Amp Odyssey: List what you went through to get where you are.

[Ancient Mariner]

Bull. Get it over there, NOW! We're not all metalheads, you know. We like Vox and Marshall just as much as you do. We just happen to like dead things. :poke:

 

Hey, I'm just messing feller. I post there too y'know.

 

[caveman]

In the late 50s my first amp was a Silvertone. In 66 or so I bought a Twin Reverb and used that through the early 90s. These days I have a HRD, a BDri and a Carvin Vintage 16.

[Hemroidius]

My amp history is overall pretty haphazard and until the last few years not very well informed.

 

Not a perfectly sequential time-line but close as I can get:

 

Beginning/"woodshedding" and first jamming (early/mid 70s):

Univox Solid State combo, 25 watts, trem/verb, with a treble control that worked in reverse . ...prompting me to buy one of those plug-into-amp-input EH Treble boosters. It still took me a while to discover what was "wrong" with the treble pot

 

Jamming and playing in my first bands:

Fender tube amps - most from the 60s/70s era. Took me a long time to realize these weren't "my" amp. They were everywhere though - and easy to go from one to another. The few Marshalls or Mesas I tried along the way somehow never seemed right - and I never did find the Hiwatt I'd always dreamed about being a Who freak - that is I wouldn't have known where to look for one. I was certainly aware of Vox but along with Hiwatt never saw them being sold at my local music stores - we're talking late 70s/early 80s here, DC area.

 

Yamaha 70s Solid State combo (most of us have seen them, 2 channels, para-EQ, olive drab tolex, black/olive grill cloth)

Roland JC77

GK 250ML w/212 cab

Seymour Duncan Convertible (Head and combo one time or another)

Ampegs from at least three different eras

 

...Somewhere around here (early/mid 90s) I'd burnt out on the band endeavors but maintained my interest in guitar playing and gear collecting/swapping and hopping...

 

Budda Twinmaster 210

Vox AC15 RI

VHT Pitbull (head with VHT 212 Fat cab)

Star Nova

Gibson Goldtone combo 15RV RI based? (The ones that came out in the 90s)

Mesa F-30

 

...probably missing at least 2 or 3... on the whole list

 

Muddled as the above list may seem, here's what I have now:

Peavey Bandit (Transtube/Sheffield panel), and a Peavey Nanovalve.

 

Along with a couple of good pedals, plenty enough for my bedroom noodling and sounding pretty damn good for the money. As much as I like the idea of having a high-end boo-teekish amp, I realize I can be perfectly happy without one. I'm glad not to have deal with pesky tubes for the Bandit - and the Nanovalve only uses two

[Hemroidius]

I still have all of my amps. I've got some others but acquired them and never really got around to playing them. Can you tell I don't use overdrive channels? Always clean... ... '80sFender Princeton Reverb II ...Quidley 22 Watt Head

 

Forgot, I had a Deluxe Rvb II for a while, with a nearly uncontrollable gain channel (all the pots for it were super-sensitive). Co-worker of mine had one too, same deal with the gain channel. Basically, unless you were really into some wacked out "fire hydrant on full" type distortion, the gain channel was almost unusable.

 

Now, about that Quidley, how'd you like to "loan" it to me fer a while? (I'll pay shipping both ways , and be forever grateful )

[ievans]

One advantage, maybe the only one, of getting back into guitar as an adult is that I could afford decent gear from the beginning.

 

Ashdown Fallen Angel 60 DSP head - 60 watts into two EL34s. Decent f/x, a monster bottom-end, and tons of gain. Was plugged into my Avatar 1x12 cab with a Hellatone 60. It was just too much for my needs. Traded to a fellow HCEGer.

 

Peavey Valveking Royal 8 - Little 5 watter with a master volume. Upgraded the speaker to a Weber Sig 8 Alnico, and modded with an l-pad to get more crunch and a speaker out jack. Sounds awesome with my Avatar cab, but not used much. I keep it around in case I need a small, portable amp.

 

Palomino V32 head - 30 watts into EL84s, and much smaller footprint. Plugged into the Avatar cab. Weak stock reverb, which was improved with an upgraded tank. Great overdrive crunch, and surprisingly decent cleans. I still use this.

 

Ampeg ReverbeRocket 2X12 combo - My main amp. Excellent overdrive channel and sweet cleans, impeccable reverb. Heavy mofo, but also stylish.

