Whats your top 3 amps and why??

[El_Kabong]

Living in Asia, I could never use a half stack. I'm sure many of you have living rooms bigger than my whole home. I use a Victoria 20112, w/ an Eminence Red fang and a Marshall Studio 15 w/ a black back. If I *could* use a half stack, it would be a tough call between a 101B and a SLO.

[JACKSONFREAK]

I like a good rich Marshall based tone. So the 2230 would be awsome. Or an old Laney AOR.
for what i have. My Crate VFX212 is incredable.Very toneful and MArshall like. Sounds great with pedals and has a real nice clean tone.
And my Rockman XP100 is killer for being solid state. Sounds great with a quadraverb.
Gil

[DonP]

Marshall, Marshall, Marshall.

I like my Laney AOR's, but I consider them hot-rodded Marshalls.

I did like Mesa's before all of that rectumfryer crap

Even when I build tube amps, I usually stick with a good old Marshall circuit (stolen from Fender of course).

Oops - almost forgot. Why?

Iron Maiden
Judas Priest
AC/DC
Megadeth
Lynch
Ratt
Thin Lizzy
....

It's the tone I grew up with and the tone I love. I switch between a DSL100 and a (year) 1987 Silver Jubilee Micro Stack. Both sound different, yet both sound Marshall, and I love both. I've considered trying a 5150 but haven't. I loved the 2553 into a 4x10 cab when it came out, ut I never got around to scoring one. I'm just really happy with what I've got.

[mhenson42]

WOW..Dude, that's MY kind of stable..LET'S TALK!!!

My friend had a Engl endorsed for some time. While on tour in Europe and Mexico he played a Deizel and a Framus Cobra.

He liked them better than his Powerball, but favored the Cobra a tad more. He's going for a Bogner endorement after playing my Uberschall. Being in a band signed to SPV and with Ripper Owens has its perks I guess...

I keep the gain on my Uberschall completely maxed, and cultivated a very tight, focused and brutal tone. It loses this "growl" whenever I back it off the gain even a tad. A few shredder buds that were dialing/playing also prefer it maxed as well.

The only complaint I had was a midrange "honk" at high volume levels. I conveyed this complaint to the tube store..they advised me to go with Tung Sols 12ax7s..so I crossed my fingers and ordered a matching set of six..kinda expensive but worth it!!

Not only did it remedy the nasily "honk" I couldn't dial out. They gave it MUCHO output and Low end. I backed off the low for the first time owning it. The only trade-off was more noise, which I fixed via noise gate on my G-Major...BIG difference with the Tung Sols...The stock JJ's have a Marshall-like midrange, I get more than enough mids from the El34s alone..the JJ's were just TOO much midrange, so it's a great balance...luckily.

Since you have three, fine high gain sumbitches..which one do you prefer. I always go for a classic VH tone but with MUCH more balls. Which of those three comes closest to that sorta tone..which amp is the "brownest" and the most "butal"?..

You seem to like the amps I go for..it's obvious you're not going for a classic rock or blues tone..is that assumption correct.?

I finally tried a Krank..I was shockingly disappointed with it . The dude I mentioned above works at GC and was there when I was test drove..a JSX, Krankenstein, and VHT Pittbull lead. I asked if there was any "magic" tricks I needed to know when tweaking the Krank, because I was getting nowhere fast. He stated.."Nope, that's it" and just chuckled..

OK, just one more thing..I'm running a Marshall 1960a slant cab with 75 wt clestions. Other than "looks" how badly do I need a Uberkab???!!!

OK, YOU HAVE MY ATTENTION!!!

Bill Z Bub

Damn dude - that's alot to process, where to start.

I've owned alot of amps and nothing has ever come close the the Diezel Herbert. The Diezel Herbert can do it all from brown to brutal. It has a very distinctive tone. Great cleans too - but I use that channel about 0.01% of the time. Most of the time I'm playing metal ala Lamb of God and Mastodon. I get real good AC/DC and 70s era Kiss tones out of it as well. It is the best amp I've ever played.

