:mrgreen: Being the gear ***** that I am, I have owned 2 DC-3's and a Maverick.
Here is my take, other guys may disagree:
Maverick:
Incredible clean tones!
Very lush Reverb!
Lead channel is all Classic Rock (Rolling Stones, ZZ Top sounding to my ears)
Cathode Biased (not Class A), so you just pop tubes in and go. http://www.aikenamps.com/VoxAC30classA_2.html
No Presence knob = no Negative Feedback. http://www.aikenamps.com/GlobalNegativeFeedback.htm
Lead channel has nice gain, but it lacks the girth and sustain that most Boogie amps are famous for.
- Most guys here will say that this is due to the EL-84's. They are wrong, mostly wrong anyway!
- It is true that EL-84's will never have the bottom end that a 6L6 or even an EL-34 has, but this amp has tons of potential.
This amp is very touch sensitive and with the right tubes can sound incredible!
Need a pedal for higher gain tones.
It really comes alive when the Output Volume is up above 10:00 or so!
PM Vitor Gracie for his opinion of my high gain mod for the Maverick's Lead Channel!
DC-3:
Very nice cleans, nowhere near as nice as the Maverick though.
Reverb is less apparent than the Mav's.
Lead channel has way more GAIN! Lots of sustain and overdrive range!
Does have Negative Feedback = Presence knob.
Graphic EQ does wonders for adding more sounds.
Great all around amp for almost any type of music.
Other considerations:
I do not like the Vintage 30 in a 1x12! It sounds too shrill to my ears. I much prefer the C-90 in all of my 1x12 amps and cabs because it has a lot less of the dreaded mid-range hump that the V-30 has and will not get mushy like the V-30 will at intense volumes.
If I had my choice, it would be the Maverick. Simply because I figured out how to get way more gain out of it than I ever could with my DC-3's.
I found that I only used the GEQ for lead boosts, so a boost pedal in front of the Maverick would do the same thing for me.
I really like the Cathode Bias tone also. It just seems more natural for the types of music I play.
All in all, both are really great grab and go amps. I am very sad that I sold my Maverick and will get another one as soon as I have the money. In my opinion, it is what the Lonestar Special should have been!
I've actually been thinking about selling my Express 5:25 and getting another Mav!
