Edward Amplification The Ed

I've had my Ed for roughly 6 years (maybe more) now. Mine is a 1/12 14 watt tube combo with a Celestion greenback speaker. The greenback comes stock but the maker does give you the option to choose other speakers at a slight markup. The setup is real simple - volume, treble, bass, reverb, and intensity and rate for the tremolo. Other features include line in/out jacks, external speaker and footswitch jack, ohm switch to toggle back and forth between 8 and 4 ohms. There is also a convenience outlet in the back and a programmable footswitch - great ideas!

The amp itself is very well built and about as portable as you can get for a 1 x 12 combo. Great grab and go amp.

I'm using mainly single coil guitars with the Ed - Fender Strat with Rio Grande pickups, 52 reissue Tele with Fralin pickups, and a Melancon P90 artist. Even with the single coil pickups the Ed is very quiet - when not playing you may not even realize the amp is on. At 14 watts its loud enough to compete with a drummer and a full band.

I believe the amp was designed for overdriven sounds and it excels in doing this. The only thing this amp really lacks in terms of sound is really loud cleans. That should be expected at 14 watts. It does clean up very well when you back off on your guitar volume (though as a point of reference - not quite Fender cleans) and is very touch responsive. Bang a chord and it grinds and pick lightly and it cleans up. A friend of mine (another guitar player) always comments on its "clean dirty sound" and wonders why he isn't able to do that with his equipment. Clean and dirty seems about the best way I can describe the sound of the amp. The distortion is very focused sounding and doesn't really muddy up. Its very clear and smooth. If you want to drive the amp any further you can always add od/dist pedals if you like. It takes to them well. Honestly though from my experience with this amp I don't know why anyone would want to. I haven't found an od pedal that can do what the Ed can't already do better. Click on the footswitch boost and you're into nice fat distortion that no pedal that I've found can match. For me its just a plug straight in and go amp. I have to admit though that I'm somewhat of an effects junkie so I use a Toneking Meteor as the amp for my clean sounds and effects and use an a/b switch for the Ed's dirty sounds. One of these days I'm going to get a guitar with humbuckers. They really scream through this amp!

Suitable Music styles for the Ed - blues, rock, hard rock though probably not quite enough drive for metal.

In all the years I've had my amp I haven't really had any issues with it. The construction is very solid. I'm surprised its held up so well with all the travel it gets in my car from band practice and gigs. The only issue I had with it was a faulty switch (high/low gain mode). This was after I had owned the amp for 5 or more years. I described the problem to Ed and he diagnosed it quickly. He told me that he would be able to fix it for me but being such an easy fix I did it myself rather than sending the amp back to Canada.

Ed is always very responsive when I contact him. I have no doubt that he is always there to support his product.

Overall, I'd have to say that the Ed compares to the best amps out there on the boutique market and its priced reasonably as well. The Ed is right up there with the Dr. Z, Tophat, Matchless, etc... in terms of build quality and sound. A great amp from a maker that for some reason doesn't seem to be as well known as some of the others.

The 'Ed' that I purchased was built in 07/2003, guessing from the serial numbers??? The Ed is advertised on the website as a 14watt 1x12 combo amp w/celestion 25watt greenback speaker. This class A tube amp is rated at 18watts in the amps manual (whatever) The tube complement for this amp is slightly different than other amps I looked at. 2-12ax7 in preamp and 3-6bm8 in the power section. You can read about the 6bm8's on the website. Less tubes, less problems, more efficient, thats the way I see it . He knows what he's doing. Never question the designer! The amp controls are laid out simple, volume,bass,treble,reverb,intensity,and rate. A Hi-gain and Lo-gain switch. Also a Boost switch (on-off). In the back, Line in/out jacks, and a Accessory outlet for my pedal board (real handy) The usual speaker out,parallel speaker,foot switch jacks. Since this amp is made in Canada, it has a voltage switch in case the amp has to return to it's maker. Make sure you check this very important switch before you plug in and turn on the power. This is not a 2 channel amp. The foot switch only boost the db range for solos or change the reverb/ tremolo options. Speaking of options, the foot switch can be configured to 12 different possible combinations. Dip switches are in the chassis. Instructions are in the manual. I would like to see a headphone jack because I practice sometimes late at night. Anyway this amp is laid out simple and simple to use. I think it's designed on the K.I.S.S. theory,(keep it simple stupid)

