a giant thread about... AMPS!

I've been thinking about doing this for a while because we are always swapping amp recommendations on this site, so here goes...

please share all the amps you've owned or borrowed here and then maybe we'll get discussing?

here's my list:

Acoustic: Model 360 w/folded horn 1x18" cab (loud, deep rumbling bass, amp controls don't do much, recommended for 'feel it' bass tones when you are just asked to follow the chord changes and kick drum)

Alamo: not sure the model anymore, it was a 1x15 combo, not great, but the clean sound was tight and crisp if a bit harsh in the upper mids.... these amps LOOK fender but are more in the supro/harmony/danelectro camp in construction and design, though they are voiced brighter... NOT recommended

Ampeg: 60s Gemini 1 (briefly), 1st year B15 portaflex (borrowed, family heirloom, HIGHLY RECOMMENDED for recording bass), B25B (recommended for dirty bass and clean guitar playing), VT40 (great tone, very "Exile on Mainstreet", best tone controls ever for versatility, maintenance hassle, rare preamp tubes, picky about brand of power tubes, not for the uninitiated), V4B (borrowed, same as VT40 only twice as powerful and in a head w/o verb, recommended for bass with reservations)

Ashdown: MAG300 (borrowed, hybrid design, recommended for bass when you need power but don't want to lug a V4B or SVT, VERY reliable)

Bronson: Melody King (probably made by Magnatone, recommended for blues, some country and harp players, some oddball tubes, not for the uninitiated)

Carvin: X100b (bastard stepchild of a JCM800 and a Boogie, very 80s tones on tap, utterly hideous, cheap carpet covering with no business on Carvin's 80s flagship amp, jack of all trades, master of none)

Ceriatone: 18 watt TMB (borrowed, excellent take on a classic sonically, but I blew her up in NYC and had to return her with 100 bucks for a new OT, maybe that was a fluke though), Dizzy 30 (Matchless HC30 clone, still owned and played regularly, crappy chassis construction, no other issues, survived a year on the road recommended)

Danelectro: DM25 (briefly, fun but a 1 trick pony)

Dr Z: Mazerrati (returned during a no-questions-asked 2 week grace period for a full refund, I DO NOT get the hype, sounded better in the store than with a band), Route 66 (borrowed, AC30 meets JTM45, very British, recommended)

Epiphone: Devon Tremolo (I think that was the model, its been a while and I parted with it after using it for some color on an album... interesting, BRIGHT sound, not a keeper). Valve Jr with mods (borrowed, poor man's ac4, recommended with reservations)

Fender: 1964ish Blackface Princeton reverb (highly recommended), 1956ish wide panel tweed Deluxe (briefly, excellent for rock n roll and dirty country but a little farty pushed into full distortion, all octal tubes, not for the uninitiated), 1963 Blackface Dual Showman (loud and clean, a twin in a head), 1966 Blackface Bandmaster (recommended), Silverface Vibrochamp, Silverface Bassman 50 (recommended for bass), Silverface Pro Reverb (STIFF, not recommended for anything but 80s music and maybe ska), recent Champion 600 (briefly, not for me). Hot Rod Deville circa 1999 (borrowed, sounds a bit lame in person but records okay, cabinets rattle and need heavy duty retooling before hitting record, fully featured for the guy who likes lots of bells and whistles, recommended with reservations)

Gibson: leatherette GA20 (borrowed, cool but delicate so I passed on buying her, not for the uninitiated), GA5 les paul jr, GA20RVT minuteman (briefly, my buddy had scored one to restore at a yardsale and it made me think I wanted one 'til I had it... a good amp for some applications but not recommended for most people), tweed GA14 Titan (excellent deluxe style amp for harder rocking than a 5D3 fender and gainier han a stock 5E3, tight bass at full tilt, same amp as GA6 Lancer with smaller speaker, HIGHLY recommended), 2 tone GA6 (ancestor of the Tweed Lancer and Titan, less gainy, octal tube in V1, sweet sound but not for the uninitiated) GA8?9? Gibsonette (briefly, kinda miss it, very unique single ended amp but finnicky, not recommended for most players)

