Amps. what's your fave an why?

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Amps. what's your fave an why?

When I was doing this professionally, I had a JCM900 head sitting on two Carvin B Cabs, one loaded with JBLs, the other with Celestions. Now, I'm domesitcated and can't blow the doors off the house when I want to jam. I'm leaning towards picking up a Blackstar ID:Core 20, but thought I'd see what all of you like for stage and for practice - an what sort of music you play.  

david s.

I love my peavey 6505+112 combo, it has all the tone of my original 5150 in a smaller package and it can handle the club's I gig in

Mike B.

I had a Peavey Butcher back in the early 90s and the sound changed every 5-10 minutes. Drove me nuts. Are the new ones more consistent? 

Dave P.

 

I have a Yamaha THR10, most here would probably like the THR10X better... I like the 10 for more versatility, 10X is for metal.

Awesome sound at low volume, loud enough to have fun at home.

It's portable (plug or battery), can be used as stereo speakers for iPod or computer to jam, usb for 4 channel recording, software for tweaking sound and presets. Can handle bass, mic and keyboard input - looks cool and wife ok with it on display in livingroom.

Google enough and you will see lots of love for these amps.

Mike B.

I looked into a 10x, but really didn't want to sink that kinda cash into a practice amp, so I went with a Blackstar ID:Core 40. The 10x seemed more versatile, but from what I read couldn't get the same volume levels as the Core. Haven't found anyone who doesn't love their THR10 or 10x yet, though. 

Dave P.

Agreed, it's no stack. It's just loud enough to keep up with a polite drummer or annoy neighbors - it's not what it's for. They designed it to have good sound at low levels, be small, portable and attractive left on display in a home. THR is "third" amp; not stage stack or practice combo that need to put out power to sound good (too loud for home practice and too big and heavy for travel). Though I haven't tried it yet, I like that you can mess with sound in computer - and digital output is stereo with sound settings (wet) and clean/flat (dry) so if you nail it but want to hear or change the sound settings you have the raw performance to feed back through and recolor.

Matt W.

I have a bunch of amps, but the 1 that gets the work is a Mesa TA-15. You just need a little delay and that head for all styles of music. 

Brian T.

For me it's my Peavey 6505+ 112. I love the Peavey 6505 amps in general, there tough as nails, produce great tones for the style of music I play, and are consestant. I really love the 6505+ 112 combo cause it's a smaller package but has enough power and volume to handle practice and small club gigs as well as recording. Only downside to a 6505 combo weather it be the 112 combo or the 2x12 for a combo it's heavy as hell but still a great sounding and amazing amp.

Daniel F.

Two amps: Marshall JCM200 TSl100. I like this amp because it does really well at low volumes because it has a switch called VPR which reduces the wattage to about 25 watts. But when switched off, it is one of the loudest amps I have ever played. I recomend putting a JJ set of tubes in here in turn for the stock ones that sound a tad muddy. This amp has the best crunch channel I have ever heard. Get one used for 700 bucks.

The other amp is something rare. It is a Crate Blue Voodoo 150h. This head is loud as fuck, but yet still good at low volumes. I just recomend getiing a tung-sol tube set put into it (6L6 and 12 ax7). If you can find one (The 300 watt is fine too) it will run you, used, about 300 bucks. Very cheap, yet very reliable.

Mike B.

How does the sound of the JCM200 TSL100 compare to a JCM900?

Daniel F.

Sorry, I meant to write JCM 2000 not 200. The clean channel is virtually the same, and the crunch tones sound really good (the TSL 100 has the best crunch channel I have ever heard) and kind of replicate that of an old plexi. The big difference is the lead and high gain tones. The JCM 900 is a lot more tight when it comes to chugging and all that stuff. Good for slayer, Metallica, etc. The TSL 100 sounds a little muddy unless you are playing at really high volumes or are using active pickups. Sounds even worse when you try to scoop the mids out a little bit. This is why I retubed it. It helped a little bit, but not completely. I guessed it is a little too compressed or something? I don't know. Long story short:

Clean tone: Both good, but TSL 100 has a little more bass end, IMO

Crunch tone: TSL 100 all the way, but the JCM 900 has its up sides to it as well.

