TopHat Amps?

[JohnnyThunders]

Any opinions, Club Royale or Club Deluxe something in the 20 watt range?

[DaveH]

These amps are pure tone machines. Great for blues on through hard rock, they're very touch responsive and controllable from the guitar. I do regular tuneups on a handful of of locally owned Tophats ranging from 5w Portly Cadets through 100w Emplexadors, and I can vouch that they are all examples of fine craftsmanship and wiring. Built like tanks and very gig-worthy.

[Guest pirateflynn]

I have not play a Top Hat as I was already a Matchless guy but they have a good rep. and have had some great builders, such as Phil Jamison. That Hayseed 30 on the emporium sure seems like a good deal. Good luck with it!

[JohnnyB]

Any opinions, Club Royale or Club Deluxe something in the 20 watt range?

I've had a Top Hat Club Deluxe for nearly 8 years. It's quite a bit different from the ones available today--Control panel is volume (with a pull boost), bass, mid, treble, and cut, which rolls off very high treble. Unlike the ones today, mine has no master vol., has a tube rectifier, and a reissue Celestion Greenback instead of a Weber.

By keeping the design simple and the quality high, it is capable of quite a range of tones. For one thing, the tone pots have more range than a typical amp. The midrange control can really make a guitar sound forward or scooped. The Cut knob makes it possible to dial in a tone that is bright, but not edgy. It can also filter out line buzzes without killing the guitar tone.

Mine also have 4 ways to load the preamp--there are high and low inputs as well as a pull boost on the volume knob, making for 4 combinations. Since mine has a high voltage tube rectifier, I can make it as tight or squishy as I want, because I can put in an SS rectifier if I want or swap in something softer like a 5Y3.

Played clean, the Club sounds really good with any number of boxes you might use as front-end processors. I typically played it with a Nanoverb to add some reverb and pad down the input a bit for living room playing. Played dirty, you don't need a thing--just crank it and wail. Or if you want dirtier, crank it and then use some nasty-ass pedal to add more distortion.

Some of my guitars work better with the Top Hat than others. I originally bought it for my G&L ASAT Classic Semihollow, but it also sounded good with a Howard Roberts Fusion II, sounds excellent with the Phantom Custom at all settings, and is a great match for the Anniversary or Artist Mahogany HB. My Phat Cat Newport, however, sounds much better clean thru my Mesa DC-10, but I've never cranked the Top Hat with the Newport, so that may be another story.

Speaking of which, the OD sounds on the Club Deluxe are just wonderful. I've been able to crank it a few times (cranked, it's probably all you need in a noisy club with a crowd of 300), and the tone with the Anniversary is just to die for. One time I was at a jam, trading licks with a guy playing a G&L ASAT into a Matchless 30, and in that environment you couldn't say who had the better sounding amp, though we both sounded better than the others who showed up with Fender Hot Rods.

Both the Club Royale and Club Deluxe preamps are based on the Vox AC-15. The power section of the Royale is also based on the AC-15, but the Deluxe has 2 6V6s and (at least on the one I bought in 1998) the power section was based on the brown tolex-era Fender Deluxe. With that preamp and Celestion speaker, it still can sound pretty Voxy.

And I concur on the immediacy and playing dynamics with these. The first time I plugged in a G&L Legacy, I almost dropped it because it felt like the guitar sound was coming out of the speaker before I'd plucked it.

[duncans]

Monaco GoldTop P-90 + TopHat Club Royale = + :

[JES1680]

Hard to go wrong with a Club Royal. Mines a 98 2x12. I'm running a Vintage 30 and Webber blue dog, or a 2x12 open back cab with Blues.

Its the older design without the bright switch. Has more sag and a softer attack than my buddies who has a 2004.

They can be very chimmey / sparkly depending on how you have them eq'd. The Trebble and Mids are very interactive. You can scoop the mids to get a more Fender like tone, and if you take the Treble above about 1 o'clock the highs smooth out and it gets very Voxy. Back the Treble off to around 9 o'clock and crank the mids and it gets quite Marshally. If you use the master vol, and run pedals for dirt you need to be carefull. Too much master volume and a pedal will mush the low end out. Set the pre to around 10 o'clock, and crank the master and you have a very tight crunch. Amp works equally well with buckers and singles and LOVES P-90s.

The CRs especially the 2x12 have the greatest 3D clean sound I've heard this side of a Two Rock. Not bad clean headroom for a 20 watter.

Compared to the Aiken Tomcat, (I know you asked JT), the Tomcat is much more Marshall and the CR more Vox, more chime, less gain, but much tighter. More versital as far as sounds available, and much more active tone controls.

As far as build quality, Brian is in a class by himself. Here's a pic of my friends. They all look this good.

[JohnnyThunders]

Genteleman, thanks for all the valuable information it has been very helpful in my quest for the next amp.

[bobbymack]

I played a VOS R9 Les Paul thru a new Club Royale for about an hour in an amp room at a dealer in VA Beach a month ago, and I was very impressed. I believe the latest ones are shipping with G12H30 speakers (my fave) and tube rectifiers...

It is extremely touch sensitive, sounds absolutely killer cranked and just using the gtr vol for cleaning up.

The cleans are good (though not as good as my Kingsley Deluxe 30), but could benefit from reverb or a holy grail pedal etc. The dirty tone is fantastic though, and really fun to play.

