THD UniValve Head

I bought mine new about 4 weeks ago.

I like both Heavey Rock, Metal and Blues.

You can change the two input tubes and the Main Power Tube, and mold the tone to your liking

It has a high voltage and low voltage switch that does change the tone.

It has a builit in attenuator to cut the volume. The more you use it, the more it effects the tone, but using about 1/4 attenuation cuts the volume and only causes the overal sound to suffer a little.

For 15 Watts, this thing can be very loud in either high or low voltage.

Like all tube amps it sounds best cranked.

I've tried a number of different tubes in it, and changing the tubes really does change the character of the amp.

Not all tube combinations sound good, but I have found five our six that really sound quite good.

My favorite combo is 2 12ax7's in the pre-amp, and a KT66 in the Main slot.

This is one of the best built amps I have ever touched. It reeks of quality.

I am giving it an 8, not a 10, because it lacks channel switching and built in reverb. It is a 10 in all other respects.

It has a line out, a hot plate, noise reduction, and two imputs.

What it has is 10 quality, but this is the "features" section.

I use an ESP with stock PUs. A fender Strat, a Charvel with a SD super distortion, and an Epi LP.

It sounds best to me through the ESP.

Guitar selection and pickups make a huge difference.

My brother has played an Ibanez with Dimarzio's through it, and an old Samick with Tone Bone's in it.

It sounds different with each guitar.

One of the nicest features is that it really reacts to the volume control on the guitar. You can find a sweet spot where if you pick softly, the notes are clean, and the more you bear down, the more distorted they become. This works well in solos stuff and hitting the same chord with increasing amounts of force.

Here's the deal about overall sound, pay attention.

This is not a JCM800 or a Triple Rectifier. With pedals, you can get both tones, or pretty close.

THIS IS THE BEST SOUNDING DRY AMP I HAVE EVER PLAYED. There is a certain warmth and character to it, that defies explanation. It breathes and reacts to how you play it.

The only people that I think would play this and not love it are guys looking for level 11 distortion.

It will do a dead on AC/DC marshally crunch sound that sounds better than the record. It can give you a nice crunch "Pat Benetar" "Heart" type crunchy rythym sound.

With some effects, you can get a pretty sweet "Scorpions" tone out of it.



You are going to have to drive it with something if you want blistering paint peeling distortion leads (as is required of all amps)

Other than that, I can't imaging anyone wouldn't like this amp.

THD has sound clips up on their web site. I don't think they do justice to this little amp for the heavier stuff as most of them are oriented around a nice jazzy, bluesy type sound.

The sound is very "thick" and 3d as everyone mentions.

Some people have reported that it is "tinny" or high on the treble side, but I have not found it to be.

I understand that the cabinet choice makes a huge difference.

I have played it through a Peavey 4x cab, a Marshall 4x with vintage 30's and used the line out into a power amp and out to a pair of fender 2x12's and it sounded good through all of them.

This is not a magic carpet, it does not do one and only sound and do it well. It is a multi faceted tone machine, that you will have to tweak.

Quit plugging into amps dry down at guitar center and wondering why it doesn't sound like a record. Put some effects on it, mic it, run it into a board, throw some compresson, e.q., reverb and delay on it, and maybe an overdrive pedal, and come back and tell me this isn't a studio quality rig.

DID I SAY THIS IS ONE OF THE BEST SOUNDING AMPS I HAVE EVER PLAYED.

I got mine from Music Toys for 699.00 and think it gives you some of the best bang for the buck of any amp PERIOD.

Go buy a $3000.00 bogner and I will buy a 700.00 amp and spend the other 2700.00 on effects, and kick your ass.

It lacks channel switching and reverb, but for the price is the perfect "base" for building on it.

You will notice if you pay attention, that a lot of guys who have bought the amp have 20+ years of experience and give it high praise.

Don't take the word of some kid with a Metal Zone pedal that this amp won't get nasty, who has never played a real Marshall, Rectifier, or Botique Amp.

