One Amp

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Krystof01

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Hi,
The following condition applies (well, not really):
-Maximum of one amp (no and/or, or comments on other peoples choices).

Which amp is the best:
-all round
-you can only have one amp (i.e. for both clean/overdrive/crunch etc)
-money isn't an object but I want your choice (i.e. not something you've heard about but one you own/owned or have tried).
-you can have overdive pedals/distortion pedals etc in front of it; but what I'm concerened about is the amp.
-Also name your style (main style will do).

Please don't get into a debate about them; keep it simple. A one line answer only mentioning one amp per post.
 
I guess that the amp that I've used the longest with the most sucsess is the.. Mesa Boogie mark 3 {all options} ... long frame head and 4/12 Marshall cab.I've recorded in many studios for alot of hours , about 5 years with that rig.At the time I was doing a lot of rock and pop mostly....88 or 89 to about 93 so whatever the guit sound that was popular I could approx with that rig.Man now I miss that dam thing!!! LOL

Don
 
no one else will pick this!

Well, if I have my choice of pedals--and if I'm playing out--it's got to be an Ampeg V4 with the original style 7027 tubes. Yeah, it's not some fancy exciting channel switching high gain monster, but it has a great sound. Not to mention something like 140 watts of power. The clean sound on a V4 is juicy, not sparkling clean, not necessarily dirty, but big and juicy. It's easy to get the Hendrix clean sound from it, that seems to be what it was designed for. It's got a pretty flexible eq section including switchable midrange and treble frequencies, and when you crank it, your guitar sound doesn't disappear. I have never heard another amp that can drive 8 12's that sounds so great with all kinds of distortion pedals, it makes a tube screamer sound like heaven, and a Big Muff sound like a million bucks. My favorite V4 lineup was guitar > crybaby > uni-vibe > tube screamer > rat > foxx fuzz/wah/volume > boss dm-2 delay. Built like a tank, can tour across the country in a van no problem... But it will accumulate some buzzes and crackles along the way... and the built-in reverb is pretty useless.

For the more modern sounds, or a more versatile amp, those Seymour Duncan Convertible amps that they made for like a year are pretty cool. I played one at a shop once, and I wish I had bought it, but alas, at the time I was a poor youngster. They are all-tube amps that use these litte plug-in modules to alter the gain structure or eq for each particular channel, and I remember making some wicked combinations of tones by moving the modules around.
 
Pod Pro into a Hafler power amp into a Peavey 4x12 cab.......
 
I gig with a J-Station into a Hafler P1200 into an open backed cab loaded with an EV12L.

Tom
 
Gidge said:
Pod Pro into a Hafler power amp into a Peavey 4x12 cab.......
Click to expand...


That looks like a very similar setup to mine and so far It's working well. (replace the hafler with an alesis and the peavey with a crate, although I'd like a marshall)

Gidge I've been concerned about my power amp...which hafler are you using? can you tell me what ohms/wattage your cab is?
Thanks!
 
Man, you can find the Mark 3's for about $600 now... that head chunks nicely, Master Of Puppets and a big part of ..And justice for All were tracked with Mark 3's. I have a Mesa 3 channel Rectifier and I'm so happy I could shit every time I think about it. I've had a Mesa Mark 3, a MEsa Quad, a DC-5 and a Nomad, AND a 2 channel rectifier, which I got rid of for the 3 channel. Much more versatility. I can not recommend that amp enough. Its not cheap, but it wont leave you desiring much.
The Pod will get old eventually, and you'll wish you had a real amp. :)
 
Actually I had a real amp that I sold to get the pod pro, mostly for recording purposes. My friend got a pod and a triple rectifier (just got a mesa cab with vintage 30's too) For recording he tried the mesa a few times, and I don't think he's used it since. Granted for live stuff, a tube amp is a tube amp, but if you can only have ONE amp, I choose versatility.

As far as I'm concerned I have 32 real enough amps. :)
 
Live gigs- Crate black voodoo w/ marshall cab w/ a compressor an 7 band eq. studio work- straight in to voodoo & Mesa single rectifier w/ marshall cab. I played a vht pitbull head( the sound ive been looking for 3 years) and if had the money thats what i would br using- the sound is fkn great.
 
Yeah Henri and t/d!

I love my Mesa/Boogie Quad. Shimmering crystal clean, good classic overdrive, and searing shred saturation. However, can't get that ballsy Rectified chunk.

I'd probably vote for the TriAxis, but I haven't owned one (yet).

So far, the Quad's my choice for studio work. But,...

I'm currently gigging with my SansAmp PSA-1.

I prefer a real tube amp with real speakers in the studio because of all the variations I can get with mic'ing techniques.

Yet, I prefer the PSA-1 on the road because of its stability and tweakability. When my tone doesn't sound right for a room, I just tweak the PSA-1 where necessary.


