Allen Encore amplifier using a Ron Kirn Signature

[otaypanky2]

: ) : )  : )

[Greasyguitars]

Great amp, awesome playing too mate. Thx for taking the time to make this demo!

[otaypanky2]

Yup, no problem Buck. I used it un-mic'd last week in a really big room playing with bass, drums, another guitar, keyboards and a horn and the fellow running the sound said there was no problem hearing it at all. I usually use my Sweet Spot when playing there but we mic it. With both amps they sit on the floor which usually sucks up some sound. I think raising an amp helps it cut through the mix better. But even on the floor it was plenty.

[buckandotis]

nice sound....has that got enough ooomph for a decent sized room full of drunks

[BluesRocker52]

I don't know of a better compliment than to say that I found myself forgetting about the demo and just enjoying listening to you play. I especially loved the tones you got out of it with tremelo.

[otaypanky2]

@BluesRocker52

Thanks BR52

Allen amps are sweet

[johnrussom]

Can anyone hear what he is saying? All I can her is the amp then lip movement. Volume leveling?  anyone?

[otaypanky2]

At the time I think it had Tung Sol 6L6's, EH pre amp tubes Sovtek and a 5AR4

This as well as several of the Allen amps can run on 6L6 or 6V6

The pick ups were wound by Ron

[starsighter13]

Nice Demo Bob! Great playing. Couple of questions: what tubes are you running in the amp, and what pickups in the Ron Kim? Nice sound, not to twangy or thin.

[dawg469]

nice demo

thanks

u play great

[otaypanky2]

@dawg469

Hey thanks Dawg

[otaypanky2]

Don't smoke so much next time : )

LOL

[coa1992]

i'm blown away. awesome.

[AASTRANGE]

Sweet Guitar, sweet amp, sweet strap...let's face it just plain sweet!

[Brennansdad]

You Tube Nation: plug in headphones and listen.

This may be the best real audio quality on you tube. Great sound. Great amp. Great playing. Great tone.

[musicmatty67]

Outstanding sound...great Rig!

[otaypanky2]

@musicmatty67

Thanks Matty : )

[fentsch]

Dave Have you ever played through a Carr Rambler and how would you compare it to the Allen Encore? Bruce

[otaypanky2]

@fentsch

No I haven't, but I'd love to try one sometime Fentsch. I hear they are quite a fine amp ~

[bigredridinhood]

What a tone! Ver nicely done!

[royalbastardo]

I'm ordering my kit within the next day or two. David is one heck of a nice guy. I can't wait to join the club. Thanks for all of your input and time in responding to my questions.

[otaypanky2]

@royalbastardo

Good for you man, you'll love it

Tell David I said hi : )

[royalbastardo]

@otaypanky2 I ordered the kit and told David hello for you. He knew exactly who you were.

I got my kit the other day and am loving every minute of the build. I'm just starting to put on the filter caps. I thought I'd check with you to see if there were any hangups you had, or issues I might pay extra attention to.

I'm taking my time and triple checking everything as I go. I want to hear this baby sing the first time I fire it up. Here's to hoping. Take care.

[otaypanky2]

@royalbastardo

No special advice. Just take your time and follow his instructions exactly. There are little subtle thing in the diagram you don't want to miss. Dotted lines that indicate a lead that continues under the board, stuff like that ~

It's all fun. Good luck : )

[royalbastardo]

@otaypanky2 It's alive!!!! I took my time on the build, checking and rechecking. I just fired it up today and everything checked out. I hooked up a 1955 Jensen P12Q (not in a cab) to hear the clarity and check for noise as my cab is not here. I can already tell this thing is going to be sweet! I kind of flipped out when I turned the reverb knob and nothing happened...until I remembered I don't have the tank yet.

I'll get some clips up on youtube when I get the cab. Thanks again for everything!

[otaypanky2]

@royalbastardo

OTAY!!! Congratulations : ) What I did until my cab arrived was carefully lay the chassis close enough to another amp and use the speakers and reverb tank from it ~

What speaker are you going to go with ?

