Koch Twintone Combo

This is a Koch Twintone amplifier which I bought new in 2006. It is a versatile enough for my styles of music - blues, rock and jazz. It has two channels, effects loops, record output and headphone jack. Through the switch pedal you can increase the volume or turn on the reverb. Right now its features suits me and I will explain that later. I have used this amp live and in my studio. It worked fine. Although as expected adjustments have to be made specially when playing outdoors. It a 50 watt tube amp and provides enough power for me.

I have used this amp with the following guitars Gibson Es-175 and Es - 345, MIJ Fender Strat, Parker Fly, Hofner Jazica, Yamaha L5 Copy(Japan) and PRS Santana III. It sounded great with humbuckers and single coils. Although I think it sounds better with humbuckers. Because of its versatility, it really fits my styles of music. I can play for jazz to blues and to rock. The clean sound in channel 1 is pristine. With a little reverb and delay(Keeley Boss DD-3 delay) and sometimes with compression (Keeley Compression) in the effects loop, you can dial in the very nice warm jazz tone(Wes). Check out this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLh-vTopbyI.

Channel 2 in the gain/lead/distortion channel. Although I was not completey 100% happy with this channel in the past(too fizzy), recently I was able to a very nice singing lead tone(Santan/Gary Moore) using my Keeley Boss SD-1 distortion pedal in front of the Channel 2 using the factory blues setting! Wow! Great singing sustain with controlled feedback and no fizz or noise. It sounnds great for jazz, rock and blues now.
However, this amp was not designed for metal - not enough gain.

Can depend on this amp for a gig. However, like other tube amps, I had to replace them one time. The amp is built like a tank in the Netherlands and is built with high quality components.

I have dealt with the company trhough email and they where very responsive. I only had to change the tube once and it was done by a local shop. I think the warranty in one year.

I have been playing on and off for more than 20 years now and have owned too numerous gear to list. And yes I may buy another amp like this if stolen. However, there are other great amps out there I may consider such as the Mesa Boogie Lonestar, Koch Studio Tone, Rivera, Ceriatone or FUCH OD. It depends on my budget at that time.

Really brilliant amp features here. The problem with a lot of boutique amps is lack of features. Some Dr. Z's have only two knobs: tone and volume! This amp's got that amount of tone, but way more options. The recording out is okay, but probably the best feature is the built in power soak. That way if your douche-bag roadie unplugs your cab before powering down, it won't hurt the amp.

I use a Gibson LP Standard with Burstbuckers, and a Highway One Tele with Seymour Duncan Antiquity's and several boutique pedals. I play mainly pop rock, adult contemporary, indie rock, hard rock, and noodle with some Nashville twang, and this amp really CAN do it all- beautifully. You really need to work with the controls for YOUR own sounds though.

The clean is immaculate- more head room than you can shake a stick at. The dirty channel needed a little help, so I replaced the 12ax7's with some lower gain tubes: 12ATY and/or 12AU7's and that has really made this thing sing!

Very dependable. This amp did poop out one time though. It was only a capacitor that cost me about 95 cents to fix.

The ONE problem with this amp is that the input-output jacks are made of cheap plastic. Everyone's trying to cut corners these days, but that's about the only corner they've cut.

Cheers to you KOCH- now give me my endorsement finally ; )

There is an Asian guy in Canada that can give your local tech advice, but other than that, good luck

I'm classically trained and have been playing upwards of 13years. I tour professionally and have toured with Grammy Award winning artists. A lot of these Nashville cats use Dr. Z, Carr, Matchless, etc. This amp stands it's ground to all of the boutique amps I've ever played. However, those Rivera's rock balls too.

This is a Twintone II amp!!! Amp was made in 2006 and has all the features you need. You can play jazz, pop, rock and also metal. I use it for practice and small gigs. For large gigs I use an extra Koch cabinet.

Sound Quality is very good. Clean is nice and sparkling, ideal for funk, jazz and acoustics. Overdrive is nice and bluesy it also works for rock. Overdrive plus is a nice Koch overdrive sound, if you prefer the Marshall overdrive.. don't buy this amp. If you want a very nice and versatile distortion with a modern sound.. this is the amp for you. The only thing I don't like is the difference of volume output when you switch from overdrive to overdrive plus so I give it a 9 instead of a 10.

This thing is solid as a rock. You can buy a nice cover for it as well.

Customer support works fast! I asked for a dealer in my neighberhood and they replied my email within 24 ours.

I've been playing for over 17 years now and had also the Twintone 1. I bought the Twintone II because of the extra channel... it's good but the difference in volume between the od and od+ is a bit to big. I can handle it but it's not always handy.

The Koch sound is very professional and it gives you the right sound of your guitar!!

Note that this is the Twintone II.
Apparently the new Twintone is quite popular so Koch is having some difficulty meeting supply demands. The store had to order it directly from Koch so it's fresh from the factory, 2006.
The Twintone II is all-tube and has 3 channels (all footswitcheable): channel 1 is clean. Second channel goes from overdrive to medium distortion. The third channel is distortion, although when you roll off the volume it cleans up perfectly.
There are two input channels. The second one being slightly brighter which sounds especially nice when you're using a humbuckers on the clean channel. The normal input sounds 'fatter' so use it for distortion.
Then there's a fx-loop, recording output, power soak (makes it go from 50 to 25 watts). The reverb and volume boost can be switched on and off on the supplied footswitch. Both can be adjusted on the back panel.
It's more than loud enough for me. There's no digital effects or anything like that but that's a plus as far as I'm concerned. Digital stuff will only depreciate quicker.

the clean channel sounds beautiful. It really keeps the sound of the guitar intact and stays clean at high volume. The second channel is nice but the third one is awesome. A very thick sound, perfect for soloing. A perfect rounded off sound. Paying chords it doesn't get muddy, stays tight while preserving the sound of each individual string.
The bottom range in this amp is really fantastic and let's you forget that it's so small (compact).

I guess the distortion has a modern feel to it. It doens't go to insane levels of distortion but perfect for me. Turning the Gain dial at some point only gives you more sustain while preserving a fat sounding lead. It's still versatile and takes pedals well so in that way you can probably get just about any sound out of it. I've put a Tonebone British in front of it and had a very different sounding amp (I mean that in a positive way).

The guitar I'm using is Wolfgang Special (get them second-hand while people are still dumb enough to part with them) with stock pick-ups.
The Amp is also really quiet and I can't really hear any noise.

I play mostly blues and rock and it does the job every time.

It's pretty heavy and feels sturdy. I would gig without back-up.
Haven't had any problems so far.

When I had already waited for a month and the store couldn't say anything about time of delivery, I sent Koch an e-mail. I received a reply within 2 days. They said there was a big demand for their products and that's what caused the delay. They also said they had just sent a Twintone to the musicstore who ordered it for me and a few days later I got a letter from the store.

