Must Have Amps

[koula901]

Okay Guys and Gals,

 

You've seen the threads, like, must have guitars: i.e. Must have a single coil, a bucker, etc etc. Well, in the same vein what would you say are must-have amps i.e. your marshall sound, or 5e3, etc etc.

[koula901]

Hfan's and PK's threads about 5E3 tweed amps got me thinking about this, as well as:

 

 

This amp has a wonderful crunch, but I would imagine you'd have to crank it before you get it . . .or would it depend on the speaker.

[PunkKitty]

For a 5e3 it depends on the speaker.

[yoslate]

Can't believe I'm saying this because I always thought of them as such pedestrian amps. I'm really big on Fender Deluxe Reverbs, now. A vintage Blackface would certainly be ideal, but I'm having a blast with my doctored reissue. Incredibly versatile! Doesn't take up much room in the car. I don't need a hand truck to move it. Everything sounds good through it. Takes pedals well. I use it in small clubs, and I have a friend whose band opened for Seger, at the PNC Arena, in Raleigh. He used his Silverface Deluxe in that cavern. What a tool!

[58super]

Any of the 10" speaker fender amps: Princeton, Vibrolux, Super or Tweed Bassman.

[Kuz]

Well, honestly for moderate to high gain (Mesa, Marshall, Soldanos) I just use my Axe-Fx to record these tones, and could use it live if I had too. But pedals get me close.

 

I feel this is my quest now. I have all the guitars I need, and a lot more, so I have turn my attention to amps.

 

Blackface: I have the Vibrolux Rev and Deluxe Rev, both circa 1967. The VR has 2x10s and the DR 1x12 (with JBL K120 making it more unique sounding) these two amps sound different just based on the different speaker configuration. You need a Blackface for the shimmering, "best in the world", CLEANS. But they sound GREAT with OD pedals because the clean platform is Sooooo good. In addidtion to the VR & DR, a Super Rev (4x10), Pro Rev (2x12), and Twin Rev (2x12) all have the same basic circuitry.

 

-Princeton Rev (Blackface): I have the Headstron Lil' King but with a (1x12) instead of the 10" speaker. The PR has slightly a different schematic to where it can (IMHO) be put in it's own category. GREAT mids, more, sag & compression, and resembles more of a tweedish tone. You can get some monster crunch tones with an OD pedal at lower volumes, and yet fat juicy jazz tones too when played clean.

 

Brownface: I went with the somewhat rare Vibrolux 1x12, lean a little more toward 1x12 combos. These lay in between tweed and blackface, and often taken the best of both. They sound more Marshalleque when they break up (or in my case, hit with an OD pedal). They hold the bass together (don't fart out) better than tweeds but don't have quite the 3D shimmering cleans of blackface amps. They also have the best Tremelo circuit & tone ever!!! But hear me, they still sound VERY good clean.

 

Tweeds: These are blues/rock machines based on their OD tones. A LOT of mids, so they don't have the shimmering cleans, and will fall apart, fart out when dimed. But that sweet spot is pretty big from blues to classic rock OD tones. A lot of good choices, higher watt tweeds take longer to break up but hold the bass together better (Tweed Twin, Low powered Tweed Twin, Bassman, Tweed Super, Tweed Pro). The lower watts have the OD at reasonable volumes but fart out when dimed (Tweed Deluxe, Vibrolux, Tremulox).

 

SO for me the Blackface amps are Vibrolux Rev & Deluxe Rev amp (with a Headstrong Lili' King for princeton tones). Brownface is the Vibrolux (but I would love to get a Brownface Deluxe, maybe a Brownface Super (2x10), and possibly a Brownface Princeton). And I am going to be search for a tweed someday, I had a CS Tweed Deluxe that sounded great, but they are a one trick OD pony, A Tweed Tremulox would be a mid-powered tweed incredible addition as well.

[yoslate]

A Tweed Tremulox would be a mid-powered tweed incredible addition as well.

 

Friend of mine has one, a '57, and gigs it all of the time. It is remarkable! He also has a '57 Vibrolux, which I've gigged. That thing just kills with a Tele! And I recently posted about playing a '61 Brownface Concert. That was a marvelous box I'd love to own! Fender amps seem to be the root of all of it....

[koula901]

This helps make things much clearer, thanks. I'm definitely a Fender gal. Like you Kuz, I'm turning my attention to amps as I have all the guitars I need/want. This is the next big factor in the tonal pallet.

[bolero]

I think you could easily get by with a silverface pro reverb...and a couple pedals

 

in fact if I could only use one amp that might be it....or a tweed pro/bassman & some pedals

[Kuz]

I think you could easily get by with a silverface pro reverb...and a couple pedals

 

in fact if I could only use one amp that might be it....or a tweed pro/bassman & some pedals

Indeed, a good vintage Fender Black or Silver, and your pedal board with mild, moderate, and higher gain and you can cover about everything (except the heaviest of metal). The Chicago Blues Box that Brent owns, is the model loosely based off a Deluxe Reverb. He loves higher gain and we have heard him/others use the Rat pedal to get into metal territory.

[Kuz]

If I had to pick one (and this is like the whole "picking your favorite child" thing), it would have to be the '67 Deluxe Reverb with the JBL K120.

 

BUT a very close second would be the Brownface Vibrolux.

[LK155]

... I have a friend whose band opened for Seger, at the PNC Arena, in Raleigh. He used his Silverface Deluxe in that cavern. What a tool!

 

I thought he was your friend!

Oh, maybe you meant the amp.

Never mind.

