thought we should have an amp version of hibidy's guitar thread.

Since moving I have this big walk-in closet perfectly placed to be used for vox and mic'd cabs. I just had the boogie in there at 2 1/2 (on half power) which was very loud and quick to grab the feedback . My neighbor downstairs was home and said he wouldn't have noticed had he not be listening for it. The guy is great, 61 years old and anytime I ask "am I too loud" he says "hey you gotta live but I never hear you".

The boogie is just too much amp still so I've decided 2011 and maybe 2012 will find me with a new 1x12, a 2x12 open back cab and some lower wattage amps. I tried the Orange Tiny Terror which is sweet but found it to be a one trick pony, I tried the Ibanez Tube Screamer tube amp head which was cool and is on my list as is the The T5 BUD25

But the T5 is not anytime soon at 1,700 dollars and the Ibanez needs a little more time on the market to see how it holds up.

After the taxes are done and the dust settles I think the next amp will be an Egnater Rebel 20 watt I really liked this, I was able to A/B it with the TT a few weeks ago and it's fantastic. Yes it got as nasty as the TT but with the tube mix it got very sweet too...I'll buy it through American Musical though because of the splitting up the payments over three months.

Also in my sights is a Blackstar HT-5H, the place I buy parts and pickups, guitar parts depot sells them at a nice price (329 usd).

TBH the 4x12 I have now may get stuffed away as I go along because I'll be better off with 1x12 or 2x12 here so I can get feedback easier. (Egnater matching 1x12 for sure and I'm looking at a Laney open back 2x12) My 4x12 is a Crate but when I worked at a small music store there was a Fender 4x12 cab in the basement that the cab was toast and the boss said just dump it...I took the speakers from the Crate and put them in the Fender an took the old (but in great shape) old Celestions for my Crate...so any cab I buy for mic'ing can have them as well.

So what is your next amp?

Seen the Egnaters, but haven't tried them....The Rebel 30 does have the XLR Direct Record Output which would give you another layer

I have a Ted Weber attenuator, I looked at the 30 but I like the 20 better.

Guess it had to happen ...
Threads like these are bad for my bank account.

Having most of the basics covered I'll probably let fate decide ...
So all I can name here are a few (rather different) candidates, I'll wait for whatever (used) opportunity will come up.
One of the following would sure find a good home here :
- a Soldano, probably of the 50/60 W variety
- a DrZ Maz 38/Sr
- a nice 2203 (JMP or early 800) might be an option
- last but not least, I wouldn't turn down a Simulclass Mk II Mesa
All that said, something completely different might bite me in the ass ...

Hink, let me additionally suggest a Peavey Classic 30/50 (not your old enemy, talking about the EL84 ones), they hang pretty well with boutique amps costing several times as much, love pedals and cover everything from Tweed Bassman style to Hot Rod Marshall territory easily.
Built like tanks, a used one will be just fine (and affordable).
One thing however, the magic is in the power amp, crank them and prepare to be amazed, these are no bedroom amps.
Use your Weber ...

Ymmv,
susiwong

I have considered the Peavey Classic but tbh I want to stick to heads for now...just curious, in this day and age do you really need the power of an 800 (even if you get a 50 watt), boogie MKII or a Soldano? Remember when I first got the Weber I had problems with the Boogie? Well it's my fault, I bought a 50 watt weber, my Boogie is 100/60 so I figure I would be okay...not, so on my list is another Weber that's rated for at least 100 watts (and still run the amp on half power). If I keep the Boogie down enough the Weber is great but I want to crank the amp.

So yesterday the whole building was a little loud and I took advantage by turning the Boogie up some not through the Weber. 1/2 power both pre's on or close to 10 (I, know, I know)...the master at 2, tried to go to 3 but got about 3/4 of the way there and figured I was pushing my luck so I stopped. It was roaring though. What are you doing that you need such power? One could ask me the same thing but I have to have one beast right?

- at least the Classic 50 has been available as a (very pretty) head, check the s/h market, they go rather cheap in the US. I think I saw a cute little C30 head once, but I might be mistaken here.
Just saying ...

- true, attenuators should be rated a lot higher than the amp's nominal output, a dimed 100 watt Marshall will put out closer to 180W in the real world.
The rated output is measured more or less with a clean sound.

- The big amp thing has several reasons for me, ymmv :
-- I often need really clean sounds on stage, with a loud drummer 50W often are not clean anymore
-- a 100W amp is not that much louder than a 50 watter but it has much more clean headroom
-- 6L6 or EL34 just react very different (more open, different kind of 3D) from a small EL84/6V6 output stage (not counting a few very pricey boutique designs), both are nice, my small amp needs are covered quite well by the Classic 50, a SF Deluxe Reverb modded to BF specs and a modded Blue Angel (the Dr Z would fit in nicely ), in the large category my main amp is a wonderful 1987 from '76, it screams like Gibbons, Haynes or Grissom . A Mesa Heartbreaker head does both Twin- and vintage Mark 1, some others have their own strengths.
-- I can play loud here and I do, hey, it's only rock'n'roll.
Recording unfortunately is problematic here (long story) so I rely on 80% tube pres and 20% sims atm.

