This is the review I needed, having watched so many other MT48 reviews, all of which are amazing, however you have a guitarists mind and workflow and you point out so many things that matter. Thank-you and I look forward to exploring your other content.
Thanks man. Yeah sometimes not getting into the technical weeds on stuff like this helps. If you do end up deciding to buy this unit, consider using my affiliate link to help out my channel. Zzounds does price matching too.
Kinda reminds me of a darker SLO type thing. The brighter voicing of MKII mode helps but I think that MKI mode with something like an EQ pedal in the loop to bump up the top end is where it really sounds best. If you have a brighter speaker cab though, no EQ would be needed. The Kraken bites a lot harder in the top end at the expense of less overall low end grunt but on stage, I didn't feel that the kraken was lacking low end and I also didn't feel like the Jack was too dark either.
Like any plexi style amp, I suppose this shines only if you have a good power attenuator. But without cab and mics it's impossible to tell if I like it or not.
I've got the Jack mkII head with a Kraken V4 2 button pedal running 4 cable through the effects loop and get the best of both. I love the Jack crunch though, it's old school rock at its best.
Nice thorough review. I think the Lion/OX sound killer as a combo. I have that, as well as the Ruby & Dream ‘65 - and the OX Stomp works great with all of them. And the variety offered is more than I’ll ever need. I mean, there’s so much subjectivity to tone…especially when you get to certain quality pedals, but I do prefer the UAFX pedal quality over all the big modelers for pure replication of the originals. But what I like, you may not, and vice versa. Love this channel…sometimes there’s WAY too much nerdy overthinking…but I can also appreciate that! 🤓🤣
HAH It's easy for me to overthink stuff but I try to take a more exhaustive approach to gear because just about everything I own goes on stage with me. The bar is set really high in my brain but what has happened quite a few times is a new piece of gear rolls in and I may struggle with it in the studio to really find a sound I like but then on stage, everything just works. The Mesa Badlander was a perfect example of this. It didn't really do it for me at home but sat in the mix perfectly on stage. I try to approach my reviews with a more thorough understanding of what it is/isn't and what it can/can't do and how it handles being on stage and getting to that point just takes time that I think a lot of other youtube gear reviewers don't have as they probably have a higher volume of products to work through and get videos for. Since I don't rely on youtube for income, I don't have that pressure on me to crank out numerous reviews a week. You don't really get to know a piece of gear in that small amount of time (at least I don't) and our band doesn't play every weekend so some gear just has to wait for it's review until I get to take it on stage.
Bro, i followed you for WELL over a decade on my other account. I would LOVE to hear you doing some really high gain stuff with the katana, like Uber, recto, herbert type tones. Huge machine head and fear factory fan. That sounds absolutely awesome. Great work as always
Thanks for the support dude. Yeah it's got some great higher gain stuff in it. I'll mess around and see what I can do. If you haven't seen his stuff yet, Lambchopper has a Katana also and has done some Megadeth, Metallica and Gojira sounds.
I LOVE the Kraken mk2. It sits on top of my JCM800 and the EVH Stealth and since I got it I always gravitate to it instead of the so called OGs underneath 💪🤗 Great channel btw, just subscribed
Thanks man. Yeah it has so many great sounds in it.. Kinda hard to dial in a bad sound honestly. I've been playing the Victory Jack MKII for the last week or so and it's a totally different animal. I haven't sent the Kraken back yet so I'm going to be doing a side by side vid of the two showing how they compare and differ from one another. Both have their strengths and weaknesses.
From one guitar player to another, this is a useful review. This thing moves the whole computer inside the interface. I guess it's bus-compliant so it just dumps audio channels into anything that accepts a USB connection. On the one hand, you can do almost anything in the box and with a device that's easier to control live, on the other hand, you pay the price of another computer. I wonder if the convertors and A/D really are better than more dumb interfaces, or if the price is just the internal processing (looking at you, UA). So I guess the real consideration is how much worth it is for you to leave your computer at home or at least untouched. I suppose you can record both the processed and raw sound over USB, so if you mess up, you can correct later?