Lead/high-gain rhythm: JCM 900. A lot tighter attack and more ear-pleasing. Less shrill. Better for rhythm. The TSL 100 is better for lead. Very responsive to say a boost pedal in front of the amp .

Remember, the TSL has reverb built in reverb.

The effects loop on the TSL is notorius for problems. Unless you are using high powered rackmount effects, your volume will just dissapear when activated. So be cautious.

Good luck man, but remember NOTHING beats a JCM 800 \m/

Mark H.

My favorite amp hands down is my Crate V30.  I have the head and a pr of 2X12 cabs loaded with the Tone Tubby speakers and I also have the 3112 combo.  I have ran thru just about EVERY amp worth having in my quest for tone.  Fenders, Mesa's, Engl's, Marshall's, Dr. Z etc... There were amps I REALLY liked, but they just weren't "the one".  Quite by accident I plugged into the V30.  I just saw the V30.  I didn't see the Crate name, had I seen it, honestly, I probably wouldn't have plugged into it.  BUT, I did and was BLOWN away.  Even moreso when I saw the Crate name.  It's a Class A, made in America box of goodness   Clean channel is... (sigh)  takes pedals like a champ.  I read somewhere that Billy Gibbons had a hand in the design of it, which I can believe as it sounds incredible!  I use it exclusively now and have it in some of my newer YouTube videos.  www.youtube.com/markthomasmusic They're discontinued now and have been for a number of years now, but if you get the chance, it's an amp definately worth plugging into!

Austin H.

Good to hear someone is playing Crate!  They made awesome amps!

Dale T.

Peavey XXL - you just have to hear it.

Big Daddy B

I use a Mesa Road King II 2x12 combo. It can get real loud but I have the variac switch set to 50 watts and it still sounds good for low volume home use, much unlike the Tremoverbs I owned in the 90s. It has 4 channels and each channel has 3 modes. It also has a switchable tube configuration so you could set up a channel with EL34s like a Marshall or a channel with 6L6s to sound like a Soldano. The amp has worked well with my Line 6 modeling pedals in front. Great clean tones, great metal tones, everything in between and a decent reverb to boot. The only downsides are the cost and weight but you might find a good deal on a used one online.

The other amp I use is a Line 6 Amplifi 75 with the FBV MK-II shortboard controller. I really like to use it to practice songs along with MP3s. I haven't been too impressed with the actual sounds, but in all fairness, I have not had time to do much editing of patches to try and customize any presets. The Amplifi Remote app looked pretty neat being able to customize amps and cabs and effects based on actual models. It was actually one of the features that most convinved me to buy it...along with the MP3 mix feature and portability. 

Brad P.

Johnson Mellinium stereo 150. Crazy fun amp that can emulate just about anything, quite enough for bedroom playing and loud enough for gigging. I like my Marshalls for bluesy playing and picking around.

Joshua Z.

Old thread i know.  Im new here being a proud Ltd ec401vf owner that i run into a boss me 80 then into either tje front input or effects return of my old silverface peavey bandit. Covers anything from jazz to thrash for me and plenty loud to annoy any drummer.

ESP 348

I have a Marshall JCM Slash Signature stack. Never liked it, but it was the first and only amp I have ever owned.

Unfortunately, I don't live anywhere near a music shop so I haven't had much fun playing through different amps to see which tone I like best.

So the plan is one day to sell it and buy a Mesa Double or Triple Recto stack. Just to have something different and I like to think a Mesa recto more a 'metal' amp than a dirty old Marshall is.

I have owned my Marshall amp for 16 years now. Time goes too fast.....

Skyline_UK

Over the decades I've played Marshall, Sound City, Hughes & Ketner, and Lords knows what.  I guess the ones I still have left say it - a Marshall JCM800 from the eighties and a Marshall combo from about seven years ago, which is more portable for the gigs I now do.  The JCM800 sounds brilliant though, if a wee bit hissy, but that's probably a bit of old age setting in! 

Austin H.

Kind of late to the convo, I have been using a Line 6 DT50, which is all tube head and that thing is awesome, have had a couple friends ask me where I can buy one.  Now I know, LINE 6??!  GET THIS KID OFF OF HERE!  But i can tell you I have had buddies that were playing the marshalls, mesa's, and engls and they ended up getting one too.  But again.  This is what i use and What i am digging at the moment, all personal opionions here.

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