What has your amp journey been so far?

MildAshers

Late bloomer to guitar having started at 19, I'm now 31 and had a few brakes in between everything but heres my list.

Yamaha GA15
Peavey 15w Bass combo 
Line 6 Spider IV 25
Roland Cube 30 Bass
Vox Valvetonix 50
Marshall MG15 MSII
Peavey Vypyr 30

Line6 Pod Studio UX2
Marshall MG30
Vox VT20+
Blackstar HT5 combo
Blackstar ID Core 100
Blackstar HT5R Stack

Fender Mustang GT40
Boss Katana 50
Yanaha THR10
Fender Mustang GT100
Boss Katana 100 mk2

Currently waiting on a Positive Grid Spark delivery.

thomasw88

Hmm not sure I'll remember them all but heres a starting list
ones in bold I still have.



ALlesandro working dog
Ashdown Radiator 1 (Acoustic amp)
Blackstar Artist 15
Boss katana mini
Egnater Tweaker 15
Fender pro reverb  ( My first proper valve amp circa 2007)
Fender deluxe reverb
fender frontman
Fender Hot Rod deluxe iv
Fender supersonic head
Genz Benz black pearl
hughes & Kettner 20th anniversary
hughes & Kettner 25th anniversary
hughes & Kettner Statesman (GL6)
hughes & Kettner statesman El34
Laney GH100l
Linear conchord thing (ancient valve amp)
Mesa boogie maverick
Peavey bravo (I think)
Roland Bolt
Roland JC50
Roland Cube 30
Simms watt PA100
Quilter pro block
Quilter tone Block
Wienbrock Gringo
Vox AC30 CCH
VOX AC100CPH
Yamaha g100  (my fiirst proper amp. gigged this for about 8 years in the 90's quite happily. I didn't actually know what a valve amp was at the time)
Yamaha thr100h
ZT lunchbox

BintyTwanger77

BintyTwanger77 said:

Aged 15, first amp: 5W Park practice amp (plus at some odd looking cheap 60s thing that picked up AM radio signals)

Then, from late 2014 onwards:

Vox Valvetronix
Fender HRD III
Fender 65 DRRI
Mesa Rectoverb 25 combo
Fender 65 DRRI

Since then:

George Benson HRD
Blues Jnr IV
Mesa Rectoverb 25
Vox AC15C1 

Still have the Vox as my only amp. Happy for now until I move in with my other half, and then something with headphones may also be required.

MtB

Started playing when I was 40 (in 2001):

Marshall AVT50
Laney Lionheart L20H
Matamp C7 head and cab
Matamp 1224
Vox AC30 cc1
Rivera R55
Fender Twin Reverb
Selmer Futurama
1973 Sound City 50 Plus (still have this)
Fender Super Reverb
MJW Roadstar Custom (still have this)
Rift PR18


Self-builds:
Ampmaker 4 wat champ head
Ampmaker SE5a head
Copy of Ceriatone 18watt TMB 
Ampmaker P1800 head
Weber VST 5e3 clone (still have this - though it has been modified heavily)
 

ICBM

Too many to list or probably even remember, but these are the main ones which I actually used with some form of band - some of these overlapped when I was doing more than one band thing at once. All combos unless mentioned otherwise.

Centurion Hi-Fi Five
Marshall Artiste 50 head and 2x12"
Marshall Club & Country
Marshall Studio 15
Fender 5F1 Champ
Fender 5F2 Princeton with 10" speaker
Fender Super Champ
Fender Blackface Bassman head and Marshall 4x12"
Fender Concert
Fender Super Champ x2
Mesa DC-5
Peavey Studio Pro 110
Mesa Trem-o-verb
Mesa Blue Angel

... and not gigged yet, but if I had to do one tomorrow I'd take my Peavey Studio Pro 112. But I'd be just as likely to plug into whatever was provided, if there is one - I've never really relied on the amp for my sound. The Mesa DC would probably be the closest to doing that, but I always had an alternative pedal-based solution so I didn't have to carry it if it wasn't necessary.

randerson

randerson said:

Since '87
Some Peavey thing
Sessionette 75
Silverface Fender Twin Reverb
Mesa Boogie Nomad
Mesa Boogie MK3
Vox AC30
Yerasov GTA15
Filmosound

