Spinoff: What's the BEST amp you've ever owned?

[pc]

Yikes, no doubt. Funny thing is, Shoudek joined almost exactly when the last post (#38) in this thread was made, but took this long to answer it.

Just teasin' Shoudek--there's a reason we keep these old'ns around.

[jeffhoo]

from the past:
'68 fender super reverb and a princeton reverb blackface. sad thing is i have reminders of how great these sound due to some video footage from that time, late 80's / early 90s'.

now it would be my bassman ltd. and my vox ac-15 ('90s british). i'm a late comer to the joys of les pauls and i'm really taken with how great those sound through these two. otherwise, i'm a strat guy. with those long gone amps, i was was telecaster guy, though i dabbled with rick (now gone) 12-strings.

[boobtube21]

Uh, my HRDx.

Really, in 18 years of playing I've never owned a better amp. It's my first tube amp too. I've always been broke up until a couple years ago, now I have a little money. The downside is, I'm married, so the amount of equipment I can own is governed by such irrational reasoning as, "we don't have enough room" or "you already have an amp". That leaves selling what I've got, but I'm still gonna be spending $$$ to upgrade, and there's other things I need to be spending on right now. Bummer.

I'd really like a DRRI or BF/SF Vibrolux, or some kind of tweed amp, can't make up my mind which one though. Maybe an early Marshall...

[refin]

'59 Bassman......not for the "hey,I own one" factor,but because it is the most complete sounding amp I've ever had,and I have 3 other '50s tweeds!

[chuckocaster]

i think it's just a "strollin' down memory lane" but i'd have to go with my modded 68 bassman thru my dean markley 4x12 cab. that with my strat was one "classic rock" machine. i loved it. sadly it died, but i'm getting it fixed and ready to rock again.

[dirtdog]

My first 1x12 combo that inspired my love for that configuration - a 1964 Gibson Falcon (18W, RVT configuration). It had a tone that was sweet as love. But it was really unreliable, had a hard-to-find rectifier tube and couldn't stand to be moved. It was also butchered cosmetically. Even so, I kinda regret selling it.

[clayville]

The one I still have dreams (and nightmares) about is my '71 Marshall Super Bass. That sucker could knock planes out of the sky. But I sold it in 1977. For, err, $250.

[ES350]

a Hiwatt 50 combo...with 6CA7's that thing was unbelievable; big big tone, clean but full. Miss that one...

an almost mint '59 tweed Twin which had a beautiful balance between tweed clean and dirt...sounded good with any guitar.

a '65 Super Reverb that had been belonged to Otis Rush that was the fattest one I've ever heard...

[KevinWaide]

I would probably have to say my 1973 50 Watt Marshall Plexi full stack (and yes, I always took both cabs and stacked it, no matter where I was playing). Traded the head and one cab off in 97 or 98 for an ADA MP-1 preamp and a Peavey Classic 60/60 power amp. Biggest mistake I've ever made.

[Rickenjangle]

The one that got away...'66 BF Tremolux with matching 2-10 tilt-back cabinet. Pure SRV and jangle-pop. Sounded totally awesome with my TS9 => SD9 => AD9 setup.

Honorable mention: Marshall JTM45 through a Fender Bassman (2x12) small cabinet (not the huge one) loaded with Celestions. The amp could sound really bad if you didn't tweak the tones/volumes right, but sounded really BOSS if you jumpered it and had the controls just right...

[Gravity Jim]

I had two great ones -

Mid '60s (?) blackface Pro Reverb. It was used as a rental and blew up during a soundcheck for a BB King show at Fort Wayne's historic Embassy Theater. It is currently in the hands of my old friend Gary, in his garage, still in exactly the same condition it was in after that soundcheck. He hasn't had it fixed and won't sell it back to me, a fact that is straining a 35-year friendship.

Late 60's 50-watt Marshall head, run through a 2x12 closed back ported cabinet the afore-mentioned Gary designed. I had an awesome (in both sound and hideosity) Tele in those days, and that guitar into that amp killed bugs.

As ya'll know, I'm wrestling with a new amp for the studio right now... but it has to be a great one.

All I want is something that sounds just like a Fender DR and a Dumble ODS that weighs 15 pounds and costs about $500.

[KevinWaide]

All I want is something that sounds just like a Fender DR and a Dumble ODS that weighs 15 pounds and costs about $500.

Well, at least you're not being unreasonable in regards to what you're looking for. LMAO

[NeoFauve]

The SF VibroChamp was cool.
I loved the first Kalamazoo Reverb 12 I had.

I probably should have put more effort into the 64 Princeton I had. The buzzy cabinet drove me nuts.

I don't think I've really owned an exceptional amp, but in retrospect, I think the Princeton could have been.

I really like my Delta Blues, but rarely get to wind it up to where it starts doing its thing.

[photoweborama]

Funny thing is, Shoudek joined almost exactly when the last post (#38)

Looks like I joined about when the thread started...

[Gtrplyr]

Wow! now this is an OLD thread!

Yep! And I've now changed my mind after acquiring my '63 6G2 Fender Princeton a few years ago. It just has a nice warm mellow tone to it but gets some unbelievable breakup when cranked up. Great amp!

