# new kid in town........check it out !CHUTEAMPS



## ssdeluxe (Mar 29, 2007)

(chuteamplifiers.com , I have no afiliation whatsoever)

guys, I'd like to take a bit of space here and tell everyone about this fantastic new amp builder that I bumped into recently. We got to talking and before you knew it, (a couple weeks later) I had this amazing 35 watt class A cathode biased beauty in my grubby hands.

I didn't even put it thru its paces @ home, right away took it to a recording session (trial by fire !) and was thoroughly thrilled with the tones acheived. !

*features:*
cathode biased class A operation (2x el34's/6l6,kt66,5881,6v6's:with a mod, and , 4x 12ax7) : ss recto.

*The Preamp*

The all tube preamp is split into 2 foot switchable channels (A and B), each has 2 gain controls. Channel A consists of parallel gain stages allowing you to mix the bright gain (gain control #1) with the dark gain (gain control #2). This versatility can create the perfectly balanced clean or crunch tone. Channel B consists of series gain stages for a screaming high-gain distortion (if needed and anything in between)Both channels utilize the same EQ consisting of Bass, Mid, and Treble controls. 

*The Poweramp*

The poweramp uses cathode biasing to achieve that class A sound. This biasing configuration acts as a slight compressor, giving a smoother frequency response. It also allows you to change tubes without having to re-bias. The poweramp can be configured to your needs. A post phase inverter "presence" control allows you to dial in the perfect power tube treble response. A master volume control allows you to set the appropriate distortion levels at any desired volume. The stock power tubes are JJ EL34s which will provide 35W of power.


*Back Panel*

The back panel of the CC-04 supports Send and Returns jacks. This series effects loop is controlled by the master volume control, allowing you to mix in your favorite effect(s) after the preamp has manipulated the guitar signal. There is a channel A/B switch that is bypassed when the footswitch is connected. There is also an output impedance switch; allowing you to run 8 or 4 ohm cabinets. A detachable AC power cord is also included for easier transportation. 

*ok,now to the sound !!: *(put it through early 70's checkerboard 4x12 bottom with orig greenbacks, jeff swanson 2x12 with bluedogs, Zbest cab 2x12 with g12h30s(thanks Pete), ac30reissue ext.2x12 w/orig. silverbells (thanks Pete !!)

*channel 1:* this channel has the most variable from dark to bright, with alot of chime if needed but also breaks up nicely, and has a few sweet spots along the master vol. and a great sounding master vol, which is actually rare to find imho, I tried a 62 355, kline t, guitarclinic custom strat, 73 les paul custom, and ALL, seriously ALL sounded great, with my fav's being the tele,355, and lester. There is also enough gain on channel 1 to get some od and some nice sizzle if needed. .....I thought this was my fav channel............till I checked out channel 2 !

*channel 2*:
this channel can go from acdc mild od to roaring/riping (but not in the metal territory), all rock if you need it to. There is tonnes of tones along the pot of the series cascading gain 1--into gain 2, and this channel seems to have the "chunk" and georgeous thick but searing colors with a great balance of sweet hi's and big lo's, I love'd this channel more than I thought I would. 

I do not want to splash superlatives around and make it sound like a honeymoon report, that's not what this is @ all, I've had the amp for quite some time and really just wanted to let people have a look @ this great new offering.I have no affiliation with the maker whatsoever, I simply wanted to offer a review of this great new amp.
I really feel it has so much range and all of it legit and terrific sounding, and that with just the jj34's ! 
This amp can take :6l6s, kt66's,5881's,6v6's, so I'm sure there are more sweet tones to be had in some of these other output tubes !

I really don't want to bring in comparisons: you got to hear this thing for yourself, but fender clean is there, I hear vox and matchless chime, I hear jtm sounds, and definately some plexi and alum panel marshall. I would say the amp is not particularly in the tweed vain, but honestly, trying it with tweed type spkrs might bring it there quite nicely, the class A operation of this modified marshalesque topology, really makes this amp do alot of things without compromising the tone imho. 
ok sorry for the long a$$ coments. pls let me know if I missed anything or if you would like to know more, and sorry I havn't made clips, but I honestly feel clips never really seem to capture and amps essence, that has to be experienced  imho... thanks for reading. Sorry, my pics suck, but this gives you an idea, diff. tolex colours are avail. as well.

