Best Rock gigging amp

rockmonster

I’ve used countless heads and cabs live over the years. Everything from Cornford, friedman Marshall, Bogner, Suhr, Cameron, CAA but my come back to amp has always been an EVH 5150iii 100 head and Matching 4x12. Covers everything has a master volume so it can be turned down too. If you need to be heard- no problem either. Yes it’s 100 watts but It’s like having a motorcycle- yes a small bike is fast enough but it ain’t no replacement for big CC’s is it! No it certainly isn’t! The new DSL100HR is a great gigging amp too!

DrCornelius

rockmonster said:

I’ve used countless heads and cabs live over the years. Everything from Cornford, friedman Marshall, Bogner, Suhr, Cameron, CAA but my come back to amp has always been an EVH 5150iii 100 head and Matching 4x12. Covers everything has a master volume so it can be turned down too. If you need to be heard- no problem either. Yes it’s 100 watts but It’s like having a motorcycle- yes a small bike is fast enough but it ain’t no replacement for big CC’s is it! No it certainly isn’t! The new DSL100HR is a great gigging amp too!

How are you getting on with the Amp1 ?

Onpar

rockmonster said:

I’ve used countless heads and cabs live over the years. Everything from Cornford, friedman Marshall, Bogner, Suhr, Cameron, CAA but my come back to amp has always been an EVH 5150iii 100 head and Matching 4x12. Covers everything has a master volume so it can be turned down too. If you need to be heard- no problem either. Yes it’s 100 watts but It’s like having a motorcycle- yes a small bike is fast enough but it ain’t no replacement for big CC’s is it! No it certainly isn’t! The new DSL100HR is a great gigging amp too!

Interesting.

What Friedman amps have you had?

And can you still turn the 100 watter down to sensible rehearsal volumes and still get a good sound?

welshboyo

Agree with @rockmonster here - I have the 50 watter MKII and have given it as a suggestion - the 100 is a step up again but is overkill IMO for pub/club gigs - the 50 is too loud with eye watering headroom if you need it..

It’s the 1st time I’ve been completely satisfied with an amp - it’s come after countless Mesa MK’s (II through the “flagship” V), Bogner Shiva, Atma, Duende, Friedman PT and Runt, Rivera’s etc etc

It just works, sounds great, easy to control…

Ed got it right!!!

rockmonster

welshboyo said:

Agree with @rockmonster here - I have the 50 watter MKII and have given it as a suggestion - the 100 is a step up again but is overkill IMO for pub/club gigs - the 50 is too loud with eye watering headroom if you need it..

It’s the 1st time I’ve been completely satisfied with an amp - it’s come after countless Mesa MK’s (II through the “flagship” V), Bogner Shiva, Atma, Duende, Friedman PT and Runt, Rivera’s etc etc

It just works, sounds great, easy to control…

Ed got it right!!!

I do agree to a certain degree that it is overkill but the 100 has a far nicer clean channel and has less gain all round making the red channel more usable IMHO. (which suits me better) It’s way too bloody big though! Lol! For me the 50 just has too much gain. I tried taming it with all sorts of valves, 5751’s etc. but they just neutered the tone too. The 50 is plenty loud enough. If they made a 50 with less gain instead of increasing the gain on all of the EVH range on every derivative I think they are missing a trick and would sell bucket loads!

Onpar

@welshboyo ;
What was wrong with the Friedman Pt20 and Runt? 

b_dj

I’m going to go against the grain here and say I absolutely hated my DSL40CR.

It had an annoying pause between switching channels, it was soulless and seemed to argue with all my pedals. Oh and mine had the mystery wind blowing noise that’s often reported.

I had it less than a week before moving it on.

welshboyo

Onpar said:

@welshboyo ;;
What was wrong with the Friedman Pt20 and Runt? 

Lack of channels on the PT - did 1 sound and that was about it - good sound though but not versatile enough for me.

Not enough channels on the Runt and it lacked a bit of gain for me - I’m Classic Rock type of guy so wasn’t trying to get Metal out of it (far from it) just found it a little lacking and was spending far too much time adding pedals or trying to get it to be a pseudo 3 channel amp.

Also, the Friedman mid-voicing was beginning to grate on me…

Just bear in mind that I also went totally off Mesa’s after gigging them for 20 years - I just fell out of love with the voicing - so it’s probably my hearing lol

Greatape

My boutique/left field suggestion is the Carr Hammerhead V2 head/1*12 pairing. Yes, it is discontinued and hard to find, but they do come up, tend to be sub-£1k and sound glorious.

Onpar

Thanks for all the great suggestions.

I have bought a Marshall Silver Jubilee 2525h and a Zilla Ported 1 x 12 cab.

Need to try this in a live band situation. 

Stratavarious

Silver Jubilee is a cool one.

