Blues Pearl Verbrasonic 210 Combo

Great Amp. Has some great tones. I bought this amp from Robert about 10 years ago. Play my Vibroverb a bit more, but still love this amp. I have been able to get most any tone out of this amp, even gospel.

I play with a custom axe with Burstbuckers, lower volumes. I use rack gear. Seldomly do I engauge brutal distortion. Some light slapback delays and overdrive hear and there. This amp makes the noise.

The amp got kinda messed up one time when we had a Christmas party. I got all drunk and we initiated a jam session in the living room. I was really conjuring up a sweet groove when I realized that I shouldn't have put the Blues Pearl up on the step of the fire place as it was on fire. I poured beer on it. It still works.

Robert stole some money from me before I didn't see him again. I remember he used to laugh about it. He changed his number and stuff. I am glad he sold me this amp.

If you see one for sale, buy it. Just don't give Robby no money for one up front. He quit making them.

Single channel all tube 2x10 w/ 3 knob reverb

sounds great w/ strat or tele. good for rock, blues, country, funk, you name it

Well, I would have given it a 10, but recently it started acting up. Probably needs new tubes.

HAH! I worked in a music store that sold these. Bob Hutson was great at first. Three of us salesmen had one of his amps. He came and made repairs and adjustments for free! Then I cut a deal with him on a very nice Heritage 335 type guitar in exchange for a Texas Tornado and one of his tweed amps. That was the last we ever heard of him. Two certified letters later we found out he was in jail. What a shame. I am fortunate enough to own one of his Marshall type Brittone amps and one of his effects pedals. All of his products sound great, but the guy is a crook.

Like I said, I own three of his products, and they all sound great. I just wish he'd get straightened out. Maybe if he worked for another company that could utilize his genius as well as monitor his actions we could see more of his amps.

Tortured amp genius Robert Hudson created this powerful little 2-10" beauty.Modeled after the Fender 'Super Amp',the Verbrasonic is Valve Heaven.Dual 6L6's,3 knob Reverb,40 strong watts,Jensen reissue speakers,this point to point wired amp is pure,sweet Tone.Two inputs.Rear panel has Ext. speaker input/Footswitch input.Rough Blonde tolex with Oxblood Brown Grill.A RARE bird indeed!One of Mr. Hudson's favorites.If you can find one you'll know why.You've tried the rest,now try the Best.

The Verbrasonic can wear many hats.It's Extremely versatile.Blues,Jazz,Rock...even Acoustic all sound wonderful.It is very quiet,the 'Verb is surf-deep and she can Scream when coaxed.Brown Sound City, AZ.Once again,the Tone is pure.

The Verbrasonic doesn't break down.It tends to run hot, but that's okay.I don't need a backup amp.It's Leo's 'Super Amp' taken to the next level.Just south of Heaven.

Maybe Karma has caught up with Mr. Hudson.He's out of business.Too bad for the art of valve amp building.Too bad indeed.

I've been playing since The Beatles came to town.The Verbrasonic is My amp of choice.It would not be stolen or lost because it is so well-loved and heavily protected by Enchantments.I wish I had two of them.My Ibanez PM20 and Takamine EAN40C are the best of friends with the Verbrasonic.It makes for a nice,harmonious family.

Great Vibrolux Reverb type Amp. Has single channel input. Bass, Mid, Treble, and 3 knob Reverb.

Incredible!!!!!! This amp has T O N E ! Very Warm Bluesey Tones. 2 10" Blues Pearl (eminence) Speakers put out some great sound. Very Fender-ish but a Bit tighter and faster. GZ-34 Rectifier Tubes give it alot of Warm, dig in kind of sound.

Built Like a Tank! Better Built than any Older Fender. On Par with A Holland, or Dr Z in terms of Constuction Technic. Very Solid!!!
Any Quality Amp tech can reapair it!

