Background
Since 2000, THE AMP SHOP has become a well-renowned electronics repair shop in western North Carolina. What started out as a hobby in 1960, has turned into a full-fledged business, offering the highest quality repairs at affordable prices. Their passion for fixing what’s broken has brought them to the forefront of the repair industry. It is run by John Schuske along with super amp designer Jashun Uberoi (Josh). They have now moved into the custom amplifier market.
The Mariner Flagship Amp
I know, I know what you’re thinking another expensive amplifier, but far from the truth in this case. I was walking around the 2024 Orlando, Florida Guitar Expo this year excited to see if I can get another great deal or trade. I was passing the The Amp Shop booth and Josh came up to me thinking he recognized me and said, “hey man please try my amp and give me your feedback.” Being a real sucker for gear, I couldn’t pass up trying a new amp. So, he handed me a Gibson Les Paul and I was off to the races. But what astounded me was the tone that came out of the speakers. It was amazing. I’m a real amp connoisseur and very decerning guitar tone freak. In fact, I wrote a published book called Guitar Amplifier Encyclopedia (Allworth Press), which I wish I had had this amp to include. Josh and I hit it off and he was gracious to give me this amp to evaluate and use on new recordings in the studio for my upcoming release featuring Joe Satriani, Stu Hamm, Gus G (Ozzy) and some other special guests.
I have to say I have a lot of amps as you could imagine from solid state to high end tube amps. But “The Mariner” is in a class by itself. The initial design is based on the Marshall JCM 800 holy grail of amps, which I’ve had a few through the years. I also have a Marshall Plexi with the famous Cameron modification, but “The Mariner” is a step above them all. The clarity and focus are fantastic without needing any additional EQ in the mix, standing clearly with other instruments. This is attributed to having a 2-stage gain sequence of pots. Stage 1 being the stock JCM 800 with a gain knob and Stage 2 “Boost Gain” also with separate gain knob so you can blend the 2 stages together. Also, there is a toggle switch above the input jack that engages Stage 2 (see picture 1). Please view the below link to see my video review of “The Mariner”.
Video Review:
Conclusion
So how do I describe “The Mariner”? Well it is a combination of the John Syke’s sound of the Soldano Colosseum, EVH 5150 with the clarity of the Fender Prosonic overdrive tone. To me there is no rival out of the box. Plus, it has an auto resonance feature built in so the louder the amp gets, the less resonance is used. The lower the volume the more resonance is used. This is similar to the EVH 5150 design but the 5150 has a resonance knob on the backplate of the amp that you can manually adjust. This MF is loud and will bring down the house-100 watts of pure guitar testosterone will blow your tonal mind! I want to thank Josh & John at The Amp Shop for doing such an exceptional job!
