Electrosonic Amplifiers Mercury 112 Combo

Quick update on my Mercury. I purchased a Tonebone Hot British pedal a couple of weeks ago. I have never rated any amplifier a 10, but the Mercury with the tonebone up front is the best sounding amp/pedal combination I have ever heard!!!!!

I have been reinspired, I can't seem to put my guitar down with this new tone. At times it really feels as if the guitar is playing itself through this rig.

This amp was built in March/April of 2003. The Mercury is a single ended class A 1x12 combo. Front panel has On and Stand by switches, Indicator light is a fender type jewel lamp that is purple which matches the main color scheme of the amplifier. Volume, High, Mid and Bass telecaster knobs make up the tweaking section. One 1/4" guitar input jack rounds off the front panel features. The Rear panel features TWO 1/4" speaker jacks, Internal speaker is plugged in to one of the jacks with a standard 1/4" male plug. I like the fact that I can un plug the internal speaker and have two open jacks for different cabinet combinations. The rear panel also has an impedence selector knob, 4, 8 and 16 OHMS are available when a 6V6 power tube is in use, 4 and 8 OHM settings are available if a EL34 is being used. That brings me to the next feature, By selecting the correct impedence either a 6V6 or a EL34 power tube can be used. There are two seperate power tube sockets that are located between the rectifier and pre amp tubes. Both power tubes can not be run simultaniously. The tubes are visable from the front of the amplifier, you can see them glowing through a shatter resistant lexan window. Rectifier and Pre amp tubes can be replaced with different combinations to allow different voltages and tones. The amp uses a 12" Weber speaker with a 40 ounce Alnico magnet for a true vintage tone. Just below the rear panel a speaker volume attenuator is mounted, the controls are a in/bypass switch and volume control knob, the attenuator has been painted to match the color scheme of the amp as is the chassis, speaker basket and magnet housing, the wiring is cloth covered in the same color scheme. There is another lexan window on the top of the amplifier which gives a good view of the wiring and is also backlit that gives a dramatic look in dim lighting. The cabinet is made out of solid Poplar and has been stained in an ultra violet color, sealed with tung oil and polished with bri wax for a hand rubbed look. I'm giving this category a high rating because I wanted an amp that only did a couple of different tones but does them very well. My favorite feature is that I have the only one!

I use American Fender Tele and Strat, A solid graphite Steinberger I bought in 1986 when EVH was sporting one. The steinberger has two Double hummers w/active EQ built by EMG, this guitar plays and sounds a lot like a les paul, it works very well when the Mercury is running the EL34 in the power section, The steinberger never really sounded good in a clean amp so I ran the Mercury up at 75 percent where the grit really starts to kick in. It has a nice liquid sustain and a smooth distortion that is very articulate much like a vintage Marshall but is more sensitive. Plug in the Tele with the 6V6 in the power tube section and you've got a wonderful brown sound without the mud that my 59 bassman produces. The neck pickup is warm and fat switch to the bridge and you get that classic tele sparkle. Turn the amp up wide open and hit a bar chord hard, you get that cranked twin tone, back off your attack and the tone is instantly cleaned up. When I plug in the Strat I always end up playing the blues through this amp and I'm not really a blues man. The Strat set between the neck and mid pick up gives me a great SRV type of tone. This is not a high gain amp it can produce very clean tones to a medium distortion. The amp is very quite when idle no detectable hum. The day the amp arrived I took it over to the Sound Stage (Local music gear store) My cousin is a guitar tech there. He plugged in a custom Strat turned all the knobs up to 10, played the amp for five minutes and then asked me if he could borrow it for his next recording session.

One trade off that had to be made is the fact that 6V6 and EL34's run at different plates. The amp is adjusted at a happy medium, kind of hot for the 6V6 and a little low for the EL34. I have to remember to switch the impedence selector when I switch tubes, I forgot once and burned up a 6V6 within a matter of minutes. That was my own negligence though. The amp seems to be built like a rock and I don't forsee any problems. Electrosonic sent a one year warranty if anything should happen to go wrong within that period of time. I'm going to leave the rating for this category as no opinion due to the fact that I have only had the amp for three weeks now.

I have dealt with Josh at Electrosonic from the start. He has been very helpful and patient with all of my relentless questions. I'm so pleased with the service that I'm having Josh build me a custom Head which I have designed with the help of his input. If your searching for a hand built boutique tube amp at a very reasonable price, Electrosonic is a good choice.

I have been playing lead guitar for The Fanatiks since 1986. My amps are Fender Twin and Bassman, Hughes and Kettner tour reverb, Mesa Boogie 20/20, Marshall 4x12 cabs, Line 6 pod pro, Dunlop talk box.
If the Mercury were stolen or lost I would replace it.
I compared with other boutique amps and there is nothing out there in this price range.