Koch ClassicTone 210 Combo

This is a follow-up review. I have the amp for two years now and I thought it would be nice to post an evaluation.

I still think the voicing of this amp and the features it has are absolutely outstanding. However I found some things that I would like to change; the speakers. The koch/jensens are like jensen p10r speakers, the 10" speakers with relatively the smallest magnet and I guess because of that the most treble and least bass response. In the 4x10" classictone this is not such a big deal because you have four of them, but the 2x10" needs a bit more bass and some treble rolloff in my opinion. At first I loved the treble, my former amps were all very bassy and undynamic so it was like a blanket was taken off of my guitar sound. In the last two years however, I gradually turned the treble knob down, from 14:00 to 09:00 just to prevent my ears... I've played it in small rooms, 300 seat venues, 600 seat venues and I think jensen p10q or p10n equivalent would be a better choice for this amp... I've come to love how 10" speakers reward you for playing with dynamics and they cut through so good in a band, but don't try to tilt the amp towards you with these koch/jensen speakers in your face, because it's just all treble and no bass, even with the treble and precense off and bass full. Really thin sound. Put the amp flat on the ground and it's 10 times better. I've installed beamblockers to tame the treble and I bought a relatively dark sounding stratocaster with kinmans and a humbucker, but I still can't dial the treble knob above 09:00 on the clean channel. (the treble beam is gone though!) Don't get me wrong, it sounds really nice with the treble almost off and the bass full, I get compliments all the time for my sound and my bandmates love it, but the amp would be so much better and usable with speakers with better bass response and less treble. Now it's like I'm fighting the treble, always alert if it's not too much and searching for the ideal placement on stage to increase bass response. Other speakers are going to fix this, so I'm going to order some weber 10a150's or even tone tubbies in the near future and report back. :-)

The reverb cable between tank and amp was noisy, so I replaced it. Now it's quiet. Aside from that it never let me down, very reliable!

very good.

too bad that they don't have the time to build me a head box for this amp. ;-)

Still very happy with this amp, I would buy it again if I had the choice.

Bought this amp after hearing it demonstrated at a London guitar show. I had a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe which had an impossible to control drive channel. As a result I ended up with 2 drive pedals, plus a soloe boost pedal etc etc. The Classictone has a switchable drive that you can balance against the clean, plus an adjustable solo boost, so 15% of the cost of this amp was achieved by flogging redundant pedals on Ebay. So it's been really well thought out as a product for the gigging musician.

I use a 90's Telecaster and a Hofner Verithin. The clean channel is so fantastically CLEAN that the Tele needs a bit of treble winding off, but it suits the Hofner mini-buckers brilliantly. If you have a Les Paul there is a 'bright clean' input to give a bit of treble lift. It cuts through very well against the other guitarist in my band (PRS through a Mesa Boogie). The drive channel does 'edge of clean' breakup well and classic blues, but gets a bit messy towards the maximum, so I use a Crowther Hot Cake to give extra drive to get ZZ Top style tones. 2x10" speakers are ideal for country style guitar, but lack a bit of wallop for rock, so I'm thinking of adding a 1x12 extension cab. The amp is very quiet at all settings. The vibrato is totally fab; Richard Thompson fans start queuing now.

Have only had it 6 months, but it was an 'ex-demo' model as so far had been no problem. The build quality is superb, and compared to the Fender, little things like input sockets, which will fall apart after a couple of years, are so much better made. Although there is no UK importer, I also get the impression that I could deal direct with Koch in the Netherlands easily should any problems arise.

One year's warranty, so can't really comment -see remarks above. Koch invite, and post, user comments on their website, so they seem to be a customer-focused company. After all, there's a lot of competition in the quality/boutique amp market!

This is my third amp, and after 2 Fenders seems to me to incorporate most of the great classic Fender amp sounds with useful (but not tone-sapping) features for the gigging guitarist. Basically what Fender should have done themselves, rather than being obsessed with re-creating past glories. I would think that the 4x10 would give the true BassMan welly, but frankly 40lbs is enough for me to lug around!

Once Kees Dee (head of dutch guitarstore in Amersfoort) said to me he made the suggestion to Dolf Koch to make a classic clean style amp for a change and so Dolf did... Kees has number 0001 in his store now, just like he has with all the other koch's...

