The parents at Fuchs Audio Know-how know that the majority guitarists use pedalboards loaded with results they’ve beloved, swapped, upgraded, and regarded for years. For them, Fuchs gives the tailored Clear Machine II, optimized for exterior stompboxes and kit.

An amp for gamers who want the cleanest tone attainable, with excessive headroom, the 50-watt CMII head (additionally accessible as a combo and in 100-watt variations) is fitted with three 12AX7 tubes (overlaying the preamp, loop return and reverb, and driver), a 12AT7 (additional power-amp driver), and two 6L6s for output muscle. There’s a buffered results loop providing sequence and parallel operation, and rear output jacks for connections to 4-, 8-, and 16-ohm cupboards.

The meat of the matter is the entrance panel, the place you’ll discover an array of controls overlaying three fundamental jobs – Quantity, EQ, and Reverb. Because the CMII is all about giving your pedals the proper mattress to assemble sound, it is smart the EQ controls are various and attention-grabbing; search for switches labeled Brite 1 and a pair of, Deep, and EQ 1 and a pair of, all offering loads of variations to discover. There are additionally knobs for Excessive, Mid, and Low, and importantly, they’re push/pull pots that transfer the center-point of every frequency for extra EQ choices. In the event you’re a tonehound and/or tweaker, you’ll be in heaven as you dial in exact sounds to match your guitar’s pickups and tonewood. The Accent knob permits you to play with power-amp tone.

That is all earlier than the weapons-grade digital reverb, which turns ’verb into one thing of an artwork type. Past customary, the four-knob array provides you Stage plus Decay, Physique, and Shimmer – a few of the circuit’s lengthy tails are dazzling. This gives tailored management of your reverb and, once more, makes for a tweaker’s paradise.

Plugged in, the CMII delivered the products via a 1×12 cab, giving heat, glassy tones aplenty that work very nicely for clear sounds, stompboxes, and as a platform for digital modeling for all method of rock, jazz, nation, pop, and acoustic-guitar types. And its development is superlative.

In the event you love tweakin’ tone, you’ll be amazed by bottomless depth of the Clear Machine II. It’s a severe tube machine.

This text initially appeared in VG’s August 2023 problem. All copyrights are by the creator and Classic Guitar journal. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.