I almost bought it, and I don't need it! I would absolutely heartily recommend one, and I'll likely get one one day for my grab & go...

[bobbymack]

You may want to wait and check this out...

"...extremely excited to announce the unveiling of Brian Gerhard

and TopHat Amplification's newest addition to their incredible line of amplifiers. The

amp is called the Supreme Sixteen and we will begin shipping initial orders in early

April.

The new TopHat Supreme Sixteen and can say that it is truly amazing. It's

everything in one, the end all be all if there ever was one. With a Les Paul style guitar,

I'm able to get Fender spanky clean to thick deadbone R&B rhythm sounds to Page /

May rock to the landmark sounds of the first EVH record, without changing the settings

on the amp. This is without a doubt the greatest sounding amp I've ever played or heard

in my life, period. Brian has done what I did not think was possible. He has created the

ultimate EL84 based head, one that I believe outdoes his King Royale which until now

was my favorite EL84 driven amplifier of all time. The Supreme Sixteen is the amp that

will define Brian Gerhard and TopHat Amplifiers.

Anyhow, the Supreme Sixteen is 16 watts -- 3 -12AX7's, 1- EF86, 2 - EL84's and

1- 6CA4/EZ81 rectifier tube. With large transformers and choke, and an aluminum

chassis -- 2 channels -- channel 1 has Vol and a Fat/Treble switch -- channel 2 has

Vol, Master, Treble, Middle, Bass and on the rear is a Fat/Off/Bright switch and an

overall Cut control. 1- AC15 preamp and 1- AC30 top boost/TopHat version preamp,

each with it's own High and Low inputs.

It has 2 and 3 tone vinyl covering with inlaid art-deco piping and an inset backlit logo.

It has 2 each of 4 and 8 ohm output taps, and is 120 and 140 volt, switchable. The

cabinets that we HIGHLY recommend are either a 1x12 Celestion Blue alnico cab,

or a 2x12 with a Blue and Heritage H or 2 Blues. Yes it is a Head only and the cost

is $1859. The 1x12 w/ Blue is $615. The 2x12 w/ Blue + Heritage H is $979 and the

extra Blue has an upcharge of $85. Shipping would be about $25 to 30 for heads, $35

to 40 on the 1x12's, and $45 on 2x12's.

To me, this amp marks a milestone in the history of guitar amplification. I absolutely

believe it to be the greatest sounding bad boy Rock 'N Roll amp ever. It puts every

classic sound from Wood and Richards, to Clapton and Page to May and Van Halen

all at your fingertips. You just need to roll your guitar's volume control from 0 to 10

to travel through the history of classic rock guitar tones. Not only will you hear those

classic tones, but you will hear them with a depth and dimension that no other amp I

know of, can deliver. The build quality, as always, is second to none and is quite

beautiful to behold."

[JohnnyThunders]

Yeah saw that last night on GP. Called into two dealers looking into availability (10 days or so) and pricing. Thanks for the heads-up.

[JohnnyB]

Hard to go wrong with a Club Royal. Mines a 98 2x12. I'm running a Vintage 30 and Webber blue dog, or a 2x12 open back cab with Blues.

Given that Mr. JES1680 also owns (accdg to his profile) 2 Aikens and a Bad Cat plus some other great amps, his glowing report on his CR 2x12 should give you an idea of just how good these amps are.

Before I picked up the Club Deluxe, I played the 1x12 Club Royale (and Vibra-Trem) a fair amount. They are simply fantastic amps. I only went with the Deluxe to be a bit different, because almost all 15-20w 1x12s are EL-84-based. And all these Club models simply take over the room with a singing, creamy buttery sustain when you get 'em above 6.

[shankyboy]

I tried out a Top Hat a few years ago (forget which model), but since it sounded very similar to my Matchless Cheiftain, I didn't go for it. I hear great things about 'em though.

[lonote049]

Shanky, how did the "Road to Memphis" work out for you? My band is going to give it a shot this time around.

[JES1680]

Johnny B. Yep the CR is a keeper. I need to update my profile as a few amps have passed through the old ranch since then.

[Guest pirateflynn]

JT............if you haven't made the purchase yet maybe you should check out this Alessandro for sale. I have the English and it's insane!

Right now it is a real bargain. Good luck!

http://cgi.ebay.com/Alessandro-Beagle-Head...1QQcmdZViewItem

[shankyboy]

"Shanky, how did the "Road to Memphis" work out for you? My band is going to give it a shot this time around".

Well, we made it to the finals. 30 bands in the preliminaries and 6 bands in the finals. Surprisingly, we did not place in the top 3 in the finals. Based on crowd response, we should have won it, but I believe the judges were looking for something more traditional since the top 3 were very traditional by comparison. I felt very good about the whole thing because i am new to Phoenix and this was a fantastic tool for getting my name out there and considering that my band only had 2 rehearsals prior to competing, I thought we did quite well.

Based on the music you sent me, you guys should easily win 'em over.

The guy that won it here, Danny Rhodes, was just an acoustic act. I recently went to see his full electric band and, oh my goodness, what an amazing player!! If he had competed with his electric band, he would have blown us all away. Check him out sometime. Great player and a really nice person. www.dannyrhodes.com He had this kid playing with him by the name of JD Simo. I think he's only 20 years old. This kid was like a cross between Danny Gatton and Scott Henderson. Scary player.