I've been playing for about 6 years (I think). This is my fourth amp, but first one that's all-tube.
I would definately buy a new one when it was stolen, or maybe try the Multitone of I had some extra money to spend. But since this one is loud (and heavy) enough for me I would probably get the Twintone II again.

I love the sound, weight was a bit of a surprise since it's not that big but I guess that comes with the territory.

I did try some other amps like Marshalls and Engls. I like the classic Marshall sound but wanted something a bit different. I know the sound I'm looking for so when I tried this one I stopped trying out other amps.

Bought new in Jan 2005. 1 x 12 combo with Koch-badged speaker. Channel switching etc, all features already listed (but note this is the Twintone I, not the II, which came out a couple of months later and which addresses my main issue with this otherwise excellent amp (see sounds). I use most of the features including the power soak (which takes a bit of getting your head round - and remembering to check it when you switch from 'quiet' rehearsals to gigs). Don't use the lead/rhythm volume setting on the back - prefer the guitar's volume knob or o/d pedal boost settings. It's what I'm used to.

I play a Les Paul Standard, Tokai Goldstar Sound and Tokai Breezysound (with DiMarzio and Seymour Duncan stacked humbuckers), through Boss ME50 and OD1 pedals. Clean channel is wonderfully, er, clean, but on some songs I like a little bit of dirt in there for the rhythm - and this is where I wish I'd known about the new Twintone II.

The overdrive channel on my Twintone I takes you from 0 to 10, through blues and rock to thrash metal and beyond - and where I want the gain channel, it's sitting on about number 3 (sometimes less with the Les Paul). That actually does compromise the overall volume you can get, and gives me the impression that there's an awful lot of wasted fizz for me. The Twintone II has a two-stage distortion setting, one of which is more 'vintagey', the theory being you can get more grunt at the expense of the fizz.

It's very quiet, and apart from the proviso above, very versatile.

This is a beautifully made amp. It doesn't look much out of the ordinary, and if you want to play through something straight out of a 50's sitcom lounge set with a wicker front, this probably isn't for you. I like its functionality and it's no-frilles design. Everything has been thought about and the highest quality components seem to have been used. I've had no issues yet, except the name plate coming unstuck the front grille. It's not the lightest 1x12 combo in the world, but neither is it the heaviest, and I'd say they've got the weight/quality compromise about right.

I've contacted Koch twice, once about the name plate, and once to get a carton for the amp, as the store had lost the original. Every time I've emailed I've had a personal and helpful response from Holland. I ordered a cover separately and it arrived (along with the empty carton) within a week. They are really committed.

I've been playing thirty-five years (I said thirty-five years, dear. She'll bring your tea in a minute), and I still don't always know what I'm talking about. But in this case, I'm sure that this is easily the most user-friendly, robust and potentially best-sounding amp I've owned. That beats a vintage Vox AC30 and a Fender Twin (Redknob), plus various Marshall combos. I bought it because I wanted a quality combo that would handle both rehearsals and gigs without backup (though the three guitarists in the band usually carry a spare amp between us), and be easy to manhandle in and out of the van. I would replace it with the Twintone II if it were stolen. In fact, if anyone wants to steal it...

See other reviews for specs

I mainly use the combo to amplify my ES-175.The clean channel is great in combination with the reverb.The clean channel does wonderful things to my Strat (standard USA, no modifications).
I'm still working on the crunch/distortion channel.Blues is no problem. A more sophisticated fusionlike sound is what i'm looking for. Must do some tweeking I guess.

Have been playing for more than 20 years. Solid state, tubes, modelling amps etc.This is the one for me. Just my ES-175 and this amp do it for me.My other gear: Sessionette 75, Viper Pro Amp(british tube monster) and Line 6 Flextone II HD are obsolete.
Wonder what the amp would have sounded like with the Les Paul, Ibanez PM 100, Ibanez Joe Pazz,Gibson ES-335 I sold over the years

My Twintone is build in 2003. A 50 watt, two channel all tube (EL34)amp with separate eq. per channel. 1 x 12" Koch/jensen Speaker. Cool features are headphone jack and build in powersoak. Switchable to 25 watt or 0 even. Reverb in back is no problem to me although I wish it was adjusteble per channel and switchable too.
I use this amp for home and practise. And will use it for gigging too.

I play mainly on a Gibson 2002 Les Paul Standard and a HRR Strat with Dimarzio humbucker in the bridge. I play in Rock Cover band and this amp covers the whole variety of sounds needed for this.
First the clean channel: This is truly amazing?it stays clean at extremely high volumes. Even a bit too clean for my taste. My Boss OD-3 takes care of this and this amp loves overdrive pedals. Nice rich full tones, to my ears no less than any Fender amp.

OD channel: this is where this amp separates the boys from the men! From nice fat slightly overdriven blues tones to over top saturated high gain. Even with the gain knob fully cranked it?s still well defined and not muddy at all. Koch has a really nice feel for tone.
Mine is not noisy compared to other tube amps. I played a Bogner Shiva on many occasions but was more or less an unaffordable dream to me?Untill I discovered this baby. This piece of art holds its own compared to a Shiva. Go ab them when you have the change.

Can't say cause I only have it for 2 months now.
Koch is known to be reliabel though

I sent my amp to Koch for service. They are very friendly and helpfull. They make time for answering any question you have. Very good Koch!

A follow up to my last review..I sold it to a good friend, and he plays just about everynight. He loves it..

I found it had the best lead tones in the world, but the ryhthms were very dark..I changed speakers, tubes ETC,ETC, with no luck, that was the only reason I let it go..I tried a EV speaker and it sounded very bad..I wish I would of tried a vintage 4-12, might had brighten it up a bit..I ran and exciter in the front end and that helped but made the bass end on the leads very weak..I still think it was a great amp, and my friend loves a dark amp.

I played it for over a year with out any problems at all, and that was heavy 4 set nights in biker bars...

I talked to them about the brightness and did everything they said to do but no cigar...but they are killer to work with you..

great combo, might need a EQ pedal or graphic EQ...I have done alot of reviews on HC..all honest & open...pro player..

The amp I purchaed was made in 2003. The features are very good for such a small amp. I play a broad spectrum of music with this amp from Celtic rock/folk to hard rock. For metal I still prefer my Marshall, but my Marshall has no clean channel!!! I like the switchabiltiy between clean and crunchy as well as the "lead" function. The only feature I would like is another crunchy channel but then I should have purchased the multitone and I needed to sell my other kidney!!. I play this amp in small to medium size clubs and have found it to have plenty of power. For larger gigs, would need additional speaker. No gripes here for the price.

