KARI NIEMINEN MAY not be as recognized as other modern-day luthiers, but for discriminating collectors and his well- heeled clientele, the Finnish designer quietly builds some of the most beautifully eclectic instruments as a one-man operation for Ver- soul. Much like renowned British luthier Tony Zemaitis before him, whose uniquely engraved metal-front guitars are considered true origi- nals, Nieminen’s superbly crafted, one-of-a- kind acoustics and baritones, as well as his electric guitars with eccentricities like blue LED lights and gold-leaf-adorned bodies, have found their way into the arsenals of notable artists like Ronnie Wood, Billy Gibbons, and Pete Townshend. To round out his idiosyncrat- ic collection of handmade offerings, Nieminen has offered the incredibly dynamic and touch- sensitive Versoul Amp, created with circuit de- signer Jaakko Turunen. eir latest creation, the Versoul Combo is destined to become yet another highly prized tube amplifier. While the Versoul Combo can be custom made with extravagant finishes (like Arctic Sea salmon skin), our particular example, which showed up in relatively unassuming hand- pressed, genuine black leather, is no wallflower. e handsome Versoul Combo is rated at four watts and comes loaded with a single 10–inch Celestion Alnico Gold speaker. Everything about the Versoul Combo is first-class, including its hand-wired point-to-point construction, blue anodized aluminum chassis, bronze-finished front and back control panels, Finnish spruce cabinet shell, and high-end components, like paper–in-oil resistors. e combo’s front panel features a high/low switch, volume and tone controls, a built-in harmonic tremolo with speed and depth controls, a gain on/off switch, and a gain control. e back panel hosts a record-out jack with level control along with an extension speaker jack and tremolo jack for the footswitch. One would imagine the Versoul’s tube com- plement of a GZ34 rectifier tube, EL84 power tube, and 12AX7 and EF86 preamp tubes would serve up some early JMI-era VOX AC-4 tones, but surprisingly, I found the amp nails early tweed tones with added headroom. To start, I ran the amp with the gain off and the volume more than halfway up. e Versoul delivered a bewitching range of silky cleans and soft com- pression, with a strong emphasis in the mids courtesy of the alnico speaker. To customize touch response and gain to personal preferences, you can easily swap out the rectifier and 12AX7 tube without bias adjustment. With the gain control turned up, the amp dispensed crystalline bite with a smattering of overdrive for ballsy crunch. I swapped the GZ34 rectifier tube for a 5Y3, which sharpened the overall attack, producing grittier overdrive with tighter bass and robust harmonics. I was especially charmed by the Versoul Com- bo’s tremolo circuit, which has sweetness in its hypnotic chop as you turn up the depth knob, but also adds great dimensional pulse to chords with the speed slowed down and the depth knob turned counterclockwise. e Versoul Combo exhibits versatility both as a home and recording amp, but also packs a great deal of tonal punch for a low-wattage amp. STREET PRICE $3,795 Versoul, versoul.com R TOP GEAR 90 GUITAR AFICIONADO Soul Power Versoul Combo Amplifier BY PAUL RIARIO PHOTOGRAPHY BY MASSIMO GAMMACURTA
Welcome message from author
This document is posted to help you gain knowledge. Please leave a comment to let me know what you think about it! Share it to your friends and learn new things together.
Transcript
KARI NIEMINEN MAY not be as recognized as other modern-day luthiers, but for discriminating collectors and his well-heeled clientele, the Finnish designer quietly builds some of the most beautifully eclectic instruments as a one-man operation for Ver-soul. Much like renowned British luthier Tony Zemaitis before him, whose uniquely engraved metal-front guitars are considered true origi-nals, Nieminen’s superbly crafted, one-of-a-kind acoustics and baritones, as well as his electric guitars with eccentricities like blue LED lights and gold-leaf-adorned bodies, have found their way into the arsenals of notable artists like Ronnie Wood, Billy Gibbons, and Pete Townshend. To round out his idiosyncrat-ic collection of handmade o� erings, Nieminen has o� ered the incredibly dynamic and touch-sensitive Versoul Amp, created with circuit de-signer Jaakko Turunen. � eir latest creation, the Versoul Combo is destined to become yet another highly prized tube ampli� er.
While the Versoul Combo can be custom made with extravagant � nishes (like Arctic Sea salmon skin), our particular example, which showed up in relatively unassuming hand-pressed, genuine black leather, is no wall� ower. � e handsome Versoul Combo is rated at four watts and comes loaded with a single 10–inch Celestion Alnico Gold speaker. Everything about the Versoul Combo is � rst-class, including its hand-wired point-to-point construction, blue anodized aluminum chassis, bronze-� nished front and back control panels, Finnish spruce cabinet shell, and high-end components, like paper–in-oil resistors. � e combo’s front panel features a high/low switch, volume and tone controls, a built-in harmonic tremolo with speed
and depth controls, a gain on/o� switch, and a gain control. � e back panel hosts a record-out jack with level control along with an extension speaker jack and tremolo jack for the footswitch.
One would imagine the Versoul’s tube com-plement of a GZ34 recti� er tube, EL84 power tube, and 12AX7 and EF86 preamp tubes would serve up some early JMI-era VOX AC-4 tones, but surprisingly, I found the amp nails early tweed tones with added headroom. To start, I ran the amp with the gain o� and the volume more than halfway up. � e Versoul delivered a bewitching range of silky cleans and soft com-pression, with a strong emphasis in the mids courtesy of the alnico speaker. To customize touch response and gain to personal preferences, you can easily swap out the recti� er and 12AX7 tube without bias adjustment.
With the gain control turned up, the amp dispensed crystalline bite with a smattering of overdrive for ballsy crunch. I swapped the GZ34 recti� er tube for a 5Y3, which sharpened the overall attack, producing grittier overdrive with tighter bass and robust harmonics.
I was especially charmed by the Versoul Com-bo’s tremolo circuit, which has sweetness in its hypnotic chop as you turn up the depth knob, but also adds great dimensional pulse to chords with the speed slowed down and the depth knob turned counterclockwise. � e Versoul Combo exhibits versatility both as a home and recording amp, but also packs a great deal of tonal punch for a low-wattage amp.
STREET PRICE $3,795 Versoul, versoul.com
R T O P G E A R
90 GUITAR AFICIONADO
Soul PowerVersoul Combo Amplifi er
BY PAUL RIARIO
PHOTOGRAPHY BY MASSIMO GAMMACURTA
Related Documents
