Fuchs Audio Technology Overdrive Supreme Mod

No need to list the features as others have it well covered. Mine is a Traynor platform build using EL34's power tubes....pretty much loaded with all options.
In regards to the features...what I can say is,what is there is not a bunch of bells and whisles for looks...everything is very fuctional and usefull.I usually like the old school amps with less features...not in this case. Solid 10!

I have been using a two amp set up for a long time now(often three).Marshall jmp and a BF super(sometimes add a boogie). Most of what I play can be done on a BF Fender...but I carry a marshall for the rest.This amp has replaced the fender side of the rig plus adds the hot rodder fender sounds!!!I really could use this amp by it's self and be totally satisfied.
This is the first two channel amp that I have used that can give me two uncompromised channels...the clean is purely magical and can be twin clean or run with a bit of mild breakup...when switching to the overdrive,it's right where I want it...more of an extention of the clean rather than a revoiced lead channel.Plenty of gain...I never need that much.
The toggle switchs allow me to make some changes to play a variety of styles without tweaking knobs...once it is dialed in,I can simply flip a toggle!I find that really usefull when changing from a Strat to a LP...flip 2 toggles and thats it...no other adjusting.
This amp covers all the Texas blues stuff to carlton/Ford sounds better than anything I have owned...I have owned about all of them.You find EJ tones...Joe Bonamassa,Warren Haynes...it's all there.The only thing I don't hear is pure Marshall.So I still have one of those.
I own a varity of amps ...hey I like a lot of different sounds!If I needed to pick one amp ...hands down it would be the Fuchs.I it as close to the perfect amp as I will ever find!For the style of music I play and write this amp is the best fit.

Sure lookes like a hell of a build...The amp functions flawlessly and is very quiet.

Bought the Amp off ebay...have not need any support yet.

Hands down my favorite amp.It does everything I want it to do.If lost or stolen... I would have another in a heart beat.

It is a universal DR chassis that started out its life as a Torres piece of junk that was plain lousy. However, the irons were still good to use though. The amp was returned from Andy Fuchs & company in Dec 2005/Jan 2006.
It is now with all of the features of an ODS. 30 to 35-ish watts, (per Andy). T my request, with 4 X 6V6 power tubes. Half power, pentode / triode modes. A 2, 4, and 8 ohm out to speakers selector. Reverb.

I play Teles, Strats, cutom guitars with normal pickups and some with P-90's, and Mini HB's. No full sized HB's, however.
This Fuchs Mod is perfect for any occasion. It does the ODS thing perfectly. My fave being with half power (two 6V6's only) and in triode. With gain cranked up at 3:00 or better and master to about 10:00 it can get very loud. Gives up a very smooth distortion without the OD switched on. Almost a tweed/ BF feel. No mud. Great *** end. VERY nice. It's especially loud in pentode and all 4 6V6's kicked in. An in your face type of mojo. Stays together and clean without farting out. A real Blackface thing. It can push a 2 X 12 or 4 X 12 cab effortlessly.
This amp loves 12's. But it also likes 4 X 10's. The OD channel is more than I expected. Absolutely cool.

On a side note... For a while I did have the amp in its original 2 X 10 combo cab (which resembles a DR), but that cab did not help nor did it let the amp give up what it is capable of. Even with Grade A speakers. But, in a SR type 4 X 10 combo cab (made by Crusy Cabs) its sound is big!

The reverb is gorgeous sounding to me. The sound of the Fuchs reverb has a pretty and lush sounding trail at low settings. And at higher settings it is surfy. I really like it. It reminds me of some settings of my TC Electronics G Sharp.
Everything about this amp as far as features and sound quality goes is top notch.

Although the amp's life started out as an absolute crappy Torres "something", it is now a wonderful sounding work horse.
It has NOT failed. No back up needed.

Andy Fuchs is a straight shooter and a stand up guy. Contacting Fuchs was never a problem either by email or telephone. Andy understood my problems and knew exactly what it was I needed and wanted as far as features and sound was concerned. All of the people at Fuchs Audio were also polite and took the time to talk with me. These folks set the highest standards of "Class Act" in my book. I had the best experience in dealing with the Fuchs.
One more thing; I am NO famous recording star... Light years from being that. Just an average guy... But, I was treated with respect and I was NEVER given the brush off by the Fuchs and company. And THAT I will always remember! God bless the Fuchs.

