Guytron GT100 Head

The features are all clearly noted in previous reviews. Mine is a used GT-100. I went to the local music store looking at a Soldano to potentially replace my Bogner Ecstacy 101b. As I was leaving, unsatisfied, one of the guys said, "have you ever played a Guytron?" No. I look at this simple amp and think, this is going to suck. WRONG. I could not believe the sound quality and tonal range of this amp. It is the anti-Bogner. While the Bogner has more little switches and dials than you could EVER figure out (it took me days after I bought my Ecstacy to find decent tones on each channel), the Guytron simply rocks on either channel when you turn it on. It doesn't need a bunch of features. It just sounds great.

I mostly play a Tom Anderson Cobra S, but also have an older Ibanez with a Duncan in the bridge and guitar that I put together from a BC Rich body, ESP neck and an EMG-81. The Guytron sounds good with each guitar, but is especially impressive with the Anderson. Simply changing pickups on the Anderson yields a totally new and exciting sound from the Guytron.

My biggest complaint about the Bogner was the weak clean channel. For over 3 grand, you should get a world class clean sound. The Guytron has a beautiful clean that has the warmth and deepth of any Fender I've played. The distortion is fantastic. It doesn't try to get grungy with a harsh static sound. Instead it has real harmonic range and clarity, better than Bogner, better than Soldano, better than Boogie. What has impressed me more than anything is the unbelievable sustain when playing leads. I've never heard an uneffected amp hold notes better, especially at low volumes. The other telling factor is how easily you can pop an artificial harmonic anywhere on the guitar at any volume. Simply amazing.

I've only had it for a week, but was moved to write this review (my first on harmonycentral) because the amp is so damned nice. I bought it used and it seems to be in great shape.

Have not dealt with the company (Guy).

I've been playing for about 15 years. I started off with something that was like a speaker from Sears, then a Peavey Bandit, then Fender, then Rivera, then Boogie, then Bogner, now Guytron. Each amp was a step forward toward finding a great amp that delivers both clean and dirty sounds that I love. I think the Guytron is it. I can't imagine finding a better amp. I always felt like the other amps were missing something, even the night I brought my Bogner home, I thought that it wasn't quite as wonderful as I wanted it to be (all those damned dials and switches!) and it never got there.

If I lost this amp somehow, I would certainly buy another. I have the matching 2X12 cab and I couldn't be happier. I highly recommend this amp to anyone. Check one out. It will be well worth your time.

This amp has the basic two channel features. The rhythm and lead channels each have a tone, gain and volume control to shape each channels tone and grit. Those two channels are wired class 'A' accross two EL84 tubes at a smokin' plate voltage. This is where the amp gets its 'SOUL', then those two channels share an EL34 power tube section that is wired class AB. This is guitar amp wisdom at its best. You can now further shape the tone to the characteristics of the room or recording studio. The EL34 power section has the same tone and volume accompaniment as most other amps (volume, treble, middle, bass, presence, and effects loop volume. By the way the Guytron has two independent effects loops, one high and the other low to tailor your sound according to the type of effects you use.

I have been playing guitar for thirty years. I have mostly played Marshall but have also used Mesa Boogie, Fender, Budda, etc..I am a tube amp man because I have yet to find an amp that can do what a tube amp can with transisters or digital modeling. The Guytron is by far the best of the lot...I know that opinions are subjective and each person has to tailor there gear to their playing style...if you are looking for an amp that can get a Vox AC 30 chime or a nice smooth Matchless DC30 sound (that you can dial in just the right amount of compression) in the 'clean' channel and anywhere from a very good Marshall plexi or JCM 800 to a Boogie dual rectifier (yes I was able to dial in the scooped recto sound and I have the recordings to prove it) then this is your amp... but what this amp does best is nail the Eric Johnson 'brown' Marshall sound. I put Mullard EL34s in the power section, Sovtek EL84s in the class 'A' section and the 12AX7s are all Mullards except the driver and effects loop tubes which are Valco. The cost of the custom tubes alone in my Guytron are about $600 but it makes a huge difference with reliability, quiet operation and above all SOUND!. I use an early 70s Marshall bottom 4X12 basketweave that I loaded with Celestion Vintage 30s on the top and Celestion 75 watters on the bottom. This is the arrangement that Guytron uses in their cabs and works beautifully for me. I play professionally many gigs and recording situations per month...at least once a week and usually more...in EVERY situation that I play I get compliments from people (especially guitar players) about my tone and sound. Guitar players look at my guitars (Fender Custom shop strat and Gibson Custom shop birdseye Les Paul) and ask about the pick-ups and what kind of strings I use etc...I point over to the Guytron and tell them that the amp is the key to my 'sound' and 'tone' (apart from my hands and soul) not my guitars or rack gear (echo, reverb, slight chorus)...this is truly the 'Holy Grail' of tube amp guitar warmth and taste. Unless you are a knuckleheaded kid that thinks that a Line 6 POD sounds professional or someone that prides themself in buying a $200 portable peice o' #%#@ do yourself a favor and at least check out the Guytron...if you have any taste at all you will not be dissapointed.

