Driftwood Purple Nightmare....What a disappointment

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Spaceboy said:
The Herbert was this for me. I wanted one for YEARS, like seriously a decade. I had it built up in my head to be one of holy grails for myself. I loved every clip and album recorded with it. Then in my hands it was a total dud. I couldn’t even get it to sit in the same room with a bandmate on a 6505+ without getting buried, and no amount of tweaking or boosting seemed to do what I wanted. So disappointing, and the most I had ever spent on an amp.
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I have a Herbert mk 1 with all 6l6s . It hangs with my Hermannson and Wizards . That’s like my trinity of amps . Sucks to hear of your experience because mine live is a chunk monster boosted
 
I had an early Purple Nightmare for about a year and thought it sounded glorious. I sold it because, well gas gets the best of us and now they've gotten pricey AF.

Weird about your experience with the low end, I recall it being the opposite and fairly lean in that department. For me it was bass and resonance cranked pretty high depending on volume, mids to taste, treble dimed, presence around 3 o'clock, gain to taste and that on-board boost sounded killer. Mine had a sizzle switch that I kept off to control the harshness...did yours?
 
I had the same experience as you with the purple nightmare I used to own and the sound you had in your videos is what I was getting too. Couldn’t get rid of it fast enough. I thought it actually sounded quite good when I was playing it just on its own and had it dialed in well, but then compared it with my iic+, Wizard and few other amps I owned at the time and they just totally humiliated/outclassed the purple nightmare. Just not that worthwhile an amp imo and very overpriced for what it is
 
One of the greatest disappointments was the ENGL E580 MIDI preamp. I paid a ton of money for it and it seemed to be just a way to store up to 256 flavors of Powerball (which I hated almost as much as the Triple Rectifier), should've gotten the E570 or 530 instead and it would've been a lot cheaper as well. That 5150III is another good example. I don't know why but I just couldn't gel with it after playing a 5150 Blockletter for a few years.

The hipster metal amp world after around 2007/2008 didn't excite nor interest me enough so Driftwood, Revv & Co. were never on my radar and after I've been made aware of their existence I still can't imagine I've missed anything of importance.
 
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ErikT said:
That was the Omega Granophyre for me. The attack was quick but the sound still felt far away, was a weird sensation.
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I had similar feeling about the Omega Obsidian I tried a few times (didn’t like it), but haven’t tried the Granophyre
 
These were instant dislikes that left the house the same day they arrived:
AC30 HW - too damn loud for anything I can do. AC15C1 is much more manageable.
Suhr PT100 - too loud again, lower volumes on the drive channel weren't good. Opened up, loved it. Clean channel was purdy.
Original 5153 100w - didn't like the honky mids and lack of gain on the blue channel. The 50w Stealth, on the other hand, is a blast to play. Love the low mids and saturated gain for heavy riffing.
 
Devin said:
I feel the same way about most of the newer $$$$ booteek high gainers that get hyped up.

Are they good? They certainly can be. Are they better than any of the old standards? In my experience, no not really
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This 100%! The REVV Generator MKII and Omega Granophyre were some of the most disappointing amps I've ever acquired. It was a lesson worth experiencing because now I realize the majority of shit out there is ALL internet cool kid hype. The only expensive current boutique amp that impressed me was the Dover DA50. That amp kicks serious ass but in the end, it wasn't anything I couldn't accomplish with a less expensive Marshall or clone variant with a good boost.
 
glpg80 said:
The 5150 III is like that for me - any version of it. It just sounds plastic-like to my ears and as if somethings off. Like I’m playing a tube modeler and not a tube amplifier, I can’t quite put my finger on it.

I just play my 5150 II and be happy knowing what if can do at band practice levels.
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My thoughts as well. I think it's way overrated.
 
Bummer to hear. Really like my Purple Nightmare. It fills my 5150 itch. Great saturation. I’ve lent it to a producer friend who raved about it in the mix.

Lot of options these days. I could see why it may not be everyone’s cup of tea.
 
Spaceboy said:
The Herbert was this for me. I wanted one for YEARS, like seriously a decade. I had it built up in my head to be one of holy grails for myself. I loved every clip and album recorded with it. Then in my hands it was a total dud. I couldn’t even get it to sit in the same room with a bandmate on a 6505+ without getting buried, and no amount of tweaking or boosting seemed to do what I wanted. So disappointing, and the most I had ever spent on an amp.
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I had the same experience with the Herbert. It got lost in the mix. Lasted a week with it, sold it and got what I originally wanted - an Engl Powerball II. I was told by my buddy i bought the Herbert from that I would get buried in the mix with the Engl, but that is not what happened at all. Then i found out he had the Powerball I, from what i understand is voiced differently than the Poweball II and did have that issue of getting lost in the mix like the Herbert. I'm completely happy with my Engl
 
ErikT said:
That was the Omega Granophyre for me. The attack was quick but the sound still felt far away, was a weird sensation.
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Same for me. The amp was…. “Almost” good. It wanted to be a recto so bad but never was to me.


I love the purple nightmare, a few records have been some of my favorite tones and were done with that amp. I don’t have any of these problems at all, but to each his own!
 
Billelzebub said:
I had the same experience with the Herbert. It got lost in the mix. Lasted a week with it, sold it and got what I originally wanted - an Engl Powerball II. I was told by my buddy i bought the Herbert from that I would get buried in the mix with the Engl, but that is not what happened at all. Then i found out he had the Powerball I, from what i understand is voiced differently than the Poweball II and did have that issue of getting lost in the mix like the Herbert. I'm completely happy with my Engl
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I love my Herbert to death, but I would never use it live. Used it about 10-11 years ago live, did not dig that At all. Now for recording, that’s a completely different story. It absolutely slays in a mix, but live I agree.
 
I saw your livestream and it looked like you were struggling with it to get decent tone. Driftwood was at the top of my list for a while and I almost got one. The more I looked into it the more I realized it wasn't going to be an amp I'd like. I'm glad I passed.

Bad.Seed said:
I sold it and am sending it on it's way today. I really wanted it to be a keeper but I'm honestly glad to see it going, and have replaced it with an Engl Inferno and a Hector Mr Laboga, both amps which I have been enjoying exponentially more than the Driftwood.
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I don't know about the Laboga I've never played one, but I think you made an excellent choice with the Inferno. I ended up getting one instead of a Driftwood and I really love it. I think it's one of ENGL's best sounding amps. To me it has the right balance between the typical ENGL compression and being responsive to your playing. It's also very smooth sounding. Definitely a keeper for me.

If you ever get a chance to try an ENGL Morse you should. It's much different than any of their other amps. You can get some great high gain plexi tones. The "mid matrix" on channel 3 really lets you dial it in exactly where you want it.
 
glpg80 said:
The 5150 III is like that for me - any version of it. It just sounds plastic-like to my ears and as if somethings off. Like I’m playing a tube modeler and not a tube amplifier, I can’t quite put my finger on it.

I just play my 5150 II and be happy knowing what if can do at band practice levels.
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I liked mine at first but then I started to notice some weird frequency that to me sounded thin and fake. It was like a bad after taste lol.
 
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