Budda Superdrive 18 II 112 Combo

Brand new 2007 model. Paid $1,500. I've playing in an original rock and roll band that's along the lines of the Black Crowes for two years now and have been looking for the right amp for some time. We gig almost weekly so I've tried a lot of gear in real life context. I've tried using a Fender 65 Deluxe Reverb (Cold Sounding), Fender 57 Twin Resissue (sounded awesome but too loud for the typical gigging dude like me), Roccaforte Custom 30 (again, awesome amp but just too loud), Victoria 20012 (great amp, it's my day to day workhourse, but not nearly enough top end...blame the 6v6's). At the end of the day all need is a workable amp that I can really use in live situations. Unless your playing in large clubs there's really no reasone for anything over 20 tube watts. Even then the larger clubs mic you up and your amp becomes a monitor so why buy a loud amp that's simply going to clear the room?

This amp is very versatile. It has two channels one clean and one dirty. The clean channel has a bright switch and the dirty channel has a modern switch which scoops out the mids for truly heavy sounds. I honestly haven't really used these functions in live applications, but I'm certain they'd be useful in the studio. It has an effects loop and most importantly a slave out. I've tried running the slave out into my Victoria 20112, and let me tell you it's a cool feature. For instance, if your playing a large gig and your concerned you won't have enough stage volume with the amp alone you can use the slave out which takes the preamp signal and sends it out at guitar volume into another amp. So if the club as a house 100 watt Marshall you can send the Budda preamp signal into the Marshall and there you go...you cutting heads left and right.

I'm not missing any features with this amp. In fact it has more features than I need as I don't use the bright or modern functions...they're cool, but I just don't use them. For me the best amp in the world would have one volume knob and thats it because it should be voiced properly in the first place. In fact, after six months of usage both practice and on stage I have all of the tone knobs still set at 12 O'Clock. Why? These guys did a good job voicing the amp from the get go and I hate sitting around and tweaking settings as it should sound good all on its own.

Again, I gig almost every weekend in venues that have anywhere on from 20 people (I won't lie...I occasionally have those gigs) to venues with up to 200 people, but typically I usually play in front of about 100 people at bars and clubs.

BTW...the Budda guys added a little fan that hangs from the chassis and blows onto the tubes, nice touch dude!

As described above this amp can easily go from very clean to plain metal. The cleans are very nice sounding, but your not going to get a ton of headroom so if you need a lot of clean headroom this amp isn't for you...start looking at higher wattage amps. I like the clean a lot...it's very balanced and pleasant to the ear. The clean tone is simply round and even sounding...extraordinarly easy to use...no cold ice pick to the ear stuff here. Because it's a low wattage amp you can actually let the clean channel breath at reasonable volume levels. With the bright switch pulled it can almost comp that whole Matchless thing. Honestly, I can't pull off that whole Keith Richards thing like I can with my Victory 20112, but it's still a damn good clean channel. I stress that the cleans are pleasant to the ear as they shoud be, but so often are not.

The dirty channel is fun as well. When I first got the amp I dimed the lead channel and used the modern function and found myself playing Metallica for the first time in about 10 years and it sounded damn good. No, you don't get the tightness associated with closed back amps, but damn it does metal tones good. For me however I don't use the modern switch unless I'm screwing around. I actually set this amp up with the clean channel at 11 o'clock and the dirty channel at 10 o'clock which matches the volume level between the two channels up nicely. On most stages I only have to turn the master up to about 10 o'clock and there's more than enough stage volume. On a side note I don't think this is a real master volume amp. It seems like the master volume controls the power amp section and the drive and rhythm volume knobs control the preamp section so then it's not a real master volume amp right? My best guess is that the clean channel on this amp simply skips a few pre-amp tubes and the dirty channel uses them all. At the settings I use you get great classic rock tones with a modern edge. It's great for playing Zep, Crowes, Allmans, Clapton, Guns n' Roses...it really works well. I think my Roccaforte Custom 30 through a closed back does a better job at getting those classic rock dirty tones, but just barely.

This amp is quite compared to most.

I should add that I've been using a Victoria Reverbarato in front of this amp and it just brings out the best in this amp. The tone on this amp however is rich enough to use without reverb at all.

Final note: I use a Tubescreamer on top of the dirty channel for leads...tastey!!!

I really can't say. I've had the amp for 6 months and it has about 300 hours on it so it's ready for a fresh set of tubes, but other than that no issues. I always bring the Superdrive 18 and my Vicky 20112 to all gigs just in case...you just never know. I'm likely going to buy a second one and stack them on top of each other...plenty of sound and no worries. I do wish they made a handwired version of this amp. I'm not biased and I'm fully aware that circuit board amps can and do sound as good and point to point amps and actually are more consistant, but if Budda offered this same amp without the bright and modern switches and it was handwired I'd pay $2,000 for it in a hearbeat.

No comment. Have not dealt with them yet.

