hellzington
Well-known member
I've used it with both my OX and my TAE. Works great with both. I usually use it with a Creamback, V30, or Alnico Gold IR/Cab Sim.
Amazing amp and unlike any of my others. Not just in sound but in the way the amp totally flexes voicing with a turn of the volume knob. It's not a simple "this amp cleans up with the volume pot" situation; it actually completely changes the voicing and feel of the amp. On 10, the amp is total gain insanity with dry, immediate attack, tons of low end, and three dimensional buzzsaw highs; more Diezel-ish and the Billy Corgan-style high gain sounds are there. On 6-7 it's more Marshall-ish with more upper mids and old school crunch with a softer, slightly saggier feel. On 3-5 there's a crispy overdrive sound, probably stiffer than an old Fender but sounds great with Strats. Below 3 it's pretty clean and bright and works nicely with compressors. Grace also responds very well to guitars with treble bleeds. I got some amazing Position 2 + 4 Strat sounds using a Strat with a treble bleed, the tone rolled back to 4-5, and the volume around 5. Generally speaking though, I've found I like to leave my volume knob around 6-7 as "home base" and then turn it up for a compressed solo boost or massive fuzzy rhythm sound, or down to 2-4 for a cleaner, brighter, spankier sound.
The headroom control on the back is especially interesting as it further changes the entire character of the amp. Further to the left the amp is tighter and louder with more scooped mids and a dry, aggressive, in-your-face sound with an almost chaotic gain structure. Further to the right, the amp becomes more tamed and Marshall-ish with more pronounced mids, softer highs and lows, and better control over the master volume.
Grace just has this massive, enveloping three-dimensional sound. After playing it exclusively for a few days, I went back to my Friedman BE-100 Deluxe (which I love) and while I did enjoy myself, the amp sounded much flatter than Grace by comparison; even with the volume at 6-7 to get those more Marshall-ish tones. (This isn't a dig on Friedmans -- I own four of them and love them to death, I'm just saying they're different.) Grace is very addicting in that regard. I don't think Grace is for every purpose or every band, but if you want a huge sound that's unlike any other amp you've got, this is the one. I'm very happy with it.