McIntyre Tradition 215 RC 210 Combo

This is an addendum to a review I submitted about my McIntyre Stereo all-tubed 2X10 Combo. The builder (John McIntyre) has done a mod to the overdrive circuit that I want to share with the world. So, this is a review of the mod, with plenty of enthusiasm for the amp itself applied liberally throughout.

Words are hard to find that adequately express the beauty and depth of the tone this amp is now capable of. I took the amp to John last year, asking for a bit more gain and a bit less brightness in the drive stages of the preamp. Wow, did he deliver. This mod has enabled me to dial in a very rich range of tones, using the old 'harmonics' pot to bleed out some of the highs. But there's much more to it. The gain is now completely controllable in 3 places: the amount of actual drive, the volume of the circuit, and the brightness of the harmonics. This is on top of the beautifully voiced tone controls which were stock in the amp (presence, high, high mid, low mid, lows.)
The harmonics jump out of the amp in a most exciting way. I think John added half a tube to the gain circuit. The low-mids are rich and powerful, ranging from subtle to full on honk if you want it. The highs sparkle and are accented sweetly with high-mids that lend a rounder top (think Dumble O/D Special.) This dimension has been enhanced further by switching to Groove Tube 6V6 and El84 - the amp seems to like these better than the Electro Harmonics.

The coolest thing about this mod is that the amp is far more touch sensitive. Digging in produces a lovely grind, while a lighter touch provides clean, well-defined dynamics. Also, my guitar's volume tone can be used to back off the gain without losing any tone whatsoever.
I can't tell you how sweet this thing sounds. It's dangerous. I can't get enough of this amp.
I've said it before, but it needs repeating: John McIntyre is a magician and a genius. He's one of many reasons I'm proud to be a Calgarian.

I usually run my G&L Legacy with Fralins straight in - no frills apart from the amp's native reverb and compression. For kicks sometimes, I'll run through the fx loops into Rockman Stereo chorus and Stereo Echo units.

Hey folks, I HAVE STOPPED LUSTING FOR A DUMBLE. This amp now gives me all the touch, tone and sweet sound I could ever want. It's got the McIntyre pristine clean. And the Overdrive is to die for, indeed it is Supreme! I just wish I was a better player to do it justice. I can only imagine how absolutely astonishing this amp would sound attached to the hands of say, Robben Ford, Larry Carleton or Sonny Landreth

John McIntyre built this in 1993. He made about 10 locally, and may have shipped a few stateside. John's worked with Lexicon and Lace, and is a brilliant tube guru, who knows tone, and blends his knowledge with his 'player attitude.' My McIntyre is a unique stereo tube amp, with 15 watts a side. One side has 2 6V6 power tubes, the other runs EL84s. It's almost like two independent amps but worked through a common preamp. There are two tubed parallel effects loops, spring reverb and a tubed compressor on board. It's very loud, and has a gorgeous clean tone - spacious and warm, somewhat reminscient of an old Princeton blended with a Vox AC15. Also stereo outs for slaves and speakers. The basic structure of the amp is almost identical to the little 3 watt recording amp John designed for Lexicon (Signature 284). It has normal and bright inputs, and a 'Harmonic' pot for the lead channel, which is foot switchable. The tone pots are beautifully voiced - treble, high mid, low mid and bass, as well as presence. Each side has independent volume controls, and the stereo effects loops have in and out signal volume control.

This amp is super loud. The sound is compressed and fairly brown (which I like) through the normal input, but spacious and glassy through the bright input. I like the 6V6 sound a bit more, so I'll keep this volume a bit higher. The clean on this amp is to die for. My only complaint is the dirty stuff. To get power tube saturation you've got to really lean on it, which is odd given only 15 watts/side. The preamp distortion is a bit bright and bouncy for my tastes - sounds a bit like old Russ Freeman tone, or at times like a very bright but compressed Dumble. This is great tone if you can play like Robben Ford, but I'm a sloppy old blues whacker, so this amp just doesn't get dirty enough to hide my lack of technique ;)
My G and L legacy sounds great through this amp, so does the 335. I've gigged with it, and it's noisy like a good old tube amp should be, but not as bad as my old Bandmaster, though the Mc sounds way better. The reverb is fabulous. I usually rely on a pedal or two to cream the overdrive - a Vox distortion booster, or a proco Rat or a Boss Blues Driver.

I had trouble with the pots at first - after I cleaned and lubricated them they work great. (I bought it used a few years ago.) It's built like a tank and weighs a ton. Nice little drawer built under the reverb tank that fits cords and 3 or 4 boss-sized pedals. John thinks like a player, not a techie.

John is great. He's always happy to see one of his chillun return for some TLC. He does great work, and is kind and generous. Admittedly, it helps living in the same city - Calgary!

I love this amp, and I'm proud to play it. I've owned Marshalls, Fenders and Peaveys and a few others I'll never admit to, but this one's the coolest. I'm a hobbyist and guitar tone lover, and have been for over twenty years. If I lost it, I'd probably ask John to make me another one, but with smaller wattage. I wish it saturated the power tubes a bit more, and at times I miss my Marshall Jubilee for cream and crunch. But the clean stereo warmth is hard to beat. John McIntyre is one of Canada's best kept secrets!