Kool & Elfring ACE Review - Joe should try one of these!!

Hi fellow Joe fans,

I bought this amp today, but I have already extensively tried this amp before. It might be too soon for a review, but I think I have a good impression of what this amp is capable of. I play this amp through a Kool & Elfring 2x12 lightweight cab with Eminence speakers (Tonespotter (g12-65) and Private Jack (greenback).
Let's start off with some features:

Single channel with 2 modes: 'Clean' and 'Super Lead'
SVC - Seamless Volume Control (power scaling/wattage control circuit designed by Kool & Elfring) and master volume
Output: 50 Watts R.M.S.
2 x EL34 power tubes
3 x pre-amp tubes:
2 x 12AX7
1 x 5751
Outputs 4, 8, 16 Ohm or 2x16, 2x8 Ohm
Weight: approx. 15 kg
Handsoldered printed circuit board in the Netherlands by Kool & Elfring using the best components available.
Handmade from A to Z by Kool & Elfring
Asymetrical handle for perfect balance
dimensions: H=25 cm W=50 cm D=25 cm
9 ply lightplex
Full dovetail wood joints.
Available in four different designs at no aditional cost

Deluxe version available with fx loop, boost and footswitch (add 300€)

Kool & Elfring was founded by Aryjan Kool and Floris Elfring in 2007. The company started off building some of the best guitar (and bass) cabs money can buy in  their garage. Nowdays Kool & Elfring is situated in a factory 45 kilometers from the capital, Amsterdam. About two years ago Kool & Elfring released their first guitar amplifier, the Black Rose (Named after thin lizzy's legendary album). In may 2012 Kool & Elfring released two new amps the Ace, a vintage Marshall style amp and the super 7, which is closer to the black rose.

I was looking for a new cab last week. I found out about the 2x12 lightweight cab and thought it was a great concept and it sounds great.  I tried the new cab with the Ace and I was sold after the first note I played.

At 1300 euros you get a lot of amp for the price. The amp is very dynamic. It reacts very well to your picking attack, volume and tone knobs. The amp has a pcb and not a (hybrid) p2p construction like the black rose, but in my opinion both construction types have their pros and cons. A well designed pcb can be just as good as p2p construction and vice versa. P2p is easier to service and a true work of art, pcb is more consistent in tone, more quiet (better grounding, less hum/buzz) and quicker to build. I know some of you will not agree with me on this, please keep that for another thread.
Build quality on these amps is great, built to last!!
The amp really benefits from the asymetrical handle because it's quite heavy.
All components are overspecified to prevent damage (e.g. When mismatching impedance)

When I brought home the amp I started off with all controls at 12 o' clock on the clean voicing. At this setting you get a very nice chimey clean sound very blackface fender-ish. When you crank up the past 3 o' clock the amp starts breaking up and you get a nice subtle 3d crunch ala fender tweed. Very keith richards-like when played with a tele.
The clean channel is a great platform for all your boutique and non boutique fuzz boxes, overdrives, boosts etc... The tone controls have a very wide range and are very responsive. All settings on the eq sound great. With the master and svc volume control you can very nicely attenuate the volume. When you turn up the svc the master is very nice to tailor your tone. When cranking up the gain control a bit further you get a great srv type sound with a strat. When you switch over to the super lead voicing you get a great free/cream/led zep type sound with a les paul especially with both pickups. The volume backed off on the neck and the tone backed off on the bridge. Turn up the bridge pickup's volume for a lead sound, or if you want a real thick and creamy sound turn up the neck pickup too. This setting on the amp also gets you an acdc sound on the bridge pickup if you pick agressively. For this sound I set the gain at 1:30/2 o' clock. This is with the svc and master cranked. When you back off the gain and master a bit you get a nice jtm45 sound. When backing off the guitar's volume you still get a great clean sound. When you crank up the gain to 3 o' clock the sounds gets in the EvH's brown sound territory.
All sounds are very open and uncompressed sounding. Something I love about this amp. It really lets through the character of you guitar.
All of these sounds are blended with Kool & Elfrings own kind of sound.
My favourite sounds are the plexi and jtm45 sounds because you get the marshall sound and when you roll the volume back you still get a fender clean. Very impressive!! This is the most versatile sound the amp has in my opinion.
The svc control works like a charm. The tone is being retained very well even at bedroom volume.

So far I am very happy with this amp. Tomorrow I am going to try it some more in a band mix.

I can recommend this amp to anyone who is looking for some vintage Marshall goodness, and you get great cleans as an added bonus!!
Here's a pic:

Pic: http://i1080.photobucket.com/albums/j32 … 289332.jpg

Thanks for reading!