Is this the best amp in the whole world...maybe not.

Is this the only amp I would ever want, no.

Will I ever buy another amp...sure.

But this is one of the best values for the money and sounds very good for most styles of playing.

Once you figure out that you can get different tones with different tubes, it becomse even better, because it isn't a "one tone wonder".

I bought mine off the internet without ever playing one based upon the good recomendations they recieved.

I have not been disappointed.

I have tried a number of distortion pedals and stomp boxes through it, and it takes to them very well.


I give it a 9 as I hardly give anything a 10. For the sound

Only had it a month. It's easy to change tubes.

THD...they are a 10.

They will answer your phone calls and e-mails immediately.

This thing is a 10 overall. I don't know of a single amp in this price range that sounds as good, has as many features, and can be put to so much varying use.

I think this is a 2004 version, because I bought it new. Very versatile, the hotplate and noisegate are a big plus. Two channels Rock for crunch, Roll for clean and blues. I use all the features depending on what kind of sound I am recording. I use this amp at home for recording, plenty of power for that application.

I use a Brina Moore i2.13 "seymour duncans", a Ibanez 540 pII "Ibanez F2 and F3 humbuckers. A Explorer "gibson paf's". This amp suits my style "Rock/Fusion/Jazz". Only noisy when amp is flat out cranked. I can get the real crunch chords sounding great on all three guitars. The clean sound is transparent warm and glassy. The clean channel can be overdriven for bluesy type sounds. The distortion seems to self adjust to whatever guitar or pickups you feed into it.

I have only had it week, I have taken note of fuse consideration's from the posts here. I will order extra sets in case they ever blow. Amp seems to be built very solidly. I have'nt gotten into changing tubes and the such yet. So I will give this a No Opinion.

I have called Ed Degenaro "THD" twice and he was very helpfull. He also pointed me to the univalve.net chat room, alot can be learned about this amp there. I am not sure about the warranty, no manual was included.

I have been playing for over twenty years. I run this amp into a Randall 12" celestion vintage 30 isolation cab, miked with a AKG C3000B condensor mic. That signal goes to my yamaha mixer, then my M-Audio breakout box, into Cubase 5.1 PC recording software. I was trying to get a tube sound into my recordings, and this system does the trick. I got tired of my POD sounding so digital and harsh. I chose the THD because the hotplate was already in it. I considered a Soldano Avenger, but I didn't need that much power for recording and I would have had to buy the hotplate extra.

Read the other reviews: I agree with them - very versatile and has effectively a 'virtual reverb' as it sounds 3-dimmensional !

Tubey, Jazzy, Bluesy, Sweet, Expressive, Incredible, Soulfull, Punchy, Rocky, Singing, Growling, Melting, Holy, Divine ...

These are the comments from my audience and my band members. They actually told me that I sound like Jimmy Hendrix or John Abercrombie or Buddy Guy or Wes Montgomery ... and I am not that good but with this amp I do sound that good :-)

Just buy one, period.

excellent

I play since 1964 and have played many amps and guitars and this is the best, period. So, like what the other people wrote already as it summs it best; quote: ''Andy Marshall, CEO and key designer of THD is ''boutique amps maker boutique amp builder'' so simply put, once you get a Univalve, or Bivalve, you won't care about the competition.''

I no longer search for another amp and concentrate on my playing.

You know the deal: Controls for Treble, Bass, Attitude... Hot Plate Attenuator, Rock (distorted) and Roll (clean) inputs, Hi-V / Lo-V, speaker load selection, I could go on, but I'm sure you know about the amp's basics.

Wow.... what an amp! I, like you are doing right now, read reviews on here, and was blown away by what people thought about this amp.

The clean is sparkly and has a certain depth to it that I love. I miss the reverb a little bit, but hey, you learn to live without it. When cranked, the Roll 'channel' dirties up BEAUTIFULLY... awesome with a humbucker, or higher output bridge p'up.

