JPF Home Page Forums Musician Gear and Techniques Guitars and Guitarist Forum What amp do you use?

The guitar board seems a little quiet. So what's your main/favorite amp?

My main amp for recording and electric gigs has been a Dr Z Maz-38. Clean but with a nice growl when it gets loud, and it's very round. One channel, class A, all tube, great reverb. Sounds nice and rich with a Fulltone Fulldrive or Tubescreamer, too.

Lately I've been doing acoustic duo-type gigs, so I've also been using a Carvin AG100D that I can sing through. Probably the most practical amp I've ever bought

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Visit http://www.zeyerband.com for music downloads, lyrics, news, and show dates

I've been doing a lot of lead work lately with a group of acoustic musicians, so I've been using a little Dinosaur (SG-100?) 1-channel practice amp I got on eBay. It's not bad, and power-wise, it's just about what I need. (It's also just about the *minimum* I need.)

The Dinosaur replaced an ancient Austin 2-channel tube amp which was about half the size (and which I still have). I stopped using the Austin because of a hum--but I think now the hum was coming from the old d'Armand pickup I have in the sound hole of my J-200. If I can get that fixed, I'll probably go back to using the Austin--it's got a lot more power.

Joe

for my solo acoustic gigs, i always go direct into the board - i use a bellari tube pre-amp to bake the sound a bit, but that's it.

in my band, where i play a lot of sloppy crazy horse and tom petty style lead guitar, i run use the bellari running into a solid state fender pro 125. fx wise, i use the spring reverb on the amp, a tremelo pedal, and the ever-present tubescreamer.

it is a very loud amp. almost too loud. i rarely have to push it past, say, 2.
and with the tube pre, it sounds warm enough and but retains enough clarity to cut through the rest of the band.


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kit malone
http://www.kitmalone.com

Everyone can now laugh at me now. I have a Vox Pathfinder, you know the little 15 watt solid state guy. I used to have a nice Pre-CBS Fender Showman head(stolen from me -sigh-). My how far I've fallen eh?

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http://www.geocities.com/veryvince/

When I started playing it was easy: you could have a good amp--a Fender--or you could have a piece of [naughty word removed]--anything else.

It's so complicated now, I don't know how you guys decide what to buy.

I would buy whichever one weighs the least.

I'm kinda with Truman..

My favorite amp is the one that lasts thru the gig and gets me paid..

My rider calls for Fender Twins as first preference..
Here at home I use a twin or a Blues Deville..the Deville has two twelves on board but sometimes I'll run it thru a fender 4 10 external cabinet.

I don't use any pedals or fx and I like the sound of the Fenders..
My guitars are generally strats or teles for single coil.and a couple of extremely old mahogany epi solid bodies with two humbuckers..both rigs work real well thru the fenders..

I've played alot of the boutique amps and have decided that they are generally terribly overpriced and the best ones sound like a nice old Fender..

The best sounding non Fenders in my opinion are vox ac 30s

Bob Young


[This message has been edited by bob young (edited 02-28-2004).]

>>I would buy whichever one weighs the least.

Heh, definitely. I got the little 1x12 Dr. Z when I got really sick of lugging a super all over the place.

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Visit http://www.zeyerband.com for music downloads, lyrics, news, and show dates

Acoustic gigs are either miked direct, pickup run direct or mic and pickup blended direct to the PA.
Electrically I run a Hot Rod deVille 212 & a little Crate GX15 practice amp.

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DakLander

I have two rigs.

One is a Groove Tubes Trio running through Soul-o 150 head. Then I'm using a GT 2x10 cab (of which I have two). No FX.

The other is a Mesa/Boogie TriAxis through a Groove Tubes Dual 75, same cabs as above. I use a BBE Sonic Maximizer with it. May pick up a G Force by TC Electronics for extra goodies, but not sure.

Both amps can get stupid loud, fortunately for me I don't love volume. So I can get great tone and keep it reasonable to the point where sound guys actually ask me to turn up.

Jody

Mike Mathews Dirt Road Special.

25 bucks, about 25 years ago. what a deal.

Recently re-soldered some connections and she's good as new. A little rocker.

For electric gigs I use a real basic Fender Hot Rod Deluxe. Plain and simple. Put the Strat straight through with no effects. I love it. At home I use my 1967 Guild Thunder 1. Not very many of those floating around. I bought it new for $ 149.00. That was a load of cash in 1967.