The ENGL Fireball is pretty much a super tight death metal amp. The clean channel is pretty bad because of the shared gain - but who cares. I really only bought it for the Ultra Gain channel anyway. I owned a Powerball for about three weeks and hated it, but I love this amp. Someday I'll upgrade it to an SE. I've played the Framus Cobra and Dragon several times and neither really did much for me.

To me, the Bogner Uber is a stright up wall of sound metal amp. I don't really use it for anything else. I think the Uber is pretty loose though. I run the gain at noon to 2:00 and usually run a clean boost (Bad Monkey) in front to tighten it up. You should definately try boosting the Uber. I was going to sell it until I found out how great a boost pedal sounds in front of it. I have 9th gen. Chineese pre-amp tubes in it. It sounds odd, but I really like to dial down the treble and use the presence to dial back in the highs.

I'll agree with you on the Kranks. I've play all of them and the Chadwick was the only one that wasn't complete crap.

As for cabs -GET THE UBERKAB!!!! I have yet to play a better cab than the Ubercab. Everything sounds great through it. I like it alot more than the Diezel cab which has all v30s. The cabs are basically identical in construction other than the speakers (they're made by the same company) - but the Bogner cab is just better. I'm thinking about changing some speakers in the Diezel cab - or selling it for another Uberkab.

[rstites]

It's been a while since I posted around here, but this is as good of thread as any to start with...

Soldano SLO - I've had it for several years now and it's still as good as when I dreamed about it for years before being able to afford one. It's the first amp that I haven't found shortcomings in after owning it and "learning" it.

Marshall JMP 2203 - The best rhythm crunch I've had. I wish I still had it, and with current prices for these being in the stratosphere I won't be getting another anytime soon (though I'm about to build one! ).

After that, everything else is a ways back. Tied at third are one of my builds and the trusty ole' Mesa .22+ that I play out more than anything else.

[axeman81]

Wow, seems like mhenson there (is it Michael? ) has my kind of ears!

here's my list:


1. Diezel Herbert - it sounds better than any other amp I've ever played, by a milestone. Made me sound like a million dollars BUT!! warning! don't use EMG loaded guitars..I found this to remove the "magic" in the dynamics...the "live-ness" of the sound from it...But when I played a Charvel with Custom 5 in it, the amp opened up and it was pure tone heaven!

I'm guessing the guy in the other "diezel heads" thread who thought the Herbert was lifeless, just might've fallen in the EMG trap..you don't need actives..this amp has insane gain anyway! Let it do the job

2. ENGL Blackmore - because it's extremely versatile, clean, blues, ac/dc crunch, and tight articulation on the high gain lead channel very well suited for my style of palm muted metal riffing!! And of course this is what I own right now (haven't taken the plunge on the Diezel yet )

3. ENGL Fireball - very cool death metal tone, but a bit more of a one trick pony.


just let me add I've haven't had a chance to try the Bogner line yet! Hoping I will some day

[horns666]

Mhenson, thanks for your opinions/suggestions. Hopefully, I'll score a Uberkab whenever he gets his Bogner deal. He conferred with Bogner and was advised he can purchase the Uber for $1400 ..they're NOT giving him anything other thana great deal. Unfortunatley NOBODY carrys or stocks them around here.

I've tinkered with the Uber for aprrox four years. I milked the best tone I could possibly conjure from it..always with gain full up, treble almost full up , mids/presence moderately low. the precence is more of a high mid control. The treble gives me the freq "cut" and edge I like over a drummer..I have a live-in bash beater, my kid.

