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

In the studio I have a 1967 Vox Berk 3 head with a Buckingham cabinet 2 12" bulldog spks. Vox AC 30, A 1972 Fender Twin, A Marshall JCM 800 early 1980's 100 watts WOW! is it loud. A Pod Line 6 rack for direct, and Bass Pod and Ampeg SVT for my bass.

And Live uh! wait a minute I never leave the studio

Peace Sub

http://tinyurl.com/bykv5

For the last 3 years (since I sold my Rivera 55-112) I've been lugging around a '65 Pro Reverb with a 15" Jensen. I want to replace it, not because it doesn't sound wonderful, but it's 40YEARSOLD and I'm afraid of losing the ability to get THAT sound. I run a Strat, a Tele, and Washburn hollow body.
Has anybody spent any time with the Randall MTS? It looks like a good idea, but I don't know how well it will work in real life.

I must say I've become very partial to the Mesa Boogie series. I just picked up a Mesa Boogie Nomad 55. I think it's just as good as a Marshall, and I think it's more versatile. I've heard good things about the other models like the lonestar and rectifier.

i've got a crate vintage club amp, which has since been discontinued, then revamped with a multi-effects processor (why you'd want a vintage-sounding tube amp to have amp modeling and compression controls is beyond me). anyway, the new one was a disappointment when i checked it out in the store, but mine is amazing, with two channels, 30 watts, four el34 tubes,and reverb, it'll play anything from country and blues to van halen and queen. for you scooped-mids lovers, this amp would bore you to tears; if you love a lot of full, warm, tube tone, can't beat the price.
steve

TO:VDICSON,rohythe,kit,Very Vince,TRUMAN COYOTE,Bob Young,Darklander,Whitesides,Mike Choder,Bluzilla,PULLTHE PLUG,Matt,and all:WARNING:Never go into a DI,a direct box.You are finished.I use a wide varity of amps that give me versatility.As a session guitarist,producer,arranger,I can never anticipate what I am going to record for X Artist,unless I am their producer/arranger.If you play in one genre all is cool,but if you play or record in multiple genres,you won't know what amp to bring,or have your cartage service deliver it for you unless the arranger/producer tells you the night before.Bob the twin reverbs were the amps that Randall Smith of mesaboogie started altering way back in 1976 in his garage in 'LA QUENITAS,CA?(Not sure of the spelling) I got my first endorsement from Randall,and recieved the Mark 11,and wow it sounded great on sessions for everything.But it outweighed the twin reverb.I still have it,and a mesaboogie heartbreaker in red leather.It is a great amp,both musically,but it has weight,and spectacular sound.You need a cartage service,roadies,or friends to help,but the amp kills'for solos,backup,and is sweet enough for acoustic,or jazz guitar.It has 6 El34's,6GL6's ,and 12 ax7's.It's in mint condition with two 12 inch celestian greenbacks.If anyone would like to buy it from me ,email me.Rocktron makes great amps as well.They are a part of GHS Strings,and I am an endorsee.No tubes ,for the Repliatone amp,but it sounds like my mark11,and has 24 bit digital effects,that sound real,not like other amps,and work via a midi pedal.The Repliatone has built in hush tone.The Hush tone works like a volume pedal.PLay,and you have sound.Stop playing,the amp is silent.No 60 cycle hum,nothing.It sounds as if the amp is turned off.I have other amps from Roctron,and I will save that for another time.They have tubes.I am also an endorsee for all KORG products.Korg manufactures Quality merchandise,as well as Marshall amps.All studios in NYC,have a Marshall amp waiting there for you.KORG/MARSHALL are great people.Tech21nyc is a great amp.The standard 60 is wonderful,and xlr's,(The whole amp) into the board,as well as gets miked.It is light as a feather.The first time I used the amp,the recording engineer ran out of the control room just to see what he was hearing.He was blown away by this amp.Tech21 makes the Bronzwood just for acoustic guitars,mandolins,violins etc.Again xlr's into the mixing board-the whole amp.Light again.The tech ten,has replaced my pod,and other devices for sitting in the control room,and recording solos.It's ultra light.Look, my melody,and solo on "ANGEL","TWILIGHT""DOES IT EVER RAIN IN "HEAVEN"were recorded with my mesaboogie heartbreaker,delivered to the studio by my cartage service in an anvil case,with digital modules from Roctron.Nothing beats tubes.The rest of my cd used the Repliatone,Tech Standard 60,and Bronzwood for smooth jazz,but the funky sections were mesaboogie heartbreaker.I was lucky to get them because of my Grammy's.Mesaboogie now is very corporate,and makes amps that look like refrigerators.My son Joe D'Amico,part of "40 below summer",signed to Warner, uses an endorsed Paul Rivera head,and Marshall stacks with hush,and my son LOVES Marshall Amps,as well as I do.(Marshall amps,by their very nature were meant for the British sound with overdrive or distortion,not clean sound)But he has roadies,and is ultra loud for Alternative Rock,and studies(while on the road) with me "on line".Again,if you are looking to be a sucess in the music world,and looking for great sound,you need a tube amp,otherwise you get mush.Please post back your feelings.I am open to all syles,not just one,and I hope this helped. ,Sincerly,Carmine D'Amico http://www.carminedamico.com choose Gallery,Music,and billboard.



