Introduction
My GT1 is almost "stock" GT1, but has no FX loop or Slave out. So I won't be reviewing that. Also, I've never recorded this amp before so the recordings are probably not the best. But some sounded pretty good for a single SM-57 up front.
Equipment used:
- GT1 head
- Vertical Matamp 2x12 (HOT100)
- Epiphone SG with Iommi humbuckers
- SM-57 microphone on-axis 1-5 inches away (depending on take)
Features
The GT1 is basically the GTO and GTL in the same box. When the Master knob is in use, it's a GTL with preamp Gain and Master volume. When you pull Master left to 6 o'clock, it clicks to "off" and engages the GTO mode. The GTO mode doesn't have a Drive knob like the previous GTO, but the Gain knob is now a Volume knob that breaks up pretty soon at around 10 o'clock for some sweet bluesy overdrive.
The amp doesn't have a Boost knob like the previous GTL, but I suspect the Voice covers that as it boosts bass to the far left and cuts the bass to the far right. The loudness is affected dramatically going from left to right.
GTO vs. GTL
There isn't too much of a difference between the GTO and GTL mode, they both have roughly the same amount of gain. But since the GTO seems to have a tad more bass, it also overdrives more when cranked. With that said, the GTO mode is the king of thick sustain on this amp. The GTL mode is nice for distorted tones without having to crank the amp, and it's a bit brighter as well making it perfect for those Sabbath Bloody Sabbath tones. But tonewise, they both seem to cover about the same thing after some adjustments.
EQ
The EQ is pretty interesting, simply because it does wonders as well as confuse a little. It's very responsive, and all the knobs interact with each other. For example, if you pull back the Treble it'll boost the bass dramatically, pushing the power stage harder for more gain. So you actually get more distortion by using less Treble. If you on the other hand boost Treble, the bass will be pulled back and clean up the sound. So it's a bit tricky to find a balance, even though it all sounds musical in its own way. You just need to settle for the right amount of bite and clarity.
Sound
As for the tones, I'm very surprised by the clean side of the amp. It has plenty of different cleans, ranging from honky bell-like stoner-cleans to surfy twangy spanky stuff. And very shrill things as well, if you like that. In fact, yesterday I sat for a couple of hours just enjoying the cleans. They have a lot of overtones and "artifacts", especially if you play sloppy. Some people say that Matamps will reveal your mistakes, but I actually think it enhances them to the better. Pull back Tone and Volume on your guitar and you have a beautiful mellow jazz machine in this amp.
The distortion. I've collected glorifying words for a couple of days now, and now that I'm writing this review I've forgotten them all. But the overdrive is simply amazing. There's nothing quite like it. As with the cleans, you have those musical mechanical "artifacts" coming from within the amp. It's nasal, honky, brassy, organic, mechanic.. I don't want to repeat myself, but that's what it sounds like. It reminds me of the tripods in War of the Worlds. "BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!"
It also seems to have its own phase, so mixing with other instruments should be easy.
The distortion ranges from everything up to flat out blablabla yada yada. Alpha and Omega. Mass destruction. It's extremely thick, aggressive, bassy and musical. I thought it was a physical impossibility for an amp to sound round and evil at the same time, but I guess that is what exactly characterises a Matamp. As many people have said before, it's fatter than any fuzz pedal without losing its string definition, dynamics and punch. It sounds much like a detuned chainsaw, sustaining for maybe 15-20 seconds. But even when the amp is fully cranked, you can still pluck the strings softly to get some nice perfectly usable cleans! Not muddy, not muffled.
The preamp gain is not really the point of this kind of amp, so it's nothing to rave about. It does have the Matamp character though which is very fun to play around with but, in the end, you want to abuse the power stage not to sound too buzzy. The preamp should only colour the power stage, not be the main sound.
Overall
What I love about this amp is that it was designed to be cranked. It doesn't really wake up before Volume/Master is above 12 o'clock and when you really crank it, put everything on max, it doesn't hurt. The preamp's not overloading, you don't get the impression that the capacitors are about to go. No no, it's stable and sounds fantastic. Hard to do without an attenuator though as it's insanely loud.
Audio clips:
Mellow cleans. (GTL mode)
Max preamp Gain, minimum Master. "The bedroom sound" (GTL mode)
My favourite. Half full. (GTL mode)
Cranked GTO mode. Hard to record, attenuator adds buzz.
