Your Amp History

[ShadyDavey]

Inpsired by "Top Gear"'s history of your cars, I thought a history of amps would be quite interesting to see


Personally, I had a choice of any number of dodgy solid-state amps for my starter , or possibly "lucking-out" and finding a second-hand Marshall of sorts. Sadly, there were no Marshalls to be had at that time, and I settled for a 50w Carlsboro combo. As with many solid-state amps of the time, it produced volume out of all proportion to its size, had some....well....reasonably effective EQ controls, and a passable distorted tone. No reverb, no chorus, just an awful lot of power.

Happily, in combination with a couple of pedals (Marshall Guvnor, Boss digital reverb) the tone was really quite acceptable and lasted me for 12 months or so.

Next up, a Laney AOR30. Absolutely phenomenal amounts of gain, celestion speaker, all tubes, dual channel and a tasty spring reverb. This amp didn't need any extra effects for my money, although I used a wah for tone-shaping (Michael Schenker phase) and I can honestly say a good example of this amp is definately worth picking up.

Enter a Boss ME-5 Multi-Fx, and an early 70's Marshal 2x12 combo. Ridiculous volume again, single channel and a rather classic tone. At the time, Marshall+Boss was actually quite versatile, so this lasted until I needed an amp to gig with...

Marshall JCM 900 + Marshall 1972 4x12 Cabinet.

Hated it in retrospect. Didn't have the balls of a JCM 800, and needed boosting with the ME-5 before it did anything remotely interesting but then proceeded to turn out some huge tones with tones of balls for rhythm or lead.....however....

You know those amps you can run on 2 or 3 and they're more than loud enough for gigging?

This wasn't one of them. I had to compete with a drummer who had a Cozy Powel fixation, a keyboard player with a 1k rig, and a bass player with a 350w Trace Elliot stack....so I blew it up 3 times and moved onto....

A Carvin X100B head. Found it in a music shop for £50(!!) and aside from a noisy transformer this was an absolute monster of a head which I used alongside a Boss EQ pedal, and an Ibanez Tube screamer for a minimal amount of tap-dancing, but a massive amount of tone.

The final incarnation of my gear was a Marshall anniversary cab (stereo) and a Laney 300w power amp running a Yamaha FX-550 for effects and then brief flirtations with an ADA MP1, a Marshall JMP-1, Marshall 9002 before settling on a Triaxis........which I subsequently had to sell.

So, not the most illustrious amp history, but not the worst either - whats yours?

 

[Anthony]

Roland Cube> Mark IV

 

[poopyalligator]

this will be fun

1. gorilla 10 watt amp (what a piece of shit)

2.crate 15 watt practice amp (slightly better than the gorilla)

3.fender jam 30 watt amp (was better than the other two, but still not good)

4. crate 40 watt 2x10 (which wasnt very good, but on part with jam)

5. The mixing of the fender jam and the crate ( actually had a decent sound to it when put together through my digitech rp3 pedal)

6. randall cylcone with peavey cab (my first halfstack, It was actually pretty good because it had an onboard eq system. It was very loud though and didnt sound good at bedroom level)

7.peavey xxl with ampeg cab (it is a great cheap solid state amp and i was happy to own it.)

8. peavey xxx ( the tube version of the xxl, it was a great amp, but i dont think it really met my metal needs. Maybe i just didnt really give it a fair shake)

9. peavey 6505+ (this amp kicks ass and i still use it all of the time for practice and sometimes playing shows.)

10. engl fireball ( my favorite amp that i have ever owned. It is heavy as hell and sounds perfect for the style of music i play. I plan on buying the 100 watt version and an invader in the near future)

I have played on a few others i have picked up along the way, but those seem the ones i stuck with at the time.

 

[Natron808]

For me it was this:

1. 100W solid state amp I soldered together myself. Yes, my first amp was a home build. I still have it stored away.

2. Ampeg Portaflex. Some mid 60s Ampeg Portaflex my friend's dad found in the trash on the road. They gave it to me for free. It was a vertical 2x15" model with the integrated flip-top head. AMAZING sounding. I gave it back to that friend when I moved to Philadelphia because I didn't have room for it here.

3. Marshall TSL601. 1x12 combo amp version of the Marshall TSL. Hated it. I was in a punk/indie band at the time with this amp and it was annihilated by the other guitarist's 50's tweed Fender Tremolux 1x12 combo. Sold it for...

4. Peavey 5150. Had this one longer than probably any amp I've owned yet. Sold it only to fund the purchase of a later amp..

5. THD Univalve. Great, great sounding amp. Just didn't fit my playing style.

6. Matamp Roadster. Sold the 5150 to buy this. RIDICULOUSLY good sounding. Still regret selling it. Sold it to buy a Matamp GTL and then the GTL seller backed out after my Roadster was already gone.