...and Magic Brit

TheBigDipper

Starting in 1975…

Carlsboro 50 (50W valve single channel, no master volume)

Vox AC30 TB (old, lovely, but I wasn’t experienced enough then to drive it properly)

Acoustic 165 (60W/100W two channel valve, their take on a Boogie)

Sessionette 75

Fender Prosonic 

Fender HRD 2x12

Marshall MG15

Fender Vibro-Champ (silverface ’70s model)

Cornford Hurricane (the one I really regret selling more than any other)

Rivera Clubster 45 (a truly great clean channel at gigging volumes - as good as the HRD and Prosonic IMHO)

Sheldon TT3

Still own…

Cornford Harlequin 

Blackstar Fly 3 (bought as a laugh, oddly useful…)

Bluguitar AMP1 

Carr Mercury (8w, not the V)

shaunm

Expensive!!!!

Adey

Gosh! After some people on here have finished buying and selling amps, they can't have any time left to actually plug a guitar in a play something!

Some people have owned loads in a short space of time!

So I have had/still got are : -

Marshall MG15DFX - it died

Blackstar HT1R combo - sold

Blackstar HT5RH and cabinets stack -sold

Laney IRT15H - sold

Laney IRT30 Combo - still got it

Laney IRT15 Studio - still got it

I do like those IRTs!

duotone

Playing 20+ years

Beginning
1) No name amp from a car boot sale (Sold)
2) Vox Valvetronix AD30VT (Sold) http://www.voxshowroom.com/uk/amp/ad30.html -  I quite liked this amp, but could cover more ground with my Pod XT, so went and bought No.3 to use it with
3) Atomic Reactor 112 https://www.musicradar.com/reviews/guitars/atomic-reactor-112-24334 I remember SeshBoy on the old Intermusic Forum recommended it & it worked great. It’s current sitting in the corner or the room with a keyboard and other junk piled on top of it. I really should dust it down and set it up with the Line6 Helix.

4) Tech21 TM10 http://www.tech21nyc.com/archive/trademark10/

Now
Use my Tech21 TM10 but only using the speaker really as the amp modelling comes from my Line6 Helix.  Once in a while I do plug that out and mess around with the amp on its own, a really nice home/practice amp.

duotone

TheBigDipper said:

Sessionette 75

Always remember the reviews of this amp, must have been in the mid-late 90’s.  How did you find it @TheBigDipper ;;

https://www.award-session.com/pdfs/Award-Session%20History0047.pdf
https://www.award-session.com/pdfs/Award-Session%20History0048.pdf

DrJazzTap

Coming up to 27 years of playing. I feel like I haven't owned enough amps...somehow.

Yamaha Budokan - came with the Japanese Squier which was my first proper guitar. - - Destroyed by a friend throwing it out of a window whilst drunk.

Trace Elliot SuperTramp 80w 1x12 combo mark 1- I remember going to pick this up from a guitar store in Southampton/Portsmouth I think. It was reduced to £249. - Sold

Trace Elliot SpeedTwin 2x12 C100 - Mark 1- I remember paying £400 for this beast of amp. I do regret selling it, I could never coax a decent high gain sound out of it. - PX'd for

Marshall TSL 2X12 100w combo with C212 extension cabinet. Again I should have paid the extra and bought a Mesa. I could never get a decent clean sound out of it, and when the reverb played up, I had to drive several hours to the Marshall factory to get it fixed. - Sold for a

Fender Blues Deluxe- Mexican Reissue. Lovely sounding amp, and was a delight to play through- Stupidly sold when I bought-

Rivera M60 2X12 combo- gorgeous amp which I managed to pick up stupidly cheap from a chap who has sadly passed away due to ALS   It struggled to maintain a decent clean head room, and I couldnt find a decent tech to work on it- So sold to an ambulance driver for what I paid for it- who has since fixed the problems (the amp was biased super hot). - Sold

Orange Rockerverb mark 1 - with Orange open back 2x12- I had always wanted one of these and I love the simplicity of it, nothing to fret about - switches and push pull pots etc.

Blackstar - Fly 3- perfect little practice amp.

Other amps- Fender Mini twin - think it got nicked during a house party.

Vox Lil Night Train with 1x10 cab- Sold as it was far too loud for a practice amp.

