Product: London City Bulldog Amp
Price Paid: Eur 360
Submitted
07/26/2009
at
05:23am
by
Vito
Features
:
9
100 Watt all tube guitar amp. 1 clean channel ( with boost option ) 1 distortion channel with 2 gain options. 1 Spring reverb.
Allso present: -Effect loop, Cab options: 1x 16ohm, 2x 8 or 2x 4 ohm.
I got this amp as an add on to my Yerasov GTA-200R All tube head. For the price of this amp it does the job rather well.
Sound Quality
:
7
My setup is: Ibanez RG 2550 Prestige ( or 1570 prestige ) Yerasov GTA-200R all tube head that drives a 4x150watt eminence tonkers cab. My second cab will probably be something more neutral like V-30 or Eminence gov'n.
The bulldog is a cheap tube amp ( new it costs a little more that peavey valveking that is made in China ). The clean channel sounds very nice ( on the V-30 and Tonker cabs ) it's decent and bright with a little puchnyness. I would not say that it has "that speciffic marshall or mesa sound". No it sound very decent, warm ad tubey! The boost on the clean channel is IMO totally useless! I play metal so the overdriven clean is not my cup of tea.
The 1st gain on the distortion channel is ok. Suitable for rock and roll and hard rock. It would allso suit the pop artists. The 2nd gain is more punchy and responsive but still NOT BRUTAL!!! THIS AMP IS NOT FOR METAL!!! As a matter of fact i made shure that I found a speciallist who can fiddle with the gain and put it on hormones to make it wilder. So if you plan to play metal on this amp, consider this modiffication!
The spring reverb on this amp is quite nice feature. Yet it's not too deep, so when it's all the way up, you will still get alot of clarity from this amp.
What I realy like though, is that on both gain 1 and 2 this amp is super quiet. While my Russian made Yerasov GTA-200R head hisses like angry goose, the bulldog is very quiet. It uses the same electroharmonix tubes yet the noise ellimination is better!
Reliability
:
No Opinion
Can't say anything about it. Had it only for a few weeks. While recording though it stood on for 6 hours and got so hot that the black covering material could be allmost peeld off by hand, yet no problems. I ot this amp second hand, but the previous owner only played indoors with it. So I am confident that it will serve me some time.
( Still when playing live I allways take my transistor head as a spare! Tubes can have a nasty charracter sometimes )
Customer Support
:
No Opinion
No Idea. I know that London City used to be made in Holland, but now theese amps are discontinued. I don't know who made mine.
Overall Rating
:
8
I play about 8 years. And in that time I tries out some big brands and allways came to the conclusion that it's not wise to "emmitate" the sound of the mose known bands and artists, but it's more than wise to create your own sound and make that popular. I love the brands that are not so known, but are of good quality. If you are looking for a cheap all tube head that would help you to start out, I would recommend the bulldog ( if you find it second hand )
Good all round amp to beat the crap out of on the road and on stage. Good replacement head WHEN YOU ARE NOT PLAYING METAL!!! For the price, I totally adore it. If it was stolen, I would find the thief and hang his disembowled body from a church roof. And yes I would buy it again if I can find it. When the distortion channels will be modified, I would love this amp even more.
