How many amps do you really need, and would you miss them if they were gone?

JD50

I have been ampless for a few months now..... Been using irig at home and not missed having am amp much. I will prolly pick up a Katana 50 at some point as rehearsal studio amps are hit and miss and id like something I can use at home (central London flat and kid ) with a low watt option and headphone out but also giggable and light enough to chuck it in the car frequently.

noisepolluter

I'm down to a micro cube and a deluxe reverb now. I could get by just on the deluxe as it's fine at home volumes with pedals and reasonably small and portable. Recently sold the blues junior as it was effectively an unused backup. 

Winny_Pooh

Probably only two are really necessary, a fender & vox/marshall style amp. You could cover everything aside from metal with that.

Or shall I cheat and say Kemper?

I was up to four at one point and at 3 now. 

thecolourbox

I don't think I need an amp at all to be honest, my Princeton is too loud for the room I'm in so I have to dummy load it into a speaker Sim through monitors to get it to sound OK - seems a lot of faff, extra gadgets and wires, and bloody extension leads everywhere. The two gigs I did last year that required the amp were at a series of events that got cancelled because nobody came, im not going to be wanted in any bands so having an amp makes literally zero sense to me at present.

The only reason I've not sold it is because as soon as I do, you know there'd be some reason to need one within a week and I'd be stuck

Beexter

Tricky.....probably need 2 - one for home and one for gigs. Having said that, I've got a Fractal AX8 currently en-route from G66 so maybe the answer will be zero....
Currently have 3 - a Yamaha THR10 for home and 2 heads, an Orange Rocker 30 and a Mesa Express 5:25+.
After trying all sorts of home practise solutions (various solid state combos that doubled as gigging amps, an assortment of modellers and multi-FX boards, iPad apps etc) the Yamaha has been a revelation and gets used almost daily. It sounds great at ultra low volume and has an aux input so I can jam along to whatever I want without annoying anyone (i.e. The wife). Most importantly for me, I don't need to wear headphones which personally really annoys me as the headphone cable always seems in the way and I just feel like I'm tethered!
I really love the simplicity of the Orange - the natural channel just has a volume control - no tone controls at all- and is apparently incapable of preamp overdrive and passes signal straight through to the power valves (EL34). To my ears it is voiced just right and brings out the differences between guitars and pickups more than any other amp I've tried. The dirty channel has such a raw, powerful drive tone that slices through a mix. I think I'd miss it a lot.
The Mesa has all the bells and whistles, effects loop, spring reverb, multiple voicings and EQ options, multiple wattage settings, more flexibility and is lighter to lug around than the Orange but the Orange is still the one I grab first. I think I'd miss the Mesa but might get over it....
The reality is that one will probably go if I get on with the AX8 but I'll reserve judgement until I see which one works best with it.....

edbolivar

I think the real point of my thread, was admitting that I have become (as have many of us) a victim of rampant consumerism when it comes to gear.
Partly because for years in my teens I had one guitar and one amp and a couple of pedals and lusted through the pages of Guitarist, dreaming of when I may be able to try/have that stuff.

 I forgot that I enjoyed playing back then as much if not more than now, as I just played...

Didn't watch videos of gear on YouTube, didn't read about gear all the time, would spend hours practicising or playing with mates and bands, rather than A/Bing stuff in music shops.

Until I was forced to, I simply hadn't evaluated what I was doing and why.

The irony is, in a few months I will have a lovely new music studio, and yet I think I may sell a lot of the stuff I have that I planned housing in it..

Skipped

I love amps but the point (with regard to missing them) is that they are instantly available.
All that is required to tick every box is to simply go shopping. I know with certainty that I can find what I want today. Probably in one shop if the shop is Coda.

For "main guitar" that took a 20 year search in my case.

Voxman

I have 6 amps - I think of them as simply tools with each bringing something to the table that the others don't - be it glorious cleans, Marshall crunch, weight/size differences, built in effects etc.  If I was only allowed to keep one, it would have to be my Vox AD120VTX simply because of its versatility, good all-round tone/amp/effect models, Neo-dog speakers, practicality to play at home volumes or gigging volumes, or via headphone. Stereo, FX loop line-outs, extn cab outs, built in power-control (2x1w - 2 x 60w). The VC12 controller gives me gig control with volume & expression pedal, last patch recall, built in tuner, stomp/pre-set modes, etc.

I love my Laney VC30-210 with GS112VE extn cab rig, but its just too darned loud to play at quiet home volumes.  The DSL401 is great for Marshall crunch, but its kind of a one-trick pony - the cleans are pretty good for a Marshall, but nothing like the glorious bell like chimey cleans of my VC30.  The Cub 12R is great fun but even with the Vintage 30 isn't loud enough for some gigs and being single channel it's headroom isn't that high.  The Valvestate 8080 is a great back-up amp but not a first choice rig.  The Vox Mini 3 is just for fun.  

So, hence my choice of the AD120VTX Valvetronix if I could only have one amp.

57Deluxe

I love amps - I have Nine - but one is a PA/Keyboard Stereo Head.

