jdurso
Well-known member
Finally picked up my new (OK its used) ED yesterday after selling my beloved Roadster last week. Obviously these are "first-ish" impressions because playing one in a story here and there is different than owning one. So here we go...
Cleans - Fan-fucking-tastic. Maybe not as sparkly as the LSC but definitely a bit better than the Roadster (which i felt were pretty awesome as well). I like the fact that even as you turn up the Volume the amp retains its headroom and doesn't compress into a brash territory. These were the tones that first drew me to the ED and even after playing for the last 6 hours I'm still blown away by how expressive they are.
Hi - I never really got the impression the ED could really do high gain all that well, or at least not in a way I'm used to (i.e. Recto high gain). After really digging in and getting my settings balanced I'm floored by the balance of clarity, chunk and size of the high gain you get from this amp. To me it sounds like a lot of other amps' characteristics put together to make a very unique sound. Even with the lower output of the 57/08s (compared to the EMGs in my other guitar), the bottom stays tight and aggressive similar to a Mark/Marshall but with the body of a Recto. The one thing that pushed me away from the Recto tone, at least in terms of what I play now, is that the string clarity would only be retained in Raw or Vintage (with the gain around 10), which sacrificed a bit of chunk. The ED seems to sound more like the Modern Recto mode but with a **** ton more clarity, which is something my Roadster couldn't do without a boost or EQ somewhere in the chain.
Lo - This channel is like a secret weapon and might be my favorite. I never really messed around with it all that much in the past but this may be the best rhythm tone I've ever attained. When I started recording a couple songs a few months ago using my Axe-FX I ended up settling on the Shiva model set with a moderate amount of gain. The Lo mode nails that tone but with a bit more bottom end which was something i couldn't dial in right on the Axe (but thats more my patch building skills than the Axe itself). This was THE tone I was after for the last 6 months and while I could get close with the Roadster, I found it with ease in the ED. This channel alone was worth the purchase.
Reverb - I tend to like digital reverb and delays so I'd take anything I say on the EDs reverb with a grain of salt. On the clean channel I find it quite usable but it seems waaaayyyy too springy for my taste. The Roadster's reverb seemed a little more tamed which I liked... still haven't found that sweet spot on the ED's reverb but I'm sure with more tweaking I'll find it. None the less its not a big deal to me because I will end up using the reverb out of the Eventide H9 I plan to purchase in the coming months.
Pedals - The OCD and the BB Preamp both sounds fantastic with the ED. I've loved the OCD with my Roadster since I purchased it and I'm getting similar results with the ED, especially in HI mode to get me a singing lead tone. The BB I was considering selling/trading as I wasn't really digging it with the Roadster anymore. I'm finding it takes very well with clean and lo to fatten up the sound and dial out some bass. Still might consider unloading it if i can find something else I like more. Right now I have an old Ibanez delay pedal in the loop and I have to say, even though the loop isn't switchable, its very transparent and I don't seem to loose any tone through it, which I've experienced in the past with many amps. I'm going to try a Earthquaker delay/reverb pedal with it in a few weeks as well as an Eventide H9 once that comes out, which should "complete" my rig for now. Still not sure if I want to rack mount everything with the RG-16 or build a pedal board with either the RG-16 or someother midi looper/switcher (One Control OC-10). What I can say is that with some sort of switching system, a few quality ODs and some patience, this rig may end up even more versatile than my Roadster rig.
Now with that said there are a few things that boggle my mind and both have been mentioned here countless times. This amp is loud.... and this is coming from someone who has always had amps in the 100-150 Watt range. The Roadster, even with the output at around 9 couldn't keep up with the ED with the Master at 7. I can now see why so many have put a built in attenuator on their wish list of things this amp should have. Overall though its not a huge deal to me because my room is sound proofed enough where the neighbors won't hear much of anything. I will however consider an attenuator or using something like an EQ in the loop to get the amp more opened up without shaking my house to rubble.
The other "issue" is the amount of bass this thing puts out. Granted it is a combo but the bass is thunderous. Definitely not woofy or flubby but more powerful to where I feel the floor vibrating like I would expect from a 4x12 cab. The previous owner replaced the Black Shadow with a Scumback H75... not sure that makes much a difference but the part that i find annoying is when I dial out the bass a little I seem to lose some body on the sound. Has anyone tried an Auralex board to try and deaden some of the bass being passed through the floor? Would elevating the amp on another cabinet or with casters help? I tried it on my Basson, but it didn't do very much to help as the Basson throws a lot of air and has a punchy bass to begin with. I'm thinking maybe another closed back cab with say a v30 in it might be something to try.