I bought this amp used off of ebay and have gigged with it steady for 9 mos. I have had no problems. I opened the chassis up and checked out the wiring and soldering joints for potential problems...the amp is absolutly top notch. I called Guy to talk to him about the tube replacements that I had planned and his opinion..he was very cordial and helpful, he didn't try to brush me off the phone..he waited for me to end the phone conversation...this is impressive seeing that he must be very busy yet not too busy to discuss with someone (that bought his amp second hand no less) the details and operation of his amp. He even returned a call I left on his answering machine.

See above

If my Guytron died or got stolen I would replace it with another as soon as I could. Keep in mind that if you have been playing for a while and you have some quality coming out of your hands most of the top end tube amps will suffice ie: Bogner, Boogie, Budda, Soldano SLO, some Marshalls etc...in my opinion the Guytron is the best of the best.

After reading all these reviews, all I can think of is a collective "WAH!!!". The GT100 rocks. It does exactly what it is supposed to do. Anyone with half an ounce of sense should be able to figure out in the first 30 seconds of playing whether it is the amp for them. And as far as bugging Guy about "tweaking the tone", that's what THE KNOBS are for! Remember, EVERY SINGLE TUBE AMPLIFIER made is an organic beast - if you run them hard and fast with regular gigging, you'll see differences in tones. If you can't handle that, then go ahead and be a puss and buy a transistor amp. The tone is in the amp - but the playing comes out of the player. I got my Guytron about two years ago, after trying them at the two previous LA NAMM shows. C'mon - any amp that will give you controlled feedback at any fret is freaking amazing! I play in a loud, obnoxious rock band, so OBVIOUSLY I needed something along these lines. I stay on channel B, and NO, I don't have the gain turned up all the way. I play loud, the way ya should. If I want a clean sound, I turn my volume knob down. Just to be fair, I used channel A for an entire gig - and it rocked as well, with less chaos; but chaos is what I crave, so channel B is for me. The guytron has an effects loop, but I don't use it at present. No sense in running effects through an amp like this. Loud rock is unadorned and RAW. The GT100 doesn't need any features - it does exactly what it's supposed to do. I cart this amp, with no roadcase, all over the freakin' southeast and play fraternity parties. It gets hammered every weekend, and beer sprayed on it. Yet, it still works, golly could it be that IT IS A GREAT AMP?!!?

I build my own guitars out of warmoth parts, basically EVH Musicman clones. I get whatever American made pickups I can find used in Nashville - Dimarzios, Gibsons, Seymour Duncans, whatever. If you're looking for that brown sound, you can waste your time with a modded Marshall that's been rebuilt 17 times, or some vanity amp with 8 bazillion knobs, OR you can just buy the GT100 and be smart about it. If you want bonzo over the top Metallica thwomp, then go buy a boogie. If you want your guitar playing to be expressive, then buy the GT100.

In regular circumstances, the GT100 is rock solid. I am the exception. Remember, I travel all over the southeast, tossing the GT100 in the band van with all the other equipment banging around on it. I don't have a roadcase. After about six months of this torture, I sent it back to guy after it started switching channels on it's own - but this WASN'T a design flaw - it was a handling flaw on my part. So Guy fixed it all up, did an X-mod on it, and sent it back, whereupon I immediately proceeded to spill my Jack and Coke through the top at the next gig. It started getting fuzzy, so I turned it off, plugged into another fellow's amp, waited til the next set, turned it back on, and it was just fine. The heat had evaporated the liquid. I suspect that there is still some Jack and Coke goo down in there somewhere, but that just adds character.

