Fuchs Audio Technology Overdrive Modification

This review is for a Super bassman I had modded about 6 month ago. I had been playing the big bucks German modeling amp that starts with a "z", and while those are great amps, i was looking to get into a more organic tubey sound. This amp has 2 channels (shared EQ) with gain boost, and mid boost as well as 3 switches described below.
I have the 1/2 power, pentode-triode , and the artist package which is a 4 switch footpedal which remotely controls channel select, reverb on/off, boost, and mid-boost (great for using strats) also on the amp are switches to control the rock/jazz gain settings, deep (great for playing straight ahead jazz) ,and bright/ normal. Also, i ordered mine with the tube buffered effects loop with series /parallel switching, gain pots, and trim.
It would be nice to have 2 discrete channels, but Andy now has the tripledrive, if you got the bucks, he's got the amp for you, no doubt. his amp is BRUTAL loud, but that's great, because i got headroom for miles for doing the jazz stuff.

This amp is HANDS DOWN the best amp i have ever owned, i play jazz with my archtop,
funk and rock with my strat w/Kinmans, and blues/fusion with my heritage prospect, and this puppy carries them mail with all of 'em, no kidding. I recently did a gig with a funk/smooth jazz band, and did the Carlton stuff on the 1st set, then got out the archtop and was amazed at how clean and natural it sounded. That's what's great about these amps. functional simplicity that sounds great. Gonna play jazz, switch on the jazz switch DUH, even i can figure that out! You can get a beautiful mellow grind with the jazz switch on and the lead gain just barely on, master turned up, it'll make your hair stand up!
The lead channel is stunning, no kidding. I have NEVER heard any 12ax7 fizz coming from this amp, no harshness whatsoever. don't be fooled, though these amps can scream if gain is what you want. the thing about this gain is it's musical sounding gain, NO UGLY FIZZ!!
The Gain channel is another example of the functional simplicity found in this amp. You can get just a hint of grind clean up to shredville just by changing 2 knobs, no kidding, that simple. The Eq settings really are pleasing to work with, they interact with each other very pleasantly and musically. I have heard some big bucks amps that sound dreadful if you tourn the wrong knob too far, none of that here. I know tha "10" is the favorite rating on HC, but this is a no brainer giving this amp a "10" unless you like amps that sound crappy, then you would probably give it another rating, YUK YUK!

Andy and co. built these like tanks, so I don't think i will have any problems. I recently had a tube crap out, i emailed him over the weekend, and he CALLED me, try getting service like that from one of the big production houses!
Other than tubes, i don't expect to have any issues, i have some buddies who also own these, and i have never heard of any issues, at all.

This amp was a month long process, we spoke frequently while it was getting built, and Andy was super at answering my numerous emails. after 3 months ago, i sent it back to get the artist switching package installed, and it was done promptly, no problem.
Andy is a SUPER guy to deal with, as well as his entire staff, i have spoke to his techs before, and they always take the time to answer my questions. A+ for sure.

I have been playing for 30+ years. I own a Zion radicaster with Kinmans, a Yamaha Ae1200S (L5 knockoff), and a heritage prospect with Lollar Imperial Humbuckers (Lollars RULE!!), and it sounds great with them all, each guitar's character shines through,i have owned a lot of amps and i can't say i have had anything close to this puppy.
If it was stolen, i would have to give my wife a zanex, and order a tripledrive from andy, after i bought a big mean bloodhound and tracked down DA FOO who done took it in the first place!
If you buy one of these, expect the "duh, what?" from other guitar players while you're gigging. (thanks Andy for that saying). Almost every gig, i get a confused looking guitar player staring at the head in disbelief. Trust me, i'm no Frank Gambale yet, so i know it's coming from the MONSTA tone coming at them.

The modification platform was an 80's JCM 800 2x12 50 watt combo I bought specifically for this modification. Andy Fuchs did this for me in early 2000.

The modification creates a circuit inspired by the *umble *verdrive *pecial amp, and the controls for the amp reflect this as well.

Features (I understand this is his basic modification, with other
features available):

50 watts, with four power stages. Switchable series/parallel FX loop
with 0/-20db switch and send/receive levels. Pull bright, rock/jazz
toggle, deep and OD. OD trim. Gain, high, mid, low, OD-in, OD-out,
master, presence. Triode/pentode switch, low/high power switch,
on/off/standby.