Well. Robert Hudson is gone. His Amps most likely will be Incredibly expensive. Dumble move over You may become second on the List in terms of value. Not yet, but very, very Soon.

If you ever find one, Buy It!!!!!!!!

Just to post a follow up to the "where's Bob" saga. He spent about 4 months in Flint,MI recently. Definately left a trail of upset people behind when he left suddenly. Borrowed money, bad checks, you name it. One guy took a blackface Fender that he inherited when his dad died to Bob for service, a couple weeks later......Gone without a trace. It's truly a shame. And Bob, if you're reading this. Get help. Check into rehab, turn yourself in, whatever it takes. I know of two people for sure who are actively pursuing you.

Apparently as Mr. Hudson's drug habit grew he started neglecting care of the equipment. His work got sloppier and sloppier. This isn't an attempt to slander someone's good name. I'm just trying to inform people who were ripped off what happened.

I live where these amps were made, apparently Mr. Hudson pawned equipment that he received to do repair work on and eventually that caught up with him. I suppose if you contacted a lawyer you could file a complaint in Tennessee for fraud and theft. Mr. Hudson is currently serving a sentence for drug possession, theft, fraud, etc.

These amps are very desirable, but later models often come with a few easily fixable defects---loose wiring, loose parts, etc. They're definitely worth trying, but keep in mind the company is out of business indefinitely and I have no idea what Mr. Hudson's sentence was. This is factual, this and I repeat is not character assination; I'm just trying to inform people outside our community what happened with their money and or trade goods.

I have no clue what year this amp was made (I got it used). Though I got it in trade, I'd have probably been able to pick it up for a grand. Controls include Volume, Treble, Mid, Bass, and controls for the three knob verb, the usual Mix, Tone, and Dwell knobs. Two inputs, 2x6L6 outputs (Svetlana) for 40 watts. That's it for features, besides the two 10" Jensens (C10Q). Pretty much does what it does, and that's it.

I have a few different Strats (S/S/H - Pearly Gates), a Fender Flame (pre-Robben Ford), and a Heritage H-535. Sounds really good with just about any guitar. The sound this amp makes sounds (to my ears) like a cross between a Super Reverb and a brown Deluxe. Of course, I have had the bright cap removed from the input, and had a few of the more "radio shack" parts replaced (though there weren't many) with old Fender style components. Nice combination brown and blackface sounds. This amp compares well to any original blackface Fender amp, tonally. The tone stack is definitely blackface, but a little thicker (not as "pingy" as black and silverface amps usually are), with just a little brown thrown into the mix. In fact, I have only heard one old Fender (of this style) that I thought sounded better, and that's Holland K. Smith's old Super Reverb (local D/FW blues musician). Most I hear vary in sound (some are actually unlistenable), but his just rocks. This one comes the closest I've heard any amp come to that sound (though it's still not "soupy" - then again, that may be a good thing).

It also seems to like effects run in front of it, too. With just a Strat and H&K Replex, you'll get those lush, spacey Eric Johnson style clean tones no problem, with lots of bell-like chime. As far as overdrives, I've run both a Bad Cat Two Tone pedal (dual 12AX7 preamp pedal) and my germanium transistor "bucket brigade" style Fulltone Distortion Pro into the front. I have to say, both pedals really lit up the amp in a very good way (you have to be careful with the TT though, it easily has twice the gain of either the Hot Box or Dirt Box). The D-Pro, on the right settings, really brings out that "squeezed" Robben Ford type lead sound from the amp - or a very good "almost EJ" sound. TS-808 on the middle pickup will get you screamin SRV, or neck pickup clean sounds on "Riviera Paradise" and the like. I can't wait to try more.