Harmony: H304A (briefly. champ-like, not well grounded, not for the uninitiated), H420 (very supro-ish, recommended for Zep fans who have the balls to play at 10, not unbelievably loud, but it will piss off the neighbors, stock 60s 15" is usually ready to blow)

Lafayette: LA75 (briefly, intresting voicing, needed a bit more gain, affordable source of lightly used vintage tubes, not recommended for making music though)

Laney: GH50L head (briefly as backup to JCM800, a 2204 with a switchable extra gain stage and a shitty effects loop stifling the tone a bit, low gain input slightly different than a Marshall and not good for Smashing Pumpkins tones, recommended if its 1/2 the price of a 2204 or less), Linebacker Bass model PL100 (recommended for bass, keys and even clean guitar playing)

Magnatone: Aloha branded 1x10 variation of the 109 or 110 circuit with a non-schematic 6SJ7 pentode in V1 (given to me for servicing and then lent to me for a solid year in payment... fun, trashy little combo, RARE as hen's teeth)

Marshall: JCM800 split channel head (briefly, not recommended stock, overly pricey mod platform), Lead 12 model 5005 (solid state practice amp, shockingly toneful for $200 or less, recommended), 1981 JCM800 combo w/vertical inputs model 4104 (versatile, functional, bulletproof, HIGHLY RECOMMENDED as a 2x12, 1x12 or head, sounds different than 100 watt than 2203), JCM900SL-X model 2500 (briefly as backup to JCM800), 1988 1st gen superlead reissue model 1959RI (one of my faves and my longest serving big gig amp and used extensively to record leads), JTM30 2x10 combo (massively unreliable), 1972 metal panel JMP100 superlead model 1959 (in purple levant!), Studio15 model 4001 (briefly, HIGHLY recommended for hard rockers with volume restrictions), 20 watt Lead and Bass model 2061 (borrowed, badassed, HIGHLY recommended), 3rd generation plexi reissue model 1959SLP (borrowed long term as a backup and used extensively to record rhythms), various 4x12 and 4x10 cabinets, JTM45 reissue (rented, head version with EL34 tubes, excellent tone though not terribly authentic, recommended), JCM2000 TSL (provided so frequently as backline for fly dates that I know this piece of shit as well as amps I actually owned, NOT RECOMMENDED)

Mesa: Boogie MkIII C+ (borrowed, not recommended), 90s Triple Rectifier (borrowed, feels and sounds a lot like a poor man's soldano with independent EQ across 3 channels, too many voicing options, even more unuseable gain on the red channel than HotRod50+'s overdrive channel, and not enough definition from the power amp in any of the rectifier modes for this style of high gain beast, when set to sound Marshally this mule will not kick even when turned way up, not recommended unless you are in a Sum41 tribute band)

Peavey: Deuce (borrowed, long story, piece of junk, very heavy and makes a good door stop), Delta blues 1x15 combo (borrowed, like a hotrod deluxe with more balls but no manners, not recommended). 5150 mk1 (borrowed, another Soldano knockoff with a different vibe than the Triple Rec, inferior to the real deal), 5150 mk2 (borrowed, a Soldano kockoff with independent EQ for the channels, not reliable, less toneful than mk1, inferior to an actual Soldano), TNT 115BW (reliable, cheap, sounds passable for bass at rehearsal and small gigs, can be used to amplify keyboards in a pinch)

Pignose: model 7-100 (the original battery powered solid state amp, sounds surprisingly good, originals are collectible)

Polytone: mini-brute II (briefly, well defined but sterile tone, LOUD, infinite headroom, light and portable package, perfect for modern jazz, not recommended for most people)

Roland: Jazz Chorus JC120 (borrowed, nice cleans, best chorus ever, truly stereo combo, too heavy, sounds dated, doesn't take all pedals well, a modern classic but not recommended for most people)

