pippy Posted June 10, 2011 Share Posted June 10, 2011 Since my late '60s Marshall 2x10 combo died in 1979 the only amp I've used/needed has been my '78 MusicMan 2x12 SixtyFive. Everyone who has played through it has been smitten. Apparently, according to our old friend Thermionik (who has studied the wiring diagrams for it), Leo Fender did something very clever in the circuitry which meant that wonderful overdrive is available from very low volume levels. Opened up it's magnificent. And the brand was reliable enough to be standard fare for the likes of Messrs. Clapton and Knopfler. Other than that I remember being very impressed, quite a while back, by a Marshall combo called the 'Club and Country'. Don't be fooled by the rather silly name. It was an absolute stonker! P. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silenced Fred Posted June 10, 2011 Share Posted June 10, 2011 Haha. Yea. I mean, they're no Soldano, or Orange. I like the tones I get outta mine. Good enough for Pat Smear... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ne14t? Posted June 10, 2011 Share Posted June 10, 2011 How many of you are like me and after seeing so many music videos, posters, magazine articles and stuff featuring a guitarist standing in front of a Marshall Half or Full Stack that made you subconsciously fall in love with Marshalls? An all tube Marshall is usually always a good purchase, but definitely shouldnt be the only amp you get. Hiwatt and Boogie get some good gain going on, I have enjoyed the majority of the Orange amps I have tested out as well, would be nice to be able to own one of each, I think I am actually going to start collecting up all these differnt lunch box amps I wanna get the local Long and McQuade to bring one of these guys in, I wanna see how well the Germans did the British Rock tone \:D/ http://www.hughes-an...ter%2018%20Head Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LPguitarman Posted June 10, 2011 Share Posted June 10, 2011 Nothing wrong with my Peavey. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silenced Fred Posted June 10, 2011 Share Posted June 10, 2011 Just out of curiosity, since the Pete Townshend signature Hiwatt has four inputs, and four separate volume controls, could one make it a four channel amp with amp switchers? Townshend sig Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ne14t? Posted June 10, 2011 Share Posted June 10, 2011 Just out of curiosity, since the Pete Townshend signature Hiwatt has four inputs, and four separate volume controls, could one make it a four channel amp with amp switchers? Townshend sig You very well could, it would involve a couple A/B boxes and a bunch of cables! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silenced Fred Posted June 10, 2011 Share Posted June 10, 2011 You very well could, it would involve a couple A/B boxes and a bunch of cables! Voodoo Labs makes a four way amp switcher... just need four cables. But for real, that would be ridiculously sick... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ne14t? Posted June 10, 2011 Share Posted June 10, 2011 Voodoo Labs makes a four way amp switcher... just need four cables. But for real, that would be ridiculously sick... If only I needed a 100W head! would be soooo freaking flexible. I'm hooked on these low power amps though they work so nicely in my house without pissing anyone off its a dream come true. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silenced Fred Posted June 10, 2011 Share Posted June 10, 2011 If only I needed a 100W head! would be soooo freaking flexible. I'm hooked on these low power amps though they work so nicely in my house without pissing anyone off its a dream come true. Get the 50 watt model Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ne14t? Posted June 10, 2011 Share Posted June 10, 2011 Get the 50 watt model I gotta try one see if its too much or not, best thing I am liking about the real low wattage ones is the abilitty to get that retarded overdriven saturated sound with almost no volume. I saw the Puretone on the H&K webpage after looking at the tubemiester and that may be a nice one too at 25W. I am really digging the style of there amps though, they are very purdy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saturn Posted June 11, 2011 Share Posted June 11, 2011 Not too much Carvin love around here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff-7 Posted June 11, 2011 Share Posted June 11, 2011 I gotta try one see if its too much or not, best thing I am liking about the real low wattage ones is the abilitty to get that retarded overdriven saturated sound with almost no volume. I saw the Puretone on the H&K webpage after looking at the tubemiester and that may be a nice one too at 25W. I am really digging the style of there amps though, they are very purdy! Is there a particular sound you are after? