Hi Folks,
I've got two nice amps, and I need to decide which one to keep. I know, nice problem to have.
I know this is pretty subjective and ultimately up to me, but thought talking it out might help. Or at least we can have some good discussion.
My two amps are a 5E3 Tweed Deluxe made by Sara Richter and a Dr Z Carmen Ghia. Both are 1 x 12" combos. The 5E3 is a pretty straight ahead clone from what I understand, with a Jensen Electric Lighting speaker. The Z has a well broken in Weber Alnico Blue Dog.
I like to play blues, and have a Baja Tele and Eastman T59, which is a 335 type clone. I am playing mostly at home and with friends. Yea my amps are probably a bit overpowered for that.
To me the Deluxe has a more familiar and recognizable tone. It sounds right for blues. It sounds good with both my guitars. I do find the bass response a bit much, and there seems to be this woofiness I can't dial out. From what I understand that is the nature of the circuit. I really like the touch sensitivity and fat clean tones.
The Carmen Ghia is not dissimilar. It has a single volume and tone control, and not a ton of clean headroom, especially with humbuckers. To me the break up is perhaps a bit smoother than the Deluxe, and it is also a very touch sensitive amp. It seems a good bit louder overall. To my ears it sounds like a much brighter amp than the Deluxe. I usually have the tone on my guitars down quite a bit when playing through it. I don't really play my Tele with this amp as everything seems almost to bright. There is this kind of directness and rawness to the tone, its very cutting. I understand alot of Z amps have this quality, and the Ghia is a very simple and direct circuit. I hear alot of string separation, which is a nice when fingerpicking the electric.
So thats where I am at. I don't NEED the money, but it feels wasteful to have one amp sitting there if I am not into it and could use the cash for something else.
I'd be interested to hear others thoughts/opinions.