Which amp should I get for sounding awesome?

hywelg

Clean amp and pedals for the most part for me, but I am desperate  to try a Dr Z Antidote..

monquixote

If you are going pedals then the Shredmaster has been a revelation to me. 

p90fool

ICBM said:

p90fool said:

Get a big, non-master volume valve amp and a load of overdrive, distortion and fuzz pedals.

People don't get bored with their amps, they get bored with their PRE-amps. Shift it back outside the box and onto the floor where it belongs and you'll never change your amp again.

I agree up to a point, but the 'feel' of the main amp is still important, and they aren't all the same by a long way. I didn't realise how much I preferred valve-rectified amps until I started playing them - so you could still end up changing. Even the negative feedback makes a big difference.

Obviously a really good big non-master-volume amp with options like valve or solid-state rectifier, different power valve types, switchable negative feedback etc will come very close to being 'the last amp you'll ever need'.

Yeah I was sort of exaggerating to make a point really, and my own sizeable amp collection disproves my own argument to be honest.
My main stage amps do have presence controls and valve rectifiers though!

Bron_Yr_Aur

ICBM said:

Awesome = Mesa Trem-o-verb.

I think I'm going to have to find and try one of these now, because I keep hearing you rate them...

What's this all about @ICBM ? Too much electrickery speak for me I'm afraid. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Custom-Mesa-Tremoverb-HAND-WIRED-rebuild-by-Vyse-Amps-/111195340764?pt=UK_MusicalInstr_Amplifiers_RL&hash=item19e3c23fdc

ICBM

Bron_Yr_Aur said:

What's this all about @ICBM ? Too much electrickery speak for me I'm afraid. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Custom-Mesa-Tremoverb-HAND-WIRED-rebuild-by-Vyse-Amps-/111195340764?pt=UK_MusicalInstr_Amplifiers_RL&hash=item19e3c23fdc

Interesting, but odd - there's no way replacing even all 25 LDRs in the amp could possibly have made it more economical to rebuild it as something else.

I'd need to be convinced it could sound as good as a stock one either - not to mention probably losing some of the best features like the channel cloning (although it doesn't say - but that relies on the original switching matrix so I'm pretty sure it's gone).

Cirrus

Looks like it's a different amp that's been built inside the case of a Trem-o-verb. Might be cool in its own right, but it's not a trem-o-verb any more...

Bron_Yr_Aur

But surely point to point automatically sounds better than a PCB right?  :P

Thanks mate. I'll try and find a stock one somewhere to have a play through....

Cirrus

They're cool amps, I had one for a few months a year ago. I'm surprised the "tech" in that ebay description couldn't just replace the LDRs (a known issue on Tremoverbs of a certain vintage iirc). Sounds like he was hankering to build an amp to me.  /:)

John_P

I'm bound to vote for an EVH - I've been using some very nice pedals for my drive sounds for the last year or two but the feel from using amp distortion is different - it just feels more live and where I thought I had some great sound it's now feels and sounds better...

I'd still love a badcat/matchless setup (despite selling my cab) and the CAA PT amps look fantastic - either of those would give some great tones.

Dave_Mc

ICBM said:

(a) Obviously a really good big non-master-volume amp with options like valve or solid-state rectifier, different power valve types, switchable negative feedback etc will come very close to being 'the last amp you'll ever need'.

(b) Or you could just get that but with a truly great and very flexible preamp attached as well, as I mentioned earlier . (And I still use pedals with it .)

(a) Really? For a lot of modern (or even modern-ish) types of tone you really need a master volume coupled with a high gain preamp (in the amp, I mean), do you not? I never find pedals sound or feel anywhere near as good as even a half-decent high gain tube amp for those type of tones.

I have no clue about porcupine tree but i know mark tremonti uses high gain amps.

(b) LOL agreed.

I normally find the people who always say "pedals are the answer" play a different type of music from the people who aren't convinced they are

ICBM

Dave_Mc said:

(a) Really? For a lot of modern (or even modern-ish) types of tone you really need a master volume coupled with a high gain preamp (in the amp, I mean), do you not? I never find pedals sound or feel anywhere near as good as even a half-decent high gain tube amp for those type of tones.

(b) LOL agreed.

I normally find the people who always say "pedals are the answer" play a different type of music from the people who aren't convinced they are

Yes, totally agreed, I was just being funny . The first part was the set-up for the second .

It's like the "you can get a great Marshall sound with a pedal through a clean Fender amp" thing we've been through already .

PolarityMan

You know what i hate, is that everyone else can fuck with my tone. Like i finally get all my patches sounding balanced and reasonable..if not inspiring...then bass player puts his amp in a different place in the practice room and suddenly sounds like bollocks.

ICBM

PolarityMan said:

You know what i hate, is that everyone else can fuck with my tone. Like i finally get all my patches sounding balanced and reasonable..if not inspiring...then bass player puts his amp in a different place in the practice room and suddenly sounds like bollocks.

