THD Bi-Valve Head

I bought this amp in October of 2008 to take the place of my 1966 Fender Bassman that was going in for a much needed filter cap job and I wanted something that was capable of the California clean sound that I have had forever with my Bassman.
If you are reading this you already know what features it has and does not have.
As far as the features I use, I would have to say evrything BUT the attenuator. I have never cared much for attenuators since I have so many great distortion pedals that I can get my tones at a whisper quiet volume at home.
Now as far as "does it have enough power?" Yes!!! Please realize I have played through a 40 watt Bassman forever to get my clean and slightly overdriven tones and when I want "The Nasty" I stomp the A/B
to kick in my Soldano Hot Rod 50."another amazing amp IF you load it with KT 88's!"
A lot of you may think 30,40 or 50 watt heads are not loud enough and all I can say is "mike your cabs and put it through the P.A. if you have a sound man with good ears!"

Now onto why it took me 6 months to post this review.
When I took possession of this head it came to me with 2 Tung Sol 12AX7's (think ECC 83 if you are from over there). Tung Sols are great tubes and I have no problems with them-- BUT-- it was what was in the power amp section that made me say " What in the heck was I thinking when I paid $1500.00 for this thing!!!"
It came loaded with Valley Art's made in China El 34's that were totally devoid of any personality. One would think that if it had 34's in it that it should have a little bit of the Plexi vibe to it but these tubes had the vibe of a belt sander.
I tweaked the amp for hours with the 34's in it and found no redeeming quality in the sound so it was time to dig into my box of tubes (new and NOS)and start experimenting.
I first tried a pair of Grooves, (Hardness 4) 6l6's and it was sooo much better that I played with them in there for weeks but they still didn't nail my Bassmans tone so I tried some Svetlana 6l6's that I had taken out of my Bassman after about three or four years of service.
Well that got me very close to my Bassman tone but not quite yet but I still lived with them for some time after I installed them.
Now these Svets were old when I put them in and one night I could tell that they were on their way out and becoming microphonic so it was back to my box of tubes.
The next set in there were a matched pair of Peavey Super Sixes that I had in the original plastic from when I bought them circa 1981
still with the price tag on them ($9.79--I wish I had bought a thousand of them at that price!).
And that is where the story ends for now because these tubes nail the Bassman tone,chime and richness that I have been used to for over 40 years.
I am not however done with the experimentation since this is a self biasing amp and I am going to order the THD YJUNI adaptors to try EL 84's and see if it gets the AC 30 sound and after that KT 66's and 77's for the old JTM 45 sound.
Thats the beauty of this head since all it takes is tube swapping to get an infinite array of tones out of it. I have not even messed with the pre-amp tubes yet because the Tung's sound so right in there.
Oh Yeah, this thing works very well with pedals too just as long as you know how to place them in them in the amp. I have some in the effects send and return and some thru the front end but I won't bore you with which is which.

So far so good as far as reliability. I am still a weekend warrior and rarely a day goes by that I don't practice or play for several hours and outside of the Svetlana's going microphonic on me no problems . The amp is super quiet until you get it past 4 o'clock and it gets a little hissy at that point but i rarely play it past 2 o'clock and that is always on the "More" setting.
I guess this rates as a 10 also

I have never had to call them but in reading other reviews everyone says they are very helpful if you have questions so I guess I will coat-tail them and give it another 10.

I have been playing since 1965 so I think I have a pretty good knowledge of what amps should sound like since I have owned (and still own) so many of the great ones.
If it were stolen I would first try to find another AA 165 circuitry Bassman like mine for a backup but still probably buy anther THD since the tube swapping factor is so much fun!
I love almost everything about it for the exception of the attenuator since I don't use it at all and the few times I did it sounded not so good to my ears.

