As I continue on my weekly quest to find the perfect all-tube amplifier for a terrible guitarist such as myself, I do find myself asking “what exactly am I looking for?” When you break it down, most amplifiers are essentially a small cube that contains some tubes, wiring and a whole series of smarts to make all of the components generate that awesome tone we’re all searching for. Luckily, I realised today that another way to represent a cube was with the mathematical terminology of the third power. Why is that lucky you may wonder. Well that’s because I discovered 3rd Power amplifiers. They have a Dream Solo series that includes the Dream Solo 2.
I love it when I make a seemingly pointless ramble tie in to the amplifier I am writing about.
The Dream Solo 2 is larger (in wattage) than many of the amplifiers I’ve looked at in this article series, but I’m including it anyway. Mostly because it seems to fit my amplifier head scale plans and also because it seems to produce some very nice tones. If you’d like some background information as well as some tonal evidence, check out this Premier Guitar video from NAMM 2012.
I love my new website. I’m embedding colour video like it’s nobody’s business.
There are a couple more videos to see on the official Dream Solo 2 web page, but they all show me the same thing. Nice tone that is versatile and would lend itself nicely to a top quality pedal board (if you were so inclined). But what’s in the head? I’m glad I asked.
- 20 watts
- Single input
- 4, 8 and 16 ohm speaker outputs
- Volume, Treble and Bass controls
- Bright switch
- Global Presence
- 2 x 12AX7 preamp tubes
- 2 x 6V6 poweramp tubes
- 1 x 12AX7 Phase Inverter
Impressive yes?! That’s a lot of tubes. When I start my tube amplifier journey I don’t know that I can now start with just a few tubes. I want more and I want them to glow because they’re working hard as they produce the tone and sounds I desire. Five tubes seems like enough for that.
Another thing this amp head has going for it is the effect loop. That’s something I currently lack and would love to utilise. So as you can see, there’s a lot to love here. I love the Dream Solo 2. I just hope you can also perform dream rhythm on it. Not just dream solos.
3rd Power Dream Solo 2 front 
3rd Power Dream Solo 2 back
Disclaimer: I’ve not played through this head. I have not experienced the sound or tone of this head other than through video. That doesn’t matter. It looks awesome, it’s obviously played by winners and I want one.