The PRS Archon MKII review + demo | Meet the Machines w/Uncle Ben Eller

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The BEST Half Hour of Alternate Picking Practice EVER: / 33563344
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My followup to my Ditch the CAGED System video: / 40492155
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Hey kids, its your good buddy Uncle Ben Eller here with a new installment of Meet the Machines, in which we dive deep into the new Paul Reed Smith Archon 50 MKII head!!! The perfect amp for people who like things that are nice!!
Can this amp do more than just brutality? YES. In fact, it can do a little bit of everything with its mighty two channels! In this video, i'm gonna plug in my PRS Hollowbody Piezo and give you guys a little bit of everything this amazing affordable amp does.
Zero post-EQ or compression. All delay and reverb in Logic. Any pedals being used are noted on-screen.
Thanks a lot for watching! Let me know how you liked this demo/review in the comments!

[@BenEller]

Thanks for checking out the new PRS Archon 50 on Meet the Machines! What piece of gear do you want to see featured next?

[@Alman88100]

Have you checked out the badlander yet? Looks nice!

[@djallen4055]

the 5150 iconic, whenever it's actually available

[@OfRiffAndMan]

Hey, great demo! Would be great to see you trying Mesa boogie triple crown 50w head. I was reading a lot of stuff and lot's of folks say that it's ultimate mesa amp. And very versatile!

[@willchug]

PRS MT-100 🤔

[@Burkhimself]

SLO 100 or SLO 30

[@m0th3rst4r]

Gear Demoes are so very much betterer when you can hear someone that can actually play like our Uncle Ben.

[@grapejuice2589]

So true

[@jamiegustkey2573]

All of those clean tone riffs you were doing all sound like intros to RUSH songs that haven't been written yet... 👍🏻

[@Terribleguitarist89]

Ironically, I've always wondered how well a PRS Hollowbody handled gain... this definitely answered that for me.

[@OwenVickersGuitar]

Great sounding amp and demo. Always good to hear an amp that does such good high gain with an actual usable clean channel!

[@artcarsnguitarsAdamS]

Wow it all sounds amazing, such a clean and organic tone through the gain ranges. I love and appreciate a multi trick pony as well. Yay Opeth riffs!

[@TheAlexCruz]

That clean channel....ooofta! I could hear you popping the pickup switch it was so clean. I'll be looking at this amp as a future option for sure. Thanks for the sweet demos, Uncle Ben 👍

[@TreyB.]

Great sounding tube head! Thank for sharing, Ben!

[@MichaelStarkTV]

I’ve had the 50 watt combo for a week now. Literally the same comment on a boost out front. It sounds good plugged in directly. But adding a boost was like getting your back scratched and reaching that one spot.

[@timmcnabb2282]

Hey man! I've looked at ALL the Archon reviews, yours is the BEST by far! I wanted to see/hear the full range and you nailed it! Also am now looking at that boost pedal and noise gate! Nice stuff! And overall a great unique sound which is what I like!

[@BenEller]

Thanks! I still love it, awesome amp. Using it tomorrow’s video, this time with a Horizon Precision Drive. It’s great!

[@designedbymarty]

Great gear review Uncle Ben. So much prefer gear reviews done by a good musician and also a fantastic guy. Keep em' rollin'.

[@JannichHolmerIbsen]

Damn great amp and demo AND all the best riffs...

[@17colosal]

I loved the chords you played with the clean channel

[@BenEller]

Thanks!

[@ronnieredneck9162]

Don't feel like this amp gets enough love from the amp geeks n general. With the Fireball 25 coming in first this is the second most compelling mid size amp I've heard thus far. Thanks for the killer review...

