Ibanez TN120 Thermion Head

Nothing too special here i guess, but the "normal, bright and brighter" switch can really make my telecaster cut through in a peircing manner.

A very versatile amp with its own unique tone, i would say somewhere between a jcm to a rectifier, As stated i use a telecaster MIM and a epi 56 goldtop with p90's, mostly i play a sort of rock punk sound and this amp fits it with style, plenty of gain for me but i rarely need to go to 10 on the dirty chan. Do not buy this amp as a substitute for a particular sound, with pedals it could be achieved but it has its own unique character.

Very very sturdy, have owned it for about a year now and only done a fuse, the input jack can be a little weak if you stand on your lead (my bad) but overall a very solid reliable unit.

Ibanez's only problem for me is sourcing parts to australia, "bloody input jack" but they didnt dick me around too much.

Overall a damn good amp for a fresh and unique, heavy vintage sound. Would recommend to just about any musician as it is very versatile and quite sublime. In time will buy another head for backup and or crazy volume, ibanez's only A class amp.

This is a brand-new all-tube head from the good folks at Ibanez. I am going to be honest: I have only tried the amp a few times and currently do not own it. Not yet anyway.

This is 120-watts, all-tube, and it has two channels: Vintage Clean and Hot. The Clean has a 3-position "pre-eq" switch to change the brightness and top end. The Hot has two functions: a retro-ish crunch and a fatter recto-sounding metal tone. The head is 54 pounds and it relatively light for a tube head. It's also built like a Sherman tank!

The effects loop is unique in that, you can use it as a boost for solos, even if there are no effects plugged into it. But the secret weapon it the toroidal transformer in the head itself. You can play this thing LOUD and not worry about noise. It's not 100% quiet but believe me, you'd miss it if it weren't there.

So far I have only tried this amp in my music store.

This amp is finicky! Certain pickups sound amazing through this head. Duncans and EMGs SCREAM!! DiMarzios tend to fart out a little. Of course, don't even bother playing single coils through this, it sounds weak and thin, even in the clean setting.

I've played all my 7-strings through it and the two w/the Duncans were scorching!! The Universe guitar sounded good w/the DiMarzios but tended to dump on the lower B and E strings. And here's another trick: the Thermion cabs squash the high end, so if you're a speed-picking soloist, those notes will get lost in the sauce. As crazy as this sounds, the Tone Blaster cabinets sound better with this head. Yeah, you don't get the 3D sound that the Thermion cab offers but you will hear your notes a lot sharper.

The clean channel is alright, not quite as resonant as a Fender or even the JSX head but it's not the 5150, that's for sure! The "green" channel on the distortion is okay if you're playing Zeppelin-style rock (which I love, of course!) but really doesn't jump out at you. But the "red" metal sound is KILLER!!! Tweak it just right and the hairs on your arms will stand at attention!! This setting is perfect for down-tuned or 7-string heaviness.

And yet it's virtually noise-free, even at a blistering volume!

It's built very solid and it's lighter than average for a tube head.

Haven't tried it in a live setting, so I'll have to get back on that.

Customer service is great. Again, can't comment right away since this head is still new.

After playing it a handful of times, I can truly say that this head is well-equipped and ready for action. It's not an amp that you can just plug into and expect god-like tones; you really have to tweak it for a bit.

I've owned the Peavey 5150 and JSX heads over the years. I'm very touchy with tube heads. I honestly prefer solid-state, for its consistency and reliability. To be fair, for the right price, I would consider playing this Thermion head. If I do get it, I may switch the tubes out. Not crazy about Ruby tubes. Maybe I'd use Groove Tubes. Who knows?

From the Ibanez website:
-120W 5%THD @4, 8, or 16 ohms
-All tube signal (NO SOLID-STATE!) line circuitry with mechanical relays
-4 x 6L6GCMSTRMATCHED Ruby Tubes?* output tubes (user switchable to 6550s)
-5 x 12AX7A-SELECTED Ruby Tubes?* preamp tubes
-HI/LO input impedance switch
-Two independent channels: Vintage Channel & Hot Channel
-Tube circuit Effects Loop w/Send and Return Level Control on the front panel
-Blend/Series switch and 0dB/-20dB switch
-Illuminated front panel and illuminated Ibanez logo
-Dampening switch enables different distortion characteristics out of Hot channel
-Rotary 3-position bright switch in Vintage channel
-Traditional passive EQ in both channels
-3-button footswitch for channel switching, dampening and effects loop on/off.

