Clark Amplification Tyger

This is a Bandmaster clone, 3-10" speakers. This amp has great add on reverb. Some os the best reverb I've heard, not too splashy. It has a normal and a bright channel. I like to jumper them for a little added thickness and muscle. I find this amp to be the perfect power for bars and clubs, even outdoor gigs if miced. I find the Bassman to be a little too much amp for most indoor clubs, except real big ones. And then you are miced up anyway. No effects loops or headphone jacks. But I consider that a plus, as it keeps the signal path clear.

This amp works great with single coils, P90's and humbuckers. It works great for blues, rock, memphis soul. I've heard Pete Townshend recorded Who's Next with a Bandmaster. Its not noisy at all. I love it, this amp gets beautiful cleans, and when cranked over half way starts getting big beautiful breakup. If you turn it to 9 out of 12, you can use your guitars volume to go from beautiful clean to amazing breakup. And not take peoples heads off with the volume. I dont use, or need any pedals with this amp. They sound thin and tinny when compared to the amps natural breakup. I find it to be the perfect power level for clubs. I got to hear somebody play through it at a bar a couple of weeks ago. It sounded amazing from the crowd. I love the sound of 3-10" speakers. 4-10 speaker take too long to breakup and 2-10 breakup too early.

I've only had it for a couple of months, but it seems crazy solid. Its actually a little on the heavy side (55lb.'s), but this shows how solid it is built. A freind has a Beaufort for a couple of years, never had a problem.

I'm not sure about this, never needed it. But Michael Clark seems like he would stand behind his product. The beauty of these tweed circuits is that they are very easy to repair.

I've been playing for 30 years, and been through alot of amps. I found my favorite. I really love this amp, amazing cleans, and the most amazing natural breakup. I would surely get another if this one was lost. Compared to the Victoria 35310, it has a thicker sound, with more breakup. But still with plenty of cut. I'm guessing more like an original Bandmaster. It wieghs almost 10 lb.'s more than the Victoria, if that matters to you. About 55 lb.'s. It also has the option to add on reverb, and its really fantastic reverb. Really amazing amp. Its not cheap, but its a truly amazing amp.

This is a review of a Clark Tyger amp with the add on reverb and also the attenuator. It is Clark`s version of a tweed Band Master.Micheal Clark said that this amp was in a fire, and he basically took the chassis out and made a new amp(new electronics, speakers, cabinet,etc...)The amp has 2 channels with shared Treble,Bass and Presence(reverb and attenuator work on both channels as well).This all tube amp has plenty of features for what it is designed to do(crystal clean to Stones Rock and roll).

I use an old Tele, Strat, 335, and prs through this amp and they sound great. I`ve had the pleasure of playing a ton of great Fender amps,tweed Champ,tweed Deluxe, bf deluxe, bf super, and yes a tweed Band Master. This thing sounds even better than the Fender that I played through. I`ve recorded and gigged it a couple of times(I`ve only had it a week) with it and it rocks. I must admit that I hate attenuators, they quite literaly suck tone. That being said I find Clarks to be very transparent. The reverb is literaly the best I`ve heard, and I`ve heard many(Fenders,Peavey Valveverb, Gibson).This amp has enough headroom to do a club gig(unlike my Deluxe),but will still give up the goods at low volume w/ a good OD pedal.This amp idles very quiet(great recording amp!).

I`ve only had it a week, Micheal and Theresa seem very easy to deal with, and I think they would stand behind their product. So in good faith a 10 rating.

There is a 5 year warranty.

