Power Of Three

Bucking the recent trend for compact heads, PRS goes large with its latest signature amp for Mark Tremonti

- Nick Guppy

Mark Tremonti is one of PRS's most prolific and dedicated artists; his boundless talents are M more than one or even two bands can satisfy. Having found global fame with Creed, Tremonti went on to form Alter Bridge in 2004 with Myles Kennedy, followed by a solo album project in 2010 that turned into the band Tremonti. All three projects are still on the active list, with Creed set to reform again for a tour in 2024. The guitarist is just as busy on the gear front, with Core and SE PRS models alongside the well-received MT 15 head - which is now joined by a new addition, an amp that Mark has been deeply involved with through the design and test phases and is now using in live shows, the signature MT 100 head. The first thing that's apparent on unboxing the MT 100 is its size and weight.

At a time when, in the UK at least, there's been an increasing trend toward more compact and portable products, the MT 100 is unapologetically large and heavy thanks to outsize transformers and a tough steel chassis. The mains transformer is possibly the biggest we’ve ever seen on an amp of this type. At the time of writing, we don’t yet know if a matching 4x12 will be available, but visually a serious rock amp such as this needs a 4x12 or an oversized 2x12 to sit on.

Inside the chassis, most of the electronics live on one large main PCB, including the front-panel controls, preamp valve bases and a bank of nine relays. A smaller PCB strip handles the rear-panel bias connections. The sockets for the quartet of TAD Redbase 6L6s are chassis mounted and hand wired, keeping the main heat source away from the PCB and making a positive contribution to the amp’s longterm reliability. Where most valve amps have separate mains and standby switches, the MT 100 has a three-way toggle for off, standby and play.