@@bobbyarthur8809blue guitar has Lollar Dirty Blondes. Some of his others have K-Line pickups, the K-Line Signature’s are very similar to dirty blondes as well.
I like the tone you get from modellers, JNC. That being said, this is the absolute BEST you have ever sounded. Such warmth and responsiveness, it's just there. There is a reason it is called the real thing
Modeling is all about tools, and these days such great tools they are. Amps are about feeding our senses and stoking our tonal passions. Really like’n this amp 🤙🏽
Cheers to Jake for dropping an EVM12L in this. When I was an amp player, the first thing I would do was to drop an EV in my cab or combo. I've never been a fan of greenbacks, V30's, Creambacks. I don't want the speaker to 'break' for me. I'll add it if I need it. The EV's sound fuller and tighter. Great speaker.
Such good clean playing. Amp does sound incredible. Love how the reverb drips when you really dig into the high notes with your pick. Extremely responsive to playing dynamics too, that's and the smoothness with clarity is what stand out. It's always with really good playing that the best guitars and amps really show how good they can be.
Good LORD that sounds gorgeous.. And the EVM-12L is once again showing why it is my favorite guitar speaker driver. In the right contexts, it can sound so huge from top to bottom. This, of course is because of the playing going through it. Great stuff John.
Can be hard on the ears, though. A WGS ET65 is nice in this style amp. Softer attack and less mids, but not as deep. I'd be curious how a Weber AlNiCo 1230-55 would sound. It has a very flat clear response ribbed 55Hz cone with a gentle roll-off above 5.5kHz. The cloth surround softens the attack. The smooth cone AlNiCo California with a paper dust cover is also great, but a tad harsher.
Been using a pair of EVM-15Ls as bass speakers for years and they are the bomb. Mostly clear and neutral with just a bit of warmth. Would sound great with guitar, but I never do that for some reason.
That amp sounds great. The reverb is not too long. A lot of the recent "American" boogies give you like 3 or 4 seconds decay, but this one is like 2 - 2.5 secs which works better at not building up too much sonic competition. Impressed - great demo.
No two dumble's were the same, so that could mean 1 of 500/600 amps that Alexander made. He tuned his mods to the player, their playing style, the amp, the type of guitar, the strings they used, the pedals they used etc., etc. Every Steel Slinger was different, for example, so when people say "I like that dumble tone" most people just face-palm...
@@derekchapman5167 100%, but of the ones I've heard, played, or otherwise this amp sits in that sweet spot. Robben Ford's tone with his tele is one of my favorites and that's what this really reminds me of.
Always love your playing, mate. Also I imagine it's no coincidence that your 69 Fender was on the fritz and this one ended up in your possession. Modelers are amazing but it's hard to deny that warm amp feel!
Just got back from a guitar clinic with Andy Wood, Andy Timmons, Eric Johnson and others. I listed to both Andy's play through the Bella and it sounded spectacular.
I played several examples of this amp at AGH over the years I lived in Austin and always liked it. One of my favorite smaller amps along with the original Boogie California Tweed and the Bartel I ultimately bought. Oh as a small note John Suhr used to do TONS of amp repairs in California, and was one of the first 50 people to order a Soldano SLO back in the day. He KNOWS amps, especially Marshalls and Fenders.
I bought my Bella in 2016, and I love the Celestion V-Type speaker that comes stock. I always thought of it as a really clean version of a deluxe, with the option for twice the power. I admit I did buy it as a pedal platform. At the time so was using “foundation” pedals - I had five different drives - each representing a type of amp - a Catalinbread Dirty Little little secret, very Marshally, etc. and some Strymon wet effects in the loop. Now I use the effects return only, along with the effects return of another tube amp as output for L & R of my Kemper. So I using only the power amp section to enhance the Kemper’s already amazing goodness. It is an amp with a really clean character - I wouldn’t compare it to a Dumble because Dumbles will overdrive and sound amazing, the Bella only gets a touch of natural tube OD if you crank the hell out of it, and to me, it’s not a good sounding OD. Someday maybe I’ll sell it and buy a Friedman Dirty Shirley Small stack.
hi, i'm a tube guy. my recommendation for this amp based on it's tone, the settings and your description as being bright and direct (which makes sense with the ev speaker)...is...a vintage mullard i63 preamp tube at v1. it will smooth out the amp and make it more like a bassman or an overdrive special. you will still have enough highs and the bright switch will become usable, it works especially well with strats single coils and drive, it's what i use on my 1974x .enjoy!