One channel with a few knobs. Its got a cut switch, noise reduction circuit, and a built in attenuator, but all these features take away from the tone, which is why I don't use them. I do think the voltage switch is cool in that it changes the feel of the amp. A master volume and a mid knob would have made this amp complete, but the ability to swap tubes and change the output is priceless in its own right. This amp is all about cooking the power tubes, so I bring a box of different tubes with me when I gig to get that power amp distortion at the volume I need it.

HINT: you can use the attenuator to knock the volume down to bedroom volumes, but it seriously squashes the tone. Get some 6G6 tubes from eBay to knock the output down to about 1 watt (use the Low Voltage setting or you'll fry the tube). From there you can use lighter attenuation if you need to reduce the volume further. This is way better for practicing than using heavy attenuation with a more powerful tube.

My rig goes like this: Carvin CT6--> Peterson Strobo Stomp--> Bivalve--> Earcandy Buzzbomb loaded with their Green Machine speakers. This rig sounds so good that I just want to hear the amp, I don't want a bunch of pedals getting in the way.

At first, I didn't like this amp. The highs were dull and the mids weren't much better. I played around with different tubes and found that I liked various JJ tubes much better than the Electro Harmonix tubes it came with. I have another amp that came with EHs and I can honestly say that I just don't like them. That amp sounded way better with the tube swap too.

After I upgraded the tubes, I still wasn't where I wanted to be. I tried the amp through a couple Marshall cabs and I could never dial out the mud I was hearing. This amp doesn't like Marshall cabs, its just that simple. My friend turned me on to Ear Candy cabs and I ordered one. From the first time I plugged into it, I knew my cab search was over.

Now that I've got the tube and speaker thing nailed down, I can tell you what this amp really sounds like. Simply put, the cleans rival a good Fender and the overdrives rival a good Marshall, but it doesn't sound like either. It sounds like a THD. You can tube swap to your hearts content and change the character of the amp, but it will sound like a THD no matter what. For me this is a good thing in that this amp works for lots of different styles and I don't end up sounding like everybody else. Different tubes and settings yield lots of cool flavors, so its hard to decide sometimes which one to use!

The cleans are crisp and chimey, the overdrives are rich and detailed. The really great thing about this amp is that you can use the entire spectrum of your guitar's volume control and the tone cleans up without ever getting muddy. Sparkling cleans and screaming leads are just a knob twist away. You don't need channel switching or distortion pedals with this amp, just a little practice turning the volume knob quickly. I play rock, country, and jazz and it covers all of them really well.

Overall, if you're willing to spend time tweaking tubes and settings, trying different speakers, and are willing to let the amp be itself instead of trying to make it copy something else, your efforts will be well rewarded. If you're looking for something different that will fit the bill for lots of different styles, this amp may be your ticket.

I've had this amp for about a year and a half and used it on lots of gigs. Its worked just fine. So far, so good. I bring extra tubes and fuses with me when I gig, after all it is a tube amp.

I've never had to contact THD, but lots of people on the Univalve forum have posted good things about their customer support.

I've been playing about 20 years, professionally for the last 6. I've played lots of different amps in my day and I would put this amp up against anything else out there. Its got a personality all its own and its a great sound. This amp will turn heads and inspire you to keep playing, which is what a great amp should do.

The ability to swap in any combination of preamp and power amp tubes is amazing, obviously. However, I find the attenuator and noise reduction completely useless. The attenuator dulls the output sound to the point of sterility, and using the noise reduction circuit sounds akin to running your guitar through a badly buffered, non-true bypass effects pedal. This isn't exclusive to my Bi-Valve... every one I've heard has the same "problem". I'm not sure how this hasn't been picked up on and mentioned yet. Fortunately I use the amp for clean or mildly overdriven sound and the attenuator isn't needed, even in my apartment (my neighbors haven't complained yet, somehow).
I wish it had a mid control.