Guy is the best. I never asked him how to turn a knob. I never asked him what kind of tubes to put in it. We just talked for hours about WHY he did what he did when he designed it - and that's all that counts. Guess what - if you call just about ANY of the major amp manufacturers, you are NOT going to get the PRESIDENT of the company on the phone. Oh golly, Guy still answers the phone. Hmmmmmmmmmmm.

Yeah, it's a 10. Hey, if any of you morons out there want to get rid of yours, feel free to contact me. You're more than welcome to check out the sounds at www.mp3.com/theboodogs

This amazing two channel all valve amp (13 tubes!) was made in 1999, I believe, completed just a few days before I obtained it according to the Maker. The amp is not trying to be a end-all be-all. What it is trying to do is have the basic features for easy access, and each feature is thought out and refined to perfection. For 90% of the playing I do (everything from classical to blues to jazz to rock), this amp has all the versatility I need. There isn't a single feature I don't use.

I love the dual effects loops (low and high level). They're placed at the last stage before the power amp (not all are like this) and I've got great results recording direct out from the effects send and mixing this with a mic on the cabinet.

The CabI got is the Guytron cab with dissimilar 12" celestions. I tried the open back and closed back versions, and preferred the open, so that's what I bought. I thought about adding a 4x12 cab, but is has so much bass and volume now that it's not needed.

I play mostly for my own enjoyment, and don't gig much. Most of the time it lives in a pretty large room with my other gear, and it's certainly loud enough. In fact, the place it stands out is how amazing it sounds when it's turned DOWN, which for me was a huge selling point. This is because there are power tubes in the preamp section, which Guytron has a patent on, I believe.

I've played dozens of guitars through this amp, and they all sound great. Mostly I play Blues and Rock with an American Fender Tele, Brian Moore iGuitar, Gibson ES335, Dano Baritone, and some strat-style guitars I've made myself.

This amp is offered in two configs, based on the ideal tones of the designer (Guy). He told me that the Vox AC30 and and old Marshall (can't remember which model) were his two favorites-of-old, so the A channel outdoes the Vox, and the B channel outdoes the Marshall. The other config is the 'X mod' which slightly moves the A channel's tone in the Fender black face direction, and the B channel in the Mesa Boogie direction. I auditioned both, and preferred the X mod.

I've had many amps come through my room, and when you head-to-head them with the Guytron as I've done, nothing comes close (at least yet) to the level of joy that washes over you when you hear the amazing sound. I don't have the bucks to own an array of Bogner, Rivera, Hughes and Kettner, Matchless and other boutique amps, but I've played lots of them, and when I come home to the Guytron I'm impressed all over again. (I also have a Fender Cyber-Twin, which is kind of the polar opposite to the Guytron, and thus complements it nicely. The CyberTwin all flexibility and no great single tone.)

The Guytron is about the quietest I've ever heard when you're not playing. Even on the B channel with cascading gain, if you have quiet pickups and crank the gain to about 7 (there are no numbers on the amp, by design) there is no noise until you play, and then WHAM!

Speaking of the B channel, the harmonics in the heavy distorion are unlike anything I've heard before - they're so creamy! With the gain all the way up on B the distortion is absolutely scorching, but I actually use this setting sometimes - you can get endless sustain and even feedback at really low volumes this way.

I use the A channel about 72.3% of the time, since I find it more natural for the Blues I'm obsessed with this month. I especially love the tone control on the a channel, whis is pre-gain, so you get more treble distortion (ie more vox-like) as you turn it up. At lower gain settings on A, it's super clean. Some amps have no distortion on A at all, which I think is a mistake, and it's one that the Guytron doesn't make. As you get to about 4 the gain kicks in for a perfect blues tone to about 7, and then gets in to more rock territory.

Not only has this amp not broken or had a problem in the 2 years that I've used it (daily) but it hasn't ever made any kind of weird noise. Couldn't ask for more.

Still has the original tubes. Guy tells me that it's engineered to be very easy on tubes, which is good since there are so many to replace!

I've often called the company and spoken with Guy just to chat and bounce ideas off of him. Through these conversations and my research I've learned a great deal about tube amps, and really tuned my ears for tone.

Once I asked Guy to make a small adjustment for me - to increase the sweep on the B channel's tone control, which he did no problem. This was not a repair, but was a Mod that I wanted to have done.