[MrB]

Twin Reverb

 

Gorgeous Fender sound

Superb cleans, lots of headroom for clarity on those jazz chords

but heavy

 

Mine was an early silverface, same circuits as a blackface

[58super]

Don't forget the divide in the high power silverface amps when fender introduced the ultralinear transformers and upped the 4 power tube amps to 135 watts and the 2 power tube amps to 70 watts. Some country players love these, most people didn't.

[slider313]

I'm a big fan of having a somewhat clean platform and adding a pedal for any overdrive. That said, I use mostly vintage Fender amps or a mid 60's Ampeg Reverberocket. The mid 60's Ampeg Reverberocket amps have a more focused midrange sound. They are also cathode biased, making them compress and break up a bit sooner; kind of like a tweed Deluxe with reverb and tremolo. I find them very useful when playing places where volume is a concern. They seem to sit in the mix a bit better and are not too "out front" at the same volume levels with a comparable Fender Deluxe.

[koula901]

Well, not sure if I was clear enough in my original question. This is not a "if you only have one amp, which would it be" rather, its a question of : what amps does one need to cover all sonic territory.

[Guest HRB853370]

Okay Guys and Gals,

 

You've seen the threads, like, must have guitars: i.e. Must have a single coil, a bucker, etc etc. Well, in the same vein what would you say are must-have amps i.e. your marshall sound, or 5e3, etc etc.

Tough question. If I had the dough, it would be all vintage Fenders and maybe a Marshall 100w plexi in the fold, possibly an original AC30.

 

What I have now, doesn't compare to any of the above, but I can tell you that I would never sell my Gibson GA40RVT. Its a keeper and I must have it!

[Gitfiddler]

Well, not sure if I was clear enough in my original question. This is not a "if you only have one amp, which would it be" rather, its a question of : what amps does one need to cover all sonic territory.

 

The closest I've come to that 'Swiss Army Knife' amp is a Mesa Boogie. Depending on the model, they can cover everything from Fender cleans, blues, jazz all the way to heavy metal.

[Guest HRB853370]

Can't believe I'm saying this because I always thought of them as such pedestrian amps. I'm really big on Fender Deluxe Reverbs, now. A vintage Blackface would certainly be ideal, but I'm having a blast with my doctored reissue. Incredibly versatile! Doesn't take up much room in the car. I don't need a hand truck to move it. Everything sounds good through it. Takes pedals well. I use it in small clubs, and I have a friend whose band opened for Seger, at the PNC Arena, in Raleigh. He used his Silverface Deluxe in that cavern. What a tool!

+1 on everything he said. And mine is not doctored at all, doesn't need to be. BTW, my band also opened for Seger, back in 1970 at my high school in Harper Woods, Mi.

[Yooper]

Just an amp with no pedals? Boogie.

 

Slammer,

I watched your buddy Jeff Sipe last night online. He played Warren Haynes Christmas Jam with Bruce Hampton's Aquarium Rescue Unit and Gregg Allman and Friends. Awesome jams until 4am both Friday and Saturday. Still need coffee.

[smokedtires]

Koula that is a great video and I agree on all the 5E3 posts! I've been looking at the kits and much more $ than I expected. There is a Bassman reissue for sale locally for $650 that I considered picking up and then installing a point2point kit into, this would be <1K and cheaper than buying a whole kit.

 

As far as must have amps, very happy with my Blackstar amps. I will have to say tube are still where its at. I really like my Orange TT combo so maybe a Dual Terror is down the road for me. The 60 watt 2x12 HT-60 Stage is by far the best sounding most versatile amp I've owned to date, but the low watt tube amps are great for the lower volume roar.

[smokedtires]

Edit: Would love to hear a Soldano Lucky13, Bogner Shiva, and Orange Rockerverb. Unfortunately, Syracuse NY is not the place to live if you want anything of this caliber in stock. Of course GC will "order" anything you want, would be nice of put my fingers on something instead to waiting for the brown truck to come up the road with each new purchase!

[koula901]

 

The closest I've come to that 'Swiss Army Knife' amp is a Mesa Boogie. Depending on the model, they can cover everything from Fender cleans, blues, jazz all the way to heavy metal.

 

Okay, but it doesn't have to be one amp. It could be a couple or several amps.

[koula901]

Edit: Would love to hear a Soldano Lucky13, Bogner Shiva, and Orange Rockerverb. Unfortunately, Syracuse NY is not the place to live if you want anything of this caliber in stock. Of course GC will "order" anything you want, would be nice of put my fingers on something instead to waiting for the brown truck to come up the road with each new purchase!

I'm from Buffalo, originally. Syracuse is how many hours to NYC? But yeah, Bogner Shiva, Rockerverb - those are some great amps.

 

What I would have expected from my original query was: you ought to have 1 Fender blackface for cleans, and 1 type of Marshall for your high gain, etc etc. those type of answers....although, my tastes pretty much run in the Fender realm. Orange amps are great, and so are Budda amps. I think I might not ever be totally happy with just one type of amp. But if I had money to blow, I'd probably want a 12" speakered princeton, a fender deluxe, a 5E3 tweed, and maybe a Budda or Orange for my gainey amp.

[Spectrum13]

I'm in good shape. For high gain the Fargen Mini II (2 EL34 /KT66/6V6/6L6) does JMT-45 -Plexi and JM800 AKA 60s 70s & 80s Marshall for classic rock and blues. For classic Jazz a 65 Ampeg RR2 is hard to beat. Also works for blues and rock when it's past 2:00 on the dial. Hitched to a V30 gets that Stones Midrange. For tweed the Swart 5 watt tweed does blues & rock kind of like a 5E3 with verb. Then the Hayseed (Vox AC15) does old school on the EF86 into EL84 or British with the bright 12Ax7) Last but not least the Nolatone RJ does it all wthe 2 6V6's and a midscoop doing black face to Marshall. Everything but heavy metal covered. That covers my Spectrum