What amp you have enjoyed on multiple different bands' albums do you want to get?

[Lopp]

Seeing positive comments on many amps gives compelling urges to try them all. There are also many threads about grail tones or dream amps. For a more specific inquiry, which one or two amps have you loved so many times on different albums by different bands to the point of which it caused you to look up their gear and gave you an ongoing desire to get one?

For me, it is the ENGL Savage. This is based loving the guitar tone on multiple different band albums. Each time I loved it, I researched their gear and every time the amp turned out to be the Savage. Always the Savage. Alas, I had to recently choose between that and a BE-100DLX and the Friedman won. Deservedly so, but I still crave the ENGL.

Which amp do you not yet have, but desire based on hearing it used by multiple different bands.

 

[Blix]

I think I got a stroke reading the thread title. Toast anyone?

 

[Blix]

Jokes aside, most of my favorite guitar tones seems to involve 4-hole Marshalls.

 

[Whizzinby]

Probably the JCM800, but for reasons unknown Ive never considered just buying it. lol

 

[la szum]

For all the Friedman love in the gear community these days they have
not actually been used on a ton of recordings.

Maybe they have not been around long enough. Yet.

I'd have to go Diezel VH4, or a JCM800---arguably the most recorded amp in
Hard Rock/Classic Metal history.

 

[RaceU4her]

Probably an ac30, not really sure I’d use one much for the type of stuff I usually play but I would like one eventually

 

[TSJMajesty]

It's not an amp I can point to on a bunch of albums, and I did actually buy one, but then took it back, but the one that comes to mind is the Mesa Road King on Train of Thought. That tone is fantastic!

 

[Whizzinby]

For all the Friedman love in the gear community these days they have
not actually been used on a ton of recordings.

Maybe they have not been around long enough. Yet.

Show us on the doll where Friedman touched you.

 

[bigcupholder]

For all the Friedman love in the gear community these days they have
not actually been used on a ton of recordings.

Maybe they have not been around long enough. Yet.

I'd have to go Diezel VH4, or a JCM800---arguably the most recorded amp in
Hard Rock/Classic Metal history.

Mastodon uses them and they're one of the biggest metal bands of the last decade.

Alice in Chains is another good example.

 

[Lopp]

Probably the JCM800, but for reasons unknown Ive never considered just buying it. lol

For all the Friedman love in the gear community these days they have
not actually been used on a ton of recordings.

Maybe they have not been around long enough. Yet.

I'd have to go Diezel VH4, or a JCM800---arguably the most recorded amp in
Hard Rock/Classic Metal history.

Yeah. The JCM800 destined to be brought up, and I agree it sounds stellar on many albums. That's one that has been modded so much and also with so many modded-JCM800 clones, it would just be on my list of "I-already-have-all-the-amps-I-need-plus-some-extras-so-I-might-as-well-get-one-because-it-is-so-damn-cool."

 

[la szum]

Mastodon uses them and they're one of the biggest metal bands of the last decade.

Alice in Chains is another good example.

Not a lot, by all accounts. Mastodon is still mostly Marshall Plexi/800, Orange, and
some Butterslax in spots by Bill. Hell, Bill even says/reveals as much in the behind the
scenes making of vids as to how they record. He's a long time JCM800 user. All the
solo tones are all Bret, and he is not a Friedman user live or in the studio, at all.

So in the entire catalog of Mastodon Friedman amps play a marginal role at best.

Much the same for Alice and Jerry. He's still relying on alot of the iconic gear he has used
for decades when it comes to recording (including Bogner Fish).

It's not me making anyone do that---even sig artists and endorsers use "other" amps when
it comes to tracking albums.

Pretty sure Bill has said he has used the Helix and Kemper a lot at home in his studio, too.

 

[TSJMajesty]

Much the same for Alice and Jerry. He's still relying on alot of the iconic gear he has used
for decades when it comes to recording (including Bogner Fish).

Jerry has a great story about coming home off tour and having, iirc, a couple EVH full stacks waiting for him as a gift from Eddie from when he asked if he could play his rig. And I believe a Gold Top EVH too.