** update: Carl is currently working on a combo amp with 1x12 to start with 6v6's : out soon, I will update with some info.**


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## SinCron (Mar 2, 2006)

AW chute! Lol.


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## pickslide (May 9, 2006)

Great review and cool looking amp for sure! I love to hear that there are more and more Canadian's building great amps. I also noticed on the website that Warren Haynes is a customer which says a lot. As well, I saw that Jeff Martin uses them and I love his live tone...now I know his secret.

How does it clean up when you turn down the volume on the guitar?


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## ssdeluxe (Mar 29, 2007)

Hi again Pickslide, thank you for the nice comments !

it cleans up extemely well, and retains the tone and warmth/sweetness/and bright clarity, I actually like the clean/medium gain/chime from this amp more than the uber gainy tones, it does that too, but I love the "in the middle" tones that speak on this amp.

I hope Faracaster offers some of his thoughts as he was playing thru it the other day, and boy Pete sounded great, he's a great player and it was invalueable to hear it from the listener perspective and not the player, very different. 

your more than welcome to come by and try it if you like.


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## pickslide (May 9, 2006)

Thanks for the reply. Where do you live?


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## ssdeluxe (Mar 29, 2007)

....ohhh..sorry, I didn't notice til now that you are in Calgary, not exactly convenient, but the offer stands anytime.

and that goes for any serious gc'er. if you'd like to hear it, come by.

I'm in the gta sorry Pickslide.!


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## pickslide (May 9, 2006)

I do get out to Toronto ever 3 months for work. I will be there at the end of Jan, first few days of Feb. Drop me an email at [email protected] and maybe we can work something out.


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## faracaster (Mar 9, 2006)

Steve has been kind enough to lend me this amp for the past couple of weeks. Thanks Doctor !!!!! You really don't need this back anytime soon...do you?.......pretty please????
I didn't want to chime in with the " oh yeah it's really killer..the best" until the honeymoon wore off. 
Well more than 2 weeks later and I'm still on the honeymoon. Finding tones on this amp that make me just want to get out and play. I REALLY like this amp. No, I REALLLLLY like this amp. Carl Chute is on to something here in a big way. I don't want to make comparisons, but since we all have our reference points, the closest amps I have experience with that you might say the Chute has some kind of sonic relationship with is the KOMET 60 and my early 50 watt HiWatt. Of course the topology is nothing the same as those amps, but, sonically, in the same family. 
The first thing that always strikes me when turning on the amp is how big it sounds. even with the guitar turned down there is a certain girth that exists. It sounds "professional". There are no thin, wirey tones to be had here. Channel A in the beginning I found a tad bright and lacking some mids . But I don't hear it that way now at all. I see it as articulate, and more liquid of the two channels. Channel B was my fav off the top, it still is in some ways, but now that I have had a chance to play around with the amp for a while it's big mid thunder crunch "LIVE AT LEEDS" tone is a perfect compliment to Channel A's "WIND CRIES MARY" big tone. 
I don't want to mislead here.... either channel can be as clean as driven snow or rock out hard. It's just the voicing that I'm referring to. I've played the amp with a miriad of guitars and they all sound excellent through it. I started with a Tele and went from there. My Gustavsson's sound unbelievable through it. I keep thinking of tones I hear in my head and pick up one of the JG's to try and find it, it dosen't take long before I find that tone and a few others on the way to getting where I want. I was dreaming of Knopfler's big LP through his Komet tone the other day, I went over the Chute and lo and behold .... there is was. I've never been able to get there before. I so want to gig with this amp I can't tell you.

Well there is my .02 for what it's worth.
I'm just as happy to keep my big mouth shut and play Carl's amp.

Thanks again for the loan Steve. I will be getting one myself.

Cheers
Pete


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## ssdeluxe (Mar 29, 2007)

my pleasure Peter:food-smiley-004:

great comments.


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## pickslide (May 9, 2006)

I just got myself a Chute and would love to know what kind of settings people are using for different tones. I would love to get a vintage ZZ Top tone as well as a Black Crowes Sting Me sound. 

Any tips on tube selection or anything else about using this great amp would be appreciated.


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

has gain but cant do metal?

had me excited for a sec


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## ssdeluxe (Mar 29, 2007)

pickslide said:


> I just got myself a Chute and would love to know what kind of settings people are using for different tones. I would love to get a vintage ZZ Top tone as well as a Black Crowes Sting Me sound.
> 
> Any tips on tube selection or anything else about using this great amp would be appreciated.