I would miss every one if lost simply because they sound great; each offers something the other doesn't and I bagged all of them in incredible deals at different times.

I will have more at some stage too...

IMC1980

The amps for sale section of this website is why I signed up; I love looking at what I want and don't need.

When I was gigging, I played an old JCM 2000 into a greenback loaded 4x12 and was very happy with the amp. Moving to London and the band ending meant that rig had to go, since then I have used an ME-25, amp sims, a Blackstar HT-5 and now have a DSL40 that I play through an Orange 1x12 and whilst I like it; I still want what I don't have.... I would love to try out a Mesa Mark V 25 and am sorely temptied by the high end modellers. Gold thing my money is tied up in moving house at the moment!

Dan

I do like my amps.

Got four at the moment, Silverface Deluxe Reverb, Carr Sportsman 1x12, Fargen Dual Classic and Yamaha THR10. The one I would miss the most would definitely be the Carr Sportsman.  

Its just the perfect amp for me. Use it for home, taken it to rehearsals and reckon I could easily gig with it.  

midlifecrisis

i have three amps,  a laney vc30 212 which is my gigging amp,  an orange micro terror head which is just a backup for gigs if i need to plug the laneys combo speakers in to it.  and a laney cub 12r which i use at home and for taking to rehearsals. Id like more amps but dont need them.

Corvus

Modded Blues Deluxe and a 59-60 Klemt head just because i wanted a vintage amp and they're not expensive. Building an 18 watter Ampmaker just to scratch the itch. Still got a tiny combo that'll run off mains, batteries or cig lighter that I used to busk with, and a 70s Petros 1 combo bought just because it was there & cheap. The only one I need is the BD though.

Teetonetal

My Current line up is:
Helix
Brunetti Singleman
Brunetti Pleximan
Blackstar Club 40
Laney Cub 12

In all honesty I could live with just a helix - would keep the laney for gigs with a vocal only PA
But I love the Brunettis a lot and without question would keep both if helix wasn't a thing.

Maybe I'm really used to playing over headphones and digital modelling as that's what I spend 80% of my guitar playing life doing. But I really think that this "doesn't FEEL like an amp" is a nonsense. Both S-gear and Helix feel like an amp to me. They react like amps to volume change, to pick dynamics, but some serious volume behind them and I forget I'm playing a modeller, I'm just having fund playing with a guitar,.


Now the Club 40.. there is an amp with 0 feel to it. Lifeless, dark and boring to play. I have no idea why I ever bought one. Can't shift the thing either, Had it on sale for 3 years now!

ToneControl

I had 17 (at once)
Now down to 4 (plus top notch amp sims)

You need one, depends on your range of sounds though

Even then, you can use a very good clean amp, and the excellent convincing OD pedals we now have that didn't exist in the last century

Mickeyji

If I could only keep one, it would probably be my Mesa Express 5:25+ combo. It's small and lightweight enough to be carried up a staircase in one hand and the guitar in the other without collapsing at the top. It sounds great clean, it sounds great overdriven and distorted and it's got a solo boost. It's totally gigworthy and one doesn't have to bring any pedals.

But I like having a few amps around, so at the time being I also have a Marble Clubreverb, a Dutch boutique-ish 40 watt tweed/blackface hybrid and a Brunetti Singleman head with matching cab. In fact I like the Brunetti so much, I may get a Pleximan sometime too. That or a Marshall Mini Silver Jubilee.

Then there's also a Fender Mustang in my band's rehearsal space and a Roland Microcube for banging about outside.

But yeah, if pressed just the little Mesa would do fine. Everything else is a luxury for sure.

Catthan

I got a Kemper for all gigs and studio sessions and a loaded Boogie Mk3 which I got only 'cause I always wanted one..
For remote sessions (home) I use Scuffham s-gear through the DAW which is basically 4 amps with a variety of cabs (IRs).
Plexi, MkV, Tweed & Dumble (i think). between the first 3 I got all I need.

I'd probably like a Bogner and a /13 but I won't be buying any posh amps for at least another 2 yrs

TTBZ

Been happy with just the one for years now. I don't need loads of sounds, one good British voiced heavy rock tone that can clean up ok is all I need. 

I do get the gas for other stuff but 9 times out of 10 I'll never act on it. I actually find buying gear a bit stressful. 

Moe_Zambeek

I like amps more than guitars but I've sold off all my excess amps and now have just the Audio Kitchen 17watt combo and also one of their 2.5 watt The Big Trees pedal / amps. Does everything I need at the moment.

I sometimes do miss the thump of a massive amp into a 4x12 but then that sound isn't really what I'm after, for some reason combos just seem to suit me better, and literally everywhere I play these days is miced; the other guitar player uses an AC15 or Rivera 25 watter so no volume wars to contend with. The Audio Kitchen has a surprising amount of headroom for the rating too.

I tried the Kemper but it just felt wrong and all the onboard profiles sounded like minor variation on metal sounds.

dindude

I've always been a one-amp man - I've often thought of having different amps for different sounds, and have owned more than one at a time, but I always end up gravitating to the amp I like best, so they get sold.