Clark Amplification Fremont

This amp is the same as the production Freemont with the exception of the cosmetics and that it has some switchable features hard wired internally. It features two channels, a normal and a bright with seperate volumes for each, and Bass, Middle, Treble, and Presence controls and uses EL34's much like a 60's Marshall. I use this amp mostly for playing in smaller clubs but I have also used it also on a large outdoor stage with excellent results (provided it was lightly pumped through the monitors). It's only rated at about 20-30 watts or so and is not quite as loud as my TopHat T-35 (King Royale) but really is as much if not more power than I almost ever need. It isn't the most versatile amp ever made and if you need a multitude of channels and tones it's probablty not for you but it's perfect if you want something simple that you can turn to ten and let rip.

I use a few guitars with this amp but I must say my favourite has been a Les Paul custom. I know it's the typical Les Paul/Marshall tone but they absolutely sound fantastic together, as good as it gets. I also use an 80's Rick 610, a 60's Rick 360, and two 60's Fender Jazzmasters with excellent results as well. This amp is pefect for smooth rock distortion ala vintage Marshall's and overdrives nicley with a pedal for wonderful lead sounds (I use a Stramps but M. Clark said it was designed and tested using a Klon but I havn't tried one of those out yet). I can't really vouch for it's clean sounds except to say that it cleans up nicely when rolling off the volume, but, I never play clean I always crank it up.

I don't think dependabiltiy is even an issue. Sure tubes will fail and over the years the electronic components will eventually fail but this thing is built as well as any amp. It could use some tube retainers though, but the production version may have them, I don't know.

Customer service doesn't get any better than this. Michael Clark took plenty of time to answer all of my questions and make sure that this amp would meet my needs before he sold it too me. I can't say enough about his patience with my many stupid qeustions. Also, if I ever had any problems with the amp I'm sure getting it taken care of would be completely hassle free.

If I could afford the final production version of this amp I would buy one right now but I only paid $500 for this thing so I can't really complain. I like this amp every bit as much as my TopHat. It isn't an entirely different sound but it is certainly unique enough to make me feel like using it for certian things instead (like with the Les Paul I mentioned earlier). I also should mention that I play through a vintage Marshall 4x12 with 4 25watt Celestions which happens to be the greatest sounding cabinet I have ever owned or used period. Great work M. Clark.

This is an amazingly versatile amp! It's patterned after the early Marshall heads, but you can switch between cathode or fixed bias and use either EL34's or 6V6's in the power section. You can also run it triode (18 watts) or pentode (45 watts). This is a very serious 18 watts! I haven't even tried it in pentode because triode is really loud! It has 4 inputs like the early Marshall heads and the two interactive channels MUST be bridged. The normal channel is very bassy and the bright channel is very bright. they are not designed to be used individually. Bridging the two gives an amazing variety of tone colors. The volume controls act as tone shapeing controls as well as gain controls. I chose not to have an effects loop or reverb. This amp is more reactive to changes of volume and tone controls on the guitar than any amp I've ever touched. Moderately low settings on the amp volume controls give a very rich clean sound that gets a little edge if you hit the strings hard. Turn the volume settings up and amp overdrives better than anything I've ever heard. But given that, the tone I like best with any amp is with my guitar volume on full. The only other thing that I would like to have on this amp would be some type of footswitchable channel (not the bright/normal) switching to access more of the available tones on stage. I understand that one of the reasons that the amp sounds so good is the simplicity of the circuitry. That sort of makes me want to own 2 of these guys, one set clean and the other cranked. I currently set the volumes fairly low and use overdrive pedals to make it wail.

This is without a doubt the best sounding amp I've ever touched. I"m at a loss for words to really explain what I'm hearing. It just has a more complete tone than any amp I've ever heard. The sound seems to fill every corner of the club. My playing is stronger because of the way the Fermont reacts to everything I do. It's clear that I will never outgrow this guy. I play is a club band that plays everything from old R+B to modern Ska to cranked modern rock. I have my settings with the pedals going from very slight distortion to a cranked, sustained tone. This amp rocks, but in the most tastful of ways. The overdrive exactly the opposite of the thin preamp distortion you hear in so many amps (think Marshall 900 series). With an overdrive pedal at a relatively low club volume "I've still Got The Blues For You," sounds like one of Gary Moore's fine old Marshalls at his stage volumes. Here are some comments from people who have heard me play a lot. After hearing the first set with this amp, my wife said "Your new amp sounds wonderful! Now I know what you've been looking for all this time." Me too, actually. After the third set, the keyboard player in my band told me to have the amp settings bronzed so that my sound will never change. A friend of mine who builds exquisite electric guitars and collects really fine vintage amps said "How did he get it to sound so good?" I use a Klon pedal and (don't laugh until you spend some time with one) a Boss Metal Zone pedal on stage, sometimes together. Another friend of mine said that my distorted tones sounded like a great amp cranked--power tube distortion, not preamp distortion. Our bass player just said "I'm jealous."

I've had this amp for less than a month, so there's no way to know.
I do know that it is built like a tank with the best possible components and perfectly clean-looking wiring. Frankly, I'll be very surprised if it does not turn out to be very reliable piece of gear.

I take a certain amount of pride in knowing that the Fremont exists because of my frustrated efforts to find the right amp. I bought a THD hotplate from The Perfect Note and ended up spending a long time talking with Bob, the owner, about the money I've wasted on amps and gizmoes that I thought would work out, but ultimately did not. He asked Michael Clark if it were possible to design a great old Marshall-type amp that would still sound huge at fairly low club volumes. This amp exceeds my every expectation. What more could you possibly ask for from a dealer and manufacturer? These guys seem to be willing to kill themselves to make sure that you're spending your money on the right gear. If I sound like I'm raving, I guess I am. I could not have been treated better.

I've been playing off and on for over 20 years with a variety of amps. I have to say once again that this is an absolutely awsome rock amp! I'd love to be able to afford another one just like it in case I lose this one in an earthquake or something. I just wish I would have gotten my hands on this amp 20 years ago. I would have saved a lot of money.