Chris Kane

[QUOTE]Originally posted by bob young:
My rider calls for Fender Twins as first preference..
[/qoute]

our rhythm guitarist/singer plays through one of these and i'm insanely jealous. it just sounds so much better than my pro.

i like my pro cuz it's solid state and reliable... i like tube sound, but if my tube pre blows a tube, i can always just take it out of the loop and at least i'm not dead in the water.

i gotta say though - i'm getting sick of loading them... both are heavy f-cking amps.

it's enough to make me switch to line6 pods for everything...



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kit malone
http://www.kitmalone.com

Yeah Kit...

The fender twin is the heaviest freakin' amp in the world.

When I was young and strong I was philosophical about the weight....
As I got older, wiser, and was making a few more bucks, I discovered that there were strong young guys who would, for a few bucks, move the suckers for me.

What a revelation !
What a wonderful country !

Bob (Oh, my achin' back) Young

I bought one back in about '68, and replaced the stock speakers with JBL's (what was I thinking?).

That amp weighed 800 pounds, easy.

.

Great thread

I have a jazzed up Fender Blues Jr and I love it. Plenty loud and really nice at low vols too. Has a Weber speaker and high-end tubes. Pretty light too, and a nice spring reverb. But playing acoustic through it is not the best.

The amp I really want now that my home studio is 95% complete is a Fender Twin Reverb. My Strat sounds awsome through that. Weighs alot but once its in my studio there it will stay.

Can someone suggest a good acoustic amp that won't break the bank?

Thanks
BLM

Truman....

A twin with JBLs.....

OH..The Humanity !!!!

What the hell were you thinking...

I did have one with Altec Lansings...remember those ?

Sounded good but not quite as heavy as JBLs..

then there was the Electro Voice SRO phase....even heaviesr than JBLs....

OOOOOOHHHHHHH makes my back hurt just thinking about it...

For years my amp setup had multiple twins.....had 3 for a while..then 5..
They sat on Dual Showman bottoms..
I had 'em daisy chained with electrovoice mic mixers..
Loud ?......yeah..... alittle
especially when you factor in the other amps in the setup...sometimes a marshall half stack and a Sunn model T..or whatever was handy...

Those were the days !!!!

Bob

10 years ago I traded in my old Fender amp for a Gallien-Krueger 2100CEL. Yes, it's a guitar amp, and I doubt they make them anymore. It looks more like a boombox, or a toy, but it cranked loud enough to play in a 7 peice bar band. It has a very directionally focused sound, so sound guys loved the isolation, but the other band members (the drummer, for example) had trouble hearing it. The only other time I've seen this amp was in Boston in 1990 when my band opened up for Reeves Gabrels (sp?) of Tin Machine. Honestly, he's the only guitarist I've ever seen with this amp, and I've never seen them in stores. If I needed a new amp, I'd consider the Fender Hot Rod Deluxe, but I'd want to hire someone to carry it for me.

I remember Gallien Kruegers..

They were metal boxes and so small that some guys actually mounted them on mike stands to get them up to ear level.

An early solid stae adventure !

Bob

I'm all acoustic, so Mackie 450 powered speaker for the bigger stuff, but... a couple months ago I got the tiny battery-powered Crate Limo. Love it. And great for the beach!





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http://brucegoldish.com

I play through a Peavey Classic 30 tube with matching single 12 speaker cabinet. I use an ART SGX T-2 processor in the effects loop for controlling delay and volume etc... This amp has proved versatile, practical, and easy on my back. Great for Harmonica too.

Guitars are G&L, Gibson, Westone, Washburn.

I have a great sounding little old Valco tube amp with an 8inch speaker and its matching Supro Comet Lap Steel. Kinda fun. The amp breaks up nicely. Found out recently that Clapton used Supro amps.

So many amps, so little time left. One of my favorites is the Peavey Mace. All natural 100% too loud.

Anybody interested in buying a 1965 Vox Super Beatle rig? The head and 2 4x12s.

Nice topic.

Kris Karr

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/8/everywednesdaymusic.htm
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/2/kriskarrmusic.htm

I play thru a Line 6 Axsys212. Gives me a broad range of tones for electric; and if I'm still lacking something, I'll further process the signal with an ENSONIQ DP/4+ or a variety of vintage foot pedals.