I play a Custom Shop 1992 Strat Ultra with factory lace sensor pickups and a 1978 Les Paul Custom with factory pickups. This is a very nice sounding tube amp in a compact package. Others have indicated a limited tone range/voicing on the amp and I have to agree. This is not a negative if you like the voicing which I do. The clean sound really sparkles especially with a crisp Strat tone. I have not had any problems with the clean channel producing distortion at high volumes as I have had with other amps I(even 60's Fenders). A great rock and countr rock amp.

I feel I can depend on it but I have never or will never play a gig without a backup regardless.

No experience (thankfully)

I have been playing for over 20 years. I own a Marshall JCM 800, 1969 Fender Super Reverb, 1966 Fender Princeton, and some other junk amps(sentimanetal favorites). If it were stolen, lost burned etc., I would purchase this amp again. I shopped hard for this one and my criteria was: great clean, great crunch, switchable, "lead/higher volume" switch, reverb in a package I could carry in one hand. I am tired of luggng around heads and cabinets and racks of pedals and this more than meets the bill. A great amp, especially for the price. I also looked at Mesa, BadCat, Rivera, Soldano, and Matchless

This is my re-review of this amp. I like to do a review, then play it for a year, then do another review.

I put a vintage JBL D120 speaker in the combo, and I run into a 1-12 extention cab with a greenback in it. I play in the drive side with the preamp at 11"oclock, and get cleans, crunch, and blues leads all with my volume knob. I use a Overdrive pedal for the boost leads. I also go into the clean side to run my acoustic guitar for 3 songs. Being it has the JBL and the Greenback, it seems to have the best of both worlds, clean & mean. I just love the lead tones, very Gary Moore sounding, and the crunch is a bogner type. The cleans still remind me of a great old Ampeg V-4. The JBL was just put in to give it a try, and I love it. It sounds great with just the combo on its own to, but I like a little dirt that the greenback brings to the table.

Been a year and its been awesome. built to gig nightly. I play very loud and have it almost wide open all the time, and it just wants more...I gig with just this amp, no back up..

The company seems killer, but when I wanted to buy a box, to change my combo to a head to run a 4-12 cab, they would'nt sell me a empty head box...very strange?..I am glad I stayed with the combo now, as the JBL is awesome..I have another friend that put a new Neo celestion speaker a century model in his combo, with great success..

This is one great amp. I would highly recomend trying one before you buy your next high end amp..I am lookinh at buying their 100 watt 3 channel head in the near future...just a great sounding amp...I did hate the Jensen speaker, but thats just me....

Same as below. Single 12 Jensen rated at 90 watts. Clean and Drvie channels with their own seperate eq. Drive has more controls though like the gain knob and a presence control which I wish to heck they would have included for the clean channel.

Currently, this is my only amp. Powerwise, it has plenty of headroom for me. The 90 watt Jensen, I'm sure, has something to do with this. On clean, you can turn it up very, very loud and it will hurt your ears before you will experience break-up.

Some other features that are cool are a master volume in the back that serves as a psuedo boost function when using the foot controller. Reverb is in the back too, which is fine. I still like the layout of the Multitone better, but for the money, who's really complaining?

Currently I'm using an Ernie Ball Axis Super Sport with MM-90s, a Paul Reed Smith Custom 22 Soapbar, a Guild Bluesbird and a Fender Strat. Overdrive LOVES any of these guitars I introduce it too. Particuarly the soapbar pickups. Very clapton-like blues from his "from the craddle" album. Turning up the gain gives you virtually any range of distortion you want. This amp is biased towards the mid-range, so I'm not sure about the scooped out stuff, but to my ears, it can give you absolute over-the-top if that's what you are looking for. I prefer a little dirt and really love the way the drive channel reacts to my guitars. Strat sounds good too.

The clean channel is clean, but this is where I'm a little disappointed. Where the drive channel sports a presence control to allow the user to adjust higher or lower frequencies for more or less warmth, the clean channel does not. And with humbuckers in the bridge position, I find the sound to be somewhat harsh leaving me to back off on the treble and mid-range. I had a Delux Reverb Reissue that did the same thing and I wonder if it's just the Jensen speaker or if it's the way the amp was designed. One feature that helps to fix that is it has a high and low input and using the low input (generally for active pickups) fixes this to a degree. However, switching over to the drive channel in the low input causes you to loose the neat harmonics the lead channel gives you in the normal setting.

Believe me, this amp does not sound bad by any means, it's just a little harsh and burnt sounding with humbukcers. I don't know if this can be corrected by a speaker change, but I hate the thought of changing something out when you've paid some bucks for a nice amp. Furthermore, I don't gererally play my humbucker clean in the bridge, so it's not a super huge deal. I guess that's one thing about the Riveras. You have a presence and focus control for both channels which really comes in handy for a quick tone adjustment. On top of the rest, the guy down below who just absolutely wants to marry his Twintone.....Good for you!....But I agree with the guy he disagrees with. I don't find a huge tonal variety when moving the knobs around. You get some, but much less than other amps.

Drive channel can't be beat. However, the clean channel is a little brittle and harsh for my taste, so instead of a perfect score, it gets a 9.

Well built and works every time.

I've emailed the Koch website several times and have gotten very quick and positive responses. These guys are a class act.

I've thought about selling it to get a Rivera so I could have a warmer clean channel, but I just don't think I can part with the drive channel. I had a Trace Elliot Speed Twin that had a great lead channel too, and I remind myself of letting that amp go when I think of selling this one. Another reason I don't want to part with it is for an amp so versatile and powerful, it's also very very portable. Every time I think of getting a 2-12 combo or a head and a cabinet, I think of weight and a bad back. Sure, some amps make better furniture pieces, but if you need an amp to take with you on practice and gigs and have a small car, this amp is really hard to beat. I may try changing the speaker and seeing if that helps the clean channel warm up a little bit, or I may just try and break the Jensen in a little bit more as I've heard this is a common practice with Jensen Speakers.

At any rate, this is a very nice amp. Professionally built and has some very strong endorsees. Paul Reed Smith seems to like his Multitone and there is a growing list of other prominent guitarists as well.

I think if this amp were stolen, I'd try a Rivera Quiana or Fandango out or I'd try the Gibson Goldtones out. I like EL-84s and Class A amps, but I don't know how long the marriage would last with me trying to adjust knobs that are on the floor in the back of the amp. The Riveras are very nice, nice looking and have plenty of controls to adjust your guitar and amp to. The only problem is they've gotten crazy expensive in just the past couple of years. I've heard from a Rivera dealer they are now selling all Rivera amps at list price....I saw a Fandango go up nearly $300.00 overnight, which kind of turned me off.....And now you have to pay what they advertise on the website. Can you imagine if Gibson did that with their stupid list prices? So, to re-phrase, a used Rivera might be worth looking into.

