In Praise of the AL SSS

[kneeoh]

Hello fellow knuckleheads,

I just wanted to sing the praises of the AL SSS. My band and I played a 4 song set for a fundraiser this evening. The set list was Neil Young's "Heart of Gold", the Stones' "Paint it Black", a Blues Bros. song I actually don't know the name of, and BB King's "The Thrill is Gone". As I hadn't had the opportunity to rehearse any of the songs with the guys, I learned some of the color elements to the songs, like the sitar part for "Paint it Black" and the pedal steel parts to "Heart of Gold". The other two songs I was able to pick up on the fly being 12 bar blues and all.

I gotta say... the AL mimicked the sitar and a pedal steel tones like nobody's business and when it came to the blues... a bunch of people came up to me later and said the AL's tone bested the Tele and the Strat the other guitarists were using. A lot of guys had never seen one before and ended up talking to me about it for several minutes because they loved its look and its tone.

The set-up was simple. Guitar, DS-1 for boost only, Egnater Rebel 30... done.

The Al is an absolute machine!

 

[GuitarHack]

Cool! How do you like that Rebel 30?

 

[paranoid70]

I never used the AL for Paint It Black at a gig yet... maybe I should try it next time. That's a fun song to play, people usually love it.

 

[kneeoh]

I love my Rebel! It's actually my B-rig. I have an Egnater Mod 50 as my primary rig but it's kind of a pain in the ass to move around if one doesn't have an SUV. The Rebel fits into my little car and is a tone monster to boot! The clean channel is stellar and the crunch channel just sings during leads. My favorite set-up for the Rebel is with the AL's switch in position 4 and the Rebel on channel 2... very SRV-like. About the only thing it won't do is the Dual Recto thing.

 

[kneeoh]

Paranoid... do give it a try. I had the switch in position 1 with the tone rolled back about half-way. The trick to getting it to sound like the sitar is really strong vibrato and sort of micro-tonal bends.

 

[robelinda2]

SSS AL, the REAL AL. Not this HH douchebag guitar business.

 

[Jimmyb]

SSS AL, the REAL AL. Not this HH douchebag guitar business.

What about the MM90 version then?

 

[robelinda2]

Goes without saying!

 

[GuitarHack]

SSS AL, the REAL AL. Not this HH douchebag guitar business.

Wow...somebody's cranky and needs a nap

 

[GuitarHack]

I love my Rebel! It's actually my B-rig. I have an Egnater Mod 50 as my primary rig but it's kind of a pain in the ass to move around if one doesn't have an SUV. The Rebel fits into my little car and is a tone monster to boot! The clean channel is stellar and the crunch channel just sings during leads. My favorite set-up for the Rebel is with the AL's switch in position 4 and the Rebel on channel 2... very SRV-like. About the only thing it won't do is the Dual Recto thing.

Thanks for the review. It seems like a really good amp, and it's not a budget buster, either. I got to check one out a few months ago, been thinking about one ever since.

 

[catdaddy]

SSS AL, the REAL AL. Not this HH douchebag guitar business.

You just made me spew coffee Rob!

 

[fogman]

great story.

i can't wait to get one

 

[browndog]

Have we seen this so called AL James.

 

[kneeoh]

Have we seen this so called AL James.

hehe... I had a thread about her when I first got her but I'm too lazy to search for it.

Here she is:

She's got a natty head.

 

[browndog]

Ah... thats a really nice colour combo ya got going on.

 

[jbyrd]

You just made me spew coffee Rob!

Thankfully I was in between drinks... Got a good chuckle though.

 

[catdaddy]

Yep. Piezo bridge too.

 

[GuitarHack]

A modern classic, very nice.

 

[Coffeemug]

Perfect! Is that carbon blue?

 

[kneeoh]

Yup... Carbon Blue Pearl

If I remember correctly, I ordered her with only about a month or two before the color was discontinued so she's probably one of the last batch in this color. Makes her very special.

Thanks for all the kind words my fellow knuckleheads.