I played this amp in a DJM store. The staff had been shown the prototype by the Ibanez guys months ago. We were all VERY critical with the amp... at first. For me, Ibanez makes great basses and good drum sets(Tama). However, their amps and guitars have always SUCKED. I mean "Horny-Vacuum-Cleaner-Suck"! I've been on the search for a great tube amp for years. I've tried Peavey Classics, JCM 800, JCM 900, Mesa Dual-Rects, and more. This amp is insane.

I tried a Gibson SG, and Gibson LP Custom with it. The LP sounded 5X better(balls).

First, DON'T USE THE THERMION CABS!!! The cabs squeezes some of the balls out of this amp. It sounds much better on the cheaper Ibanez Tone Blaster cab($300US). Hard to believe, but try it... I have yet to try it on my Marshall 1960A, but I would imagine it to be a much better match, than the Thermion.

Ibanez says 2... But, this amp is a 3 channel amp. It's got a Vintage/Clean and a Hot channel. The Clean is VERY versitile and sounds great. The Hot can sound just like a Mesa. If you turn the gain down and crank the mids, it's a JCM 800. But, this amp's secret weapon is the EFFECTS LOOP!!!. The loop has another TUBE gain-stage. You don't even have to plug any pedals in. The "Send" adds another set of balls to the amp, while the "Return" either adds or subtracts to the Master Volume. That is why I call this a 3 channel amp. The Effects Loop is essentially a seperate Lead Channel. SWEET!

I love this amp, but I don't think the sound it makes is perfect. It's definately worth $1100US. I would pay 1600 for it... Probably more. But, it's not the prefect amp. But it's much better than anything I've played thru before. I'm gonna say 10, but it's really a 9.4

To give you an idea of my taste:
Slash's sound is a 9.8
My JCM 800 is a 7.6
My JCM 900 is a 2.1
Peavey Classic is a 4.5
Mesa Dual Rec is a 6.3

I don't know. It JUST came out a week ago...

5 Year Limited...

Sweet.

This amp just came out within the last week or so as todays date I am writing this is SAT. NOV. 19, 2005. So, I guess it is a 2006 model.

The features listed are right from the Ibanez website:

120W 5%THD @4, 8, or 16 ohms

All tube signal (NO SOLID-STATE!) line circuitry with mechanical relays

4 x 6L6GCMSTRMATCHED Ruby Tubes?* output tubes (user switchable to 6550s)

5 x 12AX7A-SELECTED Ruby Tubes?* preamp tubes

HI/LO input impedance switch

Two independent channels: Vintage Channel & Hot Channel

Tube circuit Effects Loop w/Send and Return Level Control on the front panel

Blend/Series switch and 0dB/-20dB switch

Illuminated front panel and illuminated Ibanez logo

Dampening switch enables different distortion characteristics out of Hot channel

Rotary 3-position bright switch in Vintage channel

Traditional passive EQ in both channels

3-button footswitch for channel switching, dampening and effects loop on/off.

Maintenance friendly, professional-grade design includes metal nut jacks, bias adjustment interface for output tube replacement on top of chassis, UL/CSA compliance (under application), high efficiency toroidal core transformer with automatically resetting thermal fuse, durable 3/4? plywood cabinet, heavy-duty toggle switches, potentiometers with dust-covers, and more.

Weight: 50lbs

I played this amp at The Only Guitar Shop in Clifton Park, NY on RT.9.

I am not going to get into all the little control features like all the knobs and such -it is already listed on the specs list. I will, however, tell about the sound I got out of it & that is my main focus for this review -To let you know what I thought about it and what to expect from this amp and no matter what I say it is still MORE then worth going out of your way to hear it!

Channel 1 is the clean channel & there is a knob for setting it's brightness and 2 different distortions in the second channel of the amp: Dist 1:Classic rock & dist 2:BONE CRUNCHING WHOLLY MAMMOTH DISTORTION. A hi/lo switch at the input jack. I guess these are the features that stood out to me and with 3 clean sound and 2 dirties I guess that is what is supposed to make it versatile.

