Amp Shootout - Carr Super Bee 1x12 | Tone King Imperial | Fender 64 Deluxe | Louis Columbia
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- čas přidán 22. 08. 2024
- Collings I-30LC with Throbak 55/56 P90's Amp Shootout - Carr Super Bee 1x12 | Tone King Imperial | Fender 64 Deluxe | Louis Columbia
I came to hear the Super Bee, but my goodness the Fender paired with shanks overdrive had the sweetest sound.
Thanks so much. I love the Vemuram Shanks ODS-1 pedal. It pairs really well with the Jan Ray also.
The search tine you just saved me :) thanks for the video and the tip
@@nelsonmillar3341 Glad to help. Email me anytime at gairman1@gmail.com if you want more specific info on those pedals or other gear related questions.
Amazing, thank you!
The Tone King is just fantastic in every way, wow! The Columbia has a huge headroom, I’m impressed, but the Imperial sounds incredibly balanced, the clear winner for my ears. Nice playing too, I’ve just discovered your channel, keep it up!
I like them all. I do own a Columbia (with 6v6's) but the Deluxe is the winner for me in regards to cleans. I am interested in trying one of the Carr amps. I was leaning toward the Rambler b/c all the other vids with the Super Bee were just lots of distortion. Your vid shows it's capable of being clean too.
Hey freddels, I actually sold the Super Bee and opted for a Carr Rambler again. It has the clean headroom I sometimes want and need. Takes pedals great and is superb. I also love my Fender 64 Deluxe Reverb custom handwired. Superb glassy pure classic Fender tone!
@@gair1944 If I was going to get a Deluxe, I'd probably opt for a Headstrong (lifetime warranty). I noticed on the Louis website that no warranty is listed so not sure if he supports the amps after purchase. I know Carr does support his amps.
@@Freddels1Lou at Louis Electric will totally take care of you. I’ve talked to him and had several friends and fans order because of the videos they saw.
@@gair1944 That's good to know since I don't see any warranty info on his site.
I like the Carr. Sounded fantastic
Thanks for stopping by! The Super Bee is incredibly musical, inspiring and versatile.
nice comparison, i've been looking at these same amps. The Columbia really surprised me... Thank You
Thanks for the comment. I could gig with any one of these and be happy. And indeed I have. Lately I am hooked on the Carr Super Bee. But when I want and clean headroom I choose the Louis with 6L6’s and it never disappoints.
I just got the Carr Super Bee 10 combo and love the tone and mid range focus it has. So bright and clean on the highs also.
Absolutely superb tone. The 10" Combo is a little more 'focused' in its presentation, in a good way. Easily one of the best 10" combo's on the market. Congrats and thanks for sharing with us.
Loving the Carr Super Bee 10” speaker combo!
Came here for the Carr Super Bee, stayed for the Gary Moore licks.
Great amp shootout!
Für mich sind hier zwei Favoriten, Fender Deluxe und Tone King Imperial mkii. Und ich bin mit meinem Tone King Sky King sehr zufrieden. Wahrscheinlich Tone ist der King! Ich mag sehr seine Tiefe, Wärme und dennoch seine klare Höhen, die er beibehält! Thank You Very Much!!!
Ich liebe auch den Sky King-Verstärker von Tone King. Mit diesem Verstärker kann man nichts falsch machen. Der Imperial MKII ist vielseitiger als der Fender 64 Deluxe Reverb, aber der 64 Deluxe klingt klassisch und vor allem, wenn er gedrückt wird. Vielen Dank fürs Zuhören und für das Teilen Ihrer Gedanken.
I’m really liking the balance of the tone king. Great demo!
I'm hearing that too. There is no dog in this race. A case could be made for each amp no doubt. Thanks for watching and for your comment.
Hilarious !!! I have a the I30lc and a tone king mkii. Came here for the super bee demo :). Sweet little unit... thanks. 😊
Hey Cody, clearly you have great taste in gear! :-) I love the TK Imp MKII, but I am using the Super Bee a bit more lately because I don't play that loud and its a little smaller to take to my gigs and breaks up just right when I dig in with my Collings I-30LC.
@@gair1944 Yea, I was looking at the super Bee for this exact reason. Good little gigging amp, and easy on the back. Keep it up :) Thanks
@@CBGypsy03 you might also check out the 10” Super Bee. A little smaller physically but same power amp and preamp
Great review. Thanks very much for the work.
