Electrosonic Amplifiers Thermosonic Custom Combo

"Versatile" is kind of subjective, don't ya think? Anyway, I don't believe the Thermosonic was intended to be all THAT versatile. It has a fairly wide palette of clean and gritty tones, but it doesn't do high gain. Really it just does low to mid gain beautifully. 10 watts into a 10 inch speaker isn't that loud in my opinion, but it's more than enough for practice. If you wanted to gig this amp, there had better be a PA if you want to be heard above the drums.

Not getting a 10 here, means nothing. The amp is as versatile as I need it to be.

Ohhhh yes. Quality is there in spades. I'm playing through a Peavey strat knockoff with crappy cheap no-name humbuckers that I installed, so this definitely isn't the nicest guitar I've owned. Even so, I like what I hear.

I've had this for only a few months and no issues yet. This thing is built like a tank so I'm hoping this holds up.

See above. I will say though, conversing with Josh prior and during the build was a pleasant experience - he is a gent and very helpful.

It's got exactly what I want in an amp, and nothing I don't. The only problem now, is trying to decide what my next Electrosonic is going to be. I had ordered some color-shifting paint on my amp, and I find myself starting to wonder why I did that. It looks great, but now I'm all paranoid about scratches and dents. My next order will either be covered in Durabak or maybe stained wood.

New 2007 Custom model. Extremely versatile. Three band tone and volume, single channel. Single EL34 output tube (15 watt class A), Tung-Sol-driven 12AX7 Blackface preamp, GZ34 rectifier tube for increased picking response, variable cathode biasing, Weber custom Thames 10" ceramic speaker, projection spacer, Weber Beam Blocker, external speaker jack. Aesthetically - Blue Durabak covering, pearl white accents, Electrolight system (backlit tubes with color complimentary to amplifier is very cool with all the Lexan windows!), color-matched speaker basket & magnet cover, color-matched transformers, easy-to-use 3-way switch for Off/Standby/On, angle legs. Even if it didn't sound as great as it does, it's visually a piece of modern retro-art. And as far as versatility, let's jsut say that single volume can put you into lush clean, or slam you into AC/DC tones - with everything in between (Setzer, Mason, SRV, Gilmour, Page, Gibbons). Sorry, no metalhead tones here. See the amp here (featured amp): www.ElectrosonicAmplifiers.com/thermosonic.php

I'm using an Ernie Ball Silhouette and a Silhouette Special as my main guitars, along with a Valley Arts Brent Mason model. I have a large selection of other guitars from years of collecting, from Fender to Gibson; from Washburn to Ibanez. I can't pick a guitar that sounds bad through this amp. This is my third amp from Electrosonic, and their work just keeps getting better! at 15 watts, I was nervous about dB levels when using the amp live, but since I already owned a 40-watt head from them, I figured why not? Well, I can get anywhere from funk to country to hard rock out of this amp (and these are PROFESSIONAL, USABLE tones, not just "get-by" tones that you get from most "one-fits-all" amps). And it's as loud as I could hope for! NO problems holding up love, with or without a microphone for club gigs (of course a mic is needed for outdoor and theatre gigs). It is also quiet as anything, even on higher gain settings. Daggone, that 10" has a lotta beef in it! You wouldn't believe it unless you heard it yourself. At my last show, the guitarists came up during breaks asking if I was really running through that amp, or if it were just for show. They couldn't believe how good it sounded! I trust Josh at Electrosonic with anything, but I have to admit I was a little leery that this amp could possibly do what he claimed. Wow, was I surprised when it could do more!

This is plain and simple. It's point-to-point. It's hand wired. The solder joints are clean and professional. The wiring routing is optimized. The parts used are top shelf, not cheap crap. What's going to go wrong? Tubes are always the weakest link in a well-built amp, so I'm sure they'll need regular replacement as with any amplifier. But Josh offers warranties, and again - this is my third Electrosonic amplifier, and not one of them has EVER been back to the shop!

I say the same thing every time. In short, you will not get better customer service. It's the second reason (only behind amp quality/tone) I work with these guys. They're brilliant, and it's great that when you send in an email describing what you're looking for, you get paragraphs of well-detailed and easy-to-understand options and descriptions, rather than a simple one-line email as you get from the other, more impersonal guys. Josh works OVERTIME to flesh out what you need before he even lifts his soldering iron. You will never get better service anywhere else.

Playing almost all of my life (literally), and I'm 37. I own a Dr. Z Prescription, and I've owned an Ampeg Reverberocket, a Soldano, Crate VC series amps, Marshalls (JCM series), Mesa/Boogies, ADA Rack amps, blah blah blah blah... You get the idea. I've been through it all. I have had enough experience to give you an honest, well-educated opinion. Don't buy anything else - even if the Thermo isn't for you, Josh and company will build you ANYTHING. Their custom shop can do nearly anything you can come up with. Even if you're a metal player, they can make your dream machine. Not to mention, it's STILL cheaper than other boutique amp builders who release inferior products. I know personally, I'm not done buying amps from them!

