jabps
Well-known member
Good description. I've owned two, my first was in a shootout with a JVM years and years ago to be my main amp. I ended up going with the JVM but always had a soft spot for the Sig. I've owned the Ultra Lead as well and I preferred the Sig. Fryette amps are dry, just they way they are but the Sig was the most forgiving of the bunch. I bought another a few years ago to see if I had remembered it correctly, I did but again I had moved on. Further my chops aren't what they where and none of the Fryette line is particularly forgiving amps albeit the Sig being the most. Better have your shit in order when you play these guys.Steve not too long ago mentioned a reissue of the Sig X on Malcontents. He feels there is nothing more he can do with it. It is complete as is. He spent ten years developing the Sig X before it was released. I hear it as part Hiwatt, Marshall, Mesa Mark series and Deliverance. It gets more saturated and more forgiving feel than any of the Fryette amps. The feel of the lead channel is more like a Mark series than a Pittbull. The lead and rhythm channel preamp is based off the channels on the Pittbull amps. The three way voicing switches are basically the different eras of the Pittbull input filtering. The clean channel can do the vintage Hiwatt thing. But saturates and overdrives much sooner. The power amp is based off the 2/90/2. The poweramp of the UL is based off the 2150.
Currently I am using mine with a VFE Standout, DOD Carcosa and Fortin Zuul+ in front. Ibanez PTEQ in the loop. It is a extremely versatile rig.
If I ever went the Fryette route again it would be the Deliverance, at the time of their release I really loved them but the no effects loop was a non starter. By the time they started offering the loop mod I had moved onto other things. As Stephen said, the Sig is really a variant on all the VHT amps whereas the Deliverance was a step in another direction.
As with most any amp, player is either going dig it or not.