[This message has been edited by studiojazzrockguitar (edited 08-03-2005).]

Right now I am playing on an old Harmony tube amp. I play on anything I can.
I would like to be an inventer of amps, like the guitarist of Boston is.
Although I am not adeph in my playing or the latest gear, my pet peave is trying to create a unique sound out of anything.
I would have to say my favorite amp, or whatever serves for that, is something I threw together.
Not that that would make record agents pull out their pens.

Matt

Matt,Tom Scholz,guitarist in the band "BOSTON" created the small portable amp"The ROCKMAN.Tom was A MIT Gradutate.You are only as good as your sound.Save up,and get a better amp,or invent one.Don't lose faith,and never give up on yourself.My first guitar,and amp were made by Harmony.Sincerly,Carmine D'Amico http://www.carminedamico.com choose Music,Gallery,and billboard.

Anyone want to talk to me about my post?Sincerly,Carmine D'Amico http://www.carminedamico.com Gallery,Music,and rolling billboard.

Your resume speaks for itself, sir. I agree Rocktron makes a very good amplifier. I've never had much luck with the Mesa Boogie stuff, but I know quite a few players who swear by them. Over the years, I've been pretty consistent with Fenders. I replaced my non-master volume twin (ouch, my back)with the Rivera and lugged that around for a LONG time, and many miles of road wear. It was a bit grainy in the midrange, which I always attributed to the EL34's. I would like to hear the Quiana, which is using 6L6's. I agree carrying gear around inspires most of my amplifier changes. The Pro Reverb, that I am playing now, was mostly purchased for at home use, but after a couple of sessions where it outshined everything in the room, it became my main amp. In my travels, I've played through boutique amps from Victoria, Bogner, Dumble, Two-Rock, etc. and through the usual suspects like Fender, Marshall, Peavey, Crate, Gibson, and even a Line 6. The only Marshall I ever liked was a Super Lead half stack in St. Petersburg, Russia. For some reason, (European voltage, 50 cycle ground?) it sounded real clean and full with my Stratocaster without the usual midrange tunnel effect you experience in Marshalls here in the states. To me, the best current amp model I've had opportunity to play through is still the Fender VibroKing. Touch sensitive, dynamic, very musical, but pricey. A little out of the range of a road dog like myself. In the meantime, I'm still hunting for something to sub for my Pro when I can't be "extra careful" with it.