 

Fender HotRod Deluxe 1X12 - Nice cleans and reverb. Underwhelming drive channel, which will hopefully improve with a JJ 12DW7 tube swap in V2 and a new audio pot for the drive gain I have on order.

 

I also have an old ptp Precision Electronics PA amp I'm converting, but that's not done yet. 2 6L6s and 3 12AX7s. I'm hopeful.

[buddhapaugh]

1984 Peavey Studio(sold): 40 watter, solid state, just a starter amp as I began playing and talked my Mom into loaning me $140 to purchase it---which I paid back working a summer job.

 

1986 Randall RG100(sold): My first half stack. Rocked out on this for the next 5 years. Purchased because Vivian Campbell was endorsing them at the time and he was my fave guitarist of the day. Great cleans as compared to my friends playing on Marshalls. Never cut through the mix when up against a tube amp though. Great for playing in a single guitar band, not so much with two guitars (which is somethign I have discovered again and again with amps---i.e., some sound great in single guitar settings and others are ideal for going up against another guitar in 2 guitar bands).

 

1988 Gallien Krueger 250ML(own): Heard one of these for the first time in Orlando in 1987 and ended up finding one a year later used that I picked up. Did a lot of recording with it, and it was an awesome sounding amp for practice or for use in a single guitar band. Could never cut it when put up against another amp. I can see why Alex Lifeson used these live for a number of years. They sound great if you are the only guitar player!! 1980's solid state goodness!

 

 

__________________________________

 

Between 1993 and 2003 I played solely on an acoustic teaching myself to sing and write better songs.

 

___________________________________

 

2003---1986 Marshall Artist 3202 Head (still own): My friend had this and used to eat my Randall up every time we gigged together!! I had just joined a cover band and was needing gear and he sold me this head. It is an amazing little Marshall in a nice compact box. I love this thing. Not much good for anything other than a nice Marshall crunch.... but oh man!!.... what a crunch it is!!

 

2005 Behringer LX1200H V-ampire head: The Marshall was not versatile enough for a cover band so I picked this up for $199... and it is still about the best $199 I ever spent on a guitar amp. It's not the greatest sounding head in the world but it is easy to dial in tones, you can through a tube preamp in the effects loop, and it is very versatile, and has been durable as hell. Highly underrated amp for the price!

 

2008 Bugera 333XL 120w Head: Grew tired of listening to the Behringer tone after 3 years so I graduated up to this 3-channel head. Fell in love with tube amps and it started a pursuit that has only ended as of late in gathering a select few tube amps I thoroughly enjoy. The Bugera has been nothing short of durable. Gigged every week for a year now. Not a single problem with it. Has everything I need or want. Just grew tired of listening to hot-rodded EL34's so I searched for and found.... but ultimately sold

 

Carvin V3: Hated it. Boomy on the low-end and fizzy on the high-end. Can't say anything good about this other than it has a lot of knobs!!

Crate Palomino V32H--Vietnamese made: not a big fan!

Vox Valvetronix AD50 2-12: great sounding combo but not versatile enough for a semi-modelling amp as it only has 3 presets... sold.

 

Peavey Classic 50 Tweed Head: Oustanding amp. I only sold it because I only paid $175 for it and flipped it for $400 a month later.

 

Vox Valvetronix AD60VTX: My love affair with modelling amps was growing old. I was also worried about this one breaking down on me at some point as the reliability of these is questionable.

 

Crate Powerblock: Bought into the fad. Tried running pedals and even a MFX into it and while I could see a use for it for practice I couldn't see myself gigging with it... EVER!

 

 

Here's where it gets good for me....

 

2008---1992 Peavey Ultra 120 (sold it): What a great amp!! Gigged with this before purchasing the next amp on this list. Was a perfect high-gain modern voiced 6L6 beast! I sold it to help an up-and-coming younger player in the local music scene who sounded great and played on crap. He wanted it really bad and I wanted some good karma. Now he's tearing it up with one of the best metal/thrash guitar sounds in Northern Michigan!!

