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popular amps before that are not available in the market today


mbengs1

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maybe some brand that i've never heard of like sovtek or hughes and kettner or something... coz i have a bugera head and cabinet. it's not that good because it's a cheap amp. i got it for 360 dollars on ebay. but since i like the sound of it, i'll keep it. but maybe i will go for an expensive amp later in life.

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The best amp I ever had...

 

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They only made them for a couple of years then stopped

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Popular amps that are not made now? That can get expensive quick, and any repairs you may need CAN be expensive if parts are an issue to locate. A friend loved his Vibration Technology amp for years but a need for a no-longer-made IC meant it was dead. Even amps like Sound City or Laney (original ones) sound great but can be a disaster waiting to happen if it ever needs a repair. Unless you have money to burn and/or a real need for a specific amp, I would not enter that money pit. A vintage Marshall Plexi (not a reissue) has a sound and feel that is truly hard to replicate, but it is very loud to get that sound, and collectors have driven the costs higher than the utility of the amp unless you are Eric Johnson. You can get 80% of the amp qualities for 20% of the cost with a reissue, but no bragging rights. Thats what people are usually buying a vintage amp for. How many people really need a '67 Super Lead? Not many.

 

Save your money and get something newer and more practical. There are great amps being built today if you want to burn some money. Friedman, Blockhead, and plenty of other esoteric amps will do most anything you need. They are not cheap, but you aren't buying today so start saving your money. $3-4,000 will get you started with new, used for a bit less. Problem solved.

 

BTW, I have NEVER heard anything that sounds and feels like tubes can, but they are not a one time expense. I acquired a Marshall 18 watt clone for a great price, had a new box made for it, and retubed it. The tubes cost more than the amp and box did. If you can't buy the tubes that makes the amp sound special, then you don't need to buy the amp. A vintage Marshall plexi will never reach potential unless you have the ability to keep a decent supply of Mullard/Telefunken/Gold Lion tubes around. You will also need to bias it when replacing tubes, so more $$. Further, putting cheaper or newer tubes in one will mean it never sounds like it should so your money is wasted.

 

Be prepared for sticker shock once you enter the market. If its your career, buy anything you need. If its not, buy something you like that is practical. I want an original coffin-logo JTM45 but I will never spend that much money, even though I could if I didn't tell my wife. I can't justify it. Instead, I play a fairly rare unique amp called "The Valve" which I got for 20% of new price because most people have never heard of it. I MIGHT spend the money for a Matchless Clubman 35 at some point before I die because it is on my bucket list, but that bucket is getting closer and I make less in retirement than I did when I worked, so the list is getting harder to complete. Besides, I have four amps I like now and not really sure I need another. Yea....I probably need just ONE MORE.

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My main amp is a bugera 6262. I use it on the clean channel mostly with a distortion and an overdrive going thru a noise suppressor. I also use a delay after it. That's what I play mostly. sometimes I use the lead channel though with the delay in the effects loop. I like the bugera because of the decent clean channel. distortion pedals sound great on it. I liked collecting distortions so I used the bugera for that for about 3 years now. I also have an old marshall jtm60 combo that sounds ok with pedals too. but its not that loud. I also just got a fender champion 40 combo that has nice digital effects built in. I use that for playing at lower volumes. I think I need a real amp right now. but I don't have the money yet. i'll have to save for that. I checked sweetwater for 100 watt tube amps and I saw some good options. like the marshall jcm900 or 800, the jvm410, the dsl100h, even the mg100cfx which is very cheap but sounds decent. then I also like the blackstar series one and mesa dual rectifier... egnater 4100 tourmaster, evh 5150 iii and all the versions of that. I think I might settle for an amp that's available in the Philippines. they have the jcm800 and the evh5150 iii here... but who knows what i'd settle with. I might just get the amp from sweetwater or musicians friend. :)

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The first solid state amp I bought taught me a very valuable lesson.

 

I bought a used Moserite solid state amp which had Fuzzrite built into it back in 1972. The amp sounded incredible and I only had it for a few weeks when the overdrive circuit blew out. I was already into electronics at that time but I hadn't been formally trained and troubleshooting a complicated amp like that was over my head so I took it to a local repair shop and the guy replaced the transistors.

 

Worked for a few days and the transistors blew out again. The tech told me the original transistors weren't available and he had to use generics. That might have been true but I suspect he was making and excuse not to repair it again. It likely needed heat sinks on the transistors to keep them cool.

 

Anyway I had an amp with a dead head at that point and gave up on getting it repaired.

 

I also owned a Fender Bassman which I bought in 67 and its still running after 50 years of hard use and abuse. The company that built it is still in business and parts are readily available and because of its simplicity and popularity there is no problem getting it repaired. (Of course as a Tech I've always done all my own repairs)

 

 

My first job out of electronics school taught me many other valuable lessons.

