Fab Amp Fab Fox/SVT8 Combo

One of Fab's earlier builds from Dec. 2002.
Ampeg SVT preamp; 5-6 watts class A output, going to class A/B up to 8 watts max, via a single JJ6L6GC power tube, a Mullard 12AX7 in preamp V1, and a NOS 12AX7 in V2. Preamp tubes were hand picked by the builder for low noise, which was one of my primary needs for this amp (for recording); Ultra heavy 1/8" aluminum chassis with brushed aluminum faceplate sporting chicken head knobs; all components point-to-point wired with no printed circuit boards; 8" Eminence Alpha100 watt speaker, all in a nice looking lacquered pine plywood cabinet.

Standard features on this model at the time -
*Footswitchable Boost, (any boost switch pedal will work,but doesn't come with the amp);
*Extension speaker jack with switchable impedence for 4 or 8 ohms.
*Separate Gain and Master volumes *Bass & Treble EQ knobs
*Ultra Low switch *Bright switch *Standby switch
*Footswitch jack on front faceplate
*Single instrument input jack on front faceplate

Additional features I had added during the build -
*Slave out jack on back of chassis (N/C, may be standard now)
*Diode clipping switch on front of faceplate ($10)
*The Eminence Alpha100 speaker ($30)
*Active effects loop (instead of passive, $10)
These extras raised the total cost of the amp to $180.

This review is in addition to other articles I put together during my introduction and education with this amp. Some can be found in the archives of HC amp forum (search for Fox or id-man), and Rob has some posted on his web site too (http://fabstuff.home.attbi.com/). There are a couple sound clips there too.

My guitars are an American Strat (3 stock single coils, 5 way switching), and a DeArmond M75 (with dual DeArmond goldtone humbuckers). This amp lets the distinctive sound of both guitars come through clearly. In fact, I only played the Strat for the first few weeks, exploring the tonal versatility of the amp...when I got around to trying the Dearmond, I was shocked how the amp completely changed personality in response to it. (in a good way). My needs for this amp were low wattage so I could crank it to full power tube saturation without blowing out my windows, and low noise for recording in an environment surrounded by computers and rack gear. It hits that mark beautifully. This amp is dead silent when the guitar's strings are not vibrating, and at full roar, I can easily be in the same studio room with it.

With the Strat, this amp can be pegged for a fairly mild, blues overdrive that's highly responsive to pick attack, pushing over into a slightly heavier classic 70s rock crunch when hit hard, yet still cleaning up great by easing your attack and rolling back the guitar's volume. With the DeArmond it is way heavier, breaking up very early, and netting some great compressed ZZ Top, LaGrange funk when cranked. Still, this is no high gain or metal machine. If you want that, order it with a different preamp. (there's about 12 to choose from)

So, after playing the crap out of this amp for a full month, till I could find all it's sweet spots blindfolded, I decided to try some pedals with it. Now, my pedals are nothing special, ranging from ok to gag me. And there are definitely combinations of pedals that do not work well together - on any amp, and I found a few of those. But I'm also persistant, and made some surprise discoveries in the process. I have a chain worked out that nets me quite an arsenal of tones; guitar/Arion SCO-1 compressor pedal/Tech21 Tri-OD/Zoom 405II (just for reverb)/Fab Fox/Voodoo Labs Sparkle Drive in the effects loop.

The things that surprised me in that setup are the reverb going in FRONT of the amp, and the Sparkle Drive going in the loop. It should have worked better the other way around, but my ears said no. I leave the Zoom reverb on at all times and can choose from about 5 different presets, slight to super wet, to slapback delay. The Sparkle Drive is only used as a clean boost in the loop, and it performs magic there, allowing a big fat thickening of the EQ as well as a substantial volume increase if needed, without clipping. The Sparkle Drive, the Compressor and the Tri-OD are only used one at a time. The Compressor can add a lot of high-gain by slamming the preamp - this is so cool, and is demonstrated in one of the clips on Rob's site. The Tri-OD is an amp sim that is not intended to be used this way. But it sure works! I leave the clean (tweed) channel turned off to use as a bypass, and have the California and British channels set for fairly high gain. In addition to totally changing the EQ, they act like an extra gain stage to the preamp, pulling off a very convincing Mesa and Marshall vibe. What excites me about this setup is the Fox still sounds just like it should when all effects are disengaged. Truth is I play it un-effected most of the time (except for the reverb). Having all those other options available at the step of a button is a real treat.

Only owned it 7 weeks at this point, so I won't put in a number value.
However, Rob did state to me he'd back this machine for life, as part of an introductory offer for purchasing an unknown amp, and in appreciation for some sound clips I posted for him. He's totally confident of the quality and ratings of all the components, that this is overbuilt to the point of being a tank. And I am equally confident that, should a problem arise, he would more than take care of it.

Ever get a phone call from an amp manufacturer? I have. Once during the build, to confirm the features one last time, and once a month after I received the amp, to check in on how it was performing, and see if I had any questions. This was in addition to numerous emails to keep me posted of progress and answer my endless questions. I have witnessed him numerous times, dispense technical advice and share other resources to the enthusiasts and amp builing hobbyists on the HC Amp forum. You can just tell Rob will be there for you, thick or thin.

Mostly an acoustic guy, I have only been playing electric guitar for about 3 years. This is my third tube amp. The others are a Fender Pro Jr (15 watt tube) and a Peavey Triumph 120 (120 watt tube). If you can see a trend here, I started out at a plaster crumbling 120 watts, dropped to 15 watts that was still too loud, and finally have a piece of gear I can live with. Next amp would have to be even smaller and you can bet it will be a Fab. Rob has a 5 watt that works off twin EL84s in triode, and even a 1.5 watter that has me jonesing already. I hate to label any review by disclaiming it as good 'for the price', but $180??? get outta here! This amp would rock at many times that price. If this was a $1200 amp I would rate it a 7 and feel it should have done more. But for $180 it ranks a rating of 20, far beyond a fantastic value.