When 'ED'arrived the first thing I did was READ the MANUAL. (Don't forget to check your Voltage Switch). I tested the ED with a Carvin Bolt(strat copy) and my Yamaha sbg2000. The ED worked well with the Carvin's single coil pick-ups. Nice ringing clean sounds, great sound for rhythum and pickin single notes. It was alittle noisy with the single coils in the neck position, nothing unusal, nothing to be worried about. It has been awhile since I owned a class A amp of this quality. Switching between the coils solved that. With the Yamaha sbg2000 (humbuckers) it Sings. Think Santana. No noise. The Ed loves Humbuckers. When I switched to Hi-gain on the amp I must have played every Santana song made. This amp should be renamed 'BIG ED'. I am still amazed at the horsepower that this amp delivers at only 14watts. I like how you can control the tube distortion from your guitars volume pot. I play classic rock and blues, so this amp wales for the small to medium gigs I perform. If you need more distortion, hook up a pedal and stand back. You might meet Jimi Hendrix. The clean sound is good for a 1x12. Perfect for keeping a rhythum. A 2x10 or 4x10 is supreme for that very clean sound. But now I'm being picky! I have used the tremolo for those oldie Surf tunes, and that Dick Dale stuff. I thought I would not use the tremolo, but by varying the intensity and rate into the rest of my sound it makes MY sound unique. Just add alittle you will here the difference. Again this amp sounds good soft or loud. The LOUD is LOUD. Billy Gibbons crunch, Robin Trower blast. All in a 14watt package. I repeat it's only 14watts. I used to own a Mesa 50watter that had less character.

Since I am not a Pro player, doing gigs 3 -4 nights a week, the ED so far is very reliable. It is built well and would be very road worthy for a player doing small to medium gigs. Like any tube amp always have a set of spare tubes on hand just in case. Replacement of tubes should be a snap. Very easy to get too. I was alittle concerned with the reverb unit at the bottom of the amp. I have had amps where the reverb tank was covered with vinyl covering. The ED comes un-covered. I was told the cover was to absorb some vibration from the speaker to lessen un-wanted noise in the reverb tank. I would have to agree. I have added a cover over my reverb tank. This really helps at higher volumes.

Simply put, No Problems. I did purchase the road case. Good investment. Warranty seems more than resonable, especially for the tubes. Then again,I don't try to abuse my equipment. Think, The Who Again, Simple design, simple controls, simple to use, Simply Good.

I have been playing for 22yrs, and was looking for a good quality tube amp that was reliable small easy to transport,and was well rounded for the music I play. I was looking at the DR Z Maz18 and the Carr Rambler amps. Other boutique amps were over-priced for my taste. (I don't need a hand rubbed finish on my amp). The best bang for the buck was ED. I still think they should re-name it BIG ED. It's only 14watts, amazing. I would buy another one if it were stolen, but I would totally have it customized. I would be afraid if the ED came out with a 30 or 40 watter. I know I would be tempted to upgrade. (power corrupts)....It's OK 14watts is plenty.

http://www.edwardamp.com/ to see the amp and read about it.

This amp particular was made in 2002. This guitar amp has been modified and voiced for harmonica. I originally approached Ed of Edward Amplification in the fall of 2002 on the proposal of modifying his guitar amp for a harp player. Because he designed this amp from the bottom up and knew all it?s tonal nuances, he was able to very quickly do a few mods to achieve the desired effect.


I originally brought over my 7.5 watt Class A Spirit Harp Pro (see review in Harmony Central: http://www.harmony-central.com/Guitar/Data/Spirit_Amplifiers/Harp_Pro-01.html ) and my 45 watt Fender reissue ?59 Bassman to his workshop and do a comparison of these 2 amps to see what it was that I liked about them. He did this by unplugging the speaker jack from the back of each amp (one at a time) and sending a line into his computer which was loaded with software to take a ?snapshot? of the shape of the EQ when I would play thru the amp with a harp into my Elevtrovoice RE-10 mic. Interestingly enough the EQ snapshot was almost identical between the Spirit and the Bassman. Of course I had set the tone controls to my desired liking which was similar in both amps (a lot of bass, almost no mids, and treble set to get the beginning of a nice cutting sound with out being to piercing). Using the snapshots as a sketch, he was quickly able to make the mods necessary. He added a master volume and changed the input gain stage and voila ? I have been using this amp exclusively at all my gigs since I purchased it in Nov. 2002.