[@steveweilhart2359]

nailed it Ben - it is a badass amp - received mine last week - with so many choices these day's I was waiting on this one - the ENGL fireball was my other choice happy with the Archon not a bunch of bells & whistles but OMG it sounds awesome -

[@blickfang3751]

I too am looking at the Engl. Also the Sigil

[@MarioSaboni]

3:55 it indeed does the Van Halens, fantastic as usual work Uncle Ben

[@matthewtiner7485]

Nice demo. I have the American Archon 50, fantastic amp

[@DoktorDamage]

That pick hand is crazy solid Uncle Ben !!! :O

[@JimDewdGuitars]

That guitar. That amp. So many nice things!

[@BenEller]

I like nice!

[@richardsteffens6159]

Great Demo Uncle Ben. Also, MORE OPETH. \m/

[@retroradiant8183]

I personally love my PRS SE 30 Head but you rock on uncle Ben!

[@Jeffmetal42]

Those amps sound fudging insane! Been on the fence about getting one. Find myself floating between a Mesa, a 6505, a 5150 or one of PRS amps. Pretty tough decision, they all do what I need so it's a tough choice.

[@metalheadindian9174]

Uncle Ben Eller has come again to spread some knowledge among us mortals.

[@reverendg5937]

Thanks Brah, needed the Fix!!!!

[@nickforbus378]

Killer tone!

[@JosePineda-jn8jk]

My buddy has one of these and a precision drive that tightens it up a bit and man that sounds great. We get a really similar tone and I am using a Carvin legacy with a ODR-1 clone.

[@lukeoffield3768]

I've had Mesa, Marshall, VHT, Fryette, and many others. I no longer own those. I just have the Archon and a Mesa vertical 2x12. Thanks for showing just how absurdly capable this amps is. It's definitely deserving of more respect.

[@jayteesgear]

No diss to PRS Marketing but this video shows MUCH better tonality than the official demo. First time ive seen this channel. Funny edits and great audio. 🤘🏻👽

[@th3m1ke]

HB through an Acrhon? You trying to summon Emil for a video appearance? haha Amazing content, playing and tone as always Unc! Youre the top shelf of humans and players.

[@guitarz]

best intro on the tube

[@Behemoth92]

I bought the MT 15 (2021 revision) this week and it's amazing for people that dont mind it being a '1 trick pony', it does good cleans and high gain but not as good for less gainy genres. Would recommend if you want to save money and dont need an amp as versatile as the archon mk2.

[@azcodemonkey]

tasty playing, sir.

[@BenEller]

Thanks, John!

[@msimon905]

At 2:44 I thought you were going to bust out Smoke Wagon! Sounds killer!

[@DisruptedSinner]

Oh man... this video was so ultimately tasty and amazingly tone-worthy. Wow. Amazing sound - loved it so much. :D Gonna check out the out the PRS Archon... but... will probably still go with the Boss Katana MKII Artist 100... we'll see.

[@willchug]

That BAD HORSIE sounded Amazing 👏

[@BenEller]

Was it Bad Horsie, or was it… Misbehaving Pony???

[@mustangguy3706]

Nailed that old thrash sound 😍

[@cflowers69]

I have this amp and I am loving it so far. I keep the gain at noon, and front load a Mosley Silver Horse for lead tones. I sold my MT15 towards this one and I am glad that I did.

[@stealyourfacekev]

Is the effects loop noisy?

[@cocotico9997]

You're crazy

[@cocotico9997]

How much watts is this?

[@cflowers69]

@@stealyourfacekev Not at all really.

[@cflowers69]

@@cocotico9997 50

[@SuperSpear2009]

I have heard many good things about this amp, it's nice. Would be a great amp to show us how to play the "Still of the night" solo Mr. Ben Eller.

[@Blehkid]

Moe great review. You do the metal

[@jnellis84]

Nice Vai throwback, you wild stallion you.

[@mattastic247]

Ben! Awesome vid. This amp sounds incredible and you’re totally right that it takes pedals so well. How would you compare this to the 5150 you have? Is it as versatile and which takes pedals better? I’ve been on the fence between a 5150 or some other similar but maybe better amp. This might be that better amp.

[@royalmarine1011]

Guess Friday Came Early!

