Bender 4 Life Posted November 2, 2008 Share Posted November 2, 2008 I've read all the literature and reviews, listened to a dozen youtube videos. I'm going to go test drive one about mid January........ What are y'alls experiences with the B/C ? How reliable is it? Does it really sound as good as the videos make it seem? Thanks in advance for the info. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wiggy Posted November 2, 2008 Share Posted November 2, 2008 Absolutely incredible amp at pretty well any price. ON 15w Class A it sounds spectacular on the the clean channel and loses very little when you switch to 30w Class A/B. To be honest I don't find the crunch channel adds much and certainly doesn't give you any real extra headroom for a solo when you've got the amp cranked up. Having said that the clean channel takes pedals exceptionally well and is probably the way to go. It will handle pretty well anything from clean jazz through blues to country and classic rock but wouldn't recommend it for metal tones. Reverb goes from gentle extra space to big fat shimmer. If you're looking at it for home/bedroom use then make sure you have very accommodating neighbours as it is really (and I mean REALLY) loud. It can comfortably hold it's own with a loud drummer and a loud guitarist using an old Marshall 50w 2 x 12 valve combo at full chat - might struggle with a large stack but it's not really designed for that. In regards to the sound I would suggest dumping the rubbish Sovtek 6L6's in the power amp for something a little better (basically anything else on the market) - I've replaced the ones in mone with a pair of early manufacture RCA Blackplates and it sounds awesome. The 12AX7's in the preamp aren't actually that bad and can pretty much be left alone if you want though replacing them with something more musical will only improve the sound. The Emminence Lady Luck speakers are pretty good and certainly get better as you break them in. If you're planning on gigging with it then you can be sure that it will stand up to the knocks and bangs as it is built like a tank (downside is it weighs the same as a tank too.) What tips it for me is the fact that everyone who's played on mine at our local blues/rock jam has raved over what a great amp it is. Don't hesitate - just buy it - you won't be dissapointed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Brown Posted January 14, 2009 Share Posted January 14, 2009 Recently I have a friend with a VOX AC 30, and he agreed that the Blues custom was a nicer sounding amp on the clean channel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeRom Posted January 14, 2009 Share Posted January 14, 2009 +1 Wiggy put it very nicely. Great amp, great price, heavy as hell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PapaMidnite Posted January 14, 2009 Share Posted January 14, 2009 Very good amp I did quick mods to mine opened it up Beautifully.It just was on the bright side so i removed some Caps.I also run it with THD yellow jackets with el84's For some real tube distortion on the clean channel .with this I don't need to use the drive channel at all .Go get one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parabar Posted January 14, 2009 Share Posted January 14, 2009 I've only had mine about a month, and every time I play it I'm more impressed by how good it sounds. It has some of the presence and clarity of a good Fender and some of that warm throaty Voxiness too. Cleans are gorgeous, overdrive is crunchy and delicious. The interactive eq switch makes it extremely versatile for custom shaping your tones, from really bright crisp "edgy" to warm mellow jazzy to fat sustaining leads. As wiggy said, it's not going to replace a Marshall or Hiwatt for shreddability, but that's not it's intention. If you want that kind of tone, though, you could plug your favorite overdrive or distoriton pedal into it and you'd be right there. I've used mine with a Korg Toneworks AG1500 pedalboard and covered everything from sparkly surfalicious to power-chords-of-doom. Where it really shines best, though (to my ears) is in the clean to just-breaking-up part of the spectrum, so it handles jazz, blues, country, R&B, reggae, and rock really well --- and it sounds good with ALL my guitars. Oh, and yeah, it's kinda heavy, but weighs less than a Twin Reverb, so what's the big deal? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gashole Posted January 15, 2009 Share Posted January 15, 2009 I've had mine for close to 3 years I believe now....time flies. It's excellent; reliable, great sounding-exactly what I was looking for in an amp. P90's, humbuckers and Tele single coils sound great through it (sold my strat before I got it...can't imagine those sounding bad out of it though). Mine is still stock. I'll eventually spend some money on high quality tubes when I need to re tube...which should be coming on I'd think now, but I'm very happy with the speakers. They'll stay. Play it elevated too...it projects like a cannon. I like all the features of the amp, I don't feel like I'm lacking for anything tonally. I've owned Fenders, Marshalls, and Ampegs-all good, middle level tube amps. I've played through the even sweeter stuff in the stores. The BC30 is right there with all of them IMO. It does what I need it to do. I can't rave to you enough about it. It needs handles on the side, or casters to roll it. I'm almost 40, and haulling it around brings me no joy I'll tell you. It's the beast others here have mentioned. But the tone is exactly right. Lotta LOTTA bang for the buck here. I think you can get voxy, bluesbreakeresque, and twinnish with this amp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PapaMidnite Posted January 15, 2009 Share Posted January 15, 2009 I agree on the side handles .I going to search for some now . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cGil Posted January 16, 2009 Share Posted January 16, 2009 Don't know if it's what you're looking for, but AES (tubeandmore.com) has the recessed Marshall cab handles. Gil... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PapaMidnite Posted January 16, 2009 Share Posted January 16, 2009 Thanks Gil Found some on Mojo Handles $5.00 ea good deal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spaaarky21 Posted January 16, 2009 Share Posted January 16, 2009 I've read all the literature and reviews' date=' listened to a dozen youtube videos.I'm going to go test drive one about mid January........ What are y'alls experiences with the B/C ? How reliable is it? Does it really sound as good as the videos make it seem? Thanks in advance for the info.[/quote'] This seems to get asked a lot lately. Here are some of my other responses: http://forums.epiphone.com/Default.aspx?g=posts&t=6313#73588 http://forums.epiphone.com/default.aspx?g=posts&t=6905#80959 http://forums.epiphone.com/default.aspx?g=posts&t=6560&p=2#79898 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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