7. Ampeg V4. Bought this while I had the Matamp. Bought it broken and the previous owner said the output transformer was blown. Turned out only a single rectifier diode (like.. $0.05 to replace) was blown. Easy fix. It was a non master volume version that was the loudest amp I've EVER played through. I had to sell it because it was unusable for me. Way, WAY too loud for me.

8. Mesa/Boogie Mark III. Best high-gain amp I've owned yet. I only sold it to fund the purchase of

9. Electric Amp MV 120. Current amp. This thing is a friggin MONSTER. Worth every penny. VERY easily the best amplifier I have ever owned. I have never heard anything with as much snarl, volume, and low-end. The most satisfying sounding amp I have ever played, hands down. You'd have to pry this thing out of my cold, dead hands.

I know there's a 10th amp in there somewhere that I'm forgetting... but, be that as it may:

(future): I currently have an Engl E530 preamp on its way to me and am looking for a good power amp to match to it. We'll see how that goes.

 

[PnKnG]

Kustom Arrow 15W solid state > Mesa Boogie Mark III > Marshall JCM800 2205 > Rocktron Chameleon

For now.... XD

 

[AVWIII]

1) Fender fm25r: boosted that beast with my DOD death metal distortion. The gain is dimed from the inside on that thing! Hells yeah! mids down! ugh...
2) intermusic 100w 2x12: once again with my trusty bees in a can pedal. I'm sure I sounded awesome.
3) Pod 2.0 -> intermusic: Ran it into the clean channel. That must've sounded fantastic.
4) Randall RH100 -> R412CXM (cab): I'm assuming I ran my gain and treble way too high in the beginning, but by the end of this amp's career, my ear for tone was getting pretty good.
5) Marshall 8100: A little tighter/brighter than the randall, but otherwise pretty similar in sound.
6) Pod xt ->powerblock -> R412CB (cab) Not bad at all! I enjoyed this setup and managed to squeeze a couple shows in with it.
7) Peavey Rockmaster -> mesa 50/50: Not a rockmaster fan.
8) Rocktron Piranha ->50/50 : Much better than the rockmaster, still not my style.
9) Mesa/Boogie triple rectifier: Awesome. Sold it because I'm an idiot. Thought it was too muddy, turns out my main guitar was too muddy.
10) Podxt ->50/50: Made due. Decent volume, added some needed girth to the pod.
11) Randall Rm100LB: We'll see...
Now I'm waiting to see how the Randall goes before I go back to mesa or save up for a Sig:X or something.
Stupid anal tone disease...

 

[adadglgmut]

1. Peavey Rage 112, a most uninspiring piece of electronics...
2. Marshall Valvestate 60, early 90s... i still use it!
3. Line 6 Spider 2 stack... we all made a mistake like this at some point...
4. Engl Invader 100, the future is looking bright, and full of djent

 

[thadood]

I haven't really had a lot of changes..

1. Peavey Heritage 2x12, using a Mesa/Boogie V-Twin for a preamp

2. Peavey XXL + Genz Benz 2x12

3. Genz Benz El Diablo + Genz Benz 2x12

4. Genz Benz El Diablo + Vader 4x12

5. Axe-FX + Carvin TS100 + Vader 4x12

I'm still looking to ditch the TS100 for a rackmountable SS power amp.

 

[Triple-J]

I started off with a Gorilla 30 watt it sounds like a can full of angry wasps but I still have it due to sentimental value infact I even had it rewired when it broke.

Kustom 20-watt: It had a really fizzy grungy sound can't remember what I did with it though (I probably smashed it up or set it on fire due to it having zero resale value)

Laney 2x12 combo amp(not sure which model) I'm a huge Tony Iommi fan so I had to buy this when I saw it for sale used I loved it but I moved to a small flat and didn't have space so I sold it to my friend's dad.

DOD Grind I.T. The pedal of this was awesome but the amp not so awesome.

Behringer BlueDevil: Big and loud but it just didn't have enough of a metal sound for me it was more of a classic rock tone.

Line6 Spider: I saw it in some kind of special deal so I bought it and quickly realised it was the biggest gear mistake I've ever made what a total piece of shit.

Marshall AVT20: I use this as a practice amp It's the best small amp I've tried so far and it can take a kicking so it's cool.

Hughes+Kettner Vortex half stack: This is basically the Warp 7 amp they used to make but under a different name, I only have the head now though.

PODX3 live: I love it so I've decided to look into a power amp probably a used Crate Powerblock or something by Behringer and get a seperate cab so I can build a complete rig around it.