I use a wide variety of guitars and effects. Fender Jazzmaster, Danelectro U2, a 60's Fender Duosonic, a Fender Telecaster, a Les Paul Junior, and an Agile Cool Cat with Gibson 57 Classics. Tons of fuzz boxes: Zvex, Fulltone, MI Audio, etc. Tons of overdrives: Subdecay, Catalinbread, Lovepedal, etc. A Keely Compressor, modded Ibanez Analog Delay, Moog stuff, Electro Harmonix 16 Second Digital Delay, blah blah blah blah and a clean boost out front so my signal doesn't weep in agony from being run through so much cable and true bypass stuff. Usually, I run the head into a closed back Avatar 2x12 with G12H's. Sometimes it goes into a 4x12 with Celestion V30's, depending on the application.

This amp handles every pedal flawlessly. Fuzz pedals are no problem whatsoever. Perhaps the people complaining about the amp's inability to handle fuzz are running the treble too high, and thus getting a harsh, shrill tone when they kick in the fuzz. Its a common mistake that nearly everybody makes. Guitars and guitar amps really don't need more treble than they natively provide, and in general they need less, so cut that **** back. If you don't, I wonder how you can run fuzz on any amp without sounding even worse. I run the treble cut switch active at all times unless I'm playing funk or ska, which I don't do.

As far as my style goes, I play avant-garde jazz, electroacoustic, noise, drone, ambient, free jazz, fusion, country, blues, shoegaze, 60's pop, pre-punk, post-punk, and probably some other things that aren't coming to mind. I use this amp for everything. Currently I have it equipped with a 6L6GC and an EL34. Perfect amount of clarity, definition, note separation, punch, harmonic content, etc.. When switching playing styles or guitars I generally only need to make slight adjustments to treble, bass and attitude.

I only have 2 complaints for this category:
1) Out of the box, the head comes with 12ax7's in both positions. With this setup, the "more" input was incredibly harsh and useless to me. "Less" was not loud enough and wouldn't break up enough even with volume dimed. Fortunately, this problem is easily solved. I replaced the input tube with a 12au7 and the driver tube with a 12at7. Now, the "more" input has the perfect amount of volume and natural break-up at around 3 o'clock. Also, swapping to lower-gain tubes warmed up the sound and tamed the highs a bit, which takes us to the next issue...
2) Too much high end. But, THD had the foresight to add a handy "treble cut" switch for those of discerning taste. Ideally, one wouldn't have to cut treble so dramatically on a moderately expensive amp such as this one, but that seems to be the modern trend. I suppose that in order to compete with other manufacturers who are making far overly top heavy amps (Fender, Marshall, and nearly every boutique manufacturer), THD had to respond in kind. But hey, at least they have a "treble cut" switch.

Reading over my complaints, they seem petty since they are easily rectified, and they are both merely symptoms of the unfortunate tastes of modern guitarists. I give this head a "9" in this category because though it isn't the best amp I've heard, it is pretty damn close and half the price.

Though I have babied this thing, it does seem fairly fragile. Somehow, at some point, the 2nd power tube socket stopped functioning. I'm incredibly careful when it comes to handling the amp and swapping tubes, so I'm not sure how this happened. Perhaps I received a faulty one, or it was handled roughly in shipping.

Without exaggeration, I can say THD is the best company I've ever dealt with. Ed authorized my amp repair, did it for free and shipped it back at THD's expense... all in one week. I had thought companies with this degree of integrity were extinct, but Ed proved me wrong and restored my faith in modern commercial industry (well, as much as any single company could).

I've been playing for about 10 years. I own and have owned a lot of vintage tube amps and their modern equivalents. This is the most flexible and best sounding amp I have personally owned. If it were stolen (how would I lose it?), I would most likely buy something less expensive, as I couldn't afford another one of these at the moment. Money permitting, it would be a toss-up between this and a Marshall JTM45, though I would probably settle on the Bi-Valve.

