the studio. Not so with this one, and it can do it at reasonable volumes, but capable of being loud enough to gig with. Componant quality is fantastic..big beefy U.S. made trannys, quality tube sockets, stainless steel chasis...you get the idea. Definately "boutique" quality stuff here!

I use three guitars...a recent Les Paul Standard, a Gretsch Tennessee Rose, and a Robin Custom Medley 3. I typically like high-energy rock, and while this amp is based on a black face Fender design, make no mistake it is capable of being a true hard-rock amp. Of course it does the clean thing real well, and kicks butt at the more reserved blues distortion tones. The real shock was how much gain it has, and it REALLY cranks with the Les Paul. It has enough gain to overdrive nicely with the Gretsch too, which is uncommon as that guitar is relatively low output. I heard a couple negative comments from earlier reviews about the reverb tone, which has clearly been remedied, as mine has reverb to die for! At 22 watts, there isn't a lot of headroom if crystal-clean tone is your thing, but for my purposes, this amp is perfect.

Alright, this one is partly to Allens credit, partly mine! I got it in kit form, so the build quality is mostly on me. However, It took a kit of extremely high quality, great instructions, and great customer support to allow it to happen. The price tag may seem a little much at first glance, but when you compare to other kits on the market, and hear the end result, you realize it's worth every penny. The cabinet comes pre-built, is solid and well finished. Quality hardware and componants make this as reliable as your soldering skills allow.

Here's the real kicker...absolutely the best customer service and support I've ever experienced from ANY kind of company. David Allen was extremely helpful, and replies to e-mail questions quickly. I sent him a question once at 9:00 p.m. on a Sunday, and he replied in under an hour!

I can't praise the amp or the company enough. It'll stand up to any of the way-over-priced boutique amps in the same "weight" range. If it were lost or stolen, I'd lose my freakin' mind!! I've got a fair amount of effort into building it, and still can't believe the end result. This amp is available already built too, but the build process was fun and I learned a lot in the process. If you've been wanting a great amp, especially if you've been looking at the uber-priced Carrs, Kendrick's, etc., you owe it to yourself to check these out.

2005 pre-built unit. I've owned it for 4 months or so. Includes the "raw" knob, extension speaker jack, impedance switch, reverb, and the other usual things. Has everything I need in an amp.

My tele seems to get the best out of this thing. The humbuckers in my les paul don't seem to work as well, although I have not spent much time trying. Very nice clean and lightly overdriven sounds. Very quiet. I do not like the reverb. No matter the setting, it echos... like a delay rather than a lush, watery reverb and I'm beginning to wonder if this is normal in this amp... tube issue maybe? My $90 practice amp has a better reverb. My Blues JR has a better reverb... and they're notorious for having bad reverbs. <br><br>
The master volume implementation is very nice, providing great sounds at most any volume. The bass control is insensitive (minor gripe). <br><br>
So, I'll give it a 10 for the basic sound and a 6 for the reverb.

The extension speaker jack has stopped working. Otherwise, it seems like a very well built machine. I guess I'll drag my backup amp to the gigs. Sigh.

David is incredibly helpful and friendly. I have not spoken with him yet about the issues I've had.

$1500 and the reverb is questionable, the extension speaker jack is broken, and the chassis is not centered in the box, leaving a 1/4 inch gap on one side. Forunately, I really love the sound of this thing.

The features have already been explained in previous reviews. It is perfect for what it is.

I'm using a Les Paul Classic with Burstbucker Pro's, Tele with Van Zandt's and a Heritage Eagle Archtop. I play rootsy/bluesy/vintage country/classic rock with a little jazz thrown in once in awhile. The Accomplice can get you big, round steel guitar tones, strong articulate clean jazzy tones, as well as excellent AC/DC crunch. I don't really use high gain tones, so cannot comment on that.
I opted for the upgraded 40 watt OT to help out with more headroom. This little amp can get very loud and clean, and then you can dial in some dirt with a combination of the master volume and/or Raw knob. It works beautifully!
The reverb was a bit strong for my tastes, so David recommended swapping out the reverb circuit's 12AX7 with a 12AT7. This tamed the circuit down a bit while still retaining everything that you love about a 3 spring Accutronics tank. The verb's tone control decreases brightness and tail length.

It's difficult to judge realiablity with a new amp, but it's built better than an old BF Fender.

David Allen's customer service is stellar.

I've been playing since I was a baby. My main amp, until now, has been an original 65 non-verb Fender Deluxe. I thought this old workhouse was the holy grail but was getting nervous about taking it to gigs. After talking to David he suggested the Accomplice.
IMHO, the Accomplice sounds better than the old Deluxe. The Raw and master volume knobs allow me to play without a grit pedal and I can just go guitar > cable > amp. Just perfect!

It's the ultimate classic combo tube amp with a single channel, with everything you could want in that category. A 'raw' control lets you dial up black face or tweed or somewhere in between. There's spring reverb with a tone control. And there are jacks and a pot to set the bias without taking the chassis out. I'm giving it a 10 because it does everything I want it to, and it always sounds good.

I have a Les Paul Special and a Telecaster with Seymour Duncan pickups, through a Fulltone Full Drive 2. I play R&B and blues. I can get any sound I want with this setup - think of Steve Cropper, Robben Ford, Cornell Dupree, Danny Gatton. The sound isn't just good, it's inspiring. There's a master volume so it's soft enough for rehearsals, and it's plenty loud enough for the gigs I do, which is to say bars and relatively small outdoor things. If I do anything bigger I'll probably just mike my amp anyway.

