Help me choose a new amp!

[madryan]

"Before you get a Single Rec... Try a DC-5"
does NOT do a modern nevermore tone. i used to own one...it's much closer to the mark series, with a tad of rectifier vintage channel thrown in.
sure, there's lots of gain on tap, but while it's not quite as tweakable as the marks it's still really a tweakers amp - which is exactly why i sold it. it sounded different every night, and then going back to a tone that i liked could take quite some time.
for references sake, it did a good job at emulating a nevermore-politics of ecstacy tone.
another thing to know about the DC series is that a road case is a MUST HAVE if you got one of these. especially the graphic EQ sliders are just too flimsy to withstand regular gigging, read: being thrown around in the back of a van.

Killer amp tho...

[horns666]

I gigged a JSX for a year and never got close to diming the gain... I've drifted away from lots of gain, but I just can't envision any song where diming the gain on the Ultra channel would sound good. What exactly are you playing?

That being said, I sold the JSX because of that hideous "cocked wah" effect. Couldn't stand the nasty "hishy" quality of the gain either. IMO, the JSX sounds like a POD running through a Tube power amp.

Nobody can envison or does dime the gain on Uberschalls..but I've posted just that. I play original metal somewhere between Nevermore/Arch Enemy. People that have been around here are established with what I do..

Whenever I played the JSX..it sounds killer..so imagine that. Oh, ..and I hate buzzy Rectos. I hated mine that I bought when it just came out and I hated them even more now. Nothing but buzzy gain..you can tweak that buzz with bass, mid, treb and pres knobs..and EQ that buzz exactly to your liking..which is nice.

The cabs are nice tho..

[horns666]

I'm not sure were your comments on the VHT are coming from. IMO, the Deliverance amps are the best sounding of the VHT's. They sound the most organic which isn't a word often associated with VHT. I guess everyone's ears are different.

I think ALL VHTs sound organic..there's brown sound in all of them that instantly make me play classic VH to the point 20-30 minutes pass by like seconds.

It's true!

I've had so many combos, 50 and 60 wt heads..you like 'em, have 'em..not good 'nuff for my liking.

[horns666]

look..Any amp don't make the player nor the tone that comes from it. How many players play Marshall a strat/lp..does Randy, Jimi, Yngwie, Ed, and yada yada yada sound alike?..NO! So what one amp will sound like in one hands will sound completely different in anothers..

I loathe Rectos..we never or will never get along , but my favorite player Jeff Loomis never sounded better with his..and I only said that a couple hundred times now..

You can own a factory full of boutique amps and exotic guitars..so, what can you do with 'em? I know a 16 year old kid with a Valvestate and $100 Squier that can blow most of us away, that would give his left nut for for some real gear..truth!!!

[Shawn Lutz]

check out the VHT SIg-X or even a Splawn QuickRod

Also nothing wrong with going old school and getting a JMP/JCM800 2203 or 2204

[horns666]

check out the VHT SIg-X or even a Splawn QuickRod

Also nothing wrong with going old school and getting a JMP/JCM800 2203 or 2204

I agree 100%..no you can't go wrong...but you'll need to slam 'em for Nevermore territory.

People MUST understand I've seen Jeff Loomis using five different rigs from his Triaxis/Mesa- to POD pro to Recto to XXX to Krank..and it all sounds like Jeff Loomis live..

If you want to sound like Jeff Loomis in the studio any of the above amps will do as long as you're Jeff Loomis..with Andy Sneap in your corner!

I've been cultivating THAT tone and style of playing for 12 years now..and I'm close..but I'm NOT Jeff Loomis and I know this.

Now, the closet thing that has been posted that sounds closet to Jeff Loomis is Nick's MP3 with his JSX..and it is damn good. Nothing I've heard thus far is close..and it is a JSX!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!

[DumpyWumpy]

I'm going to head to the guitar store on Tuesday and see if I can find a Single Rec or Rect-O-Verb to try out, shouldn't be a problem to find one at least!

I think after that I might get myself an XTC for Christmas and call it a day I've heard the highest gain channel on the XTC is very similar to the Uber, is that true?

[VoiceX3]

The VHT Ultralead is an amazing amp, if you've got the coin....check it out. EXTREMELY LOUD for sure and can dial in a wide variety of tones. Does the brown sound an tons of others if you have the patience to tweak it for a while to get the feel. Amazingly enough the clean tone is real nice too.

Personally I love the 5150. Although a little sterile in stock form, with what you'll pay for the head used, it's easily hotrodded for close to minimal costs. (adjustible bias upgrade so the tubes don't have to run so cold and different tube setups. **just make sure you have it upgraded before doing the tube changes to safely play around with it**) With a KT88/6L6 mix it's one of the toughtst sounding amps I've ever played.