If you are looking for a versatile amp, this is a good choice. I don't like the brittle clean, but the drive channel is something to be respected. I haven't found a broader gain control on any other amp I've played and it will serve this model well. For those looking to spend a little more coin and want more options, the Multitone is a great candidate to consider also.

New amp with all the control knobs for each channel right there in front to make for easy tweaking and adjustments. Reverb and Master are located in the back, but with either of those, I always just set and forget, so having them in the back is no problem. Nice footswitch for allowing you to go from clean channel to OD channel and an additional switch to activate the Rhythm/Lead volume, which is actually the master volume control.

I kind of wish the master control had a solid knob like the reverb, which would allow quicker tweaking in a live situation, but it also keeps it from being moved accidentally when you are reaching behind for something else. All in all, the features are great and the amp is built wil absolute class. I've never seen an amp so well built in all my life. The EL-34's are soundly protected with a metal grille that protects the tubes and your fingers when they've been on a long time. I also really appreciate Koch placing the power and standby switches in front as you now don't have to reach around the back and risk burning your hand on the tubes. The standby is also very very quiet when activated protecting your speaker from the annoying pops that happen when some amps are placed in standby.

This amp is extremely versatile and has a great sound which I will get to in the next section.

I've had an old Bassman 10 that I moddified to blackface specs and a Delux Reverb Reissue, along with a Trace Elliot SpeedTwin. The fenders had the best clean, while the Trace Elliot's gain is yet to be matched. The only problem was getting the versatility. Pedals could help the fenders while the Speed Twin's clean left much to be desired. So, I had sold both the fenders and the Trace Elliot and tried to get a Rivera. That's when I stumbled across the Koch. Thanks to a helpful employee at Corner Music in Nashville, he suggested I try the Koch they had. I had read about the newer vintage model they came out with and saw the good things the editor had to say about it. So, knowing the Koch was a high-quality amp maker, I did not hesitate the try the Twintone out. Needless to say, I quickly lost my interest in the Riveras and started focusing on the Koch. Main reason was the simplicity to operate and still get great, versatile tones. The riveras were all very nice. But, talk about tweaking. I felt like I'd have to tweak something for every guitar I have, when the Koch just seemed to sound good with everything I plugged into it without really having to do anything. In addition, the owners manual gives some helpful illustrations for people looking for a starting place with different sounds and styles of music. My recommendation is you just put everything equal at 12 o'clock and do your own tweaks according to the guitar you have the the style you are trying to accomplish.

Like the gentleman below said, it does have an old ampeg clean to it, but it also resembles the delux reverb I had. With the master volume all the way up, your bridge humbuckers can be a little harsh on the clean channel, which is much like my DRRI. However, this is where the Koch excells. Simply adjust your master volume, engage the switch, and you have a practice room volume that sounds great without being too harsh or too loud, which was always a problem with any fender or boogie I owned. The clean, in my opinion, is on the bright side, so there is no need for any push/pull knobs to brighten up the sound. Want it darker? Simply back off your treble and increase your mids or whatever you want. Unlike an earlier review, I think the controls have a lot of tone shaping. I just think the amp sounds good any way you want to put the knobs. The gain channel is great also. You can get a very bluesy gain to about the 10'oclock position. After that, hold onto your hat because the gain becomes very extreme producing harmonics and overtones you wouldn't expect from an amp with such a great clean channel. Usually you either get a great clean with a thin sounding kind of crappy overdrive, or you get a great overdriven amp with a marginal clean sound. Not with the Twintone. From clean to extreme, it's all in here. And honestly, I sold my overdrive and distortion pedals because I don't need them anymore.

I also feel the most important component of a guitar amp is to really accentuate the true tones of the guitar you are playing. What I mean is with the Bassman, all the guitars I have sounded good, but there was a slight un-inspiring sense to it all. Meaning all my guitars seems to possess a similar sound when plugged in. It was a good sound, but as I said, I just couldn't get inspired with it. On top of that, going from 1/2 to 1 on the volume nearly blew me out of the room and I'm sure the people that live above me didn't appreciate me wanting to play at night. Fenders are notorious of having a very loud volume at lower knob levels. This is where the master volume is really beneficial. Not only can you get the amp to distort early on the clean side, but you can play at acceptable levels when at home. Anyway, back to my point. With the Koch, I noticed completely different tones with every guitar I plugged in. My P90s sound like P90s. My strat sounds like a gift from God. My humbuckers are loud but very toneful, and my ASAT classic sou

Shoot. Just look at the 11-ply Birch ply cabinet and see if you can tell me of another manufactures that builds with this kind of construction. In addition, I've never experienced any rattling while playing, nor have I had any failures. The amp runs hot, but not like my Delux Reverb that I feared would always catch fire while playing. The circuity and tubes are all well protected and the amp is as quiet at a mouse with no extracurricular noise to speak of.

An absolutely fantastic and well-built amp. And the price is amazing to the quality ratio.

I had a simple question about the extension cabinet, and withing 20 minutes, I got an email back from Edwin Kool at Koch. Very helpful and polite, but also I couldn't get over how quickly I got an answer. Try doing that with Gibson. (I have) and see what you get. I've heard Rivera is also great with customer support (I'm mentioning these as these are larger amp manufacturers, which is all the more impressive of their response time).

With the service and support, I may be partial to Koch for life.

Now, you see what I paid and think........expensive. Well, let me ask you this. How much did your guitar cost? I'm asking because for the longest time I've had really nice and expensive guitars while playing through a $400.00 amplifier. While there's nothing wrong with that, I thought about applying the quality to quality ratio. If you get what you pay for with higher quality guitars, then why wouldn't the concept apply to amplifiers. In fact, I truly believe the amp if by far the most important piece to your sonic puzzle than the guitar. Sure, you want playability and quality electronics on your guitar, but if your amp is crap, then your sound will most likely be crap. And I'm not insulting people that want to get a lower cost amp at all. They have a lot of great sounding amps that are more affordable, but my recommendation is to hold off on another expensive guitar and get a high quality amp. And high-quality doesn't necessarily mean boutique. Point to point is great, but not at $2,500.00 If circuit boards sounded so bad, then most of the main manufacturers would not be using them. I've never played a Rivera that sounded bad and they use circuit boards. Nor have I disliked any of the Fender reissures that use circuit boards. Put the Reissue to a real '65 and blindfold yourself. You'll be hard pressed to tell me which one sounds better. I think the circuit boards offer more reliability and consistency. As long as the boards are of high quality and the soldering points are done with care, your circuit board amp should last as long and sound as good as your point to point wired amp with reliability nodding to the circuit board. Pots, jacks, wires, sockets are all factors as well. Using those parts will afford you better tone and reliability. All which Koch uses. Just go to their website and see for yourself.

