TopHat Embassy

I'm not sure of the year the amp was made, perhaps '97? I purchased it used from someone who did the same. It's a great sounding amp, single channel, 35 watt class A powered with 4 6V6 tubes. It has an effects loop and a post power amp line out with a level control. There is also an output for an extension cab.

Two channels, one has only a volume and a tone control.The other has volume, treble, mid, bass, & cut. The there is also a boost for the second channel. Both are different flavors of the same sound. The simple channel has a little more fire to it, the other greater versitility for shaping your tone. Each channel has a high and low input; I jumper them both together which is yet another option. If I were to only use one, I'd use the simple channel. I actually like it better than the versatile channel, not something that I would have expected.

The amp has a master volume as well. It seems that there was a defeat function that Brian at Tophat was going to incorporate into the amp to give a non-master volume function. I thought mine had been disabled by a previous user, but Brian wrote me that it didn't work that well for this amp so he went with only the master volume setup.

It also came with 2 Celestions, one greenback re-issue and one G12H 30
70th anniversary.

Please note that I think that there is probably nothing out there that rates a 10, and that most gear ought to average a 5 or a 6 in various catagories.

The amp sounds great. If set up at full volume, it has a nice roar. I back it off a bit to take advantage of the great clean sound it offers when backing off on my guitar's volume. Again, much more of a Vox clean than a Fender clean. Turning the guitar full up still gives a nice edgy AC30-ish growl.

I use a Zvex SHO pedal to push it hard for heavier distortion. It responds very well to this, entering more into Marshall Bluesbreaker / JCM 800 territory when pushed. It seems quite pedal friendly to me, I have Menatone distortion, a Prescription Electronics fuzz, a Carl Martin compressor, Tesse wah, a Boss chorus and EQ, and the Tophat likes them all. With the right pedals, this amp could probably do a little NU-metal thang for a tune or two. It doesn't do "brutal" distortion on it's own, but if you piss it off it might sonically flip the bird at you. I really like the sound of 6V6's.

The amp also puts out a big bottom end for an open back combo. This can probably be attributed mostly to the G12H 30, nice big, thick low mids with the greenback providing a sweet breakup in prodominantly in the higher mids.

Hmmm, I see Mr. Anonymous makes an appearance with more of his psycho ravings at the bottom of the page. I pity the foo'. He trashes various boutique amp manufacturers but has never had the balls to use his real name. He's probably the builder of some third rate amplifier that no one wants. I ignore his rants whenever I see them; he always says the same thing anyway.

I've had no problems with this amp in the 6 months I've owned it, nor had the previous owner who had it for perhaps a couple of years. Brian's reputation is very good as are many of these small builders. I wouldn't sweat a problem; I'm sure he'd make it right. If it contiues to be problem free, in a few more years I'd give it an 8 or 9. But so far, so good.

I've emailed Brian a couple of times and recieved a quick response. He has a good reputation which I would base most of my evaluation on here.

It's a great amp. I got a super deal on it, I think the going used prices I've seen here are good prices for this amp. I have a Rivera R-100 which I liked a lot, but I haven't really played it since I bought the Tophat. The Rivera's a fine amp, but even with all its bells and whistles, the Embassy sounds better to me overall. No frills, just a great tone.

Despite the two channels, it basically does the one thing it does. No channel switching here. And the boost on channel two doesn't add all that much more oomph, I just leave it on all the time. However, the amp is very responsive, enough so that you can get a lot out of it just with picking attack, guitar volume, etc. A couple of pedals and I have my all bases covered.

A fine amp that I'm sure I'll be happy with for a long time.

Same as the review that gave it a "10"

Sounds like the best AC 30 ever in channel 2. Amazing with my ASAT and Gibson ES 135. Very quiet and goes from pristine clean to plexi rock when using a power soak. The distortion with the soak is perfect plexi and one of my bandmates is really pissed off that it out plexis his mid 60's plexi. All my musician friends wish this was still being made.

So far very dependable, nothing funky yet.

I only dealt with Brian once, to buy a club royale, and he was great on the phone, but when I bought the embassy used he never responded to mu numerous emails - I guess you have to call to get service.

Been plaing 15 years, and I own a Matchless DC 30, and Clubman, 60's Vox AC 30 (JMI), Budda Twinmaster, Dr. Z Maz 38 Invasion, Fender Tonemaster, Bruno Underground 30, Dr. Z SRZ-65(RH). This Embassy outvoxes the Vox, and does the Twinmaster, Tonemaster, Invasion, Underground, and SRZ 65 thing better than any of those amps. I still won't sell the others, but the Embassy kicks ass. It doesn't outclass the Matchless, but then again its 1/3rd the price. The Embassies are available for cheap now days, way less than a crappy PCB Vox reissue - you'd have to be a Moron to buy new Vox, Marshall, Mesa, non custom shop Fender amps, or any other reissue PCB piece of crap for more than this used TopHat, though I'm sure many of you will, the same way you'd prefer to order a Big Mac over a perfect home made burger. Oh well, brand names sell. Do yourself a a favor, stop kidding yourself and get a real amp!!!

my amp was made in late 97. 2 channels- 1 top boost, 1 "simple channel." a very nice effects loop with level controls.