Cheers,
susiwong
Last edited by susiwong on Sat Dec 25, 2010 7:38 pm; edited 1 time in total

Hink,
the Jet Citys are something I'm not sure about yet.
They sound quite good, and @ US street prices they might be worth a shot.
Here in Europe you can get a s/h SL60 or HR50 for not much more than a new JC head if you're lucky ...
Unless proven otherwise I assume they did cut corners with components, trannies and stuff, and the small parts (caps and resistors) do add up, too.
Ymmv,
susiwong

I want so many Even though I only really play at home with the occasional jam.


I only have a couple of 5w tweed sounding heads and a 1 1/2w Firefly . So I have nothing that does clean well. Or anything that is nice and tight and defined

I was considering building something like the Brown Note D'Lite but I've never played one so I have no idea if I'd actually like it Clips do sound good to my ears


Also has anyone tried the Egnater Tweaker? Still not got round to trying one of those yet, supposed to be good value

thought about trying the jet city 1x12 cab, cheap, and maybe (depending on how it sounds) putting one of my celestions in it.

The Egnater Rebel will be mine sooner than expected, thanx to my wife and her golden touch on scratch tickets I have the disposable cash I need now to make it happen. I'll use the three payments from American Musical (I did this with my tele for the baritone). Just gotta go to the bank tomorrow, I will take the free shipping so it might take a week to get here but I can wait.

I was going to get it with taxes, now with taxes I'll go with a 1x12 cab but I'm not sure which yet and with the difference maybe a bigger Weber for the beast over there

btw this is all vandal's fault, it's so 'real' feeling and sounding it got me back to wanting more amps. I was forced to sell my little blues jr so I need this...next up after this?

I poored nearly all my amp lust into the guitar thread but yeah good call Hink and i will be back soon to rattle on about my latest crush. For the meantime i have been loving the br00tal of these but they are very steep price wise:

Fortin Natas:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fxxdf2ibvgg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0MApWCD0Gdg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JzolOFW8SYk

Fortin Meathead (no it is not an Acme Bar Gig thing!) :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87Otmb2Cazk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kM7Svwuf0_8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7xBkMOqoo4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xUZ3v0Y8Kk

Another amp head in the above by accident
Fortin Modded JCM800 2203:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEhFg1_JmjM

...etc.

Want Natas, Must Have Natas, That Chunk Is Immense!

seeing how you Dean as do a few others have experience with the Marshall 9000...another very cool feature of the Rebel is it has an fx loop, which should also mean I'm getting an all tube power amp for the Marshall and it might be interesting how it works with the tube mix knob on the Rebel.

The 4x12 goes into the closet tomorrow along with two mics, an SM57 of course and one of the mics my cousin sells (Gauge), large diaphragm condenser and of course I'll be using the Weber for a line out...that will mean often I will recording at least 5 guitar tracks for every take. (one dry re-amp, one matching the dry but through a Boss CH-1 first, two mic'd and the weber line out

ok then, see you have been giving this quite a bit of thought

I've got a pretty complicated rig, I actually have a 10" speaker deadbox I built in a cabinet too but it's not assembled right now. I've been using tube amps for almost 40 years of all shapes and sizes, found some pretty interesting ways of mic'ing them...I've given this more than quite a bit of thought.

I once mic'd up a cab in a bathroom, recorded it and then filled the bathtub and recorded again to see if it sounded different. Dont ask, I dont know...I did a lot of acid then

Sorry to say, but that's hideous.
If somebody wants that tone, build a new amp or maybe mod a current production line Marshall, but butchering a classic vintage amp is stupidity.
He even recommends vertical input 2203s ...
I'm all for finetuning a classic, finding the right tubes, upgrading caps and resistors to higher specs, but never turn the amp into something completely different.
Feels like putting EMG HBs and a Floyd into a 59 Strat, hurts to think how many wonderful guitars were destroyed that way.

And while this might sound biased now, that Satan reverser doesn't even seem to be a half decent craftsman.
Why not at least give that poor ex-2203 a new chassis and front- and backplates, instead of this amateur hackjob ?
I wouldn't even trust that guy enough to let him rebias one of my amps.
Look a bit further, there are many great builders out there, also in the metal business.
Btw, I would object just as much if somebody put a spring reverb and tube tremolo in an old Marshall.

Sorry, rant over,
ymmv,
susiwong