[stratcat62]

My current amp. At the risk of being accused of being tone deaf and committing a cardinal sin, I gutted a brand new DRRI. The original amp was okay but was awfully bright with my main strat. After checking the net including this forum I came up with some simple mods. I took the amp to a local amp guru (Lars at AWR Electronics in Melbourne Florida). He proceeded to plug me into some of his various creations. The net result was the only thing left from the original amp is the pan and output transformer. Even the cabinet was replaced at a net cost less then most boutique amps and sound quality that is perfect for me. Point to point with 2 channels. Channel 1 is much like a Fender Blackface with better bottom, Channel 2 is based on a Dumble (per Lars, never played a Dumble and I'm no tech but it is hot). Both channels with treble, mid and bass with universal reverb and presence. Push/pull pot for boost and a cathode/bias switch. When the amp was built the original speaker wouldn't hold up to the bottom end (voice coil rattle at volume) so a change in speaker (Texas Heat, yea I know a lot of speaker for a 20w amp but I was able to try multiple speakers in Lars shop and this one fit). Final change was to a solid pine cabinet with dovetail joints etc.

This is a very versatile amp and will deliver most tones by plugging directly in. Uber responsive to your playing going from clean to nice breakup just with rt hand attack. Small, light and as a friend said once "the biggest 20watts I've ever heard". I currently own 6 amps and none of the others even touch this one. My only concern is if anything happens to Lars I could be stuck. I'm seriously looking at having him build me a second amp from scratch.

One other nicety about going this route is when the amp was completed it just had too much bottom for me. Lars had me bring it in and made some kind of change bringing it right to what I wanted, no charge.

[Rickenjangle]

All I want is something that sounds just like a Fender DR and a Dumble ODS that weighs 15 pounds and costs about $500.

Vox AD30VT. Has both those sounds modeled in there...

You should just bite the bullet and get a HRDx.

.....just kidding.

DRRI all the way.

[Dale]

Well, as I initally posted in this thread 4 years ago ...

Tweed Deluxe or El Diablo 60C depending on the context.

[pc]

Best Tube ... a simple Vibro-Champ.

Best overall ... Line 6 PODxt.

(I am ducking).

Dale

Well, as I initally posted in this thread 4 years ago ...

Tweed Deluxe or El Diablo 60C depending on the context.

Er... huh?

[blueman61]

Tie: BF Deluxe Reverb (don't know what year) and 50watt Plexi re-issue completely rebuilt p2p by Doug Hoffman. Would be hard-pressed to choose.

blueman61

[NeoFauve]

You should just bite the bullet and get a HRDx.

Some folks might say that's a little redundant.

http://www.jrn.columbia.edu/studentw...ietrichweb.jpg


http://www.brickfilms.com/soundsyste...l-rimshot1.mp3

[Gravity Jim]

Be here all week, folks!

Don't forget to tip your waiter or waitress....

G'nite everybody!

[KevinWaide]

I tell ya, I was such an idiot to get rid of my 50 Watt Plexi, and I even knew it at the time, but I wanted the whole "MIDI Controlled" thing. What made it worse was about 3 months ago, I saw one on fleabay and decided to watch it. Nearly got sick when I saw the head only go for over $3000.

[Gtrplyr]

I tell ya, I was such an idiot to get rid of my 50 Watt Plexi, and I even knew it at the time, but I wanted the whole "MIDI Controlled" thing. What made it worse was about 3 months ago, I saw one on fleabay and decided to watch it. Nearly got sick when I saw the head only go for over $3000.

Welcome to the club. I saw a guitar I sold locally listed on EBay by some strange twist of fate and it sold for over twice the amount I sold it for.

[Wilko]

All I want is something that sounds just like a Fender DR and a Dumble ODS that weighs 15 pounds and costs about $500.

I totally agree on the Pro Reverb.

For your DR/Dumble sound... IMHO, Used DRRI with bright cap clip and master volume mod. (never turn the treble past "5", bass never below "5"). Might get you around 500 clams and a tad overweight.

DR is the THE amp for all around greatness. Use Yellow Jackets to switch to EL84 voxy sounds.

[Dale]

Er... huh?

The first post had a date stamp of 10-19-2003, 09:30 PM. I was in one of my modeler phases. I loved clean ... real clean. I am in a tube phase at this point (with a lot more gain) so I am thinking more tube. But I am also just coming out of a preamp rack system phase. It actually would be a near tie with the Tweed and my El Diablo 60C. I wonder in 4 years I may be in another phase. I am probably the only one who goes through these phases.

[pc]

Well, as I initally posted in this thread 4 years ago ...

Oh lord no, Dale. Lots of us go through phases. It was the above sentence that I was saying "Um... Huh?" to. On my first reading, I read it as, "Well, [just like] I initially posted in this thread 4 years ago"

I.e., I thought you meant you were indeed saying you liked the same exact thing from 4 years ago.

Now I see the word "as" was used to mean "since."

So... good then.

[Jonnda]

A Yamaha fifty 112.


Why? Because my other amps are crate mx15r (which is nice in it's own way) and a mini-deluxe.

[Plugger]

All I want is something that sounds just like a Fender DR and a Dumble ODS that weighs 15 pounds and costs about $500.

Vox AD30VT. Although it weighs a whopping 26.46lbs, to compensate you _will_ get significant change from 5 bills.

Seriously, the AD30VT overall is easily the best amp I've ever owned. I'd stack its tone against anything. And its no longer a case of "either/or", but rather "which one today?" (Actually, I was playing a GFS P-90 equipped guitar through the Dumble ODS setting last night. Nice...)

And it's light to lug and it's cheap. But I already mentioned that.

-Mark