Jimi75
January 24th, 2015, 04:19 PM
Attention – long intro – bring time to read :-)
I'd like to give you a hands on review of my Two Rock Studio Pro 35 combo. There's quite a bunch of speculation on the web that proofs to be wrong once you have played or own this beautiful masterpiece.
First of all – I was the proud owner of an excellent sounding Marshall JTM 45 Reissue, equipped with Russian KT-66 tubes, tweaked a little bit to sound warmer. This amp was my best buddy throghout 150+ shows, studio sessions etc, but it came the time where I felt like the sound I was getting from the JTM was blowing away others, but left me untouched in the recent time. Something was missing, my style changed from being heavily Hendrix influenced to finding my own voice, not to mention I was no longer willing to carry a 4x12. In the first instance I borrowed an original 1964 Fender Bassman 2x12 cab from our bassplayer, but the JTM wasn't capable of satisfying me anymore. I sold it to a very talented young musiscian who will take full advantage of this amph!
Back to the TR SP 35. My search for the perfect amph was a long one! In April 2014 I was in Seattle and played some Blues sessions. One of the guitarists had an old Fender DLX Reverb and it did not only sound pretty cool, the grab and go easyness was just to cool to be true. Back in Germany I started checking old and new DLX Reverbs – nothing for me, sorry. Next was some Dr Z models, followed by the Toneking Imperials and some Suhr amps. All of them being great, but not matching my soundly desires. Then I played some Morgan Amps – all of them were great, but they were either very Marshally or Voxy and still I had the feeling with them not to be able to find my own voice. Then I stumbled over several Two Rock clips and caught myself coming back over and over again. No no no, this had nothing to do with John Mayer, although liking his music and respecting him as a goocd guitar player. I knew it was a lot of dough I had to spend and believe me, in Germany you pay even more than in the States and here you do not find dealers everywhere! To be exact – we have 2 dealers and both of them are far from where I live. Fortunately, one guy on ebay had one amph for sale close to where I live and so I had the chance to check it out. It was the Studio Pro 35 head...played a couple of notes and was blown away. Anyways, I was looking for a combo so I ordered it brand new!
Here's the milestone data and ever occuring questions:
1. Quality: Oh yes, this is what I call quality! Every screw sits in perfect, the material is well chosen. Nothing else to expect from the Premier Builders Guild.
2. Construction: Some people said that 35 watts in a 1x12 will sound boxy and not sufficient to keep up in a band situation. Hahahaha, this makes me laugh, sorry. The excellent construction and the toothing of the wood parts is an excellent example of how it makes a difference when dedicated people really invest time in making up their minds on their products. Let me tell you this – the amph is loud – very, very f****** loud! You look at that little guy and think „ohhh how tiny and sweet“ and then it kills you and your 4x12 in the split of a second.
3. EQ: It is the first amplifier where every little knob does its job perfectly. Turn the treble by 2 cents and....you will hear a big difference. The whole EQ section interacts and offers a wide range of sounds. Plus you have push pull options on treble, middle and bass.
4. Sound: This amp is the epitome of 3-dimensional sound. Never before in my live have I heard an amph delivering such deep and defined basses. Every nuance, every eq has enough room to expand in the sound. There is this magic connection between every note you play and the sound that comes out of the amph. The sound is warm, but doesn't lack any clarity, it's just that every note you play, even the high notes do never ever sound harsh or give you the urge to re-regulate. Every note has that kind of „hair“ and „sag“, and let you even play difficult lines with a certain kind of ease. On the backside of the amp you have a master/master volume that gives you quite a bunch of options to dial in your „overdriven“ sound. Anyways, to be honest, this amph sounds awesome when you push it a little bit. Reminds me of these perfect old Marhsall 50w Super Leads, but in a way more articulated manner. It's really unbelievable what you can get out of this little amph. Pulling the mid boost brings you directly into overdriven creamy sounds, although I prefer the amph set with just a tip of break up. No matter what sound you dial in, it cut through the mix easily. The most important aspect to me is that it is a very inspiring piece of gear that let me play new licks and sound structured and I think this is the most attractive part. The Two Rock is more an instrument itself than just an amplifier. It's not well suited for super twangy sounds or Metal, but other than that you can cover a lot of ground with it. So comfortable to get a good sound out of it. The built in reverb sounds gorgeous, the cleans of this amph just take you away to some other place.
5. Pedals: Perfect pedal platform! I play it with a Fulltone Clyde Wah and OCD and a TC Spark Mini Booster. There's a Free The Tone SOV-2 Overdrive on the way to me and so far the Two Rock takes all pedals extremely well. For the first time, I have the impression that all pedals show their real character and the Two Rock makes them all sound beautiful and smooth.
6. Bottom line: Perfect platform to find your personal sound. The best amp I have ever owned and played! It's so addictive, you won't believe! Best price & efficiency relation. I am no friend of price discussions and discussions about what else you can get for the money and that Joe and his neighbour can build this amph for half the money....Sorry, I am a well experienced musician and only very very few pieces of equipment have blown me away in such a manner since I started playing the guitar!
7. Cons: NONE
8. Technical specification:
Output Power: 35W
Tubes: 6L6
Reverb: Tube Driven, Analog Spring w/Send and Return Controls
Dimensions: 15-5/8" wide x 18 3/8" tall x 10 1/2" deep
Speakers: 1x12 - Celestion G12-65
Weight: 39 Pounds
Features: Pull Bright/Mid/Deep Controls, Half Buffered Effects Loop (on the Return), Contour, Pickup Loading
I'd like to give you a hands on review of my Two Rock Studio Pro 35 combo. There's quite a bunch of speculation on the web that proofs to be wrong once you have played or own this beautiful masterpiece.
