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Nad b52 at-100

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  • Nad b52 at-100

    You really need to be careful reading online reviews of amps! I would say that most of the people posting about this 12 tube Tri-Mode 100 watt head pretty much FLAME IT!!! They call it unreliable mainly... fizzy, uninspiring, thin and even ugly.
    Well.. I guess I got one of the only good ones. I just picked it up. $300 including the 4 button footswitch. Here is my review playing it through a Blackstar 2 x 12 cab loaded with 80w Celestions and a Crate 4 x 12 straight cab loaded with Celestion T75's.

    Clean channel. This is Fender Twin Clean. Its beautiful. Sounds dead on to a Fender clean.
    Overdrive 1. Anything from blues to classic rock to metal. It has a contour control that allows you to sweep the frequencies which basically goes from scooped sounding to midrangy Marshall roar or anything between. I will say that this is definitely a JCM900 Marshall tone based amp.
    Overdrive 2. Pretty much the same as Overdrive 1 but a little more gain and a little more modern sounding.
    You can easily use Overdrive 1 for heavy metal rhythm and Overdrive 2 for solos.
    The foot pedal does channel switching, overdrive 1 and 2, reverb (real accutronics btw...) and effects loop.
    The rear panel has a knob that switches from Class A, Class AB and Solid State Rectifier mode.

    People call it the poor mans Mesa Rectifier. This proves to me that most people that review this amp don't have a clue and are calling it this only because it says Rectifier on the front panel. This amp sounds NOTHING like a Mesa Rectifier. I think the reliability issues are mostly due to user errors. These are clueless kids that bought them from Guitar Center and mistreated them. You can blow up just about any tube amp if you mistreat it.

    Anyway.. back to the review... the amp has a Master volume, resonance and presence controls, separate EQ's for clean and overdrive channels and switchable contour for each of the overdrives. The effects loop has level controls on both send and returns. I opened it up and inspected everything. This amp is made very well internally. I would say its not as good as a Mesa but its better than a Marshall JCM2000. Its very neat inside. For tubes its running 4 6L6's, a big bottle rectifier tube and 6 12AX7's!! Its a ton of tubes. Cab is 6 ply birch. Very well made. Chassis is a little on the thin side but I don't intend on dropping the amp off the truck. They say they run hot. Mine doesn't.

    Its a great amp for super cleans, classic rock, 80's metal and todays heavy stuff. Its very powerful. Its also fairly quiet at extreme high gain.

    I heard reviews that it sounds thin live. My guess is those users have their mids on 1 and the contour dimed out to scooped mode. I have read many typical settings online and the kiddies that bought this amp and who complain about it are usually posting the worst settings I have ever heard for live use.

    I have been A/B'ing this amp against my 6505+, my Rivera, my Soldano and all my other amps and it can hold its own. If your in an 80's hair metal band like I am the B52 AT100 is a great choice. Its forgiving, its easy to dial in and it sounds great on any channel and its not even that picky when it comes to cabs or speaker selection or guitars. I read that Bruce Egnator designed the preamp in it. I wouldn't be surprised.

  • #2
    The majority of the responses I have gotten so far locally are "that's one of those cheap Guitar Center brand amps right?" Then they hear it.
    Nuff said... I think a lot of people base their opinions on the majority of the cheap B52's that were sold at Guitar Center which were pretty much all solid state amps.
    I am trying to decide what amp to use this Saturday at a nice Halloween gig we have at a local club. I narrowed it down to between either of my 1 x 12 combo's which are the Rivera Suprema and the 6505+ or the B52 AT100 through a 2 x 12 Blackstar cab. I am leaning towards the 6505+ only because its REALLY easy to hear it live on a loud stage in a crowded and loud bar.