BLUZILLA,Thanks for getting back to me.I started using twin reverbs,(the originals)but they were lacking in the tonal spectrum,for warm sound,or they were too brite.Lot's of high end,very little mids,and bottom. for anything but Rock.Today Fender seems to be cranking out ok amps,but not like the old versions.I met Randall Smith back in 1976,and at that point in time,he was easy to get on the phone.My first mesaboogie needed a repair right in the middle of a recording session.I called Randall.He directed me to a repair shop near the studio.He told the tech what to do,paid him himself,and also paid the producer for my time away from the studio .That was incredible.The heartbeaker he made for me is special.It has everything,except roadies.I use a cartage service,and they deliver the amp to the studio,and set it up.It's great,and has anything I want except effects.I was sitting in front of it,and the amp was on full,and no sound,hum,or anything.I love my Roctrons,Techs.They are all so different tonally ,with or without tubes.I prefer the 6L6'S vs the EL34'S,but on the heartbreaker ,you can blend them together to get a great sound.Botique amps never grabed my attention.They Look great, sound OK,but not Great.Maybe I am not getting from them what I need.What I need varies from whatever I am recording that day.It's almost like Doctors on call.You don't know what's happenning until you get there.Post me back on 50 cycle ground,WOW.what's that like?After Leo Fender sold Fender it seemed the new Fender Instruments,and amps became a assembly line products,with the exception of The Fender Custom Shop.Leo lived to be 98.It surely must have hurt to start G&L guitars,after his Broadcaster,and early strats,and tele's.How do you dudes feel about that statement.I would love to hear back from all of you.Bluzilla,I am still amazed at 50 CYCLE ground,Sincerly,Carmine D'Amico http://www.carminedamico.com Gallery,Music,and billboard.

[This message has been edited by studiojazzrockguitar (edited 08-05-2005).]

In addition to the voltage being different in Europe, the ground runs at 50 cycles, thereby eliminating the annoying single coil hum wired in at 60 cycles due to American voltage. (I thought it was just the voltage, the ground current was suggested to me by Bruce Egnater as being an additional variable in why the Marshall sounded so different.) I was playing with Lil' Ed and the Blues Imperials on a 6 week tour and Lil' Ed still talks about how clean that Marshall was. Impressed all of us. Obviously, when you don't know what's going to be expected of you, versatility is the key (part of why I've been looking into the Egnater designed MTS series, a dozen or so different tube preamps to plug in) And I agree about the newer Fenders not capturing the character of the originals. They're like good imitations, close but not quite the original (notice, I play a pre-CBS Pro Reverb)

MY NAME?,Matt,Email me about an amp,at carmine@carminedamico.com and let's talk,Sincerly,Carmine D'Amico http://www.carminedamico.com Gallery,Music,Billboard.

[This message has been edited by studiojazzrockguitar (edited 08-05-2005).]

I emailed you, Carmine.
I hope it got through.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Matt

Matt did you use carmine@carminedamico.com I have not recieved it,Sincerly,Carmine D'Amico http://www.carminedamico.com new clips at Music,Gallery,and rolling Billboard.

My darn ISP has not been sending out my email from my start page.
I noticed a box on your site to contact you.
I will do so.
I also have an account at Yahoo!
I can receive but I can not send from my start page. But I discovered I can send mail at Yahoo!

My home email is at mattnanx@earthlink.net. At Yahoo! it is bnsnmtthw@yahoo.com.

Thank you.

Matt

Problem with my servers solved.
You should have received that email by now Carmine.

Hope to be talking to you and thanks.

Matt

My Name?,Matt,I answered your email,and left my phone# to speak to you live,Sincerly,Carmine D'Amico http://www.carminedamico.com new clips at Music,Gallery,and rolling billboard.

My Name?,Matt,did you get my email ?Email me carmine@carminedamico.com your phone#,as I did mine,and I will call later tonight.Not late.I am in NY,Sincerly,Carmine D'Amico http://www.carminedamico.com Music(new clips),Gallery,and rolling billboard.

My name?,Matt ,Got your email,email me a time to talk -let's speak live tommorrow,Sincerly,Carmine D'Amico http://www.carminedamico.com Music(new clips),Gallery,and billboard.

