Guitar amplifiers

As a very satisfied customer with a serviced and newly-retubed combo, I’ll have to admit that in order to get your amp fixed for a reasonable price, a visit to BJ Amplifiers is well worth the trek to the Ipswich side of town (Redbank, to be precise). However along with that, the second and third parts of my mission were talking to BJ Amps’ chief guru John Ratajczyk about his products (following ecstatic descriptions and recommendations from a whole bunch of fellow local musicians) and testing them out whilst on premises – and while I recounted our conversation in last week’s Geared, I promised myself I’d also share my encounter with three of John’s magic boxes with the readers. And lo, just before collecting my trusty old Orange AD15 from the lab, I plugged the blonde ‘70s US Fender Stratocaster (kindly provided by John for the occasion and also probably the most most butter-smooth and beautifully customised Strat I’ve played so far) into each amp in a row to hear the difference – which I duly did as soon as I hit the first chord.

Ratajczyk Dream, Cream & Extreme Reverb

First up, the cleans on the Ratajczyk amps are in the league of their own – especially on the Dream Reverb, where they simply sound like a dream come true. They sparkle, chime and bite like you’d expect from the late ‘50s-early ‘60s Fender amps currently worth five figures.The reverb is likewise incredibly lush and warm and – as I semi-grudgingly had to admit – easily smokes the time-honoured, zingy spring tank of the Fender Twin and Super Reverbs. Uncovered by a simple turn of the ‘Reverb’ knob, such dreamlike spaciousness is a rare find and is a sonic delight to behold. Furthermore, the organic, valve-modulated tremolo is so deep and swampy it practically invites you to play the intro of Nancy Sinatra’s Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down) or The Smiths’ How Soon Is Now?

With the switchable boost overdrive channel cranked up, the Dream Reverb’s dirty sounds range from a killer blues sting to all-out ‘70s rock roar – via sheer 6L6 tube power. The six-way footswitch includes ‘fat’ and ‘smooth’ switches for different tonal options of the player’s liking and the overall tone is just as authentic as you’d hear on a circa-1970 Free recording (All Right Now or Fire And Water, anyone?). Being his most popular amp, John makes the Dream Reverbs in a number of shapes and sizes – as a 30W class A head or 1x12” or 2x12” combo with Celestion Greenback, G12H-30, Vintage 30 or Classic Lead 80 speakers.

The next Ratajczyk amp I had a go at, the Cream Reverb 15W, 12” combo made my well-worn AD15 pale in comparison in the cleans’ stakes. Perfect for studio recording or small-to-medium-room gigs, the little kicker certainly sounds like the cream of its crop and packs a solid, EL84-driven punch with a nice grit when pushed. As Santana famously exclaimed upon the birth of the first Boogie amp, “Shit, man – this thing really boogies!” – and so does this one, with added echoey resonance to boot.

For fans of unhinged vintage valve overdrive, the Extreme Reverb delivers in spades. With four footswitchable channels, the sonic range covers everything between crystal-clear, glassy cleans to high-gain, British-style menace. There are four basic modes on offer: Clean, Mean, Scream and Extreme. To save you time, the Clean gives you those shimmering sounds I was raving about earlier, Mean provides ample Brit-rock crunch, Scream elevates the saturation level and sustain as you play and the meaty Extreme pretty much speaks for itself. When I ran the Strat into the Extreme Reverb and cranked it up... boy, did it wail and roar like a Marshall Plexi head.

Easily one of the best all-out rock amps in its class as the ringing-eared yours truly has witnessed, the Extreme’s additional features include a three-band EQ, presence and depth controls, FX loop and a 6V6-driven reverb circuit providing that glorious, cavernous boom. Like the Dream Reverb, the ER is available as a 30W 2xEL34 or 60W 4xEL34 class A head or 1x12 and 2x12 combo and comes with Celestion speakers and a six-way footswitch.

And that’s the Dream, Cream and Extreme Reverb – three of the finest locally-made guitar amps. After hearing them in action, the Ipswich Motorway does suddenly feel like Route 66.

For more info, images and sound clips check out BJ AMPLIFIERS website www.bjamplifiers.com.au

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