All in all this is a great amp. I'm fortunate in that I can spend the extra cash and play with pricey amplifiers. I feel that when you enter that $1,500 plus dollar range every amp offered sounds great...it's just hard to go wrong. The thing is that most amps in this price range don't truly have the versatility that the Superdrive 18 does. If my Roccaforte Custom 30 is a "10" with regard to dirty sounds this amp is a "9"...and if my Victoria 20112 is a "10" with regard to clean sounds this amp again is a "9". You know what? Most people can't tell the difference between a "9" and a "10" anyway. Most bands I see live locally have terrible sound anyway! Why? 100 watt Marshalls choked by a master volume. Do everyone a favor and buy a low wattage amp and let it breath. In short what I'm getting at is that this amp is a no brainer...if you have a good ear for tone your bound to love it.

Final note: If you've never owned a boutique amplifier before this is a great place to start. In terms of bang for the buck this amp kills em' all.

18w 2xEL84 amp. One channel amp with extra gain feature. It is said to be a two channel amp. But with one set of EQ and and only a gain knob for the supposedly second channel I regard it as a one channel amp. Slave out, footswich for more gain. Pretty simple. I get the feeling that this amp is not ready yet. One thing really annoys me. The fact that when you switch to the gain channel the volume drops!
When I crank the rhytm channel to good crunch a switch for a singing lead I have to have the gain set stupidly high to be heard. With two sets of EQ:s two masters and two gain knobs it would be a lot more useful.

It sounds good. Nice EL84 voxish sound. Can be set for stupid amounts of gain. It sounds the best to my ears only at almost full throttle.3/4 at the master and 1/4 gain is my favourite from there I use the controls on the guitar to get what I want. Pretty effective EQ knobs. I tried it with different cabs and it sounds the best with greenback celestions. You can get very good rock sounds from it.

I had no problems with it yet. I have gigged a lot with it without back-up. Seems to be well built and durable

I emailed about the problem with the volumedrop rhytm to gain channel and I swiftly got answers from Budda. They sent me instructions how to mod the amp to solve the problem. It seems the had the solution ready at hand so I guess it's a standard problem with the amp.

Been playing 20+ years. I played a lot of amps. This one is a nice aquintance but it wont stay with me. I guess it is meant for blues/ rock in small pubs. But it is a modern high gain amp so no vintage tones will be squeezed out of it.

This review is as promised in my recent Superdribe 80 II review where I indicatd I most likely would get a SD 18......so here goes....
As with the SD 80 the controls are spartan but they are all I need. Very effective master and a mid-pull function that gives the overdrive a modern voicing that I just love.
The amp has single input, footswitch, an effects loop and no reverb.

Can go from sweet, clean and warm but slightly dark rythm to all out aggressive distortion. I can also dial back the overdrive about 1/2 way and get a sweet sustaining, articulate voicing that works well on Santana type material. Add a little boost with that and sustain is forever. It really sucks me in and I can't put it down.

I use PRS, Zion tele, Hamer Chaparal (USA) and this amp sounds great with all of them in any pickup configuration.

I honestly prefer the overall sound of the superdrive 80, but it must be noted that is a 6L6 based sound in a 2X12 combo arrangement, so it just gets down to preference. Both sound awesome.
As I said above, sometimes I set the overdrive channel a little past the point of breakup, and will use the clean channel for all out distortion using pedals. Kind of turns into a neat 3 channel setup. The amp loves pedals, as does the SD80. I use a holy grail and Visual Sound H2O through the loop, and a Budda Wah, Keeley compresser, Keeley Metal Zone, Keeley DS-1 (sometimes), TOPHAT Wonderboy (GREAT PEDAL!!!!) and a Homebrew Power Screamer into the front. All of it sounds great, period.
I also use a custom made "LOOPER" AB box that switches between amps and effects loops at the same time (Looper builds great stuff.....).

Seem to be very reliable so far. I wish they put a fan in it like the Superdrive 80.

I have always had good response from Budda, but I have never had anything more than questions for them. I am a little troubled by some reviews of other Buddas (stringmasters) where there appeared to be some issues and Budda left them high and dry. That does not bode well if there are problems down the road. Therefore, I will remain somewhat ambivalent with bias towards good support.

I have been playing for 39 years and have predominantly used Mark I, II and III boogies, DrZ and the Buddas. All of these amps are great to me and have their own strengths. I have been warming up most over the last 6 months to the SD80 and have been using it in an A/B scenario with the Boogie Mark I. However, when just one amp goes out, it is still the SD 80. Not that the SD18 does not sound very good, its just to my ears the SD 80 sounds a little warmer, gustier and has way more headroom when competing with my loud bandmates.
The SD 18 is a great choice for practice and smaller clubs. If there is any way to try both, PLEASE do, I would have been disappointed if I could have only bought one amp, and got the SD18 even though it is very very nice indeed.