SeQuel RAVINE™ Jazz Tube Amp [to the Manhattan Guitar Club]

The SeQuel RAVINE™. Reference grade Jazz guitar tube amplifier. Compact 1x12 combo producing 50-watts RMS clean. Vintage late 1950s | early 1960s -era sound character with modern muscle, transparency, detail and articulation. Particularly lush reverb circuit. 42-lbs approximately. Hear your guitar the way the luthier intended. " ... I have found my ultimate jazz amp: most natural, detailed, warm archtop-sound I´ve heard ... "   " ... Thought life couldn't get any better but then I plugged into my beautiful Sequel RAVINE™ Amp and was instantly in sonic heaven! ... "   " ... It makes playing so much easier when you have such a beautiful sound! ... "   " ... Can't tell you how long I've yearned for the classic jazz sound this amp produces! ... "   " ... The sound is just there, and with a touch of reverb, I feel like I’m channeling early Kenny Burrell"   " ... Since I love the electric jazz sound of the 50’s/early 60’s, this was what I imagined every amp would sound like on clean (but no amps quite get there!) ..."   " ... The best sounding amp I’ve ever played. I quickly stopped thinking about the amp, no constant tweaking, and just played and loved it ..."  

Jazz guitar strongly came into its own during the 1950s in no small way was helped by technological developments in amplifiers: guitarists could finally get heard!  But more than volume, there is something unique and special about the essential sound of guitar of that era : Jim Hall, Barney Kessel, Tal Farlow, Kenny Burrell, Grant Green, Bucky Pizzarelli, Mundell Lowe, Johnny Smith, Barry Galbraith and all the other founders of modern Jazz guitar.

One of the elements in the sound of those amplifiers were the large octal based 6S_7 series preamp tubes/valves that were commonly used at the time, before the advent of the ubiquitous small nonal base 12A_7/ECC8_ types. Here at SOUNDISLAND we wanted to explore the sound of octal tubes and their circuits in the context of archtop Jazz guitar ... meaning clean. But we also set out in our quest in a logical and measured way that balanced the realities of present day tube production and availability with technological developments that have occured over the past 60+ years. 

Moreover we embraced the positive side of modern technology. Transformers, capacitors, resistors, speakers have come a l-o-n-g way from those early days. So rather than re-create or clone we strove to evolve the art.  In fact, in our quest we auditioned several transformer sets to find "the one".  And because we weren't answering to Corporate bean counters, we did what ultimately makes the most musical sense ... we followed our ears and listened.

Plus then there is Reverb. If we were going to include this effect it had to be especially lush. And indeed the reverb circuit in the SeQuel RAVINE is particularly lush, deep and dimensional...yet it doesn't swamp the inherent sound of the guitar. Rather, it acts more like a room adding a certain ambiance. Corresponding with the period of this amplifier, it's a spring reverb type yet modernized by a quiet and reliable solid state driver/recovery circuit.

During the 1950s many working Jazz guitarists relied on 15-watt amplifiers. The top-of-the-line models were 25-watt "powerhouses." But that was during the acoustic Jazz and Swing years. Today the music has changed. And it's louder. So the SeQuel RAVINE is a 50-watt amplifier. Ample clean headroom to play cleanly in most any situation calling for an archtop guitar yet housed in a compact, portable cabinet weighing only about 42-lbs | 19-kilos.

Like all SeQuel amplifiers, the RAVINE is simple to use. The Ravine has 4-controls: Volume. Treble. Bass. Reverb. Just plug in, EQ to the room, and you're ready. That's it. Then too, this engineering approach translates to a short direct line of electronic communication between your guitar and the output of the speaker which allows for greater signal quality and improves signal-to-noise flow along the way. Meaning? A pristine reproduction of your individual instrument.

So what's the result?  The RAVINE is truly a wonderful sounding amp. Wide bandwidth, even, precise with a detailed, dimensional, open quality about the sound plus just a hint of that vintage harmonically rich warmth and "fatness" around the edge of the note or chord. And beautifully transparent so the inherent acoustic sound of your archtop or other guitar comes through.

Yes, we are excited about the SeQuel RAVINE. If these are qualities in an amplifier that appeal to you, please contact us here at SOUNDISLAND. We'll do our very best to help you, guitarist to guitarist.

• late 1950s | early 1960s sound character with modern articulation and power
• controls: volume | treble | bass | reverb
• 50 watts RMS [clean] • custom high-definition transformer set auditioned for transparency • 6SN7 octal preamp tube [also used in hi-fi sets of the era] • 6L6 x 2 power tubes • solid state rectifier • spring reverb with custom circuit
• 12-inch WGS12L speaker rated at 200-watts & 99.67 dB sensitivity
• weight: ~42 lbs | 19 kilos [nominal] with standard WGS12L speaker; ~36 lbs | 16 kilos with optional FANE AlNiCo A60 speaker for a more late-1950s flavored sound • includes cover • includes 10-foot instrument cable • includes shipping within Continental USA & special rates elsewhere • 115v and 230v versions available

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note: pre-production stain on cabinet shown for illustration purposes.

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SOUND SAMPLE: