Nolatone Rotten Johnny 1x12 Combo:
Hi Paul:
I love this amp!!...
...It should be named "Sweet" Johnny, because it really is a beautiful sounding thing.
I am a confirmed tube amp addict - love everything about them - the
cabinetry, the craftsmanship, the circuit layouts, the smell of power
tubes cooking...its all an sublime experience to me. Our studio is
blessed to have a Fender Deluxe Reverb, Matchless DC-30, Matchless
Cobra, Swart AST, Bogner Duende and miscellaneous high-gain heads.
However, we really love the low-gain, bluesy, touch-senstive amps as we
record mostly rootsy, rocky music....
The Rotten Johnny fits wonderfully into our studio. My philosophy
has always been first try single coils. If you can get good tones with a
Tele, then humbuckers will kill.
Starting with a Tele, I found the that the clean tones are
beautiful! Warm, deep, very dimensional. I was not expecting such good
clean tones from such a small package. Very tasty with single-coil
pickups. Matchless has always been my "gold-standard" clean tone, and
the RJ an certainly hold its own next to the "big boys". The small cab
is definitely not "boxy" or small-sounding.
Stepping up the gain, the touch-sensitivity is great. That
"edge-of-distortion" zone is full of beautiful tones. Really sounds
tailor made for single-coils. (Have not tried out humbuckers yet.)
Flipping the "mid-lift" switch was a big surprise!! The amp is
really transformed into a rocking machine...beautiful thick distortion,
sustain, saturation....yet cleans up real nice with guitar volume knob.
Overall the RJ has lots of rich harmonic content and personality in
a nice portable, controllable package. Perfect for studio recordings
and small to medium gigs. Effects loop sounds clean and does not suck
very much tone.
You obviously know what you are doing Paul...Bravo!!
Nolatone
Tango 22 112 Combo
"...the amp arrived today, lo and behold, and I just ran it through
a quick workout with a Tele and a Les Paul. A number of dual metaphors
come to mind..."Beauty and the Beast", "The Power
and the Glory", etc. Most dynamic amp I've played to date,
I believe, in terms of digging in to get some grind and backing
off for pristine, sparkly cleans. The overdrive tones are unbelievably
chewy and lush. I'll probably never have an OD pedal hooked up
to this amp. In fact, with the boost footswitch, I might never
have to use a pedal with this amp at all unless I needed some
modulation, perhaps. The "sag/firm" circuit is extremely
effective and useful as well. Spectacular amp - thanks so much
for turning me onto it!"
Mike
A., Blacksburg, VA
Nolatone
Tango 22 112 Combo
Stu,
the Nolatone came in today. Great amp!!!
I used it with my Colling I-35 and my new Grosh. Great with both
guitars. Its one of those amps where you think you have reverb
on all the time. It had great harmonics even in the small room
I tested it. It has a huge variety of tones from really clean
to out and out screaming.
This
amp will be forcing the rest of the stable to remain sidelined
for quite a while!!!
Amp
will not be returning to Fat Sound.... ever ;-)
Kevin L., Castro Valley, CA
