ToneBlock 200 1×8 Combo

A 200w Champ-Style Combo

I put together an integrated, 1×8 cabinet for my ToneBlock 200 for use at rehearsals with the band in the house.

It’s a right hack-job, but it looks ok. More to the point though, how does it sound?

It sounds great! I put the 8″ Orange “Voice of the World” speaker that came in my PPC108 cabinet. It’s an open back design, initially this was because it was easier to build quickly. However, this sounds much, much better than the Orange cab to my ears. It has confirm my suspicion that I prefer an open-back cabinet in almost 100% of cases. It sounds much less tinny and harsh and it sounds fuller and much less boxy too.

Imagine a vintage Fender Champ, but with the power of a Twin Reverb… This pretty much sums up this little combo. The Toneblock just slides in and out, so it’s still as versatile as ever to work as a head or in my converted Princeton Recording Amp 2×8 platform (which also sounds amazing).

What is tempting now is to get another Toneblock, so I can permanently keep both of them housed in their cabinets. Maybe even get a 3rd head (a 101 mini maybe) to leave in place with my Tone Tubby ISO cab in the studio.

Decision, decisions!

Hopefully I’ll get a chance to make a video/sound demo of this little combo soon.