 

[stuh84]

1) Some crappy 15 watt practice amp, no idea of the name, been 7 years since I owned it

2) Engl Thunder 50 > Crate 2x12, awful 2x12, but it got me through a lot of years and gigs

3) Ashdown Fallen Angel 60 combo. This I had while at Uni, still owned the Thunder, but it was at home for the first year of my time there. The Fallen angel had a really bad power amp problem, but I never realised until comparing the sound with the Thunder....which happened to be after the warranty time

4) Engl Thunder 50 > Mesa/Boogie 4x12 - Served me well for a long time this rig, right up until my latest. Great sound, V30's in the Mesa so really good for recording, overall not bad at all.

5) Engl Invader 150 > Engl Standard 4x12 - The tits. I've no need to go more into this, you'll see me sing its praises in 90% of my posts about amps

6) Marshall 8200 - I have this as a backup......however it doesn't work right at the moment....need to get it working again. Good sound though at least, completely un-Marshall-like, which means I like it

I've not changed amps many times. I could have a lot, but at the end of the day, I decided rather than chop and change, lose money, and make small upgrades often, I'd just get exactly what I wanted first time, and never yearn for anything. Hell, I had the Thunder rig for....6 years? And I've had my Invader for a year and while I try new amps all the time, I'm yet to find anything which pleases me as much

 

[COBHC]

Vox DA5 > Vox AD30VT > Vox AD30VT-XL > just purchased pod x3 ( awaiting arrival )

 

[Varkatzas]

Peavey XXL Head/Cab

Peavey 6505+/Mesa Cab

I didn't have the struggles with having to start with a 15W ;P

 

[Scar Symmetry]

Fender Champ 25 SE (amazing cleans, and when used with a Fender Strat gives awesome bluesy light crunch sounds)

Some Marshall half stack

Framus Cobra half stack

 

[Petef2007]

1 - the obligatory little 10 watt practice amp that we guitarists look back on and laugh at
2 - vox valvetronix, wasnt bad at the time, but wasnt exactly great either
3 - Peavey Valveking 2x12, served me well, noisy as fuck though
4 - Line 6 PodXT - not an amp as such, but got me through the period between the valveking and...
5 - Engl Fireball - first real amp i owned, again good at the time, its limitations were soon proved though
6 - VHT Sig X, the amp i've wanted all my life, and the amp which has nicely killed any scrap of gas i may have had for any other amp ever

 

[Apex1rg7x]

1. Fender 15 watt frontman-The typical first amp
2. Marshall VS265R-First real amp i bought, still have it actually...i used to run a DOD Grunge pedal through it
3. Fender fm25r-Not sure why i bought that one
4. Line 6 Spider 3 half stack- I wasnt smart enough to say no at guitar center
5. Mesa Boogie Dual Recto-First tube amp, wanted one for years because they looked cool, well to me they look way cooler than they sound.
6. ENGL Fireball-Got this after the Mesa to try the ENGL sound but this was just ok to me, nothing special
7. Diezel Einstein-Got this on a trade and loved it at first but the honeymoon wore off and decided it wasnt quite the sound i was going for
8. FRYETTE Pittbull UL-Currently own this one, so far its the best amp ive owned hands down, love everything about it

 

[Leuchty]

1. Marshall Valvestate 1x12 combo. Good amp, someone did a shit repair job and it kept failing.

2. Roland 408 with extension cab. 8x8" speakers, great sound. Tube pre ss pwr. Still have this amp, tho, not much bottom end. Gives a great Tool sound.

3. Marshall JCM900 with 1960A. Wanted a stack, got it cheap, had to buy a metalzone.

4. Marshall JCM2000 TSL with 1960A. Gave Jim another chance. Nice amp, if I knew what I know now about tube amps, I would still have this amp.

5. Peavey 6505+. After both marshalls crapped out on me I took them into a store and did a straight swap for the 6505+. Still lovin it. Bought a mesa 412. Love it more, now.

6. In a few weeks time...Mesa Triple Rec...ooh yeah.

 

[MFB]

- 1x12 no name brand practice amp

- Crate FTX65 1x12. Pretty shitty amp that I barely used and had shitty effects.

- Orange Tiny Terror. Not bad but currently on the block for sale since I can't pull any tones I like from it

 

[I_infect]

Crate G-10 practice amp
ASI/Quantum 65 watt head/4x12
Crate G1600xl or something halfstack
Warp 7 halfstack
Engl 530/SS power amp(current rig)
Crate BV120s(current rig)

 

[Daemoniac]

1. Marshall MG100DFX combo

2. Randall VMAX half stack

THats it

 

[TJey]

1.) Behringer mosfet combo 2x30W shit (2x10 jensen speakers )

then jump to

2.) Mesa Boogie Triple Rectifier -> Orange 4x12 .. No needs for waiting for tone.