Yeah it gives you the option to record both a dry and processed signal but I haven't messed with that. Not having to mess with software mixing is great. I'm a lot more comfortable just setting levels, sliders, panning and what not on the unit itself. As far as I'm aware, no other interface does that unless you get an actual mixer and usb connect to your computer. Something like the QSC Touchmix may work but I doubt it has preamps as good as this unit and it's much bigger. The RME Fireface UCX II was also on my list and came highly recommeded but I think needs the drivers and mixer software on the computer to work right. This unit is just so simple and straight forward and intuitive. We've all used mixers by now and if you can figure out a mixer, this thing is a piece of cake and delivers instant results.
Thanks for explaining this for me just bought some and all they came with was a metal bar which is for what? They could of thrown a locking & unlocking key for the $50 bucks you spend appreciate the help 🎸
Depending on where you bought them, honestly I would send them back. Probably not what you want to hear but I put the Kluson Revolution tuners on the Tokai a couple years ago and I like them a lot more. They have the traditional thumb screw on the back. I like that a lot more than the magnums. I did have to buy a hand reamer tool on amazon to properly enlarge the holes for the tuners to fit but it was easy enough. Don't use a drill if you want to do the same. A reamer is the proper tool for the job. The thing with the magnums is that they are self locking (in theory). You should just hold the string end and tighten the tuning key. As the tuning key turns and you hold the string tight, it screws the internal locking pin up against the bottom of the string and once it's tight, the whole tuning peg and string will begin to turn indicating that the string has been locked. I say in theory though because when I tried doing this, the strings were still loose so I would have to crank down on it with a little stubby flat head screwdriver. I also just put a set of hipshot locking tuners on my Godin and what was nice about those is that you don't need to worry about the screw hole in the back lining up (which they did not). They have these flat metal plates that align the tuners. Really clever.
Thanks for the review. I was really trying to find some official information about the inbuilt reactive load on the blackstar websites yet I couldn´t find any nor any product sites mention that - is that true that you can use the head without connecting it to the cab (as it is with the st. James series)?
Yep. You actually put the amp into standby and just have the power on. This engages the preamp while safely leaving the power section in standby so that the transformers aren't working and needing a load to keep them safe. So it's actually not a built-in reactive load (like say the Mesa MKVII has) but rather a preamp output to a built-in speaker sim/IR loader. You obviously lose the character and feeling you'd get if you were using the amp fully operational with a load box and speaker/cab sim but at this price point, I feel like it's an acceptable tradeoff, especially if you're a player coming into playing guitar for the first time and want a good multi-channel amp that you can just jam with at home straight to the computer and also have the option to grab a cab and go on stage or if you've been playing and have a combo amp and want something else without having to go buy a new speaker cabinet. I thought this amp sounded better fully on running to my captor X vs in standby mode using the built-in speaker sim but again, it was nice that I didn't HAVE to have the captor to get a DI sound.
The LCI updated version of the vehicle is a softer ride than the first generation. I never drove the first one so I don't have any comparison. I came from a Tesla Model 3 and this is a better riding car in terms of negotiating bumps and overall stiffness. The new tire size made a big difference though. They're a slightly taller tire wall so it's got a tad more cushion than the factory tires. I've also read from a few guys on the bmw forums that the MSS Springs both lower and soften the ride. I think the car rides great and I've done 2 road trips in the car that were both 4~5 hours each way and I was totally fine and I have a bad lower back. The seats are very comfortable. What I will say though is different people have different tolerances. I think its' fine but others say it's harsh. The suspension is being asked to be a miracle worker in making a 4600 lb SUV handle better than most sports cars so I cut it a little slack in not being a super soft and plush ride. That's what the M40i and standard X3 are for.
Awesome man! The more I've messed with the contour setting, the more I'm convinced at how huge an impact it has on the overall "correctness" of the sound you're dialing in.
Really nice review. I've paired the Dream 65 with the Ox stomp and I haven't turned my Deluxe reverb on in months. It's an amazing pairing. The Bluetooth connection is much improved. It's still not perfect but it's loads better than it used to be.
That's good to hear about the bluetooth. I'm still on factory firmware just because I don't want to chance it. Did they add any new features or improvements with the updates?
