Loudest amp you ever had!

[Guest HRB853370]

Ok, we got the most inexpensive amp thread, the worst amp thread, the worlds best amp thread, why not the loudest amp thread! I betcha Mark (nonameband) wins this one!

[Kmenne]

Sunn Solarus. I was trying to use it in a high school jazz band, did not work very well.. rocked very loud and clean when used in 70's rock bands.

[111518]

This is easy for me. My Rivera "Chris Duarte" M-100 with 15" EV. Only one time in the decade plus I've owned this amp have I had it past 5 with the master all the way up and all four tubes engaged --at a New Years gig in a big room full of dancing people when I finally decided I was going to get as much on top of an organ player I used to work with as he usually played way on top of the rest of the band. He didn't stand a chance, and neither did my ears, which rang for days afterwards. But boy, did that amp sound great at that volume. Rivera built all sorts of diode/triode half/full normal/gain stuff into these amps, but like all tube amps they still really needs volume to bloom, which is why I rarely play it unless we get a gig outside.

[tulk1]

I've had a couple of amps that could peel paint. The winner, by a small margin, would have to be the Twin Reverb "Stack". Twins, as we know, by nature tend to be able to cut thru just fine! But!!, that's never enough. We took a Bassman 50 15" bottom cab, shunted the lows to that, left the mids/highs in the Twin's dual 12"ers. Talk about pumping up the volume! Wow. On 3 it'd cave in chests. On 5 we were approaching Back to the Future style decibels. On 7!, the whole house shook. Amazing set up.

 

Close 2nd would be the '70s Dual Showman 2 x 15 JBL equip'd amp.

[DetroitBlues]

I have permanent hearing damage from a Mesa Boogie 150Watt 2x12 on full blast after a 15 minute exposure.

[glaister]

1st year Marshall 1959slp reissue! That amp defined `loud`!(a good loud tho`).

[pushover]

It's definitely the BIG DOG.. My Music Man HD 130 is only rated at 130 watts, but it's damned loud.

 

Though loud is seriously overrated. I don't keep it cause its loud, I keep it cause it sounds awesome.

 

[GuitArtMan]

Fender SIlver Face Twin Reverb with JBLs. Ouch!!!

Mesa Super 60 head (Mark I) with 100 watt option into a Mitchell 4x12 with JBLs. Eegads!!!

[RJLII]

 

I didn't own it, but my college roommate had a Peavey Mace (160 Watt, 2x12) that could really get freaking loud.

[zguitar71]

I used to play through a Fender "The Twin" that I stacked on top of a Peavy 4x12 cabinet and play at stupid volumes, it really pissed of our singer in the band I was in at the time. We had one of those classy rock and roll dramas going on at time. She and I were recently parted and she and another member of the band were getting a little friendly. She had always, as she should have, complained about my volume and was becoming louder about it. So I responded with the purchase of the 4x12 and I would set up behind her and blast away. The band did not last long after that and I promptly sold the 4x12. The look on her face when I wheeled it in and presented it for its first gig and to her for the first time was worth every penny lost in the transaction. I was 25 at the time, I would never punish myself or other band members that way again.

[mars_hall]

I had a '69 Marshall Major 200 watt head (my very first Marshall) that I used to drive three 4x12 cabinets, two on my side of the stage and one for the bass player. It could rock quite loud, but I wisely kept it throttled with a master volume mod installed on it. I preferred having both cabinets on the ground forming a V, setting up an acoustic loop, and saving my ears.

 

I kept a 12" fan continuously cooling its KT88s, which were ungodly expensive and rare to come by.

 

I sold the amp to a friend who has it to this day.

 

Here's what they look like

 

mars_hall is really Marshall with an underscore, not Mars

[FredZepp]

I had a hot rodded Dual Showman that had a large vented Fender cabinet with 2 EV alnico SRO speakers... that was really loud...

 

 

But I now have a Dean Markley CD 212 combo from the 80's (serial number 0001) , it's 120 watts all tube and crazy loud. Sounds great through a 4x12..

 

[FredZepp]

I had a '69 Marshall Major 200 watt head (my very first Marshall) that I used to drive three 4x12 cabinets, two on my side of the stage and one for the bass player. It could rock quite loud, but I wisely kept it throttled with a master volume mod installed on it. I preferred having both cabinets on the ground forming a V, setting up an acoustic loop, and saving my ears.

 

I kept a 12" fan continuously cooling its KT88s, which were ungodly expensive and rare to come by.

 

I sold the amp to a friend who has it to this day.

 

Here's what they look like

My Gawd.. that must have rocked.

 

Lance has a Sound City , I think, that will be in the running for loudest also , I'd bet. But 3 4x12 cabs , that is the Hammer of the Gods. I've done multi cabinets , but not that.

