Two-Rock’s top-tier amplifiers entice lots of gamers who can afford to play by means of any amp they need. Usually talking, the corporate is understood for Dumble-style amps. However their latest launch, the Classic Deluxe, takes a unique tack—drawing inspiration from the black- and brown- panel Fenders of the Nineteen Sixties. Cleverly, Two-Rock’s fashionable design creates a kind of hybrid of old-school Fender strikes and up to date Two-Rock touches, embracing among the finest from each worlds and making a Fender-influenced amp with a broader palette of sounds.
Masterful Mutation
The Classic Deluxe is available in a 1×12 combo or as a head that may be paired with Two-Rock’s open-backed 3×10 or single-15 cupboards (or any 4-, 8-, or 16-ohm cupboard of your alternative). You can too select between a 35-watt 2x6L6 model with a tube rectifier or a 40-watt model with 4 6V6 tubes and a solid-state rectifier. Our evaluate mannequin is constructed across the former format and is housed in a large (20.5″x12″x10.5″) head. Aside from the 2 6L6 energy tubes, many specs and options will likely be acquainted to Fender followers. It’s constructed with a metal chassis and comes with footswitchable bias tremolo and a tube-driven spring reverb. Different options are extra novel—most notably the 2 footswitchable tone stacks. The primary of those, which is located on the entrance panel, options treble, mid, and bass controls. The alternate tone stack is constructed round a single tone knob on the again panel. Additional tone shaping is on the market by way of a presence knob and switches for texture, brilliant, and energy modes. A passive results loop affords an insert level between preamp and energy sections for time-based results.
Signature Sonics
There’s a wealthy constancy to the Classic Deluxe, and an equilibrium within the frequency response that enables the personalities of devices to shine by means of. Lows are clear and tight, edgy mids are current however not shrill, and higher harmonics are proportional and exhibit a clean rolloff. The flexibility to meticulously form the output additionally means the midrange can sit middle stage, whereas the supporting solid fills their layers. That’s not an choice on most mid-scooped Fender amps. And whereas there’s some mid scoop evident right here, it’s nowhere close to as pronounced as it will be on a classic black-panel amp.
Although the Classic Deluxe is rated at 35 watts, there’s an abundance of fresh headroom and a scarcity of stiffness or pushback from the facility part at excessive quantity ranges. There is a near-instant-responsiveness to transients. This open, virtually compression-free sensitivity was frequent throughout all settings and volumes (the one exception being low-power mode, however extra on that later).
Shimmery Sparkle and Crunchy Chords
The Classic Deluxe acquire voicing is straight out of the 1964 Fender playbook—spanning chimey cleans and wealthy, creamy grind. The amp retains element and heat all through the sweep of the acquire pot, and the trace of heat preamp compression that you simply do hear and really feel provides a subdued bloom of maintain. Actually, at some settings the Classic Deluxe appears like a Fender Deluxe’s preamp mated to a Twin Reverb’s energy part. Entrance-end dynamic response is great. And setting the amp on the fringe of breakup, I might simply differ drive textures by way of choosing dynamics or guitar quantity changes. This amp is loud, actually loud, so I used to be happy to seek out that low quantity ranges didn’t compromise its richness of tone. And I didn’t want stage-level quantity to really feel the physique and fullness of the amp.
Silk or Burlap?
The feel swap toggles between two distinctive preamp voicings. The jazzier down place is clean and heat, characterised by scooped mids and a softer dynamic response. Flipping the swap up unleashes an aggressive tone with snappier transients, enhanced harmonics, and midrange chew—excellent for slicing by means of a combination. This feature is a brand new Two-Rock function, distinctive to the Classic Deluxe, and expands its vary past the confines of a typical single-channel configuration.
One … Two … Stacks of Tone
The front-panel treble, mid, and bass filter controls are extremely interactive, creating myriad sound sculpting choices. The taper of the pots is exact, making tremendous changes simple and satisfying. The vary of the pots can also be helpful from one excessive to a different. Should you simply set all the things at midday, the amp sounds full and musical, and you may make merely minimal changes from these midday positions and nonetheless discover a world of cool various tones.
The alternate tone stack and its single knob will increase acquire and provides an aggressive midrange chew that imparts a cranked-up tweed vibe. There’s additionally rather less low finish, which has the impact of sharpening the higher frequencies. It’s not all tweed texture although. You can too discover heat and woolly tones, and a few with a Vox-y edge. And relying on the setting, the alternate tone stack can function a solo enhance simply as readily as a supply of dramatic tone shifts.
Fortissimo vs. Pianissimo
The Classic Deluxe affords a singular tackle the standard energy mode swap. As a substitute of lowering output degree, the facility tube bias is adjusted, reworking the response of the 6L6s. Excessive mode makes use of a set bias for a glassy uncompressed high quality that transparently reproduces nuanced dynamics. Low mode switches to a cathode bias, lowering accessible headroom, and growing compression and contact sensitivity. (Curiously, the hello/low swap serves a really totally different perform within the 6V6 model: reducing output energy from 40 watts to twenty watts.)
Retro Results
The Classic Deluxe’s onboard results are very satisfying. The three-spring, tube-driven reverb tank has traditional boingy resonance, however it’s hotter than most classic Fender reverbs with fewer metallic overtones. It’s additionally extra versatile. The front-panel reverb return adjusts the moist/dry combine, whereas a back-panel reverb ship alters the depth of the impact, which might vary from an ethereal whisper to a saturated wash. The superb energy tube bias tremolo, in the meantime, evokes the woozy sway of a classic Vibroverb.
The Verdict
The Classic Deluxe captures the essence of Nineteen Sixties Fender amps whereas seamlessly integrating options that reach the boundaries of that template. It’s a fantastic instance of artisanal craftsmanship, handcrafted by gamers for gamers. Is it well worth the almost $5,849K you’ll pay for the matched head and cupboard? You’ll in all probability must spend important time at your vendor together with your favourite guitar to make sure. However that investigation will likely be an expertise that’s nicely well worth the time. You’ll seemingly be impressed by the tones—even when the amp is past your means.
Two-Rock Classic Deluxe Demo | First Look
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