1. Metro-Amp Plexi-replicas: The 10,000-Series Super Bass I spent some serious time with at all volumes. It really, really nailed the "Super Bass" tone from the 60s. And I've owned many of them. It sounded fantastic at all volume levels. All the amps George built sounded great. The 45/100 was totally in the ballpark for Hendrix. We plugged in my '63 and '66 Strats and freaking channeled Hendrix to the max with a Fuzz Face and RMC wah HA HA HA
I also brought my '65 JTM-45 and did some comparisons with the GPM-45. Tonally they were really close. Mine had NOS glass and the '68 JMP-50 watt tranny, so it was much more aggressive and fat . . . but like I said, the tone-pallet between the two were extremely close.2. Category-5 Camille: Another impressive amp. 4 x 6L6 Has Blackface Twin and Tweed Twin tones that you can blend together by jumping channels. All mil-spec parts and new production tubes. I would say this could be an ultimate do-it-all blues/rock amp. I was really taken aback by the full-luscious tones here using NEW parts. They got it right. Sounded freaking awesome.
3. 3 Monkeys Orangutan: 4 x 6V6 w/adjustable voicing knob. I used my '63 Strat testing this one. HUGE, full, fat grindy tone and not too crazy volumes. I was actually stunned at the complexity and fullness from such a small amp. I preferred the head/cab (inspired by the Rickenbacker Transonic cabs) to the combo due to the better "fullness" but the combo still sounded great. Got to talk to Ossie about this amp and about my all-white Blockhead cab he built for me a few years ago. Turns out that was the last Blockhead item he built before forming 3-Monkeys. He said he wants it back
4. Fractal Audio Axe-FX: Rack unit totally adjustable and tweakable. All digital. This unit was scarily good. I knew digital would eventually get close to the "original" tube amps tone. And this really, really surprised me at how good it sounded. I'd still like to hear it through a 4 x 12 at gig levels on a stage, but when they dialed up a blackface/TS-808 tone, I really couldn't hear or tell the difference from my original gear at the lower volumes through monitors. Uh-OH
The funny thing was, when the designer was tweaking on my tones, he added a "fuzz" tone for me to hear. I said "that sounds like my old Univox Super Fuzz" He said, "I modeled it after an old Univox Super Fuzz". Damn, he got it EXACTLY right. These guys are on to something . . . I also brought my Marshall Major up on Sunday. It worked OK, but kinda embarrassing because it does have some noise issues which I totally forgot about
I don't really use it all that much anymore and it was kind of a last-minute thought. It either has noisy tube issues, leaking DC or maybe a bit of both. Regardless, we freaking DESTROYED that hotel with jumpered channels cranked to 8 and 9 respectively. We ran it through a Category-5 4 x 12 cab loaded with Warehouse 60-watt speakers. 
We had folks from throughout the show stopping by when that was cranking up wondering WTF was going on.George was having a blast with it:
Anyway, it was a real good time. I met a lot of industry folks, learned an awful lot of "behind-the-scenes" info which I plan to use when I eventually decide to roll out my amp line. When that will be I have no idea, but it really helped me out to decide what I need to do. I also picked up my Metropolous replica 4 x 12 bottom cab. I have to say they look even better in person!!!!! Thanks George! It will be put to good use soon.
- WOT