 

2009---2007 Traynor YCS100H(own): Found a good deal on this locally and thought I could flip it. Short answer is that this amp is way beyond awesome. It is everything the Carvin V3 pretends to be... claims to be... and then some. This is just a great, great amp. Loaded with 6L6's. Bright switch for the cleans to give you plenty of snap and sparkle.... 2 mode switches for each of the channels give you a lot of options. I can get a Mesa Boogie grind going, a respectable slight Fender break-up, and a tasty mid-gain crunch. Has a Solo Boost feature on the footswitch and with a TC mulit-effects it has become the best sounding rig I have had the pleasure of using (though I still bust out the Bugera when I want a EL34 fix... or my...)

 

2009----2007Carvin Legacy(own): This is a mid to high-gain lead player's wet dream. Not a big fan of using it for rhythm as it is really, really fat and dark sounding. But those fat dark tones on rhythm translate well when using the higher register and playing solo lead lines---ala Vai. I can really see how Vai had this amp voiced the way it is. The cat doesn't play rhythm---so whe people complain about the muddy bottom end and lack of chunk or chug I think... "DUH!!... when have you ever heard Vai palm mute???!!":idea:

 

2009---2005 Crate Palomino V32 Made in USA Combo(own): I also own 2 Epi Junior heads for {censored}s and giggles---as they were purchased for $99---and I figure in about 20 years time they ought to be at least worth 1 and 1/2 times that!!. Anyways, I purchased the Palomino for a steal at $139!! Yup!! It was in mint condition too! I figured I would flip it and make some money. Now it is a staple in my gigging arsenal. I didn't like EL84's until I heard this amp! It is amazing.... amazing sounding amp... that takes pedals so well. I just love this thing.... and have been using this in a trio setting playing blues, classic rock, and some bluegrass.

 

The beauty is that I am perfectly happy with my amps after all of these years. I have what are to me great sounding EL84, EL34 and 6L6 packages to give me whatever tone I am in the mood for!!

[chiro972]

I started with a:

 

Vox AD50VT: Hated it. Couldn't figure out how to use the damn thing. Could be because it was defective, it has since passed on to my daughter but is going tango uniform. It cuts out intermittently. The controls were too confusing.

 

Peavey Classic 30: Was a great clean amp. The reverb was totally blah and for my uses the drive was unusable. It sounded great if I turned the volume up to the point that the windows rattled. It had much more 60cycle hum than I liked in the drive settings. Sold it because I really didn't need that much volume.

 

Crate V8 USA made: Nice cleans so so gain. Again a lot of hum when the drive turned up. Takes pedals well and is still pretty damn loud for 5 watts. I still have it and will keep it.

 

Vox Pathfinder 15 watt: Everyone raves about this, but I hated the sound. Was muffled and dead sounding. I traded it in.

 

Vox DA15: Another digital modeller from Vox. Had some nice sounds, but again was too complicated to program.

 

Fender Super Champ XD: This is it for me. Sweet sounding and SIMPLE to program. Everything is intuitive and it has enough features for me. I'm gonna keep this one until or if I need something with more power. Then I think I'm gonna go Fender again. I love the cleans and I can use pedals for gain.

[hardtdc]

Bogen Challenger PA tube amp. Still have it and it's cool for blues stuff running through my Fender HR Deluxe's cab or my stereo 4 x 12 in mono.

 

Peavey 50/50 stereo tube power amp. I run my Digitech GNX3 through this into my stereo 4 x 12 (Avatar Hellatone Vintage 30s and Celestion G12-75s). This is a cool setup.

 

94' Crate Vintage Club 30 (St. Louis made). I put new tubes in it (Tung Sol pres and JJ power tubes) and it sounds really good. Loud as hell too.

 

Fender HR Deluxe w/ the stock speaker. I like this amp, even the gain channel if you know what you're doing is not bad. The cleans are good.

 

 

Alright, this is where I'm really thinking of stepping into the high-end amp world though. I'm ready to go for the motherload of amps and order a Ceriatone Overtone HRM with the combo cabinet. I'm not sure what speaker I'll put in but I'm thinking Celestion Gold. Why not, the best for the best. I've been listening to clips of the Overtone amps and they are without a doubt the finest sounding I've ever heard. Dumble heaven without the price. I'll have to sell off the two combo amps first to help fund it, but I think I can unload both of them for around $700 total.

[bloolight]

Amps I no longer own:

Peavey Special 130--loud, decent cleans for a SS amp, bought used, stopped working.

