Playing with my WANGS OD-30 - Unboxing & First impressions - 30 watt fender style tube head for $600 

Wow, that is crazy !

Wow, Reverb has exact guitar I had that I played through the Bandmaster. A great US made classic 1st guitar-- search- *Vintage 1965 Kapa Continental Electric Guitar Original Vibrato Arm Rare USA Made*

Hmm… not so sure, as the EV takes a lot to get any breakup. I know because I own a few and a Wangs #2204.

I have the HD 15 and it pairs well with a celestion 25 heritage - much like a evh

I have a VT-15. It's great. It's basically a 20 watt Marshall JMP/JCM800. It is pretty bright, but there is an easy fix for that if you find it too bright. But the EQ is flexible enough that it's not an issue for most people. It does what it should and very well at that.

@@metalrules1135 thanks for your input! Few questions for you: what's the headroom like? Can it get plenty loud (uncomfortable for neighbors/roommates) before it breaks up? Flip-side, can you get OD'in tones at bedroom volumes? Also, any impressions regarding overall build quality or service/support from Wangs (if that's come up)? Lastly, ever opened the thing up to take a look inside? Anything worth mentioning?

@@0512matt I've never really had the opportunity to crank it. I play at home, I'm not in a band, so I'm basically a bedroom player. It does get loud pretty fast as you turn it up though. That is on the high input. I never use the low input, so I can't comment. The preamp breakup is nice with the master volume though, so OD tones are possible, actually very good, at low volume. Without a boost, you'll get into moderate gain territory. With a boost, you'll get wherever you want. It really is a mini JCM800 so whatever you expect from one of those is what you get out of the VT15. I've never used the effects loop, so I can't comment about that, but I've heard nothing bad. The build quality is excellent. I have opened it up to change the preamp tubes. I put some darker sounding tubes in there. I also performed the easy mod I mentioned. It's a simple matter of clipping a couple of transistors. Two snips and your done. They call it the vasectomy mod. LOL. The amp has given me no trouble whatsever. Jeff Kalish, the guy who is the USA rep, is a really good guy. He's on facebook in the Wangs Amps Owners Group page. He will answer any of your questions, and I've seen him work with the few people who've had issues quickly.

@@metalrules1135 🤝

It’s pronounced “Wong” for this family name… China has 1,000’s of dialects with different vowel sounds so depends on what part of mainland name is from

They don't justice fender style amps like this one. I agree the od channel isn't great on their fender amps, but they also make great Soldano and Marshall amps.

I hope you get your hands on a Wangs soon! 🤘🏻😁

The amp when used correctly is perfect for ,Blues, Americana and most Indie Alt music. If one is serious about Surf sounds one gets a Fender Twin or similar. Surf was NEVER about dirt sounds from the get go.

Fenders often suffer from low end flubbiness! Turning down the bass register can make an improvememnt. DON'T forget, a lot of those types of Fender amp have very little in the way of midrange projection!

If you still want to get your hand on a Wangs, give me a call.

@doodleydoo2369 😐

Correct Paul! Wang & Wong are 2 different Chinese Surnames! Sorry to hear you lost your Chinese woman! They are some of the best! I was seeing this Chinese babe about 11 years ago now, & in hindsight, I was stupid! I SHOULD have married her!

ecc is european e= 6.3 v filament c= triode so cc is double triode.

I have the HD 15 and the dirty channel is violent

That's what she said ☺

I also run a V30 1x12 Wangs cab with my Wangs #2204. Perfectly paired. ✌🏼

Right! And the “inspector gadget” song is not doin’ for me either… ugh. 😑

There's a couple gut shots on their website: wangs-amps-usa.myshopify.com/products/wangs-od-30-h

It is clean and clear inside.The board is hand soldered with some rosin imprints and well made.But I feel like the OT/PT quality is not very good.

Yeah, sorry, you’re wrong… I own a few of these amps. ✌🏼

@@Stashmanfpv what are they based off of, then? I'm dying to know. School me. Lol.

It’s a ‘split circuit’ proprietary design derived of two 80’s fender amplifiers. One based off clean and one based off dirt. - I cannot say which amp but the modifications make it uniquely Wangs.