One last question... what size casters does the ED 1x12 combo take? It already has the rails on it but no caster so I was going to get a set at some point just to make it more mobile.
Cleans - Fan-fucking-tastic. Maybe not as sparkly as the LSC but definitely a bit better than the Roadster (which i felt were pretty awesome as well). I like the fact that even as you turn up the Volume the amp retains its headroom and doesn't compress into a brash territory. These were the tones that first drew me to the ED and even after playing for the last 6 hours I'm still blown away by how expressive they are.
Hi - I never really got the impression the ED could really do high gain all that well, or at least not in a way I'm used to (i.e. Recto high gain). After really digging in and getting my settings balanced I'm floored by the balance of clarity, chunk and size of the high gain you get from this amp. To me it sounds like a lot of other amps' characteristics put together to make a very unique sound. Even with the lower output of the 57/08s (compared to the EMGs in my other guitar), the bottom stays tight and aggressive similar to a Mark/Marshall but with the body of a Recto. The one thing that pushed me away from the Recto tone, at least in terms of what I play now, is that the string clarity would only be retained in Raw or Vintage (with the gain around 10), which sacrificed a bit of chunk. The ED seems to sound more like the Modern Recto mode but with a **** ton more clarity, which is something my Roadster couldn't do without a boost or EQ somewhere in the chain.
Lo - This channel is like a secret weapon and might be my favorite. I never really messed around with it all that much in the past but this may be the best rhythm tone I've ever attained. When I started recording a couple songs a few months ago using my Axe-FX I ended up settling on the Shiva model set with a moderate amount of gain. The Lo mode nails that tone but with a bit more bottom end which was something i couldn't dial in right on the Axe (but thats more my patch building skills than the Axe itself). This was THE tone I was after for the last 6 months and while I could get close with the Roadster, I found it with ease in the ED. This channel alone was worth the purchase.
Reverb - I tend to like digital reverb and delays so I'd take anything I say on the EDs reverb with a grain of salt. On the clean channel I find it quite usable but it seems waaaayyyy too springy for my taste. The Roadster's reverb seemed a little more tamed which I liked... still haven't found that sweet spot on the ED's reverb but I'm sure with more tweaking I'll find it. None the less its not a big deal to me because I will end up using the reverb out of the Eventide H9 I plan to purchase in the coming months.
Pedals - The OCD and the BB Preamp both sounds fantastic with the ED. I've loved the OCD with my Roadster since I purchased it and I'm getting similar results with the ED, especially in HI mode to get me a singing lead tone. The BB I was considering selling/trading as I wasn't really digging it with the Roadster anymore. I'm finding it takes very well with clean and lo to fatten up the sound and dial out some bass. Still might consider unloading it if i can find something else I like more. Right now I have an old Ibanez delay pedal in the loop and I have to say, even though the loop isn't switchable, its very transparent and I don't seem to loose any tone through it, which I've experienced in the past with many amps. I'm going to try a Earthquaker delay/reverb pedal with it in a few weeks as well as an Eventide H9 once that comes out, which should "complete" my rig for now. Still not sure if I want to rack mount everything with the RG-16 or build a pedal board with either the RG-16 or someother midi looper/switcher (One Control OC-10). What I can say is that with some sort of switching system, a few quality ODs and some patience, this rig may end up even more versatile than my Roadster rig.
Now with that said there are a few things that boggle my mind and both have been mentioned here countless times. This amp is loud.... and this is coming from someone who has always had amps in the 100-150 Watt range. The Roadster, even with the output at around 9 couldn't keep up with the ED with the Master at 7. I can now see why so many have put a built in attenuator on their wish list of things this amp should have. Overall though its not a huge deal to me because my room is sound proofed enough where the neighbors won't hear much of anything. I will however consider an attenuator or using something like an EQ in the loop to get the amp more opened up without shaking my house to rubble.
The other "issue" is the amount of bass this thing puts out. Granted it is a combo but the bass is thunderous. Definitely not woofy or flubby but more powerful to where I feel the floor vibrating like I would expect from a 4x12 cab. The previous owner replaced the Black Shadow with a Scumback H75... not sure that makes much a difference but the part that i find annoying is when I dial out the bass a little I seem to lose some body on the sound. Has anyone tried an Auralex board to try and deaden some of the bass being passed through the floor? Would elevating the amp on another cabinet or with casters help? I tried it on my Basson, but it didn't do very much to help as the Basson throws a lot of air and has a punchy bass to begin with. I'm thinking maybe another closed back cab with say a v30 in it might be something to try.
One last question... what size casters does the ED 1x12 combo take? It already has the rails on it but no caster so I was going to get a set at some point just to make it more mobile.