My GT1 is almost "stock" GT1, but has no FX loop or Slave out. So I won't be reviewing that. Also, I've never recorded this amp before so the recordings are probably not the best. But some sounded pretty good for a single SM-57 up front.
Equipment used:
- GT1 head
- Vertical Matamp 2x12 (HOT100)
- Epiphone SG with Iommi humbuckers
- SM-57 microphone on-axis 1-5 inches away (depending on take)
Features
The GT1 is basically the GTO and GTL in the same box. When the Master knob is in use, it's a GTL with preamp Gain and Master volume. When you pull Master left to 6 o'clock, it clicks to "off" and engages the GTO mode. The GTO mode doesn't have a Drive knob like the previous GTO, but the Gain knob is now a Volume knob that breaks up pretty soon at around 10 o'clock for some sweet bluesy overdrive.
The amp doesn't have a Boost knob like the previous GTL, but I suspect the Voice covers that as it boosts bass to the far left and cuts the bass to the far right. The loudness is affected dramatically going from left to right.
GTO vs. GTL
There isn't too much of a difference between the GTO and GTL mode, they both have roughly the same amount of gain. But since the GTO seems to have a tad more bass, it also overdrives more when cranked. With that said, the GTO mode is the king of thick sustain on this amp. The GTL mode is nice for distorted tones without having to crank the amp, and it's a bit brighter as well making it perfect for those Sabbath Bloody Sabbath tones. But tonewise, they both seem to cover about the same thing after some adjustments.
EQ
The EQ is pretty interesting, simply because it does wonders as well as confuse a little. It's very responsive, and all the knobs interact with each other. For example, if you pull back the Treble it'll boost the bass dramatically, pushing the power stage harder for more gain. So you actually get more distortion by using less Treble. If you on the other hand boost Treble, the bass will be pulled back and clean up the sound. So it's a bit tricky to find a balance, even though it all sounds musical in its own way. You just need to settle for the right amount of bite and clarity.
Sound
As for the tones, I'm very surprised by the clean side of the amp. It has plenty of different cleans, ranging from honky bell-like stoner-cleans to surfy twangy spanky stuff. And very shrill things as well, if you like that. In fact, yesterday I sat for a couple of hours just enjoying the cleans. They have a lot of overtones and "artifacts", especially if you play sloppy. Some people say that Matamps will reveal your mistakes, but I actually think it enhances them to the better. Pull back Tone and Volume on your guitar and you have a beautiful mellow jazz machine in this amp.
The distortion. I've collected glorifying words for a couple of days now, and now that I'm writing this review I've forgotten them all. But the overdrive is simply amazing. There's nothing quite like it. As with the cleans, you have those musical mechanical "artifacts" coming from within the amp. It's nasal, honky, brassy, organic, mechanic.. I don't want to repeat myself, but that's what it sounds like. It reminds me of the tripods in War of the Worlds. "BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!"
It also seems to have its own phase, so mixing with other instruments should be easy.The distortion ranges from everything up to flat out blablabla yada yada. Alpha and Omega. Mass destruction. It's extremely thick, aggressive, bassy and musical. I thought it was a physical impossibility for an amp to sound round and evil at the same time, but I guess that is what exactly characterises a Matamp. As many people have said before, it's fatter than any fuzz pedal without losing its string definition, dynamics and punch. It sounds much like a detuned chainsaw, sustaining for maybe 15-20 seconds. But even when the amp is fully cranked, you can still pluck the strings softly to get some nice perfectly usable cleans! Not muddy, not muffled.
The preamp gain is not really the point of this kind of amp, so it's nothing to rave about. It does have the Matamp character though which is very fun to play around with but, in the end, you want to abuse the power stage not to sound too buzzy. The preamp should only colour the power stage, not be the main sound.
Overall
What I love about this amp is that it was designed to be cranked. It doesn't really wake up before Volume/Master is above 12 o'clock and when you really crank it, put everything on max, it doesn't hurt. The preamp's not overloading, you don't get the impression that the capacitors are about to go. No no, it's stable and sounds fantastic. Hard to do without an attenuator though as it's insanely loud.
Audio clips:
Mellow cleans. (GTL mode)
Max preamp Gain, minimum Master. "The bedroom sound" (GTL mode)
My favourite. Half full. (GTL mode)
Cranked GTO mode. Hard to record, attenuator adds buzz.
