What is Your Grail Amp? Will You/Do You Own it or Will You Just Play Modelers?

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Every single one of these amps is a grail amp for me. The Diezel Hagen isn't mine, it is a friends. But the rest...

Orange Rockerverb MKIII 100-watter - I've owned a few Orange amps over the years, but this is just a beast. I love the built in attenuator function, because it means you can really crank the clean volume to turn it into a Plexi-ish sorta thing, and then bring the volume level down to a sensible place. If I'm honest, I preferred the reverb on the MKI because it was so much more over the top, but the cleans and gains on the MKIII are way better.

Diezel D-Moll - I always wanted a VH4. But at the time they were too expensive, and the D-Moll came up used for a very good price. I didn't really know anything about the amp other than it had 3 channels (2 with a shared EQ) and midi switching, which I am obsessed about having. When I got it... HOLY MOLY..... Seriously some of the beefiest high-gain tones you can hope for, and it is super flexible.

VHT/Fryette Sig:X - I'm always obsessed with having multiple channels, loads of knobs, switches, and possibilities. So at the time I was listening to a lot of ISIS, and Aaron Turner was using a Pitbull and I thought, well I don't want to totally clone his rig, but I love that sound. So I went and brought a Fryette Sig:X. I used it for years, and recorded our second album "Exegesis" with it in the back bedroom of our drummers flat. His neighbours hated me for a couple of weekends! After that it developed a fault, I had a bit of beef with the way my warranty was handled, so I got it fixed and sold it. But years later.... I got another one. It is never leaving my hands again.

Marshall JVM410HJS - Okay. Where to start with this. When I got annoyed with Fryette and sold the Sig:X the first time, I went looking for a multi-channel head, this was roughly around the same time as Satriani went over to Marshall and they produced this version of the JVM, which to my mind is far superior to the regular JVM. It isn't as noisy, and has built in noise-gates to handle noise. Which in turn helped speed up the channel switching time of the amp (regular JVM is very slow) and the two gain channels can be either OD1 or OD2; so it's more flexible. The clean channel is nicer too. This is the second one I've owned because I sold my first one and instantly regretted it. This one has purple snakeskin, which I am still learning how to tolerate. Four channels, 12 modes, and oodles of options, along with midi switching. Such an amazing amp. I use this amp more than any other, particularly live. It's a lifer.

Laney VH100R - Back in the dark days of 2008, when I first started my band Tacoma Narrows Bridge Disaster, I needed an amp. I'd had a Rectoverb combo before which I thoroughly hated, so I figured... okay... stay British. Laney hail from the West Midlands here in the UK where not only was heavy metal invented, but also I was born, so it has all of the trophies. Anyway... got the amp. Turned it up. I had MY SOUND. In so many ways, every other amp I've ever gotten has been compared to this Laney. As I understand it, it is very similar to a modded JCM800 under the hood. What makes this amp amazing is you've got two channels, but each has a footswitchable boost. So really you've got 4 channels. That kick started my entire obsession with multi-channel heads. The tones from this are super thick, sludgy, doomy, and out and out brutal metal. If you throw a pedal in front of it to tighten it up, then it does the boosted amp thing better than the 5150 does - IMHO. I just got this amp again after not having one for the longest time. Since 2008 I think I've owned 5 of them.

Diezel VH4 - Joanz Toanz. End.

Okay, not quite. Been a big Tool fan since I was a teenager, and in many ways Tool established to me what I think good guitar tone is. Particularly Aenima and Lateralus. So you read stuff online about what amps he used and you develop a bit of a holy grail idea of an amp. So I got the VH4 in 2018. I actually thought it was a way before that, but no, my emails say 2018. I guess that is testament to how much I love it, and how comfortable I feel playing it. I often stack it with the Sig:X or JVM to try and emulate the full Adam Jones experience, but you really don't need to. It holds its own. The clean channel is NEVER talked about, but it is really crisp and lush. Channel 2 is cool, but I don't use it much in fairness. Channel 4 will totally do high-gain riffs. A lot of people say that it is too compressed for that, but it is nonsense. They are just turning the gain up too high. Channel 3 is the channel everyone goes on about and it really is great. The perfect balance of lows, mids, and highs.

The amp alone doesn't give the Jonez. You need a few other things to get that. But the amp alone is a BEAST. Even at lower volumes. There's something about the texture of feedback from this amp that seems quite different to the others too. I can't explain it, but if I was a wanker, I'd say it was more musical. I am a wanker, so I will say it.

This is another amp that does midi, so I can control it from my Helix.
 
I waited 10 years to get this one and it was 100% worth it!
Just picked it up back in the late summer....Bogner XTC 20th EL-34
Such a great sounding amp.

View attachment 1806

Friedman SSv2 is on the way next week as well!
Looking forward to this one as well. I sold off a pile of gear over the past few months to get both of these.
No regrets!
Jesus christ this looks :guiness:guiness:guiness
 
@Orvillain ...as stated before; what a KILLER amp room. Where do you think Laney went wrong in the grand scheme of things? I like their higher gain tones but it seems like they never quite caught on over here. And I think they took some backwards steps after the GH and VH series. Even though I like the IRT15 (at least). Which is a shame. Maybe this is a dumb question; but were they much more prevalent than the UK than the US?
 