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retrosurfer1959 Posted June 11, 2011 Share Posted June 11, 2011 I use mostly pretty small amps mostly now but there's quite a few I really like out there. For those that are new my amp addiction is probably worse than My guitar addiction if thats even possible here's most of my stuff with a few coments if you have any specific questions let me know. My favorite amp of all time is My Soldano SLO 100 that's why I buy mostly small amps now if I need volume and a big sound I have a SLO 100 what else could I need. Large Amp SLO 100 with 2 cabs In Medium Size Amps Amps: my favorite is a dAAb Tupelo Honey with 30 watts Egnater Rebel with two Cabs (20 watt max) Mesa Boogie - Complex but a lot of fun and you can get some great sounds I have a Transatlantic and it's one of my favorite amps to play through. Vox - Love Vox tone I have a AC 30 a Night Train and a Mini night train head. What's not to like about the Vox tone. Marshall - Not a big fan mostly because of the Soldano but I do have a model 1974 18 watt that I absolutely love Fender - I only have three right now a Fender 57 Limited Edition reissue (12 watts) fender champ 5watt Fender Executive model G-Dec Gibson GA20RVT 15 watt Acoustic Amps Bose L1 PA guitar amp system Original model I - 750 watts divided Roland AC 33 Acoustic Amp 30 watts In Mini - Amps; Carr - Raleigh (3 watts) BlackHeart Killer Ant and single cab 1 watt Epiphone Valve Junior head (heavy mods) and single cab 5 watt Songworks – Little Lanilei ¼ Watt ZVEX – Nano Amp Head ½ watt ZT lunchbox cab Pignose – mini whatever that I’ve had forever 5 watt Crate CA 15 Taxi Amp Battery powered 15 watt For Digital Drum Sound reinforcement Line 6 Spider 30 30 watt Bass Roland Bass Cube 30 - 30 watt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bonzoboy Posted June 11, 2011 Share Posted June 11, 2011 Some people have stated that Marshalls need to be cranked to get a raw crunch tone-that may be true for the 1959s and 50W 1987s etc. as they don't have a master volume.My 2204 and my 4210 both have a master volume and I can get a full bore crunch from both of them at living room volumes.My 1972 Artiste model was modded to 2204 specs by the previous owner and even that has a great Bluesbreaker like rawness when played at relatively low volumes.The master volume Marshalls are contructed in such as way that unlike many other amps their crunch kicks in at much lower volumes,it's almost like they have a high quality attenuator built in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milod Posted June 11, 2011 Share Posted June 11, 2011 Funny thing to me is that when I was playing out a lot up to age 35, "loud" was the thing one bought a new amp for more than anything else. "Brand" was more a matter of what was available locally, what one could get repairs on and reputation of reliability. Nowadays those old amps are viewed by tone more than anything else. Last night I watched a regional band do a small gig and they're professional quality for what they do - by anybody's standard. But by standards I read here, their equipment is crap. A beat up old Gibbie 345 with the varitone removed, an odd-looking Norlin-era bass and crummy Peavy Amp, a Fender SS guitar amp and a relatively crummy PA, a single neck 3-pedal steel and a beat-up electrified fiddle. They sounded awfully good and definitely "professional" in every sense. I'm not sure the amps had that much to do with it except to make it loud enough to hear. m Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
This_Dying_Soul Posted June 11, 2011 Share Posted June 11, 2011 I also am a fan of Santana's tone...early and later IMO Pete Townsend's P90 SG is one iconic powerful tone without too much gain My favourite tones from my SG(most valve amps will do) are bridge at tone 0-3 with hi gain OD pedal, and neck coil-tapped with delay/chorus for glassy punch.... V I guess that's the thing. I'm chasing more "vintage" tones. The tone that drives me really wild is the tone tones of the original Alice Cooper band during the early 70's... Love It to Death album in particular. I find sometimes the tone is a bit tricky to achieve, but that may be the fact one is typically using a Les Paul and the other, an SG. Trying to play particular parts with the wrong guitar would make it difficult to reproduce the actual tone being used. I love Sanatana's modern tone too as well as the classic Townsend sound. Early Black Sabbath era Tony Iommi is a tone I've all but mastered and since getting my Gretsch last year, I've realized that the AC/DC tone everyone has so much trouble with is actually better achieved using the combination of the SG and a Gretsch... take either guitar by themselves and even if you know the basic settings to use on your amp, you get a tone that just barely falls short. It's not just taking an SG and plugging it into a non-master volume amp and cranking it (and if you know what to do you can still use an amp with a master volume); it's the way that Malcom's Gretsch tone and Angus's SG tone compliment each other. On the other side of things, the more modern tones I like are things like Jerry Cantrell, Zakk Wylde, Metallica's tones on The Black Album and Load, recent Megadeth recordings, Jeff Loomis,John Petrucci, and the collective guitar tones of the guitarists found in Transiberian Orchestra (especially Alex Skolnick...always loved his nasally distorted lead tone for some reason). My Traynor will get me relatively close to most of these tones (the ones I've attempted anway) but admittedly there are some that need additional gear besides the right guitar and amp to get close to (EMG's for Zakk Wylde). While there is a lot to be said for gear having little to do with a player's tone and its mostly in their hands; the right gear is sometimes required to at least get a tone that is in the ballpark. For example, a tubescreamer has character all it's own and I've found when I've used tubescreamers it's easy to get something close to an SRV tone no matter what guitar and amp you use. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