Okay, I'll try not to repeat what the others have said. Yes, it is awesome that you can put nearly any tube in the preamp and power stages. But it's got a lot of personality on its own. If you hear a fender twin you know what you're hearing. This amp is best when you mix things up a bit. I've played with a 6V6 and EL84 (with adapter) this is where few other amps can tread.

One major caveat is that this amp works poorly with most fuzz pedals. This is fine if you play high distortion levels all the time. I like clean sounds too. And I collect fuzz boxes. So stop thinking this is the amp to end all: it ain't. 8.5 cause it does sound great.

I play alternative classic rock/punk. I like it because it has a thick rock feel. I can get a mid-overdrive that is all vox like with chiming lushness. It fits my style. I own modified strats. One of the strats has a high gain pup that boosts the imput of the amp.

Okay, with my intro you likely think I'm going to thrash it some more. Nope. With a celestion in a big or ADA stackable 1x12 cab it sounds awesome. You can run the spread from mid to high gain. I use a hot rails pup in the bridge and this thing screams. When you punch a boost pedal, wow. This amp loves to be pushed.

My fave tube combo is a low gain affair with 12AU7 and 12AT7 in the preamp and 6V6 pair in the power amp. It sounds close to a deluxe when I plug it into a second 1x12 cab with a Jenson. This thing has tons of personality but you have to coax it.

Even when you keep the amp and pedal volume consistent that amp is very touch sensitive which mean you can get a variety of sounds by changing pick attack. If you think 30 watts isn't enough, it is. This amp is LOUD.

It looks to be very tough. Massive transformers are shielded by fuses at each stage. I've dropped it and it still works. Get the gig bag. This thing needs a home.

THD is awesome. You call and they answer. No call center. Straight forward talk. Good people.

I'm a 20 year vetren of punk n blues. I would buy this again. I'm no amp builder but I think I would have liked a master volume. But this is a different kind of amp. I'd like it to take any fuzz box like a fender or crate does. Don't buy this thing for clean. I didn't and I'm not disapointed. It's pure tone, Man. It's expensive but when you put the price up against other boutique makes it's moderately priced.

c'mon you guys know already. 30 watts, swap tubes without biasing, single channel class A tube head

guitars- garbage strats with gibson pickups- classic 57' 498t. Danelctro 59 dc.
I play rock and it totally fits the bill. It has just enough gain for heavy rock( I have el34's , and JJ 12ax7's runnin), but it isn;t over the top. It doesn't hide your playing like a peavey 5150, or a mesa boogie, and thats why I like it. I love single channel amps, and thats why I got it about 5 years ago, when they came out. The only thing I feel it lacks Is the lower midrange thump of a Marshall, but I guess thats what you get with a class A amp. I love the fact that I can clean it up by rollin off the volume. The distortion isn't brutal, but musical ,and the feedback is musical, as if the amp knows what key youre playin in. It is loud , but not as loud as I need all the time. Sometimes I play halls and the midrange just gets eaten up by the room, and the drums. In a club setting it's great, and it records like a dream.

I gigged this amp for 5 years in a rock punk band. I have never had a blown fuse during a show. it has been rode hard and never failed me at a gig.

Awesome! My amp died during a rehearsal, and I brought it to a local repair shop. He sussed out the problem, called THD, and in a few days he had the parts and fixed free of charge. THD hooked him up with a bunch of yellowjackets as payment. I had my amp back in less than a week, and I live in New Jersey,THD is in Cali.

Had it for 5 or 6 years. I also have a peavey classic 30. I will never sell it because itis so unique and would like to keep it in my tone arsenal. I just wish it was real loud, and had more midrange crunch, so I guess I better get a marshall. It could use a midrange control knob.

