Yamaha SR50-112 112 Combo

50 WATT S/S CHANNEL SWITCHING COMBO. I BELEIVE IT'S AN EARLY 90'S MODEL BUT THERE'S NO INFO ANYWHERE ON THIS BABY. VERY COMPACT SIZE AND COVERED IN A STRANGELY TEXTURED RUBBERY GREY TWEED-LIKE FINISH. VERY TACTILE BUT PICKS UP DUST AND FLUFF LIKE MAD!! ROCK 'N ROLL!! CONTROLS ARE FROM LEFT TO RIGHT - SINGLE INPUT, TRIM, CHANNEL SWITCH, CLEAN VOLUME WITH A PULL BRIGHT, DRIVE GAIN WITH A PULL FAT, DRIVE VOLUME, TREBLE, MIDDLE, BASS, PRESENCE AND REVERB. REAR CONTROLS ARE F/X SEND/RETURN WITH A LEVEL SWITCH, SLAVE OUT WITH A CONTROL AND 3 POSITION D.F.C CONTROL (DRY, WET AND NORMAL). SEEMS TO BE SOME KIND OF DYNAMICS CONTROL - WET GIVES A BIT OF A COMPRESSED TREBLE ROLLED OFF SOUND. DRY IS DRY AND NORMAL SOUNDS - WELL - NORMAL. NO MANUAL SO I'M JUST GOING ON WHAT I HEAR. THE TRIM CONTROL IS A STRANGE ONE. I WISH IT JUST HAD HI AND LO INPUTS AS THIS SEEMS TO BE THE POINT OF THE TRIM - IE - TO MATCH YOUR PICKUPS TO THE AMP BUT I FIND IT A BIT TOO FIDDLY - ONE MORE THING TO ALWAYS JIGGLE WITH!! I WISH THERE WAS A CLEAN GAIN KNOB - IE - TO ADD A BIT OF DIRT TO THE SPARKLE. THE CLEAN IS JUST SOOO CLEAN - ALMOST HIFI. DRIVE CHANNEL IS VERY GOOD BUT NOT VALVE LIKE. IN SOME WAYS IT'S BETTER - IN SOME WAYS NOT. VERY FULL FREQUENCY RESPONSE - HIT AN OPEN A OR E CHORD AND EVERY SHADE OF COLOUR IS SHOWN. NOT MANY AMPS - VALVE OR OTHERWISE WILL DO THIS. AS I ONLY USE THIS AMP FOR HOME RECORDING, 50 WATTS IS AMPLE. THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO HISS OR HUM WHATSOEVER FROM HER - EVEN AT HIGH LEVELS.

I USE AM STANDARD TELE, STRAT, HIGHWAY 1 STRAT (EXCELLENT), GIBSON SG STANDARD, GIBSON LES PAUL STANDARD, CUSTOM SHOP REISSUE '57 GOLDTOP LES PAUL (ALWAYS LOVED GOLDTOPS - THE CRIMINALLY UNDER RATED STEVE HACKETT USED ONE IN '70'S GENESIS AND SOLO - CHECK OUT THAT MAN'S SENSE OF MELODY, ATMOSPHERE AND OTHER WORLDLY-NESS - AS WELL AS PERFECT CHOPS WHEN NEEDED. ANYWAY, I DIGRESS. THE AMP, AS I SAID IS ABSOLUTELY QUIET AT ALL SETTINGS. UNTIL RECENTLY, I OWNED A MARSHALL DSL 201 20 WATT VALVE COMBO. BRILLIANT SOUND - DEAFENING HUM!! I TRIED TO RECORD IT A NUMBER OF TIMES AND ALWAYS WAS LET DOWN BY THE INTRUSIVE NOISE. NOT SO WITH THE SR50. THE ONLY NOISE COMING OUT OF HER IS WHAT I'M PLAYING. OR SO TO SPEAK...
THE CLEAN CHANNEL IS JUST THAT - SQUEAKY CLEAN. MAYBE TOO CLEAN FOR SOME. THE DRIVE CHANNEL IS - DRIVEN. LITERALLY. THE LOWEST DRIVE SETTING IS ABOUT THE MAXIMUM SETTING ON A TUBE SCREAMER TYPE PEDAL - IF YOU GET MY DRIFT. FROM THERE IT'S SONIC NIRVANA - IF YOU LIKE DISTORTION. IF NOT THEN THIS ONE'S NOT FOR YOU. HAVING SAID THAT, THE CLARITY OF NOTES IS AMAZING. AGAIN, NOT MANY AMPS, VALVE OR S/S WILL GIVE YOU THIS. IT'S AS THOUGH THE SR50 IS TAKING YOUR SOUND, PROCESSING IT AS HIFI, AND THEN PUTTING IT OUT DIRTIED UP!! IMAGINE PUTTING A STRAT THRU A TUBE HIFI AMP - LINKING IT UP TO A CELESTION 4 X 12 CAB - AND THEN RECORDING IT WITH A NEUMANN U87 OR AKG 414 - IE - VERY REVEALING MIC!! SOUNDS CRAP HUH?? SOUNDS AWESOME - BELEIVE ME!!
VERY "WHO LIVE AT LEEDS" SOMEHOW.

FUNNY CATEGORY THIS AS I DON'T GIG WITH IT. IT HAS SWITCHED ON AND OFF AND HAS PERFORMED FAULTLESSLY ALL THE TIME I'VE HAD IT - ABOUT A YEAR. ALL HARDWARE IS EXTREMELY HARD WEARING. THAT TEXTURED FINISH SURE PICKS UP SOME FLUFF THOUGH..... WHERE'S MY YELLOW DUSTER.....

CALLED YAMAHA UK A COUPLE OF TIMES TO TRY TO GET A MANUAL FOR IT.
OH DEAR...
"DID YOU SAY SR OR FR... "F" FOR FREDDIE.... OH.. S FOR SHITHEAD...
NO THERE'S NO RECORD OF THAT AMP EVER BEING MADE BY YAMAHA... ARE YOU SURE IT SAYS YAMAHA... YA-MA-HA.... HMMMM.... OH YEAH, HERE IT IS... IT WAS MADE IN THE EARLY 90'S.... NO, THERE'S NO MANUAL AVAILABLE.... JUST A MINUTE, I'LL ASK MY BOSS IF HE'S GOT ANYTHING IN HIS DRAWERS!!... THE OTHER PERSON HAS CLEARED.........

BEEN PLAYING 20 (GULP) YEARS. NO OTHER AMPS OWNED NOW - THIS IS THE ONLY ONE I'LL NEED NOW. IF IT WERE STOLEN I'D PROBABLY HAVE A GOOD LOOK AROUND AND MAYBE GET A CORNFORD HARLEQUIN 6 WATT RECORDING AMP.
I COMPARED THIS BABY TO LINE 6 FLEXTONE, ROLAND VGA, FENDER SILVERFACE TWIN (LOVELY) AND BOUGHT THIS. IT WAS THE CHEAPEST BUT MONEY WASN'T THE ISSUE AT THAT TIME. EVERYTHING ELSED JUST SEEMED - FLAT IN COMPARISON - BUT THAT SILVERFACE TWIN... HMMM...THAT AND A GOOD O/D PEDAL... HMMM....HUMMED THOUGH.....