I got the pilot sport 4S’s. I love them but I think just from a tread wear perspective, next time I’ll get the all season 4’s. Most importantly, I went to 265/40-21 in the front and 295/35-21 in the rear. They’re wider and slightly taller than the factory tires so they grip better and absorb bumps and cracks in the road a bit better.
I just remember your old Jet City videos, and since I’ve gotten back into playing those, I looked back into your stuff. Man, what a surprise seeing the recent videos being really helpful in getting a real impression of amps and pedals. I just really enjoy your thorough takes, and getting the scoop on how it holds up live. I really hope more people will be exposed to your channel eventually.
Thanks man! Yeah the JCA stuff was fun. I still have my 100w head! Still sounds great! This gear partnership with Zzounds has been really enlightening in just this short amount of time. I've now had the chance to play a few piece of gear that I was sure would be great for me and completely missed the mark and some stuff I thought would be kinda meh but have wowed me. I was not prepared for how good that Victory Kraken was going to sound on stage! I was also totally sure that the Fender Deluxe II tele would be a killer guitar but I just wasn't feeling it at all. I feel like this is going to turn into one of those "don't meet your heroes" type situation where I'll get something that I've been wanting to try for years and then it sucks but then I'll get something I wouldn't have otherwise had any intention of buying or even picking off the wall at guitar center and then being completely blown away. I don't want to jinx it just yet but last week, they sent me the Lizzy Hale Explorer and that guitar has absolutely knocked my socks off. I'd have never thought about giving it a chance just because of the over the top looks/paint and firebird headstock but it's been a VERY long time since I've been this excited to pick up an instrument. I can't wait to get that on stage so I can do the video.
@FastRedPonyCar have you seen the new KDM gamechanger pedal? It has a button or switch to change the powerfamp to something like kt88 which might make that diezel pedal sing. It may not be available to buy right now, i just saw a demo of it yesterday.
@@FastRedPonyCar Man, idk where my brain is at. It's called KMA "audio machines". I accidentally said KDM. I believe the pedal was called "Endgame" they have a youtube channel. Definitely worth checking out.
Once when I was at my local store the silver burst caught my eye (because well silverburst) so I tried it a bit and the pickups were so underwhelming and lifeless and I don't know about you but I don't like dropping that kinda cash on a guitar that I already dropped a ton of cash on. And as always thanks for always being a staple in the high gain world!
Thanks dude. Yeah I get where they came from with the pro II. It’s got a sound formula they seem to stick to pretty closely and I think in general, fender tend to stick very closely to traditional design and leave the hot rods to their Charvel crew to build (which is probably the same Mexico factory the Shiflett guitar was made). I think as a tele with a bigger sound and cooler aesthetics, it hits the mark but the fretwork is what really got under my skin. The Shiflett guitar had better fretwork :/ I think a deluxe pro II owner could probably sell those pickups and complete wiring harness and break even buying some decent Alnico II or V pickups and 4x CTS 500k pots and have a WAY cooler rock guitar that has a sound to match the aesthetics.
If you want it lower, you can adjust the tremolo pivot screw with an Allen wrench. Tighten the screw to lower the bridge. Lower it to the point where you can still cleanly fret all the notes on every fret. Once you hear notes dying or buzzing really badly (if it were me) I would raise it a hair and call it a day. You also need to make sure the neck action is set properly with the truss rod. There’s a right and wrong way to do that so check RU-vid for truss rod adjustment instructional videos.
@@FastRedPonyCar yeah i ive adjusted them but my concern is that the treble side is little bit lower than bass side so is it fine to have different height?
Good demo man... Martin and Rabea got a lot right with this one. The Super Kraken 100W version has been my main amp the last few years. It's high gain but pretty dynamic and defined, and it can get both Marshall and 5150/Mesa ballpark tones; you can pull off most genres and get a lot done with this head. The first gain channel can nail a lot of Marshall tones from slight breakup to early Metallica and even Slayer with a boost. The second gain channel gets into a less fizzy 5150-esque tone that is still dynamic but can handle almost any post-90 tones. Very addictive chug sounds. It also does a great fat lead tone, dynamic, creamy but punchy. I'd like to try those new Bad Cat amps, they seem like they'd fit into the same category of dynamic high gainers without a typical traditional American/British tone.