The amp has two channels, (clean and overdrive), switchable from a footswitch that you must provide.

I think the amp is as full-featured as an amp you want to use for live performance can be--and is probably too featured for many. I've got the amp set up at a rehearsal studio, and have seen lots of people use it. I almost invariably have to walk them through the amp controls--but once it's dialed in, you should see their eyes light up.

I use the amp for blues, rock, funk, jazz-funk, and fusion. It has more than enough versatility to sound authentic in each of those genres, yet it retains it's distinctive voice.

Since the amp originally was a 50 watt Marshall, I've found that it has ample power for me.

Guitar config: H/S/H alder body/maple neck with SD '59 double screws,
w/coil splits when combined with Suhr V60 in middle position; H/S/H swamp ash body/maple-rosewood neck with Suhr humbuckers, w/same coil splits. 500k pots on both guitars. Master volume, master tone, humbucker blend.

When the gain is up, the amp can tend to hiss a bit. Also--and perhaps this is just the wiring of the studio it's in--when the gain and OD-in are up, it's prone to picking up radio stations. Andy says that shouldn't happen, but see below (in the reliability section) for more details.

Because of the Marshall transformers, and the Celestion speakers in the combo, the amp has a distinct mid-range character to it. I'm out of the "Fender" clean sound tradition, and I had to figure out how to dial that mid-range out. I didn't quite eliminate it, but after a few sessions I actually started liking it a bit. I use the #4 and #2 "quack" positions on the guitar a lot, and the guitar has more "body" through this amp than they do through a Fender. I like it.

The overdrive channel kills me. I absolutely love it. Eric Clapton "Cream" / Eric Johnson pure woman tone? Oh, yeah. At lower OD-in and gain settings, very Robben Ford-ish. Put a little delay in the effects loop, and all I can say is "aye, carumba."

UPS beat the crap out of the amp on its way to me from Andy's shop in NJ. The speaker baffle was knocked loose on one side, and one of the speakers was hanging by a single screw. A tube socket was knocked loose, and various other parts inside the chassis were loose. I spent the first week just worrying the thing back together.

I seem to have put it back together OK. I'm not sure that the RFI I can get at higher gain/OD-in settings isn't a byproduct of the treatment the amp got at the hands of UPS, though.

It's a very complicated circuit, as amps go. While I'm comfortable enough with it, particularly given that it still works after what UPS did to it, a few pro musicians that have tried the amp have said that they'd definitely need to carry two of them if they gigged with it. (I note that they're referring to the modification rather than the amps that Andy builds from scratch.)

Here's where Andy Fuchs shines.

Andy takes pride in his work. I'm sure the last thing he wanted to hear was that the amp arrived in pieces, but he didn't hesitate to let me know he'd make it right no matter what. He would have rebuilt it gratis if need be. There was none of this, "Gee--I guess you need to submit a UPS claim. Good luck. See ya!" He was clearly heartsick that the amp wasn't getting off to a good start with me, way out of proportion to the $500 I'd just paid him.

He returns e-mail and phone calls within a day, often within an hour or so. Remarkable, considering how busy he is. And he's ALWAYS absolutely pleasant to deal with.

This HAS to be the best deal going in tube amplification. A fantastic sounding amplifier--all for the cost of an amp to use as a modification platform and current pricing at about $500+ (depending on features) in parts and labor. Delivery took about six weeks (I understand it's longer now, due to backlog as word gets around).

I compared this amp with a Two Rock Amethyst Special 50 that I owned for about six weeks. No comparison in the value department, and I found Andy's amp to be infinitely more usable and practical to own.

I can't think of a better value anywhere in tube amplification. The
sound is beyond first class--it's an inspiring amp to play. I'm having him modify a Bandmaster head for me now, and will probably order one of his built-from scratch heads after that. I could not be happier with the sound of this amp.

I was searching for the ability to produce a jazz-rock-blues guitar sound like Robben Ford and Larry Carlton, and my search landed me on alt.guitar.amps. I studied a longtime flamewar and many postings (both positive and negative) by others, regarding the mods of a Fuchs Audio Technology. A visit to their website revealed a small company run by Andy Fuchs, who's specialty is designing and building tubed audio gear. His specialties include audiophile (fanatics of the highest order) who enjoy fully tubular audio systems in their homes. They even use tubed CD players and DAC's (d/A converters).