This amp is so perfect for what it is and does that it is a tough act to follow. I have lots of other amps, but this one (and a Juke) are the amps I reach for. This Fuchs Mod amp will never leave me.

This is an update to my previous review of the Princeton ODS mod, with the new enhancements. The changes were:

1. New hardwood (mahogany / maple) cabinet from Sultone Amp Cabinets (I'll do a separate review of Sultone). The dimensions of the cabinet were increased to accomodate a 12" speaker and to provide an internal volume equivalent to a Deluxe Reverb. The width was kept the same, in order to fit the chassis, but the height and depth were increased.
2. Celestion Century speaker.
3. Mercury Magnetics Axiom output transformer (Deluxe Reverb size)
4. V3 and V4 Ruby tubes 12AX7s replaced with JAN Phillips 12AX7s (V1 and V2 were replaced with RCA 5751s before the first review).
5. JJ 6V6 tubes replaced with NOS Brimar 6V6s.
6. The internal gain trim pot was backed off to about a tenth (Andy sets it to between a third and half at the factory).
7. Monster speaker cable.

So now, the mod is probably pretty close to a Fuchs production model, with the exception of the aluminum chassis and power transformer (and, of course, the gain trim pot setting).

Since there were multiple changes, it is impossible to attribute improvements to any one factor.

I had previously rated this category as an 8, expecting to raise it to a 10 after the upgrades. I'm happy to say that this is completely off the scale now. Raising it to a 10 doesn't even begin to describe the improvements - the amp has improved by at least an order of magnitude!

The clean tones are even more gorgeous now - full bodied and bold, it responds to picking dynamics with a sensitivity that makes you want to watch your playing carefully! Any sloppy picking just comes right through. The 12" Century and the larger cabinet (I'm sure the hardwood has a lot to do with it) add a nice warm bottom end that just wasn't there before. I actually had to pull back the reverb a little bit. You can get such a great palette of tones by varying your picking, and if keep the Master below 11 O'Clock, it doesn't break up easily - and it is LOUD!

The most dramatic improvement, however, is the OD tone. The aggression is gone! There is now a broad variety of grinding tones all the way until the Input knob is set to 3 O Clock (this used to happen at 9 O Clock before), when it begins to sound like Carlos. In between is a delicious range of bluesy tones than literally sing as you crank up the Input knob. At about 12 O Clock, I get Larry's sweet singing tone from the Warmoth Soloist with EMGs, and a less grinding tone from the Warmoth Strat with Andersons. Picking dynamics here are nothing short of amazing - you can actually get a nice clean chord if you brush the strings, and a stinging growl if you dig in just a little; and a nice singing lead tone if you really pick hard. Unbelievable!

The FX loop sounds great now, definitely on par with the rest of the amp. This is most likely due to the V3 and V4 replacements - I think!

Right now, I cannot think of a better amp out there - for me anyway. As I mentioned before, I care even less now about trying to cop Larry's tone - even though I can - because this amp will push me to develop my own tone. My playing sounds so much like me - if that makes any sense! This is the first time I've been able to articulate licks like this.

Even though I've rated this a 10, I can honestly say that a 20 or 30 would be closer to the truth.

As usual, Andy was thoroughly helpful in providing information for the upgrades; and everything worked just fine. I must also point out that the gentleman who did the upgrades for me, Mike Kropotkin (KCA NOS tubes), did an exemplary job of not just all the technical work, but also listening to me and figuring out the type of sound I was after - and set the amp up exactly as I wanted.

This is truly an amp made for me.....hmmm...isn't that what Dumble does??

Granted, I've put in a fair amount of money into this; but I don't know what you'd compare this amp to. If it got stolen, I really couldn't replace it. To be honest, there's nothing about it I don't like any more. This is the perfect amp for me!