I built it myself, so I can say that everything is mechanically and electronically the best available. As long as you construct it correctly it should last as long as the 60's Fenders did, which is to say forever. I do in fact use it without a backup, although of course I carry spare tubes. I've had it for six months or so with no problems.

I built a couple of other kits from David Allen to warm up for the Accomplice and he's very helpful and knowledgeable. He replies within hours.

I've been playing for over thirty years, and attended Berklee. One of my many regrets is that I bowed to Berklee peer pressure and sold my 1957 Les Paul Junior and 1959 Fender Tremolux in favor of something jazzier. The Accomplice is the first amp I've had since then that doesn't make me miss the Tremolux, and I now have the advantage of an amplifier made out of new parts.

It's your basic Fender blackface style amp with some twists. Mine is an older model, so I do wish it had a standby switch like the newer ones.

The tone is excellent. I couldn't afford a blackface deluxe reverb, so I got this as a kit and it hasn't disappointed me. I am currently running 6l6s with a Weber 12f150 speaker. The amp is fairly quiet, plenty loud and really sings with a strat or tele. Honestly, it sounds damn near as good as my 1966 pro reverb and it is a heck of a lot easier to carry. Great for blues, jazz, country, rockabilly or rootsy-rock. I don't think it fits hard rock or metal without a pedal, and at that point, why not just get an amp that sounds right in the first place? I do find the master volume to be useful, but am not overly fond of the raw control (I just leave it at zero).

The only problem I have had in a year with this amp is a microphonic tube. The reverb driver seems to be very sensetive, so a really good 12AX7 is necessary here.

David Allen is a class act. He is friendly, knowledgeable and answers emails quickly.

I've been playing for over twenty years and this is one of the best amps I've ever had the pleasure of playing through. I learned a lot by building it myself and it is a great band practice/small gig amp. Normally I use Marshalls, but when I want great cleans, or Texas sounds with my strat this amp fits the bill.

Every feature a good amp should have - Tone!

This is a follow-up review. My first review was back in 2001 and now it's 2004.
The Accomplice is still the best sounding amp I've ever encountered. Every tone for which Fender became known is in here but better - the cleans are superb (so nice that you don't even want to bother with reverb, it's so rich, harmonic, and FULL!) The distortion is varied, controlled and rich, Rich, RICH!

David Allen sent me the parts for the "Raw" circuit. I didn't think I'd ever use it, but Wow does it make the Accomplice all the more versatile.

I'm not an "all tens" kinda' guy, but for this amp there is no other rating. Flawless and perfect. If I knew any cooler adjectives I'd use them.

I've had it for 3 years now and it gets played daily. (because David Allen's Master Volume is so well designed I use it for both practice and for gigging.) The worst thing that happened was my reverb-send tube went microphonic, and that was a tube David hadn't supplied! I re-tube the amp a lot (I love listening for the subtle differences between tubes) so I haven't worn a pair out yet.

I originaly bought the kit so I'd have a nice 6V6-based amp, but I find I always prefer 6L6's. I've spoken to a few other Accomplice owners and they all said the same thing. 6V6's sound great, though! But I guess I like the added headroom the 6L6's give me.

But I digress...

This amp is super-solid. I always bring a backup, but I've never needed to use it.

I buy all my guitar parts from David and he goes to the trouble every time to find out what I will need and offers very use-able advice. I've never even detected a hint of anger/boredom/frustration from him. Heck, it won't suprise me to hear he gets canonized one day! (well, I guess I would be a little suprised, but you get the point.)

I've owned so many amps it makes my brain ache to think about it. I'll just say that most of them weren't worth the time let-alone the money. But my Allen Accomplice has earned its own value many times over, and hasn't cost me anything since the initial investment. I'd say it really is a Fantastic Value! I'd love to build another of David Allen's amps but I can't think of a tone the Accomplice doesn't have. I might just build another Accomplice - it's that good.

2004 Allen Accomplice kit with standard power transformer. This amp is perfect for a classic rock/blues style, and also does a great country and roots rock. It's a single channel amp with one input,with a master volume,bass,mid and treble controls, a raw control, reverb and reverb tone control, and bright switch. It is modeled after a black face Fender deluxe reverb, has a very similar face plate, with power and stand by switches on the face. I assembled the amp from a kit, which was easy to assemble, with very detailed instructions and diagrams. It has a nice design feature that allows it to be biased without removing the amp from the cabinet.

I'm using a 70's Strat, a 90's Hamer Special and a '00's G&L ASAT. For me, the Accomplice is essentially the best Blackface Deluxe Reverb you've ever heard or imagined with some added flexibility from the RAW feature thrown in as a bonus. The clean tones are terrific, classic Fender-style tones. With the Master vol. up and the Vol. up, the amp will overdrive wonderfully, and is very sensitive to the guitars vol. setting. With the RAW control up, the amp takes on a slightly different texture, with more growl and gain. It's not Marshall country, but it's a very musical new BFDR world. The reverb is lush and rich, in the best BF Fender tradition. It can add depth and substance, it can do Dick Dale surf, and just about anything in between. It accepts pedals very nicely; I use a BJF baby Blue for low gain and a Barber Direct Drive SS for higher gain stuff. I've also used a Fulldrive, and it sounded great with that as well.

Since I assembled it, I have all the documents, schematics, etc. That doesn't make me an amp tech., but it gives me confidence that I have some understanding of how it works, and thus how it might fail. I'm gigging with it now, and I have no worries about problems.

David Allen is about as helpful as it gets. He's very knowledgeable and responsive, both by phone and by email.

I've been playing 40 years. Of all the amps I've owned over the years, the Accomplice is the one I'm most happy with. If I were an amp collector, I would buy a BFDR. Since I'm more interested in playing, this suits my needs perfectly.