One Amp, Only!

[charlie brown]

IF (God forbid), you could only have ONE Guitar (or Bass) amp,

Solid State, or Tube=Valve, what would it be?

 

Personally, I struggle with a question, like this, as I tend to

love my Fender, Vox, and Marshall amps. So, I tend to go back

and forth, thinking about this. But, it could very well be my

Fender Twin Reverb! Then again....??? LOL

 

How about you all?

 

CB

[Searcy]

Easy. My Roland VGA7.

 

 

[jdgm]

I'm going to have a hard time when it comes to selling my Fender Twin II but it's too big and heavy these days.

Ideally I'd like one of those Rivera 40w jazz combos with the 15" speaker.

[quapman]

The question sounds like 2 options.

 

Solid state or tube.

 

If that's the choice I am tube all the way.

 

 

And I could name a half dozen tube amps I would love to have.

[MrNylon]

I've got it. The Markbass Little Mark lll head / Ampeg HSVT-410HLF cab. If I had one bass choice, the Fender American Standard Precision Bass.

 

[charlie brown]

The question sounds like 2 options.

 

Solid state or tube.

 

If that's the choice I am tube all the way.

 

 

And I could name a half dozen tube amps I would love to have.

 

 

Well, all I really meant, was that regardless of whether it's

a tube amp, or solid state amp preference, WHICH particular

amp, would be your choice, IF you had to limit it, to just ONE?

 

CB

[milod]

What I'll say now ain't at all what I'd say 30 years ago, or 40 or 50.

 

For guitar only, for tube I'd have to go with a Deluxe Reverb. It's even capable of handling a solo gig with a mike.

 

But even that's getting heavier and heavier for an old guy.

 

Frankly I'm still convinced that for what I've done the past 10 years the ideal amp is my little cheapie Kustom 30-watt ss AE amp. It's actually enough for a solo coffeehouse type gig by itself. With the whole rig, mike and stuff in the back, suitcase "wheeled carrier," multi-effect box mostly used to thicken the guitar a bit, it's roughly 40-45 pounds on wheels - the whole gig excluding guitar.

 

That latter isn't necessarily "the best" in some ways, but it's handled small room solo gigs, small room country/rock/blues gigs, and 500-seat theater guitar-only solo gigs and miked guitar and vocal in-the-board gigs there.

 

I have a lot more powerful stuff and tube stuff that'll knock your socks off. But I don't need it. Frankly I question that audiences hear much difference anyway.

 

I will say that I had a semi run through the little amp that sounded a bit muddy no matter what. Other guitars worked marvelously - from my old early '70s Guild solidbody s100c to the 175, a Gretsch "jazz" archtop... other semis... etc. So I figure it was the guitar - and it's no longer in my stables.

 

(CB, I have guitars and amps in three different buildings at this point in time.)

 

Another amp that I'm just messing with and used in only one gig with the Gretsch is actually a Fender Bronco 40 bass amp. I've got a cupla basses and this one is fine for a small gig, especially an electric bass with "old time" or a swing outfit. I have some more playing to do with it and the guitar, but... for a light bass amp that could do double duty with an archtop, so far it seems a decent fit.

 

m

[quapman]

Well, all I really meant, was that regardless of whether it's

a tube amp, or solid state amp preference, WHICH particular

amp, would be your choice, IF you had to limit it, to just ONE?

 

CB

 

 

Oh you are a mean one aren't you ;)

[Twiz]

50 Watt Marshall JCM800. I jammed on a friend's and I've been obsessed with them.

[quapman]

Well, all I really meant, was that regardless of whether it's

a tube amp, or solid state amp preference, WHICH particular

amp, would be your choice, IF you had to limit it, to just ONE?

 

CB

 

 

So if that's the case I better just say the one I have now.

Cuz basically I have been limited to one for the past 25 years..lol.

 

It's my little Mesa Boogie Studio 22(with 5 band EQ).

It's really light and really loud and has plenty of crunch.

 

I had a 50W Marshall head and cab many years ago but I just got tired of hauling it around.

So it was a pretty extreme change going to that boogie because I really love the Marshall sound.

 

My brother has a Fender Twin and I love playing through that one too.

I still want another Marshall one day.

 

But if I have to pick one I guess I have already picked it because I have had my boogie for 25 years now.

[NHTom]

hmmmmm.........interesting question....I like that it made me think........

 

For me it would be a Bedrock 1200 2x12

 

might not be my go to amp, or what I choose to play today, but if I could only have one for the rest of my life, It is one I love and it is flexible.

 

NHTom

[quapman]

50 Watt Marshall JCM800. I jammed on a friend's and I've been obsessed with them.

 

I feel your pain Brother,, that's what I had.