 

Park G10R--emergency replacement for Peavey. Semi-decent practice amp, but nothing more than a stopgap until I could afford to buy a

 

Fender Performer 650--"Hybrid" amp, great cleans, decent overdrive, didn't quite cut through the mix. Sold to a friend.

 

Mesa Rectoverb 50--First decent all tube amp. LOUD, heavy, decent cleans and great drive channel, but I quickly moved into a more classic/blues territory. Traded in for my DRRI.

 

Current Lineup:

Fender Blues Jr--Bought on a whim. I've never bonded with the sound despite a speaker replacement, but I keep it around as a backup.

 

Fender Deluxe Reverb RI--My perfect amp. The foundation of my tone.

 

Fender Champion 600--Cute, one-trick-pony blues amp. Great for recording really dirty blues numbers with my Reverend Slingshot.

[metal0822]

squier pack practice amp

 

Marshall JCM 900 slx (why did i sell it )

 

Engl 530 pre - Peavey classic 50/50 power amp (meh, do not miss)

 

Peavey transtube supreme (really do not miss)

 

Ampeg VH140c (miss it, but one trick pony)

 

FJA Modded Peavey VTM 60 (sold to friend so I could still have access...had to downsize for school)

 

Marshall JCM 2000 DSL 401 BLISS

[gtrjones]

First amp - Fender 85 - SS POS.

 

Next: Fender SF Vibrolux "I need a telecaster and a vibrolux turned up to te-eee-een" (still have it)

 

SF Fender Deluxe (not quite so loud)

 

SF Super Reverb (make it 3)

 

Custom Fulton-Webb 17-watt head (still have it)

 

1953 Deluxe.

 

Custom Judybox

 

Slightly modded 5E3 kit/chassis in 1x15 combo tweaked to sound just like the 53 (still have it)

 

ToneKing Comet 40A - GREAT amp, that could finally do great fender cleans AND tweed grind.

 

AxeFX - the only thing I've used onstage or in the studio since August 07.

[jtr654]

Silvertone twin 12/Fender Daul & single Showman/Marshall Super 100 Tremolo + 2 basketweave 4x12/Marshall JMP 50 watt head & combo/Fender Pro amp/Pro Jr/ Princeton Reverb/ 2 Fuchs ODS 100.

[Rocktoe]

1. Mesa/Boogie Studio .22+ (Not Marshall enough)

2. Marshall JCM800 2203 (Too loud)

3. Marshall TSL100 (Not Marshall enough)

4. Fender Hot Rod Deluxe (Wanted to try something different)

5. Hughes & Kettner Edition Tube 20th Anniversary (Not Marshall enough)

6. Carvin Legacy (Too loud)

7. Marshall "Black Tolex" Jubilee 2555 (Too rare, too loud)

 

Now: Orange Rocker 30, and finally I'm happy with my "Marshall tone" as well as my sound's loudness.

[maybe_ebyam]

Forgot, I had a Deluxe Rvb II for a while, with a nearly uncontrollable gain channel (all the pots for it were super-sensitive). Co-worker of mine had one too, same deal with the gain channel. Basically, unless you were really into some wacked out "fire hydrant on full" type distortion, the gain channel was almost unusable. Now, about that Quidley, how'd you like to "loan" it to me fer a while? (I'll pay shipping both ways , and be forever grateful )

 

I did some waiting for that Quidley. Maybe someday it'll go your way!

[maybe_ebyam]

I also meant to mention that I have:

 

Port City Twelve

Swart Atomic Space Tone

[Big Pimpin' T]

1. Crate GX15

2. Hughes and Kettner Edition Silver 50 Watt

3. Vox Tonelab + Mesa 20/20

4. Mesa Rectifier Pre + Mesa 20/20

5. Mesa Nomad 45

6. Peavey VTM-60

7. Orange AD30HTC

 

Finally got what I've been looking for.

[chrispscott]

Peavey Rage 1x10 - My first amp. I don't remember much about it to be perfectly honest. I sold it after about two years or so and got...

 

Marshall Valvestate 1x12 - Don't remember a lot about this one either. I was 15 at the time and was in a huge Zep phase so I just had to have a Marshall of some sort. I kept it until I was 17 or so and then pick up...

