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Thread: My Dream Amp is here. (Fuchs ODS content)

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    Forum Member Gravity Jim's Avatar
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    My Dream Amp is here. (Fuchs ODS content)

    Some of you guys might remember my Eganter amps, which were really nice for the price (and are still a great value). But as well as it worked for my little studio thing, I had always dreamed of a truly boutique amplifier, one that produced the smooth, even drive and sustain associated with Dumble amps.

    Well, this year I went nuts and bought what I truly wanted: A Fuchs ODS.

    The Precious is a factory-fresh Fuchs ODS 50 head, connected to a Fuchs 1x12 Mini cabinet (which lives inside a closet isolation booth). Oh my god. There is absolutely no better sounding amplifier anywhere. Being in the middle of some kind of hotbed of boutique development (Mesa Engineering, Two-Rock, etc.), it was ironic that I tried every stupid expensive amp in Sonoma County, and ended up sending away to New Jersey for ultimate tone.

    A song I recently finished (are they ever really finished?) is in the Woodshed's Songwriter's Lounge forum, if you care to hear it. I have never been more in love with a hunk of gear.

    I'd post pictures, but I've always hosted them in a back-room folder on my website, which is currently in transition... my Dreamhost account is now merely pointing to my new Squarespace site, and so I don't have direct FTP access yet. In the meantime, here's one that looks just like it, on the road with the guitar player in Umphrey's McGee.

    Last edited by Gravity Jim; 10-24-2016 at 02:20 PM.

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    Forum Member redisburning's Avatar
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    Re: My Dream Amp is here. (Fuchs ODS content)

    congrats; Andy makes a killer amp and he is in the upper echelon for sure.

    out of curiosity, does he ship all of his amps with reverb? that's sort of a hot button; some people don't like it (though I definitely do).

    since you said you hit the expensive Sonoma area amps, did you try the Coral? I think that's the closest Two Rock to an ODS, but it's certainly not like a TS-1 or ODS level close to the original. I'd be curious to hear your thoughts; I have considered picking up a Coral.

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    Forum Member Gravity Jim's Avatar
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    Re: My Dream Amp is here. (Fuchs ODS content)

    I played a Two-Rock Studio Pro 35, and it's a very sweet amp, quite a bit like the ODS. In the end, I went for the Fuchs because of Andy's approach to gain-staging: inout and output levels on the OD section, a fully buffered effects loop, the artist footswitch, and Andy even installed a half-power switch for me at no charge. Also, my guitar teacher is a Fuchs player and his Strat tone can be sliced and served like butter toffee.

    You can always turn the reverb off, but it's one of the best on-board 'verbs I ever heard. Crank it to 11 and it gets surfy, but never clangy or swampy.

    I also played a couple of well-regarded Mesas, and wanted to love them (it would have saved me a fistful of cash to buy a 5:25), but, sadly, I hated them. Not my cuppa.

    So, I wanted to support the local boys. But I do use EMGs in several guitars, and they're made right down the road from me. I got a factory tour from their marketing guy: still a small company with a human heart.

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    Forum Member Don's Avatar
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    Re: My Dream Amp is here. (Fuchs ODS content)

    Sounds like a dream amp! I'll listen to the clip later.

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    Forum Member Gravity Jim's Avatar
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    Re: My Dream Amp is here. (Fuchs ODS content)

    Here's a photo of the new baby (well, a year old, now) in my room.

    https://goo.gl/photos/eaxsmWi1RZWZTHn27

  6. #6
    Forum Member Don's Avatar
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    Re: My Dream Amp is here. (Fuchs ODS content)

    That's a beauty and I love the sound!

    I'd love to try one. For a while, I was messing with smoother, fatter sounds from the Zen Drive and Mesa amps but I found that I really wanted a crunchier Marshall sound. I've been messing with a Soldano Astorverb, Marshall DSL401, Catalinbread DLS MKIII and a ProCo Turbo Rat to get there.

    I'm having fun!

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    Forum Member ch willie's Avatar
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    Re: My Dream Amp is here. (Fuchs ODS content)

    Congrats, man. That really is a fine piece of amp gear.
    If we'd known we were going to be the Beatles, we'd have tried harder.--George Harrison

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    Forum Member Gravity Jim's Avatar
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    Re: My Dream Amp is here. (Fuchs ODS content)

    Quote Originally Posted by Don View Post
    That's a beauty and I love the sound!

    I'd love to try one. For a while, I was messing with smoother, fatter sounds from the Zen Drive and Mesa amps but I found that I really wanted a crunchier Marshall sound. I've been messing with a Soldano Astorverb, Marshall DSL401, Catalinbread DLS MKIII and a ProCo Turbo Rat to get there.

