What's the amp you owned that you thought would be GREAT, but it was actually PONY?

stickyfiddle

I had an Ashdown Peacemaker 40... 

I actually quite liked it as a fairly neutral cover-all platform. Not quite as good sounding as a DSL but a chunk cheaper at the time (and moreso now, I'd guess!). I didn't keep it long enough to have it break though, which probably helps. I sold it to David Essex's touring guitarist, of all people, around 2005. 

longi

I had a Laney LC50 which I bought used based on the reviews I'd seen on the net. I liked the clean channel but I just couldn't get a sound I liked out of it. It was a real disappointment. I also had a Sessionette of some description, it lasted a week!

koneguitarist

Blackstar HT40.

Every amp I have ever had, I have had no problem getting a sound I could gig with, even musos who knew me well, were saying don`t sound like you !

Completely characterless, but I so wanted to like it !

monquixote

rockmonster said:

Boogie nomad 55 1x12 combo f@kkin rubbish Boogie MK IV 1x12 f@kkin rubbish Fender HRD how the F@ck has fender sold so many of these? Cameron CCV really disappointing too many nobs! Bogner XTC 20th anniversary same as above! And the loop is shit (all bogner loops are shit except the goldfinger) Bogner goldfinger 45 combo- wouldn't blow the skin off a rice pudding! Blackstar series one 100 head-flat as a witch's tit! Cornell plexi 45/50 one trick pony flat out or f@ck all! Orange rockerverb (f@ck all rock about it)- they are shit! Marshall JVM foot switching is shit and the loop is a joke! Dr Z! Combo can't remember which one- it was f@kkin awful! All observations are obviously subjective and it's just me being a grumpy old Git! I know loadsa people on here have love for Dr Z's and boogie IV's but I was not at all impressed by the above. :-\"

@rockmonster ;Perhaps it would be quicker if you tell us the amps you do like

ThePrettyDamned

monquixote said:

rockmonster said:

Boogie nomad 55 1x12 combo f@kkin rubbish Boogie MK IV 1x12 f@kkin rubbish Fender HRD how the F@ck has fender sold so many of these? Cameron CCV really disappointing too many nobs! Bogner XTC 20th anniversary same as above! And the loop is shit (all bogner loops are shit except the goldfinger) Bogner goldfinger 45 combo- wouldn't blow the skin off a rice pudding! Blackstar series one 100 head-flat as a witch's tit! Cornell plexi 45/50 one trick pony flat out or f@ck all! Orange rockerverb (f@ck all rock about it)- they are shit! Marshall JVM foot switching is shit and the loop is a joke! Dr Z! Combo can't remember which one- it was f@kkin awful! All observations are obviously subjective and it's just me being a grumpy old Git! I know loadsa people on here have love for Dr Z's and boogie IV's but I was not at all impressed by the above. :-\"

@rockmonster ;Perhaps it would be quicker if you tell us the amps you do like

Genuinely intrigued as to what amp finally won this hard man's heart.  

jd0272

DSL 100 head. Shite. However, my TSL 100 2x12 combo is fab. (Through the 4x12 cab naturally).

Moltisanti

haha rod, tell us what you really think for the record twas a 5153 that finally stole his heart

Moltisanti

i had a JCM900 that lasted one rehearsal, i actually went back to a Valvestate instead! ENGL screamer combo, was awesome at home, but total balls at band volume, needed a cab which i didn't have at the time.

rockmonster

Moltisanti said:

haha rod, tell us what you really think for the record twas a 5153 that finally stole his heart

Yep 5153 100. Liked the bogner shiva and shiva anniversary. Liked the crunch of the Rivera fandango 55, XTC EL34 blue channel but not the red, Marshall AFD one footswitch setting but can't remember which. Problem is never come across one amp which does everything (for me !) in one package until the EVH came along.

impmann

Marshall tsl combo - shit
Peavey valve king combo - bland, rattly and boring
Marshall 100 ss lead n bass combo - just yuk
Marshall Avt - just why did I buy that pos?
Vox escort - bought as a backup for my ac30, thinking it would sound in the ball park. Jesus Christ what a shit sound!

ThePrettyDamned

impmann;129274" said:

Marshall tsl combo - shit
Peavey valve king combo - bland, rattly and boring
Marshall 100 ss lead n bass combo - just yuk
Marshall Avt - just why did I buy that pos?
Vox escort - bought as a backup for my ac30, thinking it would sound in the ball park. Jesus Christ what a shit sound!

There is a ss lead and bass?!

