The best tone you ever had from gear you no longer own..

Basher

In all honesty, it was a nineties Les Paul Special (with the P100s swapped for P90s) into a Line-6 PODxt patch I'd tweaked (Model was a Marshall amp and cab boosted slightly with a Rat pedal). So relatively modest gear but it just seemed to work really well. Backed the volume off for crunchy Stones/Crowds style riffs and turned it up for singing Allman style leads.
Stupidly sold the Special to buy an R6 (nice but not as good) and the POD, rather annoyingly, broke. It would be interesting to hear the original to see if I'm just imagining how nice it sounded.

TheBigDipper

The Strat I've had all my life into....

The clean channel of my Fender Prosonic - totally glorious and far too loud. Sold in 199x... 

The clean setting (just moving into crunch) of my Cornford Hurricane - subtly compelling and addictive. Sold in 2009 because I played with a loud drummer and needed more clean headroom. As I keep saying - should have changed the drummer! 

Stevepage

1990 Prs Standard 24 -> Keeley Ts9DX 4x12 pedal -> Laney VH100R.

Very versatile and sounded amazing. Not quite what I'm after now days but would consider getting the Vh100r again

Exorcist

Basher said:

In all honesty, it was a nineties Les Paul Special (with the P100s swapped for P90s) into a Line-6 PODxt patch I'd tweaked (Model was a Marshall amp and cab boosted slightly with a Rat pedal). So relatively modest gear but it just seemed to work really well. Backed the volume off for crunchy Stones/Crowds style riffs and turned it up for singing Allman style leads.
Stupidly sold the Special to buy an R6 (nice but not as good) and the POD, rather annoyingly, broke. It would be interesting to hear the original to see if I'm just imagining how nice it sounded.

I can believe that, I gigged for a while with a POD 2.0 into the return of an old jubilee head I had borrowed, and that thing sounded fantastic for high gain. I had messed about with the POD and turned off cab sim's/mic sims and stuff (which most people forget to do) and it was pretty incredible. The POD got stolen at a show in denmark street, and I never replaced it... I still GAS for another POD 2.0 sometimes... Bought a flextone 2 head on the back of that, but it didn't cut through or sound anywhere near as good. Some voodoo with the marshall power stage and the POD preamp.

photek

Early 70's Fender Quadreverb not far off flat out in a transit van micced up with a TS9 and 82 JV Squier Strat. More recently my old H&K Puretone head through some older greenbacks was pretty close to perfection.

chrishill901

I miss the tone of my old Vox AD50VT... not because it was good but because I had it at a time when I was starting out and to my ears it was amazing as I didn't know better. I miss tonal naivety and not caring, I spend too much time nitpicking, I used to just play. In my head that thing sounded like a roaring JCM800...

I gigged for a while with an Egnater Rebel 20 with the Rebel 112x cab... best live sound I think I've had, and the thing sounded absolutely huge and held up well with a lead guitarist with a 212. I miss that little bugger sometimes

jeztone2

Back when I was 18 my Dad bought me a Boss BE-5. It was basically 4 pedals in one box. Comp,Overdrive,Digital Delay & Chorus.

I combined that with a mk1 Marshall Guv’nor into an old 70’s Marshall combo (borrowed off my brother while he had kids and had stopped gigging). It was an amazing sound & really versatile. When That Pedal Show did a thing on putting a compressor after a distortion, I did a little chuckle and thought “I was doing that in 1989”

I’d set the output higher on the Guv’nor and have the compressor on for rythym tones. Then turn it off for leads and get a volume jump. Simple, but it worked brilliantly. 

dazzajl

Hands down Telemastee Jr from Marc Rutter with Voodoo pickups. The sweetest sounding guitar I ever heard and the most joyous to play. 

Only sold because giving up contracing and starting a business meant selling everything that was worth more than the eBay fees to sell it. 

merlin

I bought a second hand AC30 from Sound City in Cardiff. This was in 1979 (I think) and it cost me £125. 

It was amazing but only really got there when it was cranked (no surprises there) but when it was cranked it scared the bejeezus out of me. Too loud for rehearsals and too loud for most gigs I did as a teenager. Sold it and regret selling it ever since....

stickyfiddle

DL4 into Laney VC15

I'm sure there was plenty of tone suck and whatever going on, but the sounds I could get out of that combination (with a CS336 and Paisley Tele, both of which I still have) were fantastic. And particularly coming from such a small amp. 

My current setup is basically a no-compromise version of the same thing (Empress + Badcat)

stickyfiddle

DL4 into Laney VC15

I'm sure there was plenty of tone suck and whatever going on, but the sounds I could get out of that combination (with a CS336 and Paisley Tele, both of which I still have) were fantastic. And particularly coming from such a small amp. 

My current setup is basically a no-compromise version of the same thing (Empress + Badcat)

relic245

Fender vibroking with all things a boss gt5 into the front end. 

Sounded incredible but in practical. 

Small gig I coukd never get it to the sweet spot. Bigg6gigs with in house sound crew always mass me play quieter on stage than the small gigs so just never able to turn it up. 

Sweet spot was about 5 or 6 and from a 60 watt fender that's monstrously loud. 

ourmaninthenorth

This



into this..



with this...



The why? 

Still trying to figure that out...

riffpowers

Tokai ES135 into orange retro 50.

mudslide73

My two are: My LP with WCRs through a 212 Deville with Weber 12F150Bs. I used to work in a school and had it all flat out on the clean channel when the place was empty. Two teachers and myself jammed out Cream style for an hour. It's the loudest 60w I've ever heard and a great breakup at about 5-6 on the volume.

Also same LP through a self built 18w TMB head and a V30/G12H30 Heritage mix using a Fulltone Fatboost/Thorpy SHO for boosts. Very Voxy with the volumes rolled off. Had to play on 10 to keep up with the band.

Sassafras

My favourite small amp was a Watkins Dominator (wedge front) paired with a Telecaster.

chrisj1602

Gibson Les Paul Custom with Bigsby into Orange Rocker 30.

mburekenge

Loved my Orange AD30 on channel one set to just breaking up. Sadly, the amp is now breaking up when it is not even powered up.

McToot

I wish I hadn't sold my Cornford Carrera, though weirdly it was not a great bedroom amp, which is what I needed it for. V30s are a bit crap at those volumes but the amp has a whole when cranked or at least 3/4 cranked was chuffing glorious. But too loud.  for use when anyone was in the house or next door. Or across the road...

Interestingly the only REAL regrets (there are always minor regrets) I have about guitars are for emotional/sentimental reasons, rather than because of sound/feel.  

slacker

Just remembered a 'borrowed' set up. In 2004 I arranged a Harmony central meet up and Mr100 said he had a rehearsal room. So when we got there his set up was amongst other guitars a 69 LP Deluxe into a board with a King of Tone and a Tim into most importantly an ABy pedal that selected a Blackface Super and/or a 50W Plexi halfstack (actual vintage not ressues). We swapped out various guitars and pedal and they all sounded epic through those amps.