 

Marshall JTM 30 2x10 - Selling this is one of the biggest regrets of my guitar playing life. All tube Marshall combo that was made in England that I picked up for $300. It had a gain channel that was to die for. My main axe at the time was this great set neck Aria Pro II that could get the Clapton Bluesbreaker tone out of. Unfortunately I was young dumb and stupid and when I got my next amp I sold it.

 

Marshall JCM 900 4x12 half stack - everybody goes through a halfstack phase I think. I kept this for about six months before I realized it was just too damn loud. My band did not play out much and for the teeny tiny clubs we played a halfstack was just absurd. I traded it in and got

 

Fender Hot Rod Deluxe - I bought this a few days after my 20th birthday so I've had it for over four years now. Since then I've made a few mods and I'm happy with but now I'm starting to look at other amps. I told myself when I bought this it would be my last but I'm not so sure now. I tried out a Vox AC30 the other night and just fell in love. Who knows what the future will bring.

 

Vox Pathfinder 15R - since my current band is quite active the HRD stays at the rehearsal space. This is my bedroom amp and it's great. I play it with a modded SX STL50 and a Behringer TS ripoff and most people are blown away when they hear my sub-$300 practice rig.

[EllenGtrGrl]

Gawd! Where do I start? I've had so many of them.

 

Crate 65 watt solid state - early 80s. My first real amp (played acoustic, or through a stero before this amp). Typical early Crate lame-o distortion.

 

Peavey Encore 65 - owned from 1984 till when I graduated college in 1987. 65 watts all tube. Sounded OK, but not very reliable.

 

Rockman Soloist - 1985 till 2003. One dimensional sound - everything sounded like Boston. I gave it to a friend.

 

Sound City 120 and Sonic 4x12 bottom - the only half stack I've ever owned. Bought shortly after I graduated college in Aug. 1987. The Sound City was so cheap ($130 - nobody wanted them back then.), that I couldn't resist it. I got fed up with dealing with lugging the setup, and I hated having no master volume. It was actually kind of clean sounding for a British head. The setup was traded in Sept. 1987.

 

Marshall Lead 50 Mosfet combo - Bought in Sept. 1987. So-so at best. This was supposed to be one of those amps that was going to make tube amps obsolete, due to the fact that it used mosfet power transistors. Not quite. OK cleans, and OK distortion, but that was it (my old Encore 65 sounded better). I actually kept this Marshall until 1990.

 

Fender Princeton II - yeah, the Rivera re-designed one with the pull boosts. It was OK. If you ran a distortion through it, it would seriously grind. But it was kind of underpowered, even for the variety band I was in at the time. I think I bought it to have a more portable amp that had tubes. I had if for a few months in 1990.

 

1965 blackface Fender Showman head and Mitchell 2x12 bottom - owned in 1990 and 1991. 80 watts of BRUTALLY clean power. Anything past 2 on the volume control was LOUD. That thing didn't even begin to start breaking up until the volume was on 8 or so. But, it really took pedals well. The only reason I ditched it, was because of the fact that in spite of joining a heavier rock band, the amp was either too quiet, or way too loud.

 

1965 blackface Fender Bandmaster Head and Mitchell 2x12 bottom - owned in 1991. Not as loud as the Showman, but due to its wimpy output transformer, the thing sounded choked any time you tried to drive it hard, or cranked up the volume.

 

Carvin X60 and Mitchell 2x12 bottom - only owned briefly in 1991. The clean channel wasn't very clean, and the overdrive channel didn't have very good volume control (all loud or all quiet).

 

Hiwatt Custom 100 and Mitchell 2x12 bottom - this was a DR103 (Custom 100) head, that some idiot put into a Custom 50 box. Kind of clean, and kind of shrill sounding. BRUTALLY loud when cranked. But noooooo.... I wanted the "Live at Leeds" sound. For a band that was just shy of being a metal band, it wasn't really the right sound. Owned from 1991 till mid 1992.

 

Musicman 65 Reverb head and Mitchell 2x12 bottom - couldn't afford a real high fallutin amp, but I wanted something not as trebly as the Hiwatt was. I knew a guy who used the non-reverb version of the Musicman 65 head, with a Boss distortion, in a metal band. It sounded like World War 3. Unfortunately my Musicman 65 Reverb sounded like wimp city, when driven hard with a dirt pedal. In spite of having a master volume, it was either too loud, or too quiet. I only had this amp for a few months in 1992.