Single channel hi/lo input. Effects loop. Built-in Hot Plate Attenuator. Noise Reduction. A little more than I usually like in an amp (The more stripped down, the better!) but EXTREMELY easy to dial in. Instructional pamphlet also very helpful! TWO features absolutely blow my mind. FIRST, you can run up to a 2 OHM load! Awesome. But secondly, and MOST importantly, the amp is automatically biased, which means you can plug almost any tube you like into it, in any combination! This amp has a maximum output power of 30 Watts Class A, and can out-perform almost any 50 watt Class AB amp in my opinion. I usually use it paired up with a Marshall 1960A Lead 4x12 cabinet, in conjunction with a SOVTEK Mig 50 paired with a Marshall 1960B Lead cabinet. The SOVTEK takes care of the lows and mids, but the THD adds to the lows, and cuts through with the highs. Well done!

I play a Gibson Les Paul special, loaded with an active EMG 81 & 85. This guitar paired up with aforementioned configuration produces what I call the 'bikini effect'. A great hi-lo blend. Very 80's metal. However, I also use a 1972 reissue Fender Telecaster Deluxe, which uses 'wide-range' pickups, which give me all the mids, lo's or hi's I need, depending on the pickup selector. This amp is exactly what I needed for my sound. Very little noise, depending on which tubes you are using. The lo input gives you creamy, smooth bluesy tone. The hi input gives you an edgier, more aggressive tone, and breaks up around 5 or 6. I love the natural overdriven sound of this amp, and use no overdrive or distortion pedals to achieve a very heavy, crunchy overdrive. If you want to hide all your mistakes with this amp, don't count on it. This overdrive is very 'true' and will let you know when you screw up, but will tear the faces off your audience when you nail that solo. Just to lgive you an idea of what kind of music I play, I'll give you a hint: I'm tuned B standard, dropped to A. If you love heavy strings, but can't achieve a bright tone, this is your amp.

This baby comes equipped with a full steel chassis. It's a little heavy, but there's a good chance it would survive a fire or a 20 foot drop. Heavy duty. As far as electronics, I have not had a single problem yet. Because the amp is auto-biased and can handle a variety of different tubes, there is also a hi/lo voltage setting. So if you're going through a lot of tubes, you're probably the one to blame. I've had a pair of Valve Art EL-34 power tubes, and a TUNG-SOL A12X7 input and drive tube in since day one, which was 6 months ago. They both sizzle like the day I put em in, and remember, I like it loud and heavy!

Haven't had a reason to contact customer support.

I've been playing since I was 12 (10 Years) and I've played Marshall 2061X, Orange AD 30, Dr. Z-28, Hi-Watt Custom 20 etc. and the only other amp that compares in tone is a Bad Cat 30 watt class A. But if you'd like to pay about $1000 less for the same quality, go THD. The only thing I may be frustrated by is the fact that this is the Pandora's Box of amps. I may go 30 years before finding the right configuration of tubes, but it's the last Class A amp I'll ever buy!

Single channel hi/lo input. Effects loop. Built-in Hot Plate Attenuator. Noise Reduction. A little more than I usually like in an amp (The more stripped down, the better!) but EXTREMELY easy to dial in. Instructional pamphlet also very helpful! TWO features absolutely blow my mind. FIRST, you can run up to a 2 OHM load! Awesome. But secondly, and MOST importantly, the amp is automatically biased, which means you can plug almost any tube you like into it, in any combination! This amp has a maximum output power of 30 Watts Class A, and can out-perform almost any 50 watt Class AB amp in my opinion. I usually use it paired up with a Marshall 1960A Lead 4x12 cabinet, in conjunction with a SOVTEK Mig 50 paired with a Marshall 1960B Lead cabinet. The SOVTEK takes care of the lows and mids, but the THD adds to the lows, and cuts through with the highs. Well done!