Anyway, I'm rambling, but I'm so excited and happy with the Twintone, that I am now contemplating getting either the TS-112 extension cabinet or the Rivera LosLowbottom subwoofer to compliment the 50-watt combo. The subwoofer makes more sense as it will nullify getting the multitone and really increase the bottom end (notorious with open-backed single speaker combo amps). For now, the Twintone sounds great by itself. It's extremely well-built, compact and easy to carry and load in your car. I had an original Boogie Mark I and while that was a cool amp, it was a bear to tweak and a beast to carry.

If you're looking for a high quality amp, that really is, in my opinion, a steal for the money, you should consider the Twintone. At least try one if you can find one in a store near you. I think you'll be completely blown away.

Same as all the other reviews....got it used , in mint cond. from another player. 12" Koch/Jensen speaker...

I have been playing Rivera's & Demeter's for the past 5 years, and both those amps try and stuff Fender clean with Marshall crunch into one amp. The Rivera did the Fender best & the Demeter did the Marshall best, but this Twintone does its own thing. The clean side sounds like an old Ampeg to me, and thats a good thing. The drive side can do a close Marshall type tone, but also nails a modded Hiwatt to the Tee. It also can do the modern stuff like Soldano & Bogner, but it has a nice vibe all the time, it seems to work with you. I use P-90 guitars, and they don't like many amps...they love this amp..I run the combo into an EXT. 2-12" cab with vintage 30's. I can go from SRV to Van Halen with no trouble at all.

seems to be built right, its like they took a Rivera and made it better....

I have owned over 300 guitars, but i don't change amps much. I like this amp alot, and for the money it blows away alot out there. I was looking for a different kind of sound, lets say a better fender/marshall type thing, and this amp delivers it in spades. I did read all the reviews on harmony central before i bought this amp..Thanx...

Purchased brand new May 2001. Two channels, one clean with low, mid and high controls, and one overdrive with low, mid, high, presence and gain. Reverb is on the backside (bad idea) and applies to both channels. Also got an effects loop, headphone jack, recording jack, nice footswitch, a "rhythm function" switch, and the possibility to switch from 50 to 25 watts. Main controls are on the frontside, slightly tilted backwards, which is as it should be; not like some of those idiot Fender amps, with reversed controls on the top backside. It's simple to use, but is still very versatile.

My setup is very simple: I have a PRS Standard, which I run straight into the Twintone, or sometimes through a Zoom GFX-8 multi-effect. I play mostly classic rock, blues, some jazz/fusion. Clean channel is clean all the way, and does not break up. It does not have that Fender sparkle, but it is rich and well defined. Overdrive channel is great too; you get anything from a "clean sound with an edge" to screaming high gain sounds. Although personally I would prefer a more vintage/ blues type of overdrive, but that's entirely a matter of taste. With the volume at a high level and the gain low, you get a nice compressed clean sound, a la Shine On....With High at 0, Presence at 10 and Gain at 6, you'll find yourself in Gary Moore territory: overdrive with loooong sustain. Amp is very quiet too. Spring reverb is excellent. The tone controls have no dramatic impact; maybe too little impact, really, but the upswing is that you can't find a bad sound on this amp. The character of the Twintone could best be described as "neutral"; you could also say that it does not have an instantly recognisable sound of its own. It does just what an amp should do, being amplification of sound, leaving the sound of your guitar (and fingers) intact. I would imagine that this amp appeals especially to people who are not restricted to one specific playing style (like blues or jazz, or metal), but want to have one amp that can be used for multiple purposes. What is fairly unique on this amp, is that you can get excellent sounds out of it (even overdriven sounds) at low volumes. I do not gig and use it only as practice amp and some occasional jamming with friends, so this was an important feature for me. In fact, I traded a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe against this baby; I did like the sound of the Fender, but it was way too friggin' loud for use at home - the clean channel was hardly manageable, and the overdrive channel was simply unusable. All in all, although I hate to rate with 10's (nothing's perfect), I have never found a better unit, in spite of my efforts in my ongoing quest for ultimate guitar tone....

Sturdy built, never had any problems. I would be surprised if it would break down.

Never dealt with them.

I've been playing for 20 years, but mostly acoustic. For the last three years, I have focussed more on the electric guitar, although I do not have time to play much. If this amp would be lost, I'd probably buy it again; at least I have never found another amp with the same qualities: rich tube sounds on both channels, good tones at low volumes, wonderful reverb, and surprisingly versatile. I have tried many others (Fender Hot Rod (mentioned above), Fender Blues Junior (good sounds, but single channel, and noisy too), Trademark 60 (crappy solid state sounds), Mesa/Boogie, Marshall, Laney, Line 6 etc., but no tube amp offers the same quality and versatility. It's not cheap, but worth the money. Nothing to wish for, then? Oh yes. My ideal amp would be construed as follows: Fender Hot Rod Deville clean sound, Cornford Harlequin overdrive, Twintone spring reverb (control on the front, please) and Twintone volume control. Since I believe this has not been invented yet, I guess this Koch amp is the next best thing....

this amp was made in 2002. It's extremely versatile for bluesrock, metal, wedding and funeral music.
It has two channels and footswitchable volume boost.
Amp is switchable from 50 watts to 25 by internal power soak
wish it was cheaper

les paul, strat, upgraded yamaha pacifica, jazzbox, they all sound great, especially the greater output guitars
It rocks like nothing has and ever will rock. Suddenly you can play things you never thought of. It has a surprising Van Halen Brown Sound and lays somewhere between a 5150, boogie and marshall. Low gain settings are nice and crisp and controlling of gain with guitarvolume is for once really effective, so you do not need to touch that footswitch.
The clean channel is very fender tough not so twangy. It's beautiful and very useful anyway.
Amp is dead silent, even at high volumes.

dunno yet

Live in holland so I don't presume it being a problem

Play for 10 yrs, owned or own a Boogie caliber, marshall JTM, champ, peavey classic.
If it would be stolen I'd be broke still.
It looks beautiful.
Buy one.

The amp was produced in 2001-2002, I believe. Serial H0838. It has a mixure of Marschall and Mesa

voicings. There are two channels (Clean/Distortion). It has rhythm pot on the back, to set a

lower volume for rhythm. It is footswitchable and works in both channels. The other switch on the

obviously for channel switching. Combine it with a FX unit, that has amp switching capabilities,

and you are all set for.
It has a headphone out, with a good response. There is a line out. It has a reverb with a dial on

the back of the amp (one setting for both channels).
It has a protection against speakerless operation (powersoak), which I doubt that it will work if

you only plug in a plug...but who is going to do that?. It has a switch for 4 and 8 Ohm, and it

has a special lower volume (using the internal powersoak), which works quite fine. Although It is

still loud even at lower volume settings (Hi-gain).
It has only volume, no gain control for the clean channel. I didn't like that but it is

interesting to tell that the amp goes fairly loud, with little distortion on the clean channel.

