An Amp Sim that Captures the Soul of the Semi-Disputed "King of Amps"
Matt Clouston
Hi. How are ya? My name is Matt Clouston and I’m the resident amp nerd here at EarthQuaker Devices. The ones who know me best will be surprised to find out that I wrote a blog post singing the praises of a little amp simulator. I’ve spent the majority of my adult life building, playing, breaking, repairing, and hauling around tube amps. The bigger, heavier, and louder the better. So, why am I here talking about a tiny little headphone amp called Easy Listening? Because that’s what my life needs these days.
As I get a little older and a little wiser, I’m learning that we don’t always need loud tube amps. My wife and I were also blessed with the birth of our first child last year so I might just be gaslighting myself, but I’m sure there are plenty of other people in my boat. The boat where you’re not allowed to turn it up to eleven on your full stack. This same boat where even a tweed deluxe is a little too much. On this boat we still get to play guitar, but we have to do it quietly. We must do some Easy Listening.
Sure, there are plenty, maybe too many, amp simulators, cabinet simulators, modelers, interfaces, software plugins, and console-in-a-boxes out there. But what about an inexpensive and reliable little box to plug your headphones into that's under a hundred bucks and half the size of a Snickers bar? Did we mention that it comes with a lifetime warranty? We will finish the other half of the Snickers bar while you try to find one.
Didn’t find one? That’s why we invented Easy Listening. Not the “popular music genre and radio format that was most popular from the 1950’s to 1970’s” (thanks wikipedia), but the $99 amp simulator / headphone amp. What amp is it modeled after, you might be asking? None other than the semi-disputed king of amps ... the AB763 Deluxe Reverb.
One of the most recorded and revered circuits of all time, the Deluxe Reverb still graces many stages you’ll see today. But what makes it a great pedal platform and why did Jamie Stillman base the Easy Listening on that, relatively, low wattage amp?
Jamie Stillman demos the Easy Listening amp sim.
The beauty in the Deluxe Reverb lies in the sum of its parts. It has the classic Fender tone stack with the mids scooped. It is loud and clear thanks to a generous amount of negative feedback, especially compared to earlier tweed amps. It also has an undersized power transformer and output transformer, which lend more touch sensitivity, sag, and compression than the other Fender amps of the 1960’s and 70’s.
On the Easy Listening there is no adjustable EQ, but we tuned it so the Treble is around 5 and the Bass is around 6 on a Deluxe Reverb. You know those old amps, they all sound a little different from one to the next. That little extra bass boost comes in handy though, and it wasn’t boosted enough to overwhelm the tiny little speakers in your headphones. If you do find that you need a little EQ tweaking, I highly recommend placing an EQD Tone Job EQ pedal right before the Easy Listening in your signal chain.
In addition to being a great headphone amp, the Easy Listening is also a fantastic preamp to run right before your recording interface. Especially handy for bedroom recording settings where you’re looking to get a touch more gusto when running straight into a little Scarlet interface.
Most amp sims and modelers out there make you sound like the model that has been programmed into the tiny computer that you paid hundreds or thousands for. This little amp modeler lets you sound like yourself for less than a hundred bucks. No menu diving, no little computer whose memory can corrupt, just a simple solution to the age-old problem of wanting to play your guitar while everyone else in your house is fast asleep.
Photography by Dan Price.
Matt Clouston is the Product Manager at EarthQuaker Devices. He has spent most of his life in and around the music industry, as an amp & pedal builder, musician, touring guitar tech, and technical writer. The only thing he loves more than playing music, talking gear, and hauling heavy amps up and down stairs is hanging out with his little family in their very old Akron home.