this amp has a great vox type tone, wonderful actually. it covers many many styles with the exception perhaps of real big, heavy rock. although remember brian may used vox amps and got a huge tone.

it's 35 watts class A. 6v6 tubes, tube rectifier.

i've used it largely for recording.

amp sounds fantasitic with both humbuckers and single coils. it's a very quite amp. it has a really well designed master volume that sounds great at all volumes. it's not a extrememly clean sound, there's a bit of breakup that happens fairly early as the volume comes up. it's not a fender sound.

it has a tremendously rich tone. very very smooth. not "hard" sounding at all.

i have had zero problems. it's an EXTREMELY well made amplifier. the biggest reason i'm writing this review is to counter the idiot that trashed top hat. i've dealt with brian from top hat and he's very knowledgeable- not at all pretentious and he's very proud of his amps. he takes great care to make sure they sound right and you're happy.

top hat is a fantastic company. they're very friendly and very helpful. i've had brian tweak a couple of things for me and he did it at no charge to me. VERY VERY helpful.

the survey asks how long I've played and what other gear I have. I've played 20 years, since I was very young. I play fender strats and a gibson V through early marshalls and a custom shop fender amp. I also now use a tremoverb for the heavy rock sound I need for my new band.

in my opinion the top hat embassy is the BEST of the boutique class A combos. I've had a bunch of them and played many more. nothing quite has the depth, richness and sparkle that the top hat embassy has

ALL I LIKE TO SAY IS: I OWN SEVERAL TOP HAT AMPS AND I NEVER HAD A PROBLEM. BUT WHEN I HAD THE NEED FOR BRIAN OR ANY OF THE TECHS AT TOP HAT. I WAS VERY SURPRISED HOW WILLING HE WAS TO HELP AND TO STAY AFTER HOURS TO DO SOME MOD'S IN ONE OF MY AMPS. SPECIALLY WHEN ALL MY TOP HAT AMPS WERE NEVER AQUIRED NEW FROM TOP HAT BUT ALLWAYS IN USED MARKET. I CAN'T STAY SILENT WHEN I SEE SOMEONE BEING RAILROAD BY SOME JERKY WITH NO TALENT ONLY TRYING TO DESTROY SOMEONES REPUTATION. I HAD THE CHANCE OF DEALING WITH MOST AMP BUILDER OUT THERE TODAY AND BRIAN IS A 1ST CLASS GUY AND HE BUILDS THE BEST. IF YOU WANT THE BEST JUST TRY THE 2x12" KING ROYAL + 1X12" VIBRA-TREM OR THE 1X12" CLUB DELUXE. YOU WILL FORGET ABOUT MATCHLESS, BRUNOS OR EVEN THE ORIGINAL VOXES BECAUSE HE MAKES THE BEST AROUND HANDS DOWN. I AM JUST TRYING TO SAVE YOU SOME TIME AND MONEY. BUT ASK TO THE VARIETY OF BIG NAMES PLAYING TOP HAT AMPS TODAY LIKE DAVID HIDALGO OR CESAR ROSAS FROM LOS LOBOS. MAY GOD SAVE AND HELP US IN THIS VERY CRUEL AND GREEDY WORLD. IF LIKE TO GET IN TOUCH WITH ME FEEL FREE TO DO SO. UNLIKE SOME THAT JUST HAVE NO SHAME.

1998 amp with 4 6v6's, two knob reverb, bass, mid, treble, cut, etc.

The amp sounded fine right out of the box, except for the fact that if you used it above half way on the volume it would make horrible noises and cease to work. I thought it was a bad pre-amp tube at first, but checked that and realized it was not a tube but something much more serious. When it was working it sounded fine.

This amp was built very badly. I hear that a lot of the Top Hats break, and have seen a lot of them in the shop here in town for repairs. The Top Hat people were really uptight, and unfriendly about the problem, and one of the guys said that the amp not working was a "Subjective thing", and that he was a pro, and knew pro tone, becuase he once worked for the band WASP!!! What an idiot.

The company owner was a joy to deal with as long as you were telling him what he wanted to hear. The amp that they sent me was badly built, and had a terrible problem. When I shipped it back to them, they claimed that there was nothing wrong with the amp, and were quite rude to me about it. The Rocket Science club at Top Hat finally set my amp head on a cabinet to try it "A week later" and low and behold, the amp made horrible noises and stopped working!! They called, and agreed to send me a new amp. This is after I had argued with them for a week about the amp, and the problem, that they claimed did not exist. I did not want a Top Hat at that point, but they would not give me a refund!! They refused, sent me an amp, and I promptly sold it.

I have been playing profesionally for 20 years, have recorded several records for major labels, and have had dealings with many gear companies, but none as bizarre as my dealings were with Top Hat. I play historic Les Pauls through a 68' plexi marshall, a Alessandro English, and a few effects. My life is much easier without top hat. The local techs here in Austin have had to repair every one that I know of that is in town. For Gods sake, don't buy one, but if you do, stash some money for repair bills, or prepare to listen to the company guys whine when you need help. I don't think that I could bear another story about WASP and knowing pro tone from these guys. Buy an old Marshall, or something that will last a few weeks.