Yeah the Lynx sounds like it would be right up my alley and is on my list to try. I played a hotcat 30R years ago and it was incredible. I wish Martin would bring the Cornford MK50 back as a new victory amp. Always loved the sound of those and incidentally the only one I’ve played was sitting right next to that Hotcat.
@@metalmeister3054 Kinda. It's got a lot more flexibility than the nitro but doesn't cut/bite nearly as hard in the upper midrange the way the nitro does. The kraken has a lot better clean channel and a really great range of low gain crunch sounds where as the nitro doing crunch just sounds like a high gain amp sort of being choked back... like it REALLY wants to be a lot meaner and the Kraken does a great low gain crunchy sound and sounds natural doing it. The other big thing between the two is that the nitro is well in excess of 100 watts and you feel every bit of it. If you're using a loadbox and IR loader going DI, you lose a lot of what makes the nitro such a killer amp.
being a 12" driver, the ZLX will have more low end than the 10.2 but I would say that if you're only planning on using it for guitar and vocals, you may not need the extended low end that the 12" driver produces. The FRFR mode on these new ZLX's chop off the upper and lower end of the spectrum that normal guitar speakers can't produce. Frequency differences aside, the QSC's are very much PA speakers and don't have any EQ tricks to make them sound more like a guitar cabinet (which I think, whether you're using a modeler or IR loader, having an FRFR that limits the range to that of a traditional speaker cabinet seems to produce the most natural sounding results)
It could but I think for something like that, an EQ pedal in the loop would be a lot more effective if you dont' want to mess with the character or saturation.
In your opinion.. how would you compare something like the Katana Artist to say a tube amp like the Splawn? I own a Splawn and love the amp, but want to down size my rig and not have to worry about tubes at a gig. thanks
My Nitro is an absolute weapon on the stage but it's also kinda like wrestling a bear. It's a huge and borderline uncontrollable sound and by the time the sound man is happy, you've choked the life out of the amp. It's still good sounding but doesn't punch you in the gut the way the amp really wants to do. The Artist is a lot different. First off, the Artist II sounds much better than the first generation amp so I would only recommend the 2nd gen amp. Second, the combo enclosure really doesn't sound all that great. It's a thin and one dimensional sounding enclosure that no speaker can fix. It's just how the enclosure sounds. For that reason, I got an artist II head and even through a 1x12 cab, it sounds so much more full and powerful than through the combo enclosure of my MKI. In retrospect, I probably would have been just as happy with the MKII 100 head as it has all the same features as the artist just minus a couple physical controls. The Artist head into my OX stomp is an absolutely killer combination and I've got a vid on my channel showing it with my silver jubilee patch I built as well as how I programmed a midi controller to use with the amp (which I think is far superior to the GAFC) It's a great DI sound and a pretty good plugged in cab sound with my Port City 2x12 cab. It doesn't punch like a tube amp but since our band has transitioned to using FRFR's behind us and going direct into those and the board and using in ear monitors, I really don't need a massive sound behind me on stage. Honestly, one amp I'm REALLY looking forward to trying out on stage is the Soldano Astro 20. It hits like a 50w amp, has a built in internal load so you can run cab-less using the IR loader that's in the amp and it has 4 channels, Midi, etc and a fair price tag for a Soldano.
@@FastRedPonyCar thank you. I've been considering the Katana Artist 2 as well. Hoping they'll come out with the Artist for Katana 3 for the Bluetooth adapter purpose. On the fly adjustments. I have a Nitro as well that I've owned since 2006-2007, been my number 1 amp for years. But as you mentioned, it needs some decent volume to bring out it's best, which sound guys hate. Haha. The amp I am looking forward to trying is the BluGuitar Amp1 Mercury, that's supposed to sound real good.
