The following two reviews by Rich Hessian have been posted on www.harmonycentral.com,
and can be viewed there as well. Ratings are on a scale of 1-10. The
reviews are in their original form, unedited.
From: Rich Hessian, purchased STUDIO amp in 2000, new review based
on 3 years' use of product:
Price Paid: US $1280
Features: 10
This review is a followup to my review of this product below, which
I wrote THREE years ago. I am writing a new review to reiterate some
of the things I said below, and to make some new comments and observations
that three years of playing it have illustrated to me. First off,
three years after the introduction of this product there is still
nothing like it on the market. Of course the Univalve is a similar
concept, but it doesn't do what the Studio does, or sound as good.
This product allows you to control power amp overload, preamp distortion,
and power amp front-end distortion and balance these elements together
in any proportion. Once you get used to the controls, and how they
interreact, you can dial up the exact tone and feel you are looking
for. How clean, how much top end sparkle, how much compression, how
much breakup, what kind of breakup all at any volume you desire, from
a 2AM whisper to a 10 watt scream. Simply amazing.
Sound Quality: 10
In the three years I have owned the Studio, much gear has passed in
and out of my hands. At this momment only the Studio remains. These
days home/studio/jamming is 90% of what I do, and nothing sounds better
in that arena than the Studio. As I said below, it is a tonal microscope.
It will reveal every nuance of the gear you use it with. I have found
that the better tubes, speakers, cabs, guitars I play thru it, the
better it sounds. N.O.S. tubes are a treat to listen to thru the Studio.
Plus you get to hear the full range of their sonic capabilities without
buying 10 different amps or destroying your eardrums. For example,
the last live gig I had I used a Dr. Z Route 66. For an experiment,
I took the tubes out of the "Z" and put them into the Studio. Using
the same guitar and cab I was able to cop 75-80% of the Rt.66's rich,
long-sustaining, grand piano-like vibe. As the reviewer below said,
you can make this sound like any classic tube amp. Sweet, ringing,
edgeless cleans and raging, ripping distortions are easily had. More
importantly to me, you can dial in even the most elusive of tube amp
sounds. Malcolm Young's open, punchy, edge-of-power tube breakup is
here EXACTLY. That feel where the amount of breakup and compression
is determined entirely by how hard you hit the strings. The Studio
makes you want to go out and buy every NOS tube, and every type of
famous speaker/cab there is so you can hybernate in your basement
and play Mad Tone Scientist for the rest of your life. When you start
to get a handle on just how many sound and feels you can create, the
Studio will haunt your dreams!
I also want to menion that, although the Studio is only 10 watts
you can get a walloping amount of bass response out of it. I have
a pair of EH EL-34's I set up for massive distortion sounds, and palm-mutted
bass string riffs thru a closed-back cab have a thrilling, nearly
Recto-style chunk. The Studio can get really damn loud. I sometimes
play it thru an Avatar 4x12 with V30's and Classic Lead 80W's in a
X-pattern. It hangs with the Cro-Magnon man I call a drummer with
room to spare. My personal favorite aspect of the Studio is how much
of its crystaline tone is perserved when you are playing it at 2AM
apartment levels. Nothing on the market comes close. It retains all
the magic of playing a tube amp down below conversation levels. The
hefty chunk I paid for it has been worth it for that alone.
One last thing, one of the most fun things you can do with the Studio,
if you happen to have a nice collection of boost/drive/dirt pedals,
is to bypass the preamp section and plug directly into the power amp.
You will hear ever nuance and dynamic of your pedals. Its as if your
favorite pedal suddenly became an entire tube amp. This is so much
fun it shouldn't be legal. Makes you want to sell your kids to buy
more pedals to try out.
Reliability: 10
Only studio use, but never a single problem in three years.
Customer Support: N/A
I have not had the occasion to deal with Kevin much over the last
three years, but I'm sure he would be glad to provide whatever support
needed.
