Allen Brown Sugar 115 Combo

This is a Brown Sugar built from a kit--I bought it used for a great deal and then sent the chassis into David Allen and had him go over it with a fine tooth comb. He cleaned up some incorrect wiring and parts (caps, resistors, tube sockets, etc.), retubed it and brought it back up to specs that satisfied his standards. So it's almost as if he built it anyway. It has a Weber ceramic California (15") which is a speaker I really like. It has the usual volume, treble, mid, bass, RAW, reverb and reverb tone control and presence. No master volume. It also has a bright switch. Uses either 6L6 or 6V6 depending upon the rectifier tube used. David says the difference between using it with 6V6 (15 watts) and 6L6 (30 watts) is primarily a headroom issue. I've tried it both ways and though I have spent little time with it in 6V6 mode, I would say that I like the 6L6 mode better. Can't be more specific than that. It would take more time with the 6V6 tubes to get more detailed info, but I like the 6L6 thing. Apparently, the amp's preamp section is from the Fender Brown era, the output section from the Tweed era, and the reverb section from the Blackface era. Brown tolex cab, dark brown knobs. Pretty basic.

Great tone! That's the simple basic fact about this amp. The pots on this amp are perhaps the most sensitive I've ever encountered--and interactive with each other as well. Not a lot of gizmos here, but basic ones that really do the job. On a lot of amps you get little to no reaction on the EQ pots--sometimes even the volume pots are very iffy going through first little change, then radical ones (or vice versa). Every touch of increase in David's pots you get a significant reaction. You tend to dial in his amps very, very carefully as there is an incredible difference in the tonality of (say) the treble EQ being set at 6 or at 7. You wind up sometimes going for a setting like 6.3, or something. The RAW control is very interesting. I keep it pretty low as I prefer mostly clean tones (around 1 or 2). The more you dial this control up, the more intense the *grind* you get from the amp. It bypasses the other tone controls and gives you a very aggressive overdrive character without a high-gain distortion sort of deal. Even at lower settings, this amp reacts very dramatically to a guitar's volume when maxed by giving up overdrive tones easily the more you dig into the strings. Back off a little and you're back in clean land. The harmonic content of this amp is very rich, full, clear with excellent definition of every note whether played in a chord, or as single notes. No harshness at all at any frequency or with any guitar (I'm using American Strats and Teles with Fralins and Lollars). The bright switch is not something you ordinarily use, though it is interesting to experiment with. Between the bright switch, the treble and the presence control, you can get pretty ridiculous high frequency response. Some of this extended high frequency interpretation might come in handy with humbucker guitars, but with single coils it is more than you could possibly want. But it is there if needed. The bass EQ is also very dramatic. I run the bass EQ at 4--still big deep low end with no hint of distortion. David tells you to take it easy on the bass EQ and he ain't foolin'. There's more than you need in this department as well. Maybe some amps will give you even deeper bass than this thing, but not with the clarity, projection and definition of the Brown Sugar. The amp has a significant, though not annoying, mid-range presence (the Tweed thing). Some amps that work hard at mid-range presence can seem boxy sounding or "honky" to me. Almost a "choked" sort of tone. The Brown Sugar uses its mid-range to mirror the guitar beautifully and allow it to project its tones really well without having to slam people with lots of volume. The reverb on this amp is the best I've heard. Also, everything from just a touch (again with its own and separate tone control) to the deepest outer space reverb. I just use a touch of it for some depth and ambience.

Had this amp for a year and have not had a single hiccup. Again, David did his thing on it when I purchased it, so that is one of the things he said to me at the time--that this amp would have the tone and reliability of an amp built by him personally. It has proved to be true at this point.

David's advice, service and thoroughness (and pricing!!) are excellent. You are talking to the guy who either builds your amps or is servicing them. He will guide you with a decision to help you pick the right amp for your style. A great guy either on the phone or via e-mail. He answers e-mail even on Sundays very often. I'm very impressed with his thoroughness, friendliness, communication--you name it. He's a good guy. The real deal.