@@Bash_Man Oh yeah. I have the mercury on my list of amps to try. I had the Iridium for about a month and it was great. I only sold it because I could break even on the sale and because it didn't really do anything my Jubilee doesn't already do (although the portable size was super convenient)
@@Bash_Man It's definitely firmly rooted in very high gain marshall territory and has more saturation than the Nitro. It doesn't punch with nearly as much strength or move air the way the nitro does when it's connected to a cab but the size to performance ratio of the Iridium is really really awesome. The thing I liked about the iridum was that you can turn off cab simulation and run it DI into something like an IR loader. The built in cab sim was pretty bad. One disappointment I have reading the specs on the Mercury is that cab sim can't be disabled. I did a quick video playthrough of the Iridium if you haven't seen that yet.
Haha. Almost. We’ve been at this house for a little over 10 years but spent plenty of time in front of the camera at the previous house. Most of us HCAF guys are over at GuitarGearForum now.
Marshall 4x12 cab. I absolutely love the thing. It's been the one piece of gear in the last year and a half that's really impressed me more than really anything else I've tried. Literally every other device I own that replicates the sound of a speaker cabinet/IR/etc, this thing just smokes.
Thank you so much for putting into words my problems with the amp, its lack of compression and saturation. The notes have no grace or flow what so ever. It's great for rhythms and riffs but for and single note stuff or solos it just leaves you wanting more
Yeah boosting it definitely helps but I connected my Jubilee up next to this amp and when dialing in the same amount of gain from both amps, man... the jubilee just feels SO much better to play and cleans up unbelievably well. I'm testing the MKII Victory Kraken in the studio now and going on stage with it this weekend and that amp has REALLY impressed me. It's got all the nice fat saturated low gain crunch but still has a very tight, clean and percussive high gain channel and a bit warm and powerful clean channel. I'm really looking forward to the show with that thing.
@FastRedPonyCar my buddy has the mk1 and it's pretty sweet. The sound that comes out of something that small! And I'm a 5150 guy so I get the crunch and the saturation!
Unless you compare it to Bluguitar Amp1 Iridium or Mercury, I don't really care because Amp1 is the amp to beat. Or the Origin Hot Mod into the fryette powerstation.
Hi. This is Herbert from EverTune here. I've been watching your channel since back when you started getting into exploring the Kemper Amp. If you want the EverTune bridge to be active and at the same time allow for bending and vibrato, just as with any regular guitar, then you'll have to set it up accordingly. We suggest to specifically place the saddles inside zone 2, just at the edge of zone 2 towards zone 3, so that the EverTune saddles are active while you play and keep the strings balanced at all time, and so that any bend or vibrato will push the saddle over the edge into zone 3, where the EverTune feature is no longer active and the string will behave as with any regular fixed bridge, but will come back into zone 2 afterwards. This way you can play the EverTune equipped guitar like any traditional guitar and always know that it will remain in perfect tuning. You don't need to choose between stability or expression, with the EverTune you get to have both. The way you position the saddles at the bendstop position this is you keep picking the string while tightening the tuning peg until the note starts increasing in pitch, then back the tuning peg off to where the note is back in tune again. This will have the EverTune feature active across all strings while allowing for most natural vibrato and bending. I'm assuming you are new to the system. Let me know if you have any questions about the system including the setup, and I'll be happy to answer them.
Thanks for the info. Yeah I kind of assumed there was a specific spot you could do that but to be totally honest, the rest of the guitar really just soured the whole experience. The evertune was the least of my problems with this instrument.
if it's any help with regards to the evertune bridge, you can effectively sort of setup the amount of tension required to bend strings, which is quite unique while still getting the benefits of a stable tuning, (ie. setting it between zone 2/3 to taste) when you first change strings there's going to be a bit of 'drift' as it were until the string settles, for context we play in drop B , i usually swap the strings maybe a week or so before with at least 1-2 band practices in, i don't have time to tune between our songs live, so the evertune bridge is a huge help, not to mention the improved intonation otherwise tried the fishmans in an rgd/evertune setup, the voicing was also not for me , very tight/rolled off bass and almost like you've got a TS constantly engaged
Yeah and not in a good way. They have a weird frequency going on in the mids/highs that I just couldn't seem to dial out. Even with the HF Tilt wired. I REALLY wanted to like them.