For acoustic instruments, I use a Fender Acoustisonic Junior, but more often than not, I plug directly into the PA (if it's a good system).

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Tom Tracy
www.soundclick.com/tomtracy

I've been using a 65 Blackface Deluxe Reverb re-issue for clubs. Lightweight and tonefully satisfying. I have my old standby original 57 4X10 Bassman that's been with me for twenty years. Sounds pretty good with a Telecaster plugged into it. Traded an old Italian Accordion for a 60's piggyback Silvertone 50 watt w/ 2X12'' Jensens that sounds real nice for Blues. Got a Fender Acoustasonic for plugging my Taylor into for acoustic gigs. It's a pretty much "what you play is what you hear" kind of rig. A solid state affair. My wife has pointed out that these "boxes" take up a fair share of room. Me thinks she has a point, but I'm not admitting anything!

Lately I've been blessed...my Harp player has a late 50's Bassman that he basically brings to every gig now...I've never sounded better in my whole life, considering bank robbery in order to buy it off him j/k!
Peace, Doc

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She walked up to me so gracefully, took my crown of thorns, Come in she said I'll give ya shelter from the storm

just wanted to note that i recently sold my old fender pro for a nice, all tube fender blues deluxe and i just couldn't be happier. the clean channel just shimmers and shines like nobody's business... and the drive channel in conjunction with my tubescreamer just sustains all the way out to the horizon.

thanks fender!


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kit malone
http://www.kitmalone.com

[This message has been edited by kit (edited 07-09-2004).]

I am using a Peavey Ecoustic 112 for my Martin and Taylor for live stuff...
and a Mesa Boogie Nomad 55 for the Les Paul, Sheraton and Variax...I play the Sheraton through the Peavey sometimes too...

And the Boogie is heavy as hell too...

Acoustically - solo - I just plug my Taylors and Guilds into a Baggs PADI and then the PA (usually my Carvin PA1200 set-up).

Acoustically - trio - I plug into (don't laugh!) a Kustom KAA-65 and use it as a "guitar monitor", running the line-out into the PA.

Electrically - I run my Teles into a Crate "Tube-driven 30", a hybrid (Tube-preamp/SS power) amp that's about the size of a big lunch box and gives me all the volume I care for...and then some!

"Compact" works for my tired ol' back!

I have 3 Fenders. I use the Acousticsonic right now for my work. I used to carry that, a long heavy extension chord on a plastic wheel, my guitar, my music books AND my water, all at the same time. No wonder I have carpal tunnel syndrome, LOL. Now I put it on a cart and roll the thing around. Old age brings wisdom.

I have two rigs:

Current Live setup:
Line 6 POD Pro (with cab simulation turned off)to a Roctron Hush, run into a Peavey Classic 50/50 tube power amp to Marshall cab(s).

Recording: I use a Marshall Plexi 100w head into various Marshall cabs (I use the SIB Varidrive to drive the Marshall) as well as various other vintage pedals

Shred


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http://www.secondtakeband.com/

I use a Plexi 50 watt Marshall, 1969 and love it. Also have a crate G40C. I run a digitech RP3 with the marshall and Bob, it is also to damm heavy.
Dan

I just bought a Peavey Mace 160W 2x12 tube amp for $65 on a moving sale. I know nothing about the amp other than that it's really heavy and it's really loud. Can anyone tell me anything about this amp? Anything at all? I'm also looking for the 4 button footswitch to go with this amp. Thanks.

The Bob

Hey "The Bob", Check this out:

http://www.peavey.com/support/searchmanuals/results.cfm?searchstring=mace

Yamaha DG100 2x12"
Superb for a solid state...
Use it with a MESA V-Twin, always get nice compliments about the sound of it

I used a Peavey Mace for many years. It was a good-sounding, dead-solid reliable amp that I would recommend to anyone. However, it was heavy as hell and I would not haul that mother around now for anything.

[This message has been edited by TrumanCoyote (edited 11-26-2004).]

I got this one for stage:
Peavey Transtube Bandit 112 Guitar Combo Amplifier (80 Watts, 1x12 in.)

