Tweet
Here's the story...Last summer I was housebound because of some major surgery I had on my feet. I decided since I couldn't get out much, I might as well have some fun with an amp and bought the new EVH 5150III sight unseen. I sold all my other amps in the process to fund my purchase. While the amp is not bad by any means, it's not exactly the sound I'm going for. I pretty much never use channel 2. I play mostly everything on channel 1 with the gain cranked and some pedals. I only use channel 3 here and there. So in my infinite wisdom, I've decided its time for a change. I don't know If Im using the right word to describe this, but to my ears for what I'm after, the 5153 feels too compressed especially on channels 2 and 3.
I'm a freak for hard melodic rock/ 80's hair metal and shred of that generation. Sometimes I'll venture into newer stuff like Firewind and various power metal bands. I also play some ska and jazz and might like a clean channel.
I have a basic idea of a few amps to get me going, although they vary differently in price and features. I also don't play the "br00tals" so I don't need the world's most high gain amp. I like my tone to be on the sharp marshally side of things, but to be rounded a bit and have a smoothness to it. I'm looking for a multi-channel amp for 80's metal and stuff. I don't care if its a head or a combo. I generally like EL34 tubes more than 6L6's too. My budget is about $2k. Here's what I have in mind so far-
-Something from Soldano: I love the playing and sound of Lynch and Ratt. I know they both used the SLO 100. That amp is out of my price range new, but maybe I can find one used. Does anyone have any experiences using Soldano products? There's a mom and pops music store around me that sells them, so getting a hold of one should not be too hard. Also, the Hot Rod 50+ caught my eye. Two channels, one clean and the other channel was overdrive and was direct from the slo.
Diezel: For the most part these amps are too expensive for me, but they ooze tone from the clips I've heard. Do they make any less expensive versions than the VH4 or herbert? Maybe a 50 watt version? Anyone with experience playing one would be helpful.
Bogner: I've played the XTC MTS module and liked it. I've played the chinese amp they have and thought that the clean channel was nice, but the rest lacked that magic spark. I've never played their ecstasy or ubershall. How are they for the type of music I play? Also, when I played the MTS module it had a 5150 kind of vibe. I don't want another 5150, so I'm a little cautious of bogner.
Rivera: I played one at guitar center and was impressed. It had two channels and had push pull knobs for various tone shaping and sounded damn good. Again I'm not all that familliar with rivera. Are there any recordings I could listen to to help give me a better understanding of the amps they make?
Marshalls: As far as Marshall goes. I don't care for their JVM line of amps. I've played the Vintage moder a few times and its hit or miss for me each time. I might be into getting a modded jcm800 or something if I could finde one with two channels, but I don't know what's out there. How do the DSL/TSL work for hard rock/ metal? Oh, I've had a plexi before and don't want to go down that route this time for my sound.
I've heard a bunch of guys rave about their Engl's and Framus heads. Truthfully, I don't know much about either brand. I played an Engl Invader and the tone wasn't for me. Way too much gain for my tastes. How are their other amps. Also Framus seems to be hot these days, how are they? Keep in mind, I don't do the brootalz or downtune my other than drop D once in a while.
Any other cool boutique amps I should look at?
I'll be playing everything through my EVH 5150III cab FYI.
I have a few other questions, but for now I'm just looking for some guidance and opinions on what I have listed. Thanks-
my rig-
I'm a freak for hard melodic rock/ 80's hair metal and shred of that generation. Sometimes I'll venture into newer stuff like Firewind and various power metal bands. I also play some ska and jazz and might like a clean channel.
I have a basic idea of a few amps to get me going, although they vary differently in price and features. I also don't play the "br00tals" so I don't need the world's most high gain amp. I like my tone to be on the sharp marshally side of things, but to be rounded a bit and have a smoothness to it. I'm looking for a multi-channel amp for 80's metal and stuff. I don't care if its a head or a combo. I generally like EL34 tubes more than 6L6's too. My budget is about $2k. Here's what I have in mind so far-
-Something from Soldano: I love the playing and sound of Lynch and Ratt. I know they both used the SLO 100. That amp is out of my price range new, but maybe I can find one used. Does anyone have any experiences using Soldano products? There's a mom and pops music store around me that sells them, so getting a hold of one should not be too hard. Also, the Hot Rod 50+ caught my eye. Two channels, one clean and the other channel was overdrive and was direct from the slo.
Diezel: For the most part these amps are too expensive for me, but they ooze tone from the clips I've heard. Do they make any less expensive versions than the VH4 or herbert? Maybe a 50 watt version? Anyone with experience playing one would be helpful.
Bogner: I've played the XTC MTS module and liked it. I've played the chinese amp they have and thought that the clean channel was nice, but the rest lacked that magic spark. I've never played their ecstasy or ubershall. How are they for the type of music I play? Also, when I played the MTS module it had a 5150 kind of vibe. I don't want another 5150, so I'm a little cautious of bogner.
Rivera: I played one at guitar center and was impressed. It had two channels and had push pull knobs for various tone shaping and sounded damn good. Again I'm not all that familliar with rivera. Are there any recordings I could listen to to help give me a better understanding of the amps they make?
Marshalls: As far as Marshall goes. I don't care for their JVM line of amps. I've played the Vintage moder a few times and its hit or miss for me each time. I might be into getting a modded jcm800 or something if I could finde one with two channels, but I don't know what's out there. How do the DSL/TSL work for hard rock/ metal? Oh, I've had a plexi before and don't want to go down that route this time for my sound.
I've heard a bunch of guys rave about their Engl's and Framus heads. Truthfully, I don't know much about either brand. I played an Engl Invader and the tone wasn't for me. Way too much gain for my tastes. How are their other amps. Also Framus seems to be hot these days, how are they? Keep in mind, I don't do the brootalz or downtune my other than drop D once in a while.
Any other cool boutique amps I should look at?
I'll be playing everything through my EVH 5150III cab FYI.
I have a few other questions, but for now I'm just looking for some guidance and opinions on what I have listed. Thanks-
my rig-
Comment