Silvertone: model 1483 head (very Marshally at 10, awful cleans, not unbearably loud, similar to Harmony H420)

Soldano: Hot Rod 50+ (rented, best channel switcher I've ever played, has more gain than one could ever want or need but sounds good with the gain set low too... HIGHLY RECOMMENDED)

Sunn: Solarus (hybrid of tweed/blonde fender bandmaster preamps with trem and a nice reverb driving a Dynaco hifi power amp, "countour" control adds versatility to the 2 band EQ and is more useful than a presence knob, punchy and LOUD as hell! sounds great overdriven if you can handle the SPL, also good for bass, recommended for guys who need power and definition, did I mention it is the loudest dual power tube amp I have ever played?)

Supro: '61 Airline branded Dual Tone model 1624T (cool sound, barely used it, sort of a 2 trick pony... and yes, 1 of those tricks is LZ1 tones if you have the right guitar and a decent fuzz pedal)

SWR: Workingman Bass Amp model 4004 (unreliable, passable bass tone, not recommended)

THD: Flexi 50 (briefly as backup, doesn't sound very Plexi to me, not recommended)

Top Hat: Portly Cadet (borrowed, blown up), 90s Emplexador (borrowed as backup, very authentic 60s thru 80s Marshall tones, recommended)

Trace Elliott: Velocet 1x12 (briefly, voxy in the same sense as a tiny terror, same amp as Gibson Goldtone GA15, mine had some intermittent crackles and bad jacks but never went down, recommended with reservations)

Traynor: Bassmate model YBA-2 (20 watt 6v6 power amp with a bassman type preamp, a bit marshally when turned up, recommended, not loud enough for me back when I owned it, maybe I should get another one)

Univox: model 1050 (a high power tweed twin clone in a head, great semi-dirty sounds at medium stage volume, think modern keith Richards, the similar model 1051 has spring reverb that sounds okay, HIGHLY RECOMMENDED)

Vox: 70s AC30 Solid State (big mistake, good source for vintage celestions as they usually have nice blue painted G12Ms with a vox sticker, not recommended), 1962 AC30B with rear top boost add-on (back in my possession after a couple year sojourn, if you are lucky enough to be able to buy a copper panel JMI made vox, do it), Thomas Organ made Cambridge Reverb Solid State (can be used to get some colorful sgt pepper sounds on records, not recommended), 90s AC15TBX (borrowed to record, tracks were not selected when put against ceriatone 18 watt and Marshall 20 watt, not as good as the 90s AC30TBX, NOT RECOMMENDED), AC30HW2 (currently played all the time, GREAT reissue. obviously RECOMMENDED HIGHLY), AC4HW (not really like an old one if that's what you want, but a very well made small combo with thoughtful features, recommended)

what have you played through?

I am bumping this so when the other forum regulars see it they can contribute!

and here is a rambling note on Mesa amps:

in my opinion they jam too many tubes and features into very small boxes, even if the tone is to your liking beware that Mesa amps can be a maintenance hassle because of Mesa's attempt to keep these fancy amps fairly compact. I mean, a 100 watt triple rectifier with 3 independent channels and dual tube rectifiers pushing the tube count way over the SLO100 that inspired it comes crammed in a head box 2/3rds its size, there are also way more features crammed onto a PCB that has to fit inside that little chassis.... think that over kids, wouldn't the more complicated amp with more tubes need an even BIGGER box? The Boogie amps have the same problem, they are jammed into fender Princeton reverb sized boxes. Its a cute idea, but not a recipe for reliability and easy servicing. Some diehard mesa fans have said to me "my mesa only goes in the shop once a year, man! your marshall and fender probably break down that much," I never had an older marshall or fender go down, period... even when I didn't bias the tubes properly or do any routine service like I should have, they work night after night.