[royalbastardo]

@otaypanky2 Bob- Is there any chance you could make a quick recording of your LP with an OD or distortion pedal in front of your Encore? Even if it's just audio and a minute long. I've searched high and low for a LP through the Encore to no avail. If it's too much of a pain don't worry about it.

I called David, he answered a lot of my questions & is a nice guy. I guess my main concern is warmth. Do you ever feel like it's shrill when playing your Tele or LP?

[otaypanky2]

@royalbastardo

There is all the brightness you could ever want. But in my Les Pauls I install RS vintage wiring kits wired 50's style. There are lots of great combinations available then as they become very interactive in a way that's quite different to my ears as compared to stock wiring. If you subscribe to my vids you'll get a notice when and if I get a clip with a pedal posted : )

[royalbastardo]

@otaypanky2 Thanks for the response. I can't believe I didn't subscribe already. I'm not too savvy on youtube.

I've been reading up on the 50's wiring and it sounds like something I should look into. I've never liked how LP's respond to tone and volume adjustments, but I've only played those with modern wiring.

[otaypanky2]

@royalbastardo

listen to the WCR vid I posted a few years ago to hear how much variety in tone you get from nice pickups and wiring done 50's style

[royalbastardo]

Awesome demo, playing, chops, tone and guitar. Have you played a LP through it? Any OD/Distortion pedals? I'm trying to figure out which kit to build. I love blues, but am trying to figure out if this Allen Amp or another model is right for me. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

PS your straps are works of art, craftsmanship looks top notch and that's over the internet. After I take down the kit I'll have to put some money aside for one.

[otaypanky2]

@royalbastardo

Hey thanks royalbastardo.

No question, it's a great amp. The Sweet Spot is awesome too ~ I played out through that one tonight.

Yes, I usually play a LP and all of the amps take to pedals well. But I love to play straight in to the Allens.

When you're ready for a strap I'll make a nice one for you : )

[royalbastardo]

@otaypanky2

Do you have any recordings of you playing your LP through either? It's obvious through your demo that the tele sings and just nails the blues, but I'm wondering if I can use a good pedal to get into Warren Haynes territory, or cleans like Trey Anastasio, just something a little warmer and thicker. I hope that makes sense.

I've read so many good things about David Allen and his amps. I think I'd like to have the detailed instruction he offers so I'd really like to buy from him.

[otaypanky2]

@royalbastardo

I have been meaning to make one of the Sweet Spot and I mostly play my LP's so hopefully I'll get one up soon. I do have some posted playing with my trio, using a LP 50's Tribute and going through an Allen Chihuahua. You probably know not all of the kits come with detailed instructions. I'm not familiar with Warren and Trey and what they sound like so I don't know which amp might help get you there. But if you speak with David he could probably guide you in the right direction.

[allenhuish]

Great playing and great review

[otaypanky2]

@allenhuish

Thanks : )

[tommc49]

Thanks for posting this in depth review. This is the fouth time I've come back to it. I really like the tremolo and the raw control. Biggest plus for me though is the master volume. There are very few amps that can deliver this type of Fender tones that have a MV. This is going to be my next purchase. I also enjoyed your playing on the Kirn. I had a Barnbuster for awhile but at 9 pounds, my old back couldn't hang. Great guitars tho.

[otaypanky2]

@tommc49

That's because you didn't have one of my straps! LOL

I bet you'd still be spankin' that Kirn if you did.

Ceheck 'em out at Brookwood Leather dot com

[tommc49]

@otaypanky2 Hmmm, I'll buy a strap if you want to give me a deal on the Encore .... :) (I've seen your straps and post on TGP and OSG: nice work)

[otaypanky2]

@tommc49

I'm not selling my Allen Amps ! LOL

David will give you a nice deal on an Encore though. he has a 10% off sale on kits this month. That's when I bought my kit, during a 10% sale he had last summer.

And I'll make you a nice strap anytime.