It is followed by Bass (which does not do much), then Mid which works only little and treble

which works, but not in a very drastic frequency response.
The lead channel has gain ("goes up to 20") :-) , volume, presence, bass, mid and treble.

Especially presence has a lot of influence on the top character of the sound. The rest has less

impact.
A feature of the amp would also be the punching low that comes out of the speaker. Already at

pretty low volume is starts pumping very strongly.
It has an Passive and Active in. I tried both, the character became more neutral on the Active

in, but since I have passive pickups, I only used the Passive in.
It has a serial FX loop and a removable power cord. The speaker is a GV12-90, marked Koch, made

by Jensen. Inside the combo is a full length reverb at the bottom (which sounds excellent btw)

and some straps to fix your cables and pedal, to prevent the cables and pedal jumping around in

the cabinet during transport.
It has a strong cage around the 2x EL34. The preamp tubes are open, but more or less protected by

the conus of the speaker, by blocking the opening under the EL-34 cage. The pedal will have a

hard time hitting these preamp tubes.
Everything is nicely (hand) crafted and looks very solid and professional. Oh, on the back is a

switch for clean/lead channel, in case you want to switch manually.. if you ever use something

like that.
It has an excellent balance between features and size. Although a little heavy, it is still quite

portable. It smells like paint in the beginning, but that will disappear after a while.

I used a Patrick Eggle with Semour Duncan pickups. I played through Spectraflex cables. Sometimes I use some lush or mild Chorus or vintage type of delay. As (additional) distortion pedal, I used a H&K Tubeman for some tests.
Music style is alternative rock. Modern distortion is wanted and clear powerful overdrive for lead. I was looking for a deep and warm clean, like the old boogies. The amp delivers a similar dreamy, dark tone as the Mesa/Boogie and somehow also reminds a little to the Marshalls. Also punching low of the Fenders can be found in this amp. [But a whole fender sound is not quite in there]
The clean channel is compressed, but does not distort much at all. Impressive. I guess the volume control comes after the gain stages. I found it very sad not to have control over the gain; I would have loved to play with gain a little,depending on the guitar you use. Strange maybe, but for clean I find a gain control extremely useful.
Unfortunaly, I found this a little too dark sounding in the lows. Some lower tones sounded numb. [on the clean channel]. It has a nice crystal sound though for the upper frequencies.
The distortion was a sort of old fashioned Marshall with a little more highs, like modern distortions have. They are ok, but not modern enough for what I want. The voicing in Clean and Lead channel are sort of fixed. The Presence has some influence on the lead sound, but the voicing is very dominant. I didn't like the tone. It was very well defined, but not what I was looking for(very subjective..). The leads are not very noisy, just like Everything on the amp, it is very professional.
On High volume the amp does not change much in character, although it comes a little more too life. The build in powersoak is not as strong (low volume) as you would hope for, but sounds very good.
The reverb is very beautiful. I am used to the half size spring reverbs. This one is very well defined and makes you wonder how spring reverb can sound so natural. You only need a little in the mix (up till 3), since the reverb settings at 10 are really extreme (you'll probably never need that).
If you are looking for the distortions that this amp produces (old fashioned with a modern bite), this amp will blow you away.
A really nice and feature is the rhythm volume on the back. Just set it (the pot on the back), during sound check and you are ready to go: backing clean, lead clean, backing raw, lead raw. It is all possible on the foot pedal with just two good positioned switches. [one switches between rhythm/Max Volume and the other between the two channels]. Put your foot sideways and you can switch any way you like, instant. This convinces of a good, stand alone product. It would have been an amp for life, but I just didn't like the voicing.

The amp worked fine from beginning till the end. It looks sturdy and feels very professional. You might want to get a flight case for it, when you go gigging a lot. The tubes are well protected (especially the EL-34s).
You probably don't need a backup, but spare tubes and fuses would be nice. (If you gig a lot, you want to have a backup anyway, for the gigs...). Excellent equipment.

I have heart the service is excellent; If you are close to the Netherlands, you bring it in if needed and they will help you very well.

It's an excellent amp. If you like the voicing, you can stop looking any further. Top quality for a nice price.
I played a lot of non-standard brands, and this is one of the best in the more affordable price range.
I miss the gain and a presence control in the clean channel. The rest is very workable. The headphones out is okay and the powersoak/speaker protection are extremely useful. The rhythm volume pot still produces a very good sound and makes the amp grown-up.
The Koch has been compared with a .50 caliber from Mesa/Boogie by using a special switch and identical cables. I found the Boogie sound better for both lead and clean (very subjective). Only for the rhythm distortion, it sounds more defined. It is also much more flexible than the Boogie. I would not trade it trade the boogie for the Koch; so I returned the Koch with a little troubled brain. But in the end it is about sound, and I simple liked the Boogie better on that line (the heart). The Boogie had a little more character at higher volumes.
If you are in doubt, try the Koch. It's an excellent amp and very affordable. It probably won't let you down ever.

Foot switch, efx loop, reverb, clean / od
Handle to carry the little beast.

I use a Les Paul Studio Lite - hum sing hum. My influences are King Buzzo, Kerry King and Trower.
Great tone on the clean setting, I use my ZVEX Fuzz Factory on this setting and just rip a new one in the 60s ass. Best fuzz pedal out there( that is another story). I can take the clean channel pretty high without grit and grime. Not windex clean, more like dishwasher clean.
OD channel- made me get rid of my distortion pedals. I had a Boss MT 2, OD2 and a Rat box - GONE! This is my tone here. This is MY tone. I like the harmonics, Pulling back on the vol knob on my guitar can create some neat variances in playing and attack. More towards 20 on the gain and you can get the Slayer sound easily.

I have found that the less knobs is more theory really makes a difference! I have had this up to 7 so far and it wanted more.

I had a tube go out in the pre amp, took it to Guitarville in Seattle and had it fixed right away.
Everything feels solid about this lil guy!

Emailed the company, got a response. One year warranty.

My set up is simple 91 Les Paul, Line 6 Filter Modulator, E/H Guitar synthesizer, ZVEX SEEK WAH, ZVEX FUZZ FACTORY, Boss TU 2, Koch Twintone amp.
I am a amateur player of the guitar. I have owned Marshalls, Sunn, Crate and a line 6 pod. None of them give me the same satisfaction

50 watt 2 channel combo amp with reverb. Everything I'm lookin for.

Bear in mind this review comes after spending 20- 25 minutes demoing this in the store.