Stay away from the 1 trick pony mesa rectos if you want any versitility at all in an amp. What they do they do well, but you'll be disappointed if you look for other sounds from it. In my opinion the Mark IV is the best Mesa amp ever.....yes you really do need to spend a lot of time learning the MANY ways to dial it in, but it is worth the time spent. Great Amp!

[horns666]

I'm going to head to the guitar store on Tuesday and see if I can find a Single Rec or Rect-O-Verb to try out, shouldn't be a problem to find one at least!

I think after that I might get myself an XTC for Christmas and call it a day I've heard the highest gain channel on the XTC is very similar to the Uber, is that true?

Ummm..Similiar in voice..but the Uber is much more aggressive! Go forth metal soldier and lay waste in the guitar store..

[horns666]

The VHT Ultralead is an amazing amp, if you've got the coin....check it out. EXTREMELY LOUD for sure and can dial in a wide variety of tones. Does the brown sound an tons of others if you have the patience to tweak it for a while to get the feel. Amazingly enough the clean tone is real nice too.

Personally I love the 5150. Although a little sterile in stock form, with what you'll pay for the head used, it's easily hotrodded for close to minimal costs. (adjustible bias upgrade so the tubes don't have to run so cold and different tube setups. **just make sure you have it upgraded before doing the tube changes to safely play around with it**) With a KT88/6L6 mix it's one of the toughtst sounding amps I've ever played.

Stay away from the 1 trick pony mesa rectos if you want any versitility at all in an amp. What they do they do well, but you'll be disappointed if you look for other sounds from it. In my opinion the Mark IV is the best Mesa amp ever.....yes you really do need to spend a lot of time learning the MANY ways to dial it in, but it is worth the time spent. Great Amp!

We are on the same page..you fucked with 5150's a little more than I did. I did retubed mine with Groove Tube 6L6 hardness levels 2 and 6..it was a waste of money..the cheap stock sylvania sounded better to my ears..for certain! I got the best from 5150 with a BBE 422 and a good "warm" delay" in the loop..I used the Chandler digital echo with the high cut...best sound I've got with 5150.

VHT has my upmost respect, great amps..but my needs require a much more aggressive amp and the Uberschall w/ tung sols does that job extremely well..it kinda sounds like a 5150 on mega steroids...with more girth, crunch and clarity ..

[Ace]

If somebody handed me a free Krank amp I would slap them.

[horns666]

If somebody handed me a free Krank amp I would slap them.

AMEN..I'd just sell it and buy something useful.


John C (Beyond Fear) and I were fucking with one at his store. After 30 minutes I looked at him and said, and I quote.."Are you fucking kidding me..this is it!!!????"..he replied "Yep, that's it!" and laughed...

Truth be told!

[sevser]

AMEN..I'd just sell it and buy something useful.


John C (Beyond Fear) and I were fucking with one at his store. After 30 minutes I looked at him and said, and I quote.."Are you fucking kidding me..this is it!!!????"..he replied "Yep, that's it!" and laughed...

Truth be told!

Glad to know I'm not the only one...I really tried to like the two I tried but they sounded thin and lifeless...

[VoiceX3]

We are on the same page..you fucked with 5150's a little more than I did. I did retubed mine with Groove Tube 6L6 hardness levels 2 and 6..it was a waste of money..the cheap stock sylvania sounded better to my ears..for certain! I got the best from 5150 with a BBE 422 and a good "warm" delay" in the loop..I used the Chandler digital echo with the high cut...best sound I've got with 5150.

VHT has my upmost respect, great amps..but my needs require a much more aggressive amp and the Uberschall w/ tung sols does that job extremely well..it kinda sounds like a 5150 on mega steroids...with more girth, crunch and clarity ..

We do think alike....I don't know who that should be scarier for!

I love the Uber, wish I had one. I don't really like all the VHT amps. The Ultralead is best and is a great amp, the others just lack any real headroom. The Ultra has some of the best mid tones I encounterred. Extremely obnoxious yet still usable. Nowhere near as aggressive as the Uber, but a completely different monster too.

I'm gonna be sending my 5150 out for some more mods. (and an annoying repair, but unfortunately shit happens when you gig the hell out of a tube amp as much as I have this one) The power section mod made a huge difference in the overall sound of the amp. If you want to mess with them a good place to start is to read from Bob (Eurotubes) site. He had some off the wall ideas that work well, but contrary to what he says you really should do the mods to accomodate different tube/integrated selections or you MAY fry something or another. Probably nothing major that can't be fixed easily, but being proactive will save a headache or 2. The next mod I'm gonna do is to the preamp section and the EQ to make more usable gain without needing a noise gate without compromising tonal response. I'll let you know what I come up with and how it comes out. This amp kicks ass especially for the $400 I paid for it 7 or 8 years ago.

[horns666]

Shit, I'm doin' family shit ..can't BS at this time.

Cool thread..I'm not bored with this amp thread. That is rare!