[snoopjmcd]

I built an Allen Accomplice in August 2010 that is really fantastic. I went with the Accomplice over the Encore because of some weight and cost savings. But the tremolo on this recording is so nice, I suspect I will build an Encore in the future. There go my savings :)

[otaypanky2]

@snoopjmcd

The Encore does have a wonderful tremelo and the reverb is also quite lush and has a tone control for it

The Sweet Spot is another great choice Snoop and may be a bit different from your Accomplice as that one is a non-master volume amp. Either way, you can't go wrong with an Allen Amp in my humble opinion ~

[snoopjmcd]

@otaypanky2 Thanks for the info. I looked seriously at the Sweet Spot and especially the Brown Sugar, but I think the MV is essential for me. Even with 6V6s, my accomplice hits 120 dB (with help of a Barber clean boost for amp cookin) with volume and raw controls on 2!

I should get a Ron Kirn strat and a Brookwood leather strap to improve my rig!

[otaypanky2]

@snoopjmcd

LOL, the secret is in the strap

[yeahboyohboy]

Hi,

Is the signature Kirn the same as the barnbuster (pine)? Thanks in advance! Great touch and tone!

[otaypanky2]

@yeahboyohboy

I couldn't say ~ You're best off asking Ron on that one

[yeahboyohboy]

@otaypanky2

Thanks!

[Kitarist88]

What did you use to record this? :)

[otaypanky2]

@Kitarist88

I used 2 cheap MXL condenser mics, a presonus Firestudio Project pre-amp interface, and iMovie on a Mac.

Thanks for listening

[hq72hotmale]

i tried to buy one of his amps i live in Australia he said sorry wont ship to Australia i guess that's a great way to do business??

[otaypanky2]

@hq72hotmale

It's unfortunate you can't have one shipped to Australia, but there are government safety regulations that I'm sure come in to play. I'm sure if there was a way to get one to you David Allen would have loved to have you playing one of his amps.

[hq72hotmale]

@otaypanky2

you can ship most mojo or weber kits out here and their all guitar amps un built im sure that more dangerous then a fully built amp

[Mercury6]

@hq72hotmale I also think there is a voltage/cycle issue as they can only be run only on 60Hz and not on 50Hz. It says on his front page. They are great sounding amps. I had an Old flame and now an accomplice....wonderful.

[hq72hotmale]

i tried to buy one of his amps i live in Australia he said sorry wont ship to Australia i guess thats a great way to do business??

[snotmale]

Hi Bob - do you love this more than your Richters though?? I have got a Blonde Fender Supersonic combo and this reminds me of that a lot tonally and visually...

[otaypanky2]

@snotmale

2 very different amps, and there's lots of love to go around

[PowerTronMan]

Bob, I must say your playing is awesome and your amp is very nice looking! You did a great job recording the audio with this while demoing the amp. Congrats! Powertronman

[otaypanky2]

@PowerTronMan

Thanks PTM : ) I remember finding yours when I was searching for clips. I liked the Encore so much I just completed assembling a Sweet Spot kit. I hope to get a clip of that one posted soon. It's a spectacular amp as well. Play On PTM : )

[GeeBee003]

Thanks for the demo.  Great amp.

Can't hear you comments at all.

[bluenote04]

AWESOME! It's great to finally see a demo of an Encore online. It sounds great, but as a fellow Encore owner, I already knew that. I play mine (badly) through a 2x12 cabinet with a RWB & a Swamp Thang. I love the clean tone, but I find myself goosing the Raw knob when I jam with friends. A tone monster for sure, going from "Castles Made of Sand" clean to "Brown Sugar" raunch. Best money I've ever spent on gear.

Next on the list: One of your straps. See you on TGP.

[otaypanky2]

@bluenote04

I'll do my best to make a real nice one for ya' : )

[kleydj13]

Man that sounds fantastic with the Raw up, nice and meaty. Love the sound of an amp forced into overdrive!

[Noitpure]

Glorious sounding amp! A job well done!

[otaypanky2]

@Noitpure

Thank You my friend : ) I must say it's a thrill to flip the switch and have something you had your hands in come to life. Building the kit was a great experience. I see you have a GA15R. They have been a favorite of mine for a long time. Since building this Allen Encore I just listed both of my GA15 amps and their big brother for sale ~

Play on Sister : )