The Rock Input - absolutely beastly! Will tear your face off if you want it to. This may be a 15-watt amp, but it rivals many much higher powered amps. Does Guns and Roses awesomely, Alice in Chains, you name it.

Many tube amps are one-trick dogs... this little guy does it all.

Can't comment much, have only had it a week... but looks like it's built like a brick shithouse.

Well, Ed is an awesome guy, and THD is a top-notch company... but I can't give a perfect 10... I ordered the amp in early, early February and was told I'd have it in two weeks. I called in two weeks, and was then told it would be shipped out the next few days, and I would be given a tracking number... 4 days went by, I called again, and was told 2-3 more weeks... It finally came in mid March, but I guess I shouldn't be complaining. Too good an amp to be picky.

Awesome, awesome, awesome... take my word for it.

See the reviews before me...no sense reinventing the wheel. I play at home and it's PERFECT for me. The best part is that you can change tubes and you can get a different sound with each tube change. Very versatile and VERY LOUD for a 15 watt amp. The only thing that I wish it had is a way to switch between the Roll input and the Rock input.

You can go from a super squeaky clean to full on metal. Now, don't expect the clean to be as loud as the distortion, because it's not going to be. TUbe selection plays a BIG part here - a 6550 will have a lot more clean headroom than say a 6W6 or 6V6. Plus, if you use a lower gain preamp tube in the driver slot - say an ECC81 or 82, the clean will get a bit louder before the amp starts to break up. Break up - ahhhh - the BEST part of this amp. You can get MELTDOWN power tube distortion and have it so that you can hear the TV over the amp. The Hot Plate adds a complete new palette of sonic options to an already full plate of tone. One thing though, if you turn the Hot Plate all the way down the sound gets a bit thin.

Built like a tank!! The guys @ THD really have their act together!! Top notch build quality - some of the other amp manufacturers could take some pointers from them. One thing - get extra fuses for it. I had a tube short out and blow the HT fuse. I had quite a time trying to get a replacement. I contacted Ed @ THD and he sent me replacement fuses!! You could gig it without a backup...just take extra fuses and tubes.

One word - EXEMPLARY!!

Awesome amp. I should've bought this a LONG time ago - I would've saved myself a lot of money AND grief. I would highly recommend this amp to anyone.


P.S. - on a side note - Avatar Speakers has the best price on the web for these amps. www.avatarspeakers.com

As described before.

I just want to add a few comments after the previous, evidently British, reviewer who apparently tries to be objective but isn't, or at least misses the point ...

I did own #499 6W Cornford Harlequin and can first hand confirm that it sounded unfortunately VERY BOXY and had 50Hz hum even though it's a recording amp ... as to the Hurricane - yes it's nice but then the price is #1200+ and still you have a limited range ... for $1800 anybody can build a decent tube amp!

In short the reviewer did not have the right cabinet for THD amp.

I get any sound you can possibly imagine simply by using a DEEP (rather bassy) 112 cabinet; alternatively try THD 212 or any decent 412 ... so do not grumble if your cabinet is lousy ...

In short this is THE best amp there is (especially for the money) but you have to choose the right tubes and the correct cabinet.

What to say - perfect

Great guys at THD !
Great user forum too !

Perfect. You can get any Cornford or Dr.Z or Dumble or Bruno or Kendrick or Fargen or ... whatever boutique amp you dream: yes Engl and Randal and Koch and Zorotoustra too ...

The secret is simple, as Groove Tubes owner said:

''Andy Marshall, CEO and key designer of THD is ''boutique amps maker boutique amp builder'' so simply put, once you get a Univalve, or Bivalve, you won't care about the competition.''

Just go and buy one with a decent cabinet and do not worry about anonymous comments - the only almost as good an amp made in Britain is anyway class A #699 Matlab V28 (ask Nick Guppy ... from 'Guitarist' if you do not believe me :-).

