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Louis Rosano and my Louis Electric Blues Breaker!

davebc

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Well, my Louis Electric Blues Breaker arrived one short month ago and I promise a review. I've been jonesing for a BB for years. So after purchasing a KR12, I finally said,
"Lou, I want a Les Paul amp."
Lou replied, "Dave, this is THE Les Paul amp!"

To say that Louis Rosano has once again exceeded my wildest imagination would be the understatement of the year!

Beauty is only skin deep: That old saying is true.
Lou's 2-12 Blues Breaker is gorgeous! Massive and stunning! It's a sight to behold, the kind of amp that begs to see your favorite Lester leaning against.
Gotta love that lightning bolt logo!

But, that's where the "beauty" ends. The custom handwound transformers to original Radiospares specs, the KT66's, and Lou's own magical spice make this the MEANEST, BALLSIEST, NASTIEST amp I've experienced in nearly 40 years of playing! Finally, finally, finally!!!

What's it like to play? Like grabbing a hold of two high voltage wires!
Inspirational! The amp had me SO jacked up my hands and arms were literally shaking.

What's it sound like? In one word, EXPLOSIVE!
The note bloom in Lou's Blues Breaker is like an atomic mushroom cloud!
It's the Beano tone dead on in spades, that tremendous fat thrusting sustain you hear on the four chord during Claptons first solo in "Stepping Out" when he just hangs that note.
It's those insane harmonics you hear blooming throughout "All Your Love," right at your fingertips!

The KT66's and the amp sound absolutely huge. The amp is fat like I've never heard. It's dynamic, responsive, swirling 3-D, with never a hint of harshness, regarless of eq settings. In the High Treble channel # 2 you get infinte type sustain with the amps Volume set on 2-3.
Best of all is what I've come to expect from Lou, his tradmark, true authentic vintage tone!

Funny, after hearing it, my buddy, a 40 year veteran player whose owned and played nearly everything shouted to me,
"That's the best fuc**** I've ever heard! What's this guys mojo?!"

Service and Commitment:
Well, I'm not Eric Clapton, but Lou treats me like I'm Eric Clapton.
In fact,(sorry to blow your cover Lou), but after my BBer arrived,
Lou called me up every night for nearly a week asking,
"How is it? What do you think? How's this? How's that? Did you try this?"
It's one month later and I couldn't be more satisfied. But, Lou the perpetual perfectionist, is still suggesting tweeks he still wants to try.

After my KR12 and Blues Breaker experience, I think so much of Lou's work that after hearing his Tweed Twin I promptly sent both my Vickies packing(and they are still great amps)
Coming soon boys, you guessed it, Tweed Twin time.
 
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DrewB

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This thread is absolutely worthless without :photos !

I'm getting the feeling that you're kinda stoked about your amp, but I could be off-base.

A Bluesbreaker is a beautiful thing!
 

LHakim

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This thread is absolutely worthless without :photos !

I'm getting the feeling that you're kinda stoked about your amp, but I could be off-base.

A Bluesbreaker is a beautiful thing!
Even with photos this thread is still worthless! What we also need are clips!!!:wail

But thanks for the review. I've heard nothing but great things about those amps and some guitar magazine review came away with essentially the same conclusion your buddy did.:3zone
 

davebc

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This thread is absolutely worthless without :photos !

I'm getting the feeling that you're kinda stoked about your amp, but I could be off-base.

A Bluesbreaker is a beautiful thing!
Gee Drew, I'm really sorry you find this thread "absolutely worthless" without photos. There goes an hour of my life I'll never get back. :hmm

"kind stoked" Well, you got that right!

My point was, and make no mistake about it, this amp is all about BALLS, BIG FAT ONES! It snarls, it creams, screams, barks and howls. It's rude in the BEST possible way!
A cranked up Bluesbreaker wouldn't be a Bluesbreaker if it sounded nice and pretty.
Hence, the "gorgeous" on the outside, mean and nasty on the inside.
If it was a woman you'd better run boy!

There's some photos here to help your imagination.
www.louisamps.com
 
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davebc

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There some really decent soundclips of the Baby Blues Breaker single 12 on Lou's site.
I bought the 2-12.
 

CharlieS

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Sounds like a great amp, Dave. Are you knocking down the volume with an attenuator?
 

davebc

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No Charlie.
The amp is rated at 45 watts. Lou told me it's actually about 37 watts. Plenty loud, but in the good way, big, fat, woody, no harshness at any eq setting.(Treble and Presence cranked up)
I also think Lou might get physically ill if you mentioned you were putting anything in front of his amps. :laugh2:
He's old school vintage.

The very cool thing is that Lou tweeked the High Treble channel to simulate a Dallas Range Master. Roll off the highs and the guitar and it abosolutely screams "woman tone." The amp does that in either channel but in this channel you get near infinite cranked old Marshall type sustain with the volume set on only 2-3.