I'm looking exactly in this range for a high end amp. I can afford only one.. and should my amp for many years..
I prefer the Tone King here
What do you think of the Falcon Grande ? Does it stack up ?
Many thanks 😊
Precisely what I needed to hear. I have a 335 with p90s and it needs a really good amp and that Carr sounds really good as do all if em . Who am I kidding the Fender just has something magical .
In Have to laugh because while I agree the Carr Super Bee sounded best to my ears in many ways, I love this Deluxe and have used it on many gigs and loved it too. Dale worth the other amps. But for now, the Carr Super Bee is the current belle of the ball.
4 absolutely incredible amps !!! I own the Super Bee so Im partial but I played all those amps before and they are all fantastic and rich! there is something sweet and very present about the 10 watt Bee...and it does seem like more then enough for your gigs and what you like:))
Thanks my friend! Agreed
Excellent demo.@@gair1944
I liked the Super Bee best clean (less glassy than the others IMO), but preferred the Louis with the boost pedal engaged. That was a beautiful sound with the P90's and the Fat Jimmy. Fat Jimmy makes some great amps as well. Cheers!
The Louis Columbia is exceptional in every way.
With blackface circuits, I tend to like really glassy, and almost chime-like qualities. Lots of presence and wine-glass like response to the right hand. From the video audio, that sounds like the Super Bee is the way to go out of these. What do you think? You would know best as the one in the room : )
Based on what you shared, which I agree with, the Fender 64 Deluxe Reverb Custom Handwired is way out in front of the Super Bee. Much as I love the Super Bee, it’s no contest with regard to your desire for wine glass chime.
Gary, I love my Carr Original Mercury, but that Super Bee 1x12 is something special. I don’t know what Steve does with those amps but they just sound amazing. I really enjoy my Carr 8 watt amp, maybe more than my higher wattage Z-Lux. I need to stop watching these!
Good job showcasing these amps, any one of which shows up in the conversations around wanting a BF or BF/Tweed inspired Amp with higher quality and modern features (sorry, Fender).
All of these amps sound great. Of them all, I'd favor the TK and Carr for the convenience of the built-attenuation option, but that's just a personal preference.
I landed on a 1yr old used, like new condition TK Imp MKIi (the CME edition with the lacquered tweed), thanks to a loving wife that agreed it would make a great Christmas present last year, and at a can't-miss price shipped to my front door (thanks Brians Guitars in CT). It's glorious, but if someone stole it and I had no choice but to replace it with the Super Bee I wouldn't be in mourning. Would it be wrong to own both? I might need to work on convincing Santa to do an encore. :-)
hey, thanks Les. Very cool Wife you have there! Well, I agree with your assessment and I play the TK Imperial or Super Bee the most. Lately I am embracing the Super Bee because it seems to deliver the right level of breakup at a volume that works really well for me. I am uploading a video now of the Super Bee exploring its natural overdriven sounds. What a great amp! Yes, it's OK to own them both!!
Great review, thanks.
My pleasure. Thanks for watching. Did you have a preference?
@@gair1944 Suoer Bee for me. Great sounding amp.
Love this! Do y ou think the Superbee has enough clean headroom tone for jazz in an outdoor gig with mic. Maybe 500 people attending.
That's a tough question. Jazz usually demands pure cleans. This gets deceptively loud but its not going to be as pure clean as an amp with more headroom.I'd say it may be borderline.
The columbia seems the least forgiving but I do like it. I'm stuck between the other three. I want a wider sound than my princeton and less ice picky.
The best answer is - all four amps to have.
Good stuff, thanks...Wondering if you've ever tried a Tone King Gremlin...that and Super Bee are the only small tube amps I'm aware of with enough onboard attenuation for truly bedroom volumes, but Gremlin is about half the price new...
I have not tried the Gremlin. But the Tone King Imperial Attenuator will get super quiet. It has five positions.
The gremlin is a killer amp. Loud enough for small gigs. Great bedroom as well. Incredible tones
@@SweetPicklenation Do you think the Falcon Grande is worth the upgrade? Not talking about the Reverb, just the sound ?
@@rodolpheponthus2948 nope. I actually like the gremlin sound better.
