Good things sometimes come in Small packages (Atomc Firebox)

[steve mac]

In my seemingly endless quest for smaller/lighter yet better sounding gear, I have acquired an Atomic Amps Firebox. Essentially it's tiny frame ( you can see by the photo of it next to my hand) contains 9 amp simulations as well as being an IR loader which give countless permutations. Oh and throw in delay/echo, reverb, eq, distortion, screamer, overdrive, fuzz and a clean boost.

 

All this goodness is housed in a very solid metal case with very robust feeling knobs and buttons that feel like they will last. There is a guitar jack in and both 1/4 inch and XLR outs which can be adjust independently i.e. One for monitor one to the board etc. There is also a USB port which when connected to a PC allows for easy adjusting of enough parameters to satisfy the nerdiest of tone gurus and also allows for importing and exporting of presets and IRs.

 

However some adjustments can be made without the need for a computer including all those that would be normally found on the front of a quality amp like bass, mids, treble, presence as well as gain, master and level and of course reverb.

 

The boost pedal, which I think is a misnomer, adds any combination of available effects at the tap of a toe. Speaking of which tap tempo is also available.

 

The amp simulations it comes with include both main stream such as Fender and Marshall as well as more boutique offerings such as my favourite Freeman.

 

Amp modellers have come a long way recently with artists as diverse as U2 and Metallica as well as Keith Urban now using them live. With Axe being the benchmark but at an eye watering price. But into the ring comes this little beauty from Atomic like a latter day David and reviews find them comparable and the price of this wunderkind less than $300 or in the UK less than 300 smackers.

 

So what's the downside? Well, I am a long way from being a tone expert but I thought the presets it shipped with were pretty unusable with frankly too much of everything but both free and purchasable presets sorted that for me as I didn't have either the skills or the inclination to tweak.

 

Also a big selling point for me was the footswitchable option of changing between any two of the amps. However along with others I found it a bit confusing as this works just like a real amp, in that if you move a knob that preset is essentially lost. I suspect this will eventually be a software fix but in the meantime I am more than happy to dial in one amp that allows me, using just my volume knob on my guitar, to go from clean, through just breaking up, to distorted. Then add in the boost pedal I have set to fuzz for my moments of madness and I never need to go near it again.

 

There is no output for headphones so I am using a cheap Behringer mini mixer to cover this for quiet practice.

 

Outlets for this are limited with the easiest way being to purchase directly from http://atomicamps.com/ or if in Europe through https://www.andertons.co.uk/

 

 

 

 

I wouldn't push my limited guitar skills on you so here is a demonstration by someone who knows their way around a fretboard

 

 

 

 

In brief, my back, wallet and ears approve.

[GtrGeorge!]

Yeah, it’s a really a good box. I’ve used it.

[GtrGeorge!]

Thank goodness