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So tired of these kind of comments. With a close mic sm57 it sounds 99% the same at 1.5 as it does at 5 as it does at 10. I have to sit in the room with it to talk about it, and I’m not going to blow my ears out. If you want a regurgitated load box cab IR review pick one of the hundred other channels doing that. Come here to learn about the circuit design and history.

It's all personal preference, but there's a reason I sold almost all of my Charvels including this one, but kept my Kramer Pacer Deluxes. I wouldn't say no to either guitar though! And I do miss this one the most of my Charvels.

@ Thank you!!

The chapters on the video are clearly named and include the playthrough at 18:15. In the time it took to write this comment you could've clicked a single time and heard the guitar. It sounds like every guitar ever made with a DD in the bridge position.

Hey! It's on the bottom side of the V2B tube and labeled "L. B." It's actually a two-part switch, it enables a parallel signal bypass cap on the cathode of the tube. It both increases the gain level of that stage and changes the EQ of the gain by pushing the mids forward. The V2B tube (and LB switch) are only active in Lead II mode of the amp - there's an older/inaccurate schematic floating around the web that is missing the LB switch, so find the one I used in this video (it's on el34world and other sites). Cheers

@totallyradguitars959 thanks a lot!!

I have no savings, no car, and a very understanding wife 😇

If it's the rapid ticking noise you mean, it's my old recording setup in the room kind of sucked, so I'd get this feedback from my phone being in my pocket too close to the guitar (my lapel mic is being recorded into my phone)

@ totally makes sense. Great job dude.

Thanks for your feedback. After watching your videos I can see that you know best when it comes to noodling in front of your phone camera for 30 seconds, very high quality

@totallyradguitars959 Thanks 2k subscriber man, I agree, I fucking rule

Haha well as long as you’re enjoying yourself, rock on 🤘

I say that because I have two right here in my hands complete with factory documentation and catalogs that show the Ibanez Edge was the factory trem for USA’s made in 1987. Later USA models came with a Gotoh made GE1988T stamped with BC Rich. The SFT-70A was only used on cheaper import models, made in Korea. It can be confusing because the model name “ST-III” was used on USA, Japan, and Korean made guitars. I am strictly talking about USA in this video. Cheers

Hey, I never got around to it but if you’re able to read schematics, both the stealth and standard 100w are easy to find online. I compared them once and there were only 8-9 different values in the preamp signal path. I ideally would want to make the mods switchable but I’m not willing to drill any holes, and I’m very happy with how the amp sounds already so it’s not a priority. Cheers

Hey, the serial number alone is not enough to know for sure. I’d need to see pictures front and back - what inlays, bridge, etc it has. The NJ series ran for a long time with a lot of changes - there is a Facebook group with some experts who can likely point you in the right direction even better than I could. Cheers

Hey, I normally would totally agree with you about modding gear, I have many high end amps I wouldn’t dream of modifying in any way. But this amp was $150 and they made literally thousands of them on a mass production line. It’s not like I modded a real SLO. Plus, the mods were to give it the same values that Mike thinks are best - same as SLO - so I don’t think I’m a better designer than him, I copied him exactly 1:1 here, just left the ability to return to stock JCA values too.

The Thunderverb is my favorite of these but it has the least gain and needs a boost to do heavier styles. Since this video I’ve added several more and for the same price range I actually prefer the OR50 and the old Rocker 30 to any of these 3. Time for an updated comparison I think…

@ thank you for the reply. I’m looking at one of these. I’ve got a Friedman dirty Shirley and it’s great but not tight enough for chords in drop d and some of the 90’s stuff I play. Probably the tube rectifier. I’m looking at orange and Marshall 2203x or 2555x. Any more info you have is appreciated. I play 70’s through 90’s.

Ah well in that case it’s really hard not to recommend the 2203. It’s capable of just about anything but requires pedals for really heavy stuff… iconic for a reason. The difficulty is that it’s a single channel amp so if you play songs that do a lot of clean-distortion switching it’s not as easy as just clicking a foot switch. The 2203 is bright and tight, so you can shape the sound a lot with pedals, same reason why I like the thunderverb in this video. The oranges and the 2555 are darker and less tight in the low end but you get channel switching - still tighter than a Dirty Shirley. I don’t want to flood you with options, but if you are able to keep the Friedman, it might be cool to use that for your more classic stuff and pick up a Mesa dual/triple rectifier. That was a huge 90s sound, it’s tight with a boost and you can switch from tube to SS rectifiers. Best of luck with whatever you choose!

@@totallyradguitars959thank you for your help

Thanks man! I have an Invader 150 as well and I just recently acquired a schematic for it. I will say - just my opinion of course - but the Savage is a much better amp to my ear. The Invader was my first ENGL and it never really blew me away like the Savage or even the Fireball does. That said, it does sound very different from the others so if you want a change of pace it's great for that - best advice is to make sure you use Ch3 for rhythm/metal tones, I think people make the mistake of using Ch4 which has a much looser and deeper low end and then complain that the amp is too muddy. Ch3 is the "tight" voicing basically on the Invader. Cheers!

I actually have this amp open on my bench right now, I want to remake this video and explain a little better. But in short, not even close - the 2203 and 2555 have very different designs. Speaking strictly to the lead channel, the 2555 has 5 clipping diodes, two of which are LED's, in an array - a plate driven tone stack, and weirdly the effects loop is located BEFORE the EQ controls which means your EQ settings also change the sound of your delay or reverb repeats, for example. The 2555 doesn't have the trademark 10k cathode cold clipper of the 2203 either. Also worth mentioning that diode clippers aren't the same as an OD pedal, they "clip" off the lobe of the signal as it moves between two gain stages, as opposed to an OD pedal which usually uses an opamp or JFET/MOSFET to increase signal gain directly (as well as clipping it with diodes). It's a minor difference but I have to mention it because putting an OD in front of an amp will be a lot different than putting some clipping diodes in between tube stages within the amp, in terms of resulting sound and gain level. More detail than you probably wanted, but there you go haha. Thanks for watching, cheers!

@@totallyradguitars959 love the detail of your videos...even if some of it is over my head 😁

I don't think the components are any worse than others larger amp makers, but the designs are a bit complicated. They can be difficult to work on as there are also many revisions within the same amp model, so two amps that look identical may have differences on the board and those changes aren't always reflected in schematics, even official ones. Like any sensitive electronic signal device, treat the amps well and they will last a long time. The more components in the device, the more chances for a failure so the more cautious you have to be, so a Mark V like this might have 500 components in it just means it'll have more maintenance requirements than a Marshall with 200 components in it, if that makes sense. It certainly wouldn't stop me from buying a Mesa if that's the type of sound I wanted.

Sometimes. I show in the video when I turn it on or off in the top right corner.

Yeah, I thought that was odd too, but reverb is before the GEQ. Same on the Mark IV as well. Very unique compared to other high gain amp designs.

Can you elaborate? I don't see how an effects loop would affect that. Also when the loop is bypassed, it becomes a simple wire directly from MV pot to coupling cap exactly the same as non-loop 2203's. Both original and reissue 2203's use LTP PI.

@@totallyradguitars959 I just go by what Dave Friedman says. He hates Effects Loops on a high quality tube amp. Even when switched out he calls them tone suckers.

@@OntariosoundDave Friedman also hates salads, calls them fat suckers

What guy? Me?

It can do both and more if you know how with the right pedals