THE ULTIMATE STEREO
GUITAR AMP
Price: $4,300
SUSTAINOR is unique in the guitar amp world. It combines a channel-switching all-tube preamp with a stereo effects loop and stereo Power Scaled all-tube power amplifiers.
Create classic sounds or new ones that never before existed. Go tweed. Go metal. Go metal-tweed. Your rhythm and lead sounds no longer have to be compromises - SUSTAINOR lets you build each sound independently and then lets you switch between those sounds effortlessly.
MAXIMUM TONE
Both channels have identical controls, allowing the player to set up sounds that can be identical, similar or wildly different. Each channel has familiar controls with an organic "feel". DRIVE sets the distortion saturation and the basic sensitivity to the guitar signal. LOW, MID and HIGH provide 3-way EQ. PRE-LEVEL sets the preamp output prior to going to the effects loop. Eight voicing switches alone provide over 250 distinct sounds, allowing the player to configure the gain and frequency response of the amp - things that the amp designer usually does! London Power empowers the player to configure the circuit however it sounds best to the player.
Within the preamp, the player can set up pristine or warm clean sounds; mild to wild overdrives; or saturated distortions like a hot-rodded amp. The preamp accepts any dual-triode with standard pin-outs in any combination: 12AT7, 12AU7, 12AX7, 12AY7, ECC81, ECC82, ECC83, 5751, 7025, or any variants.
SEND and RETURN set the signal level to and from external effects for proper effect balance. The loop can be set to 'series' mode using the S switch. The return signal can be directed to either power amp by itself, or to both, using the RETURN TO switch. Both the 'send' and 'return' jacks are transformer isolated to eliminate ground loops with external devices. The Return inputs are always active.
Each power amp has LOUD, BODY and POWER SCALE controls, with their now-familiar feel. POWER SCALE provides continuous power control from full output down to tens of milliwatts - London Power's standard dynamic range of 44db: "unusably loud to unusably quiet" - no one can dispute that this is quiet! BODY lets you warm up the sound just a bit, or dial all the way to single-ended tones. Set LOUD and POWER SCALE similarly to maintain a given sound from whisper to wail Master-volume and non-MV sounds are easily accessed. Through typical guitar cabinets SUSTAINOR is more than loud enough in most environments, providing over 25W continuous power, both channels driven, or one channel driven and the other dialled down. The sound is solid and dynamic.
Compression or distortion from the power amp can be used to smooth the distortion from the preamp. You can run either section clean with the other dirty, or both clean, or both dirty. SUSTAINOR's controls give the player ultimate freedom of choice and extreme breadth of tonal textures to explore. As with all London Power amplifiers, the speaker can be disconnected and that output used for silent recording. But... each channel also has a LINE output for balanced/unbalanced TRS connections.
The power section can be operated with one or two tubes, any type of standard octal tube, and any combination of types, including: 6CA7, 6L6, 6V6, 6550, EL-34, KT-66, KT-77, KT-88, or any variants. Each power section can have entirely different tubes. Bias adjustments and meter test jacks are beside the related tube on the rear panel. Changing a tube and setting its bias takes less than a minute.
MORE THAN A CHANNEL-SWITCHER
SUSTAINOR can be operated like every other two-channel amp with the sound of channel-A or the sound of channel-B going to the speaker cabinet. Unlike other amps, each of SUSTAINOR's channels can have its own speaker cabinet. Beyond this, each channel can have its own cabinet while alternately driving the switched speaker.
Use the Switching Mode switches to set channel activity and program how SUSTAINOR responds to foot-switches. Set Mode to A for that channel to be on; set Mode to B for that channel to be on; set Mode to A+B for both channels to work alternately.
The second Mode switch controls what is actually “switched”. Set Mode to PRE to toggle between preamp sounds while the power amps do not switch – this is the switched-preamp into a stereo power amp mode. This allows for stereo effects to be heard as intended, or for the power sections to drive cabinets covering different zones on a stage or other listening environment. Because the effect return inputs are always active, an outboard device like a mixer or drum machine can be tied into the power amps and mixed with SUSTAINOR's preamp sound. Or, set the Mode to Pre+PA to synchronize the power amps to switch with the preamp voice.
SUSTAINOR continues the evolution and tradition of London Power's amplifier line. Versatility is unparalleled. The independent signal paths allow one amp to be set up, say, like a Champ but with an 800-ish preamp, while the other channel is set up like a big Hiwatt amp. Some players may set the two paths to be identical except for loudness. Others may set the sounds to be similar except for crunch levels. The possibilities are endless!
SUSTAINOR IS A 'GREEN' PRODUCT
SUSTAINOR is ecologically friendly, in the sense that there are no stand-by circuits that remain powered when the amp is turned off.
