So I was down in NYC this past weekend giving my best bud from college (who is an Albany native) the grand tour, and we of course had to pay a visit to 48th St., AKA Music Store Lane. Rudy's was the first stop, cuz they're the boutique fellows (dealers for Mesa, Orange, and Bogner, as well as brands I couldn't give two shits about but are still expensive, e.g. 65 Amps, Gibson amps, blah-di-blah...), and the last time I had been there, all the amps were sequestered in a tiny room with sliding glass doors in the back of their storefront. So I go back there, and see that it's been replaced with the usual array of expensive Gibsons, Fenders, and PRS's (BOOORRRRIIIINNNNGGG, I don't care how much they cost), and I'm like "WTF IS THIS HORSESHIT!?" to the guy behind the counter (not quite in those words 
), to which he very impatiently points to the sign at the door, indicating their recently added amp room around the corner on the 4th floor.
So we bid the dude farewell, and head up there - and HOLY GOD, this place is fucking ridiculous. The main room has lots of guitars (more PRS's, Gibsons, and Fenders, uggghhh), but the right room has multiple Bogner, Marshall, and Orange full stacks, and the left room is ALL Mesa, with like 6 full stacks and all combos/small cabs in between, all in totally gorgoues finishes (including my absolute favorite combo, a Roadster full stack in Red Croco Leather dddrrrroooooolllll...). So one of the dudes working there helped me to a Les Paul, and first up was an Orange Tiny Terror through an Orange 2x12 horizontal cab. SWEET FUCKING JESUS that thing cooked - I still want a Rev. Jr. because I'm a knuckle-headed metalhead till the day I die, but now I can finally see why any self-respecting high-gain lover would consider this little guy instead of it. Just the Les Paul w/ passive pups straight into the amp had all the gain I could ever want (with the knob maxed, granted, but whatever), so I now have serious GAS for that sucker as well.
Next up was the Mesa room, where I played the aforementioned Roadster full stack, and loved it as much as I expected I would, and then back into the first room, where I played a Marshall JVM410 and was honestly quite underwhelmed - I tweaked that fucker A LOT, but while the distortion was decent on open notes/chords, the palm mutes just sounded horridly squishy and undefined, so if this is the best Marshall has to offer these days, I guess I just don't care for that company. Finally, although I could tell the dude was getting a little impatient, I begged him to try the Bogner Uberschall full stack, which he obliged, but when he turned it on, it made these crackly noises (and no guitar signal came through), so we gave up on that so I wouldn't have to get acquainted with their "you break it, you buy it" policy
So in short, anyone who is remotely in the NYC area, check out the Rudy's Music Stop amp room, and prepare to be in heaven!
), to which he very impatiently points to the sign at the door, indicating their recently added amp room around the corner on the 4th floor.So we bid the dude farewell, and head up there - and HOLY GOD, this place is fucking ridiculous. The main room has lots of guitars (more PRS's, Gibsons, and Fenders, uggghhh), but the right room has multiple Bogner, Marshall, and Orange full stacks, and the left room is ALL Mesa, with like 6 full stacks and all combos/small cabs in between, all in totally gorgoues finishes (including my absolute favorite combo, a Roadster full stack in Red Croco Leather dddrrrroooooolllll...). So one of the dudes working there helped me to a Les Paul, and first up was an Orange Tiny Terror through an Orange 2x12 horizontal cab. SWEET FUCKING JESUS that thing cooked - I still want a Rev. Jr. because I'm a knuckle-headed metalhead till the day I die, but now I can finally see why any self-respecting high-gain lover would consider this little guy instead of it. Just the Les Paul w/ passive pups straight into the amp had all the gain I could ever want (with the knob maxed, granted, but whatever), so I now have serious GAS for that sucker as well.
Next up was the Mesa room, where I played the aforementioned Roadster full stack, and loved it as much as I expected I would, and then back into the first room, where I played a Marshall JVM410 and was honestly quite underwhelmed - I tweaked that fucker A LOT, but while the distortion was decent on open notes/chords, the palm mutes just sounded horridly squishy and undefined, so if this is the best Marshall has to offer these days, I guess I just don't care for that company. Finally, although I could tell the dude was getting a little impatient, I begged him to try the Bogner Uberschall full stack, which he obliged, but when he turned it on, it made these crackly noises (and no guitar signal came through), so we gave up on that so I wouldn't have to get acquainted with their "you break it, you buy it" policy
So in short, anyone who is remotely in the NYC area, check out the Rudy's Music Stop amp room, and prepare to be in heaven!
