effects loop that can accommodate racks or
pedals with ease. In fact, it is even possible
to stick the VB800 on a pedalboard to get
rid of the extra stage spaghetti caused by
the four-cable effects routing method we
all love to hate. I use a smaller board, so
my grab and go gig rig with this little tone
monster would be; guitar, VB800 and a delay
sitting right on top of it running through the
loop with a couple of patch cables. It is also
worth mentioning that there is a matching
1x12 cab that houses a neodymium speaker
and is built with light-yet-resonant European
tonewoods. It is also bass ported for some
extra thunder. I would love to get caught
in this storm.
BLUGUITAR AMP1
To say German uber-guitarist and engineer
Thomas Blug is ambitious would be an
understatement of the lowest limbo. His
flagship hybrid amplifier extraordinaire is
called the AMP1 and it simply defies any
comparison. In short, it boasts five 100watt amplifiers, each with separate master
volumes, a built in boost, onboard spring
reverb emulation, noise gate, series or
parallel effects loop, emulated speaker
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TONE TALK //
Hybrid Moments
output, and universal operating voltage for
global gigging. All of this is crammed into
a futuristic floor and amp-top adaptable
enclosure no larger than a small multieffects unit. Unreal.
In the heart of the AMP1 lies a Nanotube,
which derives from the ones developed
in the 1940s to withstand Armageddon
conditions. These sub-miniature tubes are
said to last 20 times longer than a 12AX7,
so if this becomes an heirloom, the great
grandkids might have to do a tube swap.
Strangely, the tube is employed in the
output stage to achieve that larger tube amp
dynamic. With clean, vintage, classic and
modern settings on board, there is a library
of tones on tap that range from swinging
sultan clean, to napalm deathly mean, and
all points in between. I am half-tempted
to build a small pedalboard rig around the
AMP1 with just an expression pedal and
an Eventide H9 Max in the loop. I would
have a full rig in one hand and my guitar in
the other. This would be the carless townie
mobile rig—21st Century-style.