Skip to main content
Music Radar MusicRadar The No.1 website for musicians
Sign in
  • View Profile
  • Sign out
  • Artist news
  • Guitar Amps
  • Guitar Pedals
  • Synths
  • Guitars
  • Drums
  • Keyboards & Pianos
  • Controllers
  • Software & Apps
  • More
    • Recording
    • DJ Gear
    • Acoustic Guitars
    • Bass Guitars
    • Tech
    • Tutorials
    • Reviews
    • Buying Guides
    • About Us
More
  • EVH trance state
  • Antonoff on Please Please Please
  • “Mick looked peeved. The Beatles had upstaged him”
  • 95k+ free music samples

Recommended reading

Laney Lionheart Foundry Supertop
Guitars Laney unveils the IR-equipped 120W Supertop head with onboard effects and matching cabs
ENGL EP635 Fireball IR Pedal: This fire engine red preamp pedal presents two channels, heaps of features, monster gain.
Guitars “The EP635 delivers the unmistakable high-gain aggression and clarity that Engl fans love”: Engl packs its iconic Fireball head into a compact dual-channel stompbox with onboard noise gate and IR support
Line 6 Helix Stadium XL: The new flagship amp modeller and multi-effects unit is a dramatic expansion of the Helix framework with a suite of state-of-the-art features
Guitars Line 6 debuts all-new AI tech as it supercharges its amp modelling platform with the Helix Stadium
Revv D25 Joey Landreth Edition: the new signature take on the feature-packed tube combo is offered in gold and black finishes and is fitted with a Celestion G12H-75 Creamback driver.
Guitars Revv Amplification and Joey Landreth join forces for a signature take on the D25 tube combo
Tone King Imperial Preamp: this high-end all-tube preamp pedal offers two channels, includes reverb, tremolo and attenuation, and has onboard CabSims/IR tech.
Guitars Tone King offers up boutique tube amp tones for your pedalboard with the Imperial Preamp pedal
Victory The Deputy Lunchbox Head: the British amp company has made its portable 25W head even more portable/
Guitars Victory Amps has reimagined Pete Honore’s Deputy tube amp as a super-portable lunchbox head
Fortin Meshuggah Pedal: this preamp/distortion pedal puts the signature high-gain drive tones of Fredrik Thordendal and Mårten Hagström.
Guitars The Fortin Meshuggah head is the amp every metal player wants – now you can get its crushing tones in a pedal
  1. Guitars
  2. Guitar Amps

NAMM 2016: Stone Deaf unleashes "game-changing" SD valve amps with digital control

News
By Michael Astley-Brown published 15 January 2016

All-analogue heads and combos deliver preset-saving ability

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

Introduction

Introduction

NAMM 2016: As well as five tasty new effects pedals, Manchester's Stone Deaf has launched a range of equally desirable valve amps, the British-voiced SD series, which offer full digital control and the ability to save presets, plus full MIDI integration.

The range starts with the SD8 eight-watt lunchbox-proportioned head and progresses up to the SD50 50-watter – all amps are 240/120V switchable, while a range of lightweight poplar cabs are also available (below).

Click through the gallery for more info…

Page 1 of 5
Page 1 of 5
Stone Deaf SD8 Head

Stone Deaf SD8 Head

The baby of the range, the SD8 is a pure Class A compact head, outputting eight watts via 12AX7 and EL84 valves.

Two channels are available via a push-button on gain control, while treble, mid and bass are adjustable using the push-button tone knob.

Up to 16 presets can be stored across four banks, accessed using the push-button volume control or controlled via MIDI, while the amp's tonal range covers clean to crunch and drive.

Features

  • Pure Class A Single Ended
  • 8 Watts RMS
  • Light weight poplar cabinets available
  • All analogue valve amplifier circuit with digital control of tone, volume and gain via a push of a button
  • MIDI input
  • 240 /120v Switchable
Page 2 of 5
Page 2 of 5
Stone Deaf SD30 Head

Stone Deaf SD30 Head

With switchable wattage (30 watts Class A/B or eight watts Class A) via 12AX7s and EL84s, the SD30 offers increased versatility over its baby brother.

In addition, players can assign each of the amp's channels with solid-state and valve-rectified functions and power scaling, as well as fixed bias and cathode bias.

What's more, there's digital spring reverb, MIDI control, a channel-assignable buffered effects loop and a whopping 32 presets across eight banks – tidy.

Features

  • 30 Watts RMS Class A/B or 8 Watts RMS Class A
  • Light weight poplar cabinets available
  • All analogue valve amplifier circuit with digital control of reverb, tone, volume and gain via a push of a button
  • MIDI input
  • 240/ 120v Switchable
  • Digital spring reverb
  • Channel assignable Cathode Bias and Fixed Bias
  • Channel assignable Solid State Rectifier or Valve Rectifier
  • Channel assignable buffered effects loop with send and return volumes
Page 3 of 5
Page 3 of 5
Stone Deaf SD30 Combo 1x12

Stone Deaf SD30 Combo 1x12

Spec-wise, the SD30 Combo mirrors the Head version, but adds a marine birch plywood or lightweight poplar cabinet and FX70 70-watt speaker.

