ShadyDavey
7ibrarian
Inpsired by "Top Gear"'s history of your cars, I thought a history of amps would be quite interesting to see ![Smile :) :)](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
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?
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?