[mars_hall]

My Gawd.. that must have rocked.

 

Lance has a Sound City , I think, that will be in the running for loudest also , I'd bet. But 3 4x12 cabs , that is the Hammer of the Gods. I've done multi cabinets , but not that.

 

I didn't really buy it for the volume but rather the tone it could get (Blackmore). Spreading the wattage among three cabinets also had a damping effect. The master was never beyond 3.

[tulk1]

I had a hot rodded Dual Showman that had a large vented Fender cabinet with 2 EV alnico SRO speakers... that was really loud...

 

Fred ... my brother had the Dual Showman 2 x 15 tall cab with JBL's in it (forget the number). That's why I built the Twin Stack. Man, they sounded great!!!

[DetroitBlues]

I was very surprised today when I took a pocket pod to push a 5E3 amp from KBP810. I would say the volume level seemed as close to my old Valveking 112 50 Watt combo.

[t0aj15]

 

I didn't own it, but my college roommate had a Peavey Mace (160 Watt, 2x12) that could really get freaking loud.

That's the loudest tube amp I've ever owned (still got it), SS preamp and six 6l6's in the power-amp 160 watts output. Loudest SS guitar amp I ever had was a 240 watt Heathkit (anybody remember them?) head I built back in the early 70's, fed it into a homemade 2-15" cab loaded with a pair of EV-SRO's. Those pale in comparison to todays rig which is an Axe-Fx Ultra>Carvin DCM1540L power-amp>a pair of Carvin 1588 speaker cabs.

[barrymclark]

If this icludes bass amps, it was probably my SWR rig. I had an SWR Interstellar Overdrive into an SWR Power 750 power amp into an SWR Henry 8x8 (eight 8" celestion drivers).

 

Guitar wise? Hmmmm.... most of them have all had loudness protential. I think the one that made me cringe the most was my Hot Rod DeVille 410. A 60w through those 10's, it really could get painful with my old Gretsch Historic G3161 in all its jangliness.

[JeffB]

Hard question. Ive got three 100w amps and two 60w amps here now and I wouldn't have a clue which is the loudest. Ive only ever turned them up enough to have a presence in the mix.

I did turn the 60w Fender Concert up full once to see what it would sound like breaking up. I didnt really. Just kept turning the dial till it wouldnt turn any more. Just got louder. no real break up and what there was was horrible and unusable. But that was up around 8-9 and I never used it past 3-4.

[DetroitBlues]

I had a '69 Marshall Major 200 watt head (my very first Marshall) that I used to drive three 4x12 cabinets, two on my side of the stage and one for the bass player. It could rock quite loud, but I wisely kept it throttled with a master volume mod installed on it. I preferred having both cabinets on the ground forming a V, setting up an acoustic loop, and saving my ears.

 

I kept a 12" fan continuously cooling its KT88s, which were ungodly expensive and rare to come by.

 

I sold the amp to a friend who has it to this day.

 

Here's what they look like

 

mars_hall is really Marshall with an underscore, not Mars

 

Wow, three 4x12's! That's a lot of air being moved!

[Gitfiddler]

Ampeg VT22 combo. It was as loud as it was heavy.

[big bob]

My Gawd.. that must have rocked.

 

Lance has a Sound City , I think, that will be in the running for loudest also , I'd bet. But 3 4x12 cabs , that is the Hammer of the Gods. I've done multi cabinets , but not that.

Yes LOUD, she is LOUD, but very crisp a nice LOUD

 

count um, six el 34's

[big bob]

Yes LOUD, she is LOUD, but very crisp a nice LOUD

 

count um, six el 34's

and partridge transformers..

 

Nice

[TalismanRich]

I didn't own it, but I occasionally used to play through our bass player's YBA-3A Traynor. Pushing 4 15s, and I think it was something like 200 watts. Tone wasn't the greatest, at least not through his 15s, but it sure rattled the building. The other guitar player had a YBA-1A pushing 4 12s which was pretty loud as well. My poor Guild didn't have much of a chance against that duo. About that time, I piggybacked our old Kustom 100 PA with 8 8s just to be heard.

 

The 3A weighed in at something like a hundred pounds. It was a BEAST!

[byrdland]

I've had a Sound City (100 or 120 watt) head with four 12 cabinet, a Peavey Mace with two 12's and two Fender Super Twins with two 12's. The Super Twin I currently have has been completely gone through with new caps, tubes and two 12 inch Weber Californias. The funky distortion circuit has been taken out of the loop. I have to say it is the loudest. It's so darn heavy, it stays in the bedroom, but sounds great with the Weber speakers. Back in the day, I have sent people running holding their ears with the Sound City. You could turn it all the way up and it would not break up.