 

Marshall Artist 3202 head and Mitchell 2x12 bottom - owned mid 1992 till early 1993. Man! I wish I hadn't gotten rid of that amp! When it was in the sweet spot, it just killed tonewise! Unfortunately, the sweet spot was so loud, the rest of the band was up in arms by early 1993, from dealing with this amp's volume. I tried turning the master volume down, but it sounded so thin and buzzy. Sadly, I got rid of it.

 

Peavey Classic 50 2x12 combo. - 1993 to 1994. Not outstanding, but not bad sounding, as long as you set it up right. You could even do metal with it, as long as you drove it with a stompbox. It weighed a ton.

 

Mesa Boogie 50 Caliber combo and 1x12 speaker extension - this amp began a several year love affair I had with Mesa Boogies. A decent amp - as long as you watched the bass. Too much bass made it sound flubby. Owned in 1994 and 1995.

 

Mesa Boogie Maverick 2x12 - another decent amp. I was tired of my 50 Caliber's graphic EQ, and I wanted a hotrodded AC30-type amp. My Maverick met these expectations. But it was SO HEAVY. And after a while I got sick of playing through a medium gain, 70s rock sound amp. So I got rid of it. Owned this one in 1996 to 1997. Sometimes I miss this amp. It really had a unique, sort of supercharged AC30 sound.

 

Mesa Boogie DC3 head and Mesa 2x12 bottom - this amp with it's hotrodded Dual Rectifer pre-amp, just plain killed! I was in tone heaven. Unfortunately, I was not in a band during that time period, and money was getting tight for me, so it was traded in an amp downgrade. Owned in 1997 and 1998.

 

Trace Elliot Supertramp 2x12 combo owned from mid 1998 till early 1999. this was the amp I downgraded to from my Mesa Boogie DC3. It was a so-so solid state amp. Bland cleans, and generic distortion.

 

Vox AC15 Top Boost - owned only in 1999. I ended trading the Trace Elliot Supertramp, and my Gibson Howard Roberts Fusion for this amp. In retrospect it was a big mistake. I figured I needed a change of musical pace. It was TOO BIG of a change. It was too chimey, and too clean for me. To get any dirt out of it meant playing it at volumes too loud for an apartment, or using a dirt box. But the dirt box sounds of my AC15 were too 60s sounding for my tastes.

 

Peavey Bandit - owned 1999-2000. I took a bath on my AC-15 to get this amp. But I was broke. What was it like? Hey it made a sound. It was mediocre, but I've heard worse.

 

Marshall Valvestate 8100, 2x12 100 watt combo - Owned in 2000 & 2001. Believe it or not, I LIKED this amp. It had decent sounding (to me) cleans, and as long as you watched the treble, it killed at high gain sounds. If I hadn't hit a money crunch in 2001 that forced me to sell it, and my electric guitar, I might have still had this amp.

 

Randall 15w practice amp - owned briefly in 2002. Ecch!!! Sounded like a big fuzz pedal!

 

Crate GX-15 15 watt practice amp owned 2002 till 2005. Not killer, but when you're broke, you take what you can get. It sounded worlds better than the Randall did. I gave it to friend, who loaned it back to me for a few months in 2007 & 2008.

 

Behringer 30 watt modeling amp 2004 to 2005. A so-so modeling amp. But hey, the price was right, and it sure beat having just a 15 watt practice amp.

 

Crate Power Block through Crate 2x12 bottom - 2005 to 2007. A great power amp for your effects. Only a so-so stand alone guitar amp. It was VERY loud,and it sure was easy to cart around. It was sold during a money crunch, in Aug 2007.

 

100 watt Peavey Supreme head through Crate 2x12 bottom - purely a stopgap amp (it was only $100 used at GC). Kind of "meh" generic sounding distortion. The thing was sort of like a Bandit on steriods. Only owned in late 2007 and early 2008.

 

Orange Tiny Terror through Crate 2x12 bottom - March 2008 to Oct. 2008 - another great amp. Pure raunch, and a total grind monster, when cranked. I wish I didn't have to sell it during a money crunch.

 

Crate GXT-100 100 watt hybrid 2x12 combo - only owned briefly in 2008, due to reliability issues.

 

Vox DA5 - bought in Dec. 2008. I still own this low power modeling amp. It's a great practice amp, and it's effects and amp models sound pretty good for the price.