The Uber could be a single channel amp as far as I'm concerned. I don't play clean at all. I'm a thrash/death hack mainly. I can get a cool VH-ish tone when I roll the gain back to about 12:00 , and a dirty AC/DC/JMP-ish tone when I roll it back even further..but that's not what I go for these days. I find the Uber tight and articulate, considering how I set it. I play pretty crazy riffs/songs kinda Nevermore/Arch Enemy/LOG..and holds up great!!

I been considering slaming the front end for quite some time. I get my rythm and boosted lead tone via G-Major. I always avoided pedals in my long journey for the perfect METAL amp/tone..I like it all amp...stomps tend to squash the tone, which would make it "tighter". A friend mods pedals, I'll give one of his a shot.

I agree on the Vintage 30's, never was a fan of them..the only time I thought they sounded "decent" was in the tall Recto cab. I have five Marshall 1960 cabs worth of w/75 watters..so.

I run my early Marshall 9200 w/Monoblock w/5881's, JMP-1, JFX-1, BBE 422 into four Marshall 1960b cabs. I bought this rig new back in '96, my favorite Marshall tone I ever had. I gave up two sweet 2210s for it immediately. I owned alot of amps , many of them Marshalls. The Marshall rack has been my mainstay since. I can't ever sell it, I still LOVE it for alot of things I do..awesome lead tone. It blends nicely with the Uber when recording. Which I'm planning to do pretty soon.

I got my sights on a Uberkab..everyone that tried/owned one all said the same thing. Besides, They just looks purdy together. I'll sell the Marshall slant, I'm partial to bottom cabs anywhoo.

BTW ..The 6 Tung Sols really changed the tone and feel of the Uberschall..big time!!

Wish I could get my mits on the controls of a Deizel, he liked it better than his Engls. So I kinda ruled Powerball/Fireball due to him being so bent for the Uber. He had Engls for about long as I had my Bogner...going on his word other than my ear I suppose. Stating the Uber/Deizel is more "Brutal", and the Uber just sounds "massive".

I actually had four half stacks into a custom switcher long ago..5150/ 2210 Marshall/ Soldano HR 100/Ampeg Lee Jackson VL-100s..and plenty of amps that came and went ..Rectos, MRK III and ect...lots of Marshalls.

So I guess we wern't doing anything "wrong"..The Krank don't compare to the brutal shit we're into. That Randall Warhead that Dime designed was plain nasty IMO..I thought the RG120's he used were better..for ss amps.

Hey, have you checked out the ultra channel on the Peavey JSX yet..pretty nice IMO..I had fun playin' with it at GC!!

Thanks man,

Bill Z

[Fragle]

one word of warning: the framus cobra is NOT a plug and play amp like the 5150. it's very picky when it comes to guitars, pickups, and cabinet selection. given the very responsive EQ section, i'm tempted to say it's kinda similar to a mark series boogie in that respect.
with my 5150, i dialed in a GOOD heavy rhythm tone in like 30 seconds max when doing soundcheck. with the cobra, it can take as long as 10 minutes to really set it according to the room acoustics and used cab, but then again, it's worth it....a properly dialed in cobra crushes anything i've ever heared or played in terms of live and loud METAL sound.

[siggy14]

One thing to remember guys, everyone will have a different ideal sound. I tried the Diezels and really didnt think they were any better then a bogner. Of course could have been the cab so I will have to play more. Amps also come down to so many different things and exspecially how you EQ it. Example I loved my uber when i had it, but both Bill and I EQ them completly different, but we both loved the tones we got out of it.

Anyway my top three right now are.

Mesa Dual Early version 2 channel.

Bogner XTC 101B

Marshall JCM800 2203.

[markD]

my number 1 would be my rivera m/s pro amp. it doesn't matter if it is an m60, m100, or s120, they give me what i need.

my number 2 would be a blackface fender head. it doesn't matter if it is a showman, bandmaster, tremolux...as long as it has the tremolo circuit. not a big fan of the bassman anymore. i currently use a tremolux, and i love it. the tone is very pure.

my number 3 would be an engl SE. i have never played one, but it seems like an amp i would love......

