There’s a little background hum but nothing obtrusive. Add a clean boost into the equation and the amp starts to drive nicely. It’s still a little boomy, but rolling the bass back to 10 o’clock and the mids up to three o’clock, while leaving the treble flat, creates a nice clean `base’ sound with a little bite when you dig in and a sprinkling of EL84 chime for chord work. Turning first to the Bassbreaker 15 mini stack, with the master set high and the gain around 10 o’clock in low-gain mode, the clean sound is rather dark but, happily, engaging the bright switch lifts the blanket and shifts the voicing into more neutral territory. Both use EL84 power valves and Celestion speakers for a more mid-Atlantic accent than a traditional Fender. The 15 head (also available as a combo for £470) is more complex, with three voices and onboard digital hall reverb. The 1×10 007 combo (also available as a head for £210) is a single-channel, master volume affair with a built-in treble booster. The lowest power setting is by no means quiet, but tolerable.It’s an interesting idea, and the cosmetics also draw on the company’s illustrious heritage with an update on the 1948 `block’ logo and a dark grey tweed covering that looks really smart in the flesh. The power scaling is great, even the 20 is painfully loud at home without it. It does do a very good version of the vintage Marshall tones when pushed like that. Not a ton of breakup in the preamp, especially using vintage pickups, you have to crank it to get the crunchiest tones, and then boost it from the front end to go beyond crunch to high gain. But from a bedroom play, or gigging versatility standpoint, having a great drive sound available at any volume is a definite plus for the Bassbreaker. I haven’t tried cranking one, but I would expect, as many preamp-gain focused amps do, it could get mushy when maxed out, and not just because of the El84’s. To me, the Bassbreaker 15 (or 30) is a more modern sounding amp and just has its own “thing” going on. I don’t own a Bassbreaker, but almost any time I sit down in front of an amp to try a pedal or guitar at the shop, I look for one of the 15 watt versions - I think they make a similar 30 now too. All these 3 to 7 watt amps never used to exist and home players have a ton of choices.īottom line: depends on your needs, like anything. These days there are so many amps purpose built for the home player. Of course so would the vast majority of great, old school amps. Great small club amp but if I retired and just wanted something to play at home, it'd be way down the list. ![]() But the truth is, it sounds best at full power and with some volume. However, I wouldn't recommend the Origin as a home amp for most players who're interested in rock tones. So while I'll withhold judgement until I see for myself, at this point I'm a little more interested in something like the Supersonic 22. Most seem to agree that if that's what you're after, there are much better choices. I was hoping the Bassbreaker would have truly Fendery cleans but from what I'm hearing, that's really not the case. IOW, I already have nice, old school Marshall clean to edge sounds with the Origin. My problem with those amps: I just don't know if the clean to edge-of-breakup sounds are going to be Fendery enough to justify having one. ![]() I wouldn't use the higher gain sounds at all. Not home volumes, just the ability to get a little drive at venues where the amp can't be cranked is an appealing idea. I love the idea of a Fender that gets good breakup at lower volumes. My main interest in them is I've been a Fender guy mostly over the years, preferring Super Reverbs for stage use (which, sadly, I can just no longer cart around). I've been interested in the Bassbreakers, but until I can really take some time with one I'm staying away. It's very old school that way and I really appreciate the way it reminds me of 60s Marshalls. I'm not a high gain player and the Origin allows me to set it up so I get the perfect edge-of-breakup sound, where it sings without being overly gainy. ![]() The Origin is a very very nice stage amp for me. ![]() I own the Origin 20H, which is used mainly for live shows (here in my studio, if I want an amp, I tend to play through my Nextone Stage).
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