Letter from a satisfied owner of a Pritchard Amps Gold Estoc 1-12 Tunnel Back™

Sun, 28 May 2006 Dear Eric, The Gold Sabre [now Estoc] arrived on Wednesday, and my first surprise was two fold. The shipping box was bigger then I had expected and the amp much smaller. In fact the amp is so small that it is rather unimposing and brought to mind my first Crate practice amp. That is where the comparison ends – ends with anything I've played before. It took me about fifteen minutes to figure out what does what and then it was straight for the gold as I tried to dial in the lead channel from my Budda Super Drive. At first, things seemed a little sour to my ears, but as I began to understand how the Watt control works, Boost and In – sounds began to blossom and my eyes and ears began to pop. The clarity! Guitar runs that I've played a thousand times took on a definition and sharpness that I had never heard. I eyed my fingers in disbelief, for this was a gift most unexpected! One can read and read and read about a product, but in the end it comes down to getting your fingers dirty. My fingers were glowing. I began my Budda experimentations on the first channel and selected the B voice. My Budda, which is brimming with Mullards was fired up and I was doing A/B comparisons, as I adjusted knobs on the Gold Sabre [now Estoc]. Little my little, and then BLAM, there it was, the Budda roar. But not quite, it had more bass definition and a little extra focus. The Budda, I purchased used, and after NOS tubes and new speakers, it rivaled the Gold Saber in expense. Well, OK, I can dial in the Budda’s lead channel, but how about it’s Voxey 3-D chime. The A, F, and V voice all delivered the goods. The V had a little more edge and the F more fat, but with more fiddling that equation might reverse. Now, I know that everything is going to be cool and that you’re a mad man. Your 7 Tone Guarantee speaks volumes, so instinct told me that something special was going to occur with your amp, but it exceeded my expectations. In large it exceeded my expectations, because I didn't know such tone was possible in so many mutations, and until you, that ignorance was justified. Next, I attempted to dial in a low creamy Matamp with a little dirt? The B voice I considered would be a good place, but I couldn't get the cream. The fat yes, but the cream wasn't to be found. The following day I came back and adjusted some settings by chance and turned on the Matamp using the P voice and WHAT is this! It was dark. It was low. It was creamy with a hollow body tone. It was so close and more refined then the Matamp that I had to do a reality check. Now the Matamp is a loud, LOUD amp, yet somehow the Gold with its tiny 1x12 speaker was putting out a deafening level of noise. So much sound, that I had to dial the Watts back quite a way. The bass is strong, focused and directed, but I must admit that palm mutes were not responding with much thump. Now, maybe this is my guitar or perhaps something in the settings, but when I plugged the Gold Sabre into my favorite 2X12 cab the palm mutes were delivered with ease. I tried to lift the amp with my pinky. That was not going to happen. You must lift weights with your pinky. Two fingers now that was more my weight class. One of the Gold Sabre’s features, that to me is a saving grace, is the practice jack. Now, I can play at night at home without disturbing any sleeping souls, and it still sounds good. I totally hear how awesome the amp is going to be with a band. Tomorrow, I am off to the rehearsal studio and I am going to blow a few people's minds. Oh... There are quite a few guitarists that I am going to drop the Gold Sabre [now Estoc] on and see what their jaws do. Most likely I am going to be retiring a few amps. Oh, yes, the amp responds magnificently with guitar effects... But the overdrives seem rather unnecessary now. Earlier today I was going to massage that need for some savage heavy metal and found out, that the Gold Sabre [now Estoc] has within its multi-colored tonal soul, a candy store of heavy aggressive tones. If there is one thing that I find annoying, it is that I am going to have to start journaling all the cool tones that I am finding so I can dial them in an instant. Hats OFF! Jay

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