I play a Gibson Les Paul special, loaded with an active EMG 81 & 85. This guitar paired up with aforementioned configuration produces what I call the 'bikini effect'. A great hi-lo blend. Very 80's metal. However, I also use a 1972 reissue Fender Telecaster Deluxe, which uses 'wide-range' pickups, which give me all the mids, lo's or hi's I need, depending on the pickup selector. This amp is exactly what I needed for my sound. Very little noise, depending on which tubes you are using. The lo input gives you creamy, smooth bluesy tone. The hi input gives you an edgier, more aggressive tone, and breaks up around 5 or 6. I love the natural overdriven sound of this amp, and use no overdrive or distortion pedals to achieve a very heavy, crunchy overdrive. If you want to hide all your mistakes with this amp, don't count on it. This overdrive is very 'true' and will let you know when you screw up, but will tear the faces off your audience when you nail that solo. Just to lgive you an idea of what kind of music I play, I'll give you a hint: I'm tuned B standard, dropped to A. If you love heavy strings, but can't achieve a bright tone, this is your amp.

This baby comes equipped with a full steel chassis. It's a little heavy, but there's a good chance it would survive a fire or a 20 foot drop. Heavy duty. As far as electronics, I have not had a single problem yet. Because the amp is auto-biased and can handle a variety of different tubes, there is also a hi/lo voltage setting. So if you're going through a lot of tubes, you're probably the one to blame. I've had a pair of Valve Art EL-34 power tubes, and a TUNG-SOL A12X7 input and drive tube in since day one, which was 6 months ago. They both sizzle like the day I put em in, and remember, I like it loud and heavy!

Haven't had a reason to contact customer support.

I've been playing since I was 12 (10 Years) and I've played Marshall 2061X, Orange AD 30, Dr. Z-28, Hi-Watt Custom 20 etc. and the only other amp that compares in tone is a Bad Cat 30 watt class A. But if you'd like to pay about $1000 less for the same quality, go THD. The only thing I may be frustrated by is the fact that this is the Pandora's Box of amps. I may go 30 years before finding the right configuration of tubes, but it's the last Class A amp I'll ever buy!

Single Channel, 2 preamp tubes, 2 power tubes in any combination. Volume, Treble, Bass controls, hi-cut switch, low and high gain inputs (using one or both sides of the first preamp tube)Multi-tap output transformer, effects loop, line out, Hi-low power switch, and built-in speaker attenuator. Actually alot of features!

This amp is very sensitive to different guitars, pickups, and speakers, to say nothing of tube types. You can vary the sound any way you like and it will always be musical due to its class A configuration. I've found my best signal path to be Barden pickups in a strat with a Warmoth Boat neck and Callaham bridge block and saddles, using a KT-88 and KT-77 power tubes, with 5751 and 12at7 preamp tubes with the high gain input. The amp goes into a 1x15 mojo cabinet with a EVM-15L. This amp goes from clean to driven with the turn of your volume knob, with the ability to get all shades in between. Getting musical even-harmonic feedback at will with the guitar volume knob on 4 and the sound relatively clean is unattainable with any other amp i've tried.

Built very solid, parts are outsourced to the same firms that make parts for Boeing I hear. I carry extra tubes but that's all. So far so good

extremely friendly, helpful, and best of all, AVAILABLE!

I've played 22 years, used all kinds of old and new amps. This amp is in a class truly by itself. The purity of sounds has almost eliminated my need for any pedals. The only drive pedal that doesn't take anything away from the amp's tone is the Klon Centaur, so I still occasionally use that.

Single Channel, 2 preamp tubes, 2 power tubes in any combination. Volume, Treble, Bass controls, hi-cut switch, low and high gain inputs (using one or both sides of the first preamp tube)Multi-tap output transformer, effects loop, line out, Hi-low power switch, and built-in speaker attenuator. Actually alot of features!

This amp is very sensitive to different guitars, pickups, and speakers, to say nothing of tube types. You can vary the sound any way you like and it will always be musical due to its class A configuration. I've found my best signal path to be Barden pickups in a strat with a Warmoth Boat neck and Callaham bridge block and saddles, using a KT-88 and KT-77 power tubes, with 5751 and 12at7 preamp tubes with the high gain input. The amp goes into a 1x15 mojo cabinet with a EVM-15L. This amp goes from clean to driven with the turn of your volume knob, with the ability to get all shades in between. Getting musical even-harmonic feedback at will with the guitar volume knob on 4 and the sound relatively clean is unattainable with any other amp i've tried.

