I want an Allen Brown Sugar, anyone have any experience?

bgood · August 10th, 2008, 08:24 PM

OK - I was bit by the amp building bug a while back and I'm planning my next build. I've had an Allen in my sights for a while and I think I may pull the trigger. I like the Accomplice and the Brown Sugar but I think the Brown Sugar may be better for me since it seems to have the best of all worlds - Brown tone stack, tweed cathode bias, BF reverb. But - it's alot of dough so I'm thinking I can:

Sell my Mission Tweedy Deluxe - would hate to part with it but....
Sell my Rivera R55 - great amp but not getting much action.....

Fund the kit and build my ONE amp. This amp would be my low volume practice amp - good master vol and my play out amp.

Anyone have any experience with this amp and do you find it to be "all that"

Tremo · August 13th, 2008, 04:54 PM

KBR has one. Sounds damn good to my ears.

eugenedunn · August 13th, 2008, 05:13 PM

The Allen Amplification website has a sale going on during August.....

100 bucks off any Accomplice or Brown Sugar 1x12 amp...... go cat go.

TeeBird · August 13th, 2008, 05:32 PM

I built a blonde bassman normal channel head with cathode bias. Should be a very similar circuit to the brown sugar.

IMHO it's the ultimate all-around fender style amp. Good warm clean, better than tweed note definition, but still has some of the tweed naughty overdrive sounds. I did put a huge bypass cap on the cathode resistor...

TeeBird · August 13th, 2008, 05:37 PM

A tiny movie of me cranking the amp with Tele in my garage. Though this is the camera mic, that's pretty much what it sounds like.

http://www.barrierislandgraphics.com...files/Tele.mov

singlecoil · August 13th, 2008, 05:51 PM

nice tone TeeBird

Tremo · August 14th, 2008, 04:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TeeBird

A tiny movie of me cranking the amp with Tele in my garage. Though this is the camera mic, that's pretty much what it sounds like.

http://www.barrierislandgraphics.com...files/Tele.mov

Yep, that's the sound.

ReddRanger · August 14th, 2008, 12:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tremo

KBR has one. Sounds damn good to my ears.

Yup, I played a gig with him in SF last weekend. Kenny has the head witha 2x12 Allen cab. He had tone for days with that Brown Sugar. It sounded great clean, and he would dial the raw control whenever he wanted some dirt. He had both p-90 and humbucker equiped guitars. No pedals. Great tone.

bgood · August 14th, 2008, 09:13 PM

yea that's the sound I'm after.

Anyone have any links to some KBR clips.

Would be cool if Allen would set that raw up as a footswitchable.

Hmm - going to have to start the sales process on the Rivera and Mission. Once I get back from summer vacation in a couple weeks. Probably will miss the sale he has going on but what's a c-note when it comes to a piece of cool gear.

bgood · August 14th, 2008, 09:47 PM

oops nevermind. I found his myspace page. Nuff said. If that's the the Sugar - I'm convinced.

TeeBird · August 15th, 2008, 10:42 AM

The myspace stuff sounds like one to me.

Hey I wasn't aware of that guy. I see he's on here. Great blues player; giving us the real stuff.

jumpnblues · August 15th, 2008, 11:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TeeBird

The myspace stuff sounds like one to me.

Hey I wasn't aware of that guy. I see he's on here. Great blues player; giving us the real stuff.

Yep. Kenny's a great player and knows great tone inside out. I'm thinking of building a Brown Sugar head for myself and for the learning experience. I have an Allen 40 watt Encore head and Allen 4x10" cab. David Allen is one of the very finest of builders and people to work with. Absolutely KILLER sounding amp. And with a P-90 equipped guitar...oh lawdy!!

Also, check out the Louis Electrics. The Tremblelux and KR models remind me of a tweed/brown hybrid plus. It's the "plus" that sets the Louis amps apart from the others. Something very intangible, perhaps in the hand built transformers? Either line of amps is a huge winner. And, as I said David Allen and Lou Rosano are such a pleasure to work with.

By the way, very nice playing and BIG tone.

Tom

TeeBird · August 15th, 2008, 11:17 AM

Who, me?

Yeah it looks so easy to play like KBR (and other pro blues players with the real sound) but it's basically...impossible.

Edit: Yeah, Allen is a gem. The OT in that amp is from him as well as transformers in other amps I have built. I also told him about something I did with the brown tone stack that I thought was interesting (email) and he gave me a nice, thoughtful reply.

dougk · August 15th, 2008, 03:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bgood

Would be cool if Allen would set that raw up as a footswitchable.

I've asked him about that before too, he said he's worried about noise issues doing it with a foot switch.

Its probably easily done but Im to lazy to figure it out. The raw on my accomplice and encore sits about 3 all the time anyways.

A Brown Sugar kit is VERY high on my list... glad Im not the only one who things that with 4x10's would just be a WICKED combo.

Tremo · August 16th, 2008, 07:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ReddRanger

Yup, I played a gig with him in SF last weekend. Kenny has the head witha 2x12 Allen cab. He had tone for days with that Brown Sugar. It sounded great clean, and he would dial the raw control whenever he wanted some dirt. He had both p-90 and humbucker equiped guitars. No pedals. Great tone.

If that's the same 2x12 I'm thinking of, don't forget it's loaded with Weber 12A150s. Low end for days. Huge tone. Zero farting.

Tremo · August 16th, 2008, 07:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dougk

I've asked him about that before too, he said he's worried about noise issues doing it with a foot switch.

Its probably easily done but Im to lazy to figure it out. The raw on my accomplice and encore sits about 3 all the time anyways.