This head is made for heavy metal of all types and classic/hard rock. However, you use the same low/mid/high settings for both gain stages.

At any rate, Onward...

I give it a 9 because I didn't think the sounds measured upto what they were made for I don't mean this in a negative way -I will get into this under 'sounds'(ok... Honesty is the best policy, I hated the classic rock distortion)

I played about 5 different guitars through this thing: Paul Gilbert model Ibanez (sounded very good), an ibanez SA 320 (sounded muddy not clear at all), ESP M107 7-string (muddy, sludgy, retains some power chord note value but no clarity when riffing), a Squier fender fat strat with 2 Seymour Duncan humbuckers (sounded weak believe it or not) and a fender USA fat strat with a maple fret board- sounded amazing!

It is a very quiet amp no hissing or humming. It feedbacks well. The one thing I really loved is that the tone controls really have a wide sweep in them. Every setting between 0 to 10 is adding lows/mids/highs/ or taking away going 10-0. Unlike on almost any other tube amp going from 0-10 on the tone controls is like going from 0 to .5 -there is almost no change in tone. However, not the case with this. Tweaking the controls really bring out the sonic possibilities in this head. 'A la' The Boss Metal Zone pedal?

The clean channel is 'so-so' not much to say about it The brightness switch really adds flavor to it though.

This distortion is absolutely insane! There are metric tons of God's Wrath in this 120 watt head! It seethes from this head. It has a little more distortion then the Mesa Recto & about 1/3 more then the Bogner Uberschall has! Marshall cannot even compete with this & I won't compare it to anything else because I think this amp is of boutique quality and is far superior to Peavey, Crate or anyone else who has made heavy metal tube heads before. But, to be fair, I have not heard a Framus or a Peters or many other small tube amp making boutique shops which I hear make amazing tube metal heads.

Now, the nuances I felt worked against the whole idea of what the head is supposed to be used for.

The distortion & tone is in my opinion a cross between the 'tone' of a Fender Hot Rod Deville -smooth & tight- with more sweep in the controls and the distortion of the Mesaboogy -massive death & destruction of biblical proportions. That is to say, it almost sounds like a really pissed off blues amp gone nuclear. But, it is a metal sound & I bet 99% of people (which will be millions) will love it. However, for the rest of us 1%'ers out there, we listen past the death and destruction of the distortion and know that its a massively overdriven blues tone and is too squeegy & smooth to be a true metal sound. Also, the bass is awefully muddy and while riffing the notes tended to fall apart -A la Nevermore, Pantera, Megadeth, Lamb of God, God Forbid... You know? And Playing power chords is too muddy sounding in my opinion. But, maybe that is due to the Ibanez Cabinet speakers? -Celestion? Vintage 30* speakers. High notes are really full and sing with this rounded chimming warmth and smoothness -you want to hold a bend forever because it sounds so good. When picking the high notes you can hear that pick attack sound. Not so with the low notes it kind of falls apart. I even turned the bass all the way down but then it sounded to thin and gets muddy fast turning it up. I think it has an inherent paradox in that it is too metal for blues and too bluesy for metal. Come to think of it, a perfect description is Eddie's 'Brown sound' with tons more distortion and 'I DO NOT MEAN THE PEAVEY 5150 head AT ALL'. I DO mean the kickass marshall he used on the first Van Halen album.

The classic rock distortion is a joke. I can't understand how ibanez didn't hear this in the lab. It's too glassy sounding with no balls and its real thin and there are no harmonics to be heard. I could not pull off a Zakk squawk for anything... I don't know. Maybe it is good for 60's rock 'A la' Cream, Zepplin?

Over all the amp is metal but it sounds like it wants to be blues and
maybe changing the tubes would take away some of that 'squeeginess and smoothness? Hmmm...

Let me state this before I end this review: This amp does sound incredibly fantastic and it is totally more then worth you going totally out of your way to hear it! But, as I stated, I do have some issues with it.

When was the last time an ibanez anything broke? Actually their low line shit is just that -shit-.

Their high line products are amazing.

I would use this thing to build a skyscraper on! It looks rock solid!
But, I can't give it a review catagory rating because I have had no experience with it...