Breaking the "always buy the same amps" cycle

[Desertdweller]

I think certain amps (manufacturers) just have a gravity about them that’s hard to escape once you find one that works.

This is so true. I started playing in the early to mid 90s, and the two tones that influenced my own tone the most were the late 80s / early 90s Hetfield sounds, and the Awake-era Petrucci sounds.

Since then though, I've tried a lot of brands, but my gravity center as you say has been the Mark and Rectifier amps for about 20 years now.

It doesn't hurt that when you play a 2:90, Mark series, or a Dual Rectifier, they just crush everything else in the room with them.

 

[dcburn]

Nah, my problem is I buy a bunch of different amps and then dial them in so I sound the same through all of them.

Took me years to learn this...

 

[paisleywookiee]

I like Mesas for a lot of reasons, but one of the minor reasons is kinda dumb. I love the 23” head. I HATE big heads. I really want a Engl Blackmore or Savage one day, it goddamn I’d have to buy a new cab for it too, so it doesn’t look like a big T.

 

[paisleywookiee]

Nah, my problem is I buy a bunch of different amps and then dial them in so I sound the same through all of them.

This too. :)

 

[Desertdweller]

I like Mesas for a lot of reasons, but one of the minor reasons is kinda dumb. I love the 23” head. I HATE big heads. I really want a Engl Blackmore or Savage one day, it goddamn I’d have to buy a new cab for it too, so it doesn’t look like a big T.

Yeah I love how the Mark II, III, IV, Mark V35, JP2C, Triple Crown, and Badlander amps are all rackmountable 17’-19” chassis. That’s a ton of power in a small space!

 

[TubeStack]

I like Mesas for a lot of reasons, but one of the minor reasons is kinda dumb. I love the 23” head. I HATE big heads. I really want a Engl Blackmore or Savage one day, it goddamn I’d have to buy a new cab for it too, so it doesn’t look like a big T.

Yes, I was super stoked to find my Electra Dyne 23” head. Such a great size and so much power in a pretty easy to carry headshell.

I’d had the full size head for five years and been on the lookout for the 23 and never saw it, until this one was listed and I grabbed it.

Now I leave the big one in the basement and the smaller one by the front door for practices and gigs. (Got the both of them used for way less than a single new Mesa head, as well.)

And yes, love that it will fit on smaller width cabs. I’m currently looking for a horizontal 2x12 to try with it.

 

[TubeStack]

Here it is with the TC50, for comparison:

 

[paisleywookiee]

Here it is with the TC50, for comparison:

View attachment 4470

That’s……fucking awesome

 

[Desertdweller]

Here it is with the TC50, for comparison:

View attachment 4470

That's the same as the Badlander 50/100 amps as well. Can you take the chasis out and rack it?

 

[TubeStack]

That's the same as the Badlander 50/100 amps as well. Can you take the chasis out and rack it?

Not sure. They did sell a rack version.

 

[ptb1]

Well, in the early 90s I was pretty sure that a Marshall was "it" for me, so when I got a really good offer for a used JCM900 1x12 combo I bought it.

After a short while I understood that I was not able to (even close) dial in neither a clean or break up tone that I aimed for. At that time I didn´t play that active, so - well, it made sound, so I kept it for several years.
But, some years back I picked up the playing a bit more active again, and realised that the Marshall worked pretty good - with everything on 11.
I tried to swap the speaker element with both V30 and Alnico Gold, and that affected the tone, but not enough.

As I mainly play at home, with backing and/or just jamming now and then with some friends I tought of trying something else, and maybe an amp with lower effect.
A colleague who plays active in a band had an Ironball combo (and a head) for sale, and I was able to test the combo before deciding - and yes, the Engl was far more versile than the Marshall, so I sold the Marshall and bought the Engl.
A short time after this I was able to test several of the different Lunch Box and low effect amp´s on the market - at home. Both Victory, EVH, PRS, Blackstar, Bogner and Mesa Mark V:25.
Non, except the Mark V sounded "better" (too me), and neither had the flexible functions of the Engl. The Mark V was different, but I actually found out that I was using a lot of time dialing and re-dialing and re-dialing, and by that the Engl was simpler - and actually had "everything" I needed.

After that I sold the combo for a head (from the same colleague) w/1x12 cab. Then I wanted an additional amp, and considered the Mark V, but ended up with the Fireball 25 instead. Then I switched the Ironball (sold it back to the colleague who regret he sold it) to the SE.

Just lately I have found out that I might need one more, different sounding amp, so I want to test a Super Champ X2, if one shows up.

 

[Baba]

Nah, my problem is I buy a bunch of different amps and then dial them in so I sound the same through all of them.

Took me years to learn this...

Took me DECADES to learn this. I actually may not have learned it yet

 

[Life Eats Life]

Divorce?

 

[dronerstone]

Haha, nice thread! Yup, at this point there's two old Ampeg guitar amps in my arsenal, along with four LAB Series models, all of them built in the 1970's.

I always fall for (semi-) parametric mids, they make everything so versatile!

Same with guitars, when things picked up pace, I started buying obscure vintage cheapos, total "character" guitars. Lovely, but high maintenance.

By now I've sold on most of those, and own a 1997 Mustang, a Yamaha TVL, and six different LP-type guitars.

EDIT: to complete this, my other amps are a Fender "Evil Twin", Boss Katana mk2 head+cab (at rehearsal space), and an Epi Valve Jr

 

[Bob Zaod]

I have owned over 100 amps in my life that were for personal use, and a lot more than that if you include when I used to flip amps for profit.

I have played through so many so called iconic or world famous amps when it comes to the big manufacturers, and some of the boutique stuff by Bad Cat, Framus, Wizard, Carr and I'm sure a few more I'm forgetting.

I almost always end up back at something that can sound and feel similar to the 2203 JCM800 I had and gigged with for 10 or so years. Or I should say that amp with a TS9 slamming the input. Also I prefer the cleans of that type of amp to Fender cleans which is weird I know but it is what it is.

It's not practical enough for me now to try and gig something like that because I rarely get the opportunity to use it the way it needs to be used.

Right now my happy medium is a DSL20HR as far as an amp head goes. I find no reason to buy the 20w JCM800 because this thing gets me close enough at less than half the price.

 

[dk_ace]

I attempted to break the cycle, not sure how well it will really work out. I’ve been playing some version of Marshall sound exclusively for several years (Friedman, plexi, jtm…).

I made a few new kitchen sink presets in Helix based around different amp sounds (vox, fender, and an old school pedalboard rig in addition to the Marshall stuff). To give me an incentive to use them, I put some interesting effects in them that aren’t in my Marshall patch. Last week, I had a gig and looked at the set list to decide which amp approach was the best choice. It ended up being the Fender preset, and I haven’t gigged a fender amp or preset in years. It was a fun experience, I do tend to dial in things pretty similarly but there are some things baked into the different amps and cabs that still shine through. In this case, I really noticed it in the lows and low mids.

Cool sound, at times I did miss my Marshall stuff though…. I’m going to try to hold the same process going forward of looking at the set and deciding which amp is most ideal. Going to be hard not to fall back on just using the Marshall for everything.

For high gain sounds, recto is still home for me, that was my main amp for a long time. I also really like the 5150. I try the others, and sometimes the revv red channel or high gain Friedman stuff gets me excited, but I always fall back to the recto and 5150. There’s nothing wrong with the others, it’s just that I know how to get what I want out of the recto and 5150.

D