Without repeating details that the others have outlined so well, let me just say that this is the regular ODS mod, with a triode/pentode switch and reverb/FX loop added (the original Princeton was a non-reverb model). Features and flexibility are outstanding, however, the more I use the amp, the less I tend to use all its features. I have honestly found the triode/pentode switch to be less than useful. The lower power option (triode, I guess) wimps out the tone, to such an extent that I just don't use it. Andy re-tubed it with JJs - 12AX7s and 6V6s, and it came packed like a tank. Since the old iron stayed, the output is around 15 watts - a LOUD 15 watts at that! To honor the occasion, I did ask Andy to re-tolex and re-grille the old Princeton. The amp came in looking new, but I subsequently decided to get a hardwood cab made, slightly larger in size, so as to accomodate a 12" and provide Deluxe-level cab volume dimensions. I have yet to receive the cab, so I will submit an update when I do. Also intend to get the JJ 6V6s replaced with NOS Brimar 6V6s at the same time, so my update will cover two changes.

I have three guitars that I use pretty much equally - a Warmoth swamp ash Strat with Tom Anderson pickps, a Warmoth koa Soloist with EMGs (H/S/H, the Hs being 89s, which means you can get H and S out of it) and a Yamaha SA2200 (335 style). Like most ODS afficionados, I pattern my playing after Larry Carlton, although I'm not a Robben Ford or Santana fan. Stylistically, Larry and Lee are sort of what I think I go after.

First off, let me say that this is NOT a plug and play amp. It took me days of tinkering to hit the sweet spots, but its definitely worth the work. I have managed to find two general settings - one for the Warmoths and one for the Yamaha, and both work fine. The Warmoths get the Deep Switch on and the Low to 3 O'clock, while the Yamaha gets the Deep off, and the Low to 9 O'clock. I leave the Mid and High at about
11 O'clock for all guitars - this way, I do get a tonal difference, but well within the sweet range.

The Clean channel is, in my mind, really nice! Its not as lush as the '64 Deluxe Reverb I used to have, but its tighter and more focused. It responds so well to picking dynamics, with nicely varying tonal colorations without grinding - which I found more difficult to do with the Deluxe. I have to say that the reverb is just about perfect. It doesn't overwhelm, like Fender reverbs, but gives you just the right level of ambience for a mix. I'd say that Andy couldn't possibly improve the reverb any more, although I might be proved wrong!

The overdrive channel, well, is where my minor quibble is. In a word - aggressive! That said, I have yet to tweak the gain trim pot, so I will withhold final evaluation until then. You set the Input knob to 9 O'clock, and you're screaming, like Carlos - and I just don't like that tone very much. I have mine set to a little above 8 O'clock and its about what I like. I switched the V1 and V2 12AX7s to RCS 5751s in an attempt to tame the beast somewhat, but the change was barely perceptible. Notes to Andy, however, proved extremely helpful, and he pointed out that the trim pot is meant to address just this situation, and can be backed off to minimal gain. That, I think, will solve my problem, and give me more granular control within a narrower range . My update will cover that issue.

The FX loop, although not a disappointment per se, generices the amp to a point where I don't use it any more. Talk about sucking tone (not volume)! I am convinced that this is not the amp's fault. Rather, the basic tone of the amp is so superlative, that running the signal through any box - even the Lexicon MPX1 that I'm using - tends to degrade the tone. I wonder if this is why Larry mics his Dumble first, before routing the signal to an FX unit. Bottom line - Andy's reverb is plenty for me; the amp needs nothing else.

I'm going to give this section an 8 only because I fully expect to raise it to 10 once the new cab, speaker, tube change and gain trim pot back-off are part of the configuration. Lest there be any misunderstanding, though, this amp definitley delivers a golden tone; and any tonal limitations are entirely due to factors external to the amp itself - and will all be fixed soon.

The million dollar question - does it cop the Carlton tone? Oddly enough, even though that was the reason for getting this amp, I don't really care any more. It gives me MY tone; and I think this is the highest compliment you can pay. This amp has given me the inspiration to practice every single day and helps me express myself better than any amp I have ever owned.

Tough to tell for now. It hasn't left home and is babied quite a bit. But it looks very sturdy, and I doubt that there will be any long term issues - barring tube replacements and the like.

This is one area where you have to say..."off the scale"...