Everything this amp does, it does perfectly. The one thing that really stands out for me though, is how even with the gain up, you can hear details in chords that I can't hear with any other amp I've tried. One of the other reviews for this amp said it sounds like several top notch amps playing at the same time, with different settings, and that's a very good way to describe it.

If this amp were lost to me, I would replace it. I intend to have this for the rest of my life. The only thing this amp MAY be missing is reverb, but even that I don't miss nearly as much as I thought I might. This amp is expensive, but has sound, features and reliability that are more than worth it. Before you buy your next high end amp, find a Guytron and play it.

Made in 1999. Features covered in previous reviews. I've decided to keep this amp & sell most of my others. It covers all of the sounds that I need.

Using Les Pauls with a VHT FatBottom 2x12 on the floor & a Guytron open back 2x12 on top. Effects used are a Budda Wah & AnalogMan modified Boss Super Overdrive into the main input, a SweetSound UltraVibe & Akai Headrush Delay into the loop. I get Huge, Thick, & Sweet tones from this setup. This amp has a magical sound that I've not heard from anything else. Using the volume knob on my guitar, I can go from a Beautiful 3D Clean to Very Aggressive Lead Tones.

I've been using this almost everyday since I received it, without one problem yet. I bought a 2nd one for backup, no need for it so far.

Guy has been great at responding with any ?'s I've had.

Playing for 20 years. I've owned too many amps to list, sold most of them, using the Guytron exclusively. This amp is great for recording, even at low volumes. I think those Class A EL84 Tubes in the tone circuit really add something unique.

This is an update to a submission I made more than 1 1/2 years ago - my comments can be read in my first submission below. I bought another GT-100 head about 3 weeks ago to have as a backup since I have been unwilling (unable?) to play with anything else for the last 2 years. I wanted a spare in case it was ever needed.

See my comments in my previous submission below. I have read some comments from a few other reviewers who have described the GT-100 as not having enough "punch" or having a smoother, rounder distortion tone. That may be true enough. But for me and my ears, I was tired of that pronounced upper midrange Marshall sound and wanted something creamier with a little less bite. I also wanted something that sounded a little different than what most everyone else was using. Still, I would suggest that people who want more of that Marshall tone try talking to Guy Hedrick as there may be something he can do. Or just go buy a Marshall like everyone else.

About 3 months ago, I was playing a gig and my girlfriend bought me a drink. Unknown to me, she set the drink on top of my Guytron head (!). Well, this was a fairly large room and I had the amp humming along at a decent level and the vibrations caused the glass to travel backwards until it hit the vent slot. About half of the drink spilled into the amp scoring a direct hit on the power amp section. Naturally, hot tubes and cold drinks are a really bad combination so those bottles took off like a couple of rockets! Once I realized what happened, I popped all 4 of the power tubes (even though only 2 exploded). I cleaned the tubes sockets quickly with some De-Oxit spray electrical parts cleaner, popped in a set of tubes and replaced the fuse which had blown. In less than 10 minutes, the amp was back online and made it through the rest of the night without incident. In fact, I have not had a moments trouble with the amp since and I have done nothing else to it! Let's face it - dumping a drink into a tube amp is about as bad as it gets and to have this amp recover so easily says something significant about the quality and reliability built into these things.

I have only had the need to speak to Guy on the telephone a couple of times but each time he was very helpful and took the time to make sure I was satisfied with the answers I got. He was also very forthcoming and took the time to have an actual conversation with me - kind of unusual to get that kind of service these days - especially from the owner of the company.

In the 2 years I have played Guytron amps, my opinions about this amp have only changed for the better. I sold my other amps and use these exclusively. For everything. Period.

As a side note, I was in the studio last week and I can attest that these amps record beautifully. The engineer even commented that he had the opportunity to record a Guytron once before and said that it was a great experience as he was able to get great tones without a lot of fuss and nonsense. True to form, we stuck an Audix D4 mic on one of the Guytron cabinets (the G12T-75 speaker), moved it just one time and the sound was perfect for the entire full day session.

IT IS A TWO CHANNEL AMP THAT WILL COVER MOST SLYLES OF MUSIC.IT HAS A CLEAN AND A DISTORTED CHANNEL,TWO EFFECTS LOOPS,AND THE STANDARD 4-8-16 OHM OUTPUT SWITCH.