 

And the 50W head is plenty. No need for the 100 that I ever saw.

for me anyway.

[vangoghsear]

I don't personally have many amps. I really only have two that have enough power to play most venues I would play without being mic'd.

 

I've got a Behringer AC112, 60 watt, two channel modeling hybrid with SS power and a tube in preamp. Nice clean tones, footswitch and lots of available built in effects. I could live with this one. Behringer isn't known for its high quality, but this one has served me well and the tone is quite nice. I play at a church and it stays there for now.

 

My other is a modded Traynor YCV40WR. It's an all tube, 40 watt, 2 channel combo and has had the Celestion Vintage 30 replaced with a Celestion 100 Watt speaker, for more clean headroom. This amp has footswitch capability, but I don't have one that works with it. This is a high quality amp very comparable to a similar spec'd Fender amp, like a 40 watt Hot Rod. Traynor worked for Fender, so there are some similarities. It's a really nice well made amp. This is my play at home amp right now. I could definitely live with just this amp. I just need to get a working footswitch for it.

 

I also have a Kustom Sienna 30 watt acoustic amp. This little guy would work well for coffee house gigs, has a mic and guitar input, very light weight, nice reverb and chorus built in, and sounds great and clean for a 30 watt SS amp. With pedals I could make this one work for my electrics too.

[codename]

I would like to check out one of these. Seems to be a very versatile amp in a reasonably sized package.

 

[ZenKen]

Just one? OK, Fender Cyber Twin. Plenty of power, lot's of amp/effects options and a tube pre-amp that you can push nicely with pedals.

 

[charlie brown]

Oh you are a mean one aren't you ;)

 

Hmmmmm Didn't mean to be. ???

 

CB

[Hall]

Twin.

[Karloff]

Orange ADHTC 30 with Avatar 2x12 Contemporary cab.

[nick_s]

Difficult one. I loved the tone of my old TSL100, but the headroom made it difficult to get the tones I loved at anything less than earsplitting volumes.

 

I am loving my Engl Thunder 50w through a 2x12, but it lacks a true master volume.

 

I'd be happy with a Cornford Harlequin. Not many tones I can't get from it with the right additions.

[Guest Farnsbarns]

The FarnsAmp MKII. I haven't finished working it all out yet but it will be the closest amp on this planet to my perfect amp. It will be an evolution of the FarnsAmp MKI (ie, the amp I built recently). I'm going to make it so I can get overdrive from either the preamp or the power amp or both. It will have spring reverb too.

[milod]

vangoghsear...

 

My Kustom is the older version of yours with the celestion speaker.

 

Actually you'll be surprised at how well it can do if you put it on a barstool or equivalent to get it a bit higher... off to the side. Add a bit of gain on something like my multi-effect box and it'll hit hard enough to hurt if'n you want it to.

 

And if you're gettin' a bit past the age when it's fun to schlepp 120-watt tube combos...

 

m

[vangoghsear]

Milod

 

I use the line out to a direct box to the PA board when I use it at my church for acoustic and let the amp be my monitor. I also use it along with my Behringer AC112 with my Michael Kelly Hybrid Special with stereo output.

 

It's a nice little amp for less than $150.00

[Rocky4]

[milod]

That lineout is awfully handy for me too.

 

I honestly haven't seen any amp for twice the price that will do what I want done any better.

 

I got it because it was light and had the two sections for guitar and mike.

 

I keep it because it works for everything I need it for.

 

m

[Twang Gang]

Twin Reverbs are hard to beat - but if I could only have one forever I think I would stick with the Rivera Venus 6. Very versatile, a British lead channel with a boost that is killer. Then a super clean channel, also with a booster that really saturates the tubes, but still remains clean. Bias is adjustable if you switch tubes, effects loop (adjustable in and out), has a half power switch if you want crunch or distortion at lower volume. Two inputs, one aimed at high output pickups, one for lower output pups. Has a notch filter on the clean middle tone knob for blackface sound and a bright pull/push on the treble tone knob. Has an extra push/pull knob that pushed in (Focus) allows you to adjust the speaker's response, moves from a closed back real tight sound to full warble for killer bass response. Then pulled out they call it the "warmth" adjustment which changes both the bottom and high end response. So you can crank up the presence some but then roll it off with the warmth knob (very useful with the L5). And all run through a killer Celestion 12 inch speaker. It is a class A type, but they have tried to eliminate typical class A problems by using transformers that are rated at twice the amps output power, big heat sinks, and all heat producing components moved to the outside of the chassis. They are expensive, but after almost 4 years using it have had no repairs or failures at a gig.