Among other things, Andy makes a way-cool tube headphone amplifier, builds custom audio amps for audiophiles and studios. While he builds from scratch, he also uses the "guts" of older classic products from Citation,Dynaco,Fisher, and others, to produce outstanding tube amps which feature tube and solid state regulated power supplies, premium components, and a nice attention to detail of packaging and ciruit designs.

The amp I had built,was originally a plain-jane JCM-800 Marshall from the 80's, when I played arena rock. While it was a great rock amp, it could never nail the Carlton and Ford tones I wanted as a mature player who no longer played much rock.

Andys mod cost me $ 599.00 , which was $ 499.00 for the basic two channel clean/dirty mods, plus an active FX loop. Besides nailing the Dumble tones in spades, Andy pays specific attention to the power amp section. You can (using both clean or dirty preamps) drive the output stage into overdrive as well, which Dumble and many other amps of that type do not allow. Dumble uses a large amount of feedback to make sure his output stage stays clean (so Im told, I'm not real technical).

Andy provides a couple of switches that switch the amp from triode to pentode (which gives half power and a warmer sound), and an RMS pot, which was like the Sundown Amps had years ago. These patents expired, and he can allow power from 100 to 5% of the total. If the amp is a 100 watt amp, you get another switch, which takes you into another step as well, which gives you 100 50 pentode,50 triode (very different responses),and the variable RMS.

The controls are just like the Dumbles I've seen: Input gain (no FET input unless you want one for another $ 75.00, good for transducers and the like I'm told) which serves clean and dirty channels, treble, middle bass, rock/jazz,deep/bright/and boost. The overdrive has an internal trimmer (on the rear panel), which allows you to control the feed from the clean channel, when it drives the boosted one. The OD section has input and output level controls. The amp has a master volume (which controls everything) and a control Andy calls the "voice". This is like combining the Peavey "resonance" pot with a real nice presence pot, on one shaft. You can tune the whole output stage character with this pot.

The amp has manual or footswitch control of channel switching and boosts. You supply the pedal (the Sovtek dual pedal works nicely for me).

The amp has adequate power for my use. I play in weddings, and a blues band, and find (using a 2 X EV12L cabinet), that I have ample clean and dirty sounds.

Andys a nice guy to deal with, and stands behind his mods.

I use an 90's Fender Photoflame Strat (Stock), a 80's Ibanez Artist and a 1969 Gibson ES-345 as my main axes. I absolutely love the clean and dirty tones of the amp. When using a bridge pickup or the start bridge/middle combo, the amp has a sweet singing sustain. The ability of the amp to go from a mild rhythm edge, to a full tilt phat lead tone with the volume on my guitars, has made me much more aware of using the guitars controls than I had ever been before.

It's very low noise. Anytime I thought I had noise problem, it always turned out to be a cable or the guitar doing it. (I understand an AC line filter is available for $ 30.00 additional from Fuchs Audio, but I get this from my AC strip, so I didn't opt for it).

The clean channel can be made dirty through careful settings of the output power ranges and the RMS pot. The distortion is excellent. It can be pushed over the edge with a good footpedal like a Roland Blues Driver or similar booster. I like the TC boost pedal, as it's got pure
gain and tone controls as well. I like the fact that the EQ is active when the overdrive is operating. I also like the range of the controls and their points of operation. They operate like the Dumbles, in that you never seem to need alot of twisting to get sweet tones. I feel as if I am just scratching the surface of the capbilities of the amp, in the few weeks I have it.

I've barely had this amp a month or so, but it's proven to be regged, and reliable during that time.

I was skeptical about a transaction this "major" on the web, but was very happy with the results. Warrantee is one year P & L , which includes a re-voicing at no charge (one time you pay freight to/from). I can't imagine changing the sound of the amp .

Andy responds to e-mail quickly and without technospeak or mountains of BS.

I'm planning to do another amp in the future. Considering I won't be able to afford a Dumble unless I win the lottery (if I can find one then anyway), it's a F_cking steal.