What Amp Are You Using And Why Would You Recommend It

Posted: Wed Aug 22, 2012 3:38 am

I use a Randall RT 100,It has a nice clean tone with a bright switch.

Has Gobs of gain,i currently have it on 6,more gain than you need.

Has plenty of mids,all around good amp,I like it better than the 6505+.

Joined: 03 May 2008 Posts: 6629 Location: Minnesota

I have a few amps, but I make my money with my Jet City JCA22H.

I love it because it's raunchy. It's thick. The tone is juicy. Then I click it to the Overdrive channel, and it gets even better.

Posted: Wed Aug 22, 2012 4:04 am

i wanna try a jet city..........got a spare lol

Joined: 13 Dec 2010 Posts: 3673 Location: Tampa, FL

Mesa Mark series and Marshall JMP's and JCM's. No reason to say why.

Joined: 04 Jun 2012 Posts: 350 Location: South-West Ohio

Blackstar HT-20H with an Avatar closed back "vintage" 2X12 cab loaded with 2 hellatones [vintage V-30's]. More gan than one can really need with a VERY rich and full sound. Makes my old amps sound like listening to a hand held boom box. Small enough to crank everything to 11 and not be heard in guam, big enough to do anything without a PA, and can be mic'd for stuff that requires one. Awesome tone, and very versatile.

Joined: 20 Jul 2007 Posts: 1742 Location: NJ

I like my Randall RM100 and Lynch Box.

First between all the modules that were released and all the mods that can be done to them by places like Jaded Faith Mods, Voodoo Amps, Rack Systems, etc. you can have just about any sound you want.

You can have a Fender Clean, Marshall Crunch, and Mesa Lead and sound like you have 3 amps running with an amp switcher.

People knocked these as being "Too expensive" saying things like "For the price you could just get a Marshall or a Mesa." But in all actuality the head empty was $1000 and modules were $200 for regular modules, Sigs were $250-300 and modding is generally around $150, so for $2050 (head plus 3 modded regular modules) you could get the tone of $5500 worth of amps.

Second I like being able to swap, mix, and bias my own power tubes. Right now I run 2 JJ 6L6GCs on the outside and 2 Tung Sol EL34Bs on the inside, I'm not limited to just 6L6s or EL34s or KT88s etc.

Also you can mix and match pre-amp tubes to get the sound you want. Some of my pre-amps have JJs, Rubys, EHs, Tung Sols, some have a combo of 2 brands where as regular amps share the pre-amp tubes.

Third, I live in an apartment and these amps sound great at "bedroom" levels, which was important to me because I can't crank my amps to get them to sound the way I want.

They're just super flexible on so many levels.

Joined: 27 Feb 2006 Posts: 13396 Location: Earth

My main amp is a Marshall JCM800 2203ZW... I won't recommend it because I'm not other people and can't tell you what to like. Why do I use it? It's an icon of rock and metal history. It's loud enough to peel the paint of your walls. It's built like a tank. It's hand wired. It sounds fantastic.

My new amp is a Marshall JCM1... I love it because I can get the tone of my JCM800 in my house and not peel the paint off the walls and not bother my neighbours and I can still crank it in low power mode. I can leave my JCM800 at the rehearsal space. If my JCM800 needs repair I can use the JCM1 with my 4X12 and get my tone on stage, it just has to be mic'd (which they do on my big amp anyway). I can use the JCM1 in low power mode as a preamp into another amp's effect return.

Two amps, same company, same tone different uses...

Joined: 27 Oct 2010 Posts: 721 Location: Greenwood, IN

I use 2 Randall RG100HTs, one for cleans, and one for dirt. I switch between them with an Ernie Ball 6165 panner. I also have an RG80ES and a Century 200 that I use as backups. I love that old Randall distortion. I'm also something of an effects junkie and these amps take effects extremely well. I absolutely love my tone but I know a lot of you guys would hate it. I'll eventually post some clips for you guys to judge for yourselves.

