What hill would you die on? Amp edition

Sporky

thecolourbox said:

Sporky said:

None of the statements in this thread have been scientifically tested, and thus can be disregarded. 

Trump that. 

You don't know that for a fact

You'll note that I didn't say "none of the other statements"...

cm01

Alex2678 said:

The bassbreaker 18/30 is a great old school non-mv amp brought down by the rest of the range. Fendery pre amp into a Voxy power section, 2x12 cab - buried in a confused product line 

I’ve been intrigued by these for a while, going to have to check them out.

guyinlyon

dilithium85 said:

A few years back I done a guitar version of this question...

Did

KevS

OK,,long post full of various experiences etc...Why I have picked what I have..I know it's long..
It's not a rant..Just the opinions formed on what I have used and owned..

For the most Useful Amps to me I will Pick Marshall..The Valvestates,,AVT's even some of the MG heads..
Don't use the really high gain on the MG's though it is a thick Swamp....They work with a Les Paul and a Tubescreamer Beautifully..
Not tried one live with a Fender guitar..

An other useful and good sounding one is Peavey Bandits...Teal Stripe Sheffield equipped in my case..
Good with most guitars..

Mesa Boogie,,Yuk,,Orange,,Meh,, Vox,,so far Meh,,but a Tele can sound good with them on a Modeller of one....
I think they may be good at a certain narrow niche..They can end up fat and bloated like a Boogie though..
Again my Experience..
I often end up using Champ models with 8 or 10 inch speaker depending on crunch or clean..
AC 30's quite loud,,but expect non cleans with loud drummers..

OK. Valvestates...For me a Hidden Gem..

I have wrote this type of thing about 3 times now and it comes from my experience playing live..

You can set up a Valvestate etc to have 3 sounds,but only a crunch sound on the amp..
For a nice thick Crunch for Metal from Maiden to Slayer they are great,,for second wave British Punk too..Set up that channel on the amp....They have headroom being transistor,,you can take advantage of that headroom..They don't just saturate like valves and stay at the same volume....If you use a Tubescreamer you get a volume jump perfect for leads,,plus you get a fatter sound,more mids and added finger muscle,,not just more saturation and often mud like valves.....If you crack the volume open on the neck pickup a little there is your clean sound,,you can alter it's fatness with the neck pickup volume control..Any pingyness or clank you can dial out with the tone control....Click down to the full up volume on the bridge and you have your aggressive crunch..Kick in the Tubescreamer you have you lead sound,,not just a muffled oversaturated sound with increased mids....

Plus they are quieter,,lighter and take pedals without fuss..What more could you need..

Fenders Unreliable..

I do love a nice fat just before breakup Fender Clean sound too...
I've found Transistor Fenders in my case to be full of problems and develop faults..
My Valve Vibro Champ Reverb takes Pedals Amazingly though,not like Solid State Fenders I have owned..
My Fender Performer 1000 didn't like to be driven by an overdrive etc on the clean channel..
It  also kept developing faults..It said on the instructions it would keep reliably putting it out night after night..My Arse..
It could sound very good with single coil Strats and Teles..It developed multiple faults though..
The Blue Stripe Peavey Bandit totally outclassed it in reliability as well as with pedals,,good clean sound too......
The older 1970's and earlier All Valve Fenders I have used I've found good with pedals..
Most weigh a ton though..Plus I only used,,didn't own them..Reliability may be an issue..
The build quality of a lot of modern Fender stuff I find lousy....
Even my 'The Twin',,way more expensive than Marshall at the time,but the equivalent late JCM 800 to me was much better built..Even if it did pick up the local Taxi Firm..Also insanely heavy..
I mention the Champion 100 elsewhere..The channel select switch went flying through the air on day one..
The clean channel was usable,but I would pick a peavey over it..
The Bandit wasn't exactly light for a Transistor combo either...
I still have one that keeps dropping volume in someone's attic..Or I hope so anyway..
This fault took a long time to appear..

I'm not Anti Valve,,but you put a Valve amp in to get sorted and get it back and the problem can still be there..
The tech has maybe sorted another separate problem,,or it was behaving well until it got moved...They really can be a moody pain in the arse that never quite work fully..
Still Valve just about to break up clean is one of the best sounds ever,,but be prepared for upkeep weight Frustration etc..

dazzajl

I have a few of these…..

Less is definitely more. The more dials, knobs, modes and channels you put on an amp, the more ways you introduce to ruin the sound it’s making. 

