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Several years ago, I posted a longwinded review of my Evans JE150. At that time, I was playing through a Fender Twin Reverb Reissue, and I was having a lot of shoulder issues that resulted in surgery. I got the Evans because 1) I had had Evans amps before, including an AE100 (the little one with the 8" speaker), and 2) I needed something that was loud but portable. I raved about how great the Evans sounded and that, in a side-by-side test against the TRRI, the Evans was able to produce similar decibels and stay consistent in tone throughout the volume range. It was also half the weight and size of the Twin, which nicely accommodated the limitations imposed by my orthopedic surgeon.
Fast forward more than a decade and I got to talking with Scot Buffington about a brand-new amp design: the Purefire. This is a familiar Evans recipe, with their unique, comprehensive preamp and a separate, 200-watt Class D power amp mounted to the bottom of the cabinet. But this thing looks a little strange. Back in the day, all Evans amps came with a nifty handle mounted to the bottom of the amp which, when extended, served as a tilt-back mechanism so you could get some sound projection up away from your knees and closer to your ears (without adding any separate pieces to lug around or noticeable weight). The Purefire has been designed so that the front of the cabinet is angled back about 30 degrees. The four feet stay coupled to the floor, but the speaker is at a significant enough angle that it projects into the right space for listening.
At 26 lbs, it's on the high side of modern, Class-D based jazz amps, but still very manageable and still about 10 lbs less than a Fender Blues Junior. It's not much wider than its 12" speaker, so the footprint is small.
I really love the classic tones of tube amps, but I also love the Polytone sound. It's great that the Evans preamp has the Buff, Depth, Body and Expand controls in addition to the Bass and Treble, so the overall feel can be tailored to be bright, spanky, thick and chocolatey, dark and smokey, or anywhere in between. It satisfies all the itches from blackface to Polytone. I could use thiis for a Joe Pass sound, a Pat Metheny sound, or an Eric Johnson clean tone.
The reverb, although digital, does not have the common problem of creating a warbly chorus effect, and there's enough of it to play surf if you wanted to. Plus it has a +Chorus and +Flanger setting, and a Dwell control, so there are a lot of funky options there.
Another interesting update is in the cabinet finishing. This is not finished with tolex or any kind of glued-on vinyl. The finish is sprayed on like a pickup bedliner. Remember the old Redstone cabinets? It's like that. So it should take a beating (and comes with a cover, anyway...) And that finish can be sprayed in black or white. I'm going to ask Scot about other colors. Dark red or dark gray would be really cool.
It will get dangerously loud. I already have pronounced tinnitus, so I'm not going to test that (I'm sure my A/B comparison between the JE150 and the TRRI to see how loud they both could get was a contributing factor). But this can handle everything from coffee shop to outdoor big band gig, I'm confident. Oh, and if you need MORE than dangerously loud, for some reason you can get a 300-WATT VERSION!
The bottom line is I've been very lucky to be able to get my hands on a LOT of nice amps (except I never played through an actual Dumble) and a lot of production amps. This is the best amp I've ever played through, period. It does so many things so well; it sounds like a guitar amp and not a PA, has a great, useable reverb, gets extreme variations in tone, and it's a logical design that's well thought-out, meticulously constructed, and... form follows function.
Gotta spend a little more time on this and then maybe I can post a video demo.
Evans PureFire 200 - Evans Custom Amplifiers
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02-27-2026 07:05 PM
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Very interesting but the price is a little off putting for a solid state amp and since I am still able bodied (thankfully) enough to lug a Twin and can get a nice SF for 1200 bucks.
Have you tried it with any OD pedals in front or are you just running it clean? It'd be nice if it delivered good drive sounds too. Interested to know actual decibel numbers as I have used an OSHA i-phone app to measure a Twin with transients running well over 130dB.
I look forward to the demo!
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The SS Twin Tonemaster series are also very nice as well and half the weight. I look at them often.
Originally Posted by DawgBone
As for the price of the Evans, seems right. Henrikesen Bud 10 is $1900, the AER Compact 60/4 is $1500, QUILTER Mach III is $1500 etc. - The Evans seems in-line with that quality as well. They make good amps.
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You make a good point. I would pay $1500 for an Evans if it sounded good before I would pay $1500 for the Tonemaster. I am personally repulsed by modeling gear and I have not found anything digital that I would use for anything but a rehearsal space or as a 2nd amp at a blues jam. I would rather have an SS power amp and use a nice tube preamp to get what I need. I did try an Orange Pedal Baby out and it sounded really nice and is very portable. They are about $450 new for the amp but you still need a cab and some sort of preamp and effects to complete the arrangement. Originally Posted by Rodney Gene
TBH right now I'd settle for a set of Eminence EM12 neos. My Twin would feel like a toy by comparison to the '72 I have loaded with PF-350's. 94lbs, oof, a spine cruncher. I spent so much $ on gear last year (for me) that I am not likely to purchase any guitar stuff other than maintenance items until '27 so I got plenty of time to think it over.
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