Hey Daniel! congrats on gettin' one of these! and for reviving this old thread.

hmmm....I've never really approached this amp for looking for anything specific, I really don't know what I would suggest. but maybe this: for crowes I might stay on the clean channel and get the mids full up and hit the presence knob pretty high as well and get the pre gain about 2 or 3 o'clock, I think I remember that being the more "rock" break up.

as far as zz, I believe that lives in the B channel: the A channel is kind of brighter and clearer (but not necesarily), but the B channel contains the "fat" "girthy" stuff, I would go 3/4 on both gains on that channel, keep the mids up and treb's down and just a bit of presence. let me know if that get's you anywhere.

I'll be honest, I just twist till I get it !! lol

this amp is just a terrific platform for SO MUCH tone. I definately am not blowin' sunshine, I 've had this a long while already, and its still my goto.

I have to say this as well. I think the spkrs you choose will have a very large effect on this amp. I started out with my 2x12 swanson with blues, and this was a tremendous match for the chute. I loved it.
from there I went with marshall 4x12 straight cab, one checkerboard with greenies the other straight cab with blackback 55hz spkrs, and that was gr8t too, hendrixy strat very alive in that config. 
last stop was the swanson 2x12 with scumback hi power h75 and celi g1280 (a really old one with the 1777 cone, nice !), gr8t all purpose 2x12 config. that can handle my 100 superlead.

any of these I loved. the thing I would like to try next is a tweed type spkr and see how that is.

Daniel: I had Carl mod mine to remove the fx send/return and put in a "mid shift" (like a mid carve/boost: just to change the personality of the midrange to further add to the amps versatility), and a "tweed switch" (this allowed for 6v6 tubes to be used, you have to dbl the ohms though ! important)....this proved to be very very good ! I have as of yet to try all the other tube options, 5881, 6l6's and kt77's are next.

I would also recommend an nos 12ax7 in pos. 1, I love the robust quality of the old ones, but in all honestly the stock jj's are just fine, I have no complaints.

I think that trying diff. spkrs will help you decide what you like best, I love this amp ! congrats again Daniel.


as for the comment about not being a metal amp: I don't know. I'm not qualified to answer: I started out with old metal and found the sound was in the front end, the pre-amp and pedal, I personally think it less important to derive it from the power amp section, but I'm sure some would disagree, I can get plenty of metal type sounds with a pedal or 2 and this amp will go there if you wish, just not from the gain' s on the amp itself.

I will eventually update this with my new cab revision Carl just dropped off.

hey Daniel, how bout adding a pic or 2 ?? and what spkr you using ??

...geez.....sorry for the verbal diarhea....I should stick to pnt form.


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## ukee (Dec 18, 2008)

Any one that's played a Chute, hope you can chime in here, I picked up Pickslide's Chute and it should be here by the end of next week. Do you guys feel that there's any sonic similarities between the Chute and a Budda SD. The Budda and Chute are both Class A (or Modified Class A/class AB), so I'm thinking the lead tones would be similar, slightly compressed. I had a hand wired SD30 for a few years, sold it last month and kind of miss it. I'm hoping the chute's El34s will give me more of the low end thump the Budda was missing. Would the cleans be comparable, chimey(sparkly)?


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## faracaster (Mar 9, 2006)

ukee said:


> Any one that's played a Chute, hope you can zoom in here, I picked up Pickslide's Chute and it should be here by the end of next week. Do you guys feel that there's any sonic similarities between the Chute and a Budda SD. The Budda and Chute are both Class A (or Modified Class A/class AB), so I'm thinking the lead tones would be similar, slightly compressed. I had a hand wired SD30 for a few years, sold it last month and kind of miss it. I'm hoping the chute's El34s will give me more of the low end thump the Budda was missing. Would the cleans be comparable, chimey(sparkly)?


Well I have had Steve's at my house twice now and owned a SD30 also (albeit quite some time ago). I would say these two amps are just about as different as can be. the Chute is a much bigger sounding amp (think HiWatt) than the Budda. You will certainly get the thump you are after. However I would not call it a chimey, sparkly amp at all. I love it's clean tone but it is certainly not in the chimey el84 tone. Also I would say it is not your classic el34/Marshall tone either. Chute has it's own voice in my opinion. If you miss the Budda.....you may have to look for one in addition to the Chute to round out what you are looking for. But you bought a great amp there. 
Gawd....I got to git me one a them thar' Chute amps

Cheers
Pete


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## ukee (Dec 18, 2008)

Well as long as a strat sounds like a strat and LP a LP, it should be OK. I know every one has different tastes and ears but the review I read about the cleans is you can hear Fender in there and a Voxy/Matchless kind of tone. Is that fairly accurate?


