Modern technology is allowing gear manufacturers to relocate guitar amps from the floor to the pedalboard, and the Baroni AFK150 is a hybrid, Class D tube amp in a pedal format that does just that, providing 150w of power for your cabinet, and two channels (Clean and Drive). Routing allows it to feed either a Cab or a regular line in when in the studio.
The AFK150 only sports one footswitch, dealing with channel selection, so it’s built to be an always-on device – just like an amp. Each channel has a three-band EQ and two gain stages (one pre- and one post-EQ).
The Clean channel delivers a vintage and warm tone inspired by the Fender Blackface amps, while the Drive one, is designed after the GURUS Doubledecker mkII preamp pedal, which recreates the classic sound of Plexi amps, from edge to hi-gain distortion.
Master Volume and Presence are the two remaining controls placed at the end of the chain and shared by the two channels.
We added the Baroni AFK150 to our article about the best power amp pedals.
Baroni AFK150, Builder’s Notes
The Baroni AFK150 is a true 150 W rms Guitar Hybrid Amplifier that boasts a dual Channel TUBE Preamp section, featuring a hi-voltage ECC81 tube that enriches sound, dynamics and harmonic content, adding warmth and a huge bottom-end response typical of real Tube Amplifiers. The CLEAN channel is designed to recreate the warmth and brilliance of Vintage Amps of “blackface” era, and it’s the perfect companion to your pedalboard. The DRIVE Channel, is designed after our award winning GURUS Doubledecker mkII preamp pedal, which recreates the classic sound of Vintage British stack amps, from edge to hi-gain distortion. Both channels have separate tone stacks. Separate Gain and Volume for each channels,plus Master Volume and master Presence complete the palette of colors available to create your perfect sound.
Regarding the amp format, we thought: let’s do something different…Let’s make a Desktop/ Cab Top amplifier.
The AFK150 can fit on home studio’s desk, ready and waiting for you when you’re ready to record that killer guitar track. Also the AFK 150 looks right on stage on top of your speaker cabinet. The wooden sides are easy detachable and let you use your AFK150 on your pedalboard as a pedal, featuring a classic footswitch on its top panel to switch between the channels. A Remote Switching socket on the rear panel, will work with any standard latching type footswitch, and let you change channels when using it as a desktop/cabtop unit.
