What do guitar players need to think about when buying amps?

[bobmeyrick]

Top session guitarist chats with amp designer over Zoom...

 

[ElNumero]

Does the volume dial go to 11 or does it only go to 10?

[LK155]

"How am I going to pay for this?  I've already got 8 amps that don't get much use."
 

[yoslate]

2 hours ago, LK155 said:

"How am I going to pay for this?  I've already got 8 amps that don't get much use."
 

Completely unrelated issues.  You'll pay for it with money...and perhaps spousal censure.  So it goes.  And to paraphrase, if eight was nine, would you care?

[HANGAR18]

If you can’t play good, play REALLY really loud.

 

kidding…..

[ElNumero]

Ask Mr. Steiner, he has several dozen guitar amps!!!!

[rwinking]

I think about how it will look in my room with my other amps.

[Steiner]

On 9/2/2021 at 11:16 AM, ElNumero said:

Ask Mr. Steiner, he has several dozen guitar amps!!!!

The first consideration is the builder.  It takes a skilled mind to create an advanced circuit - multiple channels, etc.  Second is the amount of iron; the bigger the trannies, the better the sound - most of my amps are 100w.  Third are the type of power tubes, they all have a distinct sound.  Then there's the sound itself.  I don't want a lemon.

I don't use pedals so you might consider how well the amp accepts your collection, some effects loops are better than others.  Try it with your guitar - it too is part of the circuit.

Last is price.  It has to have an unforgettable sound.  the longer that good feeling lasts, the more it's worth to me.  The last amp I bought I thought was a tad pricey.  Once I got it home and put it to work all I could think is that they didn't charge enough!  That's the mark of a great amp.

[ElNumero]

15 minutes ago, Steiner said:

The first consideration is the builder.  It takes a skilled mind to create an advanced circuit - multiple channels, etc.  Second is the amount of iron; the bigger the trannies, the better the sound - most of my amps are 100w.  Third are the type of power tubes, they all have a distinct sound.  Then there's the sound itself.  I don't want a lemon.

I don't use pedals so you might consider how well the amp accepts your collection, some effects loops are better than others.  Try it with your guitar - it too is part of the circuit.

Last is price.  It has to have an unforgettable sound.  the longer that good feeling lasts, the more it's worth to me.  The last amp I bought I thought was a tad pricey.  Once I got it home and put it to work all I could think is that they didn't charge enough!  That's the mark of a great amp.

Must have been a Dumble!!!!

[Steiner]

13 minutes ago, ElNumero said:

Must have been a Dumble!!!!

He has too many flavors to pursue.  The thought's there; what's the difference between owning a Dumble or a Tesla?  Both can be very fun; the Dumble will appreciate in value.  I'd rather be tearing up a fretboard than the roads.  Howard has very good ears and couples them with the ability to tune a circuit.  I'm impressed with designers who are not afraid to go down a rabbit hole to get subtle nuances.  So impressed, I'll throw money at them  :O  Life's too short.

 

[rockabilly69]

When I think about buying an amp, I'm usually shopping for a certain tone that I already know, and I want the amp that I know is going to give it up. So that's why I have a Fender Vibro Champ, Princeton Reverb, Deluxe Reverb, and a variant of the Fender 5E3 tweed, the Clark Beaufort. I also have amps based around Marshall, Supro, Vox, etc. What I mainly look for is build quality.

So I  look at the builder of the amps. What is his track record? And I like handwired amps. Do they sound better? Sometimes, but not always. The thing I like about them is serviceability.

I am currently think about getting an amp based on the later generation Tweed Pro. So I am looking at builders of those amps right now.

 

[bolero]

I judge an amp by the way it smells, once it's been fired up for an hour or so

[rockabilly69]

3 hours ago, bolero said:

I judge an amp by the way it smells, once it's been fired up for an hour or so

nothing like the smell of warmed up tubes!

[JeffB]

Dust smells amazing once its heated up.

[bolero]

Haha! Yes....hot, dusty tolex; dried baltic birch shipped all the way from Hanwell, stained with years of tobacco and pot residue. Maybe even a chunk of hash or incense from the Marquee Club in London, circa 1965. And lots of battle scars from being hauled around Europe in the back of a van, before it got abandoned in Greece.

[rockabilly69]

12 minutes ago, bolero said:

Haha! Yes....hot, dusty tolex; dried baltic birch shipped all the way from Hanwell, stained with years of tobacco and pot residue. Maybe even a chunk of hash or incense from the Marquee Club in London, circa 1965. And lots of battle scars from being hauled around Europe in the back of a van, before it got abandoned in Greece.

Hell my old AC30 replica by River City got so hot on the top panel that you could probably cook some hash on it  That amp did sound great though.

Here is the only song I ever recorded with it, I used my Firebird and a Matchless Hotbox with it, my friend Elizabeth Frank wrote the lyrics, I did everything else...

 

 

[bolero]

Great!!

[rockabilly69]

44 minutes ago, bolero said:

Great!!

That amp would get so hot I actually burnt my fingers touching the power switch. And the tolex would peel, but as it cooled down I would just stick the tolex back with the warm glue and it would be back to normal. I had read how hot some of the originals got so I figured it was par for the course. It sounded great though!!!

It also weighed a ton, that's why I got rid of it and got an AC15HW1X, and guess what, that thing is heavy as hell too  A 50lb 15 watter, although it's a loud 15 watter! 

[Dick Seacup]

I don't know if there's a consensus on what guitarists need to think about when buying an amp. But, I'll tell you what I'm usually thinking when I buy a new amp: "Did I start with two fingers of scotch or three on this one?" 

[rockabilly69]

1 hour ago, Dick Seacup said:

I don't know if there's a consensus on what guitarists need to think about when buying an amp. But, I'll tell you what I'm usually thinking when I buy a new amp: "Did I start with two fingers of scotch or three on this one?" 

bourbon for me, but I'm picking up what your putting down!

[bolero]

LOL!!

I had a Matchless DC30 clone for a while, it weighed a ton too! Had better cooling than AC30's, that's for sure. And it sounded good. I also went through 3x Vox AC30 reissues, the CC2 models. With Wharfedale & also Vox Blues. I liked them.

 

[rockabilly69]

43 minutes ago, bolero said:

LOL!!

I had a Matchless DC30 clone for a while, it weighed a ton too! Had better cooling than AC30's, that's for sure. And it sounded good. I also went through 3x Vox AC30 reissues, the CC2 models. With Wharfedale & also Vox Blues. I liked them.

 

Three of them?

[bolero]

 I bought one with wharfedales, then thought I should check out the version with alnico blues. Then somehow I ended up with a 1x12 version too. I have long since sold them, but they were good amps.

[rockabilly69]

14 hours ago, bolero said:

 I bought one with wharfedales, then thought I should check out the version with alnico blues. Then somehow I ended up with a 1x12 version too. I have long since sold them, but they were good amps.

I had one of the AC15C1 with Wharfdales, I really liked it although it didn't sound as traditional Voxounding as my AC15HW1x, I thought it was more versatile with the trem and the reverb. And it sounded great with my H150...

 

[bolero]

Nice pic!!

That Vox grillcloth, trim & tolex is iconic. I was playing my P90 SG through it at a gig, and a musician I respect ( who's dead now, RIP ) ran up afterwards and said " that combination is THE sound!! " whatever that means...I should have asked him, I guess.