I USE LES PAULS WITH HUMBUCKERS,AND A STRAT.THE AMP CAN BE VERY CLEAN AND ALSO VERY DISTORTED.BUT TO ME IT DOES'NT DO EITHER ALL THAT WELL.IT SEEMS TO LACK FOCUS ON EITHER CHANNEL.IT WILL COVER A LOT OF GROUND IT JUST DOES'NT NAIL THE TONES IM LOOKING FOR.

THE AMP HAS NEVER STOPPED WORKING.I DID HAVE TO SEND IT BACK TO FIX SOME TUBE SOCKETS,THAT BECAME NOISY AND MADE A POPING SOUND.

WHEN I CALLED THE FIRST TIME TO REQUEST SOME INFO,GUY WAS A LITTLE SHORT WITH ME.HE ASKED ME IF I WANTED READING MATERIAL FOR THE BATHROOM.AFTER I PURCHASHED MY AMP HE WAS GREAT ABOUT ANY QUESTION I HAD.THE WARRANTY IS FOR 1 YEAR.

I'VE BEEN PLAYING FOR 18 YEARS.I ALSO OWN MARSHALL AND ROCCAFORTE AMPS.IF IT WERE STOLEN I WOULD NOT REPLACE IT.I BOUGHT IT WITHOUT HEARING IT.THE REVIEWS WERE SO GOOD I DID'NT THINK I COULD GO WRONG.I EXPECTED BETTER TONE FOR 1800.00 DOLLARS.SOME PEOPLE LOVE THEM AND SOME DONT.IT JUST DOES'NT DO THE CLASSIC ROCK STUFF TO SUIT ME.IF ANYONE IS CONSIDERING BUYING ONE,MINES FOR SALE AT A GREAT PRICE

1999 model, bought new. The features have been pretty well described in other reviews below, 2 channels, footswitchable, shared eq but each channel has its own "tone" knob to tweak the tone for each channel. Each channel also has its own volume/gain controls. Effects loop, actually 2, one for low signal devices, one for higher. One other reviewer said he wished the channel A had another footswitchable "clean/crunch" option, I would concur, this would be nice. I have used the amp onstage in my four piece band on several different occasions www.go.to/rockdox (if anyone is interested).

We play mostly 70s/80s/90s rock, I was very intrigued by the description of this amp and wanted to try it out. I use mostly a musicman axis, also a wolfgang. The tones from this amp are of the most complex I have ever heard, incredibly rich and detailed. The clean (channel A) is one of the most astounding cleans I have ever heard, although I would be quick to point out I don't know clean all that well. Nonetheless it is a very impressive clean. It will gain out to a medium vox type gain when fully pushed. A lot of amps claim you can simply strum lightly or back off the guitar's volume and the amp will clean up nicely; until I heard the guytron, no amp really ever lived up to this claim. The guytron will in fact do this exceptionally well, give you a nice raunchy crunch, then simply strum lightly or back off the volume and it truly cleans up well. Guy himself actually recommmended to me to leave channel A maxed, and use your guitar volume to get a clean tone. Channel B is the higher gain channel, and it will get a decently thick distortion. However, here is where I must throw in what I consider to be somewhat of a negative; the amp is not a punchy amp, the gain from channel B stays round and thick and despite everything I tried I could not get the amp to give me some decent punch. This is not necessarily a negative per se, a lot of people don't want that marshally in your face attack from an amp, but I found myself wishing for more of that from the guytron. Nonetheless channel B is also quite amazing, very complex tones, the amp sings and soars beautifully, the eqs don't seem to matter much, it sounds good most everywhere you eq it. I tried the amp through several cabs including the guytron 2x12, and it sound best through a 4x12 with 30s to my ears. It didn't match well with EV speakers. Again, this is nowhere near a soldano/5150 type of gain, more along the lines of a mesa heartbreaker; plenty of gain as far as I'm concerned, the quality of it is just more along the lines of less punchy, less aggressive style. I took off one point for this, although again, that round/softer type distortion is desirable by some.

Have used it quite a bit, it seems to be built like a tank. I can't imagine it really breaking down, it just looks to be too well constructed.

Guy is excellent, he spent a lot of time on the phone with me tweaking the tone, etc. Great, er, guy.

