Amp recomendations

[Outlander]

First let me say I have been following intently everything you guys have been saying about the differant amps available now days Engle,Soldano,VHT etc. etc. etc.and paying particular attention to those who are actually using them.
I'm going to be playing out again soon (finally) and am looking for recomendations for an amp that will do well for various covers from 60's through the 80's and also be flexible enough to establish my own tone for our originals.
We will start working as a cover band but will also be doing some warmup work,large benefits and shows.
Looking for an amp that will do everything, sound great at all volume levels and require as little tweaking as possible, except for initial setup.
Do you think a multi channell amp would work best for this ? or what?
I'm looking at $1,500.00 to $2,500.00 to invest including cab.

Thanks for any advice you can give me.

[Ebbflow]

Re: Amp recomendations

I'm going to recomend a DSL 100 or 50. I know it's not very original but I think it's a fantastic amp that can cover a lot of styles and not break the bank (used prices are reasonanble). The FX loop work very well and I really, really enjoy mine.

[jgcable]

Re: Amp recomendations

More details please.
When you mention 60's covers... what specifically are you talking about?
Are you looking for a head and cab or a combo?
Are you looking for SS, tube, hybrid or modeling?

[mogar]

Re: Amp recomendations

If your going to be covering that much tonal ground, I'm thinking a vetta2 might just be what your looking for.

[Cleveland Metal]

Re: Amp recomendations

I'd look to a (used) VHT CL 100. It will do what you mention fairly well. The Marshall DSL I had isn't even slightly comparable to that amp and is approaching the cost when talking new. No where near as reliable as the VHT.

I could hardly get a sound I liked out a DSL. But, I am picky about having a good tone.

Defintely Look to Soldano or VHT (maybe even MESA). ENGL may be too metal for your needs.

[jgcable]

Re: Amp recomendations

The Mesa Nomad has a lot of range. So does the F series.
My Soldano will cover just about any amp tone except for maybe a VOX AC30TB. A modeling amp would cover anything you needed from the 50's up to todays heaviest thrash.

[Shawn Lutz]

Re: Amp recomendations

If you can go out and play whatever you can get your hands on, only you will know if it works 100% for you. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Having said that, of the amps I currently own, if I had to gig with only one of them.... It would be the Bogner Ecstasy 101B.

If you can live without real clean channel the VHT CL's are also awesome. I have the 50 CL /EQ, love that one.

The Splawn Quick Rod is also pretty damn hot, I just got one and really haven't put it through its paces yet but has a nice clean, killer hot rodded Marshall tone with major BALLS [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] it could work but I can't say for sure.

All of this is based on my opinion and of amps I currently ownw. The 101B will be you most versatile of what I listed. Truth of the matter is you can be versatile with any amp if forced to [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] I was forced to when all I gigged with were 2203/4's [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] I don't have recommend it to justify spending money on it nor did I buy it to be trendy. If I didn't like it's tone, I wouldn't have kept it [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[Outlander]

Re: Amp recomendations

preferably tube,head and cab (1/2 stack)but also open to rack ideas.I have quite a bit of other gear but it's mostly older so I'm looking for reliabilty and dependabilty.I have a ADA MP1,G-major,BBE run into a Mesa 20/20 into a G-Benz 2x12 which sounds great but think I will be needing more power. I want to keep this home for personal practice.
I also have an XT live but would prefer the real deal over modeling although I'm sure the XTL will see some use in some amp modeling areas though.
When I say sixties covers I'm mostly refering to the rock genre but that doesn't mean we wont throw in some R&B and definately blues. I love some of the old Al Cooper Mike Bloomfield stuff.Paul Butterfield band,any one here remember them.OOOps now I'm givin' my age away. Buffalo Springfield....great stuff.Stones ..anything that was/is good.Didn't Hendrix break out in the late 60's?

[markD]

Re: Amp recomendations

well, my recommendation goes to rivera. the clean channel is great and has a lot of range. it will do "fender" and it will saturate like a Vox. the lead channel will go from classic rock to classic metal with ease. if you look at rivera, i'd recommend the m60, m100, s120, quiana and fandango. unless you want more modern tones i'd stay away from the knucklehead reverb amps. i'd also saty away from the r30, r55, r100, and the old knucklehead amps. those amps are good, but lack the veratility of the M/S pro amps, the quiana and the fandango.

here's a link to rivera's manual page.

http://www.rivera.com/manuals.php

look specificall at the M/S pro manual. it has a HUGE sample setting guide and it will give you idea of the variety of tones available in those amps.