Overall Rating: 10
I am now 45 years old. Playing tube amps since I was 15 (my first
was a Silvertone Twin Twelve). Amps. If I haven't personally owned
it, then I've played thru it. There is nothing like the Studio. If
you are a serious tone hound who does most of your playing at low
volume levels, you need to investigate the Studio. Of the 40-50 odd
amps that have been in and out of my hands, its the only one that
endures. I will never sell it.
Submitted by Rich Hessian at 02/02/2003 13:54
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rich Hessian's original review, 2000
Price Paid: US $1280
Features: N/A
This is a revolutionary product! I believe it be the most original
and innovative amp design currently on the market. The Canadian-made
London Power "Studio" is a rack-mountable guitar amp with some very
unique abilities available nowhere else. I have the 10 Watt version,
optimized for studio use. There is also a 50 Watt version oriented
for those with stage volume needs. The Studio's most unique feature
is the "Power Scale" control. Sort of like having a Variac built in
to your power section, it can reduce the amount of power the amp puts
out down to near the hearing threshold. Unlike attenuators which reduce
the output signal between the power and speakers (losing frequencies
and tonal interity in the process), the Power Scale reduces the amount
of power produced from the power section itself. This allows full
power tube saturation at any volume with no lost signal, reduced frequency
range of other tonal compromises.
Does this "Power Scale" work? I tell you this is the only amp I had
heard in 30 years of playing and gear-mongering that lets me dial
down the true dynamic, rich, punchy blast of a wide-open tube power
section to literally a whisper with no audible sacrifice of tone or
touch sensitivity! In this regard the Studio smokes every attenuator
and master volume circuit I ever heard by a country mile. I've been
waiting for someone to get this right for a long, long time.
The amp can also accept any type of octal-based power tube in its
power tube sockets, and even allows dissimilar tube types to be used
together (i.e. a 6V6 with an EL34, 6L6 with a 6550, etc.) thanks to
having separate bias pots for each tube. The amp is easily user bias-able
with only a $25 Radio Shack Digital Volt Meter. The amp can be used
with any speaker cab 4-16 ohms. It also features a dramatically effective
triode/pentode switch, cathode/fixed bias switch, and a rotary dial
allowing any blend of push-pull to single-ended opertiaon between
the two power tubes. It has a built-in 2 stage preamp block which
can be patched into the signal path if desired (like a typical guitar
amp). It also has a mono send/return FX loop, and an "Input" dial
for adjusting the strength of the signal into the power section.
Its a bit spendy. $1280 base price. Plus you will be spending more
to take advantage of all the options it allows. Power tubes, preamp
tubes, speakers, and cabs. The fun is only limited by your wallet.
But every time you change components you get a new amp! The Studio
has little sonic character of its own. You determine that by the tube,
speaker, and cab choices. Sound Quality: N/A The Studio provides an
amazing degree of control over power tube characteristics and saturation,
preamp drive, and final output volume. This yields a rainbow of clean,
semi-clean, semi-dirty, and full crunch tones, from any tubes of your
choice, at any volume of your choice. I use it like this - dial in
my fat power tube saturation with the "Limit" dial. My razory, trebley
preamp grind with the "Pre" dial (or I may plug direct into the power
amp if I'm using an OD pedal or booster). Set Push-Pull vs Single-Ended
balance to taste (full Push-Pull gives a bold, punchy sound, full
Single-Ended, meaning one tube operation, like a Champ, gives a thinner,
gnarlier). Set cathode/fixed bias, and triode/pentode to taste. Set
max volume with the Power Scale. From that point I use it like any
single channel amp, dial down my guitar volume pot for cleaner tones.
This amp's features allow for a huge variety of tonal options while
keeping the signal path as clean as possible. There are no EQ controls.