    I'm having fun!
    Don... have you tried a Crowther Hot Cake? Really nice classic rock crunch.

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    Forum Member Don's Avatar
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    Re: My Dream Amp is here. (Fuchs ODS content)

    Quote Originally Posted by Gravity Jim View Post
    Don... have you tried a Crowther Hot Cake? Really nice classic rock crunch.
    I have not. It sounds like I should. Thanks.

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    Forum Member Don's Avatar
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    Re: My Dream Amp is here. (Fuchs ODS content)

    Quote Originally Posted by Gravity Jim View Post
    Don... have you tried a Crowther Hot Cake? Really nice classic rock crunch.
    Oops! Double post!

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    Forum Member S. Cane's Avatar
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    Re: My Dream Amp is here. (Fuchs ODS content)

    Wow, cool!

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    Forum Member NTBluesGuitar's Avatar
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    Re: My Dream Amp is here. (Fuchs ODS content)

    Having one's hands on one's dream amp is a thing to behold.
    "...pray do not imagine that those who make the noise are the only inhabitants of the field;
    that, of course, they are many in number; or that, after all, they are other than the little,
    shriveled, meagre, hopping, though loud and troublesome, insects of the hour."

    -Edmund Burke

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    Forum Member Gravity Jim's Avatar
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    Re: My Dream Amp is here. (Fuchs ODS content)

    Quote Originally Posted by NTBluesGuitar View Post
    Having one's hands on one's dream amp is a thing to behold.
    It's a real "pinch me" experience.

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    Forum Member OldStrummer's Avatar
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    Re: My Dream Amp is here. (Fuchs ODS content)

    Quote Originally Posted by NTBluesGuitar View Post
    Having one's hands on one's dream amp is a thing to behold.
    I'm so new to electric guitar playing that I have no idea what a dream amp is like. I'm still learning my way around a Fender Champion 40 and a Fender Mustang II, both modeling amps.

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    Re: My Dream Amp is here. (Fuchs ODS content)

    I almost bought one of those! They are awesome beasts for sure and impressive as heck. Someday I will have one I hope. I stumbled onto a Longhorn Vaquero used about that time and fell in love with it.

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    Forum Member Gravity Jim's Avatar
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    Re: My Dream Amp is here. (Fuchs ODS content)

    I guess a "dream amp" is one that produces your most sought-after and admired tones, and feels "alive" while doing it. The Fuchs ODS is a "Dumble" style amp (but not a clone... Andy was developing his designs at the same time as Howard, as a part of a club of amp designers searching for that sound, along with the guys at Two-Rock and several others). It features a "cascading" gain staging, and a parallel overdrive scheme. It even has controls for setting the input to and output from the "OD" voicing. The cleans are immaculate Fender-y clean, the drive anything you want it to be.

    Renderit, it is everything you say: a living, breathing beast with a carefully designed leash on it. :)

    Plus which, built like a tank. Clear baltic birch cabs, 1/4" anodized aircraft aluminum chassis, massive freaking transformers: the head alone weighs 45 pounds!

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    Forum Member Offshore Angler's Avatar
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    Re: My Dream Amp is here. (Fuchs ODS content)

    I like that you can play rock or jazz by just flipping a switch!

    How 'bout some clips? I'd like to hear a Les Paul through that bad boy! Do you like better open or closed-back?
    "No harmonic knowledge, no sense of time, a ghastly tone, unskilled vibrato, and so on. Chuck is one of the worst guitar players I know" -Gravity Jim

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    Forum Member Gravity Jim's Avatar
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    Re: My Dream Amp is here. (Fuchs ODS content)

    http://m.soundcloud.com/jim-bordner/so-damn-blue

    OA, the guitars on this were played with the ODS. They're mostly pretty clean.

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    Re: My Dream Amp is here. (Fuchs ODS content)

    Quote Originally Posted by Gravity Jim View Post
    I guess a "dream amp" is one that produces your most sought-after and admired tones, and feels "alive" while doing it. The Fuchs ODS is a "Dumble" style amp (but not a clone... Andy was developing his designs at the same time as Howard, as a part of a club of amp designers searching for that sound, along with the guys at Two-Rock and several others). It features a "cascading" gain staging, and a parallel overdrive scheme. It even has controls for setting the input to and output from the "OD" voicing. The cleans are immaculate Fender-y clean, the drive anything you want it to be.

