What is the best amp you've ever played?

jasonbone75

HerbieTheRadDorklift said:

My Mark IV was 37.5kg if memory serves, that was with a Black Shadow C90!

That sounds extremely light for a Mark IV 

ArchtopDave

1.  Rift Vibro 63. Glorious Brownface style Amp ….. mine just happens to be the one that Chris originally made for himself.

2. Rivera Jazz Suprema. I have the 50 Watt version, which is a beautifully warm sounding Amp with an excellent reverb.

equalsql

HerbieTheRadDorklift said:

richardhomer said:

equalsql said:

The one that blew you away in terms of tone, flexibility, build quality etc. 
Was it the clean tones or overdrive, what was the magic that the amp has/ had.
For me it was a Mesa Boogie Mark III Simul-Class in the late 1980s.
It was an utter beast which took a lot of taming, but lordy the clean tones were crystal and the overdrive just punched through everything. The build quality was awesome too. 
Look at it, it's gorgeous.

I had a fully loaded MkIII (EV speaker/Simulclass power stage) exactly like that one. I agree, they were outstanding amps.

I sold mine as I’d stopped gigging and moving the thing around was problematic - they were spectacularly heavy. 

My Mark IV was 37.5kg if memory serves, that was with a Black Shadow C90!

I do remember the combo being spectacularly heavy and the volume.. Christ, it was unbelievably loud for its size. You really had to work to dial in the overdrive tone. My mate  back then owned one and he had mastered it. His tone just blew everything away that I experienced previously. 

NicoAdie

Three spring to mind:

Hiwatt DR103 - Just an unbelievable solidity to the sound. Huge blocks of sound.
Ampeg Reverberocket (original) - Best reverb I've ever heard on an amp, I'll forever kick myself for not buying the one I played in a shop in Edinburgh in the early 00s.
Tweed Bassman - Perfect breakup clean-going-dirty tone.

PhilKing

A Marshall JMP 50 into a Marshall 8x10, it was an awesome sound, just a shame that the cab is so unwieldly. 

blobb

The best amp I've ever played is the one connected to the other end that cable do-dah I plug into my guitar. It really doesn't matter to me. Although saying that, I once played through one of those old Orange 70's head/cabs on the back of a trailer in a field overlooking a Welsh valley, in the middle of the night with clear sky and stars in the moonlit sky. That was a great experience. It could have been Den Dennis' sisters amp for all I cared.

26.2

Just about any AC30 is the best for me, apart from solid state ones. It’s my sound. Sadly they’re just too heavy and unreliable so I switched to Fenders a decade ago. 

If there’s ever a convincing ‘Tonemaster’ AC30 I’m in! 

stratman3142

26.2 said:

Just about any AC30 ...Sadly they’re just too heavy...

In my 20s, I played through two of them, one stacked on top of the other.

Not sure why I needed two, because one is bloody loud on its own. I think I saw someone else with two stacked AC30s and thought it looked cool. But that was definitely a young man's game.

Wazmeister

Barney said:

Wazmeister said:

Barney said:

IV changed through the years ..

I loved the MK4 boogie with EV ...I don't use it much now 

Next up was a Redplate CDS2 ...great amp 

I'm sort of going between my Omega modded hotrod deluxe ...RDA Dualist and Redplate Astrodust all really nice amps ....got to say I used the Astrodust at rehearsal last week and the sound was exceptional ...on cleans and the drives equally ....I have been using a joyo American in the front just as a EQ not sure iff I need it or not though yet 

Did you sell your CDS2 in the end mate ?

No mate ....i still have it just not used it for a while it's handy though with being small and light ...I probably get a decent reverb pedal that can live in the back of it ....

Come on, come on... you knows you want to sell it to me

hotpickups

One I have now and for the past 5 years. RD Dualist. And I’ve had some of the best in my possession in the past. Brilliant amp

Petepassion

26.2 said:

Just about any AC30 is the best for me, apart from solid state ones. It’s my sound. Sadly they’re just too heavy and unreliable so I switched to Fenders a decade ago. 

If there’s ever a convincing ‘Tonemaster’ AC30 I’m in! 

I have the AC30 S1, sounds great and a bit lighter than your average AC30.

26.2

Petepassion said:

26.2 said:

Just about any AC30 is the best for me, apart from solid state ones. It’s my sound. Sadly they’re just too heavy and unreliable so I switched to Fenders a decade ago. 

If there’s ever a convincing ‘Tonemaster’ AC30 I’m in! 