This amp is beautifully built at about 35 lbs. with one 12? Celestion Greenback 25 watt speaker (we compared several other speakers, but this once seemed to have the most desired tonal characteristics for harmonica). It is, in Ed?s words: ?a 14 Watts class A push-pull vacuum tube power using two 6BM8 pentode/triode tubes that are unique to Edward Amplification products. With these tubes, we can accomplish with five tubes what another amp would require at least seven to achieve. With less tubes, you get the same amount of versatility in a smaller package with fewer parts and less waste of power.? It has 3 x 12AX7 preamp tubes and a solid state rectifier. It has one input jack, treble, bass, tube driven spring reverb (full size 17? reverb tank), solid state tremolo built in (level and intensity knobs), on/off switch, dual colour LED standby switch. It has a 3db boost switch to give an extra gain stage to the preamp tubes. It also has a switch on the back of the amp to change the setting from 8 ohm to 4 ohm if you want to add a an external speaker (with a built in external speaker jack). It also has a switch to change voltage from 110V to 230V if you go over seas. There are a variety of tolex coverings to choose from, and has quite a retro look. It also comes with an optional programmable footswitch to toggle between 2 desired presets (boost, tremolo, reverb).

I play thru an Electrovoice RE-10 mic into a Roland 501 Chorus Tape Echo into the amp. This is a very quiet amp for a class A amp. You can specify if you want the amp to perform with an earlier breakup or later (Listen to harp sound bytes of my modified Ed harp amp ? with no effects, just straight into the amp - at his web site: http://www.edwardamp.com/ ). I chose a later breakup to achieve the maximum amount of punch form the 14 watts and it is still plenty crunchy without being super distorted. If you like more distortion as a rule, go for the earlier breakup setting when you order the amp. The amount of punch and bottom end is astounding for 1 x 12 inch speaker with nice crunchy highs. I simply have not heard a better 14 watt amp unless we are talking old vintage amps which usually sound more ?wooly? and not as loud. It is also wonderfully feedback resistant. I put the amp on a chair when I gig with my band tilted back and pointing slightly away from me. Ninety percent of the time, I do not need to put it in the monitors to hear it. I?ll just step directly in front of the amp if the band goes up in volume and I have no problem hearing myself.

This amp very much suits my playing style (if you are not familiar, listen to sound bytes at http://www.carlosdeljunco.com/lcd.html ). My favourite settings with this mic combo (the EV RE 10 mic has a very aggressive output for a dynamic super cardiod mic) are (much like the Spirit Harp Pro) with the boost switch on, the main volume on full, with the preamp volume turned up just enough to allow the the amp to begin to honk without it being really distorted or feeding back -I suppose, except for the boost switch, this would be the cleanest setting on the amp. However, the fact that the amp is turned up to the max gives you this beautifully warm rich natural distortion. This gives me a varied and textured response so that when I'm laying back and just munching on a few notes there is just a hint of break up, and then when I play really aggressively the amp really opens up with a very warm sounding compressed distortion. This amp has a lot more bottom end then most 14 watt amps (way more than the 7.5 watt Spirit Harp Pro) I think partly because of the unique circuitry that is not your typical ?tone stack? that is found in most Fender amps and the like. Obviously amp settings are a very subjective thing and will be very different for everybody.

I have used this amp in small theatres of up to 750 people to small restaurants, and it performs beautifully in all settings.

I have had the amp for 15 months and taken it on the plane with me 3 times in the original cardboard box it came in (and some foam pellets added for extra protection) and have had no problems with it. Beautifully built and solid, and no breakdowns.

Ed has been extremely helpful in all aspects of my dealings with him from start to finish. He is happy to modify the amp to your liking (earlier distorion or later distortion). Of course, I have the luxury of living within an hours drive of his workshop, so I made few trips to fine tune it to my liking..The warranty: ?All products (except tubes) are covered against manufacturing defects by a five year parts and labour warranty, fully transferable. Beyond the five years is a lifetime labour warranty that covers the owner from labour charges in the instance repairs are performed by Edward Amplification. Tubes included with the original purchase are covered against malfunction for nine months from date of purchase. This warranty excludes replaced tubes, normal wear and tear, misuse, neglect, or other events beyond the control of Edward Amplification.? Not bad?

