Ibanez TBX150H Tone Blaster Xtreme

2 channel. clean channel has overdrive button for a grungy clean, dist channel has an "X" mode which cuts the mid a bit more and boosts the treb. i love the fact that the dist channel has two mid knobs (one on top of the other) similiar to a boss metal zone pedal. also has a "hue" control for adjust overall highs. you can literally tweak any sound you want out of this... from classic rock to death metal.

best part is the sound. playing with a Schecter hellrasier c-1 with emg 81/89 combo(18v modded). the clean channel is crystal clear even at high volumes. the dist channel has so much gain that you need to hear it to believe it (better than any stomp box or tube amp). that seems to be the main focus of this amp was the dist channel. just really tight static like distortion with plenty of sustain.

seems to be made with high quality parts. thick casing, metal panels front and back. big thick logo. i bet it could take a fall or two.

never dealt with them. five year warranty so i'm not worried.

if your looking for a good amp for metal and hardcore music look no further. its loud, durable, and sound sick! Next time your in a music store compare it to a top shelf Marshall and you will see what i mean.

you can get a perfect metallica ride the lightning distortion with this amp and a behringer rv600 reverb machine pedal. here are the settings on the amp. gain 2 oclock, treble max, bass max, mid max parametric mid 12 o'clock, reverb 0. hue max. x mode off. Now for the pedal. mix 1 o c'lock, decay 12 o'clock, time 9 o'clock, reverb tile, tone maxed out all the way. trails off. if you want to sound just like ride the lightning, buy this amp and try my settings. you will be very happy.

Made in 2008. I play Classic Rock, Hard Rock, Metal and some Blues styles, it covers them all nicely. 2 channels, Clean with an Overdrive boost and Hot channel with an "X-mode" boost. 3 band active eq on the clean and active Bass and Treble on the Hot channel with sweepable parametric mids. Also, a "Hue" control for the overall amp sound. Kinda like an overall Presence knob for the entire amp. Also, seperate reverb levels on each channel. It actually uses a small spring reverb tank. It's not the best reverb, but I've always used very little reverb anyway. Effects loop on the front, and 2 speaker outs on the back (you can load this amp down to 4 ohms). jacks on the back for the optional footswitch which I have. Plus it has a little trap door in the back to stash your weed, er... I mean your footswitch and cable. Heres an AWESOME feature....It utilizes a Toroidal Transformer. Very efficient and dead quiet. Not much hiss at all for a high gain amp. I use this amp for practice and gigs. Plenty of power at 150 solid state watts to push the matching 4x12 cab.

I play an Ibanez RG1570 Prestige model which I upgraded with a Dimarzio Tone Zone in the bridge and a Dimarzio PAF Pro in the neck and a Dimarzio Area 67 single coil in in the middle. I also use an Ibanez RG 570 with a Dimarzio Fred in the bridge and stock pickups in the neck and middle. This Amp covers all the styles I play, Rock and Metal and some blues with ease. Remember, this is an inexpensive solid state amp. Keep that in mind during my review for the sound quality. I love high gain tube amps. But this amp does a great job for what it is. I lost my Peavey TripleXXX in a fire and this amp was a Christmas gift. (The best gift I ever got). When I first turned on the amp, the clean actually wasn't that bad. You can get a good tone from it by tweaking the active eq's a bit. When I switched to the Hot channel, I was'nt that thrilled with the tone. Massive distortion though. But...when I started tweaking the active eq's a bit, I was more and more satisfied. The secret to this amp is the sweepable mids. You can get a WIDE range of tones with it and it has a huge impact on the sound of the distortion. The eq's are very interactive. When you change the parametric mids, you have to also tweak the Bass and Treble. This is a good thing. Very versatile. I RARELY if ever use the X-mode. It's supposed to boost the mids and treble and gain a little, but I find it thins the tone too much. No matter though. Since this amp is so quiet, even in the Hot channel thanks to the Toroidal Transformer, I use a 30 dollar DOD YJM308 overdrive pedal set for a slight boost (both Gain and Volume knobs set at noon) to boost my leads. I also don't like the overdrive in the clean channel that much, so th DOD YJM308 works great for a little extra "hair" on the clean channel for my SRV licks. Since this pedal is kind of bright sounding and the amp is a little mid-rangey and bass heavy (I never put the bass control past noon) it's a match made in heaven. Even without the overdrive pedal used for a lead boost, the distortion and tone is very good. I've played much more expensive high gain tube amps and I love them. But this approaches the tube sound pretty damned impressively for a solid state amp. Hands down the BEST solid state amp I've ever played in my 28 years of playing. I use the matching 4x12 cabinet for this head and it also is not bad at all. I would LOVE to hear this amp with a cabinet loaded with some good Eminence or Celestion Vintage 30's. I'll bet it would sound even more awesome. The head was $240.00 as was the 4x12 cab. For a total of $500.00, this is the best sounding amp in this price range and even better than a lot of amps in higher price ranges.

I can't say enough good things about Ibanez, from their cheaper stuff to their most expensive stuff, they are well built and reliable. It's a solid state amp so it's going to be more reliable than a tube amp. The tolex is on the cheaper side, but the chassis is as solid as they come. I have a 2x12 Crate amp that sounds like junk as a backup for gigs and, knock on wood, I have'nt had to use it. I've only had the TBX150H for a month but I feel confident with it.

Have'nt dealt with them at all. Even for their guitars which I've been playing for over 20 years. That should say something about their reliability.

I've been playing for 28 years and this is the best sounding solid state amp I've ever played. I'm very happy with it. Someday I'll have another high gain tube amp (I have my heart set on a Hughes and Kettner Switchblade). But this amp is getting me through the gigs to save up for it. Even if I get the H&K someday, I will keep this amp for a backup. It's that good.