Clara Amps 18 Watter Head

A handmade 2005 18 Watt all tube, point to point, amp head, built to be like a Vintage 18 watt marshall tremolo, with modern twists (impedance selection), and new parts.

I bought this amp to offset my Clara Amps Deluxe head, to get a different type of distortion, and to have as backup. I sold a mesa boogie F50 to have the $ for it.

2 channels, 1 without, and 1 with, tremolo. The controls are quite simple. The rating is low, because (see my other review) I do my contouring and make my choices via a pedalboard - I did not want a complex multi channel 18,000 button amplifier... I wanted a low wattage crunch that sounded great on it's own and better with a good pedal in front of it.

This amp is quite nice in that it has more than enough power for a small gig, and can achieve breakup at a reasonable volume level. With HB's, you can push it into loud territory.

Fender Deluxe strat with Vintage Vibe pickups, or Musicman Silhouetted with 2XHB's. Play rock and blues, mostly to get people dancing.

The amp is very quiet, and with the strat, I can easily push the volume way up without killing anybody. Then I mic it to the front. The main complaint is that with single coils, this amp is not as loud as I needed it. But I can get over that with humbuckers, or push it a bit with a boost pedal.

The variety is limited - BUT, again, that's not the point. The humbuckers certainly push it a bit harder and bring out more of the overtones. This is a great amp for low wattage marshall distortion, with reasonable volume.

Probably the key point of this area is not the variety of sounds, or the volume, but the quality. The sounds that come out of this amp are crisp, have clear audible overtones, and sound very much like the original.

I own 2 Clara Amps, and Keith has fixed 2 of my other vintage pieces. I have not had a single failure. I would say they are extremely dependable, although I would never, ever, gig without a backup... but that's just me !

Keith is very much a customer oriented guy. Because we both live in the same city, so some things are just easier. The first tolex we chose was just not that great. So, he retolexed it. The first faceplate looked fine. He didn't think so - 2 months later, he called me to tell me the new one was ready and he installed it. He doesn't just build and repair amps to the manufacturers spec (although he does that very well if you want him to) but he takes the time to try out different parts (tubes, transformers, etc) until he thinks it sounds the way you want it to sound. Tone is important to him, not just pumping out the amps.

This is a solid amp made by a good unknown company. It is in a vintage style and creates a vintage sound that many try to achieve, and does it at a reasonable price. The delivery time was as promised, and the product delivers the sound requested, and more. The finishing work is good to very good, with nice tolex, corners, and face. Keith works hard to make the product work, and it shows in the final piece.