It’s an incredible little amp. Surprised Fender has not put attenuators in yet. They are so useful. Falcon grande is great though. The gremlin with Greer lightspeed and southland pedal is plenty loud though. I use for most gigs these days
Thank you for this great review. I'm considering purchasing the Super Bee or the Imperial for home use only. I was playing an Imperial in a local music store and noticed a hum that was present. It wasn't noticeable when playing the amp but I'm still concerned about buying it. I believe I would wait until another Imperial arrived at the store. I noticed that some of the other commenters were experiencing this issue too. Was the source of this problem ever identified? Is this issue fairly consistent for the Imperials? For low volume home use, which amp (the Imperial or the Super Bee) would you recommend? I haven't had an opportunity to play the Super Bee yet, but hope to do so soon. I really enjoy your videos, they're well done.
I have to be honest and say I just got my Imperial back from Sweetwater repair for a noise issue. It’s fine now. But for home use and even gigging I am loving the 1x12 Super Bee!! Send me email at gairman1@gmail.com
@@gair1944 Hi Gary, what do you think of Carr vs. Tone King vs. Amplfied Nation for best blackface style tones for home use and with a pedal board?
@@silvel2edge Jason, I haven't ever played an Amplified Nation amp so I have no data point to offer in that regard. The Tone King Imperial has a nice 5 position attenuator for home use so you can still play clean or set it for edge of breakup or even set it for searing screaming rock saturation at reasonable volume. The Super Bee Attenuator is also useful but with the amp being 10W's, sometimes I find its not quite as tight sounding with an OD pedal pushing a low wattage amp. But for home use, it has PLENTY and it has been really great. Do you ever use amp tremolo? If so, the Tone King has it and the Carr Super Bee does not. PS: you can email me anytime for more ongoing dialogue: gairman1@gmail.com - Gary
Thanks for great inspiration - you for sure have excellent taste. I’m out looking for a new amp and really the Custom Deluxe, but its too loud for my needs. Have you tried Morgan amps, ex PR12/JS12?
Thanks for the nice comment. I'm glad it was helpful. I have not had the chance to play any Morgan amps. I am loving the Super Bee. Check my channel for the Super bee 1x10". Same amp, but smaller cabinet and 7 lbs lighter.
@@gair1944 I just did. What a GREAT sound. I live in Northern Europe and have never seen a Carr amp :-)
@@goswo Station Music in Germany. I'm from Spain and I was in your situation. Steve Carr told me about Station Music. From they: "You have the right to withdraw from this contract within 14 days without giving any reason". I tryed and buyed a Carr Mercury V from this online store.
Super Bee wins...deluxe reverb lost....Maybe it's the placement of where its sitting... I have a deluxe reverb 64 hand wired on the way. I hope it sounds better than what i'm hearing here. thanks for posting!
Might I recommend the Magnatone Twilighter (mono or stereo) for a future purchase of yours?
I owned a Magnatone Twilighter. Sold it to a friend of mine and I revisited the amp a few times. It is a very good amp but not right for me. Comes to life at a volume louder than my shows call for or allow. Also not the Fender voice I crave.
@@gair1944 interesting. Thanks!!
Curious as to the brand & gauge of strings. THX!
Which one you play first every day?
Tone King Imperial gets the most playing time
Where's the mic placed?
Condenser mic is built into the recorder capturing the room sound quite capably. About 7-8 feet across from the Super Bee and Louis.
@@gair1944 I suspect this is part of why everyone says the Super Bee is their favorite
@@zlol_ssbm Not sure I know what your point is, But yeah, the Super Bee is a special amp
Do you have the fat Jimmy speaker in the Tone King?
Yes I do! the Fat Jimmy C1270 was the speaker in the TK when I made this video and it permanently resides in the TK Imperial. I love it.
@@gair1944 that’s awesome! Yeah I actually upgraded to a Sky King for a little bit, to get a bit more low end. But it was plagued by manufacturing issues. I went through 3 Sky Kings, all had rumbling tranny that would cascade noise in random channels. One actually blew up on me, changed the fuse and got worse.
