LUTHIER COMMENT ON SHIRE KING

The Headway Shire King 120 is, without doubt, the best acoustic amp I have tried. The combination of plenty of sweet, clean power and the extremely comprehensive whilst very intuitive to use EQ make it stand out above all the other amps I've tried. The natural tone of the Shire King 120 is warm, deep and clear, a great boon for more sterile sounding pickups, whilst the powerful 5 band EQ allows you to very easily and precisely drop down the fullness for a very clear, deep, transparent tone if you are using a meatier toned pickup. The addition of a very nicely thought out notch filter makes using this amp as a close stage monitor a doddle. This amp has every feature I would have included if I'd designed it myself!

The Headway Shire King 60, the smaller, simpler, more portable little brother to the 120 shares its great natural warmth with only a slightly less deep tone due to the smaller cabinet. Superficially this amp seems very similar to many of it's competitors but the difference is in the tone. Most other amps of this size produce a compressed and coloured tone whilst the Shire King 60 is very dynamic and clean but without a hint of sterility. This amp knocks spots off the current market leader!

I'm afraid I ended up selling the 120 to my customer, is there any chance you have another?

Nick Benjamin | www.benjaminguitars.co.uk

MUSICIAN COMMENT ON SHIRE KING

Just wanted to go on a bit more about how much I'm loving this amp. I used it twice this week at gigs and it blows my mind, it sounds soooo good! Even Pete is impressed. It's a great piece of kit. I'll be using it at the Cheltenham guitar show next week.

- Chris Williams

MUSICIAN COMMENT ON SHIRE KING

My name is Andy MacKenzie, a jazz guitarist, and I recently got a Headway 60 from Gremlin to try out (I endorse their Gitane guitars and have played shows for them). I have been gigging with the amp for a while now and can say it is great.

I, like everyone else who does this for a living will have an AER 60 and this is the obvious comparator. I can honestly say I prefer the transparency of your amp and the reverb is much, much better.

A. MacKenzie

COMPARISON: HEADWAY SHIRE KING SK60 & AER COMPACT 60

A potential customer for an acoustic amp and myself tried the SK60 against an AER compact 60 using many different types of instrument and pickup combinations, these included expensive handmade guitars with active U.S transducers, (e.g. Baggs, Highlander), mandolins active and passive fitted with inexpensive pickups, ukulele, fiddle and anything else we could find.

In every case the SK60 had the edge on sound quality, cleaner more expressive, greater "dynamic" range, in some cases e.g. the violin with passive pickup the SK was considerably better, but in all cases there was a noticeable improvement.

When it came to EQ there was no comparison, the SK cut/boost really did work and made an easy job of moulding the sound to individual needs and preferences, whereas we found the AER tone controls often had little effect. The built in effects work well if a little fiddly on the selector knob.

The "potential" customer immediately ordered an SK 60. Overall the SK is not only easier to use, i.e. no tiny in/out buttons, but certainly delivers a better sound than its competitors and offers better value for the price.

Hugh Scullion (4th October 2006) | email

DEALER COMMENT ON SHIRE KING

Dear John,

We have managed to generate some responses from the users and those who tried the Shire King amps say its mind-blowing.

Hozen, Maestro Guitars, Singapore