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John Suhr, Badger
30 1x12 Combo
John Suhr, Badger 30 1x12
Combo, Color "Black",
EL-84 Power Section
30 Watts
Cathode Bias-All Tube Design
Power Scaling
Tube Buffered Effects Loop
The Suhr Badger is the first of many Suhr-branded amplifiers we have
planned for the future. Nearly a year in the making and in the concept
stage in John's mind for an even longer period of time, the Badger has
been John's labor of love and the crystallization of his vision of the
ultimate low-wattage cathode-biased all-tube amplifier. Tonally, the
Badger imparts a distinctly British flavor with the EL-34 output
section, but it doesn't quite sound like any of classic UK vintage amps. |
The
Badger has its very own tonality with a very broad range of sounds
covering a wide spectrum of clean to overdriven tones typically not
found in amps of this class. This new little beast of an amp also
offers unmatched flexibility with a defeat-able Drive control (pseudo
master volume), the defeat-able Power Scaling feature for great cranked
amp tones at low volume levels, and a tube-buffered effects loop.
From
warm three-dimensional crystal clean tones with a surprising amount of
headroom for an amp within this power range class, to spine-tingling
on-the-verge-of-breakup sounds that are super touch-sensitive to your
picking dynamics, to sweet and singing bluesy overdrive lead tones, to
broad and open-sounding crunch rhythm sounds that are ideal for classic
rock riffing, to juicy and fat lead sounds with the right amount of
grease and sustain for fusion and classic rock single-note playing, the
Badger does 'em all with authority, character, and tonal quality that
simply has to be heard to be believed.
The Badger sounds big – really big! Plug this little monster
into a 4x12 and you will not believe that the broad soundstage this amp
covers is coming from such a small power section. Low-wattage amps
typically sound small, but not the Badger; this beast sounds as big as
most 50 and 100 watt heads without a lot of bass and other such
artifacts of big amps.
The
Badger can operate in 3 distinct modes for a variety of musical
situations. The first is the non-master-volume mode. When the Drive and
Power knobs on the far left of the front panel are turned all the way
up, they are out of the circuit. This means the Gain control on the far
right becomes the volume control. The EQ section of Treble, Middle, and
Bass act as normal.
This is the ultimate in simplicity like the great non-master vintage
amps and ideal for playing in small clubs and venues where you can
really get the power section involved in the tone you're getting. The
second mode of the Badger kicks in once you bring the Drive control
into the circuit. The Drive controls the amount of signal being sent
into the power section, which in turn controls the volume level. The
Gain knob now acts as a preamp gain control. This mode is the familiar
"master volume" setting on virtually all modern guitar amps being
produced out there today. The third mode engages the unique and
extremely effective Power Scaling feature. In this mode, the Drive
control becomes like a secondary gain control and the Power knob
controls the overall volume. With careful balancing of the settings of
the Drive and Power control knobs, you can get power tube overdrive
from moderate to bedroom volume levels with a full transparent tone
without the squashed compression artifacts of most attenuators and load
boxes. With the Badger, you now have total control over your tone and
volume from the clubs to churches to garage rehearsals to home
recording to late-night practicing in your bedroom.
The
Power Scaling feature, licensed from London Power, lowers the wattage
to the power amp, allowing the power tubes to clip. The tubes run
cooler and aren't running as hard compared to using the speaker load
while still retaining the interaction of the tubes and speaker(s). This
proprietary technology allows the output power of an audio amplifier to
be dialed down from 100% to less than 1%. This requires a modification
to the amplifier's power supply.
Unlike external attenuators or load boxes, which interfere with the
amp-speaker interface, Power Scaling does not alter that relationship
between the output tubes and the speakers. Tube life will be greatly
enhanced by the Power Scale circuit as well. What you get is improved
transparency, less squash, more natural and pleasing compression, and
the sound of the power tubes working hard. Add the tube-buffered
effects loop with a fixed level send for use with both instrument-level
pedals and line-level rack effects and you've got one very versatile
tone machine ready for a variety of environments and musical situations. |
*NEW* Suhr Badger
Combo
18
The all-new Badger 1x12 combo is a departure from traditional combo
designs to focus utmost in reliability and sonic performance. The
result is a great focused sound that is consistent no matter where you
place it in the room or on the stage. With a traditional designer
combo, it looks pretty and has an open back with the tubes hanging
down, causing the heat to rise into the chassis. It sounds open but
small and will sound different depending on where it is in the room and
not very good when in the middle of an open stage. Components don't
last long as a cathode biased amp runs hot. Also, the tubes rattle and
they will interact too much with the speaker.
The Badger combo concept is: design the cabinet for the best
possible tone, tuned and ported (closed back with front ports) to the
speaker (Celestion V30) using high end analysis Linear X software
program and triple checked with close mic and room mic’s to be a
balanced system. Everything is tuned to sound like a big cabinet.
Attaching the head to the cabinet extends the baffle and adds to the
depth of tone. Another benefit is that any owner of a Badger head can
slide his head chassis into the combo. This way, the amp runs cool and
the cabinet is designed for optimum tone at any stage position. The
added front area from the head being attached makes it sound bigger
than a separate extension 1x12 cabinet. The Badger 1x12 combo is simply
the ultimate in versatility, portability and great consistent tone for
amps in its class!
MSRP: $2100
More Photos
Suhr Badger Class A
All Tube Guitar
Amplifier
the ultimate low-wattage cathode-biased all-tube
amplifier.
 
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