Pearce G2r stereo amp... was 'Solid State "Tube Amps"'
Xin Ye
>PRS has indeed discontinued production of their amp series. The amp
>was a real flop with two dealers that I know. People were not willing
>to pay $1400.00 for a solid state amp...
I have been using a Pearce G2r two channel solid state amp for around
three months now and am going to buy one for myself! I thought that
I could improve my sound even more by demoing several tube preamps and
combo/head setups. I tried the Marshall JCM900 100w combo; Marshall 9001
three channel tube preamp; ADA midi tube preamp; ART SGX2000; Rocktron
PRO GAP... etc. After hasseling my music store friends to let me truly
demo these amps by taking all but a couple home and A/Bing them with
the Pearce, I gave up and decided several things.
The Pearce really does sound incredible... I know that with tweaking,
a tube amp could probably do a great job for me also. I am *very* blown
away by the response and playability of this amp though.
The Pearce was incredibly easy to dial in... I've owned several Marshalls
and Fenders, and many times the amps had a bad night due to AC line
irregularities or who knows what else. The Pearce is very consistent.
The Alesis digital stereo reverb and multi-tap algorythms on each
channel allow for a great deal of versatility for a 'combo' with no
extra signal processing. Channel switch and the processing changes also.
The limiter on the rythm channel really smooths out your sound when
needed.
There is a master fx loop with stereo returns... there is also an
fx loop for each channel so you get dedicated effects on each channel.
I must admit I haven't demoed a Boogie lately but have tried several
older Mesas out and tend to prefer Marshalls. However I was a Twin-Reverb
fan and user for years and years.
My conclusion is that I'm very willing to allow my sound to be the
proof of the amp's high performance and versatility and feel no qualms
about spending in the $1000.00 - $1300.00 range. The amp itself is about
$980.00 out the door as a rack unit. Add a 1 x 12 combo cabinet w/speaker
and it goes up a couple hundred. (With the fx loops, it seems much more
practical to keep all this stuff in the same rack). I plan to run a
Quadraverb GT in parallel with the 2 Pearce channels into my Rane SM26
mixer which feeds my master fx loop returns. This will give me a lot of
pre-sets for versatility at gigs... The Pearce still covers all the ground
I've been asked to cover so far. I'm just looking to simplify some of the
knob twisting.
Remember, this is a *Stereo* amp and with a sidekick cabinet or 2 of
your favorite cabinets you are really making complex sounds. You can
D.I. after all onboard and outboard effects easily. The stereo setup
also *cleans up* complex signal processing with stereo panning of each
return. (You can separate delay from dry in the mix.)
Oh well... just my 5 dollars worth.
Miko Biffle Please email replies to ... mi...@swp.wj.com
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Xin Ye Watkins-Johnson Company
x...@swp.wj.com 440 Kings Village Road
408-439-6162 Scotts Valley, CA 95066