    Renderit, it is everything you say: a living, breathing beast with a carefully designed leash on it. :)

    Plus which, built like a tank. Clear baltic birch cabs, 1/4" anodized aircraft aluminum chassis, massive freaking transformers: the head alone weighs 45 pounds!
    That's the same on the Vaquero. A pedal lets you cascade the FET, OD and Preamp boosts in any combo on top of Volume, Master Volume and Gain. It is very Dumblesque, just a different take. If you love the Fuchs (and who wouldn't!) this is different sounding in many ways. Just tell the wife you need both. That's what I am going to try anyways because I want the very same one you got. It has "something" that speaks to me. As does the Vaq in a different way...

    <span style="color:#ffd700;"><font size="3"><span style="font-family:comic sans ms;">

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    Forum Member Don's Avatar
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    Re: My Dream Amp is here. (Fuchs ODS content)

    Quote Originally Posted by Gravity Jim View Post
    http://m.soundcloud.com/jim-bordner/so-damn-blue

    OA, the guitars on this were played with the ODS. They're mostly pretty clean.
    That sounds great!

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    Forum Member Don's Avatar
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    Re: My Dream Amp is here. (Fuchs ODS content)

    Quote Originally Posted by renderit View Post
    That's the same on the Vaquero. A pedal lets you cascade the FET, OD and Preamp boosts in any combo on top of Volume, Master Volume and Gain. It is very Dumblesque, just a different take. If you love the Fuchs (and who wouldn't!) this is different sounding in many ways. Just tell the wife you need both. That's what I am going to try anyways because I want the very same one you got. It has "something" that speaks to me. As does the Vaq in a different way...

    <span style="color:#ffd700;"><font size="3"><span style="font-family:comic sans ms;">
    Dang! I think I need to increase my amp budget!!!

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    Forum Member Offshore Angler's Avatar
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    Re: My Dream Amp is here. (Fuchs ODS content)

    Quote Originally Posted by Gravity Jim View Post
    http://m.soundcloud.com/jim-bordner/so-damn-blue

    OA, the guitars on this were played with the ODS. They're mostly pretty clean.
    Jim, sounds great, definitely can hear the Fagan influence too... Around 2:25 there's a really cool dynamic passage that lets the amp shine through.

    (BTW, nice job keeping Rhodes and Hammond/Leslie separated in the mix. Ain't easy.)

    That you on vocals? Sounds really good.

    Chuck
    "No harmonic knowledge, no sense of time, a ghastly tone, unskilled vibrato, and so on. Chuck is one of the worst guitar players I know" -Gravity Jim

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    Forum Member Gravity Jim's Avatar
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    Re: My Dream Amp is here. (Fuchs ODS content)

    Thanks, Don & OA. Much obliged! Chuck, I'm everything but the drums, which are cut together from some groove samples I recorded at the Fort Wayne studio (drummer Dave Seyboldt).

    I had seen that Vaquero clip before. A great sounding amp, no doubt.

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    Re: My Dream Amp is here. (Fuchs ODS content)

    Quote Originally Posted by Gravity Jim View Post
    Thanks, Don & OA. Much obliged! Chuck, I'm everything but the drums, which are cut together from some groove samples I recorded at the Fort Wayne studio (drummer Dave Seyboldt).

    I had seen that Vaquero clip before. A great sounding amp, no doubt.
    It is not as flexible as your Fuchs. Like I said, I got it used and the tone I would call Texas Blues meets Dumble.

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    Forum Member Gravity Jim's Avatar
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    Re: My Dream Amp is here. (Fuchs ODS content)

    Quote Originally Posted by renderit View Post
    It is not as flexible as your Fuchs. Like I said, I got it used and the tone I would call Texas Blues meets Dumble.
    It still sounds like a riot to play. But yeah, as a Swiss-Army "does it all" amp, I can't imagine a better device than the ODS. Andy and his wife are really great to work with, too.

    He has a B-stock ODS 50 head for sale right now for $1,600... a steal at that price.

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    Re: My Dream Amp is here. (Fuchs ODS content)

    Quote Originally Posted by Gravity Jim View Post
    It still sounds like a riot to play. But yeah, as a Swiss-Army "does it all" amp, I can't imagine a better device than the ODS. Andy and his wife are really great to work with, too.

    He has a B-stock ODS 50 head for sale right now for $1,600... a steal at that price.
    Man I hate you...

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    Forum Member Gravity Jim's Avatar
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    Re: My Dream Amp is here. (Fuchs ODS content)

    Quote Originally Posted by renderit View Post
    Man I hate you...
    Ah, it's probably sold already. Forget I mentioned it.