Mesa in my opinion sound pretty shit! they are loud and thats as gfood as it gets, tone wise they just don't other much in my opinion. Just compare early nirvana live tone to 93/94 when he was using mesa pre amps and crown power amps. it sounded nowhere near as nice as before they got famous, not that Kurt Cobain had the most amazing tone to start with though I like it.

About old Fender amps, I've seen those work with a few blown tubes, like how? how the hell does that even work? and I've never heard of Marshall or Fender amp dying both new and old, theres probably a few that have but they are few and far between.

So amps I've owned are mainly shitty solid state modeling amps, can't remeber the ones I've own but I had a thing for blowing amps up :P

I now own a Line 6 spider IV (I know line 6, ahh) I have actually got a very good sound out of it after many hours of playing around and have got it to a point where it is extremely responsive to my picking dynamics when I have the guitar volume around 7 but I am in no way happy with it in the grand scheme of things.

I have owned a Epiphone practice amp, my first ever amp which I got with a Les Paul special II, was okay, think 10 watts and I blew it up somehow.

I owned another amp after that which I do not remember its name, also blew it up, was some cheapo modelling amp.

I owned a Kustom 20w practice amp after that, don't remeber its name, blew it up some how but I did buy that for £15 at a carboot sale in the rain.

I owned something else and guess what I blew it up! I'm just unlucky with amps!!

My line 6 is the only thing not to blow up on me which I'm grateful for!

I have borrowed a few amps too over the years.

A Marshall Tube amp, I can't remember what it was now but it sounded fucking nice! was just a 112 combo, I think 40w but not sure, that thing just was so loud and just damn right amazing sounding, notsure if it was a DSL40 or not.

I've borrowed a Laney bass amp, don't remember what it was but I played guitar through it :P

I've also borrowed a Line 6 jam or something at school for practicing with the school band thing I was in.

I may buy a DSL40 because I like them, but I don't know, I would rather something with a better clean tone because I'm a bitch for a good clean tone these days! If an amp has a good clean tone I'll just play clean for hours, I'll happily play Angel Of Death by Slayer clean haha

if you blow amps up, stay away from the JCM2000 series as a whole, they are not up to Marshall's usual standards of reliability, though Marshall's warranty is really good, especially in the UK

if you borrowed a 40 watt Marshall tube combo it could only be 1 of 2 amps I know, the aforementioned DSL or the JTM60 which is just a JTM30 with the plate voltages on the 6L6 tubes goosed for more output.... the 90s JTM combo amps sound fabulous but suffer from crappy cabinetry, cramped boards and solid state effects loop loaded with cheap components that always break... oh, there's also the short-lived JCM600 head that put out about 40 watts, kinda half JCM900 and half JTM30/60 in design, very nice sounding head

I used to use my Laney Linebacker bass amp for clean guitar and I owned tube amps, it had a cool sound... I wonder where that head got to?

addendum, if you have a modelling unit designed to go straight to a mixer like the classic POD or an Axe FX you can add that as an amp too... preamps like the JMP1 and ADA MP1 count as well, even if you just use the direct recording feature and don't have a power amp/cab setup

Well, I have Fender Frontman 25R :D :D :D

Oh God, I need a new amp...

well, there's a big list of winners and losers I have played extensively and brutalized at gigs and in the studio, read up and go shopping

I had put a new amp so high on my list of things to buy, but I just came through trouble... sort of.

Our band is going to Hawaii! Whether I'll be chosen to play is not known. However, I need to buy the tickets myself, so I have to save up the $600 for that plus an extra $200 or $300 in case I find a good guitar shop. I have to do this with a part-time job by June... Not sure if it's achievable, but I'm trying my best.

one of 2 states I have never been to.... good for you, man.... if you aren't selected to go you can buy a $600 amp

about rack gear, why is it so damn expensive for a preamp and power amp unless its solid state and digital?