The overall voicing of the amp is a little bright, but otherwise well balanced tonally. It is not too piercing in the highs or too overbearing in the lows. It punches consistently throughout the frequency band.

The clean channel reminds me a lot of a Fender, surprising for an EL 34 based amp. There is a nice chime to this channel. It is a little stiff, if your used to any amount of compression, but I could get used to it in a hurry. It is very balanced tonally, there are no offensive frequencies.

The gain channel is voiced similar to the clean channel, only it can be vastly overdriven. I like the crunch sounds a lot. The notes lose focus when the gain is dimed, but does'nt become grainy or nasally. This channel reminds me somewhat of Mike Sterns overdrive sounds.

I like the reverb on this amp as much as any reverb I have ever heard.

na - Appears to be very well constructed

Unknown

This is a great versatile amp. It should appeal to guitarists who are looking for an amp that doesn'nt have any negative sonic qualities, maybe those with a really great guitar to amplify, and are looking for a straight ahead sound.

My criticism, is that the amp did not have a huge amount of character (at least not at relatively low volumes). There did not seem to be a lot of harmonic content or 'personality'. So there is nothing to get in the way of hearing the guitar, and could be positive or negative depending on your viewpoint.

I was very impressed with this amp, but not quite enough to purchase it.

Twintone '01. Very versatile and powerful combo. 2 channels , footswitch, headphone jack, half power option, effects loop, recording output etc. Just enough features for some serious rock.

Very good sounding amp. This combo comes with new Jensen speakers made and designed specially for Koch. I'm mainly play Les Paul with SD 59' , Stratocaster and Telecaster. Koch is noiceless and easy to use. I used to have modeling amp and I just got frustrated with all the knobs and effects which were never used. This one has all sounds in very compact package. Twintone goes easily with many types of music. I'm using it mainly for Rock and some blues. It has LOT of gain. You get those Metallica sounds out quite easily. Clean channel is very Fenderish. With Strat or Telecaster it's really clear and bright sounding. No 10 for rating cos you just have to search the tone for your hole life....

It's been with me few moths now and works very well.

Dont know, never dealt with the manufacturer. I've heard that they are very helpful.

I've been playing some years now and had some experience on different types of amps. This is not so vintage sounding amp like some some products in market. Koch is versatile, ageless, very good quality amp for many types of music. It's also cheaper than some American high end amps like Budda, Badcat etc. If this baby is stolen I'll probably get new one. Brilliant tool fool active musicans. Rock on !

Look at the review from Franz. I bought this amp from him.

Channel 1: Pure Fender-Tone, up 1/3 of the volume clean with a Strat, after that more and more crunch. With my Les Paul-style Hamer with stronger humbuckers, it starts directly with nice crunchy harmonics. And with that built-in powersoak-option the crunch starts even earlier. Just think of a cranked up old deluxe reverb.

Channel 2: Like Mark-Boogies, but not so nasal. Starting from creamy crunch, to crunchy cream up to 20 (but that's too much for me). It's more that, Blues, Rock'n'Roll and Country-Amp.

Reverb: Excellent for a spring reverb, very deep and fulltone with very light delay-beats.

It's nearly new. Nothing to complain about.

I send an e-mail and one day later I had the answer.

It's small, it's perfectly built with highclass components, easy to handle, loud enough for every club with all the additions you need from a modern two-channel-amp. It's the perfect compact amp for these types of music that came out of the blues roots. But in my opinion it's no metal-amp. I LOVE IT?

It's a two channel tube amp of convinient size and weight (22kg). Channel one has volume, bass, mids, treble, while channel two has gain, volume, presence, bass, mids and treble. Two inputs, one for passive and one for avtive pick ups. Rear side bears headphone jack, external speaker jack,speaker impedance switch from 4 to 8 ohms, main speaker jack, FX loop in/out (seriell), reverb level mix, channel footswitch jack, clean/gain switch if footswitch is disconnected and lead/rhythm volumelevel control. The Twintone is powered by two EL 34 tubes and host a spring reverb. Via footswitch the user is able to controll the lead/rhythm volume function as well as the clean channel/gain channel function. What's misleading in my opinion is, that concerning the rhythm/lead function the indicator light in "on" when the rhythm function is used. What I would like to have is an "on/off" function switch for the effects loop, like my Tech 21 Trademark 60 has. Contrary to other models my twintone has a custom jensen 12" 90 Watt speaker, which is very loud and sounds comarable to the 75 Watt Celestions, which can be found in todays 4x12" cabinets. There's no DI-out, but thats no problem cause I always mike my amps with a Groove Tubes tubemic if neccesary. All controls go very smooth and work effective. Presence control for channel one would be fine.

First time a heard a Twintone Combo was at the Frankfurt Music Fair in 1998 or 1999 right after I had played a Bogner Shiva, which had been an (unaffordable) dream for me. It was Mr.Koch himself who played and I never forgot the sound of those small amp in all these years. Basically I'm playing a Gibson '61 Reissue SG as well as a custom build Riemer Strat with '54 style vintage pickups. Channel 1 has a very good clean sound, much headroom, fenderish but lacking the crisp treble sound. It compares very well to my '70 Marshall Super Lead Normal Channel, which has at certain setting a warm, full and dynamic sound. I use this channel in combination with a vintage TS 9, an old RAT and a early '70s Fuzzface for the sounds I need when I play AC/DC, Hendrix or Led Zeppelin songs. Channel two has a more modern voicing, which sounds like a recent Marshall, but without those sometimes nasty mids.
Theres a lot of gain (up to 20) if you need it, and setting the bass to 9, mids to 3 and treble/presence to 10 nearly blows the bass player off stage. I'm using the amp in combination with an old ('65) Fender Bandmaster cabinet, what's so far a good sounding combination.
Referring to my other guitars ('72 Les Paul, '80 Flying V, '90 Les Paul Special, '94 Music Man van Halen) you always have to try and hear, to find out where the sweet spot lies. But I suggest, thats unique with every amp and guitar. The only reason, why I don't give a ten for the sound is that in my experiece nothing can beat the dynamics of an amp which is equipped with 4 tubes like my ol' Marshall or an ol' Twin Reverb. The Twintone is very loud, but it's like a modern 6 cylinder engine compared to 8 cylinder big block.
The amp is very quiet at all, even at the highest gain setting and rolling back the volume knob of the guitar displays a high quality sound with medium distortion. Concerning, that I play as well a lot of Metallica, Skid Row Nu Metal stuff its a very versatile amp for those old school//new scholl Hard Rock/Heavy Metal songs.

I purchased the amp several weeks ago and had so far no problems at all. Anyway, hence I would rate that.

