NAD!! DV Mark FGC121.

I've been rebuilding my rig for the past several months. For the last year I've been playing pretty much nothing but bass. For the three years before that, I was mostly touring acoustic. Now that I'm back to playing electric full time, it was really time to invest some time and research into new things.

One thing I wanted was a very powerful, lightweight, and small amplifier. Nothing bigger than a 1x12, that could cover any gig, big or small, mic'd or not. I had given up looking and was going to get a Jazz Chorus, when I stumbled onto this thing on the net.

After doing all the research I could, I sold the last bits of gear not currently using, and ordered it. It arrived tonite, about two hours ago. Here are my first impressions-

Powerful. Holy crap is it powerful. It's mind blowing. I expected a powerful amp, its 120 watts. But good gravy... I didn't expect anything like this. Clean channel- gain at noon, master at 10 O'clock, its loud enough for probably anything. Turn it up, and it just keeps going. You can blow the hairs off a rhino's ass at 40 yards with this little amp. No, I'm not kidding. Near unlimited power and headroom. I couldn't stand to be in the same room with it flat out. It was physically painful. For real. I will have no trouble with this at outdoor gigs. I honestly think it's capable of burying a Twin. Just ridiculous. However, it also plays very nice at any level from gig to bedroom.

Clean channel will crunch up nicely with the gain knob. Or stay clean to the moon. Preamp breakup is very musical, not fizzy. Power section is total headroom. It will not sag, compress, or anything. It's an incredibly dynamic amp. Cleans up really well, even with high gain on the dirt channel, by backing off volume or attack.

Which brings us to- the dirt channel. I set the eq controls all at noon, and the gain at noon, and started bringing up the master. I was greeted with a really nice tight, focused, and musical OD sound right off the bat. Adjust eq and gain to taste, there's not a bad sound in this channel. It's not high gain enough for metal or harder new rock, but it's got more than enough on tap for classic rock, blues rock, fusion, etc.

I haven't tried the effects loop yet. But I ran my TC Nova System into the front end, and it kills. Takes any effects in the front end as good as any amp I've ever tried.

Clean sound- NOT Fender. Much more warm and mid-forward. A decidedly Brit voicing. Big fender fans will find it a little dark. I like it. It seriously punches. I think it's gonna bust through a mix like nobody's business.

Reverb is the only on-board effect. It's not a real spring, it's digi, but it's quite good to me. Sounds every bit as good as the reverb I have dialed in on the Nova, and many people think TC reverbs are the cat's pajamas.

With the verb, and gain bumped up on the clean channel, I hit it with the clean boost in the Nova. Fat, beautiful, horn-like Jerry sound. The guys in the dead band are gonna love this thing.

That's the first impression in a nutshell.

I have two gigs this weekend. I'll use it on both. I'll report back on how it fares live after the weekend!

 

Oh- and did I mention you can lift it with a finger? Seriously. You can.

My entire rig- tele in a bag, TC System and cables, and the amp, now weighs under 50 lbs for everything.

I can't wait to gig this rig.

 

I would already say- if one is a player that plays mostly at reasonable volumes, and quieter gigs, or just jams at home or small rooms, I'd highly recommend the 50 watt "Guitar Friend" model over this one.

This is honestly WAY more power than most people will ever need. I play a few stupid loud gigs now and then, and the hippie bands are moderately loud. This will allow to cover everything effortlessly. But it's really bringing a nuke to a knife fight for solo or duo gigs, or basement or garage jams. I went for the 120 watter because of my past experience with SS amps. This is in a league of its own. There's really no comparison I can think of.

The 50 watt "Guitar Friend" model also has a lot of things this one doesn't. The "Friend" has an extension speaker out, an aux in, and a headphone jack.

The one I have is NOT a practice amp. It's artillery.

 

I got it from GC website. I avoid shopping with them these days when I can, but GC/MF are the only US dealers for DV Mark. So they got my money this time. They're 15% off right now at GC, which puts them under $470.

 

The bottom end is super tight and focused. It's not huge and thumpy or boomy like a fender. I dig it because it's really punchy. But not woofy or oversized.

It's not overly big on highs or lows. There's plenty there, but it's definitely more mid forward. It's a Frank Gambale amp, and it's got that mid focused kind of fusion attitude to it. I've been slapping a ton of honky tonk, jam music, and country rock through it and I think it's really gonna kick in a mix.

It's not boxy, and the cab isn't super small. It's about 18" tall and wide, and about 12 deep. Big open back.

The Guitar Friend model is supposedly silver face voiced and has a much bigger low end response.

 

I like it a lot. Definitely a learning curve. It's not plug and play. But not hard once you get the hang of it, and it sounds great.

 

Fit and finish is incredibly tight. The thing is flawless. No tolex issues, no glue in the cab, very nice build.

Digging the B/W tuxedo look.

I can't believe I got this amp for $500. I know some people think that's a lot of $$$ for an SS amp. I would think it's a steal for any amp that does what this does. No matter what's inside.

 

One set down, one to go. This amp is the guitar equivalent of a tactical nuke. I have clean master on 1.5. With my Nova System in front. This is a loud band. It's killing. And it sounds incredible.

 

It doesn't really. The thing is, it's a 120 watt power section. You can play it super quiet. But it tapers up quick, and just keeps going. Where most amps only increase about halfway up the dial, and after that they just break up and compress, this one starts of at nothing, and then goes, and goes, and goes. It never stops increasing. All the way up to max.

I could play in the bedroom with it. But by the time it's at 1.5, it's a pretty loud band amp. By the time it's at 3.5, it's an arena amp. But the time it's at 6, it's rattling bolts off the Mars rover. And it just keeps going. I've honestly never seen anything like it.