 

New gear from new manufacturers often have unique parts and the more complex they are the tougher it is to find replacement parts. Back then, some companies would sell you the parts at a premium which made repairs very expensive. Today with the micro components and multi layered boards, you cant even get a third party tech to repair them. If the dealer has a service tech who isn't authorized then the only way you can get it repaired is to send it back to the manufacturer. Then all they do is swap the boards and charge you nearly as much as the unit costs new.

 

If the manufacturer isn't well established and large enough to have a repair facility you're SOL once the warrantee has expired. The gear is considered to be disposable.

 

Another weakness is when you combine high voltage, high temperature tubes with low voltage, low temp solid state. Tubes get hot and it causes solid state components to over heat and blow out. Mounting tubes on a PCB board is common in allot of low cost tubes amps too. Its a stupid thing to do because the heat will bake the board and cause it to either crack or short out. Its only a matter of time and they all do it. Takes a couple of years in most cases but that's usually long enough for warrantees to expire, and or for a company to go out of business, so again you're SOL by the time problems occur.

 

The good part about guitar rigs is they don't need to be complex to sound good. You can also buy your components as modules. Keep your amplification separate from your effects and if something blows you wont be completely dead in the water.

 

I talked to a friend of mine last weekend. He plays in a full time band. he got to a gig and when he went to power up his multi effects unit it was dead as a door nail. He was able to get through the gig because he still had the amp but it was rough because he had no effects at all. If he had a pedal board its unlikely every pedal would blow out at the same time. If one went out he's still be able to use all the others. All in one amps that have effects built in, really make you dead in the water when they blow. Even if you borrow an amp, you still wont have your effects and their presets.

 

Best thing you can do before buying gear is research it. Don't just look for the good reviews, pay special attention to the dirt. It doesn't take long to google up problems with the gear you're planning to buy and if the cash is burning a hole in your pocket, you should learn to avoid impulse buying. Wait a day or two while you research the gear.

 

If you find allot of negative reviews, you do need to decipher them. Often times you get one guy singing sour grapes and then you get a string of people chiming in and singing the same sour notes about the gear. You need to weed through the reviews to find fact from fiction

 

Then you have the opposite where the people don't have allot of experience and wouldn't know a good piece of gear from a hole in the ground.

I've read peoples reviews on the biggest pieces of garbage out there and I simply chalk it up to lack of experience and Ego. People hate to admit they didn't spend time researching before buying and will still speak well about the gear instead of admitting they got gypped or simply made a mistake.

 

You have to look through that too. Even many manufacturer sites have forums, Q/A and troubleshooting sections which can be helpful.

I've bought tones of gear over the years and one of the first things I do is download the manual and look at all the details. Often times I find the gear was unsuitable to my needs because one feature or another you'd expect to be there isn't available.

 

One thing for sure is there are allot of choices. Its good to keep and open mind and try allot of it out. If you can, buy used till you narrow down the kinds of gear you want. The cool part is you can use it for awhile then sell it for what you paid for it. Then after trying all the brands of interest that peak your curiosity, then think about buying new. With that experience under your belt you'll be much more likely to purchase something that will be with you long term and the devaluation that occurs won't be such a big deal.

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...

BTW, I have NEVER heard anything that sounds and feels like tubes can, but they are not a one time expense. I acquired a Marshall 18 watt clone for a great price, had a new box made for it, and retubed it. The tubes cost more than the amp and box did. If you can't buy the tubes that makes the amp sound special, then you don't need to buy the amp. A vintage Marshall plexi will never reach potential unless you have the ability to keep a decent supply of Mullard/Telefunken/Gold Lion tubes around. You will also need to bias it when replacing tubes, so more $$. Further, putting cheaper or newer tubes in one will mean it never sounds like it should so your money is wasted...

 

I had never either until I discovered the Yamaha DG series of amplifiers - see my post above. A friend of mine (great guitar player) was the regional Yamaha rep and he programmed the amps with what he called useful and pratical patches for the working guitarist.

 

The DG series did not claim to emulate any specific amp but, instead, performs like a high quality tube amp without any of the negative aspects of tubes. I've ha mine since before the turn of the century and it has required absolutely zero maintenance. The sound remains consistant night after night year after year because there is no deterioration of componants like there is in a tube amp.

 

I lugged around 100lbs of Twin Reverb/EVM12L for fifteen years because I couldn't find anything more portable that sounded as good. When Line6 came out with AmpFarm I was impressed enough with it in the studio that I thought it might be time for me to investigate digital amps. I rented a Flextone for a few days and my wife said "that sounds like a synthesizer, you're not selling your Twin." I heard my friend, the Yamaha rep, playing in a club and his sound was fantastic. I asked him what he was playing through and he dragged me up on stage and showed me the DG80.