Been playing 30 years, have tried everything, at least most everything. I have mesas, marshalls, soldano, bruno, naylor, peavey, etc. If this amp were stolen I honestly don't know if I would replace it, it's not my main amp, but I think that's simply because it doesn't cover my styles of music well enough. It is a great amp, no question, well made, incredible tones, excellent customer support, well worth looking into; just be aware of the lack of aggressiveness the guytron has, other than that it is certainly an amp to consider if you're looking for some incredible tones.

Purchased May 1999 based on it's reputation and the fact that I could return it if I was not completely satisfied. This was a hard amp to get my hands on as there was a serious back order problem at that time. Needless to say I kept this tone monster. Others have accurately described this amp's features to which I say "right on." This amp is very simple; yet, the diversity of tones is awsome. Channel A and Channel B are different animals. Channel A can be set up as clean as you wish from a a whisper's volume to shaking the light bulbs out of their sockets. Channel B goes from clean and crisp to blistering with infinite sustain; futhermore, the quality of tone is maintained at low volumes. I can honestly say that I am unable to get a tone or sound from this amp that I don't like. I came into the Guytron from a Johnson Millennium 250. Though the Johnson did what it was supposed to do and had thousands of sounds one can't compare the quality of tone. It would not be fair to the Johnson to compare its "sort of tube" preamp and solidstate poweramp to a genuine tube preamp and tube poweramp like the Guytron. Since I lost the hearing in one ear twenty years ago, I have developed a very keen sense of tone quality. The Guytron has the finest quality of tone I have ever heard in a guitar amp. More importantly for me is that when I practice I want to hear the tones at low volumes that I will hear at high volumes. No other amp I have ever heard maintains tone quality over sound level ranges like the Guytron. I can cut loose at 2 in the morning totally enjoying the tones from clean to blistering without waking up my family. It surprized me that a totally tube amp like the Guytron would beat out the a tube/solidstate hybrid like a Johnson Millenium for maintaining tone quality and consistency over a broad sound level range. When I initally purchased the Guytron I was very pleased that it had an EFFECTS LOOP and I intended to get the finest effects box/rack I could get my hands on. I have lost all interest in effects... yes, I also mean reverb. The quality of tones is so incredible that it needs nothing. Maybe someday I will get bored and try some other effects racks or boxes. And there are times when you just have to have an effect to get a signature sound e.g reverb for surf. The Guytron setup is physically heavy. I am glad that he did not make this a combo or I would not be able to carry it. The head weighs in at just over 50 pounds as does the 2x12 speaker cab. If Guy Hedrick made a "BABY GUYTRON" combo that weighed less than 50 pounds I would cut a check for one in a microsecond.

A very pleasant shocker with this amp has been that all of my guitars sound completely and characteristically different (Telecaster American Deluxe with two standard tele pickups and a middle strat pickup, Gibson ES 336 with Humbuckers, Fender Strat with lace pickups, Les Paul Custom with Humbuckers, and an old Kay f-hole) Changing pickup combinations, tone and volume on the guitars makes very noticable but nice variation in the tones. When I am playing I feel like the Guytron and its orchestra of tubes are all part of my musical instrument. With other amps I felt like a had a guitar to contend with and an amp to contend with. With the Guytron my guitar and amp become one. I know that this is not very objective or empirical-- what the hell we are talking about music and tone.

I have never had a problem with this amp. My life does not depend on this amp being up and running. If I supported my family playing music I would buy a second Guytron in a minute for two reasons-- 1. I don't want to play through any other amp. 2. It took 3 plus weeks with cash on the barrel head and a tail wind to get this amp up to Alaska.

Before purchasing this amp I spoke at length with Guy. He seemed like an honorable person. I like supporting people like Guy... Where I spend my money is a personal statement. Guy stands by his retailers and will not sell direct. When I bought my amp they were in short supply and the only place in the country I could find one was through Greg at Makin Music in Chicago 312-455-1970. I purchased the amp mail order, sight unseen after talking to Greg-- things went so smoothly and painlessly that subsequently I purchased a guitar from Makin Music, sight unseen that I was having a difficult getting my hands on here in Alaska.