All attenuators sound crap! I don’t like pedals at all but even I can hear that any amp set to sound great clean with drive from even a cheap pedal is a far nicer sound than an attenuated amp. They do have their uses, like taking out amp hum for midnight noodling but the idea you can enjoy power amp drive at bedroom levels is emperors new clothes stuff.

Modelling amps sound just fine. Not the same joy to play as a soulful valve amp but they get the job done perfectly well and then some. If you can’t make your playing sound interesting and get your intention across with a good modeller, the amp is not the problem 

Revolutions

The amp I really need right now is one I sold a while back.

relic245

My head (and my back) say use a modeler because:

1. The sound is 90% there
2. The audience don't know anyway
3. The flexibility is really useful
4. My back will love me for ever

My soul says - yeah but turn a valve amp up a bit. Just listen to the sound coming out of the speaker and just play. The smile on your face tells you which you really want. 

That's why I've been on that roller coaster for so long now. The battle between head and heart. 

The solutions - simple and I could have saved myself so much money if I'd learned this years ago. I need both. 

I have my marshall dsl40cr which is what I really love playing through. 

I have my tonex pedal that gets used for:

• Taking to rehearsal. I can fit the tonex and all necessary cables into the pocked on the side of my gig bag so only have 1 thing to carry. I go direct into the PA so nothing else to carry. 

• If my back is playing up or I'm playing a tiny venue then I take the tonex and a floor monitor. 

• The tonex is always in my gig bag so I have a full back up rig if I the amp ever blows a valve etc. 

Taken me many years to get here but seems to be a great solution for me. 

p90fool

dazzajl said:

Modelling amps sound just fine. Not the same joy to play as a soulful valve amp but they get the job done perfectly well and then some. If you can’t make your playing sound interesting and get your intention across with a good modeller, the amp is not the problem 

I would say the opposite to be honest. I need my amp to be dynamically responsive in a musical way to be able to do what I do, a flat, compressed, unresponsive sound doesn't mean the player is the problem. 

To be fair modellers are far better than they used to be, but they still mainly excel for 'guitar on 10, hit the patch buttons instead' players. 

Revolutions

dazzajl said:

All attenuators sound crap! I don’t like pedals at all but even I can hear that any amp set to sound great clean with drive from even a cheap pedal is a far nicer sound than an attenuated amp. They do have their uses, like talking out amp hum for midnight noodling but the idea you can enjoy power amp drive at bedroom levels is emperors new clothes stuff. 

I wouldn’t say all… Princeton with attenuator was a total game-changer for me. The natural compression & drive sound was better than using pedals to achieve the same thing, and meant smaller pedalboard.

mo6020

I think all of the points I feel strongly about around amplification have already been mentioned, so I'll just echo the following:

• Two channels is one two many
• The less knobs the better
• There is no such thing as a "too loud" amp
  

CountryDave

Down the pub, in the mix of a moderately loud band, the bloke at the bar generally wouldn't be able to tell the difference between hand wired exotica and a dirt cheap amp.

Some sold state amps are better than some valve amps for some people.

stickyfiddle

Fender's Tonemaster series is one of the best innovations in amplifiers in 40 years. 

stickyfiddle

mo6020 said:

• There is no such thing as a "too loud" amp
  

My tinnitus would beg to differ 

relic245

CountryDave said:

Down the pub, in the mix of a moderately loud band, the bloke at the bar generally wouldn't be able to tell the difference between hand wired exotica and a dirt cheap amp.

My slightly amended version of that....

Down the pub, in the mix of a moderately loud band, the bloke at the bar generally wouldn't be able to tell if your guitar was out of tune and wouldn't care if you played the wrong chords for most of the song as long as he can sing along to the chours...

I think the chances of them noticing the nuances of an amp are slim to zero. 

The choice of amp is for the benefit of the player more than the listener. 

mo6020

stickyfiddle said:

mo6020 said:

• There is no such thing as a "too loud" amp
  

My tinnitus would beg to differ 

I'm blaming mine on drummers... 

S56035

A more expensive amp make more of a difference than an expensive guitar BUT buying an expensive guitar is more fun than buying an expensive amp.

strtdv

I've owned about a dozen amps (high gain channel switchers to turret board Hiwatt and Matamp, 6V6/EL34/EL84/6L6) and I sound like me through all of them

Rowby1

Just because it’s Made In China doesn’t automatically mean it’s badly made/unreliable/sounds crap. 

shaunm

Hand wired amps sound no different to their machine made counterparts. 

matt_sefton

95% of boutique/expensive amps live in bedrooms and never go past 2.