This amp is not nearly as loud as my 69' 50 watt metal front, which unless you're playing the Fillmore is just way too loud..:nut

Lou has amazing ears. I was playing the amp for him over the phone when he said to me, "Dave, you know, you can crank up that Presence. That will make it distort more."
At the time he had no idea I had the Presence set at only 4. So I cranked it up to 6-7 and BANG! :wail

Charlie, I know we share a mutual love for those early ABB Fillmore tones, but this mid 60's circuit is obviously a completely different animal.
Like I said though, it absolutely NAILS the Beano tones in spades, a claim a lot of folks made, but only Lou has really delivered on imho.

By the way, this is with a Les Paul, straight in, no pedals.(It would really be a sin to put a pedal in front of this thing.)
 
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Johnny Q

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Lou makes great stuff, I just demo'd his 22 watt 57 Tremolux clone and it was nothing short of amazing. I have also tried his Bluesbreaker models as well - flippin awesome.
 

davebc

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Lou makes great stuff, I just demo'd his 22 watt 57 Tremolux clone and it was nothing short of amazing. I have also tried his Bluesbreaker models as well - flippin awesome.

Lou has been raving to me about this Tremolux, which I only heard over the phone. He was experimenting with some different tube and tranny configurations and flat out nailed it.
What I heard, even just over the phone was like you said,
"nothing short of amazing."

I wish I had the chance to try the Baby Blues Breaker.
That must be ridiculous sounding, all that mojo going through a single 12.
Damn!
 

MapleFlame

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Did you try the Master Volume version at all. I also Talked to Lou about a year ago, I have had a very busy year, so I haven't had the chance to get up there to try his amps. I wouldn't be able to use his 2x12, 37 watts is too loud for my gig situations. I wonder if any tone i s lost with the Master. I am glad someone is happy with the amp. Lou was great, before he posted clips on his site, he sent me two cd's with those clips. I am definitely going to get one soon.
 

davebc

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Haven't had a chance to hear the version with the master.
Lou was very excited about an 18watt BBer he had just finished, very excited!
That might be better suited to your playing situation.
 

Johnny Q

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Lou has been raving to me about this Tremolux, which I only heard over the phone. He was experimenting with some different tube and tranny configurations and flat out nailed it.
What I heard, even just over the phone was like you said,
"nothing short of amazing."

I wish I had the chance to try the Baby Blues Breaker.
That must be ridiculous sounding, all that mojo going through a single 12.
Damn!

What you heard over the phone, did that happen tp be an a/b comparison using a Fulltone Fulldrive II into the front end of the Tremolux??? That would have been me!
 

jkaffenb

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Nov 17, 2003
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Hi,
I didn't see it mentioned anywhere....sorry if I missed it.....do you mind if I ask if you are using hotter pickups with your Les Paul or more vintage output pickups to get this great tone?
Thanks,
John
 

DrewB

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Gee Drew, I'm really sorry you find this thread "absolutely worthless" without photos. There goes an hour of my life I'll never get back. :hmm

I guess you didn't realize I was kidding; there's somebody around here who often swoops in with that quote when there aren't photos to drool over.

A cranked up Bluesbreaker wouldn't be a Bluesbreaker if it sounded nice and pretty. Hence, the "gorgeous" on the outside, mean and nasty on the inside. If it was a woman you'd better run boy![/url]

It's not woman tone, it's nag tone! :laugh2:
 

davebc

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Sorry Drew,
I didn't realize you were kidding, one of the drawbacks of internet than having a real conversation.
 

davebc

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What you heard over the phone, did that happen tp be an a/b comparison using a Fulltone Fulldrive II into the front end of the Tremolux??? That would have been me!

No, this time Lou was playing with his Tele straight in no pedals. It was friggin beautiful sounding!
He's insane over this new transformer he finished winding and swapped into the Tremolux, along with a pair of 6l6's.
But, even I'm getting confused. I can't keep up with him.

I believe he said that you were going to be recording some new clips for him? Am I correct?
 

davebc

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Hi,
I didn't see it mentioned anywhere....sorry if I missed it.....do you mind if I ask if you are using hotter pickups with your Les Paul or more vintage output pickups to get this great tone?
Thanks,
John

John, I should have mentioned I was playing my stock R9 Murphy's w/ Burst Buckers 1&2, R0 with Tom Holmes 450's , Murphy-aged Page w/burst buckers
I would not classify any of these as hot, or overwound.
I was experimenting with the amp volume all over the place.
This amp gets more and more saturated versus louder as you crank it up.
But, even it set at low volume it's always incredible thick.
And, I haven't even throwed in nos 12ax7's yet.(still not a big fan of the new stuff)

I need more time. :laugh2:
 

DrewB

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Sorry Drew,
I didn't realize you were kidding, one of the drawbacks of internet than having a real conversation.

That's alright, my dry and sarcastic sense of humour probably don't translate into the digital realm too well!
 
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