Electric guitarists, what amplifier do you use? Photos, please!

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by Steve Hoffman, Aug 15, 2013.

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  1. Steve Hoffman

    Steve Hoffman Your host Your Host Thread Starter

    Heritage Liberty amplifier one.jpg fender tremolux.jpg fender one.jpg I have had a bunch of amps over the years, Matchless, Vox, Fender, etc. Currently I have a big amp and some little ones. A Fender 1959 tweed Vibrolux (mine is cleaner than this one), a Fender '62 Tremolux and a Heritage Liberty. I also have a '64 Fender Princeton (non-Reverb) but I like my Vibrolux the best. That tweed sound..
     
  2. Steve Hoffman

    Steve Hoffman Your host Your Host Thread Starter

    What about you? What do you play through and why?
     
  3. erniebert

    erniebert Shoe-string audiophile

    Location:
    Toronto area
    I had a mono Marshall JCM800 tube half stack, but I had to sell it. :(

    I chose it because it had
    crunch.jpg
     
    Steve Hoffman likes this.
  4. spewey

    spewey Senior Member

    Location:
    Little Rock
    [​IMG]

    Seriously....that's all I got!
     
  5. PopularChuck

    PopularChuck Senior Member

    Location:
    Bay Area
    image.jpg I've got a silverface Fender Champ with a Weber speaker and vintage RCA black plate tubes (original speaker and tubes are tucked away in a box). I got it free from a friend who was clearing out his garage. Love the tone... Surprisingly loud and just angry enough, especially with a Gibson Les Paul Special with P-90s.

    I've also got a Carr Mercury I got for cheap from another friend. It came with an EL34 and repro Electro Harmonix 12AX7 tubes, but sounds much nicer with a vintage RCA 6L6 and 12AX7s. It's super versatile and does everything from clean 60s Fender chime to angry angry crunch. The attenuator is really nice, too - anything from 1/10 watt to 8 watts. You can make her scream like a banshee at bedroom volumes. And it looks hot - cream Tolex and brown alligator hide. Still, I find myself plugging in to the Champ more often.

    I have far more tone than talent.
     
  6. RDriftwood

    RDriftwood Vintage Member

    Location:
    Midwestern US
    IMG_5098 JS.jpg IMG_5135 JS.jpg IMG_5137 JS.jpg IMG_5147 JS.jpg
    '64 Blond Bassman,
    '64 Blond Showman (shadow on amp face from cable to reverb unit)
    '64 Blond Reverb Unit
    '69/'70 Sunn Sorado
    '83/'85 Twin Reverb II (Blackface reissue)

    '67 Princeton Reverb (not shown)
    '58/'62 Magnatone 210 (not shown)
    Also a couple of solid state Peaveys and few others (not shown)

    As for why, I just like old tube amps.
     
  7. shucky ducky

    shucky ducky Forum Resident

    Location:
    Arizona
    image.jpg image.jpg

    Always loved the Fender sound. Still have my 100 watt Twin Reverb, but 22 watts are enough for me now.
     
    bluemooze, The FRiNgE, ibis and 8 others like this.
  8. Andy Boyd

    Andy Boyd Forum Resident

    Location:
    Seattle
    Custom built Siegmund Midnight Special 1x12 combo with octal preamp tubes, Class A single ended design, 4 - 15 watts, custom Tone Tubby alnico with hemp cone, solid figured koa cab, macassar ebony face plate, grill by Dave Hunter:
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
     
  9. qrarolu

    qrarolu Forum Resident

    Location:
    Stockholm, Sweden
    Wonderful build and finish. Would anyone dare to bring that one on the road?
     
    irender and acdc7369 like this.
  10. user33977

    user33977 Banned

    Stunning beautiful! Many thanks for showing these photos.
     