First of all – I was the proud owner of an excellent sounding Marshall JTM 45 Reissue, equipped with Russian KT-66 tubes, tweaked a little bit to sound warmer. This amp was my best buddy throghout 150+ shows, studio sessions etc, but it came the time where I felt like the sound I was getting from the JTM was blowing away others, but left me untouched in the recent time. Something was missing, my style changed from being heavily Hendrix influenced to finding my own voice, not to mention I was no longer willing to carry a 4x12. In the first instance I borrowed an original 1964 Fender Bassman 2x12 cab from our bassplayer, but the JTM wasn't capable of satisfying me anymore. I sold it to a very talented young musiscian who will take full advantage of this amph!
Back to the TR SP 35. My search for the perfect amph was a long one! In April 2014 I was in Seattle and played some Blues sessions. One of the guitarists had an old Fender DLX Reverb and it did not only sound pretty cool, the grab and go easyness was just to cool to be true. Back in Germany I started checking old and new DLX Reverbs – nothing for me, sorry. Next was some Dr Z models, followed by the Toneking Imperials and some Suhr amps. All of them being great, but not matching my soundly desires. Then I played some Morgan Amps – all of them were great, but they were either very Marshally or Voxy and still I had the feeling with them not to be able to find my own voice. Then I stumbled over several Two Rock clips and caught myself coming back over and over again. No no no, this had nothing to do with John Mayer, although liking his music and respecting him as a goocd guitar player. I knew it was a lot of dough I had to spend and believe me, in Germany you pay even more than in the States and here you do not find dealers everywhere! To be exact – we have 2 dealers and both of them are far from where I live. Fortunately, one guy on ebay had one amph for sale close to where I live and so I had the chance to check it out. It was the Studio Pro 35 head...played a couple of notes and was blown away. Anyways, I was looking for a combo so I ordered it brand new!
Here's the milestone data and ever occuring questions:
1. Quality: Oh yes, this is what I call quality! Every screw sits in perfect, the material is well chosen. Nothing else to expect from the Premier Builders Guild.
2. Construction: Some people said that 35 watts in a 1x12 will sound boxy and not sufficient to keep up in a band situation. Hahahaha, this makes me laugh, sorry. The excellent construction and the toothing of the wood parts is an excellent example of how it makes a difference when dedicated people really invest time in making up their minds on their products. Let me tell you this – the amph is loud – very, very f****** loud! You look at that little guy and think „ohhh how tiny and sweet“ and then it kills you and your 4x12 in the split of a second.
3. EQ: It is the first amplifier where every little knob does its job perfectly. Turn the treble by 2 cents and....you will hear a big difference. The whole EQ section interacts and offers a wide range of sounds. Plus you have push pull options on treble, middle and bass.
4. Sound: This amp is the epitome of 3-dimensional sound. Never before in my live have I heard an amph delivering such deep and defined basses. Every nuance, every eq has enough room to expand in the sound. There is this magic connection between every note you play and the sound that comes out of the amph. The sound is warm, but doesn't lack any clarity, it's just that every note you play, even the high notes do never ever sound harsh or give you the urge to re-regulate. Every note has that kind of „hair“ and „sag“, and let you even play difficult lines with a certain kind of ease. On the backside of the amp you have a master/master volume that gives you quite a bunch of options to dial in your „overdriven“ sound. Anyways, to be honest, this amph sounds awesome when you push it a little bit. Reminds me of these perfect old Marhsall 50w Super Leads, but in a way more articulated manner. It's really unbelievable what you can get out of this little amph. Pulling the mid boost brings you directly into overdriven creamy sounds, although I prefer the amph set with just a tip of break up. No matter what sound you dial in, it cut through the mix easily. The most important aspect to me is that it is a very inspiring piece of gear that let me play new licks and sound structured and I think this is the most attractive part. The Two Rock is more an instrument itself than just an amplifier. It's not well suited for super twangy sounds or Metal, but other than that you can cover a lot of ground with it. So comfortable to get a good sound out of it. The built in reverb sounds gorgeous, the cleans of this amph just take you away to some other place.
5. Pedals: Perfect pedal platform! I play it with a Fulltone Clyde Wah and OCD and a TC Spark Mini Booster. There's a Free The Tone SOV-2 Overdrive on the way to me and so far the Two Rock takes all pedals extremely well. For the first time, I have the impression that all pedals show their real character and the Two Rock makes them all sound beautiful and smooth.
6. Bottom line: Perfect platform to find your personal sound. The best amp I have ever owned and played! It's so addictive, you won't believe! Best price & efficiency relation. I am no friend of price discussions and discussions about what else you can get for the money and that Joe and his neighbour can build this amph for half the money....Sorry, I am a well experienced musician and only very very few pieces of equipment have blown me away in such a manner since I started playing the guitar!
7. Cons: NONE
8. Technical specification:
Output Power: 35W
Tubes: 6L6
Reverb: Tube Driven, Analog Spring w/Send and Return Controls
Dimensions: 15-5/8" wide x 18 3/8" tall x 10 1/2" deep
Speakers: 1x12 - Celestion G12-65
Weight: 39 Pounds
Features: Pull Bright/Mid/Deep Controls, Half Buffered Effects Loop (on the Return), Contour, Pickup Loading