Hey I was wondering if you’d recommend the ox stomp plus a frfr or stay away and get a real cab. I have a vh4-2 pedal also and I’m trying to figure out how to get it to sound most like the real vh4. I’m not sure whether the best option is to do what you do or to get an amp head plus mesa cab and run it through the fx loop. I’m kinda stuck between both. It is a lot cheaper to go with the ox pedal though. Also, do you get feedback through your ox rig when playing loud? Personally I like the feedback and would still want some of it. Thanks!
The OX stomp is an incredible piece of gear and running it into an FRFR is the easy way to get a great sound with a ton of power for the stage (assuming you're using a decent FRFR). A power amp or guitar amp FX return and a real cab will offer a bigger and harder hitting sound and a more authentic guitar cabinet sound (since it's obviously the real deal) but will cost a lot more. I think the best sounding option without spending a ton of money is the fryette power station as you not only get a great power amp, you also can use it as a load box or attenuator with a real amp. A more expensive but more feature-rich solution would be the Boss WAZA tube amp expander. While it's a solid state power amp, it has 2 impedance controls that offer a lot of flexibility with the sound and way more outputs and flexibility on stage as well as having the ability to be an IR loader. While the TAE with even the best IR's doesn't sound as authentic as the OX Stomp, it makes up for it with all the flexiblity and is the best of these devices for stage use. The built in effects are pretty great and you can either use the Boss GAFC controller or a midi controller. The other option is the OX box. While it's more geared towards a studio player, it still works well on stage being able to foot switch a reverb or delay (both of which are very high quality), it can do the reactive load thing to go cab-less on stage but requires opening the unit up and DIY'ing an RCA to 1/4" jack and connecting the RCA plug into an internal line-in RCA jack if you want to run something like this VH4 or a modeler directly into the OX box. The Waza TAE and Power station both have direct inputs for that. There's no perfect solution so it depends on how you're wanting to use the gear which will dictate which product would work best.
I did a search for this pedal.. and found you. I noticed you were comparing your old super lead to this on the bass which you noticed, but you seemed suprised it had so much bass. 😂. Of course it will with the bass amp settingm 😂 I am still watching and si far it sounds absolutely killer to me. Like a real plexi. I want to know if it feels like a real amp. Does it have that touch response. I've heard people say it does, but only one or two. I would be playing this as a crunch channel mostly, then switch to the brown for leads and or use a boost pedal in front of it. If it would clean up on the brown setting using the volume knob like a real amp, then I would'nt use any boost pedal and would just use the volume knob like we did back in the day. I have been playing sense the 70s, late 70s and that is how we used tube amps much of the time. I did use a Twin reverb and a Rat for distortion for a long time. It worked quite well. Anyway, good video sir and the pickups sound good and I like the axe! If yih have not tried the Dumarzio Super three in the bridge for high gain rock and metal you have'nt lived 😂 I only wish they would have included a headphone out. Why UA. Why? 😂 Thanks and be well sir.. Regards from South Central Indiana. The heartland. Tim..❤
Yeah the touch responsiveness of the lion is excellent. You obviously lose the crazy volume and skill rattling power of a real plexi but the tone and voice is 100% there. As for headphones, you have 2 output jacks. One can go wherever and second can go to headphones.
@@FastRedPonyCar Oh wow. Thanks so much. I appreciate the info so much. Does it have an effect loop or do you just put delays and such after it on a pedal board ? I'm trying to come up with a silent stage gigging solution, but I want the touch response and the tone and this is the closest I've heard besides a fractal. This is of course a lot cheaper because it doesn't have all the other amps and effects which is fine. I only use a clean, crunch and lead time and they are all Plexi Marshall like so this pedal should work for me I think. I may have to order one . Again, thanks so much for the info. . I really appreciate it. Tim
@@hoosierdaddy2308 Yeah you would run effects after the unit. Honestly after trying the Friedman IR-D, I think that if you are wanting more flexibility and a built in effects loop and midi and the ability to use your own IR's, it's a better product and more flexible. It has a more modern twist on the old plexi sound (sort of like a modded plexi like the Jose mod for more gain) and you have 2 separate channels with their own EQ and a boost to work with as well. I did a demo of that on my channel. It sounds really good.