Andy was extremely helpful before I put in the order. He was very generous with his time in helping me pick the right platform, even evaluating ebay ads that I sent him. During the mod, he was great with his updates and responses. After I got the amp, he was excellent with his suggestions on getting a good tone. Even as recently as a couple of days ago, he was extremely gracious in responding to my questions about the planned attenuator (I want one!!!).

This is definitely NOT as mass-market operation, nor is it a dinky mismanaged one-man show. There is no doubt that Andy will be there should I need any help on this amp, or another product.

I've been playing for about 35 years, more seriously at some times than others. Right now, if something happened to the amp, I'm not sure what I'd do - this is such a unique piece of gear. As mentioned above, there are a few minor quibbles, all of which are about to be fixed. One other tonal factor, I'm sure, is the 10" Jensen (I believe) in the Princeton cab. I have nothing to compare it to, but I suspect it is one major weak link in the tonal chain, as is the small Princeton cab. My new cab will have a Celestion Century in it, so I imagine the amp will no longer be throttled.

Like I said before, although I initially got this to sound like Larry, it has made sounding like me so much more feasible.

I'm looking forward to the final enhancements, and I'll also include a review of Sultone Cabinets at the time.

It's a versatile amp. It's all been covered before.

I just wanted to skip everything else and go to this part. The fan is a little noisy. I think Andy should work on quieting the fan.
But the overdrive tone is exactly what I was looking for. It's very creamy and smooth. Great RF/LC tone.
However, the clean tone is bland. It just exists. It's not super clean. It's certainly not a Fender, or even close to it. I think AF should do something with the clean tone. It's a disappointment, especially for the money you pay.
Although the overdrive tone is a solid 10, yet I'm only going to give the rating a 7 here because of the cleans.

Seems to be OK.

AF is very helpful and supportive.

I've been playing for decades. It lacks in the clean tone department. If I found an amp that has the same overdrive tone but a better clean, I would have gotten it.

I've had this amp about four months now, and decided I'd wait for the honeymoon to end before reviewing it. This is a Fender 70's Bassman 100 modified to an Overdrive Supreme. It has two channels clean and dirty, and also has the studio power switch that cuts the power slightly and causes the amp to grind a little more. This to my ear only makes a slight difference in output and sound, but does add to the amps versatility. The other two switches are the brite switch (way to much treble for me), the deep switch (this one cuts the power and gain slightly), and the rock jazz switch that for me is a very useful feature. The jazz setting is mellower, and the rock switch increases the volume and gain on the distortion and lead channel. It also has a push pull mid-boost. This is a great for getting that creamy smooth distortion sound, and enhancing the sound of single coil pickups to give them a beefier sound.

I use a 1989 Eric Clapton Stratocaster. I play a variety of styles from Jazz to Country to Rock, and I feel that all of the amps features work well for the range of music my band plays. The clean sound is not really Fender sounding, but instead has very tight bottom end and more midrange. I have noticed it can get a little noisy at higher gain, but what amp doesn't. Also my guitar has Lace sensors that will and have always picked up a slight amount of buzz. It is a 100-watt amp and I only run it at about one quarter of the way up on the master and gain. I've also found that it gets really nice sounds at low volume for recording I am totally amazed with that. If you would like to hear it check out my website..... http://www.geocities.com/rockdawg1999/ listen to Phil's Boogie. All leads will be tracked with it eventually. This amp is not for metal but definitely can rock.

I always carry a POD with me for backup with no exception. That doesn't mean that I don't trust the amp it is just a good policy to have two of everything. I've had no problems with it, but that's the way it should be since it's only been alive for four months. I took the amp to a local tech for a half power switch, and he told me the front end of the amp-contained epoxy over some components so that one could not tell what parts were used. The tech stated this could be a problem if the amp had problems in that area and needed work especially if there was no schematic. I have not contracted Andy about this yet.

I ordered the 1X12" cabinet with a Fuchs/Eminence speaker voiced for the amp. (Highly recomend). When it arrived the tolex was curled slightly showing wood around the corners. I emailed Andy and suggested he use amp corners on the cabinets. He was very understanding about this, and sent me free amp corners that I installed. He responds quickly, and is very nice to deal with. I didn't tell him about the footswitch that had one light wired backwards, but I'm sure he would have fixed that immediately also.