That sounds like you're not EQ'ing one or both amps right. (No offence intended… it might well be him!)

Ideally you want to EQ both of them so there is a clear frequency separation between the two and they don't try to fight over the same ones - this will make both amps more audible without getting into as much of a volume war, and it will make moving the bass amp much less important. Ideally you want the bass amp on the floor and the guitar amp up off it to start with, that will help even before you do anything else. (The same applies if you have more than one guitarist - use very different tones so you don't compete, unless you're actually playing twin-guitar parts.)

If you can mix a band using natural acoustics it will sound *way* better out front at a gig even before you have to try to mix using the desk. If you can get it right in the room it will make setting up and soundchecking far quicker and easier at the gig too. Just try to stick to what you've set and not change your settings because you don't like your own sound in isolation! Or worse, suddenly change your equipment without reference to the rest of the band...

Dave_Mc

ICBM said:

Dave_Mc said:

(a) Really? For a lot of modern (or even modern-ish) types of tone you really need a master volume coupled with a high gain preamp (in the amp, I mean), do you not? I never find pedals sound or feel anywhere near as good as even a half-decent high gain tube amp for those type of tones.

(b) LOL agreed.

I normally find the people who always say "pedals are the answer" play a different type of music from the people who aren't convinced they are

Yes, totally agreed, I was just being funny . The first part was the set-up for the second .

It's like the "you can get a great Marshall sound with a pedal through a clean Fender amp" thing we've been through already .

I was wondering if that's what you were doing )

ToneControl

gearaddict said:

I'm so sick of trying different amps. I buy amp after amp and fiddle with them endlessly and nevertheless there are nights (like tonight) when I plug in and think "Hm...that sounds shit in a different way from any way it has sounded shit before" and I just can't be arsed any more. What can I buy that just sounds awesome?

Awesome = like Mark Tremonti or that cunt out of Porcupine Tree.

are all amps you try closely related and intended for the same style?

My favourite ones are all ones that are immensely raved about, but quite different from each other

gearaddict

ThePrettyDamned said:

Tremonti =Bognor uberschall, fender twin reverb reissue and a two rock I think. Not a cheap setup

When all else fails, get a 6505/5150 (literally depends on which one you prefer the looks of if you get an older 5150) or a rockerverb

Always wanted a 6505...tempted to get the Bugera knock-off (6202?) Since they cost a third of the price and seem to sound identical. Probably a false economy though.

gearaddict

p90fool said:

Get a big, non-master volume valve amp and a load of overdrive, distortion and fuzz pedals.

People don't get bored with their amps, they get bored with their PRE-amps. Shift it back outside the box and onto the floor where it belongs and you'll never change your amp again.

Spent some time experimenting with pedals into the clean channel of my TH30 but I find that pedals always sound like pedals. They always sound a bit lifeless compared to the drive channel of the amp. Interestingly (or not) I noticed the same thing with the Marshall JMD501, which was a digital pre-amp into a tube power amp. I'm quite keen to try a 5150 (or similar) now.

Nerine

I've found that pedals sound like pedals if the platform amp that is being used just isn't great at taking pedals.

The three best I've used for taking pedals are
JTM45
1987
Bogner Shiva.
I did have a 4x10 Bassman as well, but found the Marshall's to work better. The speaker config in the Bassman always made things sound a bit scooped and toppy to me when using pedals.

I sometimes use my Bogner Ecstasy Red pedal into my 1987 and I can't really tell the difference between that and a valve preamp.
It's all in the design. It feels the same as an amp to me and doesn't have that crappy top end that so many lesser overdrive and distortion boxes do.

In my experience, I've never rated Oranges as good pedal platforms. My RV50 never used to like them on the clean channel.

On the Orange forums I'm fairly sure I read a thread about pedals that actually worked well with Orange amps.
The list wasn't terribly long if I recall correctly.

p90fool

Nerine said:

I've found that pedals sound like pedals if the platform amp that is being used just isn't great at taking pedals.

The three best I've used for taking pedals are
JTM45
1987
Bogner Shiva.

This is my pedal platform of choice too. Funnily enough JTM45s replaced 1987s for me, as I think the "looser" feel really helps.
I'm interested to try a Shiva now you've mentioned those three in the same breath.

p90fool

gearaddict said:

Spent some time experimenting with pedals into the clean channel of my TH30 but I find that pedals always sound like pedals. They always sound a bit lifeless compared to the drive channel of the amp. Interestingly (or not) I noticed the same thing with the Marshall JMD501, which was a digital pre-amp into a tube power amp. I'm quite keen to try a 5150 (or similar) now.

I know nothing about the circuitry of Orange amps, but I have found that their Clean channel is often nothing like the sound of an amp which doesn't have a drive channel.
It would be interesting to look at a schematic to see what the signal path actually is.