(More) reliable amps? Or - what to avoid?

twangydave

If you're spending a relatively low amount of money, then don't worry too much. Buy the one you like most, and thrash until it dies, or you get the hankering for something different. The real issue comes in the £1000 - £1500 range when people think they are getting a 'boutique' product and a 'keeper' amp that will sound great, and last forever. The truth is that a mass-produced amp will always be built to cost, and will factor in a very healthy profit, that's business. So a £1500 amp from one of the big builders might not be as superior to a £500 amps as the manufacturers would lead you to believe. I think what Psionic is doing which is really helpful, is shining a light on these amps, which were previously considered above criticism, and showing that not all of them are good value for money. You can go on his channel and see which ones he is not fond of, I won't mention names, but he does say that Suhr build very good amps, so there's one for your list. Beyond that, look at the many highly regarded UK builders that are mentioned on these boards. If I had £1500 burning  ahole in my pocket, that's where my money would be going.  

ICBM

De_Batz said:

I’d lay a wager that use case and failure mode are often correlated.

for example, TGP features much moaning about the unreliability of older Marshall amps (generally dead PTs), but not so much about BF Fenders. However, when you think about the different treatment those amps are getting, it’s no surprise to find that the one being thrashed is more likely to give up (if, indeed, that stands up to scrutiny).

True up to a point, but there are some more specific technical reasons why old Marshalls often blow transformers and old Fenders usually don't.

The big one is that Marshalls are usually heads and so are at the mercy of shitty speaker cables, musicians not plugging them in properly, setting the impedance incorrectly etc - and the plug can actually blow itself out of the jack in the cab due to the air pressure build-up when the speakers are working hard. (Really!) Fenders are usually combos so there's none of that to worry about, and they also have a shorting switch in the first speaker jack in the unlikely event that someone does pull the plug out, which will save the transformer.

A secondary one is that the selectors, both impedance and mains voltage, which Marshall used are a dreadful component, especially in the 1970s (the earlier 60s ones not quite so bad) which were never fit for purpose and can also make an intermittent connection. Fenders don't have impedance selectors and are less sensitive to mismatches anyway. They do have rotary mains voltage selectors which can be accidentally or deliberately set to the wrong voltage, but this *usually* blows the fuse before the transformer. (Not always.)

Danny1969

It doesn't help that guitar amps use the 1/4 jack socket for everything. Input, speaker, footswitch etc ... That's just nuts and causes endless problems ... especially in rehearsal rooms where people do the dumbest things. Last week someone had the output of a powered Kemper plugged into the input of a Hot Rod ... footswitchs have been found connected to speaker outputs on heads and Fender external cab outputs. The owner has started taping over sockets until he can think of a way to minimise the risk. 

ICBM

Danny1969 said:

It doesn't help that guitar amps use the 1/4 jack socket for everything. Input, speaker, footswitch etc ... That's just nuts and causes endless problems ... especially in rehearsal rooms where people do the dumbest things. Last week someone had the output of a powered Kemper plugged into the input of a Hot Rod ... footswitchs have been found connected to speaker outputs on heads and Fender external cab outputs. The owner has started taping over sockets until he can think of a way to minimise the risk.

A studio I used to work for got me to hardwire a lot of those cables into the jacks - the cable will usually go straight in through the plug hole. Tie a knot in the cable on the inside and solder to the jack terminals… also stops people stealing the footswitches and speaker cables.

matone

Modulus_Amps said:

Greatape said:

Been watching the Psionic Audio YouTube channel. Interesting yet slightly depressing inasmuch as lots of production amps seem doomed to fail after a relatively short time. 

So, what is (more) reliable than something like a Hot Rod or a Katana? Solid state or valve, and not boutique. 

Conversely, what's the 'definitely avoid' list?

The Psionic Audio YouTube channel would be number one

No amp ever will be good enough and any good tech could look at any amp and criticize how things have been done.

But given the £££ being asked for some of these `boutique` amps,they really shouldn`t be open to such easy criticism should they ? A lot of `the King`s clothes` syndrome involved.....

