noticed the sag-free “tightness” that signals a more-than-adequate power section
and solid-state rectifier. Goodsell informed
me later that this amp really began with not
much more than a JCM800 transformer and
the itch to “go big.”
It’s easy enough to tell that this single-channel brute is powered by EL34s, but I
wouldn’t have guessed it’s a cathode-biased
design. That makes the “ 50” in its name
more of a model number than a description
of its output power, but it sounds plenty big
enough to top a half-stack. When I did finally get time to give it some in-depth investigation, I found out that the real departure
here is farther from the typical tones and
features of amps in the vintage “plexi”
mode, and less from Goodsell’s stock-in-trade. Those departures, however, will be a
real treat for all but the most dyed-in-the-wool Marshallites. Goodsell is already highly
regarded for his more refined, lower-power
EL84 combos, like the Super 17 and the
Custom 33, so it makes a lot of sense for his
entry into the medium-power/high gain zone
to retain much of what made those amps so
successful—I just wasn’t expecting it.
His “less-is-more” approach is readily evident
on the outside: with only a single input, On/
Off and Standby switches, volume, gain, and
3-band EQ, the Black Dog is bare bones. The
back of the amp demonstrates simplicity as
well, with two speaker outs (switchable for
8 or 16 ohms), and a jack for the “by-pass
boost” footswitch as the only “extra”—what
a kick, too! I’ll explain a little further on.
Plugging In
Figuring that not a few players attracted
to this amp are going to want to plug in a
vintage Les Paul with real-deal PAF humbuckers, but not having one of those around at
the moment, I decided to go first with the
Duesenberg Mike Campbell signature model,
since the Grand Vintage humbucker at the
bridge has very similar qualities. I set all of
the amp’s controls at noon and let fly. With
the guitar’s tone knob down around 3, the
Black Dog had all the aggressive punch and
definition of an old-school Les Paul/Marshall
combination, so it’s definitely able to rock
that early-seventies vibe. While the overdrive
is less creamy than the typical plexi-inspired
design, that roiling, ballsy low-mid crunch is
just as ample, and the dynamics are just as
generous. If you’re still digging Thin Lizzy,
Humble Pie, and Free, the Black Dog will
surely get you there.
Moving through a few adjustments, though,
the surprises started coming quick. With
the tone knob rolled all the way up, the
amp gained a different character altogether, with the humbucker producing a rawer
bite that evoked a more modern Marshall
tone, but without the raspiness of too much
preamp gain, and more open-sounding, less
“vowelly” in the mids. The lack of filtered
negative feedback lent it an edgier, less
refined top end that nevertheless stayed
clear of brittleness.
A real pleasure for me was the tone of the
P- 90 at the neck of the Duesenberg. It broke
up less easily, so I could really lean into a
gritty half-clean tone without it crumbling
and losing the defined attack. I was able to
take it from thick and bluesy to lean and jangly—without touching the amp. More than
any other pickup I ran through it, the P- 90
showed off the superb touch sensitivity of the
amp; it kept me riffing “Chickamauga”-style
for the better part of an afternoon.
The biggest surprise has to be the clean
tones. Those are going to catch everyone
off guard. Think blackface Super and you’re
more than just in the ballpark. Switching
over to straight single-coil guitars made
my head spin. The bridge pickup on a Tele
produced a confident, snappy twang that
went positively gnarly with some gain on it,
while the neck pickup went fat and deep
while staying beautifully clear—and it just
wailed when I rolled up the guitar’s volume
knob. My Nash S63 strat poured out everything from old-fashioned golden tones to
overdriven Texas blues, slinky funk and soul
tones and twitchy, punk grittiness. In particular, the “notched” settings on this guitar
sold me on the power of Goodsell’s mojo,
invoking shades of Hendrix and Tommy Bolin
(in his less-fuzzed-out moments).
The Black Dog also features a footswitch
control that works like a boost; it bypasses
the tone stack when engaged—Goodsell
says the switch makes about 20 – 25 dB
more gain available, while also kicking in a
fixed midrange compensation cap. Stomping
on it turns the amp into an unrestrained,
fire-belching incendiary device. Fortunately,
the Treble control still works as a high frequency roll-off in bypass mode, or there’d
be no way to stand in the same room with it.
If you want more saturated high-gain intensity than you thought was plausible in an
amp of this design, here it is—but get some
hearing protection.
The Final Mojo
Did I mention that after a day’s worth of blissful tone tripping all the amp’s controls are still
set at noon! I’ve decided not to mess with
them until after I’ve balanced my checkbook,
and taken it up on stage—I could really use
a gigging amp that doesn’t distract me with
the urge to tweak it all night. Among the
features I expected to find here, a presence
control isn’t missed. And though four inputs
is pretty common for the single-channel,
Marshall-inspired 50-Watters, the lack of
them is no loss here—not just because it
keeps things simple, but also because there’s
at least as wide a range of gain control with
the Black Dog’s single input. When you add
in the extra gain from the bypass boost, it’s
probably a great deal more than most. For an
amplifier this simple, the tonal versatility of
the Black Dog 50 is just plain huge. Richard
Goodsell might’ve had in mind a gain-heavy
stage rig when he designed it, but it’s also
easy as hell to imagine it taking up a second
job as the go-to amp for studio work.
Buy If...
you want an amp with superb
dynamics and sensitivity that
travels fluently across the spectrum of vintage tones.
Skip If...
you’re a card-carrying member of
the “Marshalls Only” club, or you’ve
got to have an effects loop.
Rating...
5.0
ONTHEWeb
Head online to hear sound samples of the amp in action at
premierguitar.com
Goodsell Amplifiers
MSRP $1899 (as tested)
superseventeen.com
