Ultimate Versatile Amp Recommendation (along with some controversy)

KareemMonzer

Hey guys,

I recently made a thread about what type of amplifier I should get, and I've received a tremendous amount of recommendations that got me into a 2 month period of trying out as many amps as I could. To restate, this decision is very difficult for me because I like to play a very wide range of genres; this includes material like Metallica, Iron Maiden, Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, Pink Floyd and even a considerable amount of John Mayer. It's been very difficult to get an amp that can do all of those tones effectively. I like to use a lot of pedals, so I'm not too worried about the particular gain an amp can achieve as I can get most of it from my pedals. My budget is £650 ($850), and the most popular recommendations I've received are:

Orange Rocker 15

Fender Bassbreaker 15C

Marshall DSL40C/15C

Marshall 2525C Mini Jubilee

Now the tricky part, I currently own the particularly horrible Marshall MG15CFR; and I've been using solid state amps since I started playing guitar. This might sound a little crazy to some of you, but ever since trying out a variety of tube amps, I've realized how good the clean channel is in my amp. I've tried all of the amps mentioned above, excluding the Mini Jubilee, and found that I really really didn't like their clean sounds. The Orange was particularly disappointing because while I LOVED its dirty channel, its "natural" channel was hardly clean and had a lot of break-up. The DSL40C was probably the nicest of the ones I've tried above, and if I do get it, I would change the speaker; however, the cleans still aren't as good as my Marshall's cleans. Do solid state amps have better cleans than tube amps? Or, since I've only owned solid-state amps, is my entire philosophy about what a clean channel should sound like completely incorrect? You can hear the Marshall MG15CFR clean channel in this video:

Having a good clean channel is very important since I like to play a lot of John Mayer. I play with Fender Stratocaster American Deluxe HSS. 

If you could tell me why I'm not liking the clean sounds on these amps or have any recommendations that'd be great. I'd really appreciate your help guys. 

sw67

I would also consider a Line 6 helix. I have a couple of amps and a good pedal board but can get good results using the helix and Michael Britt presets. I like the fender / vox tones but use marshall sounds live

KareemMonzer

sw67 said:

I would also consider a Line 6 helix. I have a couple of amps and a good pedal board but can get good results using the helix and Michael Britt presets. I like the fender / vox tones but use marshall sounds live

Yeah I've heard a lot about the Helix; however, I am looking for a tube amp to use with my pedalboard. Do you know any?

sw67

I use a MJW Roadstar with power scaling. They pop up on here from time to time within your budget. This is mine ( martin playing )          

gordiji

I had the older dsl40 combo for a while but my engl screamer is miles better, it won't do edge of break up very well however. The clean, crunch & higher gain are all v.good for the price & i've had no reliability issues in 8 years. I've not tried the newer dsl 40 which looked like a good deal recently though.  

djspecialist

sw67 said:

I use a MJW Roadstar with power scaling. They pop up on here from time to time within your budget. This is mine ( martin playing )          

@monquixote has one for sale.

ICBM

KareemMonzer said:

Hey guys,

I recently made a thread about what type of amplifier I should get, and I've received a tremendous amount of recommendations that got me into a 2 month period of trying out as many amps as I could. To restate, this decision is very difficult for me because I like to play a very wide range of genres; this includes material like Metallica, Iron Maiden, Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, Pink Floyd and even a considerable amount of John Mayer. It's been very difficult to get an amp that can do all of those tones effectively. I like to use a lot of pedals, so I'm not too worried about the particular gain an amp can achieve as I can get most of it from my pedals. My budget is £650 ($850), and the most popular recommendations I've received are:

Orange Rocker 15

Fender Bassbreaker 15C

Marshall DSL40C/15C

Marshall 2525C Mini Jubilee

Now the tricky part, I currently own the particularly horrible Marshall MG15CFR; and I've been using solid state amps since I started playing guitar. This might sound a little crazy to some of you, but ever since trying out a variety of tube amps, I've realized how good the clean channel is in my amp. I've tried all of the amps mentioned above, excluding the Mini Jubilee, and found that I really really didn't like their clean sounds. The Orange was particularly disappointing because while I LOVED its dirty channel, its "natural" channel was hardly clean and had a lot of break-up. The DSL40C was probably the nicest of the ones I've tried above, and if I do get it, I would change the speaker; however, the cleans still aren't as good as my Marshall's cleans. Do solid state amps have better cleans than tube amps? Or, since I've only owned solid-state amps, is my entire philosophy about what a clean channel should sound like completely incorrect? You can hear the Marshall MG15CFR clean channel in this video:

Having a good clean channel is very important since I like to play a lot of John Mayer. I play with Fender Stratocaster American Deluxe HSS. 