 

I rented a DG80 and took it home to try it out. My wife came in and said "now that sounds like you." I traded my Twin and got a DG80-112 and a MIDI foot controller and have been using it ever since for both live a studio work. The digital pre-amp has Gain and Master Volume controls and the power amp has an Ouput control which is independant of the speaker emulated balaced output so it's great for silent recording or being in the same room as the drummer or singer.

 

The DG series also has motorized knobs which, at first, seemed like a novelty to me. The advantage is that when I call up a patch the knobs move to where I set them when I saved the patch. This makes it easy to fine tune the amp settings without any sudden jumps when the control is adjusted.

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Seems that the sound part is there. I have heard some digital amps that sound good. What I have not been able to get is the same feel. That "bloom" from a sagging amp seems to be gone. If they could put in a sag dial, I might consider one. Close with compression, but not quite the same. Glad you like yours. I will listen to one, but it will be hard to pry my amps out of my hands. I have been a Marshall guy for a long time.

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I can understand that. I was a Fender guy for a long time and still have an early '70s Princeton Reverb that I really like - even though it requres some attention from time to time.

 

The Yamaha, on the other hand, has beem maintenance free and 100% reliable for almost 20 years.

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Great amps no longer made.....

 

Dumble 😄

Rickenbacker's various models

Valcos/Supro/Gretsch

Guild Thunderbass

Blackface Fenders

vintage Ampegs Reverberockets, etc...

vintage Magnatones/Panaramics/Tonemaster, etc....

Gibson GA40's

old Traynors

 

All of these are under 50 watt amps except for the Thunderbass and being vintage maintenance is a given. There are many more obscure makers beyond this, lots of neat amps out there and junk too.

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Bogner amps are out of range. I think theyre more than 3000 ? i'd rather get a marshall or blackstar.

 

Not crazy about Marshall although I do like the dark clean some of them make. I have a small SS bass amp that does that for guitar.

 

The Blackstars have this thing I really like they call ISS which basically sweeps the spectra from Fender through Marshall. They are able to produce that whistling clang that most non Fenders can't even get close to. I think even their pedals with ISS can do it too

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I will second the Blackstars...great bang for the buck, and EL34 based. Absolutely the closest any amp I've had has come to the Marshall* sound [of course, the Blackstar designers worked for Marshall...], and gets me very close into Boogie, Vox and Fender tones...the ISS circuitry is very clever. As I have a number of Fenders, and a Vox, and a Marshall...I was able to make direct comparisons...the Blackstar has become my 'goto amp' for most applications.

 

* As much as I liked the 'Marshall' setting on my SuperChamp XD, it was never quite as warm or deep as the Blackstar. Modeling vs replication perhaps.

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I have a Marshall Valvestate which was an excellent buy for the price. I'd still prefer my old 50w Marshall Plexi though. Best gigging amp I ever owned. It wasn't defining like the 100's and you could open it up and get a nice drive tone.

 

I have an old 50W Sound City head I've had for decades. I blew the power transformer about 10 years ago and need to get a new one for it one of these days. Its essentially a Marshall head when it comes to tone. Its got a low and high power mode to it. The high power is 60W which is a bit too much for a regular band. Very hot sound but matched with the right speakers it can sound fantastic.

 

They just started making Music Man amps again. Fairly expensive but there is a demand for them.

 

Sunn made incredible amps back in the day. Fender tried to revive the brand but I think most of its is crap compared to the originals. They had some really cool designs too. They did things way before they're time like using FET's for power transistors and used inductors in the power amp circuits to give them tube like compression. Their tube amps were monsters. My buddy had the Model T with the 2X15 folded bass cab. You could play arena's with that thing.

 

Lab Series were excellent amps. They stem back to when Norlin owned Gibson and Moog and they didn't have any decent amps to compete with fender so they assigned Bob Moog to working on an new amp line. He contributed to the EQ and the tube-like SS distortion circuits the amps used. Anyone whose owned one knows they are one of the better SS amps. My buddy used one in a cover band and played through a 15" JBL. Always sounded decent to me.

 

 

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Can anybody tell me about an amp called the 'tubeman'? I heard its 300 watts all-tube. but i'd like to learn more about this amp. I heard about it but never saw it on the internet. unless its the same amp that hughes and kettner makes.

 

 

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Can anybody tell me about an amp called the 'tubeman'? I heard its 300 watts all-tube. but i'd like to learn more about this amp. I heard about it but never saw it on the internet. unless its the same amp that hughes and kettner makes.

 

 

The only product called "Tubeman" that I'm familiar with is a line of tube preamps that were made by Hughes & Kettner. I've never heard of a 300W tube amp with that name.

 

Where did you hear about this alleged beast?

 

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The only product called "Tubeman" that I'm familiar with is a line of tube preamps that were made by Hughes & Kettner. I've never heard of a 300W tube amp with that name.

 

Where did you hear about this alleged beast?

 

I heard about it on harmony central amp reviews a long time ago. HC used to have reviews for all kinds of guitar gear. i'd read em to help me choose the amp I want.

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