I've been playing longer that I'd like to admit. I began playing when the Beatles came out, and have been playing in bands since. If it were stolen I'd probably try to get a new one but not a mod the actual Fuchs Overdrive Supreme. I like the sound of the overdrive

This is a Fuchs modified blackface tremolux head. Since I obtained it cheaply, and It had been previously modified, it seemed like a good candidate for one of Andy's Mods. It has his OD supreme topology, and with the original transformers,delivers an extremely conservative 35 watts. It has channel switching, pull switches for mid and gain boosts.It has Reverb,bright, deep and a rock/jazz switch.A very quiet fan provides cooling for the tubes.

I use a variety instruments including a Gibson 1957 goldtop reissue, a strat,Tele, 12string rickenbacker, SG, and ESP Ec1000. I am in an oldies band and a classic rock band, so the amp has to cover alot of territory-which it does with ease. After using the amp in a wide variety of venues I find it to be a suprisingly quiet amp-even in the overdrive modes. As with any amp, the speaker it is played through has a drastic effect on tone. I am currently playing it through a variety of cabs for different applications. I had Andy build a 1-15" open-back cab for a JBL D130F I had recently reconed. The clean sound is extremely nice with the JBL and the overdrive has an almost "allman"s quality. I also use it with a Marshall 4x12" cab with celestion G12H (30 watt) speakers. The celestions definately impart a slight british accent, but with the increased articulation you get from Andy's circuit. The clean channel stays clean,and while the distortion channel wont give you that 1000 angy bees tone, it will get plenty aggressive if set up that way.

I have used the amp regularly on many gigs. It reliably continues to give me great sound!

Andy is very helpful(and knowledgeable) and delivers the goods. He is very straightfoward and honest about what you can expect to get out of his modded amps.(I can't wait to get a production OD Supreme 100 watter!!)Any also gives good support for repairs and warrants the amp fairly.

I have been playing for 36 years. I have owned, and still do, some of the finest amps including Marshall,Hiwatt,Ampeg,Sound City, Simms-Watts,Fender. Yes, i would buy another, and I am actually planning to do so! The only thing I wish I could have on my next is tremelo!

This is a mod of an early 70's Traynor YGM3. I pulled the chassis and sent it to Andy to mod. I believe this is one of the few EL84 amps he's done and it came out spectacular! This is the 2nd second amp I've had Fuchs do for me (see below regarding the Bassman mod). As such, I had a very specific understanding of what I wanted the amp to be. In addition to the standards, it has Triod/pentode switching, gain boost & mid boost (both accessible via toggle switches next to the high-low-mild/wild toggles) and reverb and effects loop. A footswitch accesses channel switching and the mid boost. The only thing I wish it had sometimes is a separate set of EQ's for each channel. Other than that it's exactly what I want for versatility and ease of use while playing.

I LOVE THIS AMP!! a bold statement perhaps but it really came out wonderful. I re-constructed the combo when the chassis came back from Andy and it has an excellent retro vibe look to it. I tried a WHOLE bunch of different speakers and settled on a older UTAH ALNICO 12". All the speakers I tried worked nicely with the amp but the UTAH is perfect. I mainly use Andersons (singles and HB's) and I cross over into a lot of different styles. The Fuchs can capture just about any sound I'm searching for. The clean channel has a nice thick "spankyness" to it and the OD just sings! The amp is dead quiet at almost any setting. I have a WHOLE lot of fun playing this amp.

I've not had it back for very long but ANDY's work is quite exquisite. It would be hard to break someting done this well.

You walk away with the strong impression that Andy Fuchs wants to do right by his work. I have really enjoyed working with him on this amp.

This is my second Fuch's and while the 1st one was fantastic, this one is better! This probably WON'T be the last Fuchs I invest in..... (provided I stay on my wifes good side. ;-)...)Highly recomended stuff.