I`ve been playing professionaly for 20 yrs. I make my living solely off of playing and teaching music.I`ve owned a ton of guitars and amps over the years, and I would replace this one if lost or stolen.I would actually sell my bf Deluxe or my Tweed Deluxe to do so, it sounds that good.I compared this with several other amps(victoria,older Fenders,etc...) and this one won me over. Lastly, about the guy below who compared it to the SDG super, I don`t know what to think. He compared the Tyger which is a Tweed Band Master circuit to the Tweed Super cicuit which is well, a slightly different animal. He also compares prices, as this amp has 3 10 inch speakers not 2 as in the Super. The reverb is also far superior to the Fender RI that he mentioned, I know-I own one.As far as Mercury Magnetics Trannys go,they`re great, I have an ac15 RI that Toneman Don Butler modded with them. That being said I`ve heard a couple of amps using those trannys that didn`t bowl me over. I`ve never heard an SDG amp in person (I checked his site and the sound clips turned me off- not the best way to judge an amp I know). I`m sure the guy makes fine amps. I suspect this review is biased cause of friendship or who knows-HE LEFT THE WEB ADDRESS OF ANOTHER MANUFACTURER IN A BAD REVIEW OF A GREAT AMP. I know in my 29 years of playing(22 of them professionaly) that my ears don`t lie. End Rant

This is a reproduction of a 1959 tweed bandmaster with 3 - 10 inch weber speakers. This model has the optional 3 knob reverb. The amp is not made by Michael Clark but he hires an amp tech to build his design.

The amp sounds very similar to a victoria amp 35-310 I believe is the model. I could not compare the reverb since the victoria did not have this add on feature. These amps try to emulate the tweed tone but don't expect it to sound exactly like the original. It is my opinion that the transformer is the key reason. Clark is very secretive on the origination of the transformers. Most likely the transformer is a heyboer out of Chicago but I would not rule out a chinese transformer. Mercury Magnetics are the only transformer company even close to emulating the old triad transformers and since transformers are the heart and soul of the amp, they are the "secret" ingredient to getting the tweed tone. I have asked and Michael Clark and he will not use Merc Mags in his amps.

Has excellent build quality should be very reliable. I only had my clark for 6 months then sold it so cannot say longer than 6 months. All components are top notch except the transformer.

Micheal Clark will always answer your email's and this is better than most companies these days.

If you really like the add on reverb unit on a tweed amp then this is the only game in town. However, SDG vintage offers the same amp without the reverb at $800.00 less and SDG will use Mercury Magnetics transformers upon request. For my money I would go with SDG and buy an external fender reissue reverb tank. http://www.sdgvintage.com

This is the same Clark Tyger reviewed by Bobby further down the page. It now has 6L6 tubes, plus those wonderful Weber 10A125 speakers. And the 3-knob reverb built in the back. 2 channel amp, 4 inputs. 35 loud watts. Normal channel is a bit darker, with the Bright channel having a touch more gain and definitely more treble vooicing. Bobby took very good care of this amp. It looks new, with a rich, dark tweed finish, very solid cabinet, excellent, heavy-duty leather handle. The look and feel says "quality." Craftsmanship inside and out is impeccable. Michael Clark's work is second to none. The amp looks like the professional tool that it is. No compromises. Since this amp has just the features I want, it's a 10 for me. Certainly the most useful things for me are the 4 inputs, as I like to jumper channels for single coils, and that remarkable reverb. There's as much volume and power here as I'll ever use. It's ideal for the blues I play, loud enough to hang in on loud stages, not so loud you can't push it. That 3x10 layout is perfect. Why were the original Bandmasters not more numerous? Beats hell out of me. It's the perfect stage amp.

