Walter Broes
Enlightened Member
As I recently started leaving my Super Reverb at home because of my new-found love for tweed amps, I needed some quality reverb and tremolo, and ordered a unit from Mergili sight unseen.
It got here, and it's not a dissappointment to say the least. It's an "Admiral Girth" by Mergili Innovations of Austin, TX. (www.mergili.com)
It's a tube/spring unit that has one knob spring reverb, (blackface type, octocoupler) tremolo speed and intensity, and a tube gain stage with a volume knob.
It's wrapped in the most beautifully made lacquered tweed head cabinet I have ever seen, and I'm not exaggerating one bit.
Here's how it looks sitting on top of my Headstrong 5E7 Bandmaster clone :
Only had a chance to try it at apartment volumes, but I'm rehearsing with it tonight, and gigging this weekend, so look for a full report after the weekend.
First impression, the reverb and tremolo are very "blackface" sounding, which I like a lot. The reverb is about the size and length of what a classic Fender blackface combo would have, and the trem is exactly the same as my Super Reverb's, only it gets slower ànd faster.
Both reverb and trem are footswitchable with separate mono jacks, footswitch included, cables aren't. (standard guitar cable works)
The Trem's depth control is also a "trem off" switch if turned fully counterclockwise. Here's how the controls look if you're standing in front of the unit :
And here's how it looks from the back :
I've taken a peek behind the back panel, and the thing is meticulously hand wired on a turret board, high quality parts, Kendrick power transformer and choke, two JJ 12AX7's and one JJ 12AT7, a long power cord, and nice big rubber feet on the bottom.
On the right hand side of the logo on the front of the box, there's a nifty red LED that pulsates along with the trem at the same speed.
As if all this wasn't good enough, it's $600 plus tax!!!!!! And John (Mergili) has both U.S. and European voltage power transformers, no extra charge for European. Also, he seems like a very nice guy who answers emails promptly and seems to stand behind his product. Can you tell I'm happy?
It got here, and it's not a dissappointment to say the least. It's an "Admiral Girth" by Mergili Innovations of Austin, TX. (www.mergili.com)
It's a tube/spring unit that has one knob spring reverb, (blackface type, octocoupler) tremolo speed and intensity, and a tube gain stage with a volume knob.
It's wrapped in the most beautifully made lacquered tweed head cabinet I have ever seen, and I'm not exaggerating one bit.
Here's how it looks sitting on top of my Headstrong 5E7 Bandmaster clone :
Only had a chance to try it at apartment volumes, but I'm rehearsing with it tonight, and gigging this weekend, so look for a full report after the weekend.
First impression, the reverb and tremolo are very "blackface" sounding, which I like a lot. The reverb is about the size and length of what a classic Fender blackface combo would have, and the trem is exactly the same as my Super Reverb's, only it gets slower ànd faster.
Both reverb and trem are footswitchable with separate mono jacks, footswitch included, cables aren't. (standard guitar cable works)
The Trem's depth control is also a "trem off" switch if turned fully counterclockwise. Here's how the controls look if you're standing in front of the unit :
And here's how it looks from the back :
I've taken a peek behind the back panel, and the thing is meticulously hand wired on a turret board, high quality parts, Kendrick power transformer and choke, two JJ 12AX7's and one JJ 12AT7, a long power cord, and nice big rubber feet on the bottom.
On the right hand side of the logo on the front of the box, there's a nifty red LED that pulsates along with the trem at the same speed.
As if all this wasn't good enough, it's $600 plus tax!!!!!! And John (Mergili) has both U.S. and European voltage power transformers, no extra charge for European. Also, he seems like a very nice guy who answers emails promptly and seems to stand behind his product. Can you tell I'm happy?