Elmwood Modena M90

this amp is extremely versatile sound and feature wise. its got the voicings of most of the popular tones that guitarists look for as well as going to voicings that are absolutely unique to this amp. the effects loop will please the modern guys, and the front mounted switching and simple plug and play controls will delight both guitar cord amp and the guys that need a bazillion switching options.

the most unique feature this amp has is that it has multiple gain/boost and volume levels for the 2 main channels on this amp.

i took one off 'perfect' as i wish the effects loop were foot switchable on/off, but thats how i use effects, and probably not how most people use effects in a loop.

i have played this amp with single coils and humbucker equipped guitars and the sonic options available on tap are mindblowing to say the least. i was easily able to dial (with the help of the edge and low end boost knobs on the back of the amp) believable blackface fender, golden age marshall, VOX chime and smooth classic rock crunch tones with ease. the fact that the controls were intuitive and responsive gave me confidence that this amp was well designed.

the fidelity and purity of the amps voicing was right there, and made playing very enjoyable. it inspired me to keep playing, and seeking new sounds out of it. that is the mark of a great piece of gear, that you not only can get great sounds quickly, but you can keep exploring with it which i think saves you money from not having to tonechase any other amps!

the hidden and i think most underrated, yet important thing about this amp is its modern high gain voice. its unlike any other amp i have played (and i have played a lot). its a genre defining tone like the first time you heard a mesa dual rectifier or bogner XTC and went 'what IS that amp'. the other thing that blew me away about this amp was the speed that pick mutes and chunky power chords seemed to shoot through this amp. i used to play solid state or hybrid tube/solid state amps for certain types of music because of the accuracy needed for certain tones. this amp will scare you and possibly force you to become a better player as it doesnt hide sloppy playing with mush, but rewards precision picking with fidelity and fast response.

also, this amp can touch on the fizzy metal distortion some people seem to like, but it can get into its own voice very easily and produce an extremely satisfying snarl with ease.

once this amp gets into the right guitarists hands, and it makes it onto a record that people check out en masse, i predict this will be the next 'must have' amp for rock guitar. mark my words.

oh, and it might be 'just' 90 watts, but it is a very loud 90 watts. through a celestion vintage 30 4x12, this amp blew away my 300 watt biamped full stack.

this amp has the little touches that let you know the people making it care a lot about it holding up for years.

the pots feel nice and tight, the switches and jacks are all high quality, and the fit and finish is absolutely top notch.

i turn it on, it fires up and i make great tones with it. the guys at elmwood did a great job making this amp and their passion shows in the little things about this amp.

i had a couple of questions and i got a prompt email response.

i cant say that about the big guys.

i love this amp, if you are in the market for one, or can try one out somewhere, DO. now that i have heard what this amp can do, i cannot imagine being without it.

i have played professionaly for almost 20 years, and i wont bore you with the other stuff i have owned, but suffice to say if it was 'go to gear' or must have.. i've owned it. i dont own it any more. just this amp.

it has displaced my #1 gigging amp for live shows, and i look forward to turning it on and seeing where we can go at practice. i cant give an amp higher praise than that.

if you are looking for the same old, same old, this amp can do those sounds, but you are doing yourself a disfavor as an artist. look for all the other things this amp can do and you will be rewarded with a lot more inspiration.

sweden isnt just about vodka and meatballs and ikea. i think they build a darn nice amplifier, too!

The best features of this amp for me are its sound, its practicality and also its stunning looks. I have a 2007 model in the red birch wood and the combination of 2 channels (clean and gain), drive switch settings, FX loop and master volumes make it incredibly versatile despite its simple controls. I play a range of styles and use this as my primary rehearsal/gigging amp. We play anything from clean chimey songs, to gritty UK indie to metal and this beast covers it all and the drive function is particularly useful for this versatility as you can set the drive volume and gain for each channel. Its a simple and uncluttered amp and doesn't need anything more, although a footswitchable FX loop could be handy for some people.

The sound of this amp is amazing and even grows on you more with time. Both channels provide rich useable tones but its channel two Im most interested in. It slays. Ive used this amp with a variety of guitars and like channel 1 (with or without drive on) with strats or neck pickup humbucking guitars. I like channel 2 with higher output pickup guitars and like it most with an Ernie Ball Musicman Axis and Ibanez Jem77, which have hot PAF style pickups. The clean channel didn't initially impress me when I first got it but over time Ive realised its a great base sound and can be used for super cleans or slightly dirty clean sounds depending on how its setup. The clean channel will distort when turned up while using a higher output humbucker but it can be tamed back too. Playing around with the drive switch on channel is a lot of fun and I found this one of the biggest suprises with this amp. It has a rich dark chocolately tone reminiscent of some contemporary Mark Knopfler tones. Its quite responsive to picking attack, but is still relatively compressed and defined. The clean channel with some drive is really expressive and soulful able to cover blues and softer styles of music. If the drive is turned up on channel 1 it will get into the territory of a JTM marshall but not as barky or open.

