MistaGuitah
Well-known member
I have all three of these amps now. The JJ has bubbled to the top, so now I need to determine whether to let go of my BE or Butterslax. The JJ's JB mode edges out the BE, but it does not have the midrange growl of the BE. It has a little bigger low end and upper mids with a flat EQ than the BE with a flat EQ. It is hard to tell which one cuts better through a mix. Metal is a little more natural to the JJ and Butterslax, but the BE is surprisingly aggressive enough to keep up with the back switches up and the front switches to the right.
The Butterslax is really unique. It's pretty much useless for cleans, but anything bluesy and maybe some classic rock it can do. What is most surprising to me about the Butterslax is that it seems very refined. It's a metal monster but I gotta say the lead tone is where its at, maybe better than the JJ's JB mode. The JJ is surprisingly as articulate with the gain maxed out as the Butterslax. The BE has the most midrange punch, and thicker than both other amps with the fat switch up.
It seemed like two weeks would be enough time to make a choice, but here I am three weeks later and cannot decide. It's going to hurt either way. The Butterslax is the most inflexible, but the one main sound it has is so damned good. The JJ is as versatile as the BE in my opinion, except no boost, because the toggle switches are not footswitchable. If there was a way to toggle the back panel Sat switch when engaging the boost on the footswitch, then that would make the BE like a 3-channel head.
It's hard to decide since the BE is like ultimate Marshall box and can pretty much do any kind of music. The JJ is not the proverbial Marshall style, but I think the clean channel is better than the BE, and the regular BE mode is very satisfying for low to mid gain tones. Then it has the JB mode which is sort of like the BE with the sat,S, C45 and voice switches all on at once. The Butterslax is the most mysteriously appealing of all three. It is more refined than I expected, not too versatile, but it makes me want to solo all day long.
I would like to hear some owners chime in on these three amps. The SS sounds like it is very versatile. The demos make it sound like it can do pretty well with heavy metal rhythms, but reviews describe it more like a classic Marshall tone. I do not hear that in the demos because it sounds syrupy and kind of a darker bass sound like the JJ. The Butterslax vs SS would be comparing very different amps, but it would be interesting to hear that contrast.
The Butterslax is really unique. It's pretty much useless for cleans, but anything bluesy and maybe some classic rock it can do. What is most surprising to me about the Butterslax is that it seems very refined. It's a metal monster but I gotta say the lead tone is where its at, maybe better than the JJ's JB mode. The JJ is surprisingly as articulate with the gain maxed out as the Butterslax. The BE has the most midrange punch, and thicker than both other amps with the fat switch up.
It seemed like two weeks would be enough time to make a choice, but here I am three weeks later and cannot decide. It's going to hurt either way. The Butterslax is the most inflexible, but the one main sound it has is so damned good. The JJ is as versatile as the BE in my opinion, except no boost, because the toggle switches are not footswitchable. If there was a way to toggle the back panel Sat switch when engaging the boost on the footswitch, then that would make the BE like a 3-channel head.
It's hard to decide since the BE is like ultimate Marshall box and can pretty much do any kind of music. The JJ is not the proverbial Marshall style, but I think the clean channel is better than the BE, and the regular BE mode is very satisfying for low to mid gain tones. Then it has the JB mode which is sort of like the BE with the sat,S, C45 and voice switches all on at once. The Butterslax is the most mysteriously appealing of all three. It is more refined than I expected, not too versatile, but it makes me want to solo all day long.
I would like to hear some owners chime in on these three amps. The SS sounds like it is very versatile. The demos make it sound like it can do pretty well with heavy metal rhythms, but reviews describe it more like a classic Marshall tone. I do not hear that in the demos because it sounds syrupy and kind of a darker bass sound like the JJ. The Butterslax vs SS would be comparing very different amps, but it would be interesting to hear that contrast.