Pabcrane

I've watched a few of his videos now and I'm a little uneasy. I have no technical nous and there are videos saying that it is better to replace parts of the circuit and rewire certain things in the newish Deluxe Reverb Reissue. And also not to use the standby switch

Oh, and really doesn't like the Jensen C12K does he? 

Danny1969

ICBM said:

Danny1969 said:

It doesn't help that guitar amps use the 1/4 jack socket for everything. Input, speaker, footswitch etc ... That's just nuts and causes endless problems ... especially in rehearsal rooms where people do the dumbest things. Last week someone had the output of a powered Kemper plugged into the input of a Hot Rod ... footswitchs have been found connected to speaker outputs on heads and Fender external cab outputs. The owner has started taping over sockets until he can think of a way to minimise the risk.

A studio I used to work for got me to hardwire a lot of those cables into the jacks - the cable will usually go straight in through the plug hole. Tie a knot in the cable on the inside and solder to the jack terminals… also stops people stealing the footswitches and speaker cables.

ICBM said:

Danny1969 said:

It doesn't help that guitar amps use the 1/4 jack socket for everything. Input, speaker, footswitch etc ... That's just nuts and causes endless problems ... especially in rehearsal rooms where people do the dumbest things. Last week someone had the output of a powered Kemper plugged into the input of a Hot Rod ... footswitchs have been found connected to speaker outputs on heads and Fender external cab outputs. The owner has started taping over sockets until he can think of a way to minimise the risk.

A studio I used to work for got me to hardwire a lot of those cables into the jacks - the cable will usually go straight in through the plug hole. Tie a knot in the cable on the inside and solder to the jack terminals… also stops people stealing the footswitches and speaker cables.

That's a good idea
Just repaired another amp ... A 2 x 12 Carvin combo with some kind of liquid (beer maybe) all over the preamp PCB which had hardened with the HT over the valve bases and caused havoc. Nice amp to work on actually 

Greatape

twangydave said:

If you're spending a relatively low amount of money, then don't worry too much. Buy the one you like most, and thrash until it dies, or you get the hankering for something different. The real issue comes in the £1000 - £1500 range when people think they are getting a 'boutique' product and a 'keeper' amp that will sound great, and last forever. The truth is that a mass-produced amp will always be built to cost, and will factor in a very healthy profit, that's business. So a £1500 amp from one of the big builders might not be as superior to a £500 amps as the manufacturers would lead you to believe. I think what Psionic is doing which is really helpful, is shining a light on these amps, which were previously considered above criticism, and showing that not all of them are good value for money. You can go on his channel and see which ones he is not fond of, I won't mention names, but he does say that Suhr build very good amps, so there's one for your list. Beyond that, look at the many highly regarded UK builders that are mentioned on these boards. If I had £1500 burning  ahole in my pocket, that's where my money would be going.  

And the Suhr Hombre I've just checked out online appears very keenly priced...

duotone

Amps Under $1000 - Part 2

https://youtu.be/oQXmcsF_d_o

PAL

Many amps out there have PCB boards some are done well and some not so ! I do have some of them but basic models
 Like Fender Blues & Pro junior & Fender 68 Custom Princeton Reverb.
 You will find many videos regarding re biasing the Hot Rod series due to valves running too hot and the reason for this is
 Voltage in the UK is 240v and Europe 220v so Fender export their amps set to 230v and the result of this is the amps run hot 
 in the UK ! But you can just change a couple of wires ( no soldering needed ) and set your amp to 240v and this allows the 
 amp to run cooler in the UK. Just Google it and you will find it.
 My advice would be if you want an amp to last buy something basic so there's not much to go wrong and if you can
afford it go for something that's hand wired and it will last !

dilbert

I've used a

• HRD III,
• Peavey Classic 30 
• Laney LC30II

of the 3 of them, the Laney was the only one that gave me the feeling it could go at any time, but in fairness never did. The Classic 30 never let me down and I never came across any owner who'd had a problem with them despite the potential from the well publicised PCB design flaw.

The HRD for me is just in another league though. It just feels so well put together and exudes solidity at every level. 

Oh..... almost forgot, props to my old Peavey Bandit as well, it was the first of the Transtube models and as per the HRD had that brick outhouse feel about it. Frankly, I don't know why I ever sold it!