Total Guitar 204's Group Test features four low-watt valve amp heads from Orange, Hayden, Blackstar and Jet City and you can hear them in action here.
For our audio demo, we played the same parts through each head to create an indie-rock-style track. Every demo was recorded using the same Eminence-loaded cab mic'd with a Shure SM57 halfway between the centre cone and speaker edge.
Each example includes two clean and two overdriven rhythm tracks, as well as an overdriven lead track, all of which are panned symmetrically. We kept the same flat EQ settings for each example, varying the gain control to consistent settings for the clean and overdriven sounds.
The drums and bass were programmed in Apple Logic Express 9 using Steven Slate Drums EX and Logic's built in bass patch.
Check out TG204 (on sale 9 July) for the full review
Blackstar HT Studio 20
Hayden Mini-Mofo
Jet City JCA 20H
Orange Tiny Terror Hardwired Edition
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“There’s three of us playing guitar in Foo Fighters… A lot of tone details can get lost, which is what drew me to the Cleaver – that P-90 cut”: Chris Shiflett on how he found his weapon of choice with his Fender Cleaver Telecaster Deluxe
“Notes dance rhythmically, almost creating a reverb diffusion. Those notes are held together with tape-style effects”: Keeley Electronics and Andy Timmons unveil the Halo Core – same modulated dual echo magic, simplified controls