I play mainly single coils, first choice being a G&L ASAT Classic in open E tuning, played with slide and more often without, alternating with a '61 strat. Blues mostly, jump blues, swamp to country. I've played maily BF Fender for years, only recently got the tweed bug. Tried out so many different amps and speakers. All have their virtues, but the multiple 10s just do something essential. It was with great reluctance that I put my sweet BFSR up for sale recently. Just too heavy, too loud. hen I was lucky enough to get this Clark from Bobby. It's every good sound I've ever gotten from my favorite amps all in one place, plus others I haven't heard before. First of all, it's not the lower wattage, 6v6 tweed type sound I'm used to. This is way louder and cleaner than I expected. The Weber speakers and 3x10 layout are probably the biggest reason. The clean is not BF; it's deeper, more solid feeling. Doesn't have that pristine, spacey vibe of the SR, What it has is an amazing warmth. Add in that perfect reverb unit, and you've got an enveloping, rich tone that thumps you in the chest. Lots of headroom, lots of muscle under that warmth. As you push it, the amp starts snarling. Roll the treble all the way off on the tele, turn it up and it howls, this hot, distorted wail. I can't believe the depth of sound. The flexibility at higher volumes is a new experience to me. It brings more overdrive in than I'm used to with BF, but never loses definition. It's the first amp I've had where pedals actually work. The Klon Centaur I've had for years but rarely used all of a sudden makes sense. The clean has so much body, it gets even bigger and more impressive when you boost it. I could not be more impressed or pleased with the sound.

Built to last. Bobby shipped with care. I still ended up with a microphonic tube. Interesting note. My amp tech is the most critical guy in the world. He has never once complimented ANY amp in any way, and he works on all the best stuff. I bring in the Clark, with some low-volume feeback, and say "This is the coolest amp. I want it to sound perfect." He gives me that "I'll be the judge of that" look. A few days later, admits "You're right. That is one cool sounding amp." He was clearly impressed with the build quality. I've never seen this guy impressed by anything. No, reliability is not going to be an issue with this amp. Best build quality I've ever seen.

I've as yet had no occasion to speak with Michael Clark. Have only heard good things about him. I can say that Bob Ogulnik of the Perfect Note (Clark's exclusive distributor) is a most informative and helpful man. I'd already priced a new Tyger out through him when this used one came along. He's been no less helpful since then, despite not getting a sale. e knows the amp, knows the previous owner and was supportive and enthusiastic. These folks really value their customers, and know they'll buy again with quality this high. I have no doubts Bob will be just as responsive if I have any problems.

I've been lucky to play through some fine amps, including a very sweet '60 Gibson GA40, and a perfect '67 BFDR with Weber 12F150 speaker. I'm making a real effort not to ignore these amps, especially that wonderful DR. But it's tough. The Tyger is a new level in tone. Never having heard an original Bandmaster, so comparisons are difficult. It reminds me most of a very fine 2-hole original Bassman from 1956. Wanted it bad but couldn't afford it. That's when I realized the potential in tweeds. It had the sweetest, most wonderful clean sound, sheer magic from those original Jensen speakers. This Clark, with those Weber speakers, is actually better. It has more volume, even more depth in the sound, and the finest reverb I've ever heard. I know I'm raving here, but go check a Clark out for yourself. They are just as good as described.

Made in 1999 I believe. An early Clark Tyger which is a bandmaster 3 x 10 configuration with the optional 3 knob reverb. This is a tweed amp so few features but that is not why I bought it. It does have an external out speaker jack. The optional reverb sounds great.

Using a 64 strat and a 70's les paul with P-90's. Let me tell you a story. I bought the amp used and I almost took it back. (What a mistake that would have been.) It had very little headroom and the breakup was way too much and really gritty. Also, I didn't find that the tone was even all that great. The speakers were the Weber P10R's. I looked up the ampwares.com site and found that the earlier bandmasters had P10R's while the later bandmasters had P10Q's. I wondered. . . Why did Leo Fender change them to the P10Q's? Then I plugged it into my Super Reverb combo which had Weber 10A125's (P10Q's) the tone was completely different, the amp was louder and had a completely different vibe. I know that some reviews are praising the P10R's but I have to disagree. I then called Ted Weber and asked him what the heck was going on. He stated that the Jensen P10R was the original tweed speaker and he designs his P10R version to meet those vintage specs. However, he also said that this speaker is not a near as efficient as the P10Q. This must be why Fender replaced the P10R in the later tweed bandmaster. I order a set of 10A125's from Ted and will be installing them soon. I also found out that Clark amps no longer uses the P10R's in the new amps. They ship with 10A125's. So if you have an older Clark you might want to try installing the P10Q's and you might be suprised.