I sent Andy a late 60's Traynor YBA-1 head for his Overdrive Supreme mod. The amps great tranny's make it a natural for this, as you can read elsewhere. The amp features include Master Volume, Treble,Mid,Low,OD Pre, OD Post,Volume and Presence knobs. There are toggle switches for brite/normal, bass boost, jazz/rock and there are pull pots for mid boost (Robben Ford sound)and bass boost. The reverb knob is on the rear of the chassis since the Traynor face is too narrow. There is reverb through a solid state driven Accutronics pan. The amp runs a pair of EL34's for power and three 12AX7's for preamp. I am very pleased to say I can get nice shimmering clean tones to warm overdrive to over the top, sustaining forever sounds, extremely versatile.

Here's why I love this amp so much. I use a wide variety of guitars for different styles including jazz, blues, hard rock, surf, you name it. This amp is literally the only one I've ever owned that sounds great will all my guitars and different types of pickups. I use a Strat, Tele, Gretsch 6120, Heritage H575 with Harmonic Design Z90's, Hoyer Jazz box with floating DeArmond, Reverend Slingshot with P90's and Hamer SATF with Gibson 57's. The amp doesn't favor one over another and really lets each guitars nuances come through rather than a lot of high gain amps that sound the same regardless of what's plugged in. The string articulation and note definition of the Fuchs is where it really sets itself above the rest. You can play complex chords even in overdrive mode and hear every note. I use it with a Jenkins Sound Shop 1x12 cab loaded with an EVM12L, so the speakers efficiency doesn't interfere with the amps own tone. With the Strat and the Overdrive section set at 9Oclock for the pre and the post dimed I can get a great bluesy grind without being buzzy, very warm and smokey. With the Hamer and the pre turned up to 11 or 12 noon you're solidly in Marshall territory, but with more eq control and clarity. The presence knob really works well with buckers, adding a glassiness and clarity that you just can't get anywhere else. The reverb has a great natural sound, you'd never know it was SS and a short pan. It sounds more natural that a Fender, less boingy. In jazz mode with the Hoyer or Heritage it's fat and clean with enormous headroom and warmth. Did I say this thing was versatile???!!! But don't think it's one of those amps that tries to be all things yet excels at none. It really makes no compromises in any sound. Since I've started using the Fuchs I've retired my other amps, this is the last word for me.

Andy is a master builder coming from the school of hi-end audio and his work is top shelf. You need only take a look at the interior of one of his amps to know that it will outlast you.

I've traded dozens of emails with Andy and he's been great. Very patient with my requests and very helpful with his descriptions. He's a class act.

Like I said, I'm a tone freak and have been for almost 20 years. I buy the best to sound the best. This amp is the final word in my search for an amp that can do everything and do it without compromise.

My Fuchs (see www.fuchsaudiotechnology.com) was a JCM800 50 watt, 2204 head (made in 1987) and it?s a great platform for his mod/re-build, as they can be found fairly cheap (although prices have been rising). I?ve had my Fuchs for over a month now and feel comfortable enough to offer this review and hope this will provide some useful information. Total cost for my mod was $879 plus shipping to Fuchs (he pays for the return). Andy puts in his proprietary board that is very close to a *umble design. Andy retains the chassis/box and transformers and installs his own printed circuit board and other components. I ordered the Overdrive Supreme mod with reverb/FX loop, triode/pentode switch on the back panel (for dropping the power level to about ? - also gives a smoother tone), and pull mid boost (on the treble/high control) for the R. Ford type fatness. You get two footswitch-able channels: clean and drive. You need to provide your own footswitch or buy his optional footswitch; I just use a switch that I had from a Peavey Classic 50. The 2-button switch also controls the reverb on/off and you can switch channels from a pull pot on the Drive Master control. I decided to go with the original Marshall Drake trannys but he will install premium ones if you want to go that extra mile. All the tubes/switches remained chassis mounted so there?s actually a lot of hand wiring going on in this amp. He does great work and it looks very sturdy. The component quality looks good but not super high end, the pots are cheap looking and the pull pot shafts are kinda wobbly and seem fragile but hopefully will be fine. They?re not Clarostat or Bournes. I guess you get all high-end components when you buy one of his custom amps (hence the difference in price!). This amp has a control set up like a Cr*umble, from right to left: Input jack, Gain, Bright switch, Deep switch, Rock/Jazz switch, High, Mid, Low, overdrive IN (sets amount of drive), overdrive OUT (overdrive level), Master volume (for both channels), a traditional Presence control (his custom amps have a ?Voice? control), and footswitch jack. The tube buffered FX loop send/ return and reverb control is on the back panel. The Send/Return controls are pull switches for line level or pedal FX and series or parallel operation. I haven?t used the FX loop much except to plug in a delay pedal one time (sounded good) as I usually plug straight in and use a touch of reverb. The reverb sounds great. It?s not a true tube driven unit but it is tube buffered. The only complaint I have is that if you run it too high you get a hum that can get pretty annoying. Andy said this was due to the proximity of the tank to the transformers. He mounts the small tank to the top of the amp chassis. Maybe it would?ve been better to mount it to the inside top of the cab to get it away from the trannys but I think there are other considerations he has to deal with when doing a mod. It is a great sounding unit though and at low settings (which will give most folks plenty of Reverb) the noise isn?t noticeable. One of the cool things I like is that you can bias each output tube individually with an internal trim adjustment. This handy because you can get top performance with each tube, and for the fact that you may start out with a set of tubes that are matched pretty close but they?ll drift over time. This control will allow you to make adjustments say 3 or 4 months later and set them back to the 30 ma Andy recommends. There?s also a ?hum balance? control on the inside top of the chassis. No mention of this in the supplied manual but I guess it?s self explanatory ? set it for the least amount of hum! Also the amp looks great, he made a new gold plexi face plate for the front to keep the Marshall look and retained the Marshall knobs. His Fuchs logo was reverse inlaid into the faceplate in reflective plastic and is subtle and tastefully done. You have to look twice to notice it?s not a regular Marshall.