The sound of this amp cranked up, though, is at least as good as any sound you'll coax from an overdrive or distortion box. I got a very similar sound out of the lead channel of a Two Rock Topaz. The Verbrasonic cranked sound, though, is a slight bit thicker, with the tiniest bit more harmonic gooeyness. But it only seems to break up in the final throes of the volume control. Like, there's not a lot of activity until you get to 7, then set the gain between 8 and 9. I don't like running it too hot for too long, because there are a LOT of volts hitting the tubes anyway, and further cooking them (for a long time, with no fan) is just inviting disaster. That's why I like to run it fairly clean, with just enough volume to get ever-so-slight breakup, and hit the front end with my overdrives. It sounds just as good, really, and you're not hurting you amp nearly as bad that way.

This is where it starts to get bad. While this is far from the worst amp out there from a build quality standpoint, let's just say there are much more well put together amps on the market. Not that anything is really badly done, but it just seems that not a lot of thought was given to giving the amp longevity. I guess just so long as nothing bad happens when you just bump it. Definitely not the worst, but it's also not in the "bulletproof" category. Not really "thrown together", but there were some things that were loose, that shouldn't have been. That said, if you treat it with care, it shouldn't give you any problems. For the most part, good quality parts are used.

This is where it gets even worse. I've had "more than 3" people give me first (or at least second) hand accounts talk about how they pre-paid Robert Hudson (Mr. Pearl) for amps, and haven't gotten an amp - and it's been years. One of these people I know VERY well. Strange, as it seems he was "Mr. public relations" when the company was new. I went to the website a few months ago and it looked like they were still in business. Now, the above link seems to be invalid. I heard a rumour that they went out of business. All things considered, I wouldn't be surprised at all to find out it was true. It's kind of hard to bilk you customers so blatantly and still stay in business, it seems. I've since removed the "Blues Pearl" logo and put a "brown-era" Fender logo in it's place, partly out of protest, but mostly because the old logo looked pretty cheesy, anyway.

By itself, though, with no overdrives, this is the best "Fender clean" sound I've heard in a long, long time (maybe even from original Fenders). And I've played the Top Hat Ambassador (40w 4x6V6 w/reverb design - and several of those), Many different Carr amps, including the Rambler, Imperial, and (my favorite) the Slant 6v's clean channel, Stinger amps (very affordable, but horrible sounding bf amp clones, made for a short time), many and various Mesas, Fender's own blackface Reissues (tonally, one notch above the Stingers, if you wanna know the truth), and the Two Rock Topaz (clean side) - just to give you an idea. Though the Abmassador was good (they vary, though) and the Carrs were slightly better, the Topaz is the only amp I've heard that rivals this amp as far as "clean" or "clean-ish" sounds (besides select "classics"). Actually, it surpasses this amp is some ways, because of the versatility (and I thought I was going to hate the Two Rock's clean side - it turned out to be what I liked most). Then again, the Topaz costs about three times as much as this one would. Of course, the Topaz does about three or four times what this one does, and is much more versatile. So (again), you do the math. Though I'd love to have the Two Rock, this amp perfectly fits my "clean amp" bill.

So, overall, if you're looking for something like this, keep your eyes peeled. I found this one (used) at Guitar Center, and having never played a Blues Pearl, plugged into it out of curiosity. Glad I did, and I was surprised. It was a little bright when I first got it, but having the bright cap removed was a great step. The logo change was another important step, for different reasons. I have to say, it looks a lot better now ("Is that a Custom Shop piece?"). If you know what you're doing (or know someone who does), removing the bright cap helps this amp out a lot, especially if you have a Tele. Now I've got a nice, warm, sparkly clean sound. Great amp!

This as simple and as incredible sounding as they come: 2 6L6's, GZ34 rectifier, 4 12AX7's (or 12AT7's). One channel, 2 inputs, volume, treble, mid, bass, dwell, depth & tone, 2 reissue Jensen C10Q. Just like Blackface amp with white chicken head knobs. Looks great. The 3 knob reverb is very very nice.