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    • #3
      I think you're leaning in the right direction Good luck and have fun with the gig. I'll have to keep that on my check it out list.
      Last edited by Jackson8090s; 10-28-2015, 03:15 PM.
      \m/ Thrash Zone \m/

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      • #4
        I recall somewhere those amps were either designed or had some form of input from Bruce Egnater. I think some of them say that on the back of the head.
        RR24M -SLATQH- 2 SLSMG's- DKMGT- 3DXMGT's
        CHS2 -Traditional- 2 SC90 Surfcasters
        Tacoma DR14 DM14 JR55
        Ibanez Artcore AM77, AF125NT,AS93

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        • #5
          I used to have an At-100 2X12 (I think I did a clip of VH's "I'm the One" with it)
          I liked mine , you can get a lot of tones out of it, but be aware they overheat like crazy, I had to buy a fan to install (got it from B-52 for free).
          My buddy bought the head the same time I bought the Combo, and he had the same issues with it. Otherwise.... I liked mine.
          I never gigged it but "thin sounding"? hardly.
          I traded mine in to Matts for my first JSX head
          If this is our perdition, will you walk with me?

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          • #6
            I did my first gig using it. It sounded great. No issues at all. Mine was on for about 4 hours straight and it didn't get hot at all. Actually... it felt much cooler than any of my Marshalls. A few observations on the amp after using it live and loud in an 80's tribute metal band....
            1. It cuts through the mix fine.
            2. It has an absolutely beautiful clean channel.
            3. The 2 gain modes and the switchable contour controls are very helpful when dialing in your live tone during the mix. I was able to dial in a great tone.
            4. Plenty of thump!!!!! I had to turn the bass and the resonance down because I was chunking up the place!
            This is a great amp for the rock/metal player on a budget because you can get them pretty cheap! To my ears its just as good as any Marshall DSL and if you are looking for a Rectifier but you don't have the cash for one this amp can do a VERY convincing Mesa Single/Dual rectifier tone. Excellent high quality footswitch too.
            Its ugly.... its friggin huge... it has 11 tubes in it.... but.... its built as well as amps that are twice the price and it sounds really good.

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            • #7
              I agree with everything you've said John. I got one when they first came out, and gigged with it for a couple of years on a casual basis. The early ones did have problems with the optocoupler circuit for the reverb, but other than that, mine never had any issues or failures. It always sounded great, and as you sad, it is NOTHING like a Recto. I always said it was way more Marshall-like than Mesa. I took mine to Glen Morris to have the reverb repaired, and he was quite impressed by the build quality. Having said that, they did cheap out on some parts. The impedance selector switch on mine just kinda fell apart one day as I was switching it. I had to reassemble it.

              Yes, they're ugly. Ugly enough that I swapped the front grill on mine, and put a logo from a Milwaukee cordless drill case on it.

              Are you sure about the 11 tubes though John? I could have sworn mine had 12.

              I eventually traded mine for a Laney AOR 6 knobber, and I gotta say that was the worse trade I ever made.


              By the way John, I'm not sure if I trust my memory, but didn't I trade you a Carvin Legacy for a 50 watt JCM900 many years ago?
              Sleep!!, That's where I'm a viking!!

              http://www.myspace.com/grindhouseadtheband

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              • #8
                Originally posted by zeegler View Post
                I agree with everything you've said John. I got one when they first came out, and gigged with it for a couple of years on a casual basis. The early ones did have problems with the optocoupler circuit for the reverb, but other than that, mine never had any issues or failures. It always sounded great, and as you sad, it is NOTHING like a Recto. I always said it was way more Marshall-like than Mesa. I took mine to Glen Morris to have the reverb repaired, and he was quite impressed by the build quality. Having said that, they did cheap out on some parts. The impedance selector switch on mine just kinda fell apart one day as I was switching it. I had to reassemble it.

                Yes, they're ugly. Ugly enough that I swapped the front grill on mine, and put a logo from a Milwaukee cordless drill case on it.

                Are you sure about the 11 tubes though John? I could have sworn mine had 12.

                I eventually traded mine for a Laney AOR 6 knobber, and I gotta say that was the worse trade I ever made.


                By the way John, I'm not sure if I trust my memory, but didn't I trade you a Carvin Legacy for a 50 watt JCM900 many years ago?
                Or was it a 2210? That was a lot of amps ago!!

                Comment


                • #9
                  Originally posted by jgcable View Post
                  Or was it a 2210? That was a lot of amps ago!!

                  I've never had a 2210...yet.

                  I had that 900 for years, and really, really liked it. I recently sold it, and I miss it so much I'm looking for another one.
                  Sleep!!, That's where I'm a viking!!

                  http://www.myspace.com/grindhouseadtheband

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