Okay, it’s been awhile now; I’m ready to write the review for my new Metropoulos ’67 50 watt bass spec. I took my time because I wanted to use this amp for awhile, let it settle in, before making any snap decisions one way or the other. The overview is this; I have not been this satisfied with a gear purchase in a long, long time. Come to think of it, I can’t remember when I’ve ever been this satisfied.
When I took it out of the box, I was amazed at how authentic it looked. My wife said “it sure is pretty”. Trust me, she doesn’t give a s**t about gear. I could not have described it better though. It was packed perfectly and even the box showed up without as much as a scratch. Right on time too.
It was a bummer, but I had to work lots of overtime that weekend, it came on a Saturday, so, for three days I admired its beauty. Then Tuesday came and I had the day off. Guess what? It was disturb the neighbors time, and I was the man. GUILTY!
I plugged it into a Greenback loaded Avatar 2X12 cranked her up, and there it was, instant gratification! Kerrrrrrraaannnnnngggggggggg! I’ve had a bunch of Marshalls in my time, of nearly all the eras, and none of them, and I really mean it, NONE OF THEM SOUNDED THIS GOOD! The harmonics are so good that it’s just freaking stupid. It really is a stunner. In more ways than one. The sound, which is only getting better as it breaks in, is a marvel in and of itself, but the feel, the dynamics, the controllability is second to none.
I’m old school. One channel is all that is needed. Plug in, crank the amp, and use your guitars volume control. Perfect cleans to perfect crunch. If you want over the top, use a pedal and there you have it. Oh yeah, pedals; this amp handles them with ease.
I like to mix the channels a little, not a lot but enough to make the bass more present. What a full, round, punchy tone this gives you. The EQ controls actually do something, old plexi Marshalls really didn’t do much, just turn ‘em all the way up. Not so with the Metropoulos, these work great, you can really dial in what you want. Probably the best tone control on this amp is the volume, for me, on ten isn’t the best tone, Vol 1 on 4 to 6 and Vol 2 on 2 or 3, then EQ to taste. Awesome.
The build quality is superb. I went to the Austin Amp Show to meet with George and try his stuff. I was sold pretty quickly on the 10,000 series super bass. I asked him if he could build that, only 50 watt. No problem. When he was taking my order info, I mentioned to him that I really was looking for a work of art. No kidding. I was serious, not trying to be a punk, but for $2.5K, I really, really expected great workmanship. When I opened this amp up to look inside, I flashed on the fact that no hand wired Marshall of any era that I’ve seen looked this nice and neat. Nice work George!
I had George add a special request. A triode/pentode switch. For awhile I had a Marshall 50 watt JCM 900 Hi Gain Dual Reverb that had one of these switches. Not that this particular model was a great sounding amp or anything, but the switch worked really well for me on that amp, as it does on this one too. It doesn’t cut a great amount of volume, just enough to make it useable in a club setting. Although an attenuator set for about 3 to 6 db roll off helps too. Just go easy on the attenuation, or if you can get away with it, don’t use it at all. In the 50 watt mode, it’s a LOUD friggin' amp. I cannot imagine anyone needing more.
You have probably read lots of flattering reviews of these amps. Believe it. If you dig the Marshall sound, forget the rest. Buy a Metropoulos. You will get the sound and quality that only a better than the very best Marshall you ever seen or heard could offer. No kidding. If you are at all on the fence about these amps, just do it. Go ahead, pull the trigger and blow your brains out. You can thank me later (after you thank George, of course).
As of now, all my other amps are for sale!