Joined: 01 Dec 2006 Posts: 1859 Location: Belgium

Lately I mostly use a Fender Mustang Mini.

- Best sounding amp under $100
- Footswitch
- Tuner
- Easy and fast to find a good setting.

Joined: 27 Feb 2006 Posts: 10203 Location: New Jersey USA

I use a Vox AC50CP. Its my favorite amp, period. And I do have quite a few in my arsenal to pick from. This ones an odd amp for a Vox as it has two EL-34's in the power section, instead of EL-84's. But it is the amp that fits my sound the best. On the clean channel, you have what approaches the Vox chimey cleans with a bit more girth. You'll never get the full on Vox Chime with these tubes, but it gets close. The clean channel has its own gain and volume controls, so you can get some really nice power tube crunch and get some really powerful AC/DC style rhythm sounds. Or you can get full on clean tones with lots of headroom. The high gain channel is what makes this amp a true beast. Vox is know for its more vintage style gain, but this amp has a full on modern high gain tone. This channel also has its own full set of controls, with a gain and volume, as well as each channel having its own tone stack and reverb controls, so everything can be set independently. The tones are full and punchy, and a ton of tight modern gain on tap. Its a real shocker for a Vox. There are also Bright and Fat switches. If you are familiar with the Tiny Terrors, you are familiar with how much gain gets added when you hit that Fat switch. Its a great feature. Cap it all off with a Master volume to bring the whole rig up and down, and you are all set to make all the sweet sexy brutalz you desire.

Some other things that make this amp killer? There are bias test ports and bias adjustments on the back of the amp, so you can bias tubes quickly and safely. The amp has killer speakers too! They are custom Wharfdale speakers, who usually make high end UK stereo equipment. When I got the amp, I intended to replace them with a pair of greenbacks, but these speakers rock hard, so i kept them right where they were. The amp is built like a tank. Seriously tough construction on this thing. Been gigging it for a few years, and it has held up great. And it has that classic high end Vox look and feel. I love it.

What are the cons to this thing? First off, the Vox cork sniffers hate this amp. Why? because its not really in the Vox mold, so they snub it. It has EL-34's, which is a no-no for Vox snobs. A proper Vox has EL-84's. Second it has a searing high gain channel... again, not very Vox-like. And third, it was basically created when Vox and Marshall were both distributed in the US by Korg. They needed an Amp to stand up the Marshalls in the high gain market, so they made the AC50CP. But right after that, Marshall Split from Korg, and left Vox there by itself. So Vox for whatever reason discontinued this amp fairly quickly, and regained their focus on the vintage style reissues and the Tony Bruno models for their high end stuff. Also, this amp was expensive when it came out. It was damn near $1200. But when they got discontinued, I got mine for half that on closeout, so it was really a steal. But they are hard to find now on the used market, and still cost more used than I paid new. And lastly, this sucker is quite large for a 2x12 combo, and it is super heavy, so its a bitch to move around by yourself. Its damn near 90 lbs if I recall correctly.

The Vox AC50CP was reviewed very well when it came out. There were quite a few reviews that gave it high praise, especially for its searing high gain tones, including one of those Guitar World Paul Riario videos, which is what made me want one. So when they went on closeout, it was a no brainer for me to pull the trigger. So when my spine condition, or roadie situation allows, this is my go to amp for sure. I love it. Seriously I do.

This amp does it all for me. Shiny cleans, great rock tones, and totally killer metal tones. It has its own tone and personality, as I have never been a sheep to play the same Marshall or Mesa as everyone else. I like to be a little different... to make people say hmmmm... whats that he's playing through, as Vox? WTF? How does he get that sound out of a Vox! Smile

Joined: 07 Aug 2007 Posts: 2740 Location: Southeast MI

I use a Fryette Sig:X into a Mesa Recto cab. I use it because it just has "my sound". It's clean channel is great and the other two can do anything from all out heavy to sparkling cleans as well. Pretty wild it's so versatile. I set mine up for channel 1 clean, channel 2 semi-clean-type bluesy sound, then kick in the boost for rock type tones. Channel 3 with boost on is my main high gain tone.

