B – 52 Amp Review
Noah Fink Reviews the B-52 AT-100 Amp.
(Note: This video is meant to showcase the B-52 AT-100 amp. It was not made to show off the “skills” of the doofus who’s playing through it, or the poorly made pieces of wood that he plugs into it. Also, PLEASE refrain from making stupid “omg stfu noob you suck mesa boogies are the best!!!” comments. I made this video over a year ago. I’m fully aware by now that Mesa Boogies are great amps, I just feel like this one deserves more recognition, and that it’s a better deal for the price. But feel free to send me a free Mesa Boogie Rectifier anyway if you feel like you need to prove something).
#Amp #Review
Originally posted by UCOcjPNDS-QueSsY-MpWCgLQ at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6T9Qn4mTf8
why'd this get recommended to me now?
Hilarious. You can play with short lots of distortion but wr got to teach you how to play clean and use chords.. Rock on
It’s not as good as a Mesa
But if you stop comparing it to a Mesa you realise the tone is pretty damn good for what it is
Had this amp in college, thought it was a piece of shit. Your better off spending a little bit more $ and invest in something that has a reputation for being quality and it will show in your sound. You’ll be glad you did. I can attest to that.
if you match it with a marshall 1960 it comes to life and change to mesa tubes make sure to get it biased then you have a scary animal……
i have some issues with this amp but im sure that all amps have them i play it through a marshall 1960a and it sounds great
I had this amp for a number of years. It was awesome! Ironically I use a Mesa Dual Rectifier now. The B52 AT100 was a different animal all together. The only issue I had with the AT100 was reliability. After a few years parts started going out on me. A pot here….. Reverb tank there…… Foots witch….. The LEDs for the channels. It was a fantastic sounding amplifier, especially for the price. But ultimately I needed something more reliable.
"A tube amp is a series of tubes" I can't even knock this comment.
I owned this amp for a time. For my tastes, I thought the distorted tone was too dry for heavy rhythm guitar, and the clean was very bass heavy. It was beautiful for lead guitar though. It sounded amazing with a wah in front of it too. If I was as knowledgeable back when I owned this amp as I am now about modifying amplifiers, I probably could have adjusted this amplifier into something special. You see them on eBay very cheap sometimes so I may try it one day.
Thanks very helpful !!!
I've owned an LS and an AT and although I think they have great for the price, I did not find the tone for me, personally. However, I think by using varying tube combinations combined with the right pickups in your guitar, it can be achieved. Great job on the vid, Noah!
50k views? ill bet everyone want there views back. WHAT DID YOU SAY? HUH? I CANT HERE YOU
I own a Mesa dual rectifier and a B52. I upgraded the tubes in the B52 and I agree while the Mesa has great versatility and build quality, the B52 just has that TONE I want for more metal and tight chunky palm muting.
The mesa can get a little muddy on the red channel doing palm muting and playing 7 strings.
I love them both for different reasons. If I need an amazing metal tone for a show, I will be taking the B52 with me.
It's a poor man's amp and nowhere near the quality of a Mesa. The sounds you made are lame; try not picking so hard ya' tard. HAHAHA
in all honesty, this amp is great and sounds awesome, but it does not come close to the build quility or sound quality of the high end components of a mesa boogie rec, always remember that you get what you pay for.
Hey man, theres no need to act all awkward and uncomfortable while demoing your amp. Just be yourself, who cares what other people are guna say? Just be cool..try not to force it. You seem like a good kid (albeit kind of dorky) but you have potential to be a great amateur musician one day. keep it up kid! Loosen up and just be cool and confident.. Chicks dig that.
What a joke. That amp is nowhere even in the ballpark of being "better" than any Mesa. For those of you out there who have no experience with either amp, here is why I say that:
1) The number of tones you can get from the B52 compared to a Mesa is low. It can come somewhat close to a Recto heavy gain-wise but it doesn't have the same bottom end and doesn't cut nearly as well in a mix mid-wise.
2) (And this is the most important thing) This amp is built with pure JUNK. Cheap cheesy parts that will NOT last. Do some research, read forums where owners post. You'll find that this amp has a seriously bad reputation for catastrophic failure due to the poor quality of components and shoddy building techniques. The problem of crappy lead free solder is compounded by very low quality control standards as well. Cold solder joints are everywhere in these things.
3) Customer service and parts availability are POOR so when something inevitably goes wrong, you're more often than not, screwed.
It is a sucky thing but you really DO get what you pay for in this world and this amp is no exception to the rule.
Check your guitars electronics first. If it plays quietly in other amps, then look at the amp.
Make sure the outlet you are using is properly grounded too.
It it's still the amp, change pre-amp tubes first, and rectifier tube. If that doesn't do it change the power tubes.
If that doesn't do it, then take it to a GOOD tube amp tech.
"Your" what is on drugs?
The only thing "not better" is the construction. Mesa's are built very solidly.
Tonal variety I'll Mesa an additional star.
But the AT100 also has great tone stacks
Mesa's prices are outrageous, more than they should be.
