...But didn't have a chance to mic it up 
The short version: A client band got a "Player's Package" deal with Madison, not a full-on endorsement, but a serious discount nonetheless. Clients spoke up for me & Madison wants to give me the same deal. (VERY cool! Thank you, Madison crew!)
Now, this amp was about 1 week old & had the matching "deep" v30 cab... insanely deep. First impressions: Well, the backlit logo is cool as all hell. I hope they used LED's or something 'cuz changing out those bulbs looks like it'll be a pain. Sound: Muffled. We had a 5150II on hand for comparisons, as well as a Maxon Od808, MXR ZW, & Ts9.
After messing around with the settings for a bit, we got something useable out of it, but it still didn't have the punch of a 5150. Here's where it gets interesting: We left the amp on for about two hours & came back. The tone opened right up. I'm guessing it had something to do with getting those virgin tubes broken in & warmed up correctly.
Second impressions: Damn, what a sweet tone! Lush, controlled & fat as all hell. Beautiful smooth top. The "shape" & Treble controls work off each other, so you certainly have to play with it a bit to find the sweet spot for your technique. Clean channel was pretty sweet too.
For rhythms, anyway, it's a damn cool amp... ...the band doesn't really play leads but I was sure impressed from what I heard. The Maxon worked best with it, followed by the TS9, while the ZW pedal didn't really do the amp justice.
I would certainly welcome one of these in my studio & it's most definitely on my "want" list. Would love to mic it up ASAP.
The short version: A client band got a "Player's Package" deal with Madison, not a full-on endorsement, but a serious discount nonetheless. Clients spoke up for me & Madison wants to give me the same deal. (VERY cool! Thank you, Madison crew!)
Now, this amp was about 1 week old & had the matching "deep" v30 cab... insanely deep. First impressions: Well, the backlit logo is cool as all hell. I hope they used LED's or something 'cuz changing out those bulbs looks like it'll be a pain. Sound: Muffled. We had a 5150II on hand for comparisons, as well as a Maxon Od808, MXR ZW, & Ts9.
After messing around with the settings for a bit, we got something useable out of it, but it still didn't have the punch of a 5150. Here's where it gets interesting: We left the amp on for about two hours & came back. The tone opened right up. I'm guessing it had something to do with getting those virgin tubes broken in & warmed up correctly.
Second impressions: Damn, what a sweet tone! Lush, controlled & fat as all hell. Beautiful smooth top. The "shape" & Treble controls work off each other, so you certainly have to play with it a bit to find the sweet spot for your technique. Clean channel was pretty sweet too.
For rhythms, anyway, it's a damn cool amp... ...the band doesn't really play leads but I was sure impressed from what I heard. The Maxon worked best with it, followed by the TS9, while the ZW pedal didn't really do the amp justice.
I would certainly welcome one of these in my studio & it's most definitely on my "want" list. Would love to mic it up ASAP.