I have the AC30 S1, sounds great and a bit lighter than your average AC30.

Been thinking about one of those. It’s top boost only though isn’t it? I used to always jumper the top boost and normal channels - a magical sound! 

roberty

I've never really fetishised amps, I see them more as pedal platforms, although I am in love with Eminence Governor speakers. Anything with four holes and a bit of crunch will do me. The Laney LA30BL is a bit derranged sounding so that's my fave right now

Petepassion

26.2 said:

Petepassion said:

26.2 said:

Just about any AC30 is the best for me, apart from solid state ones. It’s my sound. Sadly they’re just too heavy and unreliable so I switched to Fenders a decade ago. 

If there’s ever a convincing ‘Tonemaster’ AC30 I’m in! 

I have the AC30 S1, sounds great and a bit lighter than your average AC30.

Been thinking about one of those. It’s top boost only though isn’t it? I used to always jumper the top boost and normal channels - a magical sound! 

Yeah, top boost only, I can’t really compare to other AC30’s as it was a while ago I owned the AC30cch and back in the eighties I had an AC30 combo…can’t remember what one though.
   If you’re ever near Portsmouth you’re more than welcome to try it out

GavRichList

26.2 said:

Just about any AC30 is the best for me, apart from solid state ones. It’s my sound. Sadly they’re just too heavy and unreliable so I switched to Fenders a decade ago. 

If there’s ever a convincing ‘Tonemaster’ AC30 I’m in! 

Have you tried the AC30CCH? Head and cab over combo is the way to go, said as someone who has just made the same move (bluesbreaker to jtm45 and a 2x12). Goes from
intolerable to somewhere between manageable and fine.  

CoffeeAndTV

A Groove Tube Trio pre-amp and power amp, and a mesa mark iv.  

MaxA867

Cornford MK50 mk1. Back in the day all the Guitar Techniques magazine recordings were tracked on Cornfords and I just loved the sound of them, though this could well have been because it was often Guthrie Govan playing! 

Tried one out in a shop (maybe Mansons? RIP) and fell in love with it, gain was to die for, so crisp. Always promised I’d buy myself one when I was a grown up but it all went tits up for Cornford and now they’re hard to find (and I still haven’t grown up) 

26.2

GavRichList said:

26.2 said:

Just about any AC30 is the best for me, apart from solid state ones. It’s my sound. Sadly they’re just too heavy and unreliable so I switched to Fenders a decade ago. 

If there’s ever a convincing ‘Tonemaster’ AC30 I’m in! 

Have you tried the AC30CCH? Head and cab over combo is the way to go, said as someone who has just made the same move (bluesbreaker to jtm45 and a 2x12). Goes from
intolerable to somewhere between manageable and fine.  

Good info Gav! Cheers!

26.2

Petepassion said:

26.2 said:

Petepassion said:

26.2 said:

Just about any AC30 is the best for me, apart from solid state ones. It’s my sound. Sadly they’re just too heavy and unreliable so I switched to Fenders a decade ago. 

If there’s ever a convincing ‘Tonemaster’ AC30 I’m in! 

I have the AC30 S1, sounds great and a bit lighter than your average AC30.

Been thinking about one of those. It’s top boost only though isn’t it? I used to always jumper the top boost and normal channels - a magical sound! 

Yeah, top boost only, I can’t really compare to other AC30’s as it was a while ago I owned the AC30cch and back in the eighties I had an AC30 combo…can’t remember what one though.
   If you’re ever near Portsmouth you’re more than welcome to try it out

Thanks I do get about, so you never know. Our drummer lives in Southampton which isn’t a million miles away. 

I’ve had a couple of AC15s, which I’ve liked but they just weren’t loud enough. 

beed84

Wazmeister said:

- Matchless DC30/ Lightning/Nighthawk

- Redplate CDS2/ Redplate Blackverb - Id def own one again, the CDS2 is probably my fave amp ever (when they work...)

- Mesa Snake King (rather loud though)

- Milkman Creamer 20w - the one sound still haunts me.

- Carr Rambler - huge Carr fan, and pre-Two Rock, my fave clean amp ever.

- Two Rock Studio Signature - absolutely mind blowing live; currently own one.

- Lazy J10 LC - currently own.

- Boss Dual Cube - currently own.

- Bartel Starwood - Everyone should experience playing one of these...

Bloody hell, you're five months away from an amp porn calendar there @Wazmeister ;