Channel 2 has the most delicous distortion sounds. The amp is voiced fairly dark, with pronounced lower mids, but it can be set either towards mid rangey 80's metal, classic rock or high-gain Nu-metal with ease by using the responsive EQ and Edge and Fat knobs on the back (like presence and resonance). Its very responsive to guitar choice in that way too. The way channel 2 and the drive switch works is awesome. Without the drive off its super crunchy, fat, full and articulate. Great for rythym but also gainful enough (especially at volume) to have singing sustainful solo's. Hit the drive on and its basically the same tone but more sustain and just wicked for searing leads. Its never mushy, buzzy or harsh in treble. It cuts nicely through a mix and is somewhat close to a Deizel Herbert, Bogner or Soldano SLO but definately has its own tone going on. The drive switch on channel 2 doesn't add much volume though so the second master volume will be needed for a solo boost. I dont use any overdrive or distortion pedals with this amp. The drive settings can be set differently for each channel.

The amp is quiet and works well at both bedroom levels and high volume. At volume it has the most awesome sustain, feedback and harmonics. Volume guitar roll-off is ok, nowhere near as good as old marshalls but very useable if you need to pull it back for some cleans in a song. I havr to give it a 10 for sound because I personally haven't played anything better and the more I play it the more it reveals its hidden colours.

Ive only owned it just over a year and had no problems. Its built very well, feels sturdy and uses top grade components.

I dealth with Peter and Jan from Elmwood directly and they are the nicest people. They are a small business and were helpful with any issues I had.

Ive been playing 20 idd years. Im just a hobbyist but own over 20 guitars and 4 decent amps of which this M90 is easily the most enjoyable and high end amp I own. I compared it with amps like Bogner, Deizel, VHT, Soldano, CAA and Suhr amps and glad I went with this little beauty. It seemed to have elements of all those amps in one compact package: It had the darkness of the Bogner Ubershall, the lead tones parralling SLO, the metal tones of the others and it was a channel switcher with a great master volume so I could play it high or low volume unlike a SLO. It's decievingly versatile, has gorgeous metal tones, which is mostly what I play, and damn it just looks cool and understated in the red birch with blue/purple lights. Its expensive for sure but well worth it!

2 channels, clean and distortion. Has footswitchable boost that can be used on either channel or both or neither. Has dual master volumes that are footswitchable so its easy to do a boosted solo. The normal bass mid treble and volume on each channel as well as gain and boost gain on the lead channel and boost gain and boost volume on the clean channel. Effects loop goes from 10% serial to parallel with the twist of the knob, not footswitchable though. Has presence and depth knobs on the back that affect both channels. All the basic are here and if you use the boost wisely, the amp acts like a 4 channel with each pair of channels sharing an eq section.

Amp is not noisey at all. Goes from clean to super high gain and actually does everything in between pretty well.

The clean tends to be a bit on the pushed side, which isn't a problem at all with normal pickups, but I use EMG actives and I have to keep the clean channel volume down a bit to keep it real clean. Sounds really nice however. Is it best in class, no. Is it better than 90% of the other high gainers out there, yes.

Clean with boost is really nice. This is a sound that most other high gainers simply do no do well. It goes from that right on the edge of clean breakup to good crunchy old school rock and makes you want to smile. Sounds wonderful. Reminds me of my Herbert's channel 2 in the minus position. The seperate boost gain on this setting is very nice also.

Lead channel is high gain, but not overly so. It'll hang with the other big boys in the sustain department, but isn't fizzy or harsh at all, yet retains a nice openness.

Lead channel with boost is liquid sustain for days. More of a greasy rubbery onslaught of aggression. Pretty versatile also. not hard to get real smooth distortion, but has a nice growl when needed. I would say this setting sits right between a Diezel Herbert's channel 3 and the Bogner Uberschall tone-wise. Very, very nice.

This amp sounds great from one end to the other. Hard to imagine anything else you'd need to cover the range.

I'd give it a 9.5 because nothings perfect, but can't honestly thinnk of anything else I'd need from an amp feature or tone wise.

Haven't had it real long, but seems to be built well.

Haven't contacted them, couldn't say. Wish there was more info and a more diverse range of clips out on the net for these things. The M60 is a little easier to find info about, but the M90 is a pain.

Great, great piece of gear, and to be honest, I've owned most if not all of the high end gear in this genre. The other amps I'm currently using are a Bogner Uber and a Diezel Hebert. This stands with either of those amps very well. Surpassing them in some ways and maybe falling slightly short in others. Trying to figure out which one of the 3 I should let go and that's no easy decision...

By the way, don't let the smaller size and slightly lighter weight of this amp fool you, she seems to be very well built. Also, keep in mind that the versatility of tone in this amp is second to none. Its amazing how this thing seems to do everything from clean to brutal gain and doesn't require any sacrifices in tone anywhere in the range.