Future? - Possibly some sort of vox clone- I played a Matchless DC30 years ago and I still havent been able to shake it off. So something like that (well not a matchless).

dindude

Torque 10 watt
Session Rockette 30

Unknown valve PA head thing found in someone’s loft
Sovtek Mig50
Marshall DSL40
ENGL Screamer 50
Fender Superchamp XD
Fender Blues Junior
Fender Pro Junior
Fender Supersonic 22
Carr Sportsman
Carr Rambler - still have

These are all main amps, I’ve misses out a few “second amps” along the way such as THR’s, Fly’s, some more modellers etc.

Journey can be summarised as:

Solid state
Discover valves and never look back
Enter the gain stage - high gain two channel types
Discover Fender type amps and never look back
Carr!

TheBigDipper

duotone said:

TheBigDipper said:

Sessionette 75

Always remember the reviews of this amp, must have been in the mid-late 90’s.  How did you find it @TheBigDipper ;;;

https://www.award-session.com/pdfs/Award-Session%20History0047.pdf
https://www.award-session.com/pdfs/Award-Session%20History0048.pdf

I didn't own this revised version. I owned one of the originals from new. It was at a time when I wasn't playing in bands at all and not playing much at home, either, so it didn't get used anything like as much as I'd intended. Small, light and solidly built. I remember the clean channel being decent, the tone controls being flexible, but the overdrive channel being a bit "meh" to my taste when listened to by itself. I mainly used it at home. A friend borrowed it for a while (we're talking late '80s, BTW) and then made me an offer for it. He gigged it in his covers band for a while and then sold it to the other guitarist in his band. That person is someone I've known since I was 21 and lives just 3 miles away. He's still got it, but I don't know when he last switched it on. He's also got a 30W version (the SS amp, not a 15:30 valve Session). 

Looking at your list - I gigged for a couple of years in 2006/2007 using a Line 6 XT Live and an Atomic Reactor. I didn't list it because it was really the modeller that made the sounds.  The covering was made of tissue paper, but it did the job and filled a room from the backline well enough. 

JerkMoans

JerkMoans said:

Entirely a hobby player, and not a very good one... Since the late 1980’s as far as I can recall we have had:

Gorilla thing with built in chorus 

Carlsbro Scorpion

RAT modded Epiphone Valve Jr (still have)

Smokey Amps Marlboro Lites (still have)

Vox AC30 CC2

Fender Hot Rod Deluxe

Rivera 55-12

Flynn Tweed Deluxe

Cornell Voyager 

Lazy J 20 (still here)

Still pondering the existential differences between the Flynn, the Cornell and the Lazy J...

Thinking about amps after springing for a Positive Grid Spark this morning...

Further to the above, the LJ20 proved to be far more power than I needed/could handle, so I sold it via the forum.  Since then, the recent journey has been:

Lazy J 5 (!) - purchased direct from Jesse, sold on the forum

Princeton Reverb - bought and sold on the forum

Eli Abbott Spalted Maple Princeton thing with a ?1947 (!) Celestion speaker - bought and sold on the forum

Danplifier @4114Effects Champ Clone - traded and then sold on the forum

Another Princeton Reverb, rehoused in a really rather groovy jointed pine cabinet by @skippy76 - still here

And now a Positive Grid Spark, which judging by what I read on t'interwebs should be here sometime around Christmas 2022.


Maddest thing is, for the last 6 months I've done virtually all my playing in the garden, unplugged  

thebreeze

Carlsbro Wasp - terrible but had good times playing it on 10 all the time. (still have)

Carlsbro 100w combo - not too bad, heavy, very loud, only played it clean (sold)

Fender Blues Deluxe (US version) - owned for 20 years, good amp, liked but never loved it (sold)

Tone King Metropolitan combo - really nice amp (sold) 

Line 6 DT-25 + POD HD500 - thought I’d check out some technology, hated it and sold within a month (sold)

Rift Tweed 5 - nice champ style amp (sold)

Tone King Imperial Mk 1 combo - a very early model, (No.10 I think) and a kind of prototype, so slightly different to the Mk1’s which came after - there’s an extra valve for e.g.  The best clean I’ve ever heard anywhere.  The last thing I’d ever sell even though I still struggle to find a satisfying sound on the Lead channel. (still have)

Fender Tweed Deluxe (the Edge model) - great amp (sold)