Built very solid, parts are outsourced to the same firms that make parts for Boeing I hear. I carry extra tubes but that's all. So far so good

extremely friendly, helpful, and best of all, AVAILABLE!

I've played 22 years, used all kinds of old and new amps. This amp is in a class truly by itself. The purity of sounds has almost eliminated my need for any pedals. The only drive pedal that doesn't take anything away from the amp's tone is the Klon Centaur, so I still occasionally use that.

The SN is 220, I bought it new from Corner Music in Nashville, TN but it looked like it had been there for some time. I play heavy praise and worship music and also am a closet 80's shred fan,kind of shows my age. Because of the music I play I have to have an amp that goes from pristine clean to grinding metal. I have been on an amp quest for some time, I was really wanting to buy a multi-channel amp, which this one is not. But when I tried it out in the store I was hooked on the tone and versitility of tube swapping. When I got it home where I could really strech it out I was amazed by how loud it was, Class A amps are deceaving with their power ratings. I have a Marshall 4X12 cabinet loaded with Celestion V30's. I loaded the head with 2- 12AX7C9 Chinese preamp tubes and JJ KT88 power tubes and MAN! what a tone. This was a harmonic rich, air pushing low, beautiful singing tone that was breathtaking. Be advised though that this was power amp distortion and not buzzy preamp distortion and every little nuance of your playing will be heard. As you roll off the guitar volume knob the beast settles into a purring kitten. I wish I was quick enough with the volume knob to use this as channel switching because the tone is so sweet I hate using any other head! Well I'm sure going to practice try and find a way, I've even been thinking about buying another head and setting up for just a clean sound even though I can't afford to. Sounds like every other tone junkie I'm sure!

Man, this is where this head shines. I've tried so many different heads and there was always something about the tone I didn't like. It seens like no matter what tube combination you use, the sound is cool, but there are some that I like more than others. Of course as stated above the KT88's were my favorite sound followed closely by Tung-Sol 5881's. That's the beauty of this amp with just a few simple tube swaps you can dial in your own custom tone. I have several different guitars I play through the amp : Gibson Les Paul Classic w/burstbucker pro pickups, Jackson Dinky w/ Seymore Duncan 59, Ibanez RG550 and RG560 both with Seymore Duncan 59's. Even thouht the last 3 guitars have the same pickups and Floyd Rose Tremelos they still all sound a little different because of the different type of wood used in the body and neck of the guitars. Be advised that some people are not going to like class A amps, They are very much in your face. If you like the sound of a buzzy Mesa type preamp distortion you may not like the sound of this amp. If you like power amp distortion dripping with harmonic overtones this is the amp for you.

It's new and I haven't had the chance to gig it yet, however, by looking at the quality of construction I would be confident to only bring some extra tubes. The head will even continue to play if one power amp tube blows and it has lights on the back that shows you which tube is bad.

Here is another reason I am so excited about this amp, The amp had been sitting in the store for so long the original shipping box, owners manual, and warrenty card, had been lost. I got their number off the website and called to register the amp. I contacted Ed De Genaro of THD and told him I had just bought a THD amp and before I could tell him why I called, He thanked me for buying one of their products! How many times has that happened when dealing with customer service anywhere? He answered all my questions and treated me like a rock star, I wish all companies were like this!

For the price I payed this amp is an increadible value. Like I stated above I was looking for a multi-channel tube head and played several in the store that sounded good but I kept coming back the one head that sounded GREAT! No channel switching, no MIDI, no reverb (except for the natural reverb it makes with voume!)But tons of pure addictive tone!