Built very well. Better than the vintage original in my opinion.

Super. Michael Clark is very much available however, DON'T CALL HIM. Let him make amps. He is an artist. LEAVE MICHAEL CLARK ALONE. Better to call the distributor. Call Bob at "The Perfect Note" (He is who you order through and is very helpful). Bob also knows everything about the Clark amp line. He is a player and owns a Tyger and a Beauford himself.

Been playing 31 years and gone through alot of amps. This is a great amp at any cost. Every blues player should own at least one tweed amp and one blackface Super Reverb. It doesn't get any better than this folks.

I have owned the tyger for over three years.I have had no problems at all.It has a great clean sound and is also very pedal friendly.A Full
tone Fatboost drives it nicely while still retaining its clean character.Stomp on your favorite overdrive and now your wailing.

The Tyger works well with both fenders and gibsons although my big box jazzers have a tendency to howl on certain notes.This is not uncommon for lively tube amps.I consider this a good amp for blues
country and rock.Hi-gainers should look somewhere else.

I have had no problem at all.Build quality is as good as it gets.
Check out G.Webers reveiw in vintage guitar on clarkamplification.com
Lots of gigs never brought a back up amp and never needed it.

Working with the perfect note was a real pleasure.Mike Clark also
refurbished a brown super for me and I was pleased with the results.
Warrnty on the tyger is ten years transferable.

I have been playing over 35 years.Ihave all sorts of stuff.If lost or stolen I would want another.Other guitar players are always interested
in the amp.Once they hear it or play through it more questions follow.
I receive lots of great comments about my tone and my Clark is a big part of the equation.If you can swing it get one you cant go wrong.

I called Bob at "The Perfect Note"(He is who you order through and is very helpful) in late Nov. and recieved my amp in late Jan. 2002...about a week ago. This amp is very simple and straight foreward: Hi and low inputs for two channels (Normal and Bright) and a shared set of tone controls that include Prescence, Bass, and Treble. Also two volume controls, one for each channel. The only other features which I have had added as options are a tube driven three knob reverb unit and an attenuator with three levels of attenuation (3,6,9 db of output attenuation). This amp comes with a bevy of N.O.S tubes mullards in the preamp section (1 12AY7, 2 12AX7's) as well as Tung-Sol 5881 power tubes and a G.E. 5U4G rectifier tube. Because of the extras available with the clark amp it has a great deal of flexibility built into the amp. Conversely, when compared to many amps on the market today, which are like swiss army knives these are still a limited number of features. Thus even though I would like to give the amp a high number here...I feel that this is not just features as compared to other tweed style amps, but as compared to all amps on the market.

I am mainly a strat man. Guitars that are being used with this amp so far have been Strats fitted with Texas Special Pick-Ups as well as A brand spankin' new Clapton model strat with the vintage noiseless and the 25db mid boost function. I have also been using a Les Paul Special and a Howard Roberts Fusion (single cut semi-hollow w/humbuckers)

This amp provides a lot of snappy highs and complex mids right outa' the box. Somewhat tight until the three Jensen P10R's break-in. There's a little break-in trick that Bob at "The Perfect Note" passed along which worked wonders. The amp fits in my band perfectly. I was a little worried at first because I have been using A Fender Cyber-Twin simply due to it's versatility, and felt like I might feel limited with one channel. We cover things ranging from Muddy Waters to Hendrix and Trower, to SRV and Clapton, even a little Motown and Stax Volt stuff thrown in for good measure. I found this amp is a perfect match for my Clapton strat. Back off the volume at club playing volumes (I generally have been on the bright channel at about 10 on the volume which goes to 12) and the amp cleans up nicely kick in the mid boost and look out. There is a great deal of gain to be had here. Humbuckers do the gain thing very easily. On my Texas Special equipped strats I have had no problem getting all the drive I need with a little nudge from a stompbox(either a voodoo labs sparkle drive or a TS9). If you're not familiar with tweed amps the bottom end is not like other fender style amps. Don't expect the piano string clang of a blackface amp. It's a different beast. Nonetheless I have found that I have enough variety here to cover the styles of music I listed above with out feeling I am making any significant compromises. This amp sits perfect with my band(power trio) I had a '66 Super Reverb , but would always be too loud when I got the amp up to a fair amount of break up. This amp is just loud enough for unmiked small gigs (100 or less size rooms). Anything over that and I mic the thing. The volume thing is relative though, because most guys in other bands around here think I'm a little on the loud side. That's where the attenuator comes in. Dial up your tone and then crank back the output with the attenuator. Nice!