None. Guitarists may frown at this, but it's a common practice in
high-end audio designs. The builder, Kevin O'Connor, engineered this
to have the shortest signal path possible. Use an EQ pedal if you
want. I don't miss it. Pure tone, baby! Want it brighter? Change strings,
speakers, or tubes. Why clutter this pristine signal path?
The 10 Watt version I have gets plenty loud for my purposes (home/studio/jamming).
Remember that 10 Watts is exactly half as loud as a 100 Watt amp.
The 50 Watt version is specifically to allow for gig-oriented power
levels (but is otherwise identical to the 10 Watt version). This amp's
forte, however, is not volume but its ability to give you the total
clean to full saturation range of any power tube at fractions of the
volumes usually associated with tube amps. You can use any 6L6, 6V6,
EL34, or 6550 tube type in the amp. The only tubes it cant fit are
EL84's, KT66's (about 1/4" too tall), and I question if KT88's will
fit (their bases are very wide).
Kevin told me he designed this to sound good with any components/gear.
Well, it does, but.....I think he made it too good for its own good.
This has such high quality parts and such a pure, short signal path
that it is virtually "tonal micrscope". I find it to be ruthlessly
revealing, especially using the power amp alone. Any sonic tendancies
of your gear, good or bad, will be shoved right in your face. I think
that's a plus. The different characters of various tube types shine
right thru. The Studio has a pronounced sensitity to changes in tubes,
speakers, cabs, guitars, and pedals. Just changing something as simple
as preamp tubes will yield immediate and obvious tone/feel changes.
One of my favorite ways to use the Studio is to plug direct into
the power with an OD pedal or booster. Drive pedals sound like they
are part of the amp when you do this. You've never heard your grind
pedal so dynamic and alive. My old grey DOD 250 sounds superb this
way. Conversely, most distortions/fuzzes I tried sound flat and muddy
thru the Studio. As I said, this amp tends to dramatically amplify
the inheirant tendancies of your gear. It is important to note that
the direct input ('return' jack) to the power amp is at line level.
A straight guitar signal is instrument level. That will only get you
about 1/4 Watt of power (actually effect for bedroom playing/quiet
recording). To get the signal up to line level you must use a signal
booster. Any OD or booster (i.e. ZVex SHO, Klon, etc.) will do the
job.
Reliability: N/A
I have only used this for home, studio, and jamming duties so I haven't
put any major stress on it. I believe the current version of the amp,
which has a dramatically improved chassis design from older versions
of the Studio (I owned one Studio prior to this review unit), is a
tank. I dont forsee any reliability problems. It comes with a form-fitted
flight case (included in the price). I think it would travel quite
well. The internal parts are of the highest quality. I believe the
capacitors are a type that never needs replacing.
Customer Support: N/A
I ordered my first Studio in Jan 1999. It took 6 months to get. When
it did arrive it was badly damaged due to carrier abuse and inadequate
internal packing. After that incident, Kevin redesigned the whole
chassis. He also volunteered to make me one of his new, improved Studio
models for gratis. The wait on the new unit was 5 months. So it took
11 months to get my unit, but I got the new, totally redesigned unit
(which could take any power tube unlike the old units which only took
6V6). Throughout this Kevin was decent, and professional. Looking
back, I would wait it out again if I had to because the new unit is
such an improvement over the older model. Overall Rating: N/A The
10 Watt version I have would hold little interest to pro guitarist
who live and die by their gig amps. It isn't designed to provide lots
of "on the fly" options. But to home players, studio tweakers, jammers
craving "dimed" amp blast at garage volume, and tone-hounds in volume
restricted situations, its an answer to a prayer. In a live setting
its no more flexible than a single channel amp, but with the advantage
of being able to set the exact volume that max distortion will occur.
However, in a home or studio setting it has unrivalled flexibility.