I like it and it works good with my
Main-Telecaster.
And...yes....of course, it's not very heavy.
From time to time when it's a job without
miking the amp but it's a bigger club or
anywhere outside I additionally use a 1 12"
Marshall box - which I own for many years
now.

Hey,
Old thread I know. I had an Ampeg b-15 portaflex. I hung a 15-jbl in there and had a master volume installed. Even though it was a bass amp, it kicked out loud. I played a 72 Tele deluxe through it, so it kinda tempered the brightness with that bass circuitry.

I have read about these amp simulators ( are they line6 ) it seems like you only need one amp and it can sound like anything you want. What are the more experienced guys opinions of these?

Just about everyone puts amp and speaker modeling in their amps these days. Line 6 is just one of many companies that offer this feature.

The one I use all the time is a 1965 fender princeton reverb. A friend gave it to me. I had to put a speaker in and clean the pots. Someone cut it out to fit a 12". Bought a 12" 50w Jenson for it and a full compliment of tubes, 6v6 powered. I don't know anything about replacing Capacitors, but they probably need replacing. Still sound sweet.
For recording and emulation I also have a J-station (out of production) and POD.
And a solid state Yamaha 112.

The fender is what make me smile.

Don

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http://www.soundclick.com/bands/8/xackleymusic.htm

Dude, That sound like a monster combo. I don't think you need to replace caps. They don't wear out. You can upgrade caps, but you might end up altering the sound of some good solid hardware.

Electric gigs - Crate "Tube-driven 30"...a 30w RMS hybrid (tube pre-amp/SS power amp) with a 10" Celestion...this little thing goes from Fender clean to OMG overdriven and weigh about 20#. For my needs, it's perfect!

Acoustic gigs w/ my trio - Genz-Benz 25w RMS "Transamp"...surprisingly good sounding little amp, that I use as a guitar monitor, running the line-out into my PA system.

Acoustic solo gigs - direct into my PA.

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"Legalize Freedom!"

Thought for the day: To be loved deeply gives one strength; to love another deeply gives one courage - Lao Tzu

Hi folks.

I've been using a Mesa/Boogie Mark IV for a long time now and aside from the fact that it waighs a ton and a half, I love the multitude of great tones I get out of it.

I see there's a lot of Fender fans here and I must admit I am becoming more attracted to Fenders over time.
I had the opportunity to play through a '59 Bassman during a gig recently and it almost made me want to trade in my Boogie, but I don't think I could ever do that.

Dude,
Mesa rocks,
You get tired of that thang, send it to me!Yousa!

With Korg/Marshall as community partners, it's likely I can get any amp rig that Marshall or Vox makes. I'm not a guitar player, but I wanted to get a cool set up to take on the road for Roadtrips for our member showcases. (I already take a Korg Triton Studio with me that was donated). What model(s) of Marshall or Vox would you suggest as the most versatile/flexible for use with a lot of different players at a JPF showcase where we might have 30 different people using it?

Brian

Try the links below. The AC30 is a classic. It's a good-sounding amp with few frills, and has been in production since the 60's. The AD60 might better fulfill your demands for versatility because it has a full compliment of digital amp models and a full-featured digital efx section. Both are small, portable, self-contained amps. If you are going to be using it to amplify acoustic guitars, I'd guess the AD60 is the better choice.


http://www.voxamps.co.uk/products/valvetronix/ad60vt.htm

http://www.voxamps.co.uk/products/ac30/ac30hw.htm

Now this is an investment I'm nervous to make so I need suggestions. I'm planning on replacing my current ghetto rig (all the [naughty word removed] I've acquired over the years as far as equipment) with:

Marshall EL 34 or 84 tube power amp

Orange Cabinet (either 2x12 or 4x12, either comes with Celestions)

either the Line 6 PodXT Live or the Boss GT-8

as you can see these are pricy items so i need a little insight before diving in, but at this point it's my dream boat

I need footswitchable clean/dirty channels, because of the way that I play.

And I love my amp:
Peavy Delta Blues
One 15" speaker
30 (maybe 35) watts, but it is PLENTY loud.

It's got a gorgeous clean sound, a nice range of overdriven sounds, and excellent reverb.

My only complaint is that the built-in Tremolo effect is really touchy, and I find it touch to get usable sounds with it. But I rarely use it anyway.

