PREAMP
There are individual knobs for Gain, Bass, Mid, Treble, and Volume. Additionally there is the Gain switch which can add or subtract a Gain stage. With the Gain switch on LOW and Gain settings in the lower third, clean or slightly distorted sounds are possible, depending on the pickup. If you turn up the Gain, you're rewarded with a full and rich rock sound. The sound is very straightforward and dynamic; chords ring out forever and playing with the Volume knob of your guitar is really fun! The channel reacts very well to the player and does not thin out any sounds. With the Gain switch on HIGH you will be blown away. More Gain, a little more compression and with a more modern tuning, this channel will burn the house down with fat rhythms, screaming leads and razor-sharp staccatos! Always on point, even with a lot of Gain and Bass. Chords stay crystal clear—and with the Volume knob clean sounds are possible even with this setting. Thanks to the efficient EQ you will achieve a high quality sound from '80s hair metal to modern core and djent. You can fine-tune your sound with three more switches: Tight, Mode, Voice.
T/S OVERDRIVE
The T/S overdrive is integrated into your Darkest Nightmare and can be permanently switched on or activated by foot switch. No more tap-dancing on stage! Equipped with Gain, Tone, and Volume knobs, this feature is an extension for any channel! The T/S can upgrade the Clean channel to a nice rocky or a punchy oldschool overdrive channel! The recordings of many famous bands have been fine-tuned by this green dwarf.
On the Burn channel the T/S can be used as a Booster, for example for solos. With T/S Gain set to 0, Tone on medium, and full-on Volume, the sound becomes tighter, gains more attack and power, more complex Mids—the band sound becomes clearer. If you also turn up the T/S Gain, the sound gets a little more punchy and dirty, just becomes rougher and meatier. If you turn down the T/S Volume, you can soften very high-gain pickups, so the T/S works also as a negative-booster. With the T/S Tone you can emphasize or take back the attack in the burn channel.
POWERAMP
The DarkestNightmare is equipped with a versatile section of power amps. After your sound has passed the preamp stage, it has a tube-buffered Effect Loop at its disposal. Like the T/S, the Loop can either be turned on permanently or activated by foot switch.
The second Master volume can be used by foot switch and enables you to boost the volume, e.g. for solos. The Sharp knob sets the high frequencies of the power amplifiers; the Rumble sets the low bass. With both knobs you can modify the sound even more and adapt it to various speakers and room situations. The sizzel-switch option will add some high frequency "fizz" to your sound.
The amp works with four 6L6 power amp tubes with a push-pull principle and accomplishes around 100 Watts. On the back there is a Bias test point and a knob for each of the two pairs of power tubes. The power tubes can be adjusted by any technician after changing – without removing the amp from the casing. Additionally, the two independent knobs enable you to use different tubes. Two 6L6 combined with two KT88 or two KT88 together with two KT66 – not a problem!
BUILT-IN IMPULSE RESPONSE LOADER
First 100 Watt tube amp with built-in IR loader! - the Darkest Nightmare is equipped with a high quality impulse response loader. You can store up to 20 impluse responses and select them at the back of the amp. We deliver 15 high quality impulses with the amp. They are made by Lasse Lammert from LSD Studios in Lübeck, Germany - ready to use and well balanced. This pack includes 5 different cabs (Bgnr, Angl, Diez, Rec, Stil) different mics (SM57, MD421. R121, KM184) and mixed mics/cabs. With its USB connection you can load your own IRs on to the amp.
With this game-changing innovation you are able to have a real tube amp for the true feeling and response paired with a reproducible cabinet sound for high end tone and fast set-up. You still need a load for the Darkest Nightmare - either a real cabinet or a reactive load box.
SWITCHING
The amp can be controlled without a footswitch. Gain can be switched on the front panel, Loop and T/S can be switched on/off or assigned to the footswitch. All features can be operated by footswitch, including Gain switch, Master switch, Loop, T/S and MUTE. With the help of a Midi box the amp can be entirely remote controlled.
The Noisegate could be set to "Off when Master 2 is engaged". You can set the noisegate threshold for hard rhythm playing and very agressive. For any solo you can switch on Master 2 and the Noisegate will switch off and will not interfer you solo playing, ghost notes or soft hits. With this option you dont have to find a compromise for the threshold setting.
SPECS:
- 100 watt all-tube amp
- Two channels with Gain – B M T – Volume
- Burn channel with gain switch
- Tight, Mode and Voice switch
- Two mastervolumes
- Tube FX loop
- Built-in IR Loader
- 9V DC outlet
- Tuner out
- Built-in overdrive T/S with Gain, Tone, Volume
- Rumble and Sharp control
- Full Midi option
- Built-in noisegate option
- Sizzle switch option
- Different power tube option
Pricing:
- Darkest Nightmare 100 Watt with 6L6, 2-pos footswitch: $3,100.00
Options:
- Powertubes 2 x KT88 + 2 x 6L6: +$60
- Powertubes 4 x KT88: +$120
- Other combinations (EL34, Kt66): on request
- Customshop tolex, front, hardware: free!
- Custom wood front panel: +$120
- Custom black dome knobs: +$60
- Noisegate Channel 2: +$95
- Footswitch 5-pos: +$110
- Full midi implementation (channel, master2, loop, T/S, mute, gain): +$180
- Sizzle Switch: +$60
- Reactive Loadbox: +$345