what's your favorite amp?

I am quite partial to my Supro Black Magick Reverb with matching 2x12 cabinet. It's just a great all-around amp and is super touch responsive. I have yet to plug a guitar into it that doesn't sound good. I feel bad that my Orange pretty much collects dust now. 

 
I’ve narrowed down my favorite amps to the three that I own and use.  I’ve gone through many amps in my time and I’m very satisfied with these. I get compliments from all three, though I do get volume complaints from one. 

My favorite but least used is a ‘62 Brownface Concert with the killer tremolo. It’s the least used because it is SO LOUD!  It is also SUPER HEAVY! I don’t use pedals so to get the amp to its sweet spot is unbelievably loud. 7.5 on the non Trem side is like heaven and can be felt deep in your body, it’s a beast to say the least. With Trem I run it at 4, a very slight bit of breakup but the tone!!!! IMO the Brownface amps are the best Fender made. That could get some peeps stirred up but I stand firm on that. They are ready to breakup and get nasty like a Tweed but stay tight all while not being ear piercing like BF and SF amps can be. 

Next is my little giant, a SF Champ that is modified with a modified Marshall tone stack (I used a 250k mid pot instead of 25k), a Scumback speaker, a negative feed back pot (turns off the NF) and a Classic Tone Output trans that lets me run 2 6v6 tubes for 10 watts. Mostly I run it at 5 watts and it gets raw and nasty. It lives up to the name Champ and is my go to for brewery gigs and small clubs. It also makes a great jazz amp with the mids all in and the volume around 3. For Allman Bros it’s mids all in and v around 7, nasty with an underlying clarity, something pedals cannot do, I’ll argue that till I die too. 

Next is the Tungsten Creamawheat, a divine amp. It sounds great no matter what its plugged into it. I’m running it with 4x10s now but sometimes run a single 15, 4x12s or a 1x12. They all have different sounds and characters and all sound great. I usually run the three knobs at high noon. Last night though, I played an outdoor fest on a ranch 70 miles south of Missoula. The neighbors came down because they could hear the guitar from a mile away, that makes a guy feel powerful! Sound caries there and probably they could have heard the 5 watter from that far too. I played Whipping Post with the channels jumped and the two volumes at 8 (it goes to 12), at that setting the amp is giving all it has without getting muddy and it gave a lot, very 70s rock. It is probably the most versatile amp I have, especially as a 1x12 in the original cab it came in, it’s small and weighs less than 30 pounds that way. It also makes a killer jazz amp. 

So there it is, my elitist amp opinions and my anti pedal opinions. 

 
Going back to the original post, I'm enjoying my current setup.

Marshall DSL20c, running the clean/classic channel.

Speaker was swapped for a Scumback Cream back 12".

I keep the channel gain low and volume high so the channel stays relatively clean.

But I have three drive pedals for different flavors.

  • Timmy Clone for mild breakup
  • Earthquaker Plumes set to medium gain/boost
  • JHS Andy Timmons AT+ for distortion.
I find the flavors, depending on the guitar and my picking attack are rather dynamic and cover nearly every sound I can think of.

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Surprisingly enough, this gets the job done for me.  You are able to dial in the amount of bloom you need and I run it through 4x12 cabinets into which I have installed Celestion-made Vintage 50 Black Shadows.  These are the speakers that would normally go into Mesa Studio 22+ combos.  They do a good job of taming any overkill in high frequency content you might expect from a Soldano design.

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mars_hall said:
Surprisingly enough, this gets the job done for me.  You are able to dial in the amount of bloom you need and I run it through 4x12 cabinets into which I have installed Celestion-made Vintage 50 Black Shadows.  These are the speakers that would normally go into Mesa Studio 22+ combos.  They do a good job of taming any overkill in high frequency content you might expect from a Soldano design.

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Jet City is a highly underrated amp in my opinion.  Had a few over the years, their 20HV was amazing, but so much louder than any 20 watt amp I've played.  Matched mine with a vertical 2x12 with Celestion Greenbacks.  That had way more headroom and volume than just about anything I've played.  

