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What's the best amp you've ever played?


knnr

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Best all around amp? My '64 Vibrolux Reverb. Everything a BF Fender should be without being too heavy to haul, or not loud enough to be heard. Takes pedals well, and had drippy reverb all day, plus Fender's classic 'vibrato'. Mine is actually in better condition than the one in the pic.

Fender Black Panel Vibrolux Reverb 2-Channel 35-Watt 2x10" Guitar Combo 1964 - 1967 image 1

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Best I've played thru, easy ROLAND JC-120. The perfect amp for clean. Yes, the amps gain sounded like it was broken, but that's why we have pedals.

Best I've ever owned? Harder.... Oliver G150R nice clean 35 watt tuber. Played it for decades until it finally died a horrible smoking screeching mess. (Actually caught fire and melted the boards. I cried that day.)

Original Roland Blues Cube. 60 SS watts that was Fender clean, and actually had gain that didn't sound broken.

 

 

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I was test driving a few amps about 10 years ago and played a Bogner Dhiva. Damn thing sounded incredible. Freaking expensive too. 

I own a. Dr Z Maz 18 combo that sounds really nice.

I realy like the off the shelf Fender 65 deluxe reissue. Good enough for government work, as they say.

 

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What does “best” even mean ?

The”best” amp I ever played is a lowly Fender Princeton Chorus solid state. Why ?

Because it fits perfectly inside the cabinet 58E688FF-1227-4A96-A8DE-C645CF0425D5.thumb.jpeg.95aee57ac9458220dda4c6f4e5172ab8.jpeg981486DC-2CB7-4C3A-A911-C4EC0CEA97FB.thumb.jpeg.5f4d12ac29c6a51208bf20acc2c1d58e.jpeg

It does glorious cleans with the acoustic chamber behind it . EQed 10 right across with a touch of reverb. The stereo chorus is really a bonus .

It is attached to the slide for safety 

A09D2DEC-A838-40F4-8525-66AA7D752E51.thumb.jpeg.d6dbd9e9c75fa8de5ff5b71aa3c9130e.jpeg

Other than cleaning the pots it’s been trouble free. 
It’s Made in America  and it only cost around $200 . Not bad, I found my sound with no pedals needed So yes, it’s the best for what I do

Edited by gardo
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I once got to play a friend's ridiculous Mesa "rack rig" - this was mid to late 90s if I recall correctly... I think he dropped about $5 grand on this setup. 

Mesa 2/90 tube power amp

Mesa TriAxis programmable preamp

Two Mesa 2x12 closed back guitar cabinets

Rocktron rackmount multi-effect unit

MIDI footcontroller for the whole mess. 

The problem with a rig like this is there's an overwhelming number or choices to make. I only got to spend maybe an hour or so messing around with it, programmed a couple of sounds I liked. It could be programmed for almost any sound, from sterile hi-fi cleans to dual rectifier type wheedly meedlies. Be a nice piece of kit to have if you're in a really really high paid cover band. 

Dude that bought was basically an adult beginner with too much money to spend! He really liked Carlos Santana so he bought a PRS and a Mesa guitar rig. I'm not friends with this guy anymore (my now ex-GF worked for his little company) so I don't know whatever happened to that fabulous rig of if he even learned how to play decently. 

As for an amp I've gotten to play regularly, when our band moved rehearsals to our drummer's house, the bass player brought his LOVELY brownface Fender Concert Pro amplifier for me to play through.  Open back combo with four ten inch speakers. So I'll say that's the best amp I've ever played. Sounded GREAT, but sadly after about a year of playing it, it developed a loud hiss and seem to lose some volume, so I quit playing it and bought a solid-state Marshall combo. 

Edited by Mr.Grumpy
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4 hours ago, gardo said:

Fortunately, mine have a volume control .in fact my guitars also have volume controls  . I love my amps it’s the pedals I have no use for

Course I was being sarcastic but when players talk about playing an amp they mean the speakers, trannies, and every last electron in the rectifier tube. (whatever that is) I've used the same rig for decades and get everything from the preamps - pedals included. Course (2) I only play to satisfy my curiosity. Get good results too.

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The best amp Ive played? Well I've only been playing since Dec of 2019 and I've only ever played through my own amp. Only one of which is a tube amp and I use it daily. 

 

Its a Monoprice Stage Right 15w 1x12" combo aka the Laney Cub 12R clone with a different reverb. 

 

I absolutely love it. Seems like 95% of the people who play it love it, also. 

 

 

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That's a tough one. Over the last 50+ years I've played so many fine amps. If you had asked me a couple of years ago being mostly a clean player I would have said without having to think about it that it was my Twin. But as time caught up with me the weight issue broke the camels back so I went looking around. What I decided on was a Mesa Express 550+. The clean channel to my ears is every bit as good as the Twin and though I loved the Twin in the absense of pedals it was a one trick pony. The Mesa on the other hand is like having four amps in one box.

 

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Edited by GUITPICKER1
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