[mhenson42]

Wow, seems like mhenson there (is it Michael? ) has my kind of ears!

here's my list:


1. Diezel Herbert - it sounds better than any other amp I've ever played, by a milestone. Made me sound like a million dollars BUT!! warning! don't use EMG loaded guitars..I found this to remove the "magic" in the dynamics...the "live-ness" of the sound from it...But when I played a Charvel with Custom 5 in it, the amp opened up and it was pure tone heaven!

I'm guessing the guy in the other "diezel heads" thread who thought the Herbert was lifeless, just might've fallen in the EMG trap..you don't need actives..this amp has insane gain anyway! Let it do the job

2. ENGL Blackmore - because it's extremely versatile, clean, blues, ac/dc crunch, and tight articulation on the high gain lead channel very well suited for my style of palm muted metal riffing!! And of course this is what I own right now (haven't taken the plunge on the Diezel yet )

3. ENGL Fireball - very cool death metal tone, but a bit more of a one trick pony.


just let me add I've haven't had a chance to try the Bogner line yet! Hoping I will some day

My name is actually Matt. I'd love to try a Blackmore someday because I've read alot of good things about it. As for EMGs - I sometimes like them and sometimes don't. I mainly have SDs and Dimarzios in my guitars. I had an SL2H that I hated the SDs in so I swapped them for EMG 81/85 and it was perfect. Now I own an SL2HT and I love the SDs in there - I don't know why they sound so different since its basically the same guitar without the floyd. Of the amps I've owned, I thought EMGs sounded the best through the 6505+.

[mhenson42]

Bill

I'll have to give those Tung Sols a try. Pretty soon I'm going to puchase a bunch of new tubes - just to check out different configurations. I've played the JSX head and combo. Both are nice, but I liked the combo more - may because I spent more time with it.

I lived in Ohio for about 10 years (4 near Cincinnati in college and 6 in Columbus) - but I live in San Antonio, TX now. I've never been there but I think there is an ENGL dealer in Findlay (Guitar Ranch) - I don't know what they stock - but if you up for a drive, it will give you a chance to check them out if you haven't played one.

[Spivonious]

#1 Mesa/Boogie Dual Rectifier Road King - can sound like any amp from a solid-state clean to bone-crushing full-on modern metal.

#2 Genz-Benz El Diablo 60 - fantastic clean tone, overdrives a bit with the gain up. Dirty goes from AC/DC to a nice modern metal rhythm...might need an extra boost to get into silky lead territory.

#3 Marshall JCM900 Hi-Gain Master Volume - the Marshall rock tone, two gain knobs to give 0-20, only downside is that there really is no clean tone.

Runner-ups:
Vox AD50VT - the best modeling amp under $500. It's amazing what the 12AX7 in the power amp does to the response.

Amps that would likely be in this list, but I haven't played them:
Bogner Uberschall - I liked the model for this on the Vetta II.

[circle of the tyrants]

The best heads I've ever owned in order:

1) '72 Marshall Major

2) Boogie Tremoverb

3) '76 Orange OR120

I know most would find the Tremoverb to be kinda' boring by today's standards, but it's a great head. Besides, it's the only one of those 3 that I still own! I also had a Sound City 120 a few years back that was pretty cool. All in all, I've had more Boogie and Marshall stuff than anything. I really liked my Simul Class 2:90/V-twin pre combo, but I think we're talkin' heads here. Hey, I said "Talking Heads"!

[sl2lover]

1) Rivera K tre- Tried it and have never experienced so much fucking evil!! I'm getting one next!!

2) Rivera KR100- I own one, and have blown everyone else I've gigged with!! Cleanest of clean channels! Super loud though!! You need a big space or you'll get hurt! Made a modefour hide back in it's shell!!

3) Fender Twin Reverb (silverface)-Own one with orange basket JBLs! Just love that classic tone!!