Cornell Plexi 18/20 combo - simple, some great tones and fun for rocking out.  An unexpected purchase but really pleased with it. (still have)

Blackstar HT1R head and cab - really useful home amp and found some nice tones, particularly when I experimented with pedals.  Bought as a temporary stand-in while the Imperial was being serviced. Will probably sell as I no longer need it. (still have)

duotone

TheBigDipper said:

duotone said:

TheBigDipper said:

Sessionette 75

Always remember the reviews of this amp, must have been in the mid-late 90’s.  How did you find it @TheBigDipper ;;;

https://www.award-session.com/pdfs/Award-Session%20History0047.pdf
https://www.award-session.com/pdfs/Award-Session%20History0048.pdf

I didn't own this revised version. I owned one of the originals from new. It was at a time when I wasn't playing in bands at all and not playing much at home, either, so it didn't get used anything like as much as I'd intended. Small, light and solidly built. I remember the clean channel being decent, the tone controls being flexible, but the overdrive channel being a bit "meh" to my taste when listened to by itself. I mainly used it at home. A friend borrowed it for a while (we're talking late '80s, BTW) and then made me an offer for it. He gigged it in his covers band for a while and then sold it to the other guitarist in his band. That person is someone I've known since I was 21 and lives just 3 miles away. He's still got it, but I don't know when he last switched it on. He's also got a 30W version (the SS amp, not a 15:30 valve Session). 

Looking at your list - I gigged for a couple of years in 2006/2007 using a Line 6 XT Live and an Atomic Reactor. I didn't list it because it was really the modeller that made the sounds.  The covering was made of tissue paper, but it did the job and filled a room from the backline well enough. 

Your model will probably be somewhere on this list then: https://www.award-session.com/award-session_history.php

Atomic Reactor - Yes! Definitely not the best fit and finish on an amplifier. But does the job well, I guess it was one of the earlyish FRFR speakers, before I knew what FRFR really was. I can’t remember what I paid for it new, I think around £350 which was probably the RRP. Probably ordered it from GAK around that time.

If it served you for 1/2 years, you must have been happy enough with it.

TheBigDipper

duotone said:

TheBigDipper said:

duotone said:

TheBigDipper said:

Sessionette 75<snip>Your model will probably be somewhere on this list then: https://www.award-session.com/award-session_history.php

Atomic Reactor - Yes! Definitely not the best fit and finish on an amplifier. But does the job well, I guess it was one of the earlyish FRFR speakers, before I knew what FRFR really was. I can’t remember what I paid for it new, I think around £350 which was probably the RRP. Probably ordered it from GAK around that time.

If it served you for 1/2 years, you must have been happy enough with it.

My Sessionette 75 looked exactly like that first one. The Atomic Reactor was fine and never let me down. I stopped doing generic covers in 2009 and started doing something more specific ('70s prog covers) which meant I could reduce my tonal palette and moved onto the Hurricane - thus ditching the XT Live and (therefore) the AR.

sw67

I have had a few amps over the years - they just keep getting smaller.

80s - 90s

Peavey Bandit
HH Powerbaby
HH IC
Carlsbro Stingray
Marshall JMP
Marshall JMC900
Fender Twin Reverb

94 to 2015

Fender Blues Deluxe

2015 - 2016

Vox AC15
Roland JC22
Marshall JCM200

My current set up 

MJW Roadstar 18 
Rift Tweed 5
Line 6 Helix

ICBM

dindude said:

Journey can be summarised as:

Solid state
Discover valves and never look back
Enter the gain stage - high gain two channel types
Discover Fender type amps and never look back
Carr!

For me it would be...

An amp - it was an old valve one, but it sounded terrible to me at the time.

A better amp - it was a Marshall Lead 12 (not mentioned in the list because I never used it with a band) - solid state, but more importantly it was a Marshall.

A big amp to use with a band - it was a valve amp just because it was cheap (this was the mid 80s), and it was also a Marshall. 

Several other valve amps because I had learned that this mattered.

A solid-state amp because I found to my surprise that it actually sounded better for what I needed with one band.

A valve amp because it just sounded the best for what I needed with another band.

A solid-state amp because I got too old to lift the one above...

Where I am now - realise that it sounds pretty much as good as the valve amp and that the type of technology no longer matters.