Joined: 20 Jul 2007 Posts: 1742 Location: NJ

GuitarGoat wrote:

I use a Fryette Sig:X into a Mesa Recto cab. I use it because it just has "my sound". It's clean channel is great and the other two can do anything from all out heavy to sparkling cleans as well. Pretty wild it's so versatile. I set mine up for channel 1 clean, channel 2 semi-clean-type bluesy sound, then kick in the boost for rock type tones. Channel 3 with boost on is my main high gain tone.

I've have been really GASing to try one of these, had I not started buying the MTS stuff in '07 I would have more than likely gone for one of these, but they didn't come out until '08.

Joined: 07 Aug 2007 Posts: 2740 Location: Southeast MI

Steel City Psycho wrote:

GuitarGoat wrote:

I use a Fryette Sig:X into a Mesa Recto cab. I use it because it just has "my sound". It's clean channel is great and the other two can do anything from all out heavy to sparkling cleans as well. Pretty wild it's so versatile. I set mine up for channel 1 clean, channel 2 semi-clean-type bluesy sound, then kick in the boost for rock type tones. Channel 3 with boost on is my main high gain tone.

I've have been really GASing to try one of these, had I not started buying the MTS stuff in '07 I would have more than likely gone for one of these, but they didn't come out until '08.

You really need to. Before it I had Mesa Marks, Rectos, Calibers, a couple Peavey 5150s, etc., and was never really happy with all everything about them so was constantly buying and selling. I got the Sig:X and now I'll play another amp and say "that's a sweet amp...but my Sig:X is definitely better!" I don't even plug into my Mesas any more really...

Joined: 21 Sep 2010 Posts: 446

I'm using a JSX. What I love about it is that it has 3 channels, one dedicated for clean, channel 2 can get very heavy, and channel 3 is more gain than ever needed. I have having to share a clean/rhythm channel crunch. Having this independantly with enough gain on tap in channel 2 was a big turn on for me. I can now use channel 3 as a boost with a "lead eq" seperate from the rhythm channel. Very versitile and great sounding amp.

Joined: 03 May 2008 Posts: 6629 Location: Minnesota

revolutionman wrote:

i wanna try a jet city..........got a spare lol

I actually don't anymore! I sold and traded all my backups away.

Going to have to do something about that!

Joined: 09 Jan 2005 Posts: 169 Location: Pawtucket RI

My gigging amp for the last couple of years has been a Peavey 6534+ head into a Marshall 1960AV (V30s). I like the 6534+ because it has the preamp of a 6505 ( slightly different and less noisy) with the growl of EL34s. The channel options offer enough variations in gain for the cover bands I'm in now, especially with an overdrive pedal to add just a little kick to the clean for bluesier stuff. As usual with the 5150/6506 amps, it's built like a tank too.

Posted: Wed Aug 22, 2012 2:25 pm

Hughes and Kettner Switchblade 100-watt. Hands down the very best amp I have ever owned. It has built-in effects, which alleviate the need for stomp boxes. And the effects are GREAT, not cheap noisy units. It will store 132 pre-set sounds. Hard to beat for the money IMHO.

Joined: 01 Oct 2009 Posts: 474 Location: Michigan, USA

My main amps are a Marshall DSL 50 and a Mesa DC-5. I also have a Marshall VS100 and a Marshall Class 5.

If I cannot get the job done with those amps, then I probably need to spend more time practicing.

Joined: 10 Mar 2008 Posts: 666 Location: Dallas,TX.

I would not recommend any of my amps. Embarassed

Joined: 23 May 2007 Posts: 2200 Location: Seattle, WA

Peavey Valveking. Nice tube sound, pretty damn versatile. I can't get the broootalz out of it, but I'll be damned if I don't have some killer freaking classic rock tones dialed in right now.