 

Laney Pro-Tube AOR30 - only owned very briefly. I just didn't gel with the amp.

 

Marshall AVT-50 head, and Sonic 2x12 bottom - yeah!! Now we're talking!! I own this setup at the present time. Decent cleans, and nice sounding (as in tight, non-flubby lows) grind, without the fizz.

[SoliDeoGloria]

Fender Super Champ xd great amp just the drummer was louder than this guy so it had to go....

'79 Bassman 70 Into a 1x15 and Now I have no issues being as loud as the drummer heh. Love this amp the cleans are great though I dont think as bright as the xd yet it distorts beautifully!

[olgluefoot]

ibanez 10w practice amp- given away

ibanez 25w toneblaster - given away

70's fender bassman50 w/ matching 2x15 - traded for the carvin

carvin x100b w/ matching 4x12 - sold to pay the bills

fender stage 160 - traded for an Ibanez RG270DX

peavey vtm120 -still have it

crate v18 - still have it

peavey bandit 112 - still have it

 

[maybe_ebyam]

 

Fender Super Champ xd great amp just the drummer was louder than this guy so it had to go.... '79 Bassman 70 Into a 1x15 and Now I have no issues being as loud as the drummer heh. Love this amp the cleans are great though I dont think as bright as the xd yet it distorts beautifully!

 

 

Pics of the '79? I can't seem to google any.

[HeatherAnnePeel]

Some further thoughts on this. I began, like most players, with a solid state amp (a Univox). It actually sounded good, and I remember beefing up the tone with various Electro Harmonix effects (LPB-1, Muff Fuzz, Big Muff, etc.). Then, I really wanted an Ampeg since The Rolling Stones used them and I love their sound and looks. I ended up with a solid state G-18 combo at first, which sounded great, and eventually a V-4. An amazing amp, but to get the Stones guitar sound you really had to crank it up. This is where Music Mans came in for me. They have a great sound, are versatile and with the master volume, it's possible to get a nice overdrive at a reasonable level. I've used my Music Man combo more than any amp, it's fabulous. I went though a Fender phase, and still love my Pro Jr., but I find that I like a bit more crunch to my sound. This led to my Marshall/Ampeg rig that I use now. Running both amps together I can get all the tones I want:

 

[guitarman3001]

I'm sure I'll leave a few out since I can't remember all of them but here's what I can remember:

 

Gorilla combo - very first amp. What else is there to say about a Gorilla amp? I used this when I was learning and even well into my first band.

 

Crate TD50C. - not sure if this was the next amp but it fits somewhere in the lineup. It was a 2x10 combo with a tube in the preamp. Sounded absolutely horrible and for a 50 watt amp could barely be heard over the TV.

 

Crate 100 watt solid state head - bought this as a half stack with a kick ass crate 4x12 cab with some nice celestions in it. Both the head and cab had a fuzzy covering. The head sounded absolutely horrible but the cabinet is one of the best I've played through. I still have the cab. During this phase I started buying a bunch of 4x12 and 4x10 cabs and ended up with a monster rig.

 

Mosvalve 160 80x80 rackmount - this was a nice setup. I started building my rack rig with this. Sold it to get the next amp.

 

Mosvalve 500 watt rackmount - this {censored}er was heavy and LOUD!!!!! 250 watts per side in stereo. Had it for a while and eventually sold it and got...

 

Another Mosvalve 160 - the 500 got too heavy and I decided to get rid of it and get another 160. Unfortunately, I had forgotten that the 160 wasn't all that much lighter and since all my rack {censored} was on wheels, it didn't make much difference. I eventually sold it and scaled down to a...

 

Marshall 8008 rackmount - this was/is a great amp. Used this for years with various rack preamps. I still have it in a 3 space rack bag along with a sansamp PSA1. My rig for the longest time was this amp, the sansamp PSA1 and a digitech GSP-21.

 

Line 6 Spider - at some point I decided to get a small combo and made the mistake of buying a line 6 spider. Was never quite happy with the sounds. Not only that, it couldn't cut through in a mix if its life depended on it. I rarely used it live and continued to use the marshall 8008 during this time. I actually kept this amp until about 3 years ago when I happily sold it.

