S2 Pro Junior Vox Mod

just got this amp back from steve @ s2amps.com. i had sent him my fender pro jr. chassis and he completely gutted it, leaving only the chassis and the power transformer. he replaced the output transformer with his own, a beefey s2 tranny that he has specially made for him, and then proceeded to build a hadwired marshall 1974x 18 watt clone in the existing chassis all for only $449! thats a steal to have someone build you a handwired, point to point amp.

this is where the fun starts...steve really works magic in these little guys...extremely clean wiring, soldering, all that. just perfectly clean stuff here guys, no junk. all new tube sockets, jacks, pots, stdby/off/on 3 way switch, and a custom lazer engraved/anodized faceplate. i opted for the sozo cap upgrade which was a $49 upcharge, and the OT was also a $59 upcharge, but i highly reccomend the OT upgrade, since the pro and blues jr. OT are cheap. he also added a second 8 ohm jack so i can run another cab (cant wait to hear what that sounds like!) since this chassis started out its life as a fender pro jr, it still embodies the "2 knob wonder" feature...just a volume and tone control. simple and effective. this amp does the "clean to scream" like you read about....crank the amp, and back off your guitar volume to clean up...then just dime the vol. and let it loose! i mainly use this amp for rehersals, but i know its gonna shine in the studio as well, no doubt. i gave it a 10 because it has all the features i like...simple ones!

ok, so if youve ever played a low wattage marshall combo, then you'll know what i mean...lucious, fat, greasy tone all day long! super fat and compresses a bit on its own when at high volume. i had the guys at heritageamps.com in brentwood tenn. bulid me a "mini bluesbreaker" cab for the chassis too, its red levant w/ salt and pepper grill (20x16x10) and its loaded w/ a weber 30w ceramic silverbell. and it sounds SICK, not to mention that it looks KILLER!!!! i use mainly humbucker guitars (prs/gobson/heritage), but my strat kills through this amp too...overall its very quiet, and it has a prett damn aggresive OD tone....perfect. the tone is heavenly.

ive only had the amp together a couple days, and doubt ill have any problems since its built so well, but sometimes electronic components can go south (although steve burns in the amps before he sends them out to make sure everythings ok of course...)so im not too worried here...

i know if i had any problems, steve would help me out w/out any question. hes a stand up guy, and stands behind his amps 100%

like i said above, steve is a stand up guy, and he answers email pretty quickly considering that im sure hes pretty busy building these little rippers...hes availible by phone too, and is willing to talk a bit about what he does and how he does it. not like alot of guys who make you feel like they dont have time and you inconviencing them by calling...

like i said above, im sure he'd fix anything that went wrong if i needed...top notch customer service!

i am more than pleasantly suprised with this amp. it does exactly what i want it to.....scream! its super dynamic and sensitive to pick attack and your guitars volume contol. overall super build quality and top shelf components. if you have a pro jr or a blues jr, and are bored with the sterile tone, talk to steve and he'll hook you up with a seriously fat, huge sounding tone monster. this stuff is the real deal. he offers a couple different designs/flavors to suit your tonal needs. jusy tell him what you want, and im pretty sure he can do it for you. not only that, but the price he charges is VEY fair in todays market of overpriced, overhyped boutique gear. even after paying for the custom cab and weber silverbell, i still came out well under a grand, and thats almost unheard of for an 18 watter in the point-to-point world we live in.....

im gonna stop blathering and go play this little tone slut....lol...

I month ago (July 2005) I received my Fender Pro Jr back from Steve at S2 Custom Amps (www.s2amps.com). Steve did an amazing job changing a good circut board amp into a blooming, toneful, Vox/Matchless hibred 15W amp. Before I sent the amp to Steve, I mounted the chassie into a 1X12 cab w a Vox Alnico Blue speaker so there is no confusion (Pro Jr's are 1X10). This is an amp w only tone and volume, but Steve works with you so the amp fits your guitars, your desired headroom, and intensity of overdrive when cranked. I play mainly teles, and through this amp they sound strong, cut well in the mid range with nice top end w/o harsh ice picky highs. It is only 15w, but I can play w the band and still have some clean headroom. The great feature he added was a switch to go between a solid state rectifier, and a diode the simulates the sag of a 5AR4 rectifier tube. The 5AR4 side of the swithch is a little warmer and adds some sustain just like a tube rec. Really nice. I can plug in this amp and play, just working the volume on my guitay and it is sweet! Everything I was looking for in this amp Steve pulled off to perfection.

Again, I use teles, but I plugged a Gibson Les Paul into it and a new level of grind was found! For single coil players (which I am), this stays clean w character till 5, then works into a sweet articulate overdrive at 8. At 10, it barks! All the while, there is no unwanted noise or hum. With a Les Paul or gtr w hot humbuckers, it starts to break up earlier. But again, Steve can dial it back for you humbucker guys and gals. I would say this amp has a Brit blues kind of tone...very Vox AC 30 w more punch and grind when crancked...which is kind of Matchless AC 30 range. I told Steve the tone I was looking for, and this hibred is where he sent me. Great tone for blues and classic rock tones, even some country!

Only time will tell on this. I bring a backup everywhere, so we will see. I am playing w this amp and a 1X12 Tweed Deluxe w minor mods. I switch between the 2 for varying tones w varying guitars. Steve's amp looks very well built, so I am optimistic it will handle the road well.

Steve at S2 asked me many questions along the way of building the amp so I would get what I was looking for. Great communication. By the way, return shipping was included in the price.

I have been playing for 15 years, on mainly Fender like stuff. The Vox/Matchless amp is a easy step towards Brit tone. I am very curious about Steve's Marshall 18w drop in for Blues and Pro Jr's also. That may be next.