Joined: 18 Dec 2006 Posts: 1189

My amp journey took me from my first amps - Peavey Classics back in the 80s, to ADA MP-1 preamp and power amp, Mesa Mark IIIc, Fender Hot Rod, Marshall DSL50, Bogner Ecstasy, Krank Rev I, Fender Showman, Mesa Dual Recto, ENGL Savage 120, then to where I am now......

I run a Fractal AxeFX Ultra into a power amp. Everything I had prior to this setup was lacking in some way - the Peaveys didn't have enough gain, the ADA, well, that was good but it broke, the Mark III had channel relay issues, the Hot Rod was a good clean amp but needed pedals for gain, the Marshall was kick ass but wasn't that versatile, the Ecstasy didn't have enough low end, the Krank didn't have enough gain that I like, the Showman was unreliable and needed pedals, the Dual Recto just didn't have the tone I was looking for, and then the ENGL...... boy, that is a GREAT amp, but it is noisy as hell. If not for the noise, it would be my ultimate amp and as it stands, it is the ultimate tube amp.

The AxeFX through a power amp into my Marshall 1960B is not the typical setup that most use the Fractal for. But it does everything that all of my previous amps did, and without noise. I love this setup for high gain stuff.

But now I am amp lusting again, now for an EL84 based class A amp for clean to mid gain tones. I'm looking at either a Matchless SC30, a Top Hat Club Royale, a Divided by 13 BTR23 (not EL84 though), or the top of my list is a Morgan 30/800, which is supposedly a cross between an AC30 and a JCM800.

After that, I think I want to get a Splawn Quickrod for Marshall tones, a Carr Rambler for clean Fender tones, and I think I'd be set for amps.

Joined: 12 Oct 2004 Posts: 3840 Location: BOSTON

Diezel.

kills iron ganite dead with bourbon, hammers, and authority.

Joined: 28 Mar 2006 Posts: 5465 Location: White Haven,Pa

JCM800 2203 is what I use Twisted Evil

Posted: Wed Aug 22, 2012 6:18 pm

Using a rack atm. Mesa Boogie Studio Pre (basically a Mark IIc)
When I can afford a bigger case, it will be running in stereo with an ADA MP-1. Besides that, I have a G-major, a tuner, a few pedals and a looper and ofcourse a poweramp. Sounds great and is very easy to use. I dont mind the complex setup under the hood.

Recently, though, I've been playing my Randall Century 200II. Great sounding amp with a lot of grind.

Joined: 05 Dec 2008 Posts: 909

Carvin V3
3 great "clean" voicings
2x3 great dirty voicings
3 channels all with independent low/mid/high/presence/gain/ EQ Expander and volume settings
Global low/mid/high/presence/volume
Assignable adjustable volume boost
2 asignable FX loops
1 meg pots (huge control sweep range)
Built in MIDI for channel, FX loop 1, FX loop 2, and boost
Ability to use 6L6 or EL34
Circuit breaker (instead of fuse)
100w all tube USA head (Switchable to 50w)
Programable interior lighting for each channel

All for under $1000!

More gain than you ever would need, and more adjustability than some can handle (main reason people give for selling theirs...too many knobs)
Want bass? it has it in SPADES...don't want it? huge sweep range lets you dial in as much or as little as you want, same goes for mids, highs, and presence.

LOVE the tone you get in your practice room, but you need to re dial in for a bigger room? JUST use the global EQ! ALL your favorite settings stay where they were, and you can dial the amp in to match the room!

Honestly (IMNSHO) The BEST, most feature filled amp you can buy at over TWICE it's price!

Joined: 07 Oct 2008 Posts: 1846 Location: Norfolk, UK

I use three amps mainly.

For the band i use an engl fireball. It has the sound and simplicity for gigging with, sounds good with the other guitarists powerball II, and engl are great guys!