    Peter_R likes this.
  11. captone

    captone Forum Resident

    Location:
    BC, Canada
    1 watt version of Marshall's JCM800 (mostly use this for recording). Of course people love Marshalls for their high gain but I also love the sound of Marshalls on clean settings too. IMG_0074.JPG
     
    bluemooze, bluesky, iggyd and 7 others like this.
  12. slane

    slane Forum Resident

    Location:
    Merrie England
    Mesa Boogie 'Subway Rocket' mostly. Small, compact but VERY loud! (I rarely go above 2 on the Rhythm channel master volume, though around halfway for the Lead channel). I can't believe this is only rated at 20 Watts, Class A.

    mb1.jpg
     
    bluemooze, bluesky, cporcp and 10 others like this.
  13. Lonson

    Lonson I'm in the kitchen with the Tombstone Blues

    My go to amp used to be a '59 Bassman LTD reissue (with a Hot Plate). Just love the sound for guitar and bass.

    [​IMG]

    I also have, and really don't use at all, a Fender Blues Jr. NOS, an Epiphone Valve Jr, a Warwick 85 watt per channel 15" combo amp, a 'seventies Fender Musicmaster Bass, and a Blackheart Little Giant combo amp.

    Bu this year I bought two amps which have pushed these all aside. My main axe is a Fender Bassman TV Fifteen. Oh my God, this amp has it all for me, the classic Bassman chunk and depth and is freakishly loud and HEAVY sounding. It has totally seduced me, I just never thought I would love an amp that did not have a tubed power section (it does have a tube in the preamp) but I miss nothing from tubes here and just set this one and forget it. It's a terrible beast to move, but so worth it. I put an Analysis Plus Oval power cord on it and use the Analysis Plus Black Oval bass cord for the instruments and from my '63 Reverb head. . . wow. So happy with this sound.

    [​IMG]

    The other amp that I picked up is a "Special Edition" "Prototype" Fender Jazzmaster Ultralight amp and cabinet combo. Another solid state amp, and this "prototype" has only one channel (clean) and only reverb in comparison to the production model that has two channels (an additional distortion one) and effects built in. It also has a beautiful wine finish on head and cabinet.

    Wow, this has that jazz clean sound in spades. I use the Analysis Plus power cord on this as well, and the Analysis Plus Black Oval bass cord between the Schrayer Audio reverb head I use with this one (better than the onboard digital reverb by a mile) and a Tara Labs cord for the instruments. I haven't played this one as much as it's my bedroom amp, but I'm still enjoying the discovery and enjoy every minute. Plays especially well with my offset guitars (Jazzmaster, Bass VI, Jaguar "Bottom Master"). I'm glad I picked this one up.

    $(KGrHqJ,!lwFGZ-M4dR,BRn!8vBetg~~60_57.JPG

    So now I have a bunch of amps gathering dust. I'll keep the '59 Bassman LTD Reissue for sure, but the others will probably go just so they get some use.
     
    Last edited: Aug 15, 2013
  14. dhoffa85

    dhoffa85 Well-Known Member

    [​IMG]

    I have a little super champ xd, it's small and can overdrive very easy and best of all it was cheap
     
  15. action pact

    action pact Music Omnivore

    October-November 1963 Fender Bandmaster (early transitional blackface), with fully restored guts. The speakers that it came to me with are a '68 and '71 Oxford 12T6, which I considered swapping out for Webers or something, but then reconsidered. They don't sound farty to me like Oxfords often do, so I decided to leave them in there. I'm pretty sure it originally was shipped from Fender with 12T6's anyway, not sure why they were replaced later on.

    Bandmasters still offer great value on the vintage market, they are very affordable and sound fantastic when properly serviced. Blues dudes don't want them because they don't have enough overdrive and country dudes don't want them because they're not clean and glassy. This amp hits the sweet spot for me; it digs in just enough at stage volume without getting too ratty, perfect for playing chunky rhythm or not-quite-clean leads.

    Has anyone ever seen a vintage Fender amp without cigarette burns on the top? LOL.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: Aug 15, 2013
  16. Bill Hart

    Bill Hart Forum Resident

    Location:
    Austin
    Those vintage blonde Fenders are wonderful.
    I've got a few amps- not much of a guitarist (I play keyboards)- a point to point wired Marshall that looks like a 'stack' (I think the model is 2061- it can really break up even though it has a solid state rectifier ) and a little Vox AC-4- cheap little 'practice' amp that still has that characteristic 'chimey' tone.
     