Their name adds a good chunk o'change to the price.
Mesa's are great amps. The B-52 is a very good amp.
For the price, it's the best tube amp.
It's better than most Marshall's I've played.
The clean, way better than Marshall.
You can get great hi-gain tone even at low volume levels.
It's hi-gain is quite close tonally to a Mesa rectifier in hi-gain. It's not built like a mesa, but not bad either. Mesa's also have their own character tonally so they are different.
No need to knock this amp at all. Most hate on it cause it's low cost and they can't believe how good it is cause they paid a LOT more for their "name" amp.
The high gains are awesome. You do NOT need a pedal at all. The tone stacks are nicely sensitive as they can be dialed to get a wide tonal palate.
It's a great amp and low cost. But, they are not made anymore.
You can still find some 'ST' series B52 tube amps new. Online music stores still have some. ST's are a bit different as they don't have the 'contour' control for both hi-gain channels, only on #2. And the "resonance' circuit is not there either, which is a really cool tone changer.
This is not a one trick pony either. It does a very good clean tone, more of it's own character than say a Fender. The clean channel gained up can get a decent gritty blues, but if you want that tone it's better use the first high gain channel and don't dial a lot of gain. That gets closer to a cool dirty blues.
For those hating on this amp, unless and until you actually play this amp, or any B52 tube amps, you can't make a fair assessment about it's tones.
Is it a Mesa? No. But it was designed to get those types of tones, and B52 did an amazing job with it. It's high gain channels are voiced more like the rectifier Mesa's. Like any amp, including Mesa's, higher quality tubes will improve what's already there.
How do I set my b52 to get a Jimmy page tone?
It is most definitely a tube amp. I bought one a while back. A lot of people mistakenly think its a triple rectifier. It's a Tri-Mode rectifier.. There is an A mode tube rectification. There is a A+B mode tube rectification. Then there is a solid state rectification. You don't need an overdrive or distortion pedal with this head. The dirty channel is that good. I have never owned a Mesa , so I can't make a comparison. I know I bought mine used, like brand new for 200$ and that is hard to beat.
Your on drugs if you think a b52 is "better" then a Mesa hahahaha
good for sabbath? also is this a tube amo or a hybrid?
I don't think that was even close toa SRV sound. I am about tio buy one of these tomorrow and I sure hope it was your recording that made it sound that thin.
By the way, you can hear the AT100 recoded from direct out; in solid state mode; w/dual 15 band EQ scooping out 400-800Hz at MySpace dot com slash quantumtheoryrules 🙂 thanks again!
Dude, you're hilarious lol.. Nice review of this amp.. Not a lot of people giving affordable amps a good review of decent playing with good settings.. I owned an AT100 for a few years.. Wish I never sold it! I used to run a 15 band EQ thru fx loop, and ran in solid state mode.. Really gave a good Mark IIc+ type of sound. Real tight punchy articulate tone. Thanks for posting!
Dat pick attack…. im sure thats improved by now, but seems like some good tone out of this amp.
great job with ur tone!!! yes! to me this has way better sound quality than a mesa dual rec or any of those. a buddy down the street from me is going to sell me this for like 400 with a cab i think! 😀
Hey noah, nice review, nice playing.. and oh yeahh, anna, good job filming and producing! : P
My at 100 is super noisy. How did u get yours so quiet?
lefty! me too! but poor one. gotta laney tfx1 50w and ibanez 320dx i had to take to the master of the masters of the guitars to turn it into a lefty guitar. nah… bored
damn..!!! i saw this amp on ebay… unfortunatly this thing not sell on my country… so maybe i should buy it on ebay…. the price is a "zero" lower than mesa….!!!! hope it good enough paired with my burgera 333XL…!!! I LOVE POORMAN AMPS..!!!.. did everyone know B-52 made in USA or China???
I have this amp and love it, but mesa are better in my opinion but are they worth all the extra money,no..
@DCT300 Dude, mesa's are overpriced piles of crap. This absolutely sounds better then a dual rec; Believe me I have both, much more articulate, tighter on the low end, it's just plain better; Wanna buy dual rec? HA! 🙂
i actually love this amp. get upgraded tubes, and damn… i miss this amp. i had the half stack, and sold it for car parts. i wish i never did. i drifted the car into a pole like 3 weeks later anyways:( i sold the wole half stack for 200… :/ then again got it for 400. anyways, looking too get another one
I love this amp, but get a lot of noise out of the second gain channel. I'm going to look into mod's or power conditioners because it's almost unusable on stage some times. I love this amp and would hate to part with it but the noise is killing me. Any suggestions? I'm going to play around with it now, cause I'd hate to trade it in since you can't get them that easily anymore but have to do something about the noise. Maybe it's a defect with mine.
@finkster
Dude there is a head for sale at my guitar store for $400 i would get it but I'm more into 80's shred stuff and I think i'm going to go with a Carvin x100b. This will definitely be my 2nd amp though. I love the variety of tones, great playing and great review!