This_Dying_Soul Posted June 11, 2011 Share Posted June 11, 2011 Funny thing to me is that when I was playing out a lot up to age 35, "loud" was the thing one bought a new amp for more than anything else. "Brand" was more a matter of what was available locally, what one could get repairs on and reputation of reliability. Nowadays those old amps are viewed by tone more than anything else. Last night I watched a regional band do a small gig and they're professional quality for what they do - by anybody's standard. But by standards I read here, their equipment is crap. A beat up old Gibbie 345 with the varitone removed, an odd-looking Norlin-era bass and crummy Peavy Amp, a Fender SS guitar amp and a relatively crummy PA, a single neck 3-pedal steel and a beat-up electrified fiddle. They sounded awfully good and definitely "professional" in every sense. I'm not sure the amps had that much to do with it except to make it loud enough to hear. m Funny you should mention how people used to go for loud and locally available. When I bought my Traynor, I basically went through all the amps out there I could find in my price range, narrowed it down to the ones I liked that had sufficient volume to jam with a loud drummer but could potentially be used for home practice without blowing out the windows... basically anything that had a half power mode or built in attenuator. Then I narrowed it down further by versatility. In the end I had it narrowed down to a Egnater Rebel or my Traynor. The Traynor won out because I could buy them locally through my local Long & McQuade store and take it to them whenever the amp needed servicing. They still ship it halfway across the country but at least they will loan me something - another traynor if one is in stock or whatever they've got that suits my needs. The Egnater, I would have had to order through an online dealer and had no place local I could take it if it needed repairs. If I get another medium sized amp, I may still consider the Egnater Rebel amps, but to be honest, my needs right now have shifted to getting something even smaller than what I've got. The Trayor is 15 watts in class A mode, and this is just barely low powered enough for home use, so I'm considering a Fender Champ or one of the little Blackheart amps or something similar that is 5 watts or less. There are times where I'm after a tone that only seems achievable with an amp being pushed hard and even in the 15 watt mode, I can't push the Traynor to that point in my house without rattling the foundation. Also, about how these guys you saw were basically using crap gear and still managed to get a good sound, I've seen people do this and that's a mark of a good musician in my opinion when they can get crappy gear and still sound good. This goes back also to what I'd said about a lot of one's tone coming from them and not so much the gear. Gear is simply a tool used to sculpt the tone to what you want... a filter if you will that allows you to strip away aspects of your natural tone and leave behind the desirable portion of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hall Posted June 11, 2011 Share Posted June 11, 2011 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaleb Posted June 11, 2011 Author Share Posted June 11, 2011 I just played a Boogie Mark V today. I was blown away. I had no trouble at all dialing in a good tone ( on my dad's TSL100 I spend like an hour trying to dial it in. ). This amp just PLAYS itself. Tried it with a 335 and an Am Standard strat. The strat didn't really catch me ( pickups not at a good height, floating trem, and 9s. I like the pups a little higher, the trem decked, and 10s ). But the 335 into channel 2 on crunch mode with the gain cranked and the graphic eq was the best tone I heard in my life. Now all I need is some Mesa Money.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy R Posted June 12, 2011 Share Posted June 12, 2011 IMHO, Most "real" all tube amps ( regardless of brand) have the potential to sound great or terrible depending on the variables involved. It's really hard to tell from a "one off" plug in and try. Variables: Room you're in mood you're in power conditions guitar your playing, pick ups, setup, strings, etc... Cables you're using components in the amp ( especially older amps) Speakers you're playing through, cabinet, wattage, brand etc... Just to name a few.... There are so many things that can change even in a "Fixed" environment that an Amp can sound different from day to day ( you're ears for one ). It's hard to find one amp that does everything great ( or even one thing ) consistently especially when you change the environment you're hearing it in.... IMHO if you can only afford one amp or only want to deal with one amp then get one that sounds good to you in the environment you will be playing in the majority of the time. Get some pedals, maybe another speaker cab etc... to fix what changes when you play in different environments.... Again, IMHO it is also better to find an amp that can stay pretty clean ( relative to gain) as you turn up the volume. Amps that have a lot of gain especially at low volumes tend to compress more as you turn them up and get muddy. Also keep in mind that Distortion has an effect of being lower on perceived volume. So I tend to go with an amp with less gain than I may want and use a pedal to get what I need so that I have more control as I change volume levels.... Andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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