A Brown Sugar kit is VERY high on my list... glad Im not the only one who things that with 4x10's would just be a WICKED combo.

KBR also has a 4x10 he uses with the Brown Sugar. It's also loaded with Webers. It also sounds huge.

ReddRanger · August 16th, 2008, 11:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tremo

If that's the same 2x12 I'm thinking of, don't forget it's loaded with Weber 12A150s. Low end for days. Huge tone. Zero farting.

That's right, and good point. It had the Webers.

sixpakplayer · October 27th, 2008, 10:21 PM

I finished mine a short while ago and have very few playing hours on it. I've had my fun building, now I want build another.
Where here do I post this. It has a 2x10 or 1x15 your choice or both this is essentially a NEW amplifier
Weber 15A150-B or 2X10"Tone tubby Hempcone ceramics.
I have substituted Jupiter Capacitors for the Orange drop
Jupiter's run about $6.
The amp will be open for inspection if you live local:rolley:

OOPS...DID I POST THIS IN THE WRONG PLACE

August 10th, 2008, 08:24 PM	#1 (permalink)
bgood Tele-Meister Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Emerson, NJ Posts: 173	I want an Allen Brown Sugar, anyone have any experience? OK - I was bit by the amp building bug a while back and I'm planning my next build. I've had an Allen in my sights for a while and I think I may pull the trigger. I like the Accomplice and the Brown Sugar but I think the Brown Sugar may be better for me since it seems to have the best of all worlds - Brown tone stack, tweed cathode bias, BF reverb. But - it's alot of dough so I'm thinking I can: Sell my Mission Tweedy Deluxe - would hate to part with it but.... Sell my Rivera R55 - great amp but not getting much action..... Fund the kit and build my ONE amp. This amp would be my low volume practice amp - good master vol and my play out amp. Anyone have any experience with this amp and do you find it to be "all that" __________________ Bob

August 13th, 2008, 04:54 PM	#2 (permalink)
Tremo Friend of Leo's Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Silicon Valley, CA, USA Posts: 3,729	KBR has one. Sounds damn good to my ears. __________________ Exposing the CONs. www.myspace.com/59tremolux

August 13th, 2008, 05:13 PM	#3 (permalink)
eugenedunn Tele-Holic Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Sacramento, CA Age: 55 Posts: 789 37 Photos	The Allen Amplification website has a sale going on during August..... 100 bucks off any Accomplice or Brown Sugar 1x12 amp...... go cat go. __________________ Ono Boy says "good n' swampy....."

August 13th, 2008, 05:32 PM	#4 (permalink)
TeeBird Tele-Meister Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Sebastian, FL Age: 46 Posts: 328	I built a blonde bassman normal channel head with cathode bias. Should be a very similar circuit to the brown sugar. IMHO it's the ultimate all-around fender style amp. Good warm clean, better than tweed note definition, but still has some of the tweed naughty overdrive sounds. I did put a huge bypass cap on the cathode resistor... __________________ Kawanga!

August 13th, 2008, 05:37 PM	#5 (permalink)
TeeBird Tele-Meister Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Sebastian, FL Age: 46 Posts: 328	A tiny movie of me cranking the amp with Tele in my garage. Though this is the camera mic, that's pretty much what it sounds like. http://www.barrierislandgraphics.com...files/Tele.mov __________________ Kawanga!

August 13th, 2008, 05:51 PM	#6 (permalink)
singlecoil Tele-Meister Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: SE New Mexico Posts: 219	nice tone TeeBird

August 14th, 2008, 09:13 PM	#9 (permalink)
bgood Tele-Meister Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Emerson, NJ Posts: 173	yea that's the sound I'm after. Anyone have any links to some KBR clips. Would be cool if Allen would set that raw up as a footswitchable. Hmm - going to have to start the sales process on the Rivera and Mission. Once I get back from summer vacation in a couple weeks. Probably will miss the sale he has going on but what's a c-note when it comes to a piece of cool gear. __________________ Bob

August 14th, 2008, 09:47 PM	#10 (permalink)
bgood Tele-Meister Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Emerson, NJ Posts: 173	oops nevermind. I found his myspace page. Nuff said. If that's the the Sugar - I'm convinced. __________________ Bob

August 15th, 2008, 10:42 AM	#11 (permalink)
TeeBird Tele-Meister Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Sebastian, FL Age: 46 Posts: 328	The myspace stuff sounds like one to me. Hey I wasn't aware of that guy. I see he's on here. Great blues player; giving us the real stuff. __________________ Kawanga!

August 15th, 2008, 11:17 AM	#13 (permalink)
TeeBird Tele-Meister Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Sebastian, FL Age: 46 Posts: 328	Who, me? Yeah it looks so easy to play like KBR (and other pro blues players with the real sound) but it's basically...impossible. Edit: Yeah, Allen is a gem. The OT in that amp is from him as well as transformers in other amps I have built. I also told him about something I did with the brown tone stack that I thought was interesting (email) and he gave me a nice, thoughtful reply. __________________ Kawanga!

October 27th, 2008, 10:21 PM	#18 (permalink)
sixpakplayer NEW MEMBER! Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: california Posts: 1	Brown Sugar - I just built one - I finished mine a short while ago and have very few playing hours on it. I've had my fun building, now I want build another. Where here do I post this. It has a 2x10 or 1x15 your choice or both this is essentially a NEW amplifier Weber 15A150-B or 2X10"Tone tubby Hempcone ceramics. I have substituted Jupiter Capacitors for the Orange drop Jupiter's run about $6. The amp will be open for inspection if you live local:rolley: OOPS...DID I POST THIS IN THE WRONG PLACE