So I went back to the Imperial MK2, because it seems they didn’t mess with Mr.Bartels original formula. I had a great experience with that amp, and my new Imperial MK2 will be here Monday! I had a 4 month loaner previously and loved it! Great amp to build upon and customize as well! I just ordered some GE Nos 5751 Greyplates for V1. I really like that tube in this amp! It makes it a bit warmer, gives the volume dial some more control for the breakup points as well. And smooths out the top, to be a bit more high gain pedal friendly at lower volumes. I keep mine on 5 and roll back the guitar volume to 7 usually. 4 treble and 6 bass set it and leave it.
This speaker the Fat Jimmy, seem to my ears to get closer to the range of the Sky King I was trying to use. My goal is to get somewhere in the middle…via power tubes and speaker.
I found out real fast after trying most of the Tone King line …that bigger or more money doesn’t mean better. There’s a good reason the Imperial MK2 is the flagship amp for them. I kept wondering why most wouldn’t spend $300 more, at that point for the Sky King…well I found out!
The Imperial is just a great solid build, and stands the test of time. Apparently the Sky King was relaunched in 2018, with a bunch of revisions in it. Check out a newer video on CZcams by Pisonic on the Sky King…I think you’ll find it interesting, if your like me and a geek about this stuff lol.
The Imperial MK2 has stayed true. I did talk to Mr. Bartel himself through all this, very nice guy to give me words of advise and help me chose. I do see myself upgrading to the Jimmy over the summer! Just want to get some time in with my new Imperial first and put it through the tests. After that, def will upgrade as it’s not a real expensive upgrade.
Outside the low end I can obviously hear with the Jimmy. What else do you feel the speaker brought the stock didn’t? Also when you swapped it outside the screws and soldering for the new speaker…was it glued in or anything too much? Or was it a pretty easy swap to get out and do?
Thanks, love your channel and as always great playing and beautiful tones!
@@gair1944 also I’m sending this Sky King back and got my Imperial MK2. But I can’t ship Sky King till next week. So gave me a good idea to try that Celestion in the Sky King hooked up to the Imperial. Since it does 16ohm as well. Plus it’s pretty much what you get with the head/cab combo. Hoping this will let me hear how drastic or different a speaker change can be.
At this point all is good on the Imperial MK2. I do have a very small 60hz hum. So I’m trying to get it out the house to make sure it’s my house and not the amp. It’s not really noticeable that much recording or playing. But gotta check it though! Also have a GE5751 coming in. If everything works out and I keep the Imperial MK2. I’ll probably jump on that speaker in June!
@@mattg082 hey Matt, I also have some sort of hum with my Imperial. I think it might be a tube related to the reverb/tremolo circuit. Did you connect the Celestion from the Sky King to the Imperial? Was that your point? What model is the Celestion? Feel free to email me for more dialogue. This is very interesting.
@@gair1944 yeah I’m doing a full test…I actually couldn’t return the Sky King due to Mardi Gras in Nola right now. But after a power tube blew on the Sky King as I was testing further into the return process, I bit the bullet and ordered a pair of 6L6 I’m gonna try, and if I don’t keep that amp will sell the tubes mint on reverb.
So pretty much after I get those new tubes in. I’ll be testing both the Imperial MK2 and Sky King at home, and in a different environment an hour away. Running both separately, and the Imperial MK2 on a different speaker …most likely the Sky King cab to hear the difference. That speaker is a custom Celestion rebrand…it’s branded as a Tone King speaker. But yes, most notably I now will have some new tubes, speaker options, and will be testing power to see if either or cleans up the 60hz hum. Given tube swap and different location to plug into.
Just not sure if it’s my house in Nola even with grounded plugs, or the amps displaying the hum and are just like that. However, I also feel it could be tubes in shipping. Ordering a tube amp online, has def been confusing! If something happens it can be hard to track down I’ve found if your not really knowledgeable. But I’ve realized usually 50/50 a tube ends up bad.
If I end up with the Imperial MK2, I’m just very curious before I commit what it sounds like with a more robust speaker. I should have all the tubes and stuff needed for this Saturday! The amp that works the best of course, I’ll keep and ship the other back Sunday! But im hoping at least the Imperial MK2 60Hz hum is just my home…as I see nothing really wrong with it outside that small hum. All good outside that one small thing. Not sure about the Sky King, till I get the new tubes Wednesday. But it’s def a good cab to test a speaker difference!
So hoping one works out for me!
tone king and super Bee are better
I have to agree. If I am playing a little louder and engage OD Pedals, there Tone King is top dog. But the super bee is so soulful on it’s own. Very musical