If you could tell me why I'm not liking the clean sounds on these amps or have any recommendations that'd be great. I'd really appreciate your help guys. 

Trust your ears. If you prefer solid-state clean sounds - perhaps because they're closer to Fender (Blackface) clean sounds, that isn't wrong. (The Bassbreaker isn't a typical Fender.)

The DSL40C with a better speaker would get the closest out of the options you've listed - the stock speaker is poor, and it makes a big difference.

monquixote

djspecialist said:

sw67 said:

I use a MJW Roadstar with power scaling. They pop up on here from time to time within your budget. This is mine ( martin playing )          

@monquixote has one for sale.

Had. It's just sold.

olafgarten

Dawsons are selling the Fender Blues Deluxe for £600 right now. I think that might be closer to what you want. 

Stevepage

Laney VC50 should cover what you want. Would need an overdrive pedal to help with the really heavy tones but the rest could be covered easily. You can easily find them between £200 and £300

TTBZ

I love my 2525C but never really play clean - mine lives on the lead channel and I just roll down my guitar volume to clean up which sounds way nicer to me anyway. The clean channel on the jube can sound good but it's not really a great channel switcher imo - better to pick one channel and run with it! 

If I were you I'd wait til NAMM 2018 and look out for Marshall

KareemMonzer

TTBZ said:

I love my 2525C but never really play clean - mine lives on the lead channel and I just roll down my guitar volume to clean up which sounds way nicer to me anyway. The clean channel on the jube can sound good but it's not really a great channel switcher imo - better to pick one channel and run with it! 

If I were you I'd wait til NAMM 2018 and look out for Marshall

To be honest thats what I'm considering. Do you know any rumours or news about Marshall releasing anything new?

HAL9000

Two solid states for your consideration...

Roland Jazz Chorus - Brilliant cleans, then use pedals for the gain sounds.

Orange CR60C - (I’m a bit biased as I’ve got one.) Clean channel goes from clean to mild crunch, and dirty channel takes over from where the clean leaves off and goes to more gain than most people will ever need.

TTBZ

KareemMonzer said:

TTBZ said:

I love my 2525C but never really play clean - mine lives on the lead channel and I just roll down my guitar volume to clean up which sounds way nicer to me anyway. The clean channel on the jube can sound good but it's not really a great channel switcher imo - better to pick one channel and run with it! 

If I were you I'd wait til NAMM 2018 and look out for Marshall

To be honest thats what I'm considering. Do you know any rumours or news about Marshall releasing anything new?

I work at Marshall so I can't really say anything specific but it's worth waiting to see if we have anything that will work for you - I think we will.

Hush

H & K GM36 Swiss army knife like amp, worth a look at on the 2nd hand market. Great amp mine has served me well.

grungebob

Despite my initial irritations with the amp I think you should try the Boss Katana.  The cleans can sound just as you like them or you can dial in some nice grit. It handles pedals well too and is well under your budget. 

Rowby1

Egnater Tweaker 15. Nice versatile little amp and well under your budget.

mburekenge

Rowby1 said:l

Egnater Tweaker 15. Nice versatile little amp and well under your budget.


I hated my egnator. Millions of features that looked good on paper but were crappy in use. Swapped for a dual terror that only did two things, but  did them well

KareemMonzer

Hey guys,

So I'm not sure if any of have gotten the chance to see/hear the newly released PRS MT15 head. It does both cleans and gains exactly as I want them to sound and I think I'll be going for it! The issue now is finding a suitable cabinet. PRS are also releasing a signature cabinet to compliment the head, however I'd rather get a solid cabinet that'll last me as long as possible and be suitable any amps i'd get in the future. 

Firstly, for bedroom levels, is it still more advantageous to get a 2x12 instead of a 1x12? Also what cabs would you guys recommend? I hear that Mesa does excellent cabs, but their cheapest cab costs more than the amp and is a bit too much. Are they that much better than say, Orange? I heard Orange have great cabs, but they are apparently quite mid-heavy.

I'd really appreciate advice on this guys!

matt.drink73

I'd recommend checking out a fender supersonic head which are also crazy versatile, but I've heard very good things about PRS too.
 As for cabs I personally think the jump from a 1x12 to a 2x12 is massive in terms of projection and being able to compete on a stage and generally they don't sound anywhere near as boxey as a 1x12. I'd definitely check out a zilla fatboy which is made to sound more like a 4x12 than a 2x12 and obviously depending on speakers can vary massively. I have a V30 and a G12H30 in mine and its sounds massive, the best build quality I've seen and not crazy heavy. Orange make some decent cabs too but I'd avoid the open back ones as I've always found them a bit meh.