The tone recipes are limitless. Try a set of Philips 6L6WGB "stubbies"
on triode power/cathode bias setting thru some Weber P12R's for a
"Tweed of the Gods" tone. Or a set of hot-biased Svetlana EL34's tru
Celestion Greenbacks for that "Marshall in my pants" crunch at living
room volume. Maybe a set of cold-biased Sylvania 6L6GC-STR's thru
a Weber "California", with some tube reverb, for a clean ultra-linear
Silveface Twin tone. Perhaps an RCA 6V6 in one socket, a Tung-Sol
5881 in the other, thru a reissue Jensen for the "vintage Fender that-never-was"
tone. I could go on all day.
I hope these examples offer a glimpse of the utility and FUN that's
available with the unique London Power 'Studio". This amp ends any
discussion about how to get the best tone and tube saturation at low
volumes. It brings no-compromise boutique amp tone into small studios,
practice rooms, and jam sessions with an unparalleled flexibility.
The 50 Watt version gives the additional ability to set the maximum
power tube breakup at the exact stage volume you want (dont you wish
Marshall's did this?). There is nothing on the market to compare it
to. This is the Holy Grail of "quiet crunch".
Go to "http://www.londonpower.com" for more detailed information
on the 10 Watt 'Studio', the 50 Watt 'Studio', and other London Power
products.
Submitted by Rich Hessian at 01/11/2000 22:57
The following review by Bob has been posted on www.harmonycentral.com,
and can be viewed there as well. Ratings are on a scale of 1-10. The
review is in its original form, unedited.
From: Bob, bought STUDIO amp used, 1kus
Features: 10
A basic preamp section (2 12AX7s, drive/bass/mid/treble) feeds the
most technologically advanced power section in the world. You can
control everything that happens to the power tubes-individual bias
(sure, set them differently or use two different power tubes and bias
them both correctly-it's easy), triode/pentode, single ended vs push
pull. Then when you have the sound you're looking for, turn down the
power output of the power tubes (down to .1w if necessary). This allows
you to get power tube screaming for mercy without deafening yourself.
No channel switching, but it's a studio amp.
Sound Quality: 10
You can make this sound like anything! Right now, I have a couple
of nice GE 6V6s in it biased hot, with the rest of the setup set for
a Plexi kind of tone, I get a very creditable 60s Plexi 20W tone.
When you turn down the volume on the outputs, the distortion can get
rattly or raspy, you can turn down the drive at the same time to maintain
a nice balance. Distortion can be helped by patching the effects loop
and cranking that. It'll go from crystal clean to Cream to Van Halen
with no problem. I'm not sure it'll do Dual Rectifier, I really haven't
tried to get that sound out of it, but just about anything else is
available.
Reliability: 8
I've only owned it a couple of months. All handwired, VERY high quality
parts, comes in it's own fibreglas rack case, looks pretty darn strong
to me...
Customer Support: 8
Wonderful! Always happy to talk or email and upgrades are available
essentially at cost (eg if you go for todays amp, and tomorrows has
an option that costs $50, he'll upgrade yours for $50). The only problems
is that it takes time to ship to Canada for upgrades.
Overall Rating: 10
I love this little amp. I've owned or played all the low wattage ones
out there-I'm keeping my Emery Super Baby because of the tube rectifier,
but the London Sound killes the Univalve/Bivalve (more flexible and
better sound than the power soak option for reduced volume), the Allen
Class Act, The Dr. Z prescription, vintage single tube Fenders/Danelectros/Ampegs
etc. If there's a better low wattage solution out there I'm not aware
of it (although I haven't tried Maven Peals Zeetas-a similar concept
in some ways). Highly recommended, and yes, I'd try and find another
if it was stolen.
Submitted by Bob at 01/01/2003 09:19 -----
The following review by Scott Hunt has been posted on amptone.com,
and can be viewed there as well. The review is in its original form,
unedited.
Mfg's Note: This review is for a very early model
of the STUDIO amp, in which the Power Scale circuit was implemented
quite differently than in today's Power Scaling amps. Current production
amps have an instantaneous Power Scale response.