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Hop On Pop, the band

I'm a big fan of the Fender Hot Rod. The DeVille is good, as well. I still think the Marshalls are great. I don't think there's another amp out there with the same growl. Unfortunately, the good ones aren't cheap. I've also used some of the Spider Line 6s. It's not a bad amp, but I still prefer tube amps.

I use a Peavey Mace 320T gutiar head (160 watts) with a 6 ten inch speaker cab. I can't find any information on it, except that I think it was made in 1971, and it is in great shape. The only thing is that I dont have the footswitch pedal, and I dont knwo if I can just use any peavey pedal for it.(6 pin DIN plug)

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XCUDEYX

What a great topic. Due to budget limitations I played my Les Paul for years through a Sony Reel to Reel tape deck with "sound on sound" for the echo and that into my home stereo. Good enough for playing in the room. Then I needed a live amp and the salesman at my local music store sold me a Randall Switchmaster in the early 80's. Wow, when I think of all the great used tube amps I could have bought back then for much less money I kick myself in the butt for listening to a salesman.

Twenty years later I decided to put together a decent rig, still on a budget though so everything is used. Sure I wanted a Fender Super Reverb but I still don't have that kind off money so I've picked up several modeling preamps (Behringer, Digitech). I use them with other rack effects (BBE maximizer, Lexicon Reverb) into the effects "return" jack of a Peavey Triumph 60. The amp has two 6L6GC's and the clean channel sounded awesome so I figured it would make a great power amp and it does! These triumphs are selling for around $150-350. They also made a 120 watt version. They make awesome power amps if you want to use an amp modeler or preamp.

Also recently I picked up a used Ampeg V4 with the original Sylvania 7027 tubes in it. Shiiiiiiiiiit! F-ing loud man. This is the real deal in tube tone and the spring reverb can sound like you're in a cavern.

I got kind of hooked on Peavey tube amps because they're so cheap and the clean channels sound just fabulous. I found an old Deuce (peavey's early answer to the Fender Twin) for $139. It has two scorpion 12" speakers and kind of a sucky solid state preamp but has 4 - 6L6GC's in the output stage and an effects loop so, you guessed it, you can use it as a 120 watt tube power amp! I also picked up a Peavey Heritage VTX which is a later kind of Deuce with a much better solid state preamp, the tried and true 4 - 6L6GC tube power amp and two Scorpion speakers. This one is fabulous. I'm using a digitech RP-200 multi-effects pedal into the low input and it sounds awesome. When I think that I got the Heritage and the Digitech for under $250 (used of course) I just break out into laughter everytime I play it.

Try to go to music stores and plug into as many kinds of amps as possible before you settle for anything. Don't let a pushy salesman make up your mind for you. Tell him you're just listening for now and that you make it a habit never to carry credit cards or cash before you've decided what you want. Don't rule out being creative like using certain amps just for their power amp sections and others just for the preamp. If an amp has an effects loop then you've instantly got the flexibiilty to cut out it's preamp section (by plugging into only the return jack and not using the send jack) or it's power amp section (by doing the reverse). If you can get an old ('65-'70) Fender Super Reverb amp cheap, buy it! They're probably one of the best sounding guitar combos ever made. In addition to the great circuitry back then they used real wood - solid pine - not partical board to make the cabinets. Have fun!

I just bought my first new guitar amp in a long, long time. I had just a few criteria for making my choice: it could not be too big or heavy; it had to be loud enough to do typical club gigs and small hall gigs; it had to have a good clean sound (I seldom use distortion), and it had to be economical ($3-500) because I just don't gig often enough to justify an expensive amp.

I auditioned a buttload of amps, and decided on a Line 6 Flextone. I'm loving it, although I am not using even 5% of the features on it. As I said, I just want a good clean sound with presence and a little reverb. The Flex fills the bill. It is WAY lighter than any tube amp. It is small enough to carry with one hand and toss in the back seat of the car. It is more than loud enough, and I like the sound as much as any amp I played (more than most). And I paid a shade under $400 for it.

I know a lot of guys have scorn for solid state amps, but I have had success with them, starting with an Acoustic amp back in the 70's.

The amp models available on the Flextone are amazing, but I really don't use a variety of them. I just found a model of a Fender Bassman, tweaked it up to satisfy my ears, and I'm ready to go.

After all these years, I still love to move air with a Strat and a nice amp.