The following is a dilema I have with the Guytron. I favor channel A for most of my playing. I take channel A from clean to dirty to get most of the sounds I need. I wish I had a foot switch that would take me from Channel A clean to Channel A overdrive. The foot switch only changes from Channel A to Channel B. I don't know that there is a good solution to this situation. I talked with Guy about it and he recommended that I use an overdrive pedal such as a fulltone with a clean boost so that I could stay in Channel A and go from clean to dirty with the push of a switch. I have tried a number of pedals (though not a Fulltone) and was very disappointed in the tone. Call me a sceptic but I just don't believe that there is a pedal that won't degrade the tone!!! If there were a Fulltone here in Alaska I would give one a try. In spite of this minor criticism I enjoy this amp more and more each time I play through it. The following may be a partial solution-- I have noticed that the humbucker pickups on the les Paul and Gibson ES 336 run much hotter through the Guytron than my strat or tele pickups. I have to turn the volume down on the humbuckers to keep them from distorting. I am thinking that if I get a guitar with a combination of pickups to include a humbucker and a single coil that the humcucker will give me the overdrive and the single coil the clean sound with the flip of a switch on the guitar. We shall see. Sometimes strumming a simple chord pattern is so sweet that it just makes me happy. This amp has characteristics similar to Vox, Fender, and Marshall but with out apology it sounds exactly like a Guytron and to my ear is superior to Vox, Fender, Marshall, Soldano, Mesa Boogie, Matchless, etc. If you want a Vox, Fender, Marshall, etc do yourself a favor and buy one. Regarding amps such as the Johnson Millennium or the Line 6 that model or imitate the classic amps-- they have their purpose if you need an all in one for playing top 40 and are willing to sacrifice quality oftone for a variety of tones and many special effects. I don't play the top 40 and when I play I am not trying to sound like anyone else. I am after musical tones that are mine.

My Guytron is a very early model, in conversation with Guy he guessed that mine was one of the first 25 made. April 1997 is the date inside the amp chassis. I bought it used with the Guytron 2x12 cabinet
The amp is basically designed to be as versatile as possible. I play in a 'modern rock' band with pop/blues/funk/jazz/ska/country influences. I play mostly rhythm, but handle a fair share of lead work.
The amp features are described in very good detail down below, so I won't waste server space on them. Suffice to say it is a two-channel amp with an all tube preamp and power amp and its most unique feature is the EL-84's incorporated in the path as part of the tone 'shaping' and not as the output section.
I use the amp in rehearsal with my band (www.marilynmack.com) and in live performance. For future recording I plan to use this amp as my first choice. It is loud enough to hang in any band format you could imagine.
The effects loop is very intelligent and does deserve attention. There are inputs for "high" = +4db level rack gear and "low" = -10db level for effect pedals. This is controlled on the front of the amp with a level pot where you can mix in your wet/dry levels. Very useful and it sounds excellent. I have a Fulltone Clyde Wah in front of the amp and have a Fulltone Tremolo and Dano DanEcho in the loop.
One other point that I would like to point out is that I use a APC UPS-450 to power the Guy (and all of my amps). I set the bias on the output tubes with the APC supplying clean power and haul the thing to gigs. I find it really makes my amp sound more consistent night to night and room to room.

