Well I've had 5 days to do naughty things with this amplifier. Here are my findings:

The layout is very simple. The tone knob is quite expansive and reacts quite nicely with the volume. Vibrato is very simple to figure out even for someone who's never used vibrato before. The controls have an obvious impact on the effect. Between the regular and bright inputs you will definitely be able to find your sound. Interestingly the bright input is kind of fender-y as it is surely brighter than the typical Ampeg tone.

The sound is incredible. I A/B'd this amp with a Vox AC15CC1 (in the store), my Ampeg Reverbrocket, and a Fender Pro Junior (Woody). This amp has a unique tone; really something special. Firstly at 20 watts it is insanely loud and the clean headroom is huge so if you play a style where you need a beefy clean sound this is your amp. It has a really nice clear break up at around 7 that works really well with distorted chords. The amp also loves pedals and I was able to get some really thick tones from my Little Muff as well as my Rat. In sound charcter it is not as big as a fender but a lot punchier. For styles like funk and blues this thing is a beast. It was warmer than the Pro Junior but had a little less cut. Same with the Reverbrocket; although I personally prefered the distortion from the distortion chanel on the Reverbrocket. The AC15 was nice to but really there was just something about this amp. Maybe it's because I'm an Ampeg lover, either way this amp is great. The lack of Reverb is fine by me. I hooked up my Holy Grail plus and it took to it quite well. Personally I found it really sounded really good with my Dan Electro Spring King.

The Vibrato alone makes this amp a worthwhile purchase. Upon hearing it I immediately had the sensation of having bitten into a rich chocolate cake. It is nice warm and smooth. This amp is all tube (event the vibrato is tube powered and the rectifier is tube powered as well), point to point wired with an Alnico speaker (I can't wait till I've broken it in). This is a great amp.

Love this amp. I've had many many tube amps, this one is my favorite. WHY ? I wanted an amp with nothing, just volume and tone. I didn't want an extra channel for overdrive. I want an amp where its all tube tone without color. Then I can add what ever I want to shape the desire tone. This amp has amazing head room for a small 20 watt amp, an EXTRA PLUS. most definately a KEEPER and worth every dime for this point to point wired amp.

I can't say enough about these little beauties as far as tone goes. They are wonderful!

It is a crying shame that the price is so ridiculously high. Making a fair profit is one thing. This is profiteering though.

Shame on Mackie! Greed is bad , M'Kay?

I was originally going to buy a Blackheart Handsome Devil but, when that amp's release was pushed back my over a month, I fell into some extra cash and decided to spring for this Ampeg, which was readily available.

This amp sounds so good that I have no regrets whatsoever. The sweet tube tone is to die for, as you would expect from an all tube amp.

It's good and clean up to about 1/2 volume. Just above 1/2, it starts to break up some and provides a very nice harmonic grit great for blues and some rock. Above about 3/4 volume, the tubes really start to overdrive and the distortion is very tone-full and not nasty. This amp was obviously designed as a classic, crank-to-drive tube circuit that, paired with the alnico speaker and pine box, really sings at higher volume levels. At lower volume settings, the amp responds amazingly and gives a fat yet punchy bottom end and sweet highs.

I love this amp and will keep it as long as it lives!