Electric guitar amp suggestions - Page 3

joe white · #31 10-21-2003, 10:59 AM

Boy!! All these replies!!! This is great, keep em' coming. Being that I also mostly play acoustic but a recent band situation requires that I play some electric on the tunes that need a little fattening up, the valvetronix is starting to look good. Decisions, decisions.

jam · #32 10-21-2003, 11:03 AM

Did I miss it, or has nobody asked this - Getgo, what kind of guitar are you playing? (How can you talk amps without knowing this!!??)

--jam

joe white · #33 10-21-2003, 11:10 AM

Good thought Jam!! I am using a Epi-Dot. (335copy) Semi-hallow dual humbuckers.

troubleman · #34 10-21-2003, 12:56 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Lex Luthier

Pro Junior doesn't have reverb, that's the Blue's Junior, also a great amp if your looking for a master vol. and reverb in a small tube amp.

Pro Jr and Blues Jr are completely different beasts tonally - I'd much favor the Pro Jr - put the chassis in a 1x12 combo box and swap the 10" speaker for a 12" Celestion Blue. I wish I'd never sold mine....

Red · #35 10-22-2003, 12:49 AM

If you want versatility and like the fat Mesa crunch than the Road King is definitely worth checking out. It's got about every tube you can imagine and you can switch them on and off to get every combo of tubes imaginable. It's pricey, over $2k for the head alone but the thing shreds!

Steve314 · #36 10-22-2003, 02:02 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by troubleman
Pro Jr and Blues Jr are completely different beasts tonally - I'd much favor the Pro Jr - put the chassis in a 1x12 combo box and swap the 10" speaker for a 12" Celestion Blue. I wish I'd never sold mine....

Ahhhh... "Seller's Remorse", once again, rears its' ugly head...

Steve

joe white · #37 10-22-2003, 10:05 PM

Well, After all the great advice here and what I could get locally, it looks like the Hot Rod may be the sure winner. Turns out a local shop has a new one in stock and also has a new Charvel with a quilted maple top that he wants a purple transparent finish on soooo, being the body shop dude that I am, I am going to give that charvel a nice deep trans-purple finish and do a little horse tradin'.

Tahitijack · #38 10-25-2003, 07:01 AM

The HRDlxe is a great choice you won't be disappointed.

Gecko · #39 10-30-2003, 10:07 AM

Het getgo - I've also got a Gibson 335 that I play through a variety of amps. I've got a 1977 Marshall JMP 50, a 1987 Marshall Silver Jubilee 50 watt, and a 1972 Hiwatt Custom 100 (DR103). The Marshall heads go through 100W Marshall 412 slant cabs with greenbacks in them and the Hiwatt goes through a Hiwatt 412 cabinet with original Fanes in it.

IMO, nothing beats the sound of a good tube amp (esp. the older ones). All that moaning you hear from seasoned amp techs about the good old days and the old amps IS TRUE. lol, I used to think they were whiny old men, but they're right.

It all depends what you need. I play in a touring rock and roll band and I need a big sound onstage, hence the stacks.

I do occasionally go back and play some of my smaller combo amps (Fender Super 60, Vox AC30) but they don't have that big, fulll sound. I can play the Hiwatt *quietly* at lower settings and it still shimmers with a beautiful clean sound. Once you've played stacks it's hard to go back to combos.

My advice, if you're serious about playing, would be to purchase absolutely the best tube amp you can afford. If size/volume aren't issues - go big. If budget/space/volume are issues then go for a quality combo. The Fender HotRod Deluxe mentioned earlier is a great little amp, as are the Mesa combos. The Mesas in particular have excellent build quality - better than the new Fenders, IMO.

If you have a good foundation for your sound, then you're set. You can add FX to your sound at will, but if the base sound isn't there, no amount of FX will make it sound better. However, if you have a great, sweet clean tube tone and you add quality FX to it, they really stand out. The Hiwatt in particular takes FX really well. It's trickier with the Marshalls. The Hiwatt has a lot more headroom to play with.

Oh, I could ramble on for ages about amps but I'll shut the he$$ up now.

Have fun and good luck!

sunfighter · #40 10-30-2003, 03:11 PM

Seems like a lot of Fender amp fans here and rightfully so. I have a friend who thinks God's name is Fender and he recently put all of his Fender amps off to the side for a Laney (all tube 30 watt(?)). He said it is a monster amp, I do not know the model number, but he loves it for large outdoor gigs. The amp retails for about $600. So if cash is a concern, you might want to give a listen.

Bottom line is that there are a lot of good amps out there. But, for some I think you may pay a little extra for the name.

Gecko · #41 10-30-2003, 03:23 PM

Laney's ROCK! I demo-ed one several years ago. lol...haven't heard one mentioned in a while. Similar to an older Marshall in tone. The guitarist from Black Sabbath - Tony Iommi - uses them now. Great amps!

joe white · #42 10-30-2003, 07:57 PM

Hmmmm, Laney could be an option as well. I am trying to come up with a variation from the other guitarist in our group. He plays a paul through half stack marshall so me with a fender would sound different and give some variety to our mix.

jam for Christ · #43 10-31-2003, 01:23 AM

I have a Hot Rod deluxe that gets a lot of use and it surely does the job. I have been really pleased with its performance indoor and out. The HRD also sounds sweet with a cabinet such as a mesa boogie, or marshall 4 x 10.

This guy is a bit loud for the package, produces a wonderful clean as well as overdriven sound with stock parts. As someone mentioned you can put in a jenson, and some new tubes if you really want to make it scream. It all depends on what you are looking for. It screams pretty good with stock parts too. All and all it is a great amp for different voices (blues, rock, jazz, sonic-clean).

I play a Gibson 335 dot (1971) and it simply sings. My American Std Strat also sounds great if you are looking for that "fender" sound. The HRD does a swell job, but cant compete with old vintage tubes amps such as my 1968 Princeton if you are looking for that dirty wet sound. Im mostly and accoustic player now so these guys dont get as much attention, but only due to different musical interests now. Good luck with it.

JD

joe white · #44 10-31-2003, 07:29 AM

JD
that sounds so much like my set-up. I am playing a new Epi Dot ( cheap, cheap version of the real thing) and I mostly play acoustic but some of the material we are starting to do really needs another electric.

Red · #45 10-31-2003, 09:48 AM

I had a Laney 80 watt tube amp a while back (can't remember the model) but it was a piece. It was really a one trick pony if you like thick muddy distortion. It also had electrical problems where it kept shorting out and I had to have it repaired twice in the 4 years I owned it. I wouldn't touch Laney with a 10 foot pole now. Especially since my Vox Valvetronix has 1000x better tone!