This thing is a godsend for beginners.... Imagine having these tones at the age of 12 or 15, funded by a paper round This is the key so far as I'm concerned. I remember my SG through my Maestro Fuzztain through my nasty Ampeg transistor amp, which cost the same as this in actual $ back in 1978. Adj...

Can't add much, but thanks Mike_LA. I hadn't played this P40 in over 5 years, but your post made me thing to pull it out of it's case, change strings, stick in a new battery, and go to town. Forgot how much I liked this guitar.... http://i1112.photobucket.com/albums/k493/trmckn/P40_zpsethsah96.jpg

Man...weather aside, living in the DC area is great from what I hear from you guys. The platinum room in the GC in Rockville MD is really super, but if you don't like that, drive a few miles to Chuck Levins and you can find anything that you want. Maybe GC's up their game when there are local shops ...

I thought it was interesting. The guy's bit rate was a bit low for my taste though. Makes you wonder if there might not have been a splash of Jameson tossed in to the coffee. So far as I could tell, it all boiled down to: A. The Kemper isn't as good as the real-deal. B. The Kemper will discourage am...

I would say for players who need two separate settings for a clean sound and a driven sound, the Dual would probably be their favourite as it facilitates that by default. Like I said before, whichever you choose as your favourite defines the type of player you are, there is no best, just different....

Fantastic review Surf! I agree with everything that you say. For me, the Custom is the best amp I've ever played through (and I have a bunch, including everything that SteveD has designed at Marshall with the exception of the Astoria Classic). To me, the real joy of the Custom is in live application...

OK, so here's an update.... I've had a bunch more time to play with the Dual. First, I don't know what I was thinking. The Dual definitely has less gain on tap in comparison with the Custom. Not a problem for me at all, and it has plenty of gain, just not as much as the custom. I run the gain on the...

I guess if they are struggling with availability, it might make sense not to push them so hard for now. I don't see why any store that carries a JVM410hjs or an orange Rockerverb or a hand wired AC30 or Friedman wouldn't carry Astorias. In my area (Washington / Baltimore ) that means at least 5 stor...

I guess the Astoria range will sell itself over time to its potential customer base, which is obviously quite small compared to something like the CODE. I would think the priority of the show was to hammer the CODE home to the masses to get the sales ball rolling good and proper. Business is busine...

Just got back from practice. Truth be told, this is the ideal option...



Custom goes to the left speaker and the Dual to the right. A/B/Y in front of the amps.

Well, in the interest of minimizing suspense, then yes. After over a month with the Custom, and a week with the Dual...for me, it's the Custom for sure. But that really is just me. For your style, tastes and needs, you really might like the Dual better. For me, it's in part because of how the amp en...

Great pics. Looks like a good time was had by all. Cool that Surf's badge says "Surf". Meanwhile, I was stuck shoveling nearly 40" of snow...

I'll answer as best I can... Been digging out of 3 feet of snow for the last 4 days. Finally broke out. Here's my take. Everybody perceives these things differently though... 1. I can't say for sure that the Dual doesn't have the same amount of gain as the Custom (unboosted..) It just gets there qui...

Makes sense Steve, and I should have been able to figure that out on my own. I just spent another hour with both amps. In the end, I think I'm keeping both. If I played a Les Paul all of the time, I'd probably prefer the dual. The gain channel seems to just love them. Clean channel loves everything,...

Also it would be interesting when you get time to run the Custom and the Dual in stereo into a single cabinet. I think that might sound amazing. Are you a little suprised like me at just how articulate and loud these are? Most amps I have played less than 50 watts don't sound anything like this. I ...