@Orvillain ...as stated before; what a KILLER amp room. Where do you think Laney went wrong in the grand scheme of things? I like their higher gain tones but it seems like they never quite caught on over here. And I think they took some backwards steps after the GH and VH series. Even though I like the IRT15 (at least). Which is a shame. Maybe this is a dumb question; but were they much more prevalent than the UK than the US?
I think dropping the GH and VH ranges was a mistake. I think they thought the Ironheart covered that ground, but it really doesn't. Not as easy to use as an amp, doesn't sound as good to me.

But I think they generally make really good stuff.
 
I waited 10 years to get this one and it was 100% worth it!
Just picked it up back in the late summer....Bogner XTC 20th EL-34
Such a great sounding amp.

View attachment 1806

Friedman SSv2 is on the way next week as well!
Looking forward to this one as well. I sold off a pile of gear over the past few months to get both of these.
No regrets!

Dayyum! That is super schweeet! Only amp I crave in the world right there. :love


That and @Orvillain 's Sig X. :LOL:
 
View attachment 1866

Every single one of these amps is a grail amp for me. The Diezel Hagen isn't mine, it is a friends. But the rest...

Orange Rockerverb MKIII 100-watter - I've owned a few Orange amps over the years, but this is just a beast. I love the built in attenuator function, because it means you can really crank the clean volume to turn it into a Plexi-ish sorta thing, and then bring the volume level down to a sensible place. If I'm honest, I preferred the reverb on the MKI because it was so much more over the top, but the cleans and gains on the MKIII are way better.

Diezel D-Moll - I always wanted a VH4. But at the time they were too expensive, and the D-Moll came up used for a very good price. I didn't really know anything about the amp other than it had 3 channels (2 with a shared EQ) and midi switching, which I am obsessed about having. When I got it... HOLY MOLY..... Seriously some of the beefiest high-gain tones you can hope for, and it is super flexible.

VHT/Fryette Sig:X - I'm always obsessed with having multiple channels, loads of knobs, switches, and possibilities. So at the time I was listening to a lot of ISIS, and Aaron Turner was using a Pitbull and I thought, well I don't want to totally clone his rig, but I love that sound. So I went and brought a Fryette Sig:X. I used it for years, and recorded our second album "Exegesis" with it in the back bedroom of our drummers flat. His neighbours hated me for a couple of weekends! After that it developed a fault, I had a bit of beef with the way my warranty was handled, so I got it fixed and sold it. But years later.... I got another one. It is never leaving my hands again.

Marshall JVM410HJS - Okay. Where to start with this. When I got annoyed with Fryette and sold the Sig:X the first time, I went looking for a multi-channel head, this was roughly around the same time as Satriani went over to Marshall and they produced this version of the JVM, which to my mind is far superior to the regular JVM. It isn't as noisy, and has built in noise-gates to handle noise. Which in turn helped speed up the channel switching time of the amp (regular JVM is very slow) and the two gain channels can be either OD1 or OD2; so it's more flexible. The clean channel is nicer too. This is the second one I've owned because I sold my first one and instantly regretted it. This one has purple snakeskin, which I am still learning how to tolerate. Four channels, 12 modes, and oodles of options, along with midi switching. Such an amazing amp. I use this amp more than any other, particularly live. It's a lifer.

Laney VH100R - Back in the dark days of 2008, when I first started my band Tacoma Narrows Bridge Disaster, I needed an amp. I'd had a Rectoverb combo before which I thoroughly hated, so I figured... okay... stay British. Laney hail from the West Midlands here in the UK where not only was heavy metal invented, but also I was born, so it has all of the trophies. Anyway... got the amp. Turned it up. I had MY SOUND. In so many ways, every other amp I've ever gotten has been compared to this Laney. As I understand it, it is very similar to a modded JCM800 under the hood. What makes this amp amazing is you've got two channels, but each has a footswitchable boost. So really you've got 4 channels. That kick started my entire obsession with multi-channel heads. The tones from this are super thick, sludgy, doomy, and out and out brutal metal. If you throw a pedal in front of it to tighten it up, then it does the boosted amp thing better than the 5150 does - IMHO. I just got this amp again after not having one for the longest time. Since 2008 I think I've owned 5 of them.

Diezel VH4 - Joanz Toanz. End.

Okay, not quite. Been a big Tool fan since I was a teenager, and in many ways Tool established to me what I think good guitar tone is. Particularly Aenima and Lateralus. So you read stuff online about what amps he used and you develop a bit of a holy grail idea of an amp. So I got the VH4 in 2018. I actually thought it was a way before that, but no, my emails say 2018. I guess that is testament to how much I love it, and how comfortable I feel playing it. I often stack it with the Sig:X or JVM to try and emulate the full Adam Jones experience, but you really don't need to. It holds its own. The clean channel is NEVER talked about, but it is really crisp and lush. Channel 2 is cool, but I don't use it much in fairness. Channel 4 will totally do high-gain riffs. A lot of people say that it is too compressed for that, but it is nonsense. They are just turning the gain up too high. Channel 3 is the channel everyone goes on about and it really is great. The perfect balance of lows, mids, and highs.

The amp alone doesn't give the Jonez. You need a few other things to get that. But the amp alone is a BEAST. Even at lower volumes. There's something about the texture of feedback from this amp that seems quite different to the others too. I can't explain it, but if I was a wanker, I'd say it was more musical. I am a wanker, so I will say it.

This is another amp that does midi, so I can control it from my Helix.


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