My name?Matt,email me,Sincerly,Carmine D'Amico http://www.carminedamico.com Music(new clips),Gallery,and running billboard.

Carmine:

I sent an email.
I also added my phone number.

Hope to talk to you really soon.

Matt

Just picked up one of Andy Fuchs amp heads, the " Lucky Seven " Seven watts, and you could gig with it with a live drummer!

Chimey, shimmerey, crisp cleans, raunchy, balls out, Marshall through AC30TB overdrive sounds, and everything in between. I LOVE this amp!

Rob

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I used to be indecisive, now I'm not sure... My Songs

This is not my own experience, but it might be interesting to guitarists. I have a good friend who is a real gear junkie. He has owned everything at one time or another. His latest flings have been with a Fender DeVille and a couple different Ashtons, which he loves.

Recently, he got a Line 6 Vetta. He is blown away by the thing. One of his favorite amps is a Vox AC-30, and he swears the Vetta cops the AC perfectly. To impress a sceptic, who swore he would instantly know the difference, my buddy set up a blindfold test. The set up was Fender, an AC-30, a Marshall half-stack, a Mesa and the Vetta. The doubter did not even come CLOSE to being able to identify the real amp versus the Vetta models.

I have never heard it myself, so take this with a grain of salt. I offer this info only for the curious.

Myself, I have a Line 6 Flextone II. I love the size, the weight and the wide tone choices. I do not think it outperforms ANY of the amps it is modelling, but it is close enogh for rock and roll, and the flexibility is awesome. It is perfect for playing a variety of styles.

I want to believe in the modeled amps badly! The idea of "instant tone" from a little black box appeals to me greatly. Not having to spend time setting up mic's, which are expensive, as well as the "pres" that they go into, not futzing around with the mic placement, to achieve the sound that works for a specific song, so on and so on, etc., etc, not to mention the restrictions of loud guitars disturbing others, tube maintanence, etc., etc.

But the truth is, to my ears anyway, is that what sounded "rich" and "detailed" when soloed, washes out and becomes two demensional in a mix. I have spent thousands of dollars on modeling hardware and software, and will probably continue to chase that "holy grail", but it's not there yet, IMHO!

I want to believe BADLY!

Rob

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I used to be indecisive, now I'm not sure... My Songs

For the last few months I've been using my Blues Deville and leaving the twin at home.

The DeVille is about 40 tube watts into two 12s and it handles everything quite nicely.

My mini humbucker Epi and my stock strat and tele all like miss DeVille very much, thank you.

If these were the old days I'd probably daisy chain four of them...but...at my age..one will suffice !

Bob (not so friggin') Young

Before I bought the Flextone, I auditioned (at Bob Young's suggestion) a Fender Deville. It is a great amp. It is not as multi-dimensional as the Flex, but it is great at what it does. For me, the deciding factor was size and weight, cuz I ain't so young, either.

This will probably make a lot of players gag, but I am a firm believer that the music comes from the player and not the equipment. I do NOT obsess over nuances of tone. Give me a pro amp and a pro guitar, and decent strings, and I will get what I want. And it does not matter a whit to the audience, who are happily ignorant about the whole issue.

Carl Perkins plugged a guitar into an amp...and played. That's all you need to know.

<Carl Perkins plugged a guitar into an amp...and played. That's all you need to know>

Well shoot, I wish somebody would have told me that along time ago, All this time wasted trying to hone my studio skills!

Rob

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I used to be indecisive, now I'm not sure... My Songs

Carl Perkins may have just plugged in and played, but Elmore James built his own amplifiers and Earl Hooker was constantly fiddling with his tone, speakers, pickups, amplifiers, strings, guitars, etc., and the search goes on...