Mine was a 2003 model. You know the features: cool styling, Class A, rock and roll inputs, atenuator, can used different preamp and power amp tubes. It's a great little package, ideal for the studio but still way too loud for home use. No effects loop (not a criticism).

I wanted an amp for home and studio use. I considered the Harlequin also but was attracted by the THD company ethic, the glowng reviews, and the flexibility offered by the valve switching.

I really really wanted to like this amp. Clean it sounds beautiful. The sound is 3 dimensional and airy. It's wonderful, especially on the roll input.

The problems for me started with distorted amp sounds. I like to play classic blues through to heavy rock/metal. Without the attenuator 15 watts is incredibly loud. I couldn't get a really nice distortion without the treble hurting my (and my wife's) ears. I tried different valves (including NOS), different amp settings but couldn't get it right. Plus using the attenuator robs the amp of its ability to accurately reproduce the power stage distortion (I know the attenuator works post-power amp). As with all classic valve amps, volume is needed for great tone. Maybe I just didn't match my needs with the amp right. But I still don't like the brightness (which is acknowledged by a lot of univalve owners - check out the univalve forum - a great forum BTW).

I tried using distortion and overdrives on the roll input but it just didn't sound right. So I sold it and bought the Harlequin which for my needs was great.

I would submit that the amp sounds great clean but not so good distorted (at least for my needs). My score attempts to recognise this. If you're thinking about buying one, test it well and make sure you know what you want and make sure you like bright sounding amps.

I suspect it would be a long lived bit of kit treated right but probably wouldn't stand up too well to the road. Most problems would I suspect be tube related.

No experience of customer service. However if you get one, the univalve forum is great and a number of the guys from THD are members and respond very well to queries.

This is a tough one. It certainly is a unique amp with superb flexibility and design. If you want mainly clean/crunch sounds I think it's a good one to audition. If you want classic/hard rock think hard unless you like lots of treble. If you want nu-metal you're on the wrong page anyway!

I/'ve own/ed Mesa Boogie F50, single rectifier; Cornford Mk50, Harlequin, and Hurricane; Marshall DSL50 valve amps. I think I know a good amp when I hear one. I play PRS, Tom Anderson, Ibanez, Gibson and Taylor guitars. The THD is a good amp for some purposes. If you want a valve amp for studio/home use also check out the Cornford Harlequin.

Versatile studio amp. It would be nice if there were a way to equalize the high and low inputs and switch between them to get high gain and clean on the fly. All of the features on the amp work well and it is very simple to operate

Flat out one of the best sounding amps I have ever played. Sounds great through a variety of speakers. My favorites so far have been a pair of Weber Blue Dogs in an open back cab and a pair of Greenbacks in a closed back cab. I can get country, jazz, blues, hard rock and early eighties metal style tones. It is what it is and does not sound "exactly" like a given amp, but it gets in the neighborhood of many great classic tones, all while putting out a fantastic sound of its own. I have played it with many guitars, including PRS, Gibson, Fender and all shine through it. Playing with various tubes is fun and this is where you can find the tones you need. Sounds so good I decided to get a BiValve to have similar tones but with a little more clean headroom when gigging.

I have gigged with it without any problems. I've had it for over a year and it is still going strong.

Ed DeGenero is a model of customer service. He hangs out at the univalve forum and is very willing to answer any questions. I've yet to see better customer service from any other company. The only manufacturers who have compared when I needed them were: PRS, Mesa Boogie and Fuchs Audio Technology.

I have been playing for over 20 years and have been through a ridiculous amount of gear. This amp kicks butt and if it were stolen I would probably replace it (If I didn't have a BiValve on the way, that would be a definate).

