Ha ha -- yeah, I've been too busy to do a proper write-up about it. But yes, I just added a member to the family. I had a thing come up that provided me with just enough rationale to align myself with a perfectly-timed Craigslist listing nearby, and suddenly I have an LSS.
I love it! I'll never give up my trusty LSC, but I have to say my LSS is giving it a serious run for its money. It's probably fair to say that in many ways the LSS is the amp I really wanted way back when I was shopping for what would become my LSC -- I ended up with a Classic because I happened upon one of those screaming close-out deals on the 50/100 models after they'd added the 10-watt feature. And I'm glad I jumped on it! But the weight of the LSC combo has caused me to jump through a lot of hoops and now I find that a combo that I can actually get in and out of my car without seriously injuring myself has become a very attractive proposition.
Not that the LSS is terribly light or anything, but it's obviously a bit more manageable. Couple of nice surprises though.
As far as tone and overall handling goes: it's definitely a different beast. I've been obsessed for years with getting a Vox-style amp in my hands, never really having had the experience (or the need). I'd assumed the LSS wasn't really a good example of that breed of amp, and this is probably true if you're a serious Vox aficionado. But I find that it does get me in the neighborhood of what I'd sort of been wanting to hear out of an EL84-based amp with that sort of voicing. It's not quite like Dave Davies in a bottle of anything, but it's closer than I thought it would be.
One other nice surprise: contrary to much of what I've read about the LSS (and the LSC to a certain extent too -- so actually I am not all that surprised), as good as my Strat and Tele sound through the amp, the guitar that really shines through it is my ES-335. Wow! It's a stock, '95 dot with 57 Classics and it sounds unbelievably good through the LSS. Clean, dirty, all of the above. My other humbucker guitars sound great too, but I'm shocked at how chimey and delicious the 335 sounds.
Compared to the LSC, the Special has more upper-mids and a more ragged breakup, in a good way. It's sort of more RAWK and has a really nice gritty snarl, compared to the more buttery and fat LSC. The Classic has way more low end and just plain balls -- but the LSS has a kind of attitude whereas the LSC seems more refined in a way. I love them both -- I have the luxury of being able to keep them both, though I hope I can get them both onstage enough to keep them happy. (I had two gigs this weekend -- took the Classic to both, since they were both situations where I could turn up a bit. But I have a gig next weekend where I'll be bringing the Special.)
The previous owner had swapped in some Fender-branded Groove Tubes in the preamp stages, so I swapped those out for a mix of NOS, Mullard RI's and Tungsols. I also swapped my Celestion Gold into it and now it sounds even more glorious than it did.
On top of that, the amp I got ended up being a really sweet specimen with a custom finish, I might add. The ad did not specify this, so I feel like I got a pretty sweet deal. It's in fine shape and I am certain I'll be putting it through some serious paces as it's probably going to become my go-to for many of my average-sized gigs.
Oh... the Reeder mods? So far I have not been compelled to open it up. It sounds so good as-is! I may end up doing it, but for the gigs I'll be using the Special for, I don't think it's totally necessary at this point. We'll see!