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## ssdeluxe (Mar 29, 2007)

hi ukee, congrats on the amp !

I think you will need to experiment with spkrs: Carl Chute's production cabs have v30's and/or g12h30's, both gr8t for diff. applications, the cab I heard was with g12h30's and was very alive and big. 

that may have been me that mentioned I was getting fendery and marshally and voxy sounds depending on settings and spkrs: I should have preface'd: "like" imho you don't get those sounds w/o those amps, but particularly with the blue alnico spkrs I was getting alot of smilar tones to the above. (particularly on the marsh/vox side: british flavour).

its very interesting: the diff. output tube types will give you a change in the amps personality: I found the 6l6's more fendery with touch sensativity on the cleans.

sorry if I was misleading on specific comparison's.

I agree with Pete, its got its own thing going on.

I have mine out on loan to gtrchris, and hopefully he can put up some sound samples for everyone, and when I get it back, I would like to add a few as well.

pls ad a review when you get a chance after you've had the amp a bit, would love to hear your thoughts.


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## ukee (Dec 18, 2008)

I've gotta bunch of tubes I can play with, see how it works out, but vintage 30s I'm not fond of at all, chalk on a blackboard kind of thing, too stiff for my tastes, I prefer open back cabs too, gonna have to find me some G12H30s if my old Eminence BR8s don't do the amp justice. I find the BR8s work pretty well with every amp I've ever used, softer highs and deep piano like bass. Lookin' forward to putting the amp through its paces, I'll report back after the honeymoons' over. Not having ever played one I'm trying to figure out where abouts in the tonal spectrum this amp lives. What attracted me to the amp were the reviews and me looking for a two channel amp that'll do cleans and a good medium gain overdrive bluesy/rock kind of thing. I ain't into Nickelback but Warren Haynes definitely, he must of liked somethin' about that amp.


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## ssdeluxe (Mar 29, 2007)

I hear ya about the v30's, I totally agree, but I have heard them sound good with certain amps and particularly higher gain stuff...in general I don't dig em though, as I don't really do super-high gain.

your in for a treat with the simple yet powerful tone shaping this amp can do, having separate channel a/b master vol's is a nice touch that I don't see in many amps, and talking to Carl Chute, was a bit trickier to incorporate while still keeping the tone true and not dragged down with excessive circuitry.

looking forward to reading your comments once you've had a chance to work with the amp, and am curious about those eminence spkrs, I've never heard/used those.

I also recommend looking into the tweed switch mod Carl put in for me, it took place of the send/return's as I didn't need that, but he could do an addition while preserving the send/ret. if you used that. Its such a cool mod. turns the amp into a tweed deluxe ! so very cool, and not novel, it works and well......Carl was surprised, he hadn't thought to do that on this amp, again, its done as a switch and when off, completely out of the circuit.

sorry for blabbin', I don't want to come off as a "gear biotchhhhh", just really like this amp a whole lot, so much so its replaced my old #1 68 deluxe reverb which I had since 94, I sold it and have no regrets.


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## davetcan (Feb 27, 2006)

Another negative vote on the V30's, can't stand them. First thing I'll be doing to that Traynor YCS-50 ukee is pulling the speaker and putting a Scumback H75-HP in. I'd highly recommend this speaker for any open back application (not cheap though). I'll be interested to hear your thoughts on the Chute especially in comparison to the Traynor if you could, that will give me a base to work from. Any soundclips anywhere?


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## ukee (Dec 18, 2008)

There's a sale on Scumbacks right now, even with $20 off they're still pretty expensive. I've heard only excellent things about the scumbacks.


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## davetcan (Feb 27, 2006)

ukee said:


> There's a sale on Scumbacks right now, even with $20 off they're still pretty expensive. I've heard only excellent things about the scumbacks.


Deals can be found on TGP occasionally.


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## faracaster (Mar 9, 2006)

ukee said:


> There's a sale on Scumbacks right now, even with $20 off they're still pretty expensive. I've heard only excellent things about the scumbacks.