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    Forum Member NTBluesGuitar's Avatar
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    Re: My Dream Amp is here. (Fuchs ODS content)

    Quote Originally Posted by Gravity Jim View Post
    http://m.soundcloud.com/jim-bordner/so-damn-blue

    OA, the guitars on this were played with the ODS. They're mostly pretty clean.
    Man, that sounds delicious.
    "...pray do not imagine that those who make the noise are the only inhabitants of the field;
    that, of course, they are many in number; or that, after all, they are other than the little,
    shriveled, meagre, hopping, though loud and troublesome, insects of the hour."

    -Edmund Burke

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    Forum Member Gravity Jim's Avatar
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    Re: My Dream Amp is here. (Fuchs ODS content)

    High praise coming from a real-live amp builder! Thanks, NT.

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    Forum Member Gravity Jim's Avatar
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    Re: My Dream Amp is here. (Fuchs ODS content)

    Here's me radically overdoing it, with the Zencaster, ODS, and a recently acquired Fuchs t-shirt. ODS fo' life!



  31. #31
    Forum Member Don's Avatar
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    Re: My Dream Amp is here. (Fuchs ODS content)

    Nice pic!

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    Forum Member CoyotesGator's Avatar
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    Re: My Dream Amp is here. (Fuchs ODS content)

    Very nice Jim.

    Congrats!
    What happend?
    Who let the magic smoke out?

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    Forum Member OldStrummer's Avatar
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    Re: My Dream Amp is here. (Fuchs ODS content)

    Where's the audio, fer cryin' out loud??!?

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    Forum Member NTBluesGuitar's Avatar
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    Re: My Dream Amp is here. (Fuchs ODS content)

    Awesome!
    "...pray do not imagine that those who make the noise are the only inhabitants of the field;
    that, of course, they are many in number; or that, after all, they are other than the little,
    shriveled, meagre, hopping, though loud and troublesome, insects of the hour."

    -Edmund Burke

  35. #35
    Forum Member Gravity Jim's Avatar
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    Re: My Dream Amp is here. (Fuchs ODS content)

    And to think I once defended digital modeling!

  36. #36
    Forum Member Gravity Jim's Avatar
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    Re: My Dream Amp is here. (Fuchs ODS content)

    Quote Originally Posted by OldStrummer View Post
    Where's the audio, fer cryin' out loud??!?
    OS, look up above for post #18 (you'll see the post number in the upper right-hand corner of each post). There's a link there to a song that features the sound of this guitar and amp.

  37. #37
    Forum Member NTBluesGuitar's Avatar
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    Re: My Dream Amp is here. (Fuchs ODS content)

    I don't recall seeing the Yin/Yang medallion on the Zencaster...has it always been there? Very cool.
    "...pray do not imagine that those who make the noise are the only inhabitants of the field;
    that, of course, they are many in number; or that, after all, they are other than the little,
    shriveled, meagre, hopping, though loud and troublesome, insects of the hour."

    -Edmund Burke

  38. #38
    Forum Member OldStrummer's Avatar
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    Re: My Dream Amp is here. (Fuchs ODS content)

    Quote Originally Posted by Gravity Jim View Post
    OS, look up above for post #18 (you'll see the post number in the upper right-hand corner of each post). There's a link there to a song that features the sound of this guitar and amp.
    Very nice, Jim! I can't quite describe the sensation of hearing it. It's almost as if the amp is "invisible." Just clean guitar tones. I don't know how else to describe it.

  39. #39
    Forum Member Gravity Jim's Avatar
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    Re: My Dream Amp is here. (Fuchs ODS content)

    Quote Originally Posted by NTBluesGuitar View Post
    I don't recall seeing the Yin/Yang medallion on the Zencaster...has it always been there? Very cool.
    It's been there for years, NT. I bought that cloisonné straight-back pin in San Francisco's Japantown during a visit long before we moved here.

    Quote Originally Posted by OldStrummer View Post
    Very nice, Jim! I can't quite describe the sensation of hearing it. It's almost as if the amp is "invisible." Just clean guitar tones. I don't know how else to describe it.
    That's a solid description. When it's played clean, it's fat and present... just sounds like a guitar. You should hear it when it's dripping with gain!

  40. #40
    Forum Member redisburning's Avatar
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    Re: My Dream Amp is here. (Fuchs ODS content)

    Quote Originally Posted by OldStrummer View Post
    Very nice, Jim! I can't quite describe the sensation of hearing it. It's almost as if the amp is "invisible." Just clean guitar tones. I don't know how else to describe it.


    the reason these amps are so vocal is the clean tone stack shape coupled with the power amp's headroom.

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