About 3 months ago, as a response to an amp question, I wrote a mini-review of my newly purchased/traded-for Carr Rambler. I traded a Bruno Tweedy Pie 18 along with some cash for what was essentially an NOS Rambler. Here are some further impressions.
Though I still believe the Bruno to have been a one-trick-pony, one quality of the amp has come into sharp relief since the trade: every guitar I plugged into that amp sounded colossal. I mean every guitar (e.g., 2 SGs, '52 RI Tele, Dyna- & Filter-Jets, 6122-62, 6119-ht). Not my impression with the Rambler.
The Rambler, to my ear, prefers Filters to Dynas, with my Dyna-Jet sounding thin and shrill. The 6122 (strung w 11 flats) sounds outstanding, as does the Filterton equipped Jet. The SGs are basically non-starters. The Tele sounds great (hard to find an unusable tone).
Don't get me wrong - the 14 & 28 watt settings make it a very flexible amp, the clean headroom suits my needs, the controls are responsive, and the sound dimensional with a lot of clean headroom. And, if I crank the mids and push the amp into overdrive, I can get some nice, thick tweed sounds.
I guess the take-away is that the amp & guitar function as a unit. This amp - to my ear - is a bit more finicky than I'd have hoped.