One extra note: be pre

I use Les Paul Standards, Strats and Teles and play mostly blues and old classic rock. I need to have at least one amp that can be adjusted for a lot of great shades of overdrive and clean tones at different volume levels and this amp really delivers. For reference, I had an EL-34 Shiva combo (actually two of ?em ? one with reverb, one without) but I couldn?t get the drive channel adjusted to have a clean-ish, edge of distortion type of drive. If you set the drive real low I felt that a lot of tone was lost (people will differ with me on this opinion I?m sure). The Shiva is a great sounding amp but just seemed a little narrow in its range of sounds. The Fuchs has an almost infinite amount of great in-between sounds without losing tone because you can vary the amount of signal being fed from the input to the drive channel. You can set up the drive channel to be pretty darn clean to get that edge of overdrive happening. I?ve read some threads where folks have said that the Fuchs is too compressed sounding. I found that you could set it up that way if you want, as there is a lot of gain available. You have to realize that there?s a lot going on during the early rotation of the Gain and overdrive IN (drive) controls so you have to be careful not to set ?em too high or you?ll squash your tones (you may WANT squash, I don?t know). I set my input Gain control between 9:00 to 10:00 depending on guitar. This gives a good balance for setting the clean and overdrive tones. Also, there is an internal trim pot to feed overdrive input gain to the drive channel ? it?s set at the factory at about 1/3 rotation but I played with it a bit and ended up setting it close to the factory setting but just a hair hotter. I can?t see myself running the overdrive IN gain past halfway, it?s usually only about 10:00 or 11:00. As you can see, this is not a plug and play amp. You gotta work it baby, it?s very flexible and designed to have a lot of tonal range. Set up right it?s very touch sensitive and cleans up real well when you back down the gain. This amp will get loud and it has retained the Marshall thump. It is not noisy at all except for the Reverb hum noted above. Even higher gain settings are pretty quiet. I can get great vintage-style smooth Marshall tones out of it and my Strats sound wonderful on the clean channel. Not quite as complex as some amps on the clean side but very cool. There are better amps if you just want clean tones. Right now I?m running it through a Mesa wide-body, 1x12 cab right now and I?m trying various speakers (Vintage 30, G12-M70, Carvin, etc.) trying to find the best match but they all honestly sound great.

Although I don?t have a Dumble or Two Rock to compare it with, this puppy does the R. Ford tone for me. I believe it?s as close as I?ll ever get to a ?rhymes with Fumble?! I don?t think you can touch it for the price and performance. Lets see? $900 to mod my old Silverface or $11,000 for a M*umble? Unless you?re Bill Gates, go with the former. Now I?ve got to shut up and play my guitar.