As stated throughout these reviews, the amp's features are in service of getting the right tone at any volume, hence the built-in hot-plate. My favorite stuff is on the backside: the line-out feature works extremely well as either a line or instrument level output to another amp, modelling device a la POD or hard disk recorder. THD has also demystified the art of re-tubing and rebiasing. In fact it is an enjoyable task, as one hears and appreciates the potentially dramatic results in tone. In this category, I'm celebrating the effectiveness of the features that are included, as opposed to lamenting what's excluded --reverb, effects loop, et al.

I've use a variety of guitars. Including my main Les Paul Standard, I play Dano Baritone and 12-String models, Standard Tele, Line6 Variax (sounds great with the Uni), and a modified Epi Sheraton.

After a month of heavy use, I'm confident that is amp is, if not the best value out there, a fantastic specimen of a low wattage amp. The tone is pure manna from Class A heaven. I've owned an blue alnico equipped AC30, and as much as I loved the full throttle tone of that particular amp, it was difficult to acheieve desired results with anything less than rafter-shaking volume.

The Univalve excels at providing a great crunch that cleans up very well with the turn of the Guitar's volume knob. I've read some players lammenting the lack of a clean tone; however, I'm satisfied to run the amp wide open on the "Rock" channel for maximum wattage and adjust the volume on my guitar accordingly. I recognize this isn't acceptable to some players seeking more versatility, but with tone this good, i'm comfortable with limited options.

Concerning the output of the amp, I have had more than enough whallop to compete with drums, bass and another guitarist's AC-30. It should be noted that using a beefy power tube such as a 6550, KT88, or EL34 will create twice the output of, say, those of the EL-34 or 6L6 variety. Cabinents, of course, make a difference. I'm currently using a Laney 4X10, although I hope to upgrade to a THD 2x12 cabinet.

When recording, I've preferred the sound of an EL-84 and a Tung Sol 6L6, as these seem to yeild richer harmonic content. For playing out, I've been most satisfied with a Svetlana 6550 --a great combination with 12AT7 preamp tubes, that has a crushing old-school Hiwatt distortion at high volumes, and austere clean tones at lower volumes, around 3-4 on my trusty Les Paul.

The amp has the heft of quality. This was shipped to me, used, and I haven't experienced any issues with fuse or tube failure.

I joined the Univalve Board. There's some helpful threads, FAQs, etc to give the new user direction and support. It's obvious the designers/engineers care as they weigh-in on a variety of topics relating to their creations.

I have never known or experienced a tube amp that sounded great at any volume, let alone one that could be routed into another amp (via the instrument level, line out) or recording deck with equally impressive results. THD has really given the Univalve the features and tone to have it qualify as a lifetime amp. I'm sure there are great boutique alternatives, alas but how many fall under $1000. Simply put, once you get a Univalve, or Bivalve, you won't care about the competition.

See the specs given by other reviewers.

Before I give any comments here is an advice for all novices:

Choose your tubes and try the amp in the following mode:

All EQ knobs at 11 am and use the 'powerbrake' (not the full power) plus the noise-suppressor ... adjust the volume ...
usually the best is when power is at 11am and gain at 2pm.

The amp will gently sing and when you play softly offer a sweet tube sound that you can usually only dream about ... adjust the knobs a little to suit your style and your guitar and enjoy ...

I now use this amp always in this power-brake mode and adjust the amount of distortion with playing dynamics ... the tone is always perfect - 10 and I mean - ten.

Very reliable.

They always responded to me and advised me ...

Some people prefer BiValve but I have all I need with Univalve.

If I need some reverb I often use my $230 Laney LC-15R 110 as an extra small combo and when I place it next to my Univalve (with 112 cabinet) it acts as a reverb-add-on quasi-stereo amp that projects more as it has 10'' speaker ... nice combination and sufficient power and projection for ANY gig even with very loud drummers ... strongly recommended combination ... probably some other second tube amp with reverb or decent small combo with reverb can do the same trick too ...

I have some really expensive gear yet this THD amp has THE tube sound that serious guitarists dream about ...

If you are searching for THE sound buy one of THD amps ...