I own a rather special one of these, back in the 60s it belonged to Jimmy Henshaw who played in the Carlisle band The VIPs (who became 'ART' & eventually 'Spooky Tooth'), at the time (1966) they had a residency in a club called Scotch of St. James in London, and one evening Chas Chandler came into the club with Jimi Hendrix, no one knew who he was at the time but Jimi ended up getting up on stage to jam with the band and plugged into Henshaws Gibson Mercury, this was Jimi's first UK appearance under that name, so the amp' is a bit special, & still has great tone, it does sound very much like the one in your video. cheers, Buzz Elliott - UK
I have been away from this amp or about a year. I plugged it in tonight with all my pedals and set it to a nice rich clean. I have a Calatinbread DLS III, Lovepedal Tweed Twin, Salvo Orange Blossom (OR120), Echorec, TR-2, Keeley BD-2. This amp takes all these pedals and makes becomes nearly each of these amps. The clean tone is so good that It will do crisp and rich slapback with the echorec and then do an overdrive saturation that will rival any amp I've ever played with a click of a choice pedal. amazing amp, no one ever heard of. I love my MTS amp mods but this Mercury is such a responsive and varied beast. it can be anything you want. a true hidden gem
God help when people start to find out how awesome these are. They're already rare, but soon they'll become expensive. Mine was a steal for power, tone, and versatility I get out of it. I run mine with Crybaby 535Q, Boss GE-7, Morley MOD-D1B, Whirlwind Orange Box, Maxon RCP 660, Fulltone OCD, MXR 10-band EQ, Boss CE-3, Boss DD-7, and a Hardwire RV-7. Channels jumpered, both volumes at about 12 o' clock, and my channel 1 EQ's each set just a hair higher than channel 2's so adjustment of 2's volume controls more of my overall growl and texture and my channel 1's volume is more of my overall clarity and brightness. Truly not an amp for the tone deaf or those that don't know how to EQ.
I have a Merc as well (it has been dubbed the "Mercenary"), snagged it from an auction for $150 several years ago, all covered in rust. Since been cleaned, re-tubed, and re-capped. Very surprised at how well it can take pretty much anything I throw at it. Blues, rockabilly, fusion, hard rock, even some older metal. It LOVES pedals and has such a great "woody" tone to it that makes everything you play really cut and sound terrific. Great vid, great playing, and more importantly, great amp.
Love em both, the Atlas grinds better , but the Merc has a really nice clarity between the notes. If I had to pick only one, and it would be reluctantly, I would take my rusty Atlas...
I own a rather special one of these, back in the 60s it belonged to Jimmy Henshaw who played in the Carlisle band The VIPs (who became 'ART' & eventually 'Spooky Tooth'), at the time (1966) they had a residency in a club called Scotch of St. James in London, and one evening Chas Chandler came into the club with Jimi Hendrix, no one knew who he was at the time but Jimi ended up getting up on stage to jam with the band and plugged into Henshaws Gibson Mercury, this was Jimi's first UK appearance under that name, so the amp' is a bit special, & still has great tone, it does sound very much like the one in your video. cheers, Buzz Elliott - UK
I have been away from this amp or about a year. I plugged it in tonight with all my pedals and set it to a nice rich clean. I have a Calatinbread DLS III, Lovepedal Tweed Twin, Salvo Orange Blossom (OR120), Echorec, TR-2, Keeley BD-2. This amp takes all these pedals and makes becomes nearly each of these amps. The clean tone is so good that It will do crisp and rich slapback with the echorec and then do an overdrive saturation that will rival any amp I've ever played with a click of a choice pedal. amazing amp, no one ever heard of. I love my MTS amp mods but this Mercury is such a responsive and varied beast. it can be anything you want. a true hidden gem
God help when people start to find out how awesome these are. They're already rare, but soon they'll become expensive. Mine was a steal for power, tone, and versatility I get out of it. I run mine with Crybaby 535Q, Boss GE-7, Morley MOD-D1B, Whirlwind Orange Box, Maxon RCP 660, Fulltone OCD, MXR 10-band EQ, Boss CE-3, Boss DD-7, and a Hardwire RV-7. Channels jumpered, both volumes at about 12 o' clock, and my channel 1 EQ's each set just a hair higher than channel 2's so adjustment of 2's volume controls more of my overall growl and texture and my channel 1's volume is more of my overall clarity and brightness. Truly not an amp for the tone deaf or those that don't know how to EQ.
I have a Merc as well (it has been dubbed the "Mercenary"), snagged it from an auction for $150 several years ago, all covered in rust. Since been cleaned, re-tubed, and re-capped. Very surprised at how well it can take pretty much anything I throw at it. Blues, rockabilly, fusion, hard rock, even some older metal. It LOVES pedals and has such a great "woody" tone to it that makes everything you play really cut and sound terrific. Great vid, great playing, and more importantly, great amp.
awesome intro :D
sweet playing too
Mine is jumped internally, sounds amazing. Modded that way. Also, the benefit is that you can use the trem from either channel.
Luv this vid! I have a Merc and an Atlas. cool monsters for sure...
great playing
were you guys going for the same tone in the merc and atlas vids? The difference is more drastic than I would have guessed. This guy is good too btw.
Love em both, the Atlas grinds better , but the Merc has a really nice clarity between the notes. If I had to pick only one, and it would be reluctantly, I would take my rusty Atlas...
greenback speakers? sound really great
have you ever jumpered the two channels?
Whats the impedance of this amp
which do you prefer?