Matt
 
AC15 re-issue I have tweaked the tubes and use a fuzz and overdrive in front of it. It is 'perfect' for my Strat. BTW I use the lineout after AB tests with a Shure SM57.
 
a gibson sg into my marshall 1959 plexi...or maybe my hendrix strat for cleaner stuff. you cant beat a plexi if you want wonderful, natural overdrive...however theres enough volume in one of those babies to make your eardrums explode:) its a one trick pony but what it does it does the best.
 
tubedude said:
Man, you can find the Mark 3's for about $600 now... that head chunks nicely, Master Of Puppets and a big part of ..And justice for All were tracked with Mark 3's. I have a Mesa 3 channel Rectifier and I'm so happy I could shit every time I think about it. I've had a Mesa Mark 3, a MEsa Quad, a DC-5 and a Nomad, AND a 2 channel rectifier, which I got rid of for the 3 channel. Much more versatility. I can not recommend that amp enough. Its not cheap, but it wont leave you desiring much.
The Pod will get old eventually, and you'll wish you had a real amp. :)
Click to expand...

I acually got 3rd one once for 300.00 ..short frame racked head..No reverb on that one.Quit playing live and didnt do much studio/recording so I got rid of all my amps..Started again but was playing with a "Lilith Fair" type of band so I went to a smaller setup .Flextone 2 you can get good sound out of them ..still not a Boogie but what can you do! I tryed the DC-5,Dual Recto but they just weren't right for me..BBB, used a Mesa Quad in the studio and once you figure out how to turn the thing on..LOL.You can get some really great sounds with it,amazing amp!Tube is that triple channel the same as the tremoverb?

Don
 
Ok, here we go (I know this amp isn't very "popular" here but...) My vote goes to the Fender Cyber-Twin. Having one since Feb., I feel that I know the amp pretty well. It has great Fender clean and dirty sounds. It has great Marshall, Vox & "modern" amp overdrive sounds. I feel that It lacks in the heavy (thrash) metal dept., though you can get a good Creed type sound out of it, but that can be helped ALOT with a good humbucker guitar and maybe a good distortion pedal (if you need that Pantera type crunch.) I'm a blues, classic rock (blues based) player so I dont need "extreme" gain that often. I could see this amp being the ultimate classic rock/blues cover band's amp. The effects in the amp are great, though you are limited to using one or a combo of two effects at the same time. But they sound great, no original guitar signal loss like you can get when you use a bunch of pedals. One of my favorite things about the amp is the XLR outputs, great for direct recording. The reverb's are the best I've heard and I've never been able to "tone shape" & tweak any amp like I can with the Cyber-Twin. The only "pedal" I use with the amp is a Teese RMC2 wah and it works perfectly. I recommend this amp to gig'ers, home recorders and studio session players of blues, classic rock, rock, country, jazz, alternative, and basically any style that isn't extreme, chain saw, razors edge, ear bleeding, crunchy fuzz gain/distortion (again a humbucker and maybe even a good analog distortion pedal can get you there..)
 
'50's Fender tweed Concert Amp......

Sounds GREAT clean, Sounds SUPER dirty, plenty of volume for gigs but doesn't over power mics for recording, tube rectified, Wonderful tone, veristale, and even single coil hum sounds cool through this amp. Not too heavy and easy to lug around-----My main style is Rock-A-Billy, Texas Swing and real honky tonk---NOT new nashville crap and we return to the blues every once in while.
 
the best amp i've ever owned is a marshall jcm 900 dual reverb 50watt head with a crate(reloaded) straight cab and an early 70's salt & pepper grill angled cab. the best part about it is that it doesn't sound like a marshall jcm 900. anytime anyone hears a recording of it, they're shocked when i say its a marshall. its just sooo meaty.
 
400w peavey butcher head on a 4x12 slant peavey half-stack...bought it used a few years ago...I'm not sure what speakers are in it--scorpions or black widows?...does anyone know?....oh yeh--rock.
 
Mickey- go get 5 of those heads and put them side by side, you might be surprised that only one or 2 sound really good. Very poor QC. When they're good, they're real good though!

daddy-o- Will the 50's version actually get anything more than a mildly overdriven signal if you need it? I can't imagine getting anything crunchy out of it. Surprise me with an MP3. ;)

Henri devill- no, its not the trem-o-verb, its just the standard head.It has 3 channels, each chanel can be assigned to ANY of these: clean, raw, vintage or modern, the effects loop is switchable in and out via the footswitch, and you can also assign the effects loop to only particular channels (say, some chorus on the clean for channel 1, and dry on channels 2 and 3, it will do it for you when you change channels, faster than you could ever do it the old way. Instant and no clicks. Nice feature, one of my favs) You can also switch it from full power to I think 60% for when you;re just playing around in the bedroom so as not to wear the tubes out running high voltage. This also changes the sound in a desirable way, too, for tracking over stuff. You can even remove 2 power tubes and spare some life on the others if you want. The rectifier is switchable in and out for differnt tone options. THats all I can think of right now. Nice amp, though. :)
 
Henri Devill said:
BBB, used a Mesa Quad in the studio and once you figure out how to turn the thing on..LOL.You can get some really great sounds with it,amazing amp!
Click to expand...

Yeah. It's hard to get it to work without the damn pedalboard. Unless you're using that switching system in the back.

Matt
 
dabluesman said:
Ok, here we go (I know this amp isn't very "popular" here but...) My vote goes to the Fender Cyber-Twin.
Click to expand...

Hmm. Wonder why it's not popular?:confused: Seems like a great concept. I'd consider getting one for classic Fender tones if I didn't also require modern crunch. It must be a great amp if Greg Koch endorses it (then again,... he gets paid to like it).

Matt
 
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