I also use a clone of a marshall 2061 for the more rock/blues stuff i do. Made by a guy who lives near me. The Marshall version is great also. Its a classic, simple but awesome.

The 3rd amp is a clone of a tweed fender champ, but in a larger box removing some of the boxy sound that puts me off the original ones. A classic, simple but awesome.

Joined: 06 May 2007 Posts: 4140 Location: southern ohio

What mahly said....can't say enough about my V3.....love it

Joined: 15 Jan 2008 Posts: 451 Location: Iowa

I love my 6505+. It's provided me with the tone I always heard in my since day one of owning it. I agree that the clean on the Randall RT100 is great but the gain stages don't hold a candle to my 6505+ IMHO. (the other guitarist in my band owns the RT100) Still a sick amp for sure.

Joined: 07 Jan 2009 Posts: 948 Location: sayre, pa

egnater 40w tweaker. it covers almos ever style, and rocks at all volumes

Joined: 30 Mar 2009 Posts: 4709 Location: Dayton, OH

Right now the only amp I have is the Fender Mustang III. It's a great amp, it sounds good at bedroom levels and it is also LOUD. I can get a lot of differnt sounds out of it and I really like the FUSE software.

Joined: 28 Jul 2004 Posts: 956 Location: D.O.A. 04-00341

I use a Carvin x100b reissue V , I like it because it has great cleans and great distortion. Has all the options I need, built in boost or master volume mode Fx loop assignable EQ bright switch 25/50/100 Watt selections can switch from 6L6 or EL34 tubes

And the price was way under what other amps in its class are.

There are lots of great amps out there and I have owned most of them at one time or the other. All had thing they did great, this one just does them all great.

Joined: 15 Sep 2010 Posts: 976 Location: Rock Hill,SC

When I had my half stack I ran a Peavey 3120 into a Mesa 4x12 recto cab. The clean channel on that is just amazing! I never really used the rhythm channel much I used the lead channel for rhythm & boosted for leads. I sold her because I couldn't justify having that much power without gigging. Now I use my Peavey Vypyr 100w all the time. It has just about everything I want & more than I need. They get some hate but I've got my tone just about spot on where I want it. I actually want the 60w tube version & the 120w head if I start gigging again.

Joined: 06 Dec 2010 Posts: 78

After I started using the Fractal Audio Axe FX, I've never looked back. Practically every amp listed in this thread is in one sweet little box (along with too many other goodies to mention), and the constant updates have just made it better and better at not only emulating but CRUSHING the actual amps the models are based on.

Selling my Ultra now as you know, as I've moved on to the II...

Joined: 06 Jul 2010 Posts: 7

Peavey Classic 30

I use it because it sounds good and at 49 I am sick of lugging tons of equipment around.

Posted: Thu Aug 23, 2012 4:55 pm

6505

Good overall rock and metal amp, meat and potatoes

Would I recommend it? Sure, hard to beat 6L6 amp for the money. I would recommend a DSL2000 in the same price range for the EL34 fans

Joined: 31 Mar 2006 Posts: 2017

Voodoo modded jcm800 2210 and Ceriatone Chupacabra for any marshall tone on the planet, and a Randall Century 200 for all things metal.

Joined: 13 Feb 2006 Posts: 312 Location: Marietta GA

Graunke wrote:

my Jet City JCA22H.

I love it because it's raunchy. It's thick. The tone is juicy. Then I click it to the Overdrive channel, and it gets even better.

exactly

Joined: 09 Mar 2005 Posts: 224 Location: Belgium

Hey, this is what I currently use :

Mesa Dual Rectifier (3 channel version) with marshall 1960A cab.

I like it a lot. Before this I played on a Peavey 5150 with the same cab. The peavey was more 'noisy' and raw. I prefer the mesa sound it is a little more 'tame' than the 5150. I mostly play heavy metal/metalcore.
I use a maxon OD808 as boost for the amp, it helps a lot with the overall sound. Some people prefer this amp without any boost but I prefer it with.