Members Rayneman Posted June 28, 2007 Members Share Posted June 28, 2007 I don't see too much about these amps here. I got my CAA OD100 SE+ yesterday, and damn, its quite a beast. Its got two channels, plus a boost for each channel. Its powered via EL34s and has two really cool controls on the back panel - "whomp" and "feedback." The "whomp" is a 3 position switch that add low mids, and is supposed to be used at lower volumes to add fullness to the tone. "Feedback" is a rotary knob that works in conjunction with the Presence to...well, I don't know what the hell it does but when increased makes the tone more aggressive and modern sounding I guess. The owners "manual" which is basically a couple of photocopied pages makes no mention of the "feedback" control. The clean channel is by far the best of any amp I've ever owned. I guess high gainers aren't known for their great cleans, but my K-Tre is great in this regard but the OD100 takes it a step further. The clean channel has (among the mid/bass/treble) a gain knob as well as a gain boost and bright switch. To be honest, I'm not much a "clean" guy but this amp has LOUD clean headroom and some crunch when the boost is engaged. Channel 2 unboosted has a lot of gain. Very fluid leads and crunchy rhythms. The tweakability of Channel two between its normal EQ and the "whomp" and "feedback" controls on the back is just wild. It reminds me sort of how my (now gone ) Uber's presence and midrange worked in tandem. With the "whomp" on its 3rd position, there is a ton of low end available...not the Uber low end, but still a ton. The amp, like the XTC (yes, I keep making these comparisons) has a loop level control that acts as a master volume. The loop works great, I've only run a G Major through it but my understanding is that pedals work fine as well. Channel 2 boosted, damn, this is what I wished my XTC sounded like on its red channel. What a great "middle ground" between a 80's mid-rangey shred tone and a modern low end beast. I LOVE this tone. I've tried most all guitars I have at home, all with great results. Like my XTC, this amp doesn't like the mids turned down past say, 11 o'clock, but to achieve a modern tone it doesn't need super scooped EQ. I would use this amp to play the heaviest music I'd ever play - no boost pedals or external EQ required. I cannot wait to get this thing with my band and get it wound up. While it kicks ass at home, I know its built with volume and a band mix in mind. Parting words...in terms of lead tones, I would say this is a middle ground between an XTC and an SLO - more gain and crunch than the XTC, more fluid than the SLO (I have owned an SLO 100) and yet still sort of smooth. I can't get a harsh tone out of this thing. Anyway, hurray for me I guess, I like my new amp. These things are like $3,200 new at Tone Merchants but can be found around the price of a nice, used XTC if you look. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Cougar Hunter Posted June 28, 2007 Members Share Posted June 28, 2007 bump from a CAE brother. actually, Fedex should be stopping by John Suhr's place with my 3+ today. He's doing the tranny mod + some possible channel upgrades. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Rayneman Posted June 28, 2007 Author Members Share Posted June 28, 2007 They've got great customer service, emails are answered super fast. Its kind of funny, but I think nearly each email I sent to them was answered by both John himself and Ed Yoon. Of course now I want a Suhr guitar! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Puppetyr Posted June 28, 2007 Members Share Posted June 28, 2007 I've been interested in these recently. Can you post clips? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Les-Zombie Posted June 28, 2007 Members Share Posted June 28, 2007 I've heard great things about these amps, I would like to get one someday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Oops-A-Paisley Posted June 28, 2007 Members Share Posted June 28, 2007 Doug Aldrich said on his messageboard that he used one of these on the WS UK tour. I know this now sounds fanboyish but I'd really like to play one soon (before that all i had heard was Scott Henderson used them which kinda meant.. not for me) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Cougar Hunter Posted June 28, 2007 Members Share Posted June 28, 2007 BTW, it's Steve Stevens' new main amp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members JohnRageOn Posted June 28, 2007 Members Share Posted June 28, 2007 John Suhr is a mastermind! Great amp, very versatile, I wish it had three channels but the tone is great. The guy must have golden ears or something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Puppetyr Posted June 28, 2007 Members Share Posted June 28, 2007 Al Estrada certainly makes them sound awesome, although this is the regular OD100: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nh9r7RQl6Ys http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUjYwIEAK_E Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Cougar Hunter Posted June 28, 2007 Members Share Posted June 28, 2007 John Suhr is a mastermind! Great amp, very versatile, I wish it had three channels but the tone is great. The guy must have golden ears or something. 3+SE. or you can wait for the 4+SE in the works:thu: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Rayneman Posted June 28, 2007 Author Members Share Posted June 28, 2007 I first heard this amp live and loud when I saw Winger (yes, damnit, I said Winger, free tickets, I knew two songs, whatever, they were good). Reb Beach's tone was crazy. He was running two of these amps through what appeared to be Mesa Recto Cabs. Be aware that there are several different versions of the amp, the Classic, Standard and the SE+. The SE+ being the highest gain and the Classic being pretty low gain. According to John Suhr the SE+ is the original Marshall mod he did for Reb Beach, Aldrich, Steve Stevens and he also said EVH for the F.U.C.K. album. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Scott K Posted June 28, 2007 Members Share Posted June 28, 2007 Is that the amp Andy Summers has been using lately? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Rayneman Posted June 28, 2007 Author Members Share Posted June 28, 2007 Is that the amp Andy Summers has been using lately? I think he's been using the lower gain version of the amp. Probably the OD100 Classic. Its slightly confusing that the OD100 amps all look pretty much the same but are very, very different in tone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Cougar Hunter Posted June 28, 2007 Members Share Posted June 28, 2007 (random CAE content, touting it highly, detailed review, etc, etc, etc) great, now HCAF has CAE fever. If it sells amps for John, that's fine for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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