A friend loaned me his for a test drive, I couldn't get along with it either.
The worst sounding amp you’ve played through?
- Thread starter Tomm Williams
- Start date
BFRaid
Roadie
- Messages
- 156
i think 90% of what constitutes 'worst' is the margin by which somebodys expectations of said amp dont meet their own. but i think a lotta times thats not that different than a racecar driver expecting a ups truck to take corners at 190mph.
some amps are just UPS trucks. we still need ups trucks.
I totally agree. I have some low-end amps that sound great for what they are. I have my $50 Peavey Microbass sitting next to me right now. It does what it was designed to do, I am not taking it to the recording studio any time soon.
That said, when I mentioned the Fender FM212 it was supposed to be some kind of solid-state entry-level Twin. That amp had zero Fender DNA. I am sure there is someone out there who spent some time with it and is getting a killer tone out of the amp. For me, who has played Fender Twins for decades, it was a frustrating experience.
metropolis_4
Rock Star
- Messages
- 4,914
I just remembered another one!
Vintage Marshall Plexi half stack
Not sure the exact year or model, but it was 100w. It was the first time I ever used a Plexi. It belonged to a guitarist from another band and we had to share gear for this show. I had no idea how to dial it in and it was a small room and I needed clean, so we had to keep the volume level low (no master volume on the amp).
It was a night of the worst hard, harsh, clanging, ice-pick in the ear tone I’ve ever had to deal with!
I thought I hated Marshalls for a long time after that night. Turned out I just needed to learn how to use them
Vintage Marshall Plexi half stack
Not sure the exact year or model, but it was 100w. It was the first time I ever used a Plexi. It belonged to a guitarist from another band and we had to share gear for this show. I had no idea how to dial it in and it was a small room and I needed clean, so we had to keep the volume level low (no master volume on the amp).
It was a night of the worst hard, harsh, clanging, ice-pick in the ear tone I’ve ever had to deal with!
I thought I hated Marshalls for a long time after that night. Turned out I just needed to learn how to use them
- Messages
- 516
I bought my son one for use in his punk high school band in the '00s when they came out. Sounded great to both of us.
Might have been that was the context, might have been the cab, might have just been us. Who knows. I'm not sure there's a universal opinion on any of this stuff.
- Messages
- 516
Me too. One of my favorite recorded tones ever was The Cure's "A Forest" (in fact the whole record), and it was all Jazz Chorus.
dronerstone
Shredder
- Messages
- 2,087
I can 100% relate to this. Back when most cheap practice spaces over here were filled with old Marshall stacks and broken Fender Twins, and I was young and naive, and enjoyed the Fenders much more, hated the Marshalls, because I thought "that's how a Marshall sounds".
- Messages
- 516
Me too. And now my favorite amp of all time is a PRS HXDA, which is a clone of Duane Allman's 'Live at the Fillmore' Plexi (his was a Superbass; the HXDA has switches that progressively make it a Superlead they borrowed from Eric Johnson, so it can do both things and stages in between). PRS got Duane's actual amp because the Allmans knew the guy who it was given to, and they were endorsing PRS amps up until the end.
It's also hand wired like the old gear. When I first tried it, there was the Duane Allman tone. Made the hair on the back of my neck stand up.
newholland
Shredder
- Messages
- 1,175
i can definitely say i wasnt in the pool wanting to use marshalls because i thought they all sounded nasal and gainy like jcm800 abuse from the 80s
they totally dont. but i now know that i also dont need to turn the gain all the way up on a jcm800. 
and plexis sound amazing. but so do 800s if you dont go full hairspray on em.
they totally dont. but i now know that i also dont need to turn the gain all the way up on a jcm800. and plexis sound amazing. but so do 800s if you dont go full hairspray on em.MatrixClaw
Roadie
- Messages
- 307
I've heard lots of people that like them, but that is the one amp I've plugged into and couldn't find any usable tones in
TSJMajesty
Rock Star
- Messages
- 8,133
Speaking of bad-sounding Marshalls... A story from an early band of mine. (Might belong in a thread titled, "Best Amp I've Ever Heard/Played Through" though, haha)
Other guitarist played a Super Reverb, but as a huge Jimmy Page fan, wanted a Marshall. This was back when we all simply referred to what are now called 'Plexis', as just 'Marshalls.' He really wanted that sound! (So did I.
