Product: Fab Amp CM16 Head
Price Paid: US $340.00
Submitted
08/03/2003
at
10:14pm
by
Rockwell
Email: dereel95 at msn<dot>com
Features
:
4
This is a second review.
Sound Quality
:
6
The basic clean is not bad. The 2nd channel is very compressed and not that useable IMO.
Reliability
:
5
After spending more time with this amp I would be afraid not to have a backup. There is a lot of static lately, the controls and swithes are cheap, and when tweaking knobs, they are not consistent. What I mean by that is you can turn a knob 1/8-1/4 turn and nothing happens. Then as I keep turning there will be a jump in volume/tone.
The enclosure is very cheap and I looked under the chassis and the power cord is tied in a Knot instead of having a clamp to prevent cord from being pulled out of chassis.
Customer Support
:
5
I doubt there will be any...Don't know for sure.
Overall Rating
:
3
I finally got smart and bought a Peters JP-10. It is a Super amp. The Fab is very average and built extremely cheap. I knew it wasn't going to be the best amp around and I have gotten some use out of it.It will mostly sit in my basement and be there for anyone who needs something to play through. I would not buy another one...ever!
Product: Fab Amp CM16 Head
Price Paid: US $340.00
Submitted
04/26/2003
at
12:16pm
by
Rockwell
Email: dereel95 at msn<dot>com
Features
:
9
This is a 16 watt single EL34 power tube 2 channel Hiwatt DR103 clone
Channels are footswitchable and the amp runs very quiet. It has a diode clipper which allows you to overdrive the amp at low volume.(Very nice feature) I custom ordered it which is a very appealing feature when ordering a Fab amp.I got what I wanted and nothing else, so I didn't have to pay for features I will never use. It also has a 3-way compression switch for toneing the extreme highs. 16 Watts is plenty for me plus a nice pedal board and an Avatar 2x12 vertical cabinet w/Greenbacks. Plenty of volume and tone.
Sound Quality
:
10
I play an Am.series Strat w/Delta tones. I play classic rock, blues, and an occasional original. The A channel is very clean without the clipper on. I've got a Holygrail on my board but I find I rarely use it.The B channel has more gain and does the clean/slight overdrive lead well. The CM16 handles everything on my pedal board silently...except when I'm using my Clyde Deluxe Wah w/distortion or fuzz. Then ther is a little noise...very little. This is not a high gain amp but there is plenty of tube overdrive to get that classic rock sound.Now this is a clone of a 100 watt Hiwatt, and I have never played through one so I will not say it sounds like a Hiwatt but I will say the pick response is excellent. You can crunch the tone very easily by picking harder and also by bending the strings. Lots of possibilities for tone change with this amp.
Reliability
:
No Opinion
I have only had it for a couple of months. It looks very well built and has never given me reason to think I couldn't rely on it.
Customer Support
:
10
Rob is a very out going and helpful person. I have no worries about him not dealing with any problems.
Overall Rating
:
9
I have been playing for 31 years, mostly accoustic.I started playing electic about 3 years ago. I have a Fender Pro Tube Twin Amp which is forsale. I have owned 8 amps in the 31 years. I really do like Fender's but I am sold on this Hiwatt clone. The only negative about this amp is the appearance. However if you consider I got a class A tube amp for $340.00 I really can't complain about the appearance. I have modded it a little and it is satisfactory. I have been seeing pics of newer Fab amps and the looks are improving a lot.
