One amp to rule them all?

daveww

I had a DT25, a JTV and an HD500.  Spent more time knob twiddling than I did playing.  Sold them all and went back to basics.

Fusionista

JTM45.

Tho' I do fancy the Tremoverb.  And the Bad Cat Black Cat.

Even though I've already got more amps than I need.

thumpingrug

daveww said:

I had a DT25, a JTV and an HD500.  Spent more time knob twiddling than I did playing.  Sold them all and went back to basics.

I suppose thats the difference, I do like a twiddle. 

ROOG

As much as I like the idea of collecting different amps to find the universal 'do it all' I recon my next amp should be a Kemper, if only to get it out of my system.

Fusionista

The amp that impressed me most this year was a Fuchs combo - don't even know which it was.  Guy at a blues jam running a roadworn strat through it. In the same vein, went to a blues gig where the guitarist was not even very good, but his tone was to die for - Strat + Blues Junior. Mind you that was blues solo guitarists. If you're in a covers band you need something a bit more versatile, and obviously neither of those ideal for rock or metal. 

timmysoft

Personally I'd go either Mesa or Laney. The express525 or f30 are great choices or for Lainey's the new irt30 combo really does cover a huge variety of tones.

TheDarkLord

No love for Tone King on here I see?

Bellycaster

If money is no problem, don't forget to check out good demos of Bogner Amps. I'm sure in their range they have something to achieve those tones you are after.

I have the Goldfinger 45, but that might be a smidgen on the spongier side of what you are after. Still check out their range though. It is quality gear (he says with fingers crossed).

chillidoggy

If there was one amp to rule them all, we'd all have it, wouldn't we?

ChrisMusic

I never did find an amp I was really happy with.

But I have a DT25 combo right now and it's pretty good and very flexible IMO.

They were excellent value for money till a year ago when they hiked the price significantly, still not bad though.

Bogner designed power amp.  Good variety of tones, go check one out.

I like it enough to be looking for another one to do stereo.

TheDarkLord

chillidoggy said:

If there was one amp to rule them all, we'd all have it, wouldn't we?

Yeah.  I realise it's a compromise, but I'm looking for just one amp that CAN do everything well.  Not expecting it to be the best at everything.

camf

Dr Z Maz 18 Jr. Most flexible amp I've ever had. Gives you decent blackface tone, through to a very nice Vox AC30 drive and wind it up for a full-blown Tweed-style burn. Reverb is decent too. Probably not the best amp you can buy, single channel, but it sure covers a lot of very useable tones. It sounds great with different cabs and huge through a 4x12 (although I use a 1x12 with a Gold for maximum portability). It's a real grab and go, do anything amp. A new set of valves once a year and you won't go wrong.

ecc83

If you want built in reverb and to kick serious A: HT- Stage 60. 

If no verb, Series One 45 but them's pretty heavy now they have V30s in them.

If like me you have sciatica, ID60 or ID260.

Dave.

IvisonGuitars

Sounds like you should check out the Lazy J 20 to me :-)

Handsome_Chris

@TheDarkLord, have you thought about a nice little Axe-FX II, a Matrix GT1000FX, and which ever cab you fancy?

TheDarkLord

Handsome_Chris said:

@TheDarkLord, have you thought about a nice little Axe-FX II, a Matrix GT1000FX, and which ever cab you fancy?

I did have an Atomic Reactor once and have had a couple of Tech 21 Power Engines ...... both using Line 6 floorboard.  I had an XT Live and now have an X3 Live.  I'm a fan of emulation - and I might well get an HD500X to go along with whatever amp I get.

I must say, I am thinking of pushing the button on a DT25, based on some of the comments here and general research.  

Like a lot of people, I change gear around a lot, so the DT25 may be a good option as I wouldn't lose that much if I moved it on.

johnnyurq

I have a DT-25 and really like it, it sounds great as part of the whole setup of Variax, POD HD500 and DT-25.

It also sounds great just plugging a guitar in or via pedals, every guitar I have put through it sounds great. Very tweakable too.

crunchman

miserneil said:

Sounds like you should check out the Lazy J 20 to me :-)

Have a wisdom.  Completely cured my amp gas.

Cleans are absolutely lovely, and with the 6L6s it has that bit of headroom that a real Tweed deluxe does not - although I do have a 12AY7 as the first valve in mine.  Put a 12AX7 in and wind it up and you are in proper hooligan territory.  It also takes pedals well.

Get it with the power scaling, and it's as good as anything I've heard at low volumes.

IvisonGuitars

Cheers @crunchman!

I've just put a 12AU7 in V2 and it gives just a little more headroom on the clean, it's almost sounds like a Tweed Twin-like crunch but at a lower, more gig friendly volume.

Catthan

What about smth from Tech 21. Don't know much about their product range these days but iirc the Trademark 30 is still out.