Demeter TGA-2

Features are great although found the footswitch did not control the channels as specified. I bought this amp to gig but am having difficulty because of the limitations with the footswitch and controls. The footswitch only switches from clean to solo, the edge channel has to be switch to manually and the knob is very in convienent to access.
And this problem is magnified because of the lack of documentation which is by the way "0"

Can't say much here other than this amp sounds incredable, it's a keeper just for the sound alone. I have had Boogie, Rivera, Fender, Marshall and played many more. This amp seems to surpass them all.

Only owned it for 6 weeks. So far so good.

Well. No manuals/documentation, takes a bit to long for a typical response. I am still trying to resolve my footswitch issue. I am now at the point of having to return the amp for another through the dealer.
When trouble shooting my issues over the phone it seems the Demeter folks are a bit confused on the different features and operations of the different series, ex. TGA3, TGA2, TGA2.1 etc. When I asked for a manual they said they are in process of writing one. Too Late!
Went through 2 footswitches to no aval.
But don't get me wrong the guy's at Demeter were very courtious and seemed concerned with my issues. Nice bunch but it would be nice if they offered to do a full exchange directly. And as I said I feel they sometimes take a long while to return feedback.

I have to give this a 6because of the lack of documentation which is only magnified because of my footswitch issue. If it weren't for these two things it would be hitting 12.

Top-notch and accessible. Outstanding craftsmanship and top-quality.
All tube, two channel
Edge/solo switch on lead channel (footswitchable)
Active presence
Separate gain and master for both channels both clean and lead
Tube buffered effects loop, effects loop controls in front
Bright switch for clean channel
Pentode/triode(half power) switch (50/25 watt)
Optional lighted foot switch/cable (recommended for onstage)
Electro Harmonix 6L6EH output tubes ...great break-up and drive
12ax7EH pre tubes,
Hand wired, very clean
Custom built transformers
Rugged construction and killer sound! Easy to dial-in.
Slanted 1/12" cab
Each one is custom-built
Jim Demeter carves out the speaker chamber to match the amp's overtones.
NO REVERB (THANK GOODNESS!) A very wise decision on Jim Demeter's part, which shows his experience and expertise. In a high-end amp, a key design goal is to eliminate as much wire as possible, as wire muddies the sound. A reverb unit adds waaaay too much circuitry, and makes a generally good amp sound about three notches worse. If you want a verb, send it through the awesome, tube-buffered FX loop Jim's provided. It's Jim's tube buffering which has made his company famous in the music world.

A nice touch is the separate output jack for 4, 8, and 16 ohm cabs. Very cool.

Great overall look.

I compared this to a bunch of amps: Wizard, Hughes and Kettner, VHT, GT, Rivera... Mesa and Marshall weren't in the running. This thing is very versatile and punches solidly. I've played it stand-alone as a combo, attached to a 2x12, and a 4x12. I like the sound of the combo over the head...it seems to have more treble and presence. Although I've always preferred the "look" of a head on a cabinet, I definitely prefer the "sound" of this particular combo. The clean is clean, and the bright/normal switch provides a ton of range and contour. The gain channel has a world of break-up, from a slight crackle on peak strumming, to a full-on saturation. The level boost for the footswitchable solo mode is just right-not too loud. I let my guitar feed through the speakers for a while, and am treated to a range of harmonic overtones--exactly how a great tube amp should sound (this is what solid state amps will never be able to emulate).
Overall very versatile. Super-responsive.

The EQ is provides a lot of form.

No problem. This thing is a tank. It's very heavy, and needs to be played. Stable, loud, and consistent.

They've been great-very supportive and knowledgeable. I had a few questions regarding how to run some of my speaker cabs, and Demeter was right-on.

I've been playing since age three. This amp was the result of a realization that I had to do something to bring my sound to the next level.

A lot of people think that every amp should have a reverb...I simply don't agree. I think Jim Demeter's decision to nix the verb was a wise decision, as they can be a real pain in the @ss at times, and make the amp sound wwwaaaayyy worse.

I have to say that I'm very impressed with the attention to detail...clearly the result of master craftsmanship and expertise.

I play a Baker B1 Guitar as my primary instrument, with a "vintage" Gibson SG as a backup. It's a great match-up.

There's nothing I'd change on this puppy. It sounds great and I love it. It's versatile and flexible, and sounds incredible. I look forward to playing it for a long time.

My particular amp was made within the last month. Two channels, one clean, one overdrive with a boost switch. Very effective eq section with a presence control. Phil Hernandez at Demeter did some great mods to my amp during its construction and was a pleasure to deal with. The only thing that I wish it had was an onboard reverb. The control panel is logically set and it is a snap to dial in great sounds.

The thing that sold me on this amp was the overdrive channel. You simply do not need any pedals with this amp. I have almost 50 high end pedals everything from matchless, SIB, Klon, tubester, etc. and none of them even comes close to the amps incredible overdrive/distortion sound. It is harmonically rich and works equally well with single coils, p-90's, and humbuckers. The clean channel is also great and has a very warm sound that can get grainy as the gain and master volume are adjusted.