 

[Lopp]

Not a lot, by all accounts. Mastodon is still mostly Marshall Plexi/800, Orange, and
some Butterslax in spots by Bill. Hell, Bill even says/reveals as much in the behind the
scenes making of vids as to how they record. He's a long time JCM800 user. All the
solo tones are all Bret, and he is not a Friedman user live or in the studio, at all.

So in the entire catalog of Mastodon Friedman amps play a marginal role at best.

Much the same for Alice and Jerry. He's still relying on alot of the iconic gear he has used
for decades when it comes to recording (including Bogner Fish).

It's not me making anyone do that---even sig artists and endorsers use "other" amps when
it comes to tracking albums.

Pretty sure Bill has said he has used the Helix and Kemper a lot at home in his studio, too.

Yeah, I'm not aware of any recordings any Friedman has been used one. I'm sure there are some, but not a ton. For all I know, everyone is recording with it, but not telling a lot of people. Then again, for all I know nobody is recording with it, but they are endorsing it.

The challenge for Friedman is it is effectively a modified Marshall clone and there are many other options for that.

I'm no amp historian, but it seems in the rock world, you had the Marshall Plexi, the Marshall JCM800, the Boogie Mark series, then the Mesa Rectifier. Most other amps seem to fall into categories that are variations on those.

 

[DrewJD82]

Kinda depends on how you look at the Friedman thing; Friedman amps haven't been on a ton of albums yet, but Friedman's hands have been in a sh*tload of amps that have been on albums.





The Naked amp was based off mods Dave was doing to Billy's Superlead that's have been on all the APC stuff. That thing sounds f*cking killer-



And the whole new Vai record was done with his Synergy module that Dave designed. Killer tones on that album, too. I wasn't a fan of his tone during the Legacy period, event though I love the Legacy.



And yeah, Bill mixes up a bunch of Marshalls with the Friedmans. If I had that collection I'd be mixing them up, too!



I think the last couple Foo Fighters albums have been primarily Friedman's and Vox's, too. And Green Day,

He's been modding amps and building rigs since the early 90's and essentially took over as the go-to guy to get mods done once Jose passed and Bogner stopped doing mods.

I know one thing, Vai, AIC, Mastodon and A Perfect Circle is just about my top 5 most favoritest favorite bands/musicians ever. If you strain them all through a coffee filter, you get a cup of Friedman tones.

 

[la szum]

Not trying to slag on Friedman. I just have a different outlook, and have not personally
bonded with Friedman's gear (amps or pedals I have had). He's a go-to-guy for sure,
and has been. Get all that. No debate.

I just think I am like a lot of the artists he works with (not in talent of course) in that I tend
to prefer the tone and feel of that which Dave is inspired by, and bases his amps on, in a lot
of ways, and not always the amps he builds.

Great amps that people crave. Give me a Superlead, JTM45, or a nice 800 every day
of the week over a Friedman. They are harder to use and not as convenient, and don't
have 37 toggles on the front panel. None of that matters to me, though.

Oh, and just because someone has sig gear or is an endorser doesn't mean they use that gear
all the time---especially when it comes to recording.

 

[la szum]

The modern "voicing" has been to hype the bass and smooth out the upper register/frequencies.

Just not my preference. Dave's modded Marshalls to the point that they cease to be Marshalls,
in my view. I think it would be cool if he did a series of more vintage correct amps. I don't need
a f'ing Fat switch when the amp is already too Fat to begin with.

To me.

 

[Lopp]

The modern "voicing" has been to hype the bass and smooth out the upper register/frequencies.

Just not my preference. Dave's modded Marshalls to the point that they cease to be Marshalls,
in my view. I think it would be cool if he did a series of more vintage correct amps. I don't need
a f'ing Fat switch when the amp is already too Fat to begin with.

To me.

Yeah. My BE-100D is smoother. At least smoother than what I have heard from other Marshalls. Fat switch is disengaged on my BE-100D, but engaged on my Mark IV.

 

[Desertdweller]

How about amp blends? I’m particularly fond of Dyscarnate’s tone, blending a Dual Rec with a 5150. I did this with another guitarist in my last band and it sounded so good too.

 

[sleewell]

mesa dual recto