Features

  • 30 Watts RMS Class A/B or 8 Watts RMS Class A
  • Combo including 1 x 12 inch FX70, 70w speaker
  • Light weight poplar cabinets available
  • All analogue valve amplifier circuit with digital control of reverb, tone, volume and gain via a push of a button
  • MIDI input
  • 240/ 120v Switchable
  • Digital spring reverb
  • Channel assignable Cathode Bias and Fixed Bias
  • Channel assignable Solid State Rectifier or Valve Rectifier
  • Channel assignable buffered effects loop with send and return volumes
Page 4 of 5
Page 4 of 5
Stone Deaf SD50 Head

Stone Deaf SD50 Head

The SD50 boasts a massive 50-watt Class A/B output from 12AX7 and 6l6GC valves, but like the SD30, is switchable down to eight watts Class A.

Other bonuses over its brethren include additional presence and resonance controls, but elsewhere it retains the same complement of 32 presets, digital spring reverb and MIDI control.

Features

  • 50 Watts RMS Class A/B or 8 Watts RMS Class A
  • Light weight poplar cabinets available
  • All analogue valve amplifier circuit with digital control of reverb, tone, volume and gain settings via a push of a button
  • MIDI input
  • 240/ 120v Switchable
  • Digital spring reverb
  • Channel assignable Cathode Bias and Fixed Bias
  • Channel assignable Solid State Rectifier or Valve Rectifier
  • Channel assignable buffered effects loop with send and return volumes
Page 5 of 5
Page 5 of 5
Michael Astley-Brown
Michael Astley-Brown
Social Links Navigation

Mike is Editor-in-Chief of GuitarWorld.com, in addition to being an offset fiend and recovering pedal addict. He has a master's degree in journalism, and has spent the past decade writing and editing for guitar publications including MusicRadar, Total Guitar and Guitarist, as well as a decade-and-a-half performing in bands of variable genre (and quality). In his free time, you'll find him making progressive instrumental rock under the nom de plume Maebe.

Read more
Laney Lionheart Foundry Supertop
Laney unveils the IR-equipped 120W Supertop head with onboard effects and matching cabs
ENGL EP635 Fireball IR Pedal: This fire engine red preamp pedal presents two channels, heaps of features, monster gain.
“The EP635 delivers the unmistakable high-gain aggression and clarity that Engl fans love”: Engl packs its iconic Fireball head into a compact dual-channel stompbox with onboard noise gate and IR support
Line 6 Helix Stadium XL: The new flagship amp modeller and multi-effects unit is a dramatic expansion of the Helix framework with a suite of state-of-the-art features
Line 6 debuts all-new AI tech as it supercharges its amp modelling platform with the Helix Stadium
Revv D25 Joey Landreth Edition: the new signature take on the feature-packed tube combo is offered in gold and black finishes and is fitted with a Celestion G12H-75 Creamback driver.
Revv Amplification and Joey Landreth join forces for a signature take on the D25 tube combo
Tone King Imperial Preamp: this high-end all-tube preamp pedal offers two channels, includes reverb, tremolo and attenuation, and has onboard CabSims/IR tech.
Tone King offers up boutique tube amp tones for your pedalboard with the Imperial Preamp pedal
Victory The Deputy Lunchbox Head: the British amp company has made its portable 25W head even more portable/
Victory Amps has reimagined Pete Honore’s Deputy tube amp as a super-portable lunchbox head
Latest in Guitar Amps
Line 6 Helix Stadium XL: The new flagship amp modeller and multi-effects unit is a dramatic expansion of the Helix framework with a suite of state-of-the-art features
Line 6 debuts all-new AI tech as it supercharges its amp modelling platform with the Helix Stadium
Laney Lionheart Foundry Supertop
Laney unveils the IR-equipped 120W Supertop head with onboard effects and matching cabs
Kemper MK2 Series
Kemper promises more power, flexibility and effects from refreshed and souped-up Profiler Mk2 series
Joe Bonamassa plays a Guild DE-500 Duane Eddy signature guitar at a Nashville show celebrating Eddy's life. Bonamassa wears a dark blazer embroidered with bright musical notation.
Joe Bonamassa on how to choose the right amp for a gig
Victory The Deputy Lunchbox Head: the British amp company has made its portable 25W head even more portable/
Victory Amps has reimagined Pete Honore’s Deputy tube amp as a super-portable lunchbox head
A Two Notes Reload II reactive load box on top of a guitar speaker cabinet
“It’s honestly got me thinking hard about adding one to my own studio set up”: Two Notes Reload II review
Latest in News
Home studio
You don't need to be a music theory expert to make electronic music, but it helps - here's our guide to the basics
Ed Sheeran, Bob Dylan and Jimi Hendrix
How Ed Sheeran generated royalties for Bob Dylan by borrowing from Jimi Hendrix
Deals of the week
MusicRadar deals of the week: My pick of Father's Day deals for musicians include $400 off the Polyend Play+, $200 off a Martin acoustic and so much more
pmt
"It’s been a tough few years": UK gear retailer PMT closes its doors, makes 96 staff redundant and sells £2.4m of stock to Gear4Music
Gretsch Broadkaster Jr LX Center Block with Bigsby
Gretsch’s unveils new MIJ high-end semi-hollows with redesigned bodies and Pro Twin Six humbuckers
Sabrina Carpenter
Sabrina Carpenter on her musical heroes, why she decided to release a new album so soon... and Rush

MusicRadar is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

  • About Us
  • Contact Future's experts
  • Terms and conditions
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookies policy
  • Advertise with us
  • Accessibility Statement
  • Careers

© Future Publishing Limited Quay House, The Ambury, Bath BA1 1UA. All rights reserved. England and Wales company registration number 2008885.

Please login or signup to comment

Please wait...