PRODUCT REVIEW
TUBEWONDER Harmonic Control Amplifier
BY JAMES EGOLF
“I don’t know if that cabinet will work
– the Tubewonder is kinda finicky about
speaker cabinets,” offered the voice
on the other end of the phone. It was
Tubewonder’s U.S. distributor responding
to my plan to use a Mills Acoustics 4x12
cab loaded with Celestion V30s to review
the Tubewonder. All I could manage for
a response was a muttered “Ah, shit!”
under my breath.
Picking out speaker cabinets can be daunting, especially when trying to find something that can work well under multiple
guises. I thought we had located one that
could handle all that we needed – clean,
crunch and all out distortion, yet here was
this guy on the other end of the phone
unintentionally pissing in my Cheerios.
122 PREMIER GUITAR MAY 2008
“How about we try it and see what happens?” I offered, audibly this time. He
responded, “Sure, just let me know if you
want me to send out a different cab.”
Great, I thought. Waiting for another cab
to arrive would put us even farther behind
schedule – that will make my editor
happy. I mumbled thanks and hung up.
Once the amp arrived and was unboxed
from its shipping carton, I was treated to
something resembling the unholy union
of Alembic (circa 1975) and Ming the
Merciless (circa 1936), in part due to the
Tubewonder’s interesting mixture of art
deco-inspired cut outs and hippy-dippy,
tweaker-gone-to-heaven control layout.
This is not to infer that the amp is unattractive. Quite the contrary, the dark-stained wood faceplate and green vinyl
faux-leather covering deliver busy but sol-
idly handsome looks. It just doesn’t look
like much else out there.
The included box full of tubes, fuses, a
t-shirt and a user manual shines a little
light into the inner workings of designer
Aleksander Niemand’s mind. The handwritten rectifier tube suggestions on the
manual’s cover speak volumes about
Alex’s amp building motivation. I began
to think, cabinet gods willing, that I was
really going to enjoy this amp. The next
bit from the manual’s cover cinched it:
“TUBEWONDER is an unusual amplifier.
Period.”
Making sure the mix of two KT66s, five
12AX7s, a single 12AY7 and GZ34 were
all firmly in place, I selected the correct
impedance and plugged into the Mills