)
He found a good deal on a late 60's/early 70's Super Lead, 100 watt head, and shows up to a gig with it. Didn't have a Marshall cab, so he plugged the SR's speakers into it, and..., it sounded terrible!
He goes to return it the next day, and long story short, he learns about Celestion speakers. Buys 2, puts them in a Dual Showman cab he had, and there it was! THE sound. In fact, it's probably the most unique-sounding Marshall amp I've ever heard, most likely due to him using that large cab with only 2 speakers.
I heard it many years later, and it sounded dull and lifeless, so I told him it likely needed new tubes, but he couldn't hear what I was hearing, no doubt due to how things like tubes and car shocks wear slowly, and one may not notice it, until you get them replaced. Which he finally did, along with a total going-over by the tech, and he swore it sounded better than ever. I bet it did.
He uses it with a Marshall Power Brake, which sounds great, but I had it at my house, alone one weekend, and cranked it up without it, and that thing is a fire-breathing dragon!
Other guitarist played a Super Reverb, but as a huge Jimmy Page fan, wanted a Marshall. This was back when we all simply referred to what are now called 'Plexis', as just 'Marshalls.' He really wanted that sound! (So did I.
)He found a good deal on a late 60's/early 70's Super Lead, 100 watt head, and shows up to a gig with it. Didn't have a Marshall cab, so he plugged the SR's speakers into it, and..., it sounded terrible!
He goes to return it the next day, and long story short, he learns about Celestion speakers. Buys 2, puts them in a Dual Showman cab he had, and there it was! THE sound. In fact, it's probably the most unique-sounding Marshall amp I've ever heard, most likely due to him using that large cab with only 2 speakers.
I heard it many years later, and it sounded dull and lifeless, so I told him it likely needed new tubes, but he couldn't hear what I was hearing, no doubt due to how things like tubes and car shocks wear slowly, and one may not notice it, until you get them replaced. Which he finally did, along with a total going-over by the tech, and he swore it sounded better than ever. I bet it did.
He uses it with a Marshall Power Brake, which sounds great, but I had it at my house, alone one weekend, and cranked it up without it, and that thing is a fire-breathing dragon!
SillyOctpuss
Rock Star
- Messages
- 4,444
Line 6 Flextone ii I xl
Sounded ok at bedroom volumes, disappeared when used with a drummer. Disappointing considering how much they charged for it.
Sounded ok at bedroom volumes, disappeared when used with a drummer. Disappointing considering how much they charged for it.
dronerstone
Shredder
- Messages
- 2,087
At least it's heavyweight AF!
- Messages
- 4,833
I have a red 25r. One fun thing to do with it is turn it into a dedicated spring reverb by inserting it into your signal chain using the headphone output - I forget how I did it exactly. It does the splash thing when you kick it, too!thats so funny about the frontman. the 25r is totally one of my favorites for a cheap pickup box if you jettison the original speaker, and especially if you add a 12" in parallel! by itself off the shelf.. its pretty bad
but the amp itself is actually alright!
BahamaDada
Roadie
- Messages
- 766
Peavey Windsor and Laney Ironheart.
The Windsor was my first amp and I loved it dearly, but in the end it had 1 sound and that one was rather bad. Sold it long time ago.
Thr Ironheart 60 head is the only big tube amp I currently have and tbh it does not sound good. I guess that's the reason they haven't sold all that good.
The Windsor was my first amp and I loved it dearly, but in the end it had 1 sound and that one was rather bad. Sold it long time ago.
Thr Ironheart 60 head is the only big tube amp I currently have and tbh it does not sound good. I guess that's the reason they haven't sold all that good.
FrankyFire
Groupie
- Messages
- 75
The Ironheart 60 has a very specific sound to it in my opinion. Cold but not with a lot of bite. I think it suits heavy music especially for rhythm guitar and low tuned stuff. But the clean channel is boring and it could use a more aggressive gain sometimes. It's probably possible to get that using the right pedals, but haven't yet figured the one yet.
crispsandwich
Roadie
- Messages
- 156
I have seen live players with Spider amps and they sound great! Definitely operator error
.