velcro-fly
10-30-2004, 02:44 PM
An Aiken Sabre followed me home from school yesterday - Mom says I can keep it :D
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v80/speedmonkey1/aikensabre.jpg
Played it for an hour or two this morning running it fairly loud, through a pair of Bogner Oversize 2x12's w/ Greenbacks, and A/B 'ing it with the Ecstacy 101b. Played an Anderson HDTC, a GMW Strat, and a Fender hardtail Strat w/ stock pups. So far, this is what I've found:
* The Sabre is an amazing amp. With the boost function it basically is turned into a 3 channel head. It's a far more articulate and touch sensitive amp than the Ecstacy.
* With the boost engaged you're right there with the Ecstacy red channel - however the amp is far less compressed and considerably more open. Way more hot rodded Marshall than Ecstacy smooth.
* The standard drive channel with no boost is killer, but I think for me works best with the gain up around 3:00 - which at that point is more drivey and toothy than say a Shiva....hit the boost and it's all over, complete metal meltdown if you want it.
* The clean channel is just awesome...every bit as nice if not better than the Shiva (and yeah, I owned one of those for almost a year....) super articulate - likes the single coils better than the buckers. Will get a very AC30 type sound a breakup going when pushed. There's no comparison between the Aikens clean and the Ecstacy clean
* I found the amp really came alive with the master past 12:00 - before that it was a bit muffled, which makes me think an attenuator will be the ticket with this. It helped to run the presence hot at lower volumes. It sounds great at lower volume - but just becomes a different animal up loud.
* The build quality of this head is outstanding - just unreal really....very classy looking all the way around.
Overall, the big thing thats suprised me about this head is the clarity and definition of the tone at all stages of gain and volume. This head again has far more of a Marshall vibe to it than the Ecstacy, definitely has more teeth. Does everything from AC/DC crunch to Lynch and beyond gain....and bottom end? every bit as much as the Ecstacy.
It was little boomy with the Hollow Drop Top Classic and had a wierd feedback thing going - but I've had that happen withthat guitar and the Ecstacy so it wasn't a concern....I've got a Cobra showing up on Monday that should just smoke through it.
Going back and forth, I still really love the tones of the Ecstacy's drive channels, but after hearing the combo of the Aikens cleans and grinds think that the Ecstacy's clean is about worthless, and that if it comes down to it I'll sell the Ecstacy, keep the Sabre, and be a very very happy camper.
This amp is unreal
Steve E
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v80/speedmonkey1/aikensabre.jpg
Played it for an hour or two this morning running it fairly loud, through a pair of Bogner Oversize 2x12's w/ Greenbacks, and A/B 'ing it with the Ecstacy 101b. Played an Anderson HDTC, a GMW Strat, and a Fender hardtail Strat w/ stock pups. So far, this is what I've found:
* The Sabre is an amazing amp. With the boost function it basically is turned into a 3 channel head. It's a far more articulate and touch sensitive amp than the Ecstacy.
* With the boost engaged you're right there with the Ecstacy red channel - however the amp is far less compressed and considerably more open. Way more hot rodded Marshall than Ecstacy smooth.
* The standard drive channel with no boost is killer, but I think for me works best with the gain up around 3:00 - which at that point is more drivey and toothy than say a Shiva....hit the boost and it's all over, complete metal meltdown if you want it.
* The clean channel is just awesome...every bit as nice if not better than the Shiva (and yeah, I owned one of those for almost a year....) super articulate - likes the single coils better than the buckers. Will get a very AC30 type sound a breakup going when pushed. There's no comparison between the Aikens clean and the Ecstacy clean
* I found the amp really came alive with the master past 12:00 - before that it was a bit muffled, which makes me think an attenuator will be the ticket with this. It helped to run the presence hot at lower volumes. It sounds great at lower volume - but just becomes a different animal up loud.
* The build quality of this head is outstanding - just unreal really....very classy looking all the way around.
Overall, the big thing thats suprised me about this head is the clarity and definition of the tone at all stages of gain and volume. This head again has far more of a Marshall vibe to it than the Ecstacy, definitely has more teeth. Does everything from AC/DC crunch to Lynch and beyond gain....and bottom end? every bit as much as the Ecstacy.
It was little boomy with the Hollow Drop Top Classic and had a wierd feedback thing going - but I've had that happen withthat guitar and the Ecstacy so it wasn't a concern....I've got a Cobra showing up on Monday that should just smoke through it.
Going back and forth, I still really love the tones of the Ecstacy's drive channels, but after hearing the combo of the Aikens cleans and grinds think that the Ecstacy's clean is about worthless, and that if it comes down to it I'll sell the Ecstacy, keep the Sabre, and be a very very happy camper.
This amp is unreal
Steve E