 
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Steiner said:
That 2x12 is akin to hound's teeth these days.  That photo sounds good!
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Guy local had bought it from Motor City and sold it when he moved towards a Fuchs rig.  He even got George to sign it on the back haha.  And it sounds glorious.  Biggest sounding 2x12 ever.  Big Cab Energy.  I had another 2x12 with Creamback 75s in them so I moved those over to this guy.  

 
greatmutah2112 said:
Guy local had bought it from Motor City and sold it when he moved towards a Fuchs rig.  He even got George to sign it on the back haha.  And it sounds glorious.  Biggest sounding 2x12 ever.  Big Cab Energy.  I had another 2x12 with Creamback 75s in them so I moved those over to this guy.  
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You've done well.  Creambacks, greenbacks and blackbacks do very well with these amps.  Those 2x12s sound really big too.  Can you spell jealous?!

 
1981 fender concert. Its just worked for me for 37yrs regardless of what sort of music I used it for.
When I sold off all my amps after working my way through them all I was surprised It was the last one standing. I only use the clean channel.

Light bulb moment amps were, a little JTM45 head, a Deluxe Reverb and a AC30 and AC15. Once I heard them at volume I couldnt un-hear them.
I did sell them though.

Mesa ElectraDyne. Absolute stand out as far as sounds. But, too big, too loud.

 
JeffB said:
1981 fender concert. Its just worked for me for 37yrs regardless of what sort of music I used it for.
When I sold off all my amps after working my way through them all I was surprised It was the last one standing. I only use the clean channel.

Light bulb moment amps were, a little JTM45 head, a Deluxe Reverb and a AC30 and AC15. Once I heard them at volume I couldnt un-hear them.
I did sell them though.

Mesa ElectraDyne. Absolute stand out as far as sounds. But, too big, too loud.
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Mid-80's Concert amps are sweet rigs.

I LOVED mine and still miss it.  The only reason it was sold was due to it somehow getting heavier over the years.  Or maybe I got weaker over the years??  :icon_scratch:

 
JeffB said:
1981 fender concert. Its just worked for me for 37yrs regardless of what sort of music I used it for.
When I sold off all my amps after working my way through them all I was surprised It was the last one standing. I only use the clean channel.

Light bulb moment amps were, a little JTM45 head, a Deluxe Reverb and a AC30 and AC15. Once I heard them at volume I couldnt un-hear them.
I did sell them though.

Mesa ElectraDyne. Absolute stand out as far as sounds. But, too big, too loud.
Click to expand...


Gitfiddler said:
Mid-80's Concert amps are sweet rigs.

I LOVED mine and still miss it.  The only reason it was sold was due to it somehow getting heavier over the years.  Or maybe I got weaker over the years??  :icon_scratch:
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There are three amps that still haunt me.

1) - Robert LaFond's Fender Concert.  He dropped it off at the wood shop for a cherry cab.  I played it after finishing the cab; whoa...  I've seen a couple on the bloc at astronomical prices.

2) - Bad Cat Cub II.  I don't know why but I traded it for an amp that should have sounded better.  Life is riddled with failures.  This was one of mine.

3) - Marshall Bluesbreaker (1964?).  It sounded too good for the price so I walked; big oops.

 
Steiner said:
There are three amps that still haunt me.

1) - Robert LaFond's Fender Concert.  He dropped it off at the wood shop for a cherry cab.  I played it after finishing the cab; whoa...  I've seen a couple on the bloc at astronomical prices.

2) - Bad Cat Cub II.  I don't know why but I traded it for an amp that should have sounded better.  Life is riddled with failures.  This was one of mine.

3) - Marshall Bluesbreaker (1964?).  It sounded too good for the price so I walked; big oops.
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Hmm, I was at Huber Breese on Saturday.  They had a vintage Concert combo, 60's Deluxe Reverb, Champ, and a 70's Bandmaster head/cabinet.  Some tasty Fender tube goodness.... 

 
Earlier on this thread I mentioned my favorite amps but I need to update that list. I have a bit of an obsession with the early Fender Pro amps. The 5a5 amp with 15 horse power and the smooth cone 15” Jensen. I really cannot buy a real one as they are a little pricey but I am having aspirations to build one. 

 
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