Panama Conqueror 5w and Cab?

GDSmithTX

GDSmithTX

Corporate cog
Over on Reverb, Panama has a Black Friday sale, with 30% off a few amps & cabs until Dec 1st (with the code ERUPTION30).

Of what's on sale, I'm interested in the Conqueror 5w head and the 1x12 cab. After the discount, they'd come up to about $320 shipped. They seem nicely built from good materials and look damned pretty:

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I know they're a relatively new brand, but does anyone have any experience with these amps/cabs? The demos I've heard on youtube sound pretty nice in all modes, and they seem to have "that sound".




Here's what Panama has to say about the head:

This faithful classic summons the tweedy glory of the original “5F1” and adds a passive attenuator, delivering that sweet tweed breakup everyone loves at whisper volumes.

This single channel classic features volume and tone controls with a tube complement of (1) 12AX7 preamp tube, (1) 6V6 power tube and a 7-pin miniature 6z4 rectifier to deliver the classic low-wattage tweed tones not available in modern designs that utilize solid state rectifiers. The Conqueror is enclosed in a handsome all-hardwood Spanish Cedar and Palo Mora Cabinet.​

And what about the head as compared to a VHT Special 6? I have a line on one of those little heads for about $120 locally.

Hell, I might just end up buying them all. :wink:
 
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I would be bothered that they named it Panama Conqueror and not just went straight to Balboa. Since the actual Panamanians call everything Balboa.
 
I've been curious about these as well, but they are relatively new, so there's not a ton of info about them, yet; however, I read a thread not too long ago on either TDPRI or TGP about one of their other amps, and I think that while the person liked it, there were some initial QC issues...?

I would like to try the 5w 1x12 combo, myself, but I can't pull the trigger on anything for a while (those Sweetwater AC15 deals are KILLING me right now :cry: ).
 
I have been looking at the Panama amps for a while. Since I just picked up the AC15 that I don't need, I'll pass for now. If you get one, make sure to give it a review.
 
My Kustom 1-12 was $200 new and I bought Jello's used Defender. The Panama has a tone control. My Kustom 5w Defender does not. So that might be a decent deal. And it would be a lovely livingroom piece of art as well.
 
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The other guitarist in Chapper's band was the U.K. spokesman for Panama amps for a little bit, so I'm sure they probably sound pretty decent. I've liked the clips I've heard on youtube, and I'm intrigued by their speaker cabinets…they have a built-in attenuator in them.
 
Jbird said:
The other guitarist in Chapper's band was the U.K. spokesman for Panama amps for a little bit, so I'm sure they probably sound pretty decent. I've liked the clips I've heard on youtube, and I'm intrigued by their speaker cabinets…they have a built-in attenuator in them.
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Ryan "Fluff" Bruce also works for Panama, now.

 
While I'm still contemplating the head, I went ahead and bought the cabinet.

It's a quality, good-looking, Spanish Cedar 1x12 cab loaded with a great sounding v30-type speaker for $118 shipped. It's tough to beat those specs at that price.

njl481coytch2baxur1z.jpg


Marketing stuff:

Road Series cabinets feature similar flagship level specs as the Panama Tonewood Series but are specially designed to hold up to the demands of transport and gigging. Featuring the same signature two-tone tolex and all-hardwood construction, these roady-ready cabinets stand out on stage with both a remarkable look and sound. A fixed metal grill protects the tonewood baffle and boutique speaker. The Road Series is topped off with an extra-durable finish and robust hardware. A built-in attenuator lets you push the driver for maximum tone at lower output volumes.

  • Designed and built in Panama using sustainable tonewoods and custom drivers
  • All-hardwood construction featuring 3/4" Spanish Cedar for resonant warmth and a floating tropical tonewood baffle for superior transient response
  • Loaded with simply the best boutique "V30" style speaker on the market: warm low-end, strong vocal mid-range, and a detailed high end, with a smoother upper-mid spike than the original
  • Removable metal grill for protection of the tonewood baffle and speaker
  • Oversized 1x12 | 8 Ohm | 65 Watt with built-in attenuator
 
GDSmithTX said:
While I'm still contemplating the head, I went ahead and bought the cabinet.

It's a quality, good-looking, Spanish Cedar 1x12 cab loaded with a great sounding v30-type speaker for $118 shipped. It's tough to beat those specs at that price.

njl481coytch2baxur1z.jpg


Marketing stuff:

Road Series cabinets feature similar flagship level specs as the Panama Tonewood Series but are specially designed to hold up to the demands of transport and gigging. Featuring the same signature two-tone tolex and all-hardwood construction, these roady-ready cabinets stand out on stage with both a remarkable look and sound. A fixed metal grill protects the tonewood baffle and boutique speaker. The Road Series is topped off with an extra-durable finish and robust hardware. A built-in attenuator lets you push the driver for maximum tone at lower output volumes.

  • Designed and built in Panama using sustainable tonewoods and custom drivers
  • All-hardwood construction featuring 3/4" Spanish Cedar for resonant warmth and a floating tropical tonewood baffle for superior transient response
  • Loaded with simply the best boutique "V30" style speaker on the market: warm low-end, strong vocal mid-range, and a detailed high end, with a smoother upper-mid spike than the original
  • Removable metal grill for protection of the tonewood baffle and speaker
  • Oversized 1x12 | 8 Ohm | 65 Watt with built-in attenuator
Click to expand...
I'm interested in what your thoughts on it will be, because of the built-in attenuator. I'm thinking of snagging one myself.
 
$118? The last raw speaker that I bought was about $150 (Celestion creamback) Looks perfect to drop a lunchbox head on top.
 
telecaster911 said:
$118? The last raw speaker that I bought was about $150 (Celestion creamback) Looks perfect to drop a lunchbox head on top.
Click to expand...

That's during their 30% off sale that ends tomorrow. The regular price of the loaded cab is $169.

From what I've read, the speaker is an OEM WGS Veteran 30, so it's not a coincidence that Panama uses the same description of the speaker in their cab that WGS uses on their Veteran 30 page. Almost everyone I've seen talk about that speaker has nothing but good things to say about it.
 
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Damn. After watching some independent demos of the two other low wattage amps they have on this 30% off sale (Shaman Retro 20 & Fuego 15), I may just get the Fuego. It's regularly $549 ($50 higher than the base model Fuego because it's in covered white tolex) and after the discount would be $385 shipped.

It sounds super good, with beautiful round cleans and some sweet, gnarly drive. It has two different gain voicings on the drive channel (sort of "classic" and "modern"), a bypassable effects loop, a bright "top boost" and it runs off of three ECC83/12AX7s and two EL84s.

Plus it's frickin' gorgeous.

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Had to go meet the delivery guy at one of his stops yesterday evening, because they tried to deliver (looking for a signature) to my house at 1:30pm Monday while I was 20+ miles away at work and would have done the same yesterday.

Got the head and cab home, unboxed and set up in my office just about the time to hit the sack last night. Looks really good, sounds pretty damned good too, though the speaker needs to break in. Won't really have a chance to put it through its paces until the weekend.

shaman%20retro%20head_zps7umi4j4o.jpg
 
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