User Scott Hunt purchased and reviewed this unit:
You can dial down the output power to a very quiet final-output level
with no apparent degradation to the sound. There is no sacrifice of
Tone when monitoring very quietly, unlike with power attenuators,
such as the THD Hot Plate or Marshall Power Brake. Driving a Fane
12" speaker, it sounds just as good at these low levels as when the
speaker is being driven hard. Kevin O'Connor says that 12" speakers
tend to sound much better than 10" or 8" speakers. You can make the
amp saturate to any degree, from minimal breakup to complete overdrive,
at any final volume level. You can choose to overdrive the amp at
the initial input stage and one intermediate stage. It's easy to determine
what this unit's power amp distortion sounds like, because there is
an instrument-level input into an independent gain block that feeds
the amp; this lets you overdrive the tube power amp and listen to
it alone, uncolored by any external preamp or any internal preamp
distortion. Gain structure must be carefully set up so that you don't
get into noise problems when you play too close to the noise floor.
If the final output level is too low, the mic and mic preamp's self-noise
becomes audible.
Using the Studio in a live setup could be challenging unless you
take the "set it and forget it" approach. The Power Scale sensitivity
is such that turning it down too fast collapses the circuit and kills
output. All other settings can be changed on-the-fly without problems,
but they usually affect the volume, so that a power scale adjustment
would be needed. [I would surround the studio, speaker, and mic by
two MIDI processors, to compensate automatically, and not touch the
Studio's controls. But then the guitar speaker would vary in loudness,
which would be a problem. That's why I use a speaker isolation cabinet,
and powerful post-mic EQ. I call this whole approach the "Tone Engine".
- Michael] Now that I have an amp that will drive into power-stage
saturation at very low monitoring levels, I have to wrap my speaker
and mic in a blanket, so that the mic does not directly pick up the
acoustic sounds of me playing my electric guitar. The gain on the
mic preamp, in the mixing board, is up high enough that I can easily
hear my pick and strings through the mic, so I wrapped a moving blanket
around the mic and speaker cabinet to block it.
The Studio does fit the bill for getting real overdriven power tube
distortion at low levels without compromising the tone. Between using
the Studio, $2K large-diaphragm tube mic, Tac Bullet console, and
Tascam 234 4-track cassette, I'm getting really great sounds. The
documentation for the amp is still pretty sparse and assumes a good
bit of knowledge about tube amplifiers. After speaking with Kevin
O'Conner a few times I started to get a better feel for what to expect
and not expect from the amp. My needs were exactly like Michael's:
cranked tone at extremely low levels. The Studio delivers this perfectly
in my opinion. I own a large recording studio but I also do a lot
of recording at home when preparing to use the large studio. I use
the time at home to work out arrangements and sounds. I bring home
a nice mic and turn the Studio amp way down and the tone is as good
at the milliwatt level as at 10 watts. In fact, the only real "problem"
I've had is isolating the mic enough so that it doesn't pick up the
accoustic sound coming off my Charvel's strings as well as the speakers
output -- what a great "problem" to have, compared to the outward
sound leakage of conventional amps! I solved that problem by wrapping
a heavy moving-blanket around the speaker and mic to isolate them
from ambient noises. I have not used the Lexicon Signature 284 amp.
But my experience with cabinet simulators has been disappointing at
best; they just don't sound right! I use the cabinet simulator in
my Rocktron Replifex at my live gigs because I'm too lazy to drag
around a speaker and the Studio (it's a cover band and the gigs are
professional, but we live to keep it as simple and light-weight as
possible).
The Studio is not inexpensive, but I have no buyer's remorse. The
Studio is a piece in the tone puzzle that all the big manufacturers
have ignored. To get the sound really right, and flexible, you have
to build a signal chain much like the one Michael writes about. To
date, there is no single amp that can produce every tone, but the
combination of processing stages described by Michael, together with
the Studio, should get you as close to that Nirvana as possible.