 

B52 AT100 - my first tube amp! Started playing in a hard rock band and wanted a mesa boogie. Couldn't afford the mesa, did some reading and found the B52 which some people called a poor man's mesa. Bought it, it blew me away. It kicks ass. I still have it and plan on keeping it. It was my main gigging amp in my current band until I got tired of carrying it and started scaling down.

 

Crate Powerblock - was living and gigging in NYC and needed a portable amp. I used this with a Korg G2 for a while. I still have it and it is imo, the best backup amp ever made!

 

Vox DA5 - was living in a small NYC apt and needed a tiny amp. Also planned on doing some busking with it but that never materialized.

 

Peavey Valveking 112 - I liked the B52 AT100 but wanted a small tube combo to gig with. Didn't do too much research this time and bought the VK. It was just meh.... Used it for a while but never really bonded with it. Sold it to get...

 

Crate Palomino V32H - was still looking for a good and light tube head to replace the B52 I was getting tired of lugging around. Did a good bit of research and found this. Bought the head and matching 2x12 cab. Outstanding amp!!! It's currently my main gigging rig.

 

First Act VA881 - I bought into the hype and picked one up. It was a great amp, got some amazing sounds, but ultimately didn't fit my needs. I found that it was too heavy to be really portable and wasn't quite loud enough to play live with. It was also dimension-wise too big to be a good apartment amp. Sadly, I had to sell it.

 

Peavey Classic 30 - just bought it yesterday. Was still looking for a good tube combo, was at a bar a few months ago, saw a band and the guitar player had one. It didn't have the peavey emblem on it and I had no idea what it was but I was blown away by the sound the guy was getting from it. From a distance I thought it was some kind of Fender or boutique amp. When I got a chance, I sneaked up to the stage and looked at the back of the amp and saw Peavey on it. I was like, WTF??????? I'd played through a bunch of Peaveys before and did not like a single one of them (including my valveking). This one was different though...I decided right then and there that I had to have one, although to be sure I did go to a store and try one out first. And so began my quest which finally ended yesterday after a 500 mile roundtrip drive to pick up a used one.

 

 

So, after all is said and done, current lineup is:

 

B52 AT100 head

Crate Palomino V32H head

Vox DA5

Crate Powerblock

Peavey Classic 30 combo

[Roy Brooks]

1970s: Kustom bass combo with one 15" speaker, Crate amplifier that looked like a Crate

 

1980s: MusicMan HD150 head and 2x10 cabinet

 

1990s: Marshall JMP 50 watt with Kustom 2x12 cabinet

 

2000s: Peavey Classic 50, Peavey VTM60 with Orange 4x12, Marshall JTM30

 

Now: Tone King Meteor II, Zinky Blue Velvet, Comins by Alessandro Jazz Guitar Amplifier, Dr Z Carmen Ghia with 1x12 Bogner cabinet, 1966 Princeton, TruBlues tweed Deluxe copy, Fender Musicmaster Bass, Gretsch Compact Tremolo, ValveTrain 205, Gibson GA-20, 1971 Deluxe Reverb, Pro Junior, Kustom 200 with 2x15 in gold sparkle, Genz Benz Shuttle 3.0

[Burgess]

A little red Heathkit combo.

I was 13 and my dad bought it for me. Said here's your amp but you have to put it together. He taught me to solder and said have at it. I stayed up all night and by morning it was done. It fired up the first time I turned it on.

 

Another Heathkit. Some blue head with a 2x12 plus horn cab.

Was pretty loud but was always tripping the breaker.

 

Peavey Vulcan amp, 6x12 plus horn cab, 4x12 cab

Retarded loud! My High School amp. Did I mention it was loud?

 

Some kind of Fender SS combo with 1x12.

This was my gigging amp back in the 80's. ahhh, good times...

 

Fender Stage 185

I needed loud. It's loud. I still have it but I rarely use it anymore.

 

Marshall AVT 150 Combo, ext cab.

Won't fit in my car so I've not used it since we got rid of the 5 Series.

 

Rivera Clubster 45

I needed something that would fit in my car. It fits in my car so I gig with it regularly.

 

Peavey Windsor head and 4x12 cab

I can leave the cab at our rehearsal studio and I just tote the head around. I haven't gigged with it yet but I intend to at the next show.

 

Blackstar HT Stage 100

I just couldn't resist.

 

Of course, I most play modelers at home...