and see what it could do as a sort of blank sonic canvas for effects . I ran its output into an eight-ohm , 2x12 cabinet loaded with Celestion V-type speakers , and I used a variety of dirt boxes as well as several delay , modulation , and reverb pedals . I also used it at a variety of different output levels , from whisper quiet to near maximum output ( which is very loud , by the way ). For guitars I used a mid-nineties Fender Jazzmaster and a humbucker-equipped Tele copy .
The first thing I noticed with the Powerstage is that , with all the EQ controls set at unity , the high end was rather muted . Even with a really bright Jazzmaster bridge pickup it still sounded dark . Cranking the treble up to about 3:00 on the dial solved this problem and sounded much more open and natural . With the darker humbuckers in the Tele , I had to have treble up nearly all the way to get a properly sparkling base tone . That said , though , the cleans were ultimately very dynamic and pleasing , and the EQ section sounded really sweet , offering quite a bit of sculpting capability with 13 decibels of boost or cut for each frequency range . The overall sound exhibited a neutral characteristic that practically begged to be punched and kneaded with dirt .
In pursuit of this goal , I hit the front end with everything from a gentle germanium push to high-gain crunch , and the Powerstage handled it all very admirably at a wide range of output volumes , accurately representing the voice of whatever box I ran into the front of it . I find that germanium drive and fuzz effects are especially wellsuited to solid-state amps , offering a bit of the squishy funk that an old tube amp might give you , and this proved to be true in the case of the Powerstage as well , as it sounded particularly good with germanium-based pedals .
Solid-state amps have always been great for players that use a lot of modulation and ambience effects , and Duncan ’ s tiny firebreather is indeed well-suited to this task . Of course , there is no effects loop , so everything goes straight into the front , but this is a feature I personally did not miss in the slightest . Chorus and flange sounded clear and warm , and even the most over-the-top delay and reverb presets did not get truncated or turned to mud in the mix . The Powerstage 170 is , in short , a superb amp for all kinds of effects stacking , with more than enough headroom and clarity to handle even the most mangled , convoluted signal chain .
The Seymour Duncan Powerstage 170 is elegant , affordable , ruggedly built , and fits handily on a pedalboard , making it ideal for anyone that travels out of town a lot for gigs , or is just sick of lugging heavy amps around . It ’ s also ideal for players that get their tones from pedals , preamps , or modelers , and just don ’ t need big , complicated , failureprone amplifiers anymore .
It was unusually dark sounding with all EQ controls at unity , though this was easily remedied by turning up the treble knob to about 3:00 .
and see what it could do as a sort of blank sonic canvas for effects . I ran its output into an eight-ohm , 2x12 cabinet loaded with Celestion V-type speakers , and I used a variety of dirt boxes as well as several delay , modulation , and reverb pedals . I also used it at a variety of different output levels , from whisper quiet to near maximum output ( which is very loud , by the way ). For guitars I used a mid-nineties Fender Jazzmaster and a humbucker-equipped Tele copy .
The first thing I noticed with the Powerstage is that , with all the EQ controls set at unity , the high end was rather muted . Even with a really bright Jazzmaster bridge pickup it still sounded dark . Cranking the treble up to about 3:00 on the dial solved this problem and sounded much more open and natural . With the darker humbuckers in the Tele , I had to have treble up nearly all the way to get a properly sparkling base tone . That said , though , the cleans were ultimately very dynamic and pleasing , and the EQ section sounded really sweet , offering quite a bit of sculpting capability with 13 decibels of boost or cut for each frequency range . The overall sound exhibited a neutral characteristic that practically begged to be punched and kneaded with dirt .
In pursuit of this goal , I hit the front end with everything from a gentle germanium push to high-gain crunch , and the Powerstage handled it all very admirably at a wide range of output volumes , accurately representing the voice of whatever box I ran into the front of it . I find that germanium drive and fuzz effects are especially wellsuited to solid-state amps , offering a bit of the squishy funk that an old tube amp might give you , and this proved to be true in the case of the Powerstage as well , as it sounded particularly good with germanium-based pedals .
Solid-state amps have always been great for players that use a lot of modulation and ambience effects , and Duncan ’ s tiny firebreather is indeed well-suited to this task . Of course , there is no effects loop , so everything goes straight into the front , but this is a feature I personally did not miss in the slightest . Chorus and flange sounded clear and warm , and even the most over-the-top delay and reverb presets did not get truncated or turned to mud in the mix . The Powerstage 170 is , in short , a superb amp for all kinds of effects stacking , with more than enough headroom and clarity to handle even the most mangled , convoluted signal chain .
WHAT WE LIKE
The Seymour Duncan Powerstage 170 is elegant , affordable , ruggedly built , and fits handily on a pedalboard , making it ideal for anyone that travels out of town a lot for gigs , or is just sick of lugging heavy amps around . It ’ s also ideal for players that get their tones from pedals , preamps , or modelers , and just don ’ t need big , complicated , failureprone amplifiers anymore .
CONCERNS
It was unusually dark sounding with all EQ controls at unity , though this was easily remedied by turning up the treble knob to about 3:00 .