It's based on the fender vibrolux with features and layout, not sure about the sound concept.

front:
2 footswitchable channels; clean (volume,bass,middle,treble)& overdrive (drive,volume,bass,middle,treble), footswitchable tube driven tremmelo (called vibrato like fender) with depth and speed controls, a master presence,a footswitchable accutronics reverb.

back:
16,8,8,4,4 ohms inputs, recording out, (footswitchable)effects loop in/out, solo volume knob, footswitch in.

2x10" jensen alnico's designed with koch. Two el34 and four 12ax7 JJ tubes giving 40 loud watts.

Besides that the classictone is a very well designed amp with all kinds of handy features like a perforated metal protection box around the tubes so your fingers don't get accidentaly burned. They thought of everything!

First of all: this amp feels and plays amazing! Very responsive, articulate and dynamic, let's your playing and gear really shine! As far as comparisons go, I compared it side to side with a.o. vox ac30, several fenders (twin reverb, super reverb, hr deville) plexi reissue, koch multitone & twintone and I must say the clean channel beats em all. This is the warmest, fattest and lushest clean you ever heard... the speakers really add up to this and all the other amps start to sound dull in the high frequencies after hearing these... the clean channel starts to clip around 12 o'clock and after that you're right there with the vox (and matchless and...)Same vibe, different gain structure but definately same vibe.

The overdrive channel goes on where the clean channel stops. Perfect for blues, indie, and when past 3 o clock on the drive control and put through a x12" cab PERFECT for classic rock! all the sounds have this unique koch flavour and the texture and vibe are right there with all the best amplifiers in the business.

The tremmolo is the best. Makes the floor shake and it seems it almost filters your sound. It is sooo beautiful! All stompbox trems may be more versatile but lack serious vibe compared with this one. The reverb is the typical fender surfstyle reverb. Some fenders seem to have a deeper splash reverb, what i like about this one is that it doesn't feel like you're in a metal cathedral, but it really fattens and deepens your sound. Very usable.

Koch made the reverb and trem footswitchable and when off, they're out of the circuit. They understand the player looking for pure tone.

have it for half a year now, no problems so far...

Very friendly people, met them once in the feedback in rotterdam when they promoted their new studiotone amp (check it out) and had a nice chat with Edwin. They are experienced, honest and caring people.

just play one, you'll be amazed. I actually wanted to buy a multitone, but tried the classictone (4x10) and liked it better. After that I found out about the 2x10 version and chose that one because of the easy transportation. Now I want an extra 2x12 and 2x10 cab to make it even more versatile. The koch multitone is still on my wishlist for the heavier sounds and the punch of the 100 watts trough the 2x12 speakers, but here in the netherlands used multitones go very cheap so I just have to save up some more cash...

Bottomline:
The clean is something you'll miss in every other amp after playing this one!!

2 channel EL 34 based amp. Reverb and tremelo. Solo boost, EQ on each channel can be controlled individually. Overdrive channel has pre-amp and master volumes. 40 watts of power. Back panel has multiple outputs for 4, 8, 16 ohm speakers, recording out as well for simulated 4x12 cab. Effects loop as well. All in all TONS of features and no tone sacrifices. Footwitch provided allows for switching between channels, reverb on/off, tremelo on/off, effects loop on/off, solo boost. The engineers at Koch truly know and understand what a guitar player needs to be versatile and tone worthy.

The easiest way to describe this amp is it's a modern day Fender
Deluxe reverb, the amp is fairly bright sounding, the reverb and
tremolo are very Fender like. Blues, country, and surf work well with this amp. The overdrive sounds are subtle and do not reach nearly the hi gain metal sounds of the Twintone. The amp is ultra quite. I use the amp with a Fender Custom Shop relic strat for blues and surf music. I also use the amp with a Koch Load Box to attenuate the volume down a tad and take advantage of the sweet direct out speaker simulation for minimizing micing hassles and late night low (no) volume recording.

Have had the amp for close to 1 year, no problems so far.

My last set of e-mails to Koch were not returned. Previous postings received prompt replys. I used to own a Koch Twintone and needed to have grill cloth replaced. They sent me replacement at no charge.
The authourized Koch dealer in Mn. is Willies American Guitars.

Overall this amp meets all my expectations, I was looking for a versatile amp that would help me cover blues, country, and surf music. This amp works perfect for these styles. Add in the reliability, outstanding tone, and features and you can't go wrong. I have been playing for 40+ years and have been through many, many, amps and guitars. If your in need of a cool channel switching amp that captures the sounds of the old Fenders with a significantly better reliability factor look no further. You can hear me playing the ClassicTone at
http://www.bajaband.com under the "Music" pulldown.