OK, do I sound biased giving the amp an overall 10? Is there really such a thing as a perfect amp? Again, it is a very subjective thing ? this amp is the closest to perfect that I?ve ever heard, so I?m giving it a 10. I have been playing harp for 31 years and own as mentioned above a 7.5 watt Spirit amp, a 45 watt Fender Bassman (have owned in the past a Fender ?66 Princeton, a ?65 Pro Reverb, a mid seventies Super Reverb, a Fender reissue ?63 Vibroverb, as well as breifly owning a 70 watt 4 x 10" HarpKing - I personally believe that the Ed Amp has way more "personality" than the HarpKing amp -- again, of course this is a very subjective thing.). To date these are my 3 favorite amps ? the ones that I own, but it is the Ed Amp that is my favorite workhorse and gigging amp. I can get the punch of a Fender ?59 reissue Bassman at a much lower volume that still cuts on stage (really no comparison between the Spirit which has no where near the bottom end ? even though it extremely punchy for a 7.5 wat amp). I would buy another one in a heartbeat if my Ed Amp this was lost or stolen. It may be a tad overpriced for a 14 watt amp, but it is a unique design for a class A amp, and with the added reverb and tremolo, footswitch, built in ohm switcher, and voltage switcher, this is an incredibly versatile amp.

First, one of the reviews here is for am effects pedal and should be deleted. Now, the Ed amplifier comes with a volume, treble, bass, and two tremolo controls. Of all those features the tremolo gets used the least. I don't care for the tremolo, but the incredible reverb and overdrive combination make up for that!! This amp has a creative two level gain control that is footswitchable (the footswitch can be changed to control reverb and tremolo -- very cool) and goes from slightly edgy to saturated quickly. This is a loud 14 Watts generated by the unusal combination of 2x12ax7 and 3x6bm8.

I play a 1993 PRS Custom 24 Goldtop. Only one electric guitar (Personally, I can't play more than one guitar at a time -- I keep it simple and I play with Elixir strings which have NEVER broken on me). I looked for a low-powered, handmade, tube amp for about 6 months before I played the ED for blues (my heroes are Roy Buchanan, Jimi Hendrix, and Derek Trucks in that order). During my odyssey I played at full volume old fenders, new Victorias, Buddas, Dr. Z, Carr Rambler, and everything in between. I wanted a full smooth distortion that could get rough and give me a good treble/midrange presence with humbuckers. Think a more organic (more live sounding) Eric Johnson sound (I dont purport to play like him). The Ed delivered. Everything from a smoother slighty overdriven Albert King sound to a less muddled Cream-era Clapton -- except with a really nice Reverb!! It killed the Bogner Metropolis I played earlier. One thing -- it doesn't do a loud clean sound!! But I dont ever need a loud clean sound so it doesn't matter. This is a blues, funk, rock, fusion amp -- no metal please. I mean the reverb laden distortion is awesome. The tremolo is the only weak point in this amp, but I dont use it. I give this a ten only because I A/B'ed it against the best in the business for 800-1500$$ and I have no need for tremolo.

This is where the amp shines. It is a tank. The amp is designed to make the tubes last longer and so far, except for one hitch (described below) it has worked wonderfully.

My amp started to hiss and pop so I emailed Ed himself up in Canada for some advice. Not only did he correctly diagnose the problem in a series of efficient, courteous emails but he also paid for the malfunctioning tube and shipped it to my house!! This is all without me supplying him with a receipt!! This is why I did not look at new mass produced amplifiers when I shopped around -- they just cant measure up to this level of service.

I am 20. I am classically trained since I was 5 and taught myself the pentatonic scale when I was 11 and play semiprofessionally when college isn't kicking my butt. I would die if either my guitar or amp were stolen, because I dont have any backups. The overdrive of the ED is the best I have played (with the exception of the 4000$ Maven Peal, but that is a lot more expensive and it was still a close call).

Ease of use depends so much on sound and let's face it, it's 4 more knobs to tweek.
If you're not a tonehead, it's easy to use but a lot of subtle tones can be had with this pedal.

I try and mention the points not covered.
It's true bypass.
Next, if you overdo it you're going to get noise. The emphasis goes Hi to Low, so if you put it in the 12 o'clock position it will hit highs and lows. If you set it more on the low side, it will compress the bass strings. It does a TS-9 thing in that it can be used as a boost.
I play mostly on the dirty side of a hot-rodded Marshall plexi, but this does really well to CLEAN tones. It also makes a chorus pedal sound great.
It brings out nuances of 'passing tones'. (amplifies them)
If the compression is increased to 3/4 up, it brings noise with it.
The best way it operates is when it is not overdone, this takes listening practice.
The attack must be short range because I have a hard time determining when precisely it is kicking in, but we are talking milliseconds here.
Not as good a sound as my rack compressor but it's easier to deal with.