I played through one of these last year in a shop while checking out a guitar…totally wanted to buy the amp too! Just a beautiful, pristine sounding amp to me. Only ever purchased two amps and they have been long gone for a few years now, went all in with the modeler thing direct to FOH and never looked back. Almost changed my mind because of the Bella, definitely on my short list if a decide I need an amp at some point 👍
Flavor of the month, very nice guitar amplifier. Been done before. I'm glad there is at least one person who appreciates this type of amp. Thank you, John, for the presentation. What came through the RU-vid video was beautiful. Your wonderful playing helps. :-)
The Bella is my favourite Fender style amp. If you get to turn the volume to around 6-8, keep the treble high and bass low. You get some beautiful crunch tones that are super responsive. Also try the HX preamp models (outs set to line level) into the Bella FX return, lots of fun!
The Suhr Bella is indeed special. I prefer the non-reverb version. I always run the boost on. According to John S, it’s actually a cut when switched down. Running it boosted is actually “normal”. Switch down (or unboosted) introduces negative feedback to the very first preamp stage. Boost on, bright switch on middle, presence off, either 22 or 44 watts… absolute tone heaven!
I have a milkman creamer and bella. The milkman is clear and stunning, the Bella harmonically rich and just pleasing. I play the Bella more than the milkman.
Beautiful playing. Forget about modellers. This time wasted for endless tweaking, then you take any (almost any) tube amp, and got almost instantly amazing tone. Sold my Kemper. No regrets. While typing this I am looking on Positive GRID Bias sitting alone in the rack while my guitar is connected to Ceriatone OTS from which I can dial any tone in 5 seconds. To repeat that on any modeler I'd had to spend .... hours .... Just saying. Again, amazing playing. You have the talent my friend. Keep playing, keep sharing ...
I played one of these once and was really really impressed by its sound for country playing - wanted to sell my deluxe reverb to get it, but somehow got distracted and someone else snagged it.
Highly recommend checking out the Suhr Hedgehog if you get a chance, set the volume up and use the loop volume as a master and it sounds unbelievable clean and dirty and everything in between
95% of my playing and practice is with modelers like Kemper, but there's nothing like the real thing. Its my treat on Saturdays after a hard week of practice and playing. I wake up even earlier to fire one of the tube amps and start playing. As soon as I start playing and feel and hear the incredible response...I want to throw the modelers in the trash. Legato playing with a tube amp is so effortless.
I'm really liking Matchless, Two Rock amps lately as well. Ive played Marshalls, Crates, Fenders most of my lifetime over 39 years. And some of these amps are incredible for their clean tones and they do allow the use of pedals great! some amps you can put a pedal in and the pedal is dull as mud and doesn't translate very well in the mix. Then some are just incredible. I'm not a big reverb guy, I like it lightly and not sounding like a church hall. But I do want my amps to translate the pedals sounds nicely when I want them.
Incredible sounding amp! Reminds me of my own Revv Dynamis 7-40 head which is a two channel amp but it's clean is also a Fenderish clean like this and is seen as a great "pedal platform" (and it is) but it definitely has character. I love that amp. Your playing sounds incredible through the Bella!
I've owned a wood faced non-reverb Bella combo since mid-2016. I use it alone, with a drive pedal out front and a reverb pedal in the tube effects loop. I also will run my Kemper straight into the effects return and use the power and section and speaker to power my Kemper stage for other amp sounds. I'm going to pick up a Friedman Shirley (Twin Sister, Little Sister, Head, combo, whatever) - depending on what I prefer when I'm in the room with it, but my desire to buy amps is otherwise no longer existent. t's a Keeper.
I have a Rivera Clubster Royale Recording amp. Sounds absolutely magical in every way. It's a great thing finding 'that' amp. You want to kick it up a level or three? Put NOS tubes in it. Input and outputs. RCA (Blackplates if you can find quiet ones but any are OK) for American voiced amps/positions and Mullards for British. You are welcome!!
John, I'm so sorry. But you need to buy this amp. Your tone is unmatched in this video. Also, this is the best demonstration of the Bella I've ever heard. I typically lurk on your videos without commenting, but I couldn't resist.
I’ve been thinking about snagging one of these. We have one locally listed on marketplace for a good price. I recently got a Suhr Hombre and I’m in LOVE with it. Can’t get enough of tubes now that I’ve forgone modelling lol
John...thanks again for a lesson in sonics. I owe my current reawakening to guitar sonics from listening to your channel (at no trivial expense). I now own several Anderson Guitars, often with pick ups arrangements inspired by your favorite guitars. Dream Guitars (N. Carolina, USA) and Siccas (Germany) are my sources for high end acoustic guitars. I love a rich clean sound and although I have several amp modelers, there is nothing quite like a great tube amp and Suhr would be the guy. I enjoy the REVVs and have a D25, but the moniker Bella is clearly well deserved. For acoustic guitars, have you tried the Da Capo 75 by Udo Rosner (previously of AER). I think it sounds sweeter than the Hendriksen's. All the best.