@@wangsamps very cool!! Awesome amp, for sure. It is on my short list to buy.

MiG is a Marshall sound OD is a very Fender Sound Wangs VT-50 is much more like a MIG sound

@@wangsamps mig-50 is nearly identical to a tweed bassman circuit

@@ethanpearson897 Tweed Bassman is 4 input in Parallel Mig is not. More like a 800 with 6l6

A DUTCH cap, would be better! (NOT to mention safer! ) ;oP

🙏🤝

No no no!!! Jeff is a mean old man!!! Haha Joking, Jeff’s a solid guy. Sorry Jeff, I had too.🤣 ✌🏼

@@Stashmanfpv 😂🤷🏼‍♂️😉

24:00 verifies that this thing can also doom, and I feel very confident in my selection - the larger Wang's a bit down on the longer list but I look forward to eventually acquiring the 1987 model. I love my VT-5 (cannot recommend it strongly enough if you are looking for a 3W/5W (IIRC it's 3W with diode rectification and 5W on the tube rect setting) and if I can only throw one amp in my bag in a hurry it's the one. I use the box it came in, I really should get a case made for it or just make one. Don't go to their site - it's like a candy store...all the amps are different. They might have the same output rating but tube geeks rejoice because every single one has a different set of tubes in it. Power sections are different, preamps are different, rectification, etc...I am rethinking my 1987 decision now... And they sell some combos with celestions already in the cabinet... *returns to very interesting video*

36:00 funny you should mention - Hemp grilles are an option :-) too cool. And they are complex beasts.

38:30 I would check about being able to run the channels together via the loop - it might be a clone of one of the old designs that would allow that. It's already really punchy in any case. Some fender clones sound thin, way too thin. This is meaty. Not full marbled beef but a nice lean cut with some chewy bones.

This amp would benefit from a blended cab with a balance knob or two blended cabs with a foot switcher or stereo out. Then set each cab from each channel and I think the FX loop is how you can switch stuff into the front of the dirty channel so you can take it back out when you go back to the clean one. I need to actually experiment with mine more but I don't have the speaker variety right now or enough power to plug in anything large enough with an FX loop from my current stable. I understand people do sort of a "preamp" thing by chaining on some amps, unsure which because, again, takes access to a LOT of different hardware, most of which isn't even made anymore.

Then you haven't heard a Fender Blues Jr. You can find them all day long used for under 500. Chinese tube amps are garbage and only depreciate in value. If you suck at guitar and aren't in a band or play live, these amps are great for bonus room rock stars that jam to RU-vid for their friends that don't play instruments.

Yes!

at which part of the video? was it when the reverb was on?

@@60CycleHumcast on just about every note you play at about 12:20 when noodling, it makes it sound like surf music

@@60CycleHumcast Hey Ryan, check out the new Squier 40th anniversary models. They look wicked.

That's that reverb "drip". Probably made more noticeable by the bright "s" style pickups.

Most surf music doesn't happen in CA, I recommend checking out the surf guitar 101 forum for an archive of information, bands included.

@@60CycleHumcast Cool will do. I have a Princeton reissue, the "Bordeaux" version so it does surf really well with a strat or single coils. The spring reverb on it sounds massive, but I don't think it "drips" necessarily. I think you mentioned the same of one of your Princeton reissues, not the standard one but the FSR.

“db” meter

Why? Imagine the ridicule from having WANGS big and bold on your amp. Like Marshall does. Only they have a reputation and a cool name. Unlike WANGS. Of all the names they chose WANGS. Yeah. Drag that amp to a gig where the other band has Marshall , Fender, Ampeg or anything other than WANGS. Hell, Peavey would carry more clout than a WANGS. I'd run my pedal board direct before I had WANGS behind me on my amp.

@@jamespatrick3462 Very superficial, huh?

Can be tricky if they are different in efficiency, meaning they don’t produce same volume at a certain power input. I have the case here with two celestion speakers.

Or buy a Fender Twin........

@@hawedehre the impedance difference is what would make one draw more power than the other. The efficiency of the speaker related to mass of the cone and all that is balanced with impedance. The guy in charge of Jensen Guitar speakers talked about it in a video with Christian Kohle. It would be a handy refence for this type of thing.