I don't think it's going to crap out because it isn't a complicated device.

I agree with others that support may be a problem. I have delt with Korg in the past. I have to say it may have something to do with Marshall being offshore.

I replaced my TS-9 with this. The TS-9 is a major tone sucker. I did the TS-808 mod and was totally displeased with all of the noise. I have to say that running the TS-808 into a vintage amp sounds great but I already have an amp with distortion and the TS-9 is no more than a compressor anyway. I never could get away from it not being true bypass.
I am just learning to use this pedal as I have only owned it for a month. It doesn't add a bunch of undesirable distortion (scooped mids) or does it drive mids. It just adds a slight amount of sustain to a note and keeps the overall sound smoother.

The other review done by Geoff details out all the features better than I could possibly state.

I play professionally in a blues band that works in the Southern California area. I was given the opportunity to "test drive" the ED combo over the past several weeks and must tell you that the amp met or exceeded nearly all of my expectations. Most of the places my band plays in require no more than modest volume levels. In fact many of the owners insist on it. This makes it very difficult for power tube distortion to be achieved and forces me to utilize overdrive pedals in front of the amps I've had to use over the years.

Not so with the ED. The 14 watt rating belies what this amp can do. It can growl and get wonderful sustain at moderate levels that make it nearly the perfect blues amp or you can crank it up to levels that will get you thrown out of some clubs. So many amps get a bit thin on the first and second strings as there is just a lot less meat in the strings to interact with the guitar's pickups. The ED's circuitry somehow gets all strings to deliver nearly even volume levels, again, at moderate volume levels. As a result, single note articulation is some of the finest I've ever experienced - and I've played and used live damn near every amp there is over the years.

This is not to say that the amp is perfect. It has both a tube driven reverb and tremolo. The reverb works great in a live playing situation but sounds thin by itself. I think the manufacturer's choice to go the direction he did makes it more useful for working musicians. The tremolo is just plain mediocre and either must be re-thought out or just dropped entirely. In an amp this expensive all features should be nothing short of exceptional and this one just falls short of the mark. I just avoided the tremolo entirely during live performances... it really isn't required for the material I do.

One feature I found unique was that the footswitch can be set to turn on or turn off differing sections of the amp. You can set it to bring in the various boosts, turn on the reverb, tremolo... just about any way you could possible want to set it up. There are twelve different options. This is a very useful feature that is easy to change if you aren't uncomfortable getting into the chassis of the amp. We're only talking about removing about a dozen screws and the entire operation takes maybe fifteen minutes or less, really. There are two dip switches in the amp that need to be set according to instructions in the amp's manual... it's a piece of cake.

Just demo'ing the amp. Build quality is very high and would think that this thing will last a long, long time and perform well night after night.

The maker has been very suppportive and understands that customer support is important if his business is to grow.

I've been a guitarist for over 35 years. I grew up on blackface Fender gear and those are still my benchmarks for any amp. The ED stands up extremely well in comparison with those old models and offers features and styling that are unique to today's building methods and circuit designs.

In my opinion, this amp is for the discriminating player that can appreciate what the ED is all about... there is no doubt about that. Beginners need not apply. It must be played, no, DEMANDS to be played in live situations for you to realize the amp's full potential. This is NOT an amp to be played in the bedroom by itself.

If you are one of those types of players and you desire a small blues amp, can afford the price tag, want something different looking then check an ED out. There is a lot of competition out there in this price range so it has to be good - I think the ED is worth very serious consideration.