This is the most incredible sounding amp you can go from SRV to Ronnie earl Blues and it will make you cry.....The most incredible Clean tone and overdrive: I would the clean is like a cross of a SUPER
/ DELUXE and the overdrive is just the type of tone every Vintage Blackface should sounded like. No farting bass great with pedals in front like a TS9 or other...But the best is you will not need any pedal to overdrive this great amp....Imagine CHRIS ISAAC clean and Robben Ford magic overdive....This amp is a bargain all point to point hand wired NO PROBLEMS MAN.......

This amp is very well built just like Fender was in the 60's...Noiseless and feels like a ROCK to me.......

NO NEED BUT I WHICH THIS GENIOUS THE BEST BECAUSE HE IS UP THERE WITH THE BEST: I mean CARR, BRUNO, DRZ, MATCHLESS, KENDRICK and TWO ROCK...

DEFENTLY A 10 in my book I just hope I wasn't such amp Junkie....Allways looking for the new and diferente out There.....
This amp is up there with: SC30, FENDER SUPER, CARR RAMBLER, AMETHYST SPECIAL, KENDRICK 2410 and DRZ MAZ........

I sent Blues Pearl,Mr Robert Hudson 2x guitars in exchange for these amps the amps never arrived here but he took delivery of guitars.
Id love to be able to comment but thanks to the fact he is a thief I cant

As above

I hope they are more reliable than Mr Hudson

If any one requires customer support I suggest you get it soon because after I fly to Tennessee to visit Mr Thief Hudson there will be none available for some time

It was stolen before I even got it
Do not send this scum any money

2 6L6's, GZ34 rectifier, 4 12AX7's (or 12AT7's). One channel, 2 inputs, volume, treble, mid, bass, dwell, depth & tone, 2 reissue Jensen C10Q. Blond tolex & oxblood grill. Looks great. Made 2 years ago. The 3 knob reverb is nice. I replaced the tank with a longer decay, 3-spring tank. Big improvement.

When I first got this amp, it suffered from that hi-end "fizzle" that blackface Fenders have with fuzz pedals...very bright. I removed the bright cap on the volume control...another big improvement. Warmed up a lot. Then I plugged my guitar ( strat w/3 Duncan Lil' 59's...great pickups) straight in and played it almost all the way up for about 2 1/2 hours. This did something magical to the amp. Not only did it smooth out the Jensens, the amp also smoothed out. Now it sounds beautiful with pedals or straight in...more like a Marshall or tweed amp with reverb than blackface. No "fizzle" at all!! I have many amps, mostly vintage, some boutique. This hangs right with them now.

Well...what to say here?? When I got this amp, (I've had it a little over 2 months now) the output transformer & choke were very loose...I'm surprised they didn't fall out during shipping. They & the power transformer were just screwed into the flimsy aluminum chassis with no nuts to hold them securely. I put nuts on...they won't become loose again!! As I mentioned, the chassis is pretty flimsy & light weight. This amp weighs the same as a BFDR. That's a good thing, and when the chassis is mounted in the cab it stiffens up, so I suppose it will be OK. The wiring & soldering look wonderful. This is a really simple circuit... not much in there. Over the last few weeks I noticed a subtle deterioration in tone...reverb not as strong, noisy, lackluster performance. After replacing the tone circuit/reverb recovery tube, it's back in shape. I replaced all the preamp tubes with new ones, so I'm wondering why this tube went south so fast...not sure if the amp is at fault or it was a bad tube. Also, this amp runs EXTREMELY hot. Hotter than any amp I have. I stick a fan in the back, that keeps it under control. Rating for this category?? Hope for the best, expect the worst...

Robert Hudson is nonexistent. I've emailed him several times over the last couple of years and have NEVER heard back. Is he taking money for amp orders and not delivering? I don't know, but I sure am glad he doesn't have any of my money.