There are just 3 or 4 dealers, which sell those Koch products. I purchased the Twintone from Uli's Musik in Koln (Cologne) in Germany, which is a very sophisticated guy and serious dealer. So far I do not expect any problems, if I would have the amp maintained. When I wanted to buy an Twintone, I looked at the Koch homepage www.kochamps.com and found an dealer immediatly. The contact to Uli was via eMail and had been excellent.

I'm playing over 30 years and apart from such (in Germany) rare amps like a Dumble or a Matchless I've played most of the usual amps like VOX, Fender, Marshall, Mesa/Boogie, Hughes & Kettner etc. The Twintone is my first choice when I play on smaller or medium sized stages.

I don't know what year it was built, and the features are listed in the other reviews. I does have a Celestion Vintage 30 speaker, of which I think are the speakers ever. I play rock, blues, rock n roll, jazz, and this amp is great for all types of music! I only wish you could footswitch the reverb function, 'cause i never use the solo/rhythm function. It has plenty of power, I sometimes connect it to a Marshall cab, and blows the hair off my legs!

I mainly use a PRS CE 24, which already sounds great from itself, but comes out much better with this amp! It has factory pickups, which sound superb! I also use a Fender Strat, even with his singlecoils you can get a fat sound out of the amp, no need to buy an extra overdrive pedal.
For effects I use a Boss GT-5 multieffectsprocessor, a Jimi Hendrix Wah and an E-Bow. This setup has been my dream for years, but with this rig i'm ready for life!
The variety of this amp is incredible. The clean channel stays clean up until volume 10. The overdrive channel is crunchy until 5, and rock all the way after that. It really gives me what i need.

A friend of mine has made a flightcase for it, because I travel around a lot with my band SMUCK. I think cases are essential for your equipment. As you all know, tube amps are a little risky, because of the tubes. So I always bring a spare one with me. But you never know. I could break down, but I've gigged a lot with it, and nothing has happened.

I found that the reverbknob was too big, because came out of the amps hood. So I sent Koch a note with that. 5 days later I got a new knob. I've been at the factory once, and the people there were really nice. Koch amps can't be found in every store, you need to check their website for the exact address. The warranty is 1 year.

I've been playing for 8 years now, and this has always been the setup that I wished for. It cost me about $6000, but it got me a great sound! You can check out my bands website www.smuck.nl for results. I used to own a Fender Ultimate Chorus and was glad i got rid of it. It just isn't an amp for gigging.
So to conclude, bring a big wallet, but it's worth every penny!

A 2-channel 50 Watt combo amp. Channel footswitch pedal with boost control. Amp made in the Netherlands. ALL-TUBE. Spring Reverb(Accutronics classic-model). Variable Gain and Presence control. Bass and Mid and Treble controls in Channel 2. Channel 1 (clean channel) just Bass, Mid and Treble controls. Reverb is adjusted from the rear. set it and forget it.

The combo comes with and excellent speaker, CELESTION VINTAGE 30. The best, I feel, for overall tone and distortion. The distortion is pure hot-rod. From a mild gain to over the top(Van Halen). The clean is quite good and very verstalie.

So far, so good

You can e-mail them. And they do respond.

If you are looking for an amp that can do everything well. and pay just a grand, and be all tube. I highly recommend this amp. Nothing in its class. Not Fenders, Riveras, or Carvins or Boogies or Peaveys.
I have been playing for 20 years, and this is an excellent value for the money. Can't beat it at all. You can use for all styles. They are hard to get, but if you find one, I recommend you try it. they have a website (www.koch-amps.com). I own vintage fenders and Marshalls. It is like I got two amps in one(fender and marshall).

This amp has all I need for features. Effects Loop, Solo volumn boost

This is the most versitile amp I've ever played. The clean channel really does sound like a Fender. I have a Blackface deluxe and have used it for years. I have searched for an amp that had Fender clean and Modded marshall lead tone and this one has both.I've had lots of amps and this one is one of the best. I believe this one will stay at my house along time.

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Great Amp

I recently attended a Paul Reed Smith seminar at a local music store and asked him what kind of amps he liked. On that particular night, Paul was playing through a Bogner Shiva which belonged to the store that sponsored the event. Paul started raving about the Koch line of guitar amplifiers and said that they are his favorite amps, that he records with them and plays them live, and that they are very hard to get in the United States. I started looking on the internet for Koch amps and stumbled upon JTM Musics web site. Robb Johnston of JTM had a few Koch's in stock and I had him ship me one on approval. My amp arrived loaded with a Celestion Vintage 30, (which is not my personal favorite....I know that a lot of players swear by them...but I personally prefer the EV12L). The Vintage 30 had a strange buzz and it turns out the speaker was damaged, probably in transit. I called Robb at JTM and he was very helpful and bent over backwards to make sure that I was satisfied. I loaded the amp with a EV speaker and it is still in it.
My amp was purchased by JTM at the Summer NAMM show and was in "as new" condition. The other reviewers have listed all of the specifications on the amp so I will not bore you with the details...see other reviews. However, I will say that the amplifier is extremely versatile and has plenty of power for club gigs. I do not use the auto power soak feature because it is hard on the tubes.

Tom Anderson builds my favorite guitars. I have four of them and they all sound great through the Koch. I also have a couple of PRS's, Brian Moore DC-1, Strats, Teles, Les Pauls. My style is blues oriented and this is the first "high gain" oriented amp that I have owned. This amp has gobbs of gain and will scream if you want it to. I prefer the compressed singing lead tone to the thermal meltdown tones, but everything is in this amp. At extremely high gain settings the amp does get a little noisy. The best comparison that I can give is to a Saldano or a hot rodded Marshall. The clean channel is fantastic and it stays clean at high volumes. The reverb unit is the same unit that is in my Vintage Fender reverb unit and it sounds very good.

Other than the speaker situation that I mentioned above, I have had no problems with the amp. I always have a few amps with me if I am going to play out.

Eden Electronics is the USA distributor at the present time for Koch. You should begin seeing them in your local music store very soon. One of the local dealers in my town has picked up the line and is very excited about having them. The manufacturers warranty from Koch is 1 year. Eden told me to ship the Vintage 30 to them and they will replace it. I have not done it yet, but I do not anticipate any problems. Robb Johnston at JTM Music's service has been excellent and he has always answered any inquiries promptly.

I have been playing for 20+ years. I also own a Mesa Boogie MK1 which has been my number one amp for years. I prefer the clean sounds of the Koch to the Boogie. I also have a Matchless Clubman with a 2-12 cabinent, Victoria Bassman and a Deluxe. If the Koch were lost or stolen, I would probably replace it. It is much more versatile than the other amps that I own and a lot less money than most of them. I am not going to give the amp a overall rating of a 10 because I still have dreams of stumbling upon a Dumble some day. But in the bang for the buck department the Koch definately deserves a 10