The Angle
Tele-Afflicted
Like some folk have a weakness for cheap, oddball guitars, I have a soft spot for cheap, oddball amps. When this one showed up on eBay, I had to have it.
I've heard of Jay Turser, but I didn't know this Classico amp existed until I saw the auction listing. It's such an odd mashup of tweed and wood, rectangle and trapezoid. It reminds me of some old Oahu amps I've seen. ~10 watts, 6.5-inch speaker, Gain + Volume + 3-band EQ + Overdrive, headphones out.
The amp was much dirtier than it appeared in photos. It arrived with a coating of crust and a collection of spider webs. After about an hour of dismantled cleanup, it looks almost new, aside from a few stubborn stains and small abrasions. Sadly, the rechargeable battery is nearly shot; it's good for only three or four songs before it gives out. I'll see whether a regular regimen of charging and discharging gives it any more zip, but I'm not hopeful. Finding a replacement pack should be easy.
Just from its looks, I expected this to sound like a Rogue V15 and other "vintage-voiced" amps of that ilk. In some ways it does, but it has its own thing going on too, in a good way. One big difference: on most other cheap SS amps, the clean channel completely removes the gain knob from the circuit and the amp stays clean all the way up the volume dial (aside from speaker distortion). On this Classico amp, the gain knob is always in the circuit. The clean channel develops some surprisingly musical crunch at around 3:00 with humbuckers. Engaging the overdrive button is like adding another gain stage to the circuit. Unfortunately, the pleasant distortion of the clean channel turns buzzy and harsh with the overdrive engaged.
So while it's really nothing to get very excited about, this silly, cool little amp makes me happy.
I've heard of Jay Turser, but I didn't know this Classico amp existed until I saw the auction listing. It's such an odd mashup of tweed and wood, rectangle and trapezoid. It reminds me of some old Oahu amps I've seen. ~10 watts, 6.5-inch speaker, Gain + Volume + 3-band EQ + Overdrive, headphones out.
The amp was much dirtier than it appeared in photos. It arrived with a coating of crust and a collection of spider webs. After about an hour of dismantled cleanup, it looks almost new, aside from a few stubborn stains and small abrasions. Sadly, the rechargeable battery is nearly shot; it's good for only three or four songs before it gives out. I'll see whether a regular regimen of charging and discharging gives it any more zip, but I'm not hopeful. Finding a replacement pack should be easy.
Just from its looks, I expected this to sound like a Rogue V15 and other "vintage-voiced" amps of that ilk. In some ways it does, but it has its own thing going on too, in a good way. One big difference: on most other cheap SS amps, the clean channel completely removes the gain knob from the circuit and the amp stays clean all the way up the volume dial (aside from speaker distortion). On this Classico amp, the gain knob is always in the circuit. The clean channel develops some surprisingly musical crunch at around 3:00 with humbuckers. Engaging the overdrive button is like adding another gain stage to the circuit. Unfortunately, the pleasant distortion of the clean channel turns buzzy and harsh with the overdrive engaged.
So while it's really nothing to get very excited about, this silly, cool little amp makes me happy.
