Panama Guitars announces three-channel Fuego X amp head
New 15W amp promises high-gain tones at an affordable price
You might not be familiar with Panama Guitars, which operates, unsurprisingly, from Panama, but with the Fuego X, it's making a serious bid for the mainstream.
The second amp in the company's Fuego series, the 15W Fuego X is voiced for metal, with three footswitchable channels: two dirty - with shared gain, treble, middle, bass and master volume controls - and one clean, with switchable 'top boost' bright mode and independent gain, treble, middle, bass and master volume knobs.
Three 12AX7 and two EL84 valves provide the tonal muscle within the amp's Spanish cedar and mango-wood cabinet, which is wrapped in two-tone Antique Graphite and Scarlet Tolex; a transparent effects loop, preamp out, power-amp in and trio of speaker outputs complete the spec.
Given the amp is handcrafted in Panama, its $599 street price offers pretty remarkable value for money in our book. The Fuego X hits US shores in late April; now, please bring it to the UK!
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Mike has been Editor-in-Chief of GuitarWorld.com since 2019, and an offset fiend and recovering pedal addict for far longer. He has a master's degree in journalism from Cardiff University, and 15 years' experience writing and editing for guitar publications including MusicRadar, Total Guitar and Guitarist, as well as 20 years of recording and live experience in original and function bands. During his career, he has interviewed the likes of John Frusciante, Chris Cornell, Tom Morello, Matt Bellamy, Kirk Hammett, Jerry Cantrell, Joe Satriani, Tom DeLonge, Radiohead's Ed O'Brien, Polyphia, Tosin Abasi, Yvette Young and many more. His writing also appears in the The Cambridge Companion to the Electric Guitar. In his free time, you'll find him making progressive instrumental rock as Maebe.