It's still soon to say how it will hold up, and I always take a back-up. I'm just a little too high-strung not to have a backup amp.

Just look at it this way. I go to guitar shows all the time and see tweed era amps that are beat up pretty bad and they still sound great. I don't intend to beat mine up. It oughta last.

These guys are more than helpful. They answered all my stupid questions with out asking me if I was stupid. Hey, they even made me feel smart. Nice people, I can't stress that enough.
10 year warranty.

I've been at it for 11 years now. That's not long, but my list of amps owned is. I am pretty demanding regarding my tone and this amp has great tone. I dio recommend listening to great tweed amps first, because they are different from other amps. If stolen otr lost I couldn't buy it again although I would want to. I just don;t have the money, I sold my Super Reverb, a Marshall TSL122 and a tex-mex strat to put the money together for this one 35watt amp...And I don't miss any of it. I chose clark because they are a small shop with that kinda service. I also was very interested in onboard reverb and the attenuator. I'm very pleased with this amp as are all of my guitar playing friends. They all are trying to figure out what to get rid of so they can get the money together for a Clark. That speaks volumes.

The Tyger is a replica of a 3 X10 Fender Bandmaster 5E7 circuit made from the mid 50's to 60. It is an all tube circuit.This amp has four inputs, normal and bright with high and low input selection. Both sound equally good. The normal channel is very warm and full. The bright channel is a tad more cutting with sparkley highs and still has plenty of girth. The controls consist of normal volume, bright volume, treble, bass, presence. No bull here just the essentials. This amp has just enough power to really get the guitar moving without burning any ears. Its really a happy medium between a small amp that does not have the guts but has the tone, and an amp that kicks the whole room and gets you kicked out of the club. This amp has a great tone for the studio and enough power to cover small to medium sized gigs.The look of this amp is pure 50's tweed. Lacquer covered tweed ( the correct color ) and solid,clear pine cabinets with finger jointed construction.The cabinets are beautiful and look very authentic. The chassis is a point to point hand wired work of art that included Astron caps,NOS American tubes and many other details you wont find on any other replica. My amp came equiped with Weber VST P10R's which sound great.The sound is very close to real Jensen P10R's. With the exception of a few very small cosmetic details these Clark amps are very close to the originals. My rating for this catigory is based on the amount of features which is minimal but I would not add any other features to this amp. This amps tonal flexibility does not come from a bunch of bells and whistles. This amp does not need anything but a good guitar to sound excellent.