  17. action pact

    action pact Music Omnivore

    I had an AC4TV for a while... replace the tubes with JJ's for better results.
     
    Bill Hart likes this.
  18. [​IMG]

    64' Fender Princeton Reverb- this is my main recording amp- great tone at low volume. I also play this one live in my band City Steps- helps to keep the volume levels down :)

    [​IMG]

    71 Fender Vibrolux Reverb - this was my main amp playing live in the Hi-Frequencies. It has the factory JBLs and is louder and more cutting in tone than the Princeton. I can get a really good Hank Marvin type tone with heavy flatwounds on my 63 Jazzmaster- neck pickup and the Bright switch turned on. Great surf guitar amp. I bought this after I saw Los Straitjackets on their first tour. Eddie Angel and Danny Amis were both playing through these amps and they had the best guitar tones I'd probably ever heard. It helped that they were playing in a small room with no PA-just the sound of the amps and drums.... The singer/guitarist in my band City Steps uses this live now- he plays acoustic through it and needs to have a cleaner sound than Princeton would have at the same volume level.

    [​IMG]

    1954 Danelectro Pioneer Model 15 . I LOVE this amp. It was supposedly the first amp with a separate gain and volume control. The best distorted tone I've ever had. I use this for recording all the time. It is too quiet to use "live" - although I've used it on occasion with City Steps - if we're playing as a duo or stripped down trio w/ 2 guitars and drums w/ brushes. It a very thick, present tone when clean and a gloriously rich and raunchy distorted tone- this amp also has a killer over-the-top HEAVY vibrato- perfect for Bo Diddley-esque tones.
     
  19. action pact

    action pact Music Omnivore

    In addition to the Bandmaster above, at home I use a Fender Excelsior. For a $299 Made in China amp, this thing sounds remarkably vintage, not at all ratty like so many other low-powered budget amps. The 15" speaker gives it some nice low-end oomph, sounds great with a Tele. The tremelo is superb, very swampy and deep. Here's a tip: the 2-position tone switch can be jiggled to an in-between setting, giving a nice third tonal option that is literally half-way between the dark and bright settings.

    [​IMG]
     
  20. throbbin tower

    throbbin tower Forum Resident

    I have a late 90's Marshall VS265.....2 x 65 watts with built in stereo chorus.
    Good high gain and clean tones can be had, and it can be LOUD.....I've never used much more than a third of what it's capable of volume wise.
    [​IMG]
     
  21. PhilBiker

    PhilBiker sh.tv member number 666

    Location:
    Northern VA, USA
    My bass rig for many years when I was only recording home projects and doing the occasional one-off jam session. '65 transition Bassman head / Eden D-210T:
    [​IMG]

    Blackface Fender Bassman amp + Eden speaker got me the best tone ever but broke up pretty easily. That's great for guitar, not so great for bass.

    After getting in a regular gigging band again I decided the Bassman was underpowered for such work and I needed something that I wouldn't mind somebody spilling beer on. Also, the Bassman deserved to be used as a proper guitar amp, not a bass amp so I got a Peavey Max 160 head (last of Peavey's made in USA 'budget' amps - it's very competent and very conservatively rated at '160 watt') and a Fender 115 cabinet. So here it is now.
    [​IMG]

    Nothing fancy but it gets the job done.
     
  22. PopularChuck

    PopularChuck Senior Member

    Location:
    Bay Area
    That is a beautiful rig indeed. John Harrison at Tone Tubby is a trip. Really eccentric, very cool:

    http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/?p=35036
     
  23. captwillard

    captwillard Forum Resident

    Location:
    Nashville

    I have the hand wired AC-4 and I love it!
     
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  24. captwillard

    captwillard Forum Resident

    Location:
    Nashville

    I've got one of those. It does have a nice clean sound at bedroom volumes.
     
  25. Toby Benjamin

    Toby Benjamin Forum Resident

    Location:
    Cardiff, Wales
    DSC_1036.JPG
    I have an Orange Crush 30LDX (at least I think thats what it is). Its got a lot of effects for a practice amp that doesnt break the bank.

    I mostly play hooked up to Amplitube on my mac so dont need a big amp.
     
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