After 15 years of faithfully supplying the industry with components, ILP Electronics Ltd have decided to join in the fun and have come up with their very first, very fine 80 watt lead combo.

Having manufactured quality parts such as MOSFET power-amps and toroidal transformers, ILP have obviously been exposed to the rights and wrongs of combo construction. They have used this as a basis for the sound thought that has been given to the design of their product.

The input stage has a standard 1/4 inch jack socket and the signal is then attenuated by the high frequency eq switch which gives +8dB @ 5kHz. There is noticeably more bite in this position, and I found it preferable just to leave it in that mode.

There is a sensitivity pot designed to work with the many and varied signal levels from today's guitars. High output pickups and active electronics can be tamed using this feature although I did experience a high frequency whistle above half setting. A mains hum on the review model must also be mentioned here, although the manufacturer assures me that this is not the norm.

The combo has a twin-channel pre-amp comprising clean and overdrive stages; the clean channel incorporates three band equalisation. The bass operates over a 50 Hz to 1 kHz band; the mid over a 600 Hz to 6 kHz band; and the treble over a 1 kHz to 10 kHz band. The inherent tone of the amp is nice and warm irrespective of whether you use a Gibson or a Fender. Even though I had trouble getting the same kind of eq response from the Les Paul as I did from the Strat or the hand-made Telecaster (drool!), the quality was consistent right across the board. Clean channel tonality can so often sound deficient and it is to the manufacturer's credit that, try as I might, I just could not find a tone setting that lacked richness or depth. The volume pot for the clean stage is responsive and 'climbs' impressively.

The overdrive stage consists of initial gain, tone and volume controls which can be independent of or in conjunction with the clean channel. This means that not only can you get a wide variety of standard Rock colours by working the gain against the volume and then setting the tone pot, but also when used with the clean channel has the added advantage of the three band Eq which has already been described. A generous 35 dB of input gain for both channels ensures that there is plenty of level even at the back of the hall!

'Pretend-you're-at-Reading' sounds can be achieved with gain and volume cranked right up, the overall level being controlled from the master. The sustain in this mode was extraordinary and this again was irrespective of guitar choice.

The reverb is a triple-spring model by Acutronics which always sounds good, although this one has rather more ambience than usual. Another curious aspect of the reverb is that it sounds as though it has pre-delay on it. This is unintentional as there is no analogue facility but is still a nice effect.

The master pot, stereo socket for high and low impedance headphones, and power on/off complete the front panel features.

ILP use a front-mounted Fane 12 inch driver and nice cabinet size to speaker ratio provides the inherently good tonal properties I have described.

The ILP lead combo is good enough to be compared with one of the best in its field — the Sessionette.

Both the ILP and the Sessionette house toroidal transformers, Accutronics reverb and MOSFET power-amps. The toroidal in the Sessionette is a size smaller than the one in the ILP, helping to contribute to its smaller size, lighter weight and cheaper price (£249) but the advantages of a large transformer are that it maintains the power handling on sustained or low notes and will not limit the output power as much as a smaller one. If peak power is maintained on a smaller transformer it can overheat, thus reducing its reliability.

Comparing the tonal aspects of the two combos, I found that even though I got better response from the eq on the Sessionette, I preferred the essential tone of the ILP. In overdrive the valve-type stage in the Sessionette has to score the points but the sustain qualities of the ILP transistor overdrive are certainly worthy of a second mention.

Both amps favour a set of simple, easily accessible controls and both are well constructed. The ILP combo opts for a red vinyl face and a sturdy metal grille as opposed to the more traditional textile-covered front on the Sessionette. Stylish corner protectors and a robust handle coupled with the larger sized cabinet and output (80 watts RMS on the ILP as opposed to 75 watts RMS on the Sessionette) all contribute to the difference in price (the ILP is about £45 more) but to be fair to ILP, I'm sure that once their retail outlets are established the price will drop.

To be able to compare a first attempt at combo building with an established, admired product like the Sessionette, and to find that the distance is not too great, must surely speak volumes for ILP's initiative as well as for the improving state of the industry in Britain.

The back panel has some good features including two loop sockets. Loop one is the send and return section for the clean channel so that effects can be placed between the pre-amp and the power-amp. Loop two does the same job for the overdrive channel, but I would like to have seen a facility for pre-eq and post eq effects.

The mains lead is a detachable IEC type. Immediately under the mains socket is a small drawer containing the 1.25 amp fuse. This is a neat idea (also used by the Custom Cub) as the fuse is inaccessible when the mains lead is plugged in.

The slave output operates at 500mV low impedance. The extension speaker socket prompts me to make one more brief comparison with the Sessionette. When used with an extension speaker, the Sessionette's output is raised to 90 watts RMS and with the ILP combo it climbs to an impressive 120 watts RMS.

The last feature on the back panel is the 5 pin DIN socket for the footswitch. ILP are working on a design that will facilitate 3 modes i.e. reverb on/off; clean channel on/off and overdrive on/off, and which will incorporate LEDs. This will be available in the near future.

Conclusion

To launch into what is for them a new market and not experience any teething troubles is the obvious ideal for a manufacturer in any field. It can be the case that alterations which are made concerning the teething troubles can be turned into definite strengths regarding the sales potential of the product. ILP have built a combo which does have its minor initial problems, and I would like to see the price come down, but these points are outweighed by the positive factors. I congratulate the ILP team and will wait with interest to see how their plans for extending the range develop.

FOR: Rugged, strong construction; simple, accessible controls; sensitivity control; plenty of level on either clean or overdrive channel; very responsive controls on overdrive stage

AGAINST: The price; HF whistle on sensitivity pot; mains hum; inconsistent response from Eq on clean channel, depending on guitar.

ILP LEAD COMBO — RRP £295.95 INC. VAT