the preamp, with the power tubes mostly just
amplifying that signal. Komets are designed to
clip in a very specific way, beginning with the
output stage. We feel that this gives the most
dynamic response and control.” That makes
sense. Let’s take a look at how it performs.
The Test Rig
To test it out, I ran the Komet 19 through
a variety of guitars and cabs to best mimic
what players might end up using. Cabs
included a Krank 1x12” with an Eminence
V12 Legend, a Mojave 2x12” with a pair of
‘60s Celestion Blues and a late ‘60s Marshall
Basketweave 4x12” with original G12H-
30s. Guitars were a 2008 Fender American
Standard Strat, 2003 Gibson Les Paul R8
Standard and a variety of Danelectros,
Airlines, Schecters and Epiphones. Plugging
the Les Paul direct into the 19 and running
the Krank 1x12”, I set the amp with all the
knobs at 5 and was immediately treated to
an astonishingly accurate AC/DC “Back In
Black” tone. The amp responded to the pick
with an explosive attack and didn’t compress
the way I’m used to with EL84-based amps.
It reacted like the power and punch of a
Marshall Superlead mixed with the chime
and sparkle of an AC30. And it was loud and
incredibly dynamic, with the loudest strums
nicely breaking up into great a crunch tone.
Rolling off the volume or picking lightly
brought the amp back to sparkling clean territory, with just enough harmonic distortion to
sound complex.
Curious about the Saturation control, I cranked
it up to 10 and laid into a big, open G chord.
Yeah, that’s what I’m talking about… this is
where the amp lives! According to the manual,
the Saturation control adjusts the amount of
signal going into the second gain stage, so
lower settings allow for more headroom in the
preamp and higher settings yield a more saturated, compressed overdrive character. It is
this control that really sets the Komet 19 apart
from other designs. I found it to be very versatile, especially when swapping out guitars that
had different pickup types. With the Les Paul,
it brought the amp into beautiful, blooming
overdrive that sang and sustained effortlessly
and worked very much in tandem with the
volume control. Obviously, at the lower volume settings it didn’t break up like a master/
volume configuration, since it isn’t designed
that way. But it did allow for a huge variety of
sounds to come out of a single guitar. It also
proved that a simple and effective design is
paramount in letting the true voice of a guitar
come through. The Les Paul sounded every bit
like a Les Paul, and the Strat…
Plugging in the Strat, I decided to change
cabs to the 2x12”. What a combination! The
AlNiCo speakers combined with the single
coil pickups brought the amp into a totally
different sonic territory. Since the Celestion
Blues really focus in on a specific midrange
frequency, I found the tone control and bright
switch very helpful in dialing up killer lead and
rhythm sounds. The 3-way Bright switch is
off in the center position and offers a normal
bright boost in the bottom and even more
brightness in the top position. With the Strat
I had to watch for it in the brightest position,
because it tended to push beyond the comfort zone and got a bit “ice-picky” on the top.
However, rolling back the volume cleaned it
up, and it sparkled so nicely that it made me
realize that there wasn’t a bad sound to be
gotten out of the 19. In a band situation that
extra bite might be just what’s needed to sit
on top of the mix. The lower bright position
with the tone set at about 2 o’clock seemed
to be the best balance for my taste; it offered
all the chime and clarity you could ever ask for.
To round out the testing I ran the 4x12” cab
in a bigger room with a variety of guitars and
settings. The 19 had no issue pushing the cab
and sounded nearly as loud as my 50-watt
non-master Marshall. It sounded massive with
an Epiphone Sheraton on the neck pickup
with the volume and saturation cranked, and
once again it showed how well the true voice
of the guitar came through. With a flick of
the bright switch I was able to roll back the
volume and get into Kinks territory with a
barking and authoritative spank. Wrapping
up the guitars, I also played a Danelectro ‘ 59
DC through the 19 into the Krank 1x12” and
was able to pull out some beautiful cleans
reminiscent of Jimmy Page’s “White Summer/
Black Mountainside,” as well as the gritty
“Kashmir” vibe. Amazing stuff.
The Final Mojo
While there’s no master volume, channel
switching or effects loop on the Komet 19, it’s
easy to forget about that when you experience the pure tone of this monster. It belies
its size with a gigantic range of tones that
let your instruments’ true personalities sing.
It’s quiet, efficient and simple to operate and
a testament to great design. What’s more,
Komet informs us they will soon release a
combo version, as well as a very cool 1x12
extension cab with a Celestion Heritage
G12H30. For the choices Komet made in
designing this amp, I cannot think of a single
thing not to love about it.
you want a portable powerhouse with
versatility and killer tone that showcases the personality of each instrument.
Buy If...
Skip If...
you need a lot of bells and whistles.
Rating...
5.0
ONTHEWeb
Click here to hear sound clips
of the amp in action
Komet Amplification
MSRP $2295
kometamps.com