[@BriBeast8566]

Ive been think about one

[@MykiDiBono]

Rare...a good guitarist that demostrates a good amp !!!❤❤❤

[@deeforty]

Christ, that amp sounds amazing

[@BenEller]

It really really does!

[@dadgamingandguitars7175]

Bad horsie!!! Love Steve Vai!

[@MarkDonnison]

Sweet, more tones than a Tony Iommi lookalike convention. I wonder if waves will update their plugin too!

[@guitarlair]

It sounds like a tamed Dual Rectifier to my ears... it def has that Mesa flavour but it's not fizzy.. all frequencies are very well balanced, also the amp is not tight either like the Badlander.. it has that fat bottom end that Rectfiers do but they're more controlled. It's like you said, sounds like a boutique amp, like some custom made Mesa.

[@jconner3891]

Just got this amp 5 days ago.

[@thrakd]

Random thought- Uncle Ben= New Steel Panther bass player!

[@godsreclamation2539]

I'm actually planning on getting this amp. Don't have a tube amp and I think it would pair up nice with my omega 2x12

[@BenEller]

Bet it would!!!

[@lowtonezf104]

Uncle Ben not only has the best rice, but those riffs are damn tasty too!!

[@TVoltG]

I played one a couple weeks back. I found it very versatile. Was nailing some Kim Thayil tones which really sold me on it. It has a great thick rock tone. Going to sell off a 2008 PRS DGT project guitar that I won't ever get around too and see if I can get this head.

[@geocmartin6593]

How do you like it so far? I'm thinking of getting one myself soon.

[@TVoltG]

@@geocmartin6593 I haven't bought one yet. But when I played one, it was great. Still wanting to buy one, especially now because my Marshalls were stolen. But my mother has breast cancer and her out of pocket is crazy per week so I am helping her right now. So it's been a terrible timing for me.

[@geocmartin6593]

​@@TVoltG I hope it all works out well man and you get your amp.

[@TVoltG]

@@geocmartin6593 thank you 🙏🏼

[@BigPerm2004]

Sure would be nice to hear that bad boy live this weekend 😉 Maybe it can make an appearance.

[@Synic42]

Since the power tubes are now underneath the amp, I do hope they are chassis-mounted like in the MT15 and not PCB-mounted. I also hope there aren't any PCB's or components hovering over the power tubes, since they'll be affected by the heat. Otherwise this amp will experience some serious durability issues in the long run.

[@theeggoftime4896]

Yeah, terrible design choice tbh. I have one of these and the back panel gets incredibly hot after playing for a half hour. It sounds great and I want to keep it running so I modified mine so it's upside down.

[@TheJostler]

DROPPPP DEADDDD LEGGGGS

[@TheJostler]

also what was that 2nd overdrive riff you played with that neat lydian dominant drone, sounded like Zeppelin

[@bobmcelver1484]

Just got mine.......I'm an old schooler....yeah, "antique rocker" kinda guy. I started back in the mid 70's with Marshall Super Leads, then switched to Peavey's for a bit after frying a few Marshall's. I hadn't bought a new head in a long time but after doing a bit of research and not wanting to haul halfstacks around at my age anymore, I figured I'd upgrade to a smaller package but still with some ass. The Archon 50 covered all the bases it seemed.....it got here and I'm still in the "playing phase", but so far......winner winner chicken dinner

[@michaelmitchell5909]

amazing amp, idk which one to get, this or the new 5150 iconic amp coming iut on november.... Which one would you buy Ben?....if you could only have one

[@jasonwinter5288]

Ok first "spongy riff" sounded suspiciously like WASP - Mean Man, what say you Ben? Great sounding amp!