I do use a ‘79 JMP but no fx loop, etc and more limited to one style all night… the DSL nails the same tone on the crunch channel, so is my gig go to.

rockmonster

DrCornelius said:

rockmonster said:

I’ve used countless heads and cabs live over the years. Everything from Cornford, friedman Marshall, Bogner, Suhr, Cameron, CAA but my come back to amp has always been an EVH 5150iii 100 head and Matching 4x12. Covers everything has a master volume so it can be turned down too. If you need to be heard- no problem either. Yes it’s 100 watts but It’s like having a motorcycle- yes a small bike is fast enough but it ain’t no replacement for big CC’s is it! No it certainly isn’t! The new DSL100HR is a great gigging amp too!

How are you getting on with the Amp1 ?

It’s gone! 

rockmonster

Interesting.

What Friedman amps have you had?

And can you still turn the 100 watter down to sensible rehearsal volumes and still get a good sound?

BE100, DS40 x2, Buxom Betty, JJ100 x2, pink Taco, Small box50, Small box wildwood, Butterslax. And an SS100 ( I forgot about that one lol!)        And.     (Of course)

fatherchewielewie

5150 III V2 50W head..... best sounding (even at very low volume), easiest-to-dial-in, most versatile and reasonably priced amp I've ever used. Other amps will do a similar job but none of them will do it as easily as that EVH. Too much gain on the Red channel? Don't use so much then or don't use that channel. I'd rather be looking at it than for it if I was using amp gain when playing out. The shared EQ on Green and Blue doesn't even bother me. God, I love that amp.

Also use a HR Deville/gain pedals too and love it but if you want a head/cab, for me its EVH all the way.

Edit: I have the 6L6 version of the 5153

Kebabkid

I had an early ADA MP-1 Preamp that was fantastic and enjoyed the stereo rack system for many years. That was a great unit that got compliments on my sound.

It's too early to say whether my current amp, a PRS MT-15 (6L6's) will surpass my other previous amps but it's a great rock amp and does a lot more.

I'm loving the size, portability and weight as well as it having a really good clean sound and being a great pedal platform. However, whilst I didn't buy it for the lead channel as I thought the amount of gain on tap was silly and I intended using my JHS AT+ and OCD for overdrive instead, I've since been experimenting with the Lead Channel and found that with the gain around
9-10 o'clock it delivers fabulous, clear and toneful and singy lead sounds, almost like a smoother, less aggressive 5150. In fact, IMHO, it's like having a modern Twin and a 5150 in one small package. Add to that separate EQ for each channel, loads of volume on tap, an FX loop, 5 yr guarantee and it coming in at under £500, it's been a no-brainer for me but the main thing is, it's delivering sounds I really like and they're easy to dial in and it's making me smile.

Oh, noise issues etc people experienced when first released seem to be have been addressed in the later models and they're
worth checking out

DrCornelius

rockmonster said:

DrCornelius said:

rockmonster said:

I’ve used countless heads and cabs live over the years. Everything from Cornford, friedman Marshall, Bogner, Suhr, Cameron, CAA but my come back to amp has always been an EVH 5150iii 100 head and Matching 4x12. Covers everything has a master volume so it can be turned down too. If you need to be heard- no problem either. Yes it’s 100 watts but It’s like having a motorcycle- yes a small bike is fast enough but it ain’t no replacement for big CC’s is it! No it certainly isn’t! The new DSL100HR is a great gigging amp too!

How are you getting on with the Amp1 ?

It’s gone! 

Blimey , that was quick even by my standards :-)

JCA2550

guitarmanessex89 

My recent club sort of rig has been a pair of Cornford Roadhouse 30 combos that I run either in stereo or W/D. They're oversized and sound nearer to a 2x12 apiece, portable, good loops and sound great.  They only cost me £400 each. Having 2 also gives you a backup option. I prefer them to the old Hellcat I had years ago.

Mind me asking, are these the ones with EL34s or 6L6s? I had a 1st run RH30 head with EL34s just curious.

guitarmanessex89

rockmonster said:

I’ve used countless heads and cabs live over the years. Everything from Cornford, friedman Marshall, Bogner, Suhr, Cameron, CAA but my come back to amp has always been an EVH 5150iii 100 head and Matching 4x12. Covers everything has a master volume so it can be turned down too. If you need to be heard- no problem either. Yes it’s 100 watts but It’s like having a motorcycle- yes a small bike is fast enough but it ain’t no replacement for big CC’s is it! No it certainly isn’t! The new DSL100HR is a great gigging amp too!

Had mine for a decade, too. It's seen off a lot of similar amps. Currently have a YJM, a few Cornford combos for stereo fun and a BE50 which needs a maiden outing. Never sell my EVH. Great minds!

TTBZ

I'm really GAS'ing for the EVH 5153 Stealth 50w at the minute. Been playing with the Archetype Gojira plugin which I believe is based on the 100w 5153 (maybe EL34 version) and I'm in love with the tone for heavy stuff. Sits really nicely in a heavy mix whereas my previous Marshally tones (from Spark) sound a bit honky and congested. It's got me looking at the Bugera 6262 for a cheap 5150 fix too.

Monstronaut

An EVH 100 6l6 or a 2203 are the two amps I keep coming back to. I prefer them to their 50 watt counterparts and they don't have to be crazy loud. They both have decent master volumes.