# I tried the Suhr Badger amp...



## Congee99 (Apr 22, 2006)

Hello all,

I've been lurking here for a few months, and have found this forum useful. It's about time there was a Canada focused board!

Anyway, I had a chance to check out the Suhr Badger here in Toronto, and let me tell you. This amp is amazing! Everything they've said about it is true.
The power scaling works amazingly well, and the amp has tone to spare.
You can actually get the tone you want at *any* volume. I thought at lower volumes, the feel and response of the amp would be different, but it gives back what you put into it (if that makes sense)
What surprised me the most about this amp is how clean and responsive it is.
I know what I am going to save up for now.
Congratulations to John Suhr on designing this amp.
It's a winner.


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## Guest (Aug 1, 2007)

Hey thanks for the quick review. Can I ask where you tried it out at? What was the price on it? What cab did were you running it into?

I'd be all over this amp if they'd make the power scaling foot-switchable. So you could maybe switch from a clean to a power tube overdrive tone. I've got a mental block when it comes to 1 channel amps that I've had a hard time conquering.


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## Kapo_Polenton (Jun 20, 2007)

Good call on footswitcheable, I have to run over to my high treble and turn it up for distortion, definitely not fast. So now i just roll back the volume. But for punching in and out, its best to have it at your feet. I'm guessing price tag was at around 3000$?


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## zdogma (Mar 21, 2006)

I think they're about 2500. I tried on at Lauzon's in Ottawa (a head) and it was very, very nice. There are a lot of really excellent amps in this price range that are just as impressive, though.


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## Guest (Aug 1, 2007)

zdogma said:


> I think they're about 2500. I tried on at Lauzon's in Ottawa (a head) and it was very, very nice. There are a lot of really excellent amps in this price range that are just as impressive, though.


 MSRP on the Suhr site says $1750 USD -- that's a _ridiculous_ street price in Canada!


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## sysexguy (Mar 5, 2006)

Badger's are not $2500 in Canada afaik, either with us, Lauzon's or Cosmo's. The dollar dropped at bit when the Dow softened but today it's back up abit.... even with Nafta, shipping the amp from California is way more for us Canadians than a dealer in the northeastern US. That being said, I'm sure you can get one locally:smilie_flagge17: at a very competitive price. (we've got 5 here ready to go to happy players)

These are killer amps guys, light enough to drag back and forth from the rehearsal room to the studio, loud enough to keep up with a drummer in a small club and they record wonderfully......

Andy


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## Kapo_Polenton (Jun 20, 2007)

Are there any links to demos or soundclips for this amp?


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## sysexguy (Mar 5, 2006)

Yup, http://www.diffusion-audio.com/store/cart.php?target=product&product_id=16237&category_id=318

links to Kevin O'Conner's Power Scaling FAQ and the Suhr Badger demo page with demos from Steve Stevens, :bow:Mike Landau and Peter Thorn among others

Andy


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## Guest (Aug 2, 2007)

Kapo_Polenton said:


> Are there any links to demos or soundclips for this amp?


http://www.suhrguitars.com/badger.aspx -- sound a video clips are on the Suhr site.


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## Kapo_Polenton (Jun 20, 2007)

Well, Diffusion seems to have very competitive prices.. I was also looking at the reverend guitar prices and they were very good. The amp sounds good to my ears.. however, I do think sometimes that with soo many diff boutique amps and only a few ways to really improve on a classic 18 wat design, that allot of great sounds come from people who know how to record their instruments. Are you sure that you couldn't get a similar sound from a Trinity 18 watter? Power scaling perhaps not but that is where the greatest consideration might come into play. I might just build one of those Trinity kits next year with 6V6's and see what the 18 watt fuss is all about. Then again, Diffusion's price seems fair considering what this amp does and the fact that it is sold in Canada at that price. Pretty cool..


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## Kapo_Polenton (Jun 20, 2007)

$hit, Steve Stevens brings it on that clip eh? I guess he is not boosting and that is all amp? My only complaint, and this might be due to the v30's.., the higher gain tone sounds a tad fizzy to me.


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## Guest (Aug 2, 2007)

Kapo_Polenton said:


> I might just build one of those Trinity kits next year with 6V6's and see what the 18 watt fuss is all about.


I was going to make an 18W Trinity my winter project. I seem to remember winters in Ottawa being very, uhh, _indoor_ type winters.


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## sysexguy (Mar 5, 2006)

afaik, the Steve Stevens clip is a single Celestion Gold in an oversize 1x12 with a combination of a sm-57 and a royer 121. 

If you're into DIY and the power scaling is something you'd be interested in, there are 2 levels of power scaling kits available. BTW, this technology is :smilie_flagge17: and Kevin O'Conner has authored quite a series of books on tube amp design and construction. You may also wish to join or lurk at: http://www.powerscaling.com

if you're not into DIY, John Suhr's amp building chops go WAY WAY beyond building an 18 watt clone and changing the pilot lamp lense. These are very special amps albeit in a time when there has never been a wider choice of great amps out there. The Badger is one of the rare ones that can nail just about every shade of Brit tube sound without knocking out one's fillings or getting the neighbours calling the fuzz (although I have a great friend who is having a problem of the latter kind:sport-smiley-002:).

If you're trying this amp, start by putting all three volumes straight up (noon), listen for the change in timbre when switching pickups and different guitars. Listen to the effects loop and try and see how it handles pedals. Try the amp with the guitar volumes lower than you might normally do, play with the tone control. Have a friend play with the same settings....by now you'll likely be in agreement that this is a very unique amp and if you're amp shopping, it will likely jump to the top of the list. Just my $0.02, I'm biased (via cathode )

Andy


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## Congee99 (Apr 22, 2006)

Someone mentioned pedals, and I got a chance to run some stuff in front of the amp as well as in the effects loop. 
With a Carl Martin Plexi-tone in front, I was able to get some very nice drive sounds with nice harmonic overtones. It's not a channel-switching amp, but I could see using this on smaller rock/blues gigs. 
I ran the amp into a 2x12 Custom Audio Electronics cab (govenors?) as well as a 4x12 with V30s.

The best demo I've seen is the Peter Thorn one that can be found on the Suhr website or Youtube.

iaresee : I tried the amp at a store just north of Toronto - Cosmo Music.
I was actually pretty surprised at what they had there. Lots of really nice stuff, like PRS, Musicman, and this Custom Suhr Strat that is still calling my name. lol The guy I dealt with was also very nice. Knew his stuff, and wasn't pushy at all.
The price of the Badger was $2100, I think. Sounds like a lot, but considering the sounds I was getting with minimal tweaking, it's in the running for sure.


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## faracaster (Mar 9, 2006)

Just played one last night for the first time at a friends house. Not for very long unfortunately as we had a number of amps and guitars to check out.
I was VERY impressed. So much so he has lent it to me for the weekend to let me have a good wank on it.
I'll post a review on Monday.
Pete


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## Scottone (Feb 10, 2006)

Isn't Suhr working on a 36 watt version as well?


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