[@Watzline]

Nice amp Ben, did they throw the PRS guitar in too? My step dad told me 'NO MORE GUITAR STUFF FOR YOU UNTIL YOU GET YOUR LAZY ASS OUT OF THE BASEMENT, PUT THAT TEISCO DEL REY GUITAR DOWN WITH THAT AWFUL GRUNDGE PEDAL, AND PEAVEY AMP, THAT I BOUGHT YOU 30 YEARS AGO, CUT YOUR HAIR AND FIND A JOB ', so guess I will have to keep what I have, 'cause Im' still working on Stairway to Heaven, almost have it,,,

[@nicolasmaugy4253]

Nice intro sounds like double dragon on snes

[@donaldmccoy49]

So much SOUL at the 5 min mark...kudos!! Interested on hearing atmospheric emotive instrumentals from you....

[@reggiemoses2508]

I own a 100 watt Archon. The clean tones are VERY "Black Face". I always thought PRS should make a combo amp modeled on the clean tones of Archon. Having said that, the dirty side is brutal. I get Bogner-Boogie vibes. Headroom out the ass. 100 watt Archon: prepare to be blown away. (Can't say enough about the clean channel, it kills)

[@jessenicholson1777]

What is the finish on the guitar called? That’s amazing.

[@brucewayne5047]

5:25 that solo was fucking epic 🤘🏻

[@danielsaturnino5715]

Sounds nice. We also like things that are nice :)

[@evilash570]

That sounds dandy!

[@hierrogm]

Dood I just got my dirty tree but they didn’t tell me it don’t run on batteries ..didn’t know that I mostly run hx effects I don’t have 9v power had to buy can’t wait to hear it

[@noctisnoctua48]

I see that you used logic for reverb and delay. How does the new Archon take those kinds of pedals? I ask because I had an Archon 100 (later model post fx loop issue) and it took boosts great but it really pooped its pants with a few other pedals. I had a delay that ran fine, but I tried a reverb, an eq, a wah, and even just a passive volume knob (jack to potentiometer to jack) and they were all completely unusable. The noise was so loud on some that it drowned out the guitar signal. I had the same result when running them through the loop or out in front. I loved the Archon but had to get rid of it because it was so incredibly picky about pedals. These pedals all ran clean on three other amps I tried. I needed it to work with me. Did I have a dud, or is this just a thing that the Archon does? If it is, has it been remedied in the MKII? Thanks for your time.

[@Sodacake]

like ben, i like things that are nice. i want more meet the machines.

[@impoopnrightnow906]

*UNCLE BEN!*

[@BenEller]

hello

[@metalsnake3557]

I heard this amp sounds like a rectifier . Should i get one? I notice you have a 50 watt 5153 back there. I own the same amp. I cant decide between archon or upgrade to 50 watt stealth

[@Billywagner22]

Drop Dead Melissa was nice!

[@couchlockchillin]

how would you compare this to the revv g20? Thinking about getting a new amp soon and really like the silent recording features of the revv. Also considering an ENGL lunchbox (or maybe a mesa if I want to spend a full check)

[@drugjoza5000]

Definetly don't get the MESA lunchboxes they're terrible and criminally overpriced, that's all I can pitch in on this topic.

[@jasongoddard8167]

Archon 50 or 5150 iii stealth? I have a engl fireball 25 and a mesa mini rec 25. Looking for an amp I can get some better 'chugs' out of/screaming low mids/mids thx.

[@Groovekraft]

how does it take the DOD grunge pedal?

[@IamTheDustDevil]

Hey Uncle Ben, Have you tried an Engl Savage 120 or 60 by chance, If so...! What are your thoughts, If any..?? Thanks...!!!

[@Jaxisagod5]

So are you using that now then instead of the axe III ?

[@thedanksavatron7782]

Nissssssssssssssssssce 🍻

[@drsmith4582]

When are you gonna do a demo on the DOD Grunge pedal? 😂

[@nathancloud6344]

Where would you put this amp on your favorite's list?

[@user-jz4gy2vk4c]

Hi Ben,on the fence between the PRS for 900 or a Bad Cat Cub for 1700,what would you pick?

[@jasonsapp792]

Uncle Ben i had the MK I Archon and for me the amp was far to mid heavy and really could not dial it out...only using an Eq pedal in the loop could i bring the amp around but then I felt i was just dialing in Mesa tones....is this MKII less mid focused with a more adjustable sweep? Thank you Sir

[@BenEller]

Yeah the MK2 has a VERY flexible mid control!!! You can dial a ton out or really crank them. The EQ is very responsive.