The amp that I tested was the 2nd prototype built in 1998. The Ed is a 14 watt 1x12 combo with celestion 25 watt greenback speaker. the tube complement is 2-12ax7 in the preamp and 2 -6BM8 in the power section running in class"a", the 6BM8 s' have some 12a circuit built in and the builder states that with these tubes he can build a circuit that will take less tubes and be more reliable.(the 6BM8s' retail for around $10 U.S.thats cheap!) The amp has reverb and tremolo and a nifty AC outlet built into the back of the amp for powering up your pedalboard or other accessories that you may use. The Ed has a line out as well. Instead of channel switching the Ed has 2 different boosts a 20db and an 8 db, the 20 db hi-gain boost really packs a wallop that will make you jump back and the 8 db boost is perfect for bringing your solo to the front, the 20 db boost is better left on at all times and vary the amount of gain with your guitars volume control. I used the Ed at one rehearsal and it keep up to the other guitarists Marshall Slash 100 watter w/4x12 right up to earbleed zones only then did the Ed fall behind but at that point it was just to LOUD! Playing out you are going to be mic'd up anyways or you could use the Ed's line out to power up another amp and go stereo. The Ed has a footswitch that can be configured for either of the 2 boosts or turning on/off the reverb or tremolo but you can only set it up to control 2 of the above functions this is set by a dip switch in the back of the amp. The Ed is the perfect amp for rehearsals and small to medium sized gigs or for recording where you would like to get that power tube distortion at a lower volume.

I tested out the Ed with some custom Strats with EMG and Bill Lawrence Humbuckers and a Fender JD Tele with Barden Danny Gatton Pickups. The Ed works well for rock and Texas style blues it is voiced between a Vox AC-30 top boost and a Marshall Plexi with reverb.The Ed seemed to like fullsized pickups better than single coil size but single coil size can be livened up with a good OD or Fuzz unit. To describe the ED's sound think Santana's endless singlenote sustain with Billy Gibbons' lowend crunch that cleans up really nice when you back off your volume pot on your guitar then the reverb really shines through, for an amp that whacks as well as the Ed it is as quiet as a stone. I also tried out a few of my effects a Budda wah, Prescription Electronics C.O.B and Experience pedal The Ed had no problem with the pedals there are amps that do not like pedals everything sounded great through the Ed, as well some amps go for a dump when using an Experience pedal the Ed picked up the Experience's ball and ran away with it, very impressive. One thing that I should say is even thought the Ed is 14 watts it is NOT an amp that you can play in a dorm or apartment as the distortion comes from the power tubes and the volume will probably get you evicted it cranks, but as a compromise you can put a distortion or Fuzz in front of it and rock out to your hearts desire.

The Ed that I tried was a prototype and was given to me with a Gibbs reverb tank installed, the production version will be equipped with Accutronics 2 and 3 spring tanks one for a longer decay(2) and the (3) spring for a medium decay. The Gibbs tank was feedbacking on me when I brought it home and when I contacted the builder he said to give the amp a shake or kick which I did and the problem went away. During Rehearsal the amp's reverb was feeding back again so I walked up to it and kicked it again to the disbelief of my bandmates problem solved Ha! Try that with your vintage gear or other boutique gear. All of the pots and switches are in a recess in the cab out of harms way and all of the tubes have retainers, The handle is bolted to the chassis not screwed in everything is built to a high standard and seems to be overbuilt which is good. As this amp was a prototype I don't think it would be fair to rate it at this time but it is solid enough.

Edward Stepanic is new to the guitar amplification building business, but is no stranger to working with tubes Previously working for Sonic Frontiers out of Oakville Ontario and researching and repairing tube equipment since he was a kid. Very helpful and friendly he really believes in his product, listens to suggestions with an open mind and very willing to go the extra mile( he drove 3.5 hrs to let me take the prototype home with me) I assume that(any) repair work will be done at Edward Amplification and since it is a prototype you would have to contact the company for warranty policies www.hi-fi.com/edward

I have been playing for over 25 years. I own a Demeter TGA-3-100 which is a kick @ss pro amp but for rehearsal and smaller gigs I would take the Ed in a heartbeat, The Demeter I have turned into a Rack controlled monster that has become almost to hard to drag around and relative simplicity of the Ed is like a breath of fresh air, just throw it into the back of a Honda with your guitar and your cookin'. I have a Ed Hed on order it really kicks through a Marshall 4x12. (or any quality cab) The Ed compares well to Budda's Twinmaster, Dr Z's Maz 18, and Clark's Beaufort and with the U.S. Canadian dollar exchange the Ed is a relative bargain. One thing that I wish it had was a tube buffered FX loop to put time based FX after the preamp instead of the Tremolo feature but that may compromise the glorious power tube distortion, For years guitarist have been putting delays in front of preamps I can live with that, just don't mess with my gain Ha! All in all the Ed is a serious working/recording amp with well thought out features that sounds great and is built tough to survive the barwars by a company that aims to please.