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Favorite amps to use with Archtops


AlanC

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I presently use a 1973 Polytone and a Henriksen 110 Jazz amp with my archtops. I have tried to use other amps such as a Fender Pro Reverb which I find is too heavy to carry and a Fender Deluxe Reverb which is great but just not as good as the Polytone or Henriksen.

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Danny W.

 

Danny W. I just love your guitars! From left to right can you please name them? I assume the one on the right is a Johnny Smith. Regards,

 

 

 

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The Roland Cube amps are great and might even be on sale at GC/MF for the 4th of July. I like the Cube 30 and the Genz-Benz Shenandoah 60LT. For a tube amp I really like a mid 60's Gibson GA-15RVT Explorer, but with any tube amp it is all about the brand of tubes and speakers. I love the Amperex 12AX7 made in Holland and almost any NOS Mullard.. the 6BQ5's I have in the GA-15RVT are military stock and only have 6BQ5 marked on them but the insides are identical to Mullards. The solid state that I like is the Marshall MG15MSZW Zakk Wylde mini stack. 15 watts, real spring reverb and 2 10" speaker cabinets. You immediately think it is a "heavy metal" amp but it sounds so rich and full for a small amp with an archtop. The head and 2 small cabs are easy to carry but it is 3 pieces and not as easy as carrying the Cube 30. I love the vintage cab look of the Zakk stack. I have been impressed with the Epiphone Blues Custom after changing tubes. The little Marshall Class 5 is great after the speaker breaks in and the stock tubes are not too bad.

Cube 30

ZAkk stack

Genz-Benz

Blues Custom

Class 5

 

 

 

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Danny W. I just love your guitars! From left to right can you please name them? I assume the one on the right is a Johnny Smith. Regards,

 

Sure, they are named Faith, Faye, Anne and Sigourney [biggrin]

 

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From left:

 

L-5C w/BJB pickup in Custom Cherry

 

L-5CES with P-90s in Antique Natural

 

L-5CES Florentine in Vintage Sunburst

 

and on the right:

 

LeGrand (successor to the Johnny Smith) in Antique Natural

 

and since this thread is about amps, an Acoustic Image Corus, which I use for most of my gigs.

 

Danny W.

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Late 70s Fender Pro Reverb. As Alan C points out, it's heavy. Also mine's currently in need of a serious service. Can still play through it and get nice guitar tone, but it also makes big washing machine sounds in the background, and the reverb needs sorting. One of my priorities this summer is to get it fixed and transported to Hungary. I'm still young enough to live with the weight (it's on wheels), because it sounds fantastic with my Howard Roberts Fusion. And I'm a bit tired of playing through my Zinky's Smokey: supreme portability, but less headroom than a wasps' nest.

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One more vote for the Rolands.

 

I like the Boogie F-50, it has incredible tonal range. Any old Deluxe in good shape also works for me. There area few old Polytones that are very good.

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The early '90s red knob Fender Princeton Chorus is quite nice for clean tones. Also the tube Super 210 from the same red knob era. Both made in the USA, both are 2x10 combos, and both fly under the radar (which results in reasonable pricing).

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fdf47fd3.jpg

 

GrandSounds001b.jpg

 

Danny W.

 

 

NIce. I play my es137 through a Fender Blues Junior. It's a 2000ish USA model with blonde tolex. I love it. It's a small amp but powerful. It fills up a room nicely. I think of it as an old tweed deluxe. Maybe in 10 20 years they will be viewed as such.

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Beautiful guitars! It's a hodgepodge for me. I have a couple of small solid state practice amps I love, a Fender Mini Twin and a Peavey 158. Otherwise it's a pair of Fender Twins and a Marshall plexi, daisychained occasionally. Also a Rivera/Fender combo. I like resonance.

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