[@Tim.McElheny]

Are those black tuner pegs aftermarket?

[@ioannisstavropoulos4319]

So is this close to the USA made first version?

[@ScottyBrockway]

I love the clean channel, the dirt channel is a bit too scooped for me though. Great demo Ben, killing it as always. Also thanks for not being a gear snob and using some inexpensive pedals.

[@BenEller]

The mids are SUPER flexible, check out the White Lion lesson I did. No shortage of mids there!!!

[@ScottyBrockway]

@@BenEller oki doki I'll check that out again, didn't know you were using that amp. I may need to get me one in that case.

[@SkyBrotherBortz]

How does this amp compare to the EVH 5150 amps? Do you have a preference?

[@BenEller]

VERY different. The PRS is much less compressed, which just depends on what you’re after!

[@adeltoral710]

That high gain Opeth riff lol

[@mazklassa9338]

9:34 sounds like sonic thunder - how did you get that tone?? 😮

[@loganhathaway3113]

Opeth riff at 8:00?

[@whoshotya117]

Is this plugged into desktop via USB? Also my ISP Decimator must be defective because when it's on I get on high pitch noise, not loud but it's there and Im annoyed that it doesnt work as intended.

[@BenEller]

Amp is running through the Suhr RL/IR into my interface.

[@mattastic247]

Also you still using that M Audio interface?

[@jacobehlers]

Can someone tell me what song Ben's playing at around the 9:12 mark? Super heavy riff!

[@shagnastyfo20]

I'm looking through the comments for it too

[@markriffalo27]

Does that mean you have to give back the amp when you're done with it?

[@BenEller]

I hope not! I doubt I’ll be done with this one for a while :)

[@highgainmaster7856]

evh 5150 50 watt or prs archon which one do you prefer and why..

[@BenEller]

It would really depend on what I’m playing, honestly! Apples to oranges!

[@jug1415]

This vs the mt15, just for metal and some cleans, what would yo recommend?

[@BenEller]

Haven’t tried the MT15! Can’t say!

[@richardturner7560]

MT is a very good amp and is cheaper. It is also extremely loud for a 15w amp. I own one and it is kinda a rectifier clone if you want a super tight high gain take a look at a 5150III

[@blainethemono19]

Ok Uncle Ben, try and tell me this opening theme wasn't a tip of the hat to Double Dragon and Bubble Man's theme...

[@andy_stinson]

With a boost in front that amp fucking destroys.. I've found my next amp!

[@cazziebb1707]

I actually had an Uncle Ben

[@BenEller]

You still do! I’m here!

[@jacobsamano9761]

Cool demo Ben, that sounds like a really great amp and versatile too! Ben, I’ve been watching your videos lately and they have been extremely helpful although I just keep having trouble learning and understanding scales properly and not knowing where to start. Anyways, I was hoping you could help me I need your expertise! I have $700 to buy myself a good electric guitar and need your help on the best way to get the most quality instrument out of my money. I play similar stuff to you, (Blues, Rock, Metal) therefore my only real need is to have a humbucker in the bridge for heavy riffing. I have been thinking about getting an EVH Wolfgang Standard for $649.99. Would this be a good choice? Could you recommend alternatives? I would greatly appreciate any help! Anyone else who reads this I would appreciate anybody’s advice. Take care everyone!

[@BenEller]

Yeah dude those EVH guitars are lovely!!! I’ve been really impressed with the PRS SE models, check those out too.

[@jacobsamano9761]

@@BenEller dude that’s so awesome you actually replied! Thanks so much Ben! I emailed you too at what I thought might be your gmail address so go ahead and disregard that my bad. Thanks again man I feel even more confident now with purchasing the EVH guitar because aesthetically I was jus enamored with that bad boy. Take care brother, rock on!