The Steel Guitar Forum

I am thinking of getting an Evans AH200, mostly because I really need something lightweight and portable, and (as far as I know) Evans seems to have a pretty strong reputation and history.

Has anyone used one of these amps? able to offer any feedback? Any speaker that you've used it with that you really like/dislike?

Thanks!

Hi Justin.
I have used this amp for over 18 months now what I can say it is a great amp too boot.Light to carry around,I brought the 15 inch cab to go with it,I think the speaker in it is a sica neon.Has a real nice sound, good reverb find someone who has one and try it for a few hours.I think you will like it.I know I did.I hope this helps in some way.
Spence.

Spencer, thanks for the input. definitely helpful!

Justin, I don't own the Evans amp head, but I have compared it side by side with my GK MB200 through the same 15" cab with a Black Widow Neo. The sound was pretty much identical. The MB200 doesn't have built in reverb but I always use a pedal anyways. Right now it is the "Wet" reverb. The Evans is a quality amp built right in the US where the MB200 is built overseas, but there is a huge diference in price between the two units. And, as I said, I can tweek them so no one would be able to tell them appart. George

George, thanks for the input. The price difference is so extreme that I am very tempted to try the MB200 first. I also use a reverb pedal anyway so not concerned about it not having a built in reverb. It seems that there is some negative feedback about the quality of GK products on the forum, but i've never had any problem with them.

Justin, I've had my MB200 for almost a year now with no problems of any kind. They come with a 2 year waranty and most dealers offer an extended waranty beyond that. As far as cabs go, you can't go wrong with a cab built by Formite Tommy Huff in Texas who also has Sica speakers. I had one cab with a Sica and one with a BW Neo. I have since sold the cab with the Sica to a friend. Both of those speakers are very good but the BW is 4 or 5 pounds heavier than the Sica. I understand that the new Eminence Neo speaker is very good too. Hope this helps, George

I've had both the Evans AH200 head and an older AE200 head. Both are extremely clean, dynamic amps (and loud - 200 watts). The AH200 is very light, about 5 lbs and the size of kleenex box. The older E200 version is larger and heavier, with a spring reverb tank. I've used them both with an EVM12L, a Weber California 12", and most recently with a Tone Tubby 10", all in cabinets made by Rick Johnson. The EVM12L/Evans combination is killer (albeit the EVM is a heavy speaker) for steel (and jazz archtop). So clean you'll hear mistakes you made yesterday!

You might also look at an Eminence Beta, which is what I believe Evans is using in their combo versions. You can easily run an 8 ohm speaker with these heads, even though they're looking for 4 ohms -- you'll just need to turn it up (a little bit).