Amp Preferences

If I could have any amp it would probably be a Mesa Boogie, but since I don’t have that kind of money I would say the VOX VT series. I have a VT30 and really like it – You get the tube, plus all the bells and whistles of a modeling amp. I don’t use many of the effects other than reverb, but the amp modeling is great, especially the high gain distorted ones.

Hey Guys, 🙂

I’ve actually been using an old Hughes & Kettner Access (Midi Programmable Tube Preamp) feeding an EL84 equipped Hughes & Kettner VS-250 Stereo Power-Amp into a Marshall 1960A Stereo-Wired 4×12 Cab, with a combination of rack (Rocktron Replifex) and stomp/foot-pedal (Fulltone Clyde Deluxe Wah) Effects, and I’ve used this rig (mostly doing “Rock Cover/Copy” stuff) for a VERY long time! :eek::o:cool:

That being said, I also own a Marshall JCM900[ head, a Line 6 POD-XT Live, and a Fender G-DEC 30. I’m always trying to keep up with newer options in gear (even though I rarely budge on changing my “working-rig” much – if at all!) :rolleyes:

If it’s REAL (as in honest-to-goodness, tube-powered) amps that your considering, I really like the direction that Egnater Amps is going in with their “Rebel-Series” amps! That whole “Dual-Power Tube Blending” to me is pure genious! Then you can get the “best-of-both-worlds!” For example, you could get the “chimey-headroom glass” – a la Vox AC30 fame – from the EL84’s, while coaxing “Fender Deluxe-like self-compressing overdriven bliss” from the 6V6’s!!! The ability to blend the two worlds in any “percentage-blend” via a “Tube-Blend Pot/Knob” just ROCKS!!! 😉

I’d like to see these features perhaps implemented by some other companies with some more flexibility in either multi-channel amps or maybe even MIDI-Programmability (Some old-habits are “hard-to-break” I guess – LOL!:o)

Best of luck with and enjoy your search!!! 😎

~Bill Meehan~ 😀

@Richard Lundmark 8657 wrote:

Elmwood amps here, and at times some old Marshall plexi, or Fender combo.
I need to try TOm’s setup with running the signal out of the loop into a soundcard and using impulses from recabinet at home. Might be the solution to using my Elwood at home

Hey Richard, 🙂

I just wanted to add that you ALWAYS seem to get excellent tones/sounds out of your “fingers/guitar/amp” combination! 😉 I like how with your Elmwoods you seem to have a good amount of gian, but yet you still maintain touch-sensitivity (dynamics) and clear note-articulation without the “crappy-fizziness” in the hi-mids and treble that a lot of amps seem to suffer from. :rolleyes: You have what Eddie Van Halen affectionately describes as a “Brown-Sound!” 😎

~Bill Meehan~ 😀

@hermanmonker 8651 wrote:

I have a Dr Z Maz 18 Jr which I use with the 3 Xotic pedals ,RC,AC and BB for the distortion side of things .
Its loud enough with the band I play with even though its only 18 watts and thats clean .
I use a celestion blue and gold in two seperate 1×12″ cabs.
Check Allen Hinds out for the tone he gets with an AC Booster and a clean amp,or you could do what Brett Garsed does and use a Tube Zone pedal from MI Audio into a clean amp(I have two of the originals MK 1and Mk2 which have less knobs than the new on).

I could never afford a DR Z but I definitely am coming around to the idea of a single channel amp with high quality pedals. I’ve also looked at Cornford but that too is out of my price range. If I could afford to have two separate amps A/B’d then I’d probably choose that option.

For the past 5 years I’ve had the Line6 HD-147, which I used to love, but my ears have become a little more descerning in the years since I bought it and now I can never find a tone I like. I am spoiled by the range of options available to me and the press of a single button though. That said, I tend only to use the Cornford model on it with built-in effects anyway. I’ve also got a Fender FM-212 100W which I have as a backup in case my HD-147 craps out on me (which it has done a few times in the last 3 years).

I have a Boss GT-10, but the distortions on it are awful to my ears. There is definitely a “coked-wah” problem with it that I didn’t notice til I played it a couple of months back.

I’m now looking to spend £500 on a tube amp as I’ve only ever had solid state amps before. I’m looking at the Fender Hot Rod Deluxe (which I’ll swap out the driver for a celestion vintage 30) as I know it has a nice clean channel.

I use a Fender Super Reverb RI with a bunch of boutique pedals. I also use 2 Voodoo Lab Pedal Switchers and a Commander for instant switching between tones/pedals. Nice and versatile, and offers a wide array of tone options.

Mesa Mark IV
Peavey JSX
Randall Lynch Box
Soldano Slo 100

I just picked up a Peavey Vypyr Tube 60 watt combo and I’m really digging it. Pleasantly surprised by the tone. The effects are very good….loaded with on board stomp boxes and rack effects. Loud. Lots of headroom. Great tone. Got that tube vibe. You could gig with this thing.

@hermanmonker 9139 wrote:

I’d look into the Celestion g12H-30 rather than a vintage 30 as I have found the g12H a much better sounding speaker over all and not so harsh as the vintage 30 .Another option is the Eminence Wizard which is the Eminence version of the G12h -30 which is great and 75 watts as opposed to 30 watts for the celestion.
I use a Blue and G12H-30 in a 2×12 cab and I get the best of what both speakers provide to the sound spectrum.
I’ve been experimenting with different speakers for a while with different sized cabs and finding the right one for the sound and style you play is worth the effort in my opinion as the speaker is the last part of the eq equation which influence’s the sound and tone quite dramaticly sometimes
MI Audio do the Tone Zone Overdrive Which sounds fantastic as used by Brett Garsed into a clean amp .It has 4 clipping stages and can do from clean boost to metal.
I have version 1 and 2 which I think are easier to use than version 3 with all them knobs on .

Hey hermanmonker, 🙂

I used to love my 4×12 loaded with Celestion Vintage-30’s, but I found over the years that they were a bit too “brown” for my tastes (and I do like the “brown sound,” but I think the V-30’s are a bit too “round/bassy” if that makes any sense?!?)

I do agree that the speaker is an important part of the “tone-equation.” (In fact, anything between and including the fingers, the flat-pick, the guitar, the pickups, the strings, the instrument-cable, the pre-amp, the effects, the power-amp, the speaker-cable, the speakers, the cab/speaker-box, (and if playing live: the stage-materials {IE: the relative-reflectivity associated with “hardwood-flooring” versus “wall-to-wall carpeted-stages!”} the microphone, the mic-cable, the drop-snake, the mic-preamp, the mixer, the front-of-house/P.A.-system and all of it’s associated-cabling, not to mention the “sound-guy’s ears!”) are ALL contributing factors in the tone-equation! – LOL!) :rolleyes: 😮 😉

~Bill Meehan~ 😀

i run either my lonestar special combo, or a mark V head into orange cabinets.. the lonestar is awesome for when i want a two channel setup, with that snappy, bluesy tone.. the mark v gives me that thick, fat, distortion– great for legato.. i have owned and played many amps, and boogie seems to be my favorite as of yet…

for those of you on a tight budget, the bogner alchemist is a sick amp !!