I'l stand up as a Scumback devotee. I just bought a Stone Age 1x12 cab with the 75hz 12 in it and it sounds GREAT !!!! Well worth the dough.


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## davetcan (Feb 27, 2006)

faracaster said:


> I'l stand up as a Scumback devotee. I just bought a Stone Age 1x12 cab with the 75hz 12 in it and it sounds GREAT !!!! Well worth the dough.


Me too. Went down that path awhile ago and can't go back now. :smile:


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## ssdeluxe (Mar 29, 2007)

+1 

I've got : the greenback 55hz, the h75, the h55, and the h75hp, all some of the best tones with diff. amps I might add, , its a bit different than that woody thick celestion tone of the older versions these scummies copy, but I like them alot. worth the dough for sure. 

I would say they are like the best pre-rola's with more clearity, slightly. definately give them time to break in, its actually quite shocking, they get better, and warmer also, in a good way.


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## faracaster (Mar 9, 2006)

Well I am FINALLY a Chute owner !!!!!! :banana:


Thanks to Ukee and Pickslide who both went above and beyond to facilitate this purchase.

I am totally smitten !!!!!! Love this amp !!!! Sounds just as good as Steve's does !!!!!

Okay gotta go play now..........


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## Scottone (Feb 10, 2006)

faracaster said:


> Well I am FINALLY a Chute owner !!!!!! :banana:
> 
> 
> Thanks to Ukee and Pickslide who both went above and beyond to facilitate this purchase.
> ...


That amp really gets around


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## faracaster (Mar 9, 2006)

Scottone said:


> That amp really gets around


Not any more !!!! kksjurkksjurkksjur


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## ssdeluxe (Mar 29, 2007)

copy cat !!! lol

glad your diggin' Pete, congrats


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## pickslide (May 9, 2006)

Really happy that you are enjoying the amp Pete. I guess it just wasn't Marshall enough for me...that is the sound I just cannot get out of my head. 

Glad this worked out for all of us.


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## ssdeluxe (Mar 29, 2007)

yup Daniel, not really marshall, I agree, with greenbacks pretty close, but the iron in those marshall's is diff. so that's a big deal for sure, I'm refering to older marsh's like 800's and older, I really don't like the recent marshall's, maybe some folks do, but I never get a tone I like from the recent ones, ymmv of course.

what marsh tone are you looking for ?

if its old school, I really recommend like a jmp super lead, or a clone in that vein, in the strict sense, even the clones may not get exact....but some are gr8 , like pete's texierra, that is one killer marshall jtm45 clone.

I used to own this, and my friend who has it now is selling, I can't go there right now, but it was a fire breathing small wattage mini marshall, it was intended to be a mini-plexi and it delivers that, just smoking, but of course the small wattage 15, doesn't give the impact of a 100w, but the fierce tone is there, anyhoo, here's a link if you are @ all interested, its pretty much a one of a kind and custom built.... sigh  {can't afford to buy back} )

http://www.thegearpage.net/board/showthread.php?p=5347872#post5347872


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## pickslide (May 9, 2006)

Thanks for the info Stephen. I am really looking for the vintage 68-72 50w type Marshall tone. I have a few things that I am looking at including a Germino and a Reinhardt right now. I would love a vintage Marshall, but am weary to buy one that I cannot play first. Had my eye on a couple on ebay, but I think it is too much risk to buy a 30 yr old amp on ebay without being more knowledgeable that I am about vintage amps.


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## gtrchris (Apr 1, 2007)

Hey Guys, 
I borrowed Stephen Stepanic's Chute amp and cab for a week and I give the Chute full marks for tonal versatility and BIG tones. 
I didn't experiment that much as I had limited time, but I recorded a few quick clips using 6l6's and posted them on soundclick.com.I just threw a sm57 in front of the Swanson 2x12 cab on the Scumback and let her rip. All the quick jams #1-11 and the jazzy Gretsch stuff is done with the Chute.
here you go:

http://www.soundclick.com/members/default.cfm?member=gtrchris

peace,
Chris


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## Clean Channel (Apr 18, 2011)

Deleted.....


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## faracaster (Mar 9, 2006)

Congrats on the amp. These are GREAT Canadian made amps. 
cheers
pete


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## Clean Channel (Apr 18, 2011)

Deleted.....


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## the-patient (May 19, 2009)

Awesome rig Tim!


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