I've been playing close to 30 years. I support my five member family with six strings. For the last few years I've been looking for a combo amp with reverb that doesn't have that Fender "fizzle". I traded an Allen Old Flame (hated that one) for this with not a lot of hope. I was and remain stunned. This is exactly what I wanted in a combo amp. If it were stolen, I'd try to find another used one (don't want to give R. H. a chance to screw me) but wouldn't expect it to sound like this one. All in all, a great amp, especially if you know a little about tube amps and can do a few things for yourself.

Straight forward Super Reverb clone-210s, 3 knob reverb, single channel with 2 inputs. Exactly what you need for that clean Fender tone that SRV loved so well, nothing extra, extremely light for an amp this loud.

Compares favorably to a BF Super Reverb and about 2/3 the weight and 2/3 the price. No distortion channel, it's loud when it starts to break up. Basically the perfect club amp for a Fender guy, get your distortion from pedals.

Bob Hudsons wiring is a work of art, but in this case, the transformers are held onto the chassis with two bolts and lockwasher/nuts. The chassis seems a bit more flexible than some. Did he get the light weight at the sacrifice of some durability? Not sure, stay tuned...

A great guy! Call him or email him and he gets back to you, helpful and not a prima donna like some manufacturers. I highly recommend Bob.

Aside from concerns about durability this is THE best super reverb clone I've owned (and I've owned 7 different brands) for straight ahead Fender clean tone/reverb. Highly recommended.

This amp has no extra bells and whistles..what it does, it does very well..mine has one channel, two imputs...one a bit hotter than the other...I gig on a professional basis with this amp and the wattage is enough for small to medium clubs, for anything larger, of course, you will have pro sound reinforcement and the 10's that are in my Verbrasonic mike up beautifully....not mushy like some 12's...very crisp and with good top end sting...they do cut through the mix...

I use a Lea Paul and a Strat...both have Rio Grande pickups...my main style is blues and blues/rock...I have not noticed any noise other than my noisy Strat, which is the nature of the beast on any old Strat...sound wise this amp will reproduce your guitar sound perfectly...no added crap..the only "distotion" it has is the warm, singing sound you get when you crank up any good amp

Since it is a simple design without a lot of extra stuff to go wrong, the reliability is top notch...I had one Svet preamp tube die, but this has nothing to do with the amp, just a bad tube in the bunch

This is where this guy has it hands down....after I got the amp, I asked for some tweaks...no problem...they were done pronto, with no service charges...also, after having it tweaked, I needed it back the next day...the guy that built it DROVE it some 30+ miles to meet me and deliver it ...get that kind of service from ANY other amp manufacture...dont think so

Ihave been playing guitar for 40 years....some 28 years on a professional basis...will buy another at some point...main reason being that I want another before these get so popular that they will be a "boutique" and the price goes up to the level of a Trainwreak or someother super highend amps...I really cant find much to dislike about it..before buying, I set it up at a music store (Pickers Exchange- Chattanooga, Tn.) and put it on head-to-head basis with everything else...blew them all away...In playing as long as I have, believe me I have had damn near everything made..Marshall, Fender, Vox, Mesa, Hiwatt, Orange, Hughes& Kettner, on and on....this amp is all about tone...if that is what is important to you, this may be the way to go...If you want a Marshall sound, buy a Marshall, etc..this does what it is supposed to do....make me sound better......it has a precise sound...all notes have individual voicing...no mush...no mud..

Purchased new in October 1999. Handmade point-to-point, solid wood cab. 1 channel, 2 inputs, Controls: Volume, 3 knob EQ (treble, mid, bass), 3 knob reverb (dwell, depth, tone). Blackface cosmetics w/chickenhead knobs. Mine is blonde tolex w/oxblood grill (a $70 upcharge over standard color options; upcharge is reflected in the price paid). 35 potent watts. 2X10 Jensen reissue C10Q's. 2 Svetlana 6L6; 3 Sovtek 12AX7WXT's, 1 Sovtek 12AT7, GZ34 rectifier tube. Back panel: power on; standby; speaker jack; extension speaker jack; footswitch jack.