wow! I rag on carl perkins and the whole conversation comes to a screaching halt. My point was, as a musician, you play as much for yourself as for the audience. You're right, the audience doesn't care if you play a pro guitar or amplifier or good strings. All they want is for you to play a song they like. You, as the guitarist, are seeking out that "tone." I've played at way too many shows to count and through way too many rigs to name. I can almost always get a workable sound, but nothing compares to playing through your own rig. That's why I was asking about suggestions for backing up my Pro Reverb. I finally have an amplifier that gives me the break up when I want it, but stays clean when I don't. It's bright without being piercing and has low end for days. The only drawback is there really aren't any more of them, and if anything ever happens to it I don't want to hang up my axe or suffer through a lesser tone for the remainder of my (hopefully many) playing days. Any suggestions out there?

peavey special 130... still kicking butt and peeling paint after all these years!
rock on,
chevy

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http://www.chevyford.com

No laughing here. The Vox sounds great. That speaker is better than a Celestion, from what I can tell. Anyway, it's not the amp that you have, it's how you play. Any expert knows that, so don't despair.

I use a Marshall 15 watt it small lightwieght and very fiesty especailly when you push the fuzz button. Sometimes I am asked to turn it down even when I play with a full band. If I need to I just mike it I have a real. nice mike that does the job. the Marshall sound is real nice with Fender guitars.

I know this has been a long running thread, however, I must chime in about a new amp. A fellow JPF'er Andy Karpinski, ex-Honeywell engineer, and tech genius modified my old Fender Bassman 20 combo to the specs of a Fender deluxe reverb, minus the reverb. He also made some of his own modifications to the design. Replaced the bass speaker with a 35 watt Emience Legend 12 inch. What a sound. 17 watts of tube that has every bit of the punch of a Marshall. It captures the vintage sound I've always wanted. I run it through a Digitech RP3 for effects. The bottom line is I can't keep my hands off this amp. I also have a 1969 Marshall 50 watt plexi. I like the Karp Classic better.
Dan

I have a Fender 65 Twin reverb reissue and just before Christmas bought a POD XT Live. I must say the combination is amazing for both live and studio work. The tubes in Twin make the POD sound great and I still retain the clean sound of the Twin.

For guitar, I have a number of amps that I've built that I use. The most used are:

1) My AK-40, which consists of a homemade cabinet covered with black vinyl, a Line 6 Pod Pro as the preamp, a 100W Bogen vacuum tube PA amp which I drastically rewired so that it is now very similar to a '65 Fender Super Reverb 40W power amp, but with EL-34s as output tubes (as used in Marshalls), driving a 12" speaker salvaged from an Ampeg Gemini II.

2) My AK-30, which is my most used amp. I started with a defunct Ampeg Gemini II amp, gutted it except for parts of the reverb circuitry (I always preferred the Ampeg reverbs), designed and built new electronics for it which is based mostly around an Vox AC30 Top Boost except a) it has one "Vox-like" channel that by switching one switch converts it either a Vox bright channel, Vox normal channel, or halfway in between (which makes it more like a '65 Fender Deluxe Reverb preamp), and has two selectable volume controls so I can overdrive the preamp or not with a footswitch without a volume increase, b) a custom designed channel built around a 7199 pentode tube, an unusual design (sounds great with my Gretsch Country Club and my 12 string Rick 330), c) a master volume control which, when turned up all the way is completely out of the circuit, d) power amp switchable between 15 and 30 W (usually use at 15W setting), and a custom designed (and probably patentable) distortion unit. I replaced the original speaker with a Celestion Vintage 30, though I have a Weber 30W Blue Dog on order to replace that. I still debating converting it to twin 12" speakers.

3) My AK-10, which is a custom designed and built 3 W Class A tube amp head that I can crank all the way up to get that natural tube distortion without blowing my eardrums. It can use either an EL84 (like in Vox amps) or a 6V6 or 6L6 (like in Fender amps) output tube. I use it with any of about 7 different speaker cabinets I have laying around (My half of a Shure Vocalmaster, with a 10" and two 7" speakers often sounds best.).


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Stone Marmot
retro pop-rock original music
www.stonemarmot.com
www.soundclick.com/stonemarmot.htm
www.myspace.com/stonemarmot

Fender Tele through a Fender Twin.

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bc