I've tried the lead 100 mosfet and it got great slash to motorhead sounds, nothing too high gain. Cleans were pretty bad compared to a bandit, and it wasn't as versatile but for jcm style crunch, it was really good - better at that sound than any other ss amp I've heard. One trick pony... I really want one

axisus

littlethoughts said:

I love the idea of matching up these comments with past "amps for sale" from the same people in this forum

In all fairness, the negatives here are just one opinion. I'm sure that any amp that one person hates there are plenty of others who love it. It depends on your needs and your tastes. I love my current amp but I have read of two people that hated it and thought it was terrible.

impmann

axisus;129345" said:

littlethoughts said:

I love the idea of matching up these comments with past "amps for sale" from the same people in this forum





In all fairness, the negatives here are just one opinion. I'm sure that any amp that one person hates there are plenty of others who love it. It depends on your needs and your tastes. I love my current amp but I have read of two people that hated it and thought it was terrible.

This

ThePrettyDamned

axisus;129345" said:

littlethoughts said:

I love the idea of matching up these comments with past "amps for sale" from the same people in this forum





In all fairness, the negatives here are just one opinion. I'm sure that any amp that one person hates there are plenty of others who love it. It depends on your needs and your tastes. I love my current amp but I have read of two people that hated it and thought it was terrible.

Wisdom.

Sound preference aside, all I care about is reliability. Some amps will cost a lot in repairs, so I avoid them.

ICBM

ThePrettyDamned said:

There is a ss lead and bass?!

Yes, from the mid 70s. It came as a 'flat' head or an odd-shaped combo with a sloping 'pint-proof' top! (You will understand both these descriptions when you see one . )

Don't bother buying one - they sound tolerable in a sort of buzzy/fuzzy/farty 70s solid-state way (which I quite like) but are horribly unreliable. Marshall just hadn't worked out how to make solid-state work right, at that time.

ThePrettyDamned said:

I've tried the lead 100 mosfet and it got great slash to motorhead sounds, nothing too high gain. Cleans were pretty bad compared to a bandit, and it wasn't as versatile but for jcm style crunch, it was really good - better at that sound than any other ss amp I've heard. One trick pony... I really want one

But they had by the time they made these... good-sounding, very loud and absolutely bombproof. Probably the best-made solid-state amps by any company ever - they're essentially exactly the same as JCM800 valve amps (which themselves are very well-built) but with transistors.

If you're going to get one, make sure it's the earlier version with the Pull EQ on the lead channel - it's miles better than the later version without, which only has the single tone control for the distortion. (A common design fault with many late-80s amps for some reason!)

thomasw88

Laney gh50h. God awful blandness.

rockmonster

"In all fairness, the negatives here are just one opinion. I'm sure that any amp that one person hates there are plenty of others who love it. It depends on your needs and your tastes. I love my current amp but I have read of two people that hated it and thought it was terrible. "


Absolutely agree! It's all down to what does it for the individual. I've sold amps that just weren't for me to people who love em and vice versa.

ICBM

There are objectively bad amps as well too though - ones which just aren't well-designed or well-made, and which either sound bad or aren't reliable, or both. Even then, there are probably some people who like them…

It's really great when (if!) you find "your" amp though. The trick is to recognise it when you do, and not talk yourself out of it because it's not what other people use to make the same sort of sounds, or think you want what they use instead.

guitargeek62

ICBM said:

Mesa/Boogie Mk III.

It was about the most high-end amp in the world at the time (late 80s). They said "the three great guitar tones - Fender Clean, Marshall Crunch and Boogie Lead, with flawless footswitchable accuracy" … or some such marketing BS.

Because it's actually a one-channel amp with switchable gain levels and all the controls are massively interactive, it's impossible to set it up for more than one great sound at once - two good ones is tricky, and three is impossible even using the graphic EQ. You can just about get a decent clean and lead at the same time. Not only that, the Fender clean tone isn't really very Fendery, and it can't do anything like a Marshall crunch sound at all. It does do a great Boogie lead tone… but I quickly found that I don't like Boogie lead tones.

Luckily I was able to return it before I'd fully paid for it. It put me off Mesa as a brand almost permanently… it was only much later after the Rectifier series came out that I discovered those were the best amps ever for me - but I never even tried one for about five or six years because I assumed they would be like the Mark.

I loaned one of those for a weekend once, to try before buying it. I'm so glad I did as I had exactly the same experience.

It didn't put me off Mesa/Boogie though as I'd already had a Single Recto which was great, but too much for my needs. I've now returned to an Express 5:25 (my second, after a few years off "proper" amps) and I love it.

Lev

koneguitarist;128813" said:

Blackstar HT40. Every amp I have ever had, I have had no problem getting a sound I could gig with, even musos who knew me well, were saying don`t sound like you !Completely characterless, but I so wanted to like it !

I had the exact same experience with this amp.