This is a 1x10 combo. Made in 2003. Single channel, no footswitching no loops. Controls are Vol, Hi, Mid, Lo, on the front, on the back; on/off and separate toggle for standby/play and a rotary switch for 4/8/16ohm output if I choose to unplug the speaker and go through a cab. This is a single ended class A circuit with a 12AU7 in pre, and a single E34L in output and a solid state rectifier for headroom. The cab is solid poplar wood finished in beeswax in Autumn Orange. Grillcloth was ordered from antique radio parts supplier (www.tubesandmore.com) to match the color scheme. Comes with 4 detachable legs (internal components are even color matched) and has 2 see through lexan panels to display the wiring which is a work of art itself. The amp is very versatile for my style of modern pop with Flume (see www.flumetheband.com). It was intended primarily for recording and songwriting at home. It is 12 watts and is more than enough volume for the intended purpose. It could easily be mic'd for live performance but would likely not produce the stage volume that I like to have in reserve when performing. The speaker was custom designed by Weber from the ground up. Voiced for an original sound with reference points from Fane, Hiwatt, Vox; I was given choices over every aspect of the speaker and it delivered the goods. I find myself using the amp with its own speaker the most-very rarely end up driving a cab but I wanted that option and few makers are able to accomodate the full range of ohms by Electrosonic did. I am still getting the feel for the on/off and standby switches around back - this was a compromise I chose given I wanted 3 band eq and thus the power switches had to migrate to the back. I traded flexibility in tone for the convenience of the toggles. Ideally it would have been a 3 throw toggle but for costs, we ended with 2 separate ones. The label for the standby switch is reversed from what it should be but-since its in back you cant tell--I just work by "feel" and memorized that. You can see photos of my Thermosonic at the site (see www.electrosonicamplifiers.com).

I use the MusicMan Axis w/MM90s, Danelectro 59DC w/lipsticks, Hamer Eclipse 12string w/SDuncan Firebird pickups and a PRS Archtop w/McCarty Archtop pickups and Gibson ES-295 w/P90s. It definitely fits my sound since I got to design every element of the amp from the ground up. The goal was to get maximum clean headroom out of a small cab 1x10 combo in a class A circuit. I also wanted a tone that was original; without a strict pattern to vintage tones, but one that built on some classic sounds and offered new ones. The Thermosonic with an E34L delivers this and then some. I have surprising amounts of clean tone for my jangle-pop sounds. After half way on the volume the mild grit starts to appear and is still a musically relevant tone that I can apply in my music. I got this amp after our CD was finished and I certainly wish I had it during the recording as I hear many places in the tracks where the Thermosonic would have made a big contribution. There is some noise/hum when idle but that's a fact of tubes and class A - still I wish it were less. The tone controls offer loads of choices and interact well with different guitars; the Thermosonic seems to do best though with lower output pickups. The PRS Archtop can be flubby on the neck setting with it, but that's where tweaking comes in and great sounds can be had. With the Danelectro and the MusicMan it is instantly inspiring everywhere you set the controls. Warm and smoky, clean and pure, there are sounds l will definitely use on our future recordings. I am getting great sounds by working the guitar volume with the amp volume; just that interaction yields worlds of great tones to explore. I took the Thermosonic to a "ToneFest" with my friends and every player there got amazing sounds out of it with ease-and they all sounded like "themselves". The amp responded well to their custom built Telecasters and Anderson T's; blues sounds were working, straight ahead rock also were pumped into it.

It's not a crushing loud amp. And with a 10" speaker it is very beamy-like a flashlight in a dark room. Where you stand in relation to the speaker makes a huge difference. In my band's rehearsal studio, the sound is instantly lost. In small rooms it can fill out better but still is extremely directional. Not a surprise but another tradeoff I made when I opted out of a 12" in order to keep this small.

When the amp arrived it sounded great but I was noticing lots of cabinet rattle on certain bass notes. I experimented with lots of settings and pickups and it persisted. I contacted Electrosonic and we arranged to ship it back. Josh was behind the product 100% and paid for part of the shipping back to him and all of it to get the amp back to me. The cause of the buzz was a failure in material--the bonding adhesive was loose and did not take: he has since found better bond and the amp is working perfectly now. No other performance issues so far; and I don't expect there to be. So my score here is only low because of the material failure out of the box and not and enduring issue.

Based on the cab buzz problem, I can say that I tested the customer support of Electrosonic Amplifiers and Josh was behind his product 100%. Shipping and packing worries were not an issue; the box was rigidly packed. His site is informative and his email responsiveness was excellent. Josh included extra finish compound if I needed it and good instructions for operations and maintenance. The questions I loaded him with during the design process were intensive--bordering on the obsessive but he interpreted the sounds I was chasing in my head and came up with an amp that captures them and makes an original tone statement in a package that I don't think exists anywhere else with the tube I selected, the speaker and the circuitry and in a combo format. I'm glad that there are inspired builders like Electrosonic out there who want to experiment and pursue a tone that might not exist yet; Josh made it happen for me.

Been playing for 17 years, but only seriously with Flume since 1996. I also own a KJL Clubowner head and cab. The Thermosonic fills my need for a small combo. I would readily design the same circuit again with Josh if this Thermosonic were lost. I love the range of sounds from such a small package; I do regret that maybe I should have opted for a 12" speaker and higher wattage to make it readily useful in clubs where a mic isnt always a sure thing. I compared to many other small builders but Electrosonic offered more choices to build a combo without referencing already well known tones. The price was substantially lower than other builders and Josh offered more original input that I could give into the design and so the decision was clear to have him make this amp for me. He cares about his products and his customers; I would not hesitate to design another amp with him in the future.

2002 model, not many features, just a volume and a tone control. Great sound though, it suits me just fine.

I am using it with a PRS Santana. This is one mean little turd. Its like if Marshall ever made a "Champ" amplifier. clean and sparkly until just before the halfway point on the volume, then it starts getting a pissed, midrange growl to it. Has a Weber 10" in it which seems to match well with the british character.

Seems to be built like a rock, solid Poplar cab, bulletproof chassis. The usual goodies.

They seem really great, and pay attention to what you want. comes with a 1-year warranty, but I doubt I will need it.

I would definately give buy this amp again if I were looking . It is actually cheaper than a clark or victoria "champ" and I think it is a way better value because it has more features, bigger speaker, and a very high class finish on the cab.