The 'Sonic has precisely the features I wanted, specifically, 1 channel, very effective EQ, and reverb that goes from "not there" to slapback to "under sea" or "outer space."

The sensitivity of the EQ make this amp as versatile as I need it to be for the kinds of music I play. My rating reflects the fact that the amp doesn't do a bunch of tricks that I don't want it to do. That's what I use effects boxes for.

Guitars: '83 Les Paul Custom w/Fralin PAFs; '62 US RI Strat w/Fralin standard vintage single coils; Warmoth ash body tele copy w/huge maple neck, Fender tele neck p/up and Gibson patent# humbucker in bridge position (from the '83 LP). I play blues, boogie, psychedelic. The amp is perfect for what I play. Goes from sweet, thick clean to chimey pristine to authoritative crunch (with pedals), can bark (if that's what you're going for) or just roll along fat and gooey. It breathes, is articulate and very sensitive to attack. Killer natural overdrive kicks in at about halfway up. It's really up to me, the choice of guitar, the pedal combination or absence thereof.

The amp has a little bit of hiss, which I only notice when I'm playing alone at home, and then only when I'm not playing, actually. No big deal. I've tubed it with 5751's in the preamp and eliminated the hiss, but prefer it with the 12AX7's. Robert Hudson, the builder, suggested the use of a 12AU7 in the first preamp position for a sweeter tone with a little less gain and he was right on; absolutely gogeous fat sweet tone that way. The Jensens sound great; I have recently run it with a Celestion Vintage 30 1X12 extension cab in combination with the Jensen's and the tone absolutely floors me. It is, as the saying goes, to die for. At some point I'll probably try it with other speakers, because I can and I'm curious.

Have been playing eight years, play solo, and lead guitar with a group (two guitars, harp, bass and drums) in small bars and for parties. The Pearl is perfect from apartment to bar settings. Have used a SF Twin Reverb, Hot Rod Deluxe and '63 RI Vibroverb, and the Pearl just leaves them in the dust. Very articulate, sweet, fat, authoritative clean tone waiting to enhance whatever you put into it, whether its straight guitar or effects. When I do use effects, I use the following in various combinations: Fulltone Fulldrive 2 and '69; SweetSound UltraVibe; Korg dl301 echo; Boss dd3 delay (for slapback only), an ancient Schaller volume pedal (a fuss schweller, hey!) and a Budda wah. The Pearl loves 'em all to death.

The Pearl came with a faulty transformer. Faulty parts happens. Robert shipped a new one out toot sweet and paid for me to have it installed by my local amp tech. This is class. Not a whimper in daily use since then. Gets carted around in my pickup (no, not in the back) on a regular basis. It's solid. And purty, too. My rating reflects the fact that no amp, in my experience, is 100% reliable. No tube amp, no solid state amp, no amp. I feel totally confident in this thing. I would never gig w/o a backup; I don't drive around without a spare tire either. Sheesh.

Robert represents the best experience I've ever had with any company/manufacturer, about anything, period. He answers all my e-mails, and there've been quite a few, promptly, and he's a very cool, very nice guy. When I was anxiously awaiting my new amp, which was in my hands in about two weeks from the time I ordered it, he sent me e-mail pics of the amp in progress. Try to get that from one of the big guys. Contact Robert at bluespearl@hotmail.com.

I would definitely buy another Blues Pearl amp. I've sat in a jam with good players using an original BF Deluxe and a BF Super Reverb, and the Pearl sounded as good as either, just as big, open, sweet and ballsy, and if anything outshone the Super. This points up, IMO, the value of buying a new, handmade, point-to-point amp with the same personality as an original BF Fender: original BF's vary A LOT, and just don't have a warranty. My Pearl sounds every bit as good, if not better, is warranteed, and I can talk to the guy who built it. And he cares about how much you like what he made for you.