This is an excellent amp. Though I've played for many years and have had old Fenders, SS Fenders, vintage tube Peaveys and some interesting modern Peaveys (Delta Blues and Classic 30--excellent amps with the right speaker upgrade, etc.), Budda Superdrive, etc., I'd have to say that this is the best I've ever played through or owned. Granted, there are other finely made boutique amps out there that I've never experienced. I live too far out in the boonies to get around to much of that however. But I lucked into this one and it is a real eye opener. So much so, that I'm thinking of getting another Allen--the Encore 2-10 really interests me. Between the simplicity of David's designs, the excellent execution of their building, his very reasonable pricing, his killer service and above ALL--the excellent tone and versatility in his amps, I would have to recommend that anybody looking for a high quality tonal upgrade give serious consideration to any of his amps. These are great tones to be had!

ordered without hearing or seeing one. based on reviews of other models and design,style. took 5 weeks. d allen answered all the questions i asked, great response. i thought about different colored knobs and a copper cap rectifier, he let me know i might be wrong about that, and i am glad i took his advice. 6l6 tubes, 4 12ax7s. great features, two knob reverb. i have had three knob reverb on a deluxe reverb type amp, dwell, etc. this one is very very nice. many toneful settings. cosmetics are first rate. looks like an old fender concert. i thought at first i tmight not be loud enough. it is just right. i dont think i would like the 6v6 option or 2/10s or a 12 with the spread the 15 inch big ben spkr puts out. seems like these big bens are popping up everywhere. i havenet used the bright switch on this amp,and it is great to know it is there when i might need it. one channel amp. about 50 lbs.

extremely quiet amp, using this mainly with a warmoth mary kay strat with us custom guitars jumbo fret neck and van zandt pickups. the color combo of this amp/guitar rig is very sweet. this is a very sweet toned amp. the more i play it the more i can dial it in. we have a raw control on tap that can really push some aggression into the mix. i like it on about 3 volume, 7 treble, 2-3 bass, 2-3 mids, o raw, 3 reverb, 4 tone, 7 presence. i have really enjoyed experimenting with what i can get out of it on about 3 volume. this is an old fender super or concert type amp. very vintage sounding. just about the right volume. very subtle tones. there is a lot of depth to the sound here. not a one trick poney. the amp seems very bassy. but a lot of treble on tap. i am really pleased with what it can deliver, on many different levels. each guitar sounds different. i am sure you have heard that before. i would liked to have heard all his amps before i chose one, but i am sure this one would be in the top 2 or 3. adding the raw control really adds funk and girth to this amp. back off the volume with the raw added and it cleans up very nicely.

seems very solid. can only go by the other reviews.

not as thorough as some others, but i cant complain.

i have owned a slew of them over the years. after some peaveys and a music man in the 70s ibought about 25 amps in the last 10 years. the first was a soldano 18 watt combo, then an astroverb combo, about 4 blues pearls,(a 100 watt, deluxe reverb, and a 4/10 bassman.)a 68 fender pro reverb, a 69 super reverb. 2 dr z carmen ghias, a route 66, a kt 45, and also a harry joyce 100 watt head and 2/12 half stack. several other amps. some i wish i had kept. i now own a dr z maz 38 2/12 combo that my son uses as a bass amp, and also a dr z 4/1o combo z-28.i am sure there are some other great amps out there, but i am glad i decided to get this one, a vintage style amp, with great features, portable and built to last. i think it is a great buy for what you get. and if you are handy with a soldering iron you can get a kit, save some money. i want to do that in the future. i have noticed that the pedals i use at times with this amp seem to sound better than the other two amps i own. this could be due to the 15 spkr. the pro reverb i owned had a great tone, but was very limited in the sounds it could produce. this amp is very subtle and works well with each type of guitar. it is a keeper. havent broken out a pair of old nice mullard el34s with this yet. it sounds just fine as it is. lots of tone variation with this amp is what i would like to stress. love the reverb..

Cathode biased all tube single channel amp with a Fender Brown style preamp and phase inverter. The amp is capable of using 6V6, 6L6, and EL34 tubes by just swapping tubes, installing the appopriate rectifier (6V6 - 5Y3, 6L6 & EL34 - GZ34), and setting the impedance switch appropriately (back panel graphics show which to use). This allows the amp to run between 15 and 30 watts depending upon the tubes. The amp also features a BF style reverb with a tone control. The other controls are BRIGHT SWITCH, VOLUME, TREBLE, MIDDLE, BASS, RAW, REVERB, REVERB TONE and PRESENCE. The amp has a multitap transformer to all it to run with a variety of loads. The power and standy switches are handily placed on the front panel, no fishing around in the back of the amp in the dark. The speaker is a single Weber 15" California with a paper dome. The cabinet features Brown Fender era cosmetics - brown tolex and grill cloth, brown and ivory control panel, ivory knobs. This is a very full featured and good looking amp.