I mainly play PRS's, but my Warmoth Strat and Anderson Drop Top sound very happening with the amp without any tweaking.
Channel A is the clean channel and it has a real Class A glassy top with a big round EL-34 bottom that just works very nice. You can really find all shades of tones from chimey clean to Vox-ish crunch on this channel and one neat thing (and this holds true with both channels) is that you don't have to tweak anything to dial in really cool sounds at all. It is so easy to get good tones that you can concentrate on playing and not nudging knobs all around. A setting that works great for my PRS will sound great with my Warmoth Strat, but just different. It is very hard to find bad sounds with this amp.
Channel B is the gain channel. Has that detailed top end like a good Class A amp does, and fills up that tone really nicely with the EL-34's round warmth and crunch. Very complex and full sounding at any setting. Turn the amp up or down, still sounds remarkable. The gain structure is very dense, but in no way hits that Mesa saturation type of tone. The Guy's tone color reminds me of a Marshall Plexi mixed with a Matchless DC and both of those amps with real nice overdrives in front of them. The gain knob on this channel is like mixing between the Plexi to the Marshall. I cannot make this amp fart out through the Guytron Cab even at full gain at full volume. The bottom end stays full, but very defined and clear. The SPL measured over 116db's at about a yard away according to my Radio Shack DB meter.
You can cop Marshall like tones, Vox like tones, et. al.. But this amp has its own very distinct tone signature that is very attractive. The other guitarist in my band called this amp a Rolls Royce, comparing it to his Mesa MKII C+. "My amp sounds good, your amp sounds fantastic." His comment. Another player after hearing me through it said, "That thing sounds damn good."
The clean channel is prone to a very natural sounding distortion on the top end when pushed with humbuckers, I assume due to the EL-84's, but it is a very natural and pleasing sound. This amp's clean does not sound like a Fender Twin clean. The Class A textures are very easy to pick out.
I tried NOS Mullard's, GE, new EI, new Groove Tube Chinese and the JJ/Tesla 12AX7/ECC83's in the preamp. I preferred the JJ/Tesla's. They seemed to have more smoothness in this amp to my ears (and much to my surprise honestly). Guy strongly recommended I stick with Sovtek(!) in the power output section. I just rebiased the Sovtek's to Guy's suggested settings. I prefer Sveltlana EL-34's in my Riveras, he told me he thought the Svet's sounded a bit stiff in his amps. I will try other brands when a tube change is needed.
All in all, this amp is not the end-all do-everything amp some people hype it up to be. It has a very distinct sound that is very easy to shape and the range of tone colors is very broad. My overall opinion is that is sounds like you are using two or more amps at the same time. The dissimilar speakers in the cab enhance this and do a lot for the tone. The original owner had the cab loaded with 8 ohm Celestion Vintage 30's wired in series for 16 ohms. (He is a Matchless player and obviously that is the way he liked his cabs). As per Guy's suggestion, I loaded the cab with a 16 ohm Celestion Vintage 30 and a 16 ohm Celestion G12-T75 wired in parallel for a 8 ohm cab. Very large improvement IMHO. I also prefer the sound of this cab for my Rivera Rake and Knucklehead. Very balanced, full and deep sounding.
I have never used an amp that had such a "holy shit that sounds good" thing with every setting I tried. No matter where you dial the thing up there are nice tones. Used in conjunction with a nice guitar and the volume and tone knobs on the instrument, you have a VERY flexible and versatile amp. Very inspiring to play. One other note is that it seems to sit in the mix very nicely without overwhelming volume levels. Very easy to pick out of the mix.

I have only owned the amp for 6 weeks thus far, so I cannot comment yet here. However, after opening the amp to rebias it, I can say that everything is very solid looking and the work inside is just a thing of beauty. In this price range I would expect nothing less, and this amp is nice.

Have spoken to Guy on the phone numerous times, fax him back and forth and emailed. He is very responsive and helpful. Even though my amp is out of warranty, he promised me that if anything went wrong from a parts/quality standpoint, he would stand behind his amp. I feel very good about his customer support thus far.

I have been playing for close to 20 years (ouch). Other gear I use other than mentioned above are Rivera amps and cabs, Taylor Acoustic guitars and various home built solid body guitars.
I am fully insured (I would be crazy not to), but if this amp were taken from me or destroyed in an accident I would do everything in my power to replace it.
I love the depth, complexity and range of gratifying sounds that come out of this amp and cab. Combined with my Rivera Rake amp I have an enormous range of tones to choose from. Every setting on this amp sounds good in some way, and it is very easy to get it to do what you want with minimal knob tweaking.
I had ordered a Dr. Z Prescription to replace my Rivera Knucklehead (which sounded too similar to my Rivera Rake) and could not believe my luck when I found this amp and cab up for sale 1/2 hour from me. After a 30 minute demo session, I canceled the order on the Dr. Z. The Guytron is an enormous amount of money, but after working with the amp for 6 weeks, I am not sorry I did it.
This amp has the effect of making me lose myself in the sound of it. I find myself staying after rehearsals with the band and playing for hours and hours on end. (Rehearsal usually breaks at 10p on weekdays, and I have found myself just playing until 3am with work the next day on a regular basis. And I only stop because I have to go to the rest room!). Very few pieces of gear I have ever purchased have ever had such an intoxication factor.
It is easy to hype, and I am trying to not add to all of that, but instead just lay out my opinion of this amp and cab. They are worthy of very high praise indeed, but at this price level it is expected. Do I think the amp lives up to its promise? In a word, yes. In a every type of guitar driven music, except possibly country, this amp would fit right in and deliver a tremendous range of very good tones. If you have the money and want killer sounds that are very easy to dial in for a variety of styles, this amp is very effective at its job.
My hat is off to Guy for creating a truly original sounding amp that doesn't beg comparisons to this amp and that amp. It stands on its own.