Impeccable point to point hand-wiring and built to literally last a few lifetimes. James Demeter builds nothing but the highest quality products and will sell no product until it meets his exacting standards.

Dealing with James and his chief tech Phil was a great experience and really exemplifies what a company should be in terms of customer support. My amp was ready in 3 weeks and delivered in perfect condition. Throughout the building process Phil had some cool ideas for some mods that fit my needs perfectly . I wish I could give them a higher rating but apparently 10 is the limit.

While the amp is not cheap, it is worth every penny I paid for it. You simply cannot get this kind of quality in any product without expecting to shell out a little bit of dough. The incredible customer service is the icing on the pie.

This version of the TGA-2 Inverter is the 50 watt 1X12 combo. It was made in 2000, as indicated by the serial number. Two 5881 power tubes and 4 12AX7 preamp tubes. It comes shipped with Sovteks and I have left those in for the time being.

This is a pretty basic 2 channel amp. Each channel has master volume and gain level controls. Channel One also has a bright switch and Channel Two has an Edge/Solo switch. A 3 band EQ is shared by both channels. A tube-buffered FX loop with adjustable send and return levels and a pentode/triode switch round out the amp's features. Note, there is no on-board reverb.

Bonus points because the amp looks cool -- understated, classic Marshall-esque styling. The tweed colored speaker grill on the otherwise all black and gold combo is a nice touch.

The features are all you should really need in a basic amp (except, perhaps, for reverb). In my search for tone, I had grown weary of twisting and tweaking and was looking for something simple yet at least moderately versatile. Other contenders originally included the Rivera Quiana and the Mesa Heartbreaker, and although each has its sonic virtues, the sheer number of bells and whistles on both rendered them out of favor with me.

Channel one provides nice clean to medium gain tones. The sound seems to be remeniscient of a "Tweed" Bassman type of sound. With the bright switch engaged, channel one provides a nice sparkling clean, although still lacking some of the "shimmer" associated with Blackface Fenders. When overdriven, either by way of a boost pedal or by turning up the gain, channel one responds with a definitive mid-rangey "bark." Using the bridge humbucker on my Yamaha SG yields a nice AC/DC rock tone (which is also roughly representative of the maximum amount of gain available on this channel). Note that this channel won't really do the scooped-mid SRV type of blues sound because it is simply impossible to dial out the mids in that way. Even with the mid control on zero, the amp still has some degree of midrange emphasis.

I like channel one for blues and jazz style playing. I use my FD2 for solo level boosts and run an outboard reverb through the FX loop and it sounds excellent. Channel one seems to respond eqully well to humbuckers or single coils and is not partial to either, although they do produce significantly different sounds.

Channel two provides dirty-clean to high gain tones. It can be set to work in either the Edge of Solo mode. Both modes sound essentially the same to my ears except that the Solo mode has substantially more gain and a bit more saturation. A footswitch is available from Demeter which allows you to switch between modes on the fly, but I don't have that so I basically stick to one mode or the other.

The distortion on channel two could be characterized as "round" and "thick" with a fair amount of harmonic richness. It has a smooth edge to it and is more akin to a cranked vintage Marshall sound than it is to a modern rock sound. There is lots of gain on tap if you want it, but you cannot dial in a scooped metal sound no matter how hard you try. The distortion is simply to "loose" and mid-rangy for that. By comparison, my 5150 combo sounds completely different -- much more of a natural scooped-mids voicing and "tighter" overall distortion.

I like channel two for rock rhythm playing but am less fond of it for leads. It seems to have sort of a piercing trebly sound that is not quite to my taste, and I can't really dial it out without compromising the other sounds in the amp. I'm currently on the lookout for a pedal that might help provide me with a good sustaining lead sound on that channel.

Like most reveiwers, I haven't really had the product long enough to provide an educated opinion on this subject. It seems to be very solidly constructed and for the three months I've had the Demeter, it has worked perfectly. But it has also never left my room, so I can't comment on its road-worthiness.

I e-mailed Demeter and asked if they could send me the owner's manual. They responded promptly but sent me the manual for one of their older model guitar amps which is no longer in production and told me it was the only "guitar amp" manual they had. I have had no other dealings with them.

I have been playing slightly more than 12 years. I have not owned a lot of vintage or boutique amplifiers and do not consider myself an expert in that area. However, I do think I have a good ear for tone and tried out a fair amount of amps before buying this one. As I noted above the Quiana and Heartbreaker were other contenders, but I opted for the Demeter for several reasons: (1) Both the Heartbreaker and Quiana had too many dials and switches; (2) The Quiana's "Marshall" channel sounded pretty harsh to me (the Demeter's is much better, IMHO) and the solo "boost" was too much of a volume jump; (3) The Heartbreaker is massively heavy and far louder than I would ever need.

The Demeter is a good amp for someone looking for a reasonable palette of vintage Tweedy and/or Marshally tones without buying a vintage amp. It ain't cheap (list on the combo is $2000 and retail is around $1500), but I don't have any regrets about having spent my hard-earned money on it. Plus, given the relatively few guitar amps produced by Demeter each year, you are almost guaranteed a degree of exclusivity. However, I would be hesitant to call it a "fantastic value" given its price, hence the 8.