This is Brown Sugar #1, the first produced. So this may not be completely representative of future versions, but I wouldn't expect them to be significantly different. So far I've used the following guitars with the amp - Custom Shop Tele (Twisted Tele neck, Nocaster bridge), 60's Classic MIM Strat (stock pickups), 50's Classic Strat (Custom Shop '54 pickups), Gris Gris Customs (Fat 50's Strat pickups in one, Carvin AP11 in the other), and a 1966 Gibson ES335. All guitars, with all pickup combinations sound excellent. I've really rediscovered why I have all these guitars. They sound completely different and distinct which is really emphasized by the Brown Sugar. Emphasize might be the wrong description, as I think it really lets the sound of the guitar come through. The string articulation is superb, each note if distinct and has a real 3D quality without being spikey or beaming.

The amps covers the full gamut of late 50's to early 60's sounds. Withe the MIDS and RAW turned all the way down it's very easy to get a good clean, BF Fender sound especially with the reverb. By adding a small amount of MIDS (2-3), and RAW (2-3) and putting the PRESENCE half way up you can get a fine Brown Fender Concert sound. By pushing the MIDS further up to around half, and raising the RAW about halfway up you start to enter Tweed territory. This is all with the VOLUME in the 2 to 4 range. By turning up the VOLUME a little more to about 5-6 and cranking the RAW to around 7 you have a nice early Marshall sound.

Throughout all this the guitar is an important part of the signal path. The amp is very touch responsive and even with a fair amount of gain dialed in via the RAW you can clean things up by backing off the volume. On all my guitars the volume and tone controls seem to do more, in that there are just about no unusable settings. I've found much more versatility wiht my collection than I'd ever realize before. I'm really hearing what my guitars sound like. So while the amp has a lot of control, it stays out of the way and only complements the guitars sound, not dominate it. That's very nice.

It takes a little big of a different approach to work with the amp. It's not really like anything else despite the familiar controls. The TREBLE uses a 350K tapped pot like the old Fender Concerts. While it works effetively all through the range it has a lof of rapid effect between 5 and 6. That takes a little getting used to, but it does work well. Bewteen the BRIGHT SWITCH, TREBLE, and PRESENCE you have a lot of control over the high end, but it only gets piercing at the most extreme combination of all three. The BRIGHT SWITCH is really the thing that makes humbuckers work well. There really is no need for it with single coils. While so many high end controls might seem redundant, they all really seem to work in slightly different high end ranges - TREBLE is the core high end control, with the BRIGHT SWITCH seeming to affect slight higher frequencies, and the PRESENCE add overall shimmer to the top. Once you get a handle on that it's very easy to get your high end dialed in perfectly.

And the RAW control is very unique. It progressively bypasses the tone stack. This has the effect of gradually diminishing the effect of the tone controls, which is very handy. It can really add a lot of character to a guitars sound, you get more body.

So the amp can go from clean to classic rock and everything in between. It's obviously not a metal machine. But for roots rock, blues, classic R&B, or jazz you won't find anything better. All the classic amp sounds from the mid 50's to early 60's are in there and easy to obtain.

Oh, the reverb is also very complimentary and the inclusion of the tone control makes it easy to match reverb to each guitar and each song. I'm finding at low reverb setting that turning the tone up a bit lets the sound come through without getting overpowering.

The amp is particularly quiet. I've used a lot of amps in my home studio but non

The amp is solid pine construction, the chassis is built like a tank, and everything is bolted together solidly. The back panels are extra stout, and all cabling is very heavy duty including the speaker cable and the power cord. I did have a problem with the reverb tanks initially, but if you've ever looked inside one of those you'd be shocked at the lightweight construction. This is not an Allen manufactured tank, it is just he nature of the beast. Take a look inside any recent manufactured tank and you'll see the same thing.

David Allen quickly responded to my reverb tanks problem and shippped a replacement. One of the springs in the old tank had slipped off the mounting on one end. This made the reverb sound very clanky and uncontrollable. The replacement did the trick and gave me a superb sounding reverb. Again, this is not the fault of Allen. These tanks are pretty delicate things. The amp ships with a schematic so if any problems occur on down the road any competent tech could repair the amp.

I've been playing for 40 years and owned a ton of good equipment - all the Fender classics, Ampegs, Matchless, Peavey, Standel, custom one off stuff, Line 6, Gibson, Carvin, Traynor...well, you name it. Of course I'm still in the honeymoon phase, but this is one of my top 3 amps of all time. The other two are a 4x10 Matchless DC/30 and a 1964 Super Reverb, fwiw. The amp lacks nothing in my opinion. Some folks might want a master volume, but that's not something I'd find useful. By being able to adjust the power output with different tubes I can adjust the amp to the venue very easily and simply.

I'd get another immediately if this was stolen. I'm seriously considering ordering the 2x10 version as well.