[jgcable]

Re: Amp recomendations

[ QUOTE ]
preferably tube,head and cab (1/2 stack)but also open to rack ideas.I have quite a bit of other gear but it's mostly older so I'm looking for reliabilty and dependabilty.I have a ADA MP1,G-major,BBE run into a Mesa 20/20 into a G-Benz 2x12 which sounds great but think I will be needing more power. I want to keep this home for personal practice.
I also have an XT live but would prefer the real deal over modeling although I'm sure the XTL will see some use in some amp modeling areas though.
When I say sixties covers I'm mostly refering to the rock genre but that doesn't mean we wont throw in some R&B and definately blues. I love some of the old Al Cooper Mike Bloomfield stuff.Paul Butterfield band,any one here remember them.OOOps now I'm givin' my age away. Buffalo Springfield....great stuff.Stones ..anything that was/is good.Didn't Hendrix break out in the late 60's?

[/ QUOTE ]

Your MP1/Mesa/G-Major rig sounds outstanding. IMHO... unless you are playing arena's and your amp isn't mic'd, your current rig is plenty powerful enough. I use a Soldano rack system powered by a 100w Carvin T100 power amp running 5881's. A few weeks ago I did a gig in NY that was pretty big. It was a BIG room. The stage was big too. I was at least 20' from my amp. I never had my Carvin above 4. The Soldano preamp was on around 5.

[akoch]

Re: Amp recomendations

What I did - rented Mesa RoadKinga and Soldano Decatone, put them side by side with my TSL and mark IV and spent whole week figuring this out. This was very interesting - by the end of the week I knew that I'm certainly keeping the TSL, got more appriciation for the mark IV and knew for sure that the RoadKing will go back to the store and i'm not likely to revisit this. The take away was the the Decatone had amazing tone: it would not go to the TSL territiry, in fact would just a tiny bit overlap with the mark IV. But will have a very very good tone and feel on its own - I would say my personal preference out of these three if I was to absolutely live with only one. If you were to chose one of these, you would certainly find yourself really liking the specific tone of either TSL, Soldano or Mark IV , and you will feel strongly about it possibly even disliking the other amps.
To sum it up - you really have to try, and do it in both situations: playing alone and playing with the band. The later changes your perception quite a bit and descovers the other aspects of an amp you did not know about.
I would also say that any one of these three will cover most of the sounds you're looking for. But each will have its own flavour:
- Marshall TSL - awesome tone, lots of ground, most dynamic and 'ballsy' sound. Great for solos, and can nail the JCM800 sound (I had JCM800 for 12 years)
- Mark IV - fluid, flexible, interesting amp. Great sound, the solo can be dialed closer to Soldano.
- probably THE SOUND. But bit more compressed than say Marshall, thought to me it is just 'spot-on'. Harmonically, does not need any tweeking - you plug in and all you want is to play.

Alex

[Outlander]

Re: Amp recomendations

I presume the last one with the sound is the decatone?

[Twisteramps]

Re: Amp recomendations

JSX and a good overdrive pedal like a fulltone fulldrive II. That will get you at LEAST four distinct tones, should cover most of your bases. I'm still impressed with my JSX, and I've gigged with it several times now and owned it for a few months. Three channels, tube, great fx loop, plenty of watts, you can bias it yourself, uses EL34s or 6L6 tubes.

Pete

[atilla]

Re: Amp recomendations

Maybe a Phat Tone Mastiff...neat little two-channel tube combo designed for people who play in clubs. 18 watts, made to sound like an old 60s Marshall on one channel, more like a JCM-800 on the other.

[toddstaples]

Re: Amp recomendations

+ 1 on the Phat Tone. Check out www.phattoneamps.com
He has a 18 watt head and combo, a 35 watt head and combo and a 50 watt head. His amps are plexi one one side and a Modded 800 on the other. My other Guitarist uses a 50 watt Phat tone and
I have another 50 watt on order......


[ QUOTE ]
Maybe a Phat Tone Mastiff...neat little two-channel tube combo designed for people who play in clubs. 18 watts, made to sound like an old 60s Marshall on one channel, more like a JCM-800 on the other.

[/ QUOTE ]