I play Gibson Les Pauls with PAF's and P90's a 335, Fender Strats and a Tele. All with stock pickups except the Tele which has Ducan Antiquities. I play Rock, Blues, Country and Folk. The amp works well in all of the styles. This amp is very quiet compared to an original one. The original 3 X10 Fender Bandmaster is considered to be one of the "Holy Grail"amps and I would have to agree. I own a 1957 and its the best sounding amp I have ever owned or heard. I had Michael Clark build me a replica so I could play clubs and bars without worrying about my expensive and rare relic. To my extreme surprise and delight the amp sounded very much like my original. My bandmates and I were blown away by the authentic tone. Right out of the box the amp sounded very good. It was a little tight but the tone and charactor of the original were there. The amp is a little louder than my original. With my Gibsons the amp really screems. The Pauls like the bright channel and my 335 likes the normal channel. I tie the normal and the bright channel together with a patch cord for the Fenders. This added some thickness to the sound of the twangey Fenders without taking away the sparkle and chime. My Strat really loves this amp. My neck pickup has never sounded better on any amp new or vintage. The amp is totally inoffensive to your ears. At blistering levels its warm, fat and cutting. No overdrive or distortion pedals are needed with this amp. Your volume knob is all you need. The Tyger can go from clean and crisp to mean and extemely driven with a turn of your guitars volume knob. Even with a Fender! I have unpluged all the pedals except my wah wah which sounds incredible with this amp. It never gets hard on your ears even with the wah blazing. The sound of the Tyger is very organic. It sounds very Marshall like ( old Plexi ) with a wooden softness wraped around the chords and notes that is unmistakably Tweed Fender. It is much more harmonic and warm than a Fender tweed Bassman. This amp has more drive at any level. Ive had four Bassman's and two were vintage, a 58 and a 59. They sound great but I prefer the tone of both my vintage Bandmaster and the Clark Tyger. This amp has much nicer feel too. It feels more like a small powered amp with great sag and warmth. The volume level of this amp fits the gap between a tweed Deluxe and a tweed Bassman which works perfect in most situations. I thought the buzz of this amp would wear off after playing it for a short while. It didnt! This amp sounds richer and more open every time I play it. It sounds alive just like the old original. The Tyger is more dynamic than my original, I can pull more tones out of it and they are very usable. My original has a slight edge over the Clark in charactor and vibe but in time the Tyger could sound just as good or better. Who knows?

I have had minimun trouble with all my vintage tweed amps so I believe this amp will be trouble free for years. No need for a back up, this amp is built like the real thing and they have done 40+ years.

Helpful and friendly does not begin to describe the service and treatment I received when ordering this amp. This is definately a two part deal. Bob at The Perfect Note is the exclusive distributer of Clark Amplification. He is the best. I have never had a better experience buying any musical gear. He is honest and very helpful. I have purchased other gear from Bob and he knows his products inside and out. Bob did alot of listening during my amp purchase. I was very specific on the details and all of them were covered when I received my amp. The Perfect Note is a quality first company and the service is worth paying for. Michael Clark is every bit as helpful. I talked to him a number of times and he is very knowledgable on all tube amps. He is a very friendly person who is willing to go to great lengths to please and satisfy his customers. He is very humble compared with other builders I have worked with. One example of his service: I had a pop and squeal happening in my amp shortly after I received it and I emailed Michael on Sat evening about 10. He was back to me on Sun morning with the solution. SUNDAY! Two bad tubes. He didnt send two new tubes, he sent me two fulls sets. That is very unusual. I am a very picky customer and these guys really made me feel right at home.

I have been playing over 20 years and I own a pile of equipment, new and vintage. I have already ordered another Clark amp ( Tweed Twin ) . I have confidence it will be just as good as my Bandmaster replica. If you compare this amp to the competition you will really see and hear a major difference. I played the Victoria 3 X10 and it sounded ok but it did not sound anything like a real original Fender. It didnt even have the correct sized cabinet. That will change the tone. It also lacked the feel of a old tweed amp. By the way, the Victoria I tried was four months old and broken in. The Clark amp really has the TONE, LOOK, and FEEL of an original Bandmaster. If you compare the prices of these two amps the NOS tubes and Weber Vst speakers are enough make up the difference. The quality alone makes the Clark a much better purchase not to mention the tone. The tone is the most important difference. The Tyger is in the Matchless, Kendrick class in its quality construction and it has the real deal tone. I agree with Gerald Weber, if you want a collectable buy an original. If you just want a player and the tone buy a Clark. Its half the price and the same quality. The amp takes about four to six months to order, build and receive and there is a reason, people are getting wise to these amps. It was worth the wait. Order one before they raise the price and the wait doubles!