good question... for preamps, it really depends.... all tube preamps range in price from the unobtainium 2 and 3 channel soldano offerings down to the very affordable ADA mp1, the godfather of midi programmable pres... power amps? well, rack tube power amps are usually built to be as good or better than the power sections of their makers' top of the line integrated amps.... they are made extra road worthy because they are mainly marketed at touring pros.... you pay for all the good components, plus they are typicall stereo so you are getting 2 high end amps in one durable box.... on the cheap you can get some 80s peavey rackmount tube power amps on ebay that aren't too bad, the mono models are downright cheap and will generally do the business

I see, I'd love to build a nice rack set up, no rack effects, just a Tube Preamp and Tube Power amp. I like my effects to come from stomp boxes, not effects processors, though there are some nice ones out there, just not my thing

then a rack is pointless and probably won't respond to your playing dynamiics as well as a traditional head

I suppose that is true, I just love the MESA Studio 22 preamp and the ENGL E 850/100 Power amp

the mesa studio stuff is actually not too bad.... have you actually played the preamp or the 22 caliber amps? or the poweramp you are referencing?

I haven't just watched youtube videos, nowhere near me stock either sadly

I don't know much about engl, but the studio 22 has been discontinued since I was a kid... they are actually a bit rare here in the USA (though not very collectible), so I imagine they are impossible to find in the UK. I have used a few pieces from the 22 series (the pre, a few different variations of the 22 caliber, they are the only affordable mesas I can get into) and the studio pre has a big problem stock, the clean and high gain circuits just will not balance well for relatively close volume levels with optimal tone. I think Mesa meant the high gain to work as a lead boost as well as adding extra distortion, but for modern uses the studio preamp needs to be modded. Some of the later 22 caliber amps came with an extra balance control to solve this problem. Those are the 22 series pieces I like. Almost bought one a few years ago. I also prefer the straight 22 caliber as opposed to the 22 caliber+ with the graphic EQ added. The studio preamp isn't available without the graphic EQ. Unless you are making the 80s thrash V curve with it you will find it is pretty worthless.

Don't trust gear videos. Besides the fact that you are not hearing how something REALLY sounds, no matter how honest the recording, if the demoer is the owner the guy invariably tries to hide his new toy's faults and only highlight its strengths because he wants everyone to envy him even if the piece in question is less than stellar all around. And if the demoer is selling the thing? Oh man, then all bets are off. The more bells and whistles the piece has the more likely that a lot is being omitted in the video.

If you can't play it at volume in a store then don't consider investing. Even then, you will see on my list of amps that I once bought a popular Dr Z head that wowed me in the store, but I hated it in a band setting. The quality I had enjoyed so much about it vs other 18 watt style amps, its smoothness, got it lost in the mix completely next to a hard hitting drummer. I don't buy amps or amp-like things unless I am getting a wicked deal or I can get a full, no questions asked refund within a week or two.

EDIT:

I don't mean to sound all ranty at you. I am just cranky this week. Fucking x-mas! It just astounds me how many guitarists on here have so little guitar and amp experience. Maybe I am just weird. I thought I was an average semi-pro guitarist with this stuff.

Out of curiosity, has anyone heard the 44 magnum by EHX? I see anf hear it, but in my eyes, I just see a glorified boost pedal.

I was curious too so I tried one at a GC awhile back driving a stock orange 2x12 with V30s. Not terribly good sounding alone because its so neutral it sounds wrong, but if you have a pedalboard with the right amp-in-a-box overdrive I can imagine it working in a pinch. If you are the sort of guy who likes to run delay and reverb after your amp's powerstage it could be REALLY handy to drive your ambience cabinet. I have been tempted to buy one just because its a tiny investment in having a little utility power amp around.

If I bite the bullet I will give a more detailed report, as of right now I only spent 10 minutes with it in a noisey chain store. I can definitely think up a pile of uses for her though....

I wouldn't try it as a boost pedal, you'll blow it up and possibly your amp. It's alright, handy as a spare amp being able to fit in the cable compartment or what ever that is in a guitar case. They sound half decent with the right pedals as Jim pointed out. They are also very loud too. If you need a cheap amp, couldn't be to bad to consider maybe?