Why you shouldn't sell an amp....

aristotle

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I've pretty much settled on the Archon as my primary live amp. Great cleans, soaring lead tones. For gigging, I've pretty much settled on the multi-channel format and as much as I love the DGT and MDT and HX/DA, it's just nice if you play a variety of material to have at least 2 channels. More is better, but in practice, I really just settle on one lead tone from the amp, and get the rest with pedals on the clean channel. Even with the Roadster or JVM410 or 6100, I only ever use 2 channels plus pedals....

With the Archon, I've thought about getting rid of some of my other amps. One of those is the 2 channel C.... I hadn't even turned it on in over a year. With the snow-days around these parts though, I had a little spare time. And since I had been experimenting with midi control of pedals in the loop, I thought that I'd try things out with the "C".

The C, with the P22 is just amazing. Thank goodness I didn't get rid of this thing. It doesn't kick you in the gut like the Archon, but it is more....old-school.... on the lead side, which is nice as an alternative. It's sort of like a Marshall Vintage Modern if you could switch live between HDR and LDR without blowing your eardrums out.

Next gig is with the "C". The Archon is still king, but variety is the spice of life.... And if you like an amp today, you'll like it tomorrow even if some new sexy thing turns your head...
 
Let's see, if I didn't sell/trade in amps I'd still have these plus my PRS amps, all owned from new:

1966 Ampeg Reverberocket II (two; I used one for combo organ and one for guitar, or sometimes stacked both for organ).
'67 Fender BF Bassman head and cab. My #1 for a long time.
Early Mesa Tremoverb combo.
Mesa Subway Rocket combo.
Mesa Blue Angel Head and Cab
Mesa Maverick combo.
Mesa Bass 400 + and Road Ready 4x10 with tweeter cab.
Mesa Mark V head and Mesa Recto cab.
Mesa Formula Preamp
Mesa Stiletto head.
Egnater TOL 50 combo.
Bogner Metropolis head and matching Shiva cab.
Bad Cat Hot Cat 30 and Bogner Oversized 2x12 cab.
Two Rock Onyx and Two Rock cab.
Two Rock Onyx Sig Prototype
Two Rock Onyx Sig
Two Rock Custom Reverb Sig
Two Rock Custom Reverb Sig v.2
There's one other Two Rock I had for a while and for the life of me I can't remember the model.
Roccaforte Rockie head (well, my son has this one and it's a great AC30 tone with a little bit of 18 watt Marshall blended in depending on how you set it).

There are a few amps in addition to the above that I had for a 24 hour approval period and returned to the store. Some were really nice amps, but not for me.

Now, do I wish I still had all of them? No. There would be a ridiculous amount of overlap and some I just don't think about any more at all. I would not be interested in returning to most of them. However, I kinda wish I still had a select few to play now and then. Here are the ones I'd like to have back:

Tremoverb, Mark V, and Bass 400+; Hot Cat 30; Two Rock Onyx Sig; Roccaforte Rockie (technically still mine but on more or less permanent loan). So six out of 21 former amps.

And of course, I'd also keep my DG30 and the HXDA 30 that's on the way. So, no more than 8 amps, even if I kept everything I really loved. 8 amps is a lot of amps, for me. I had 6 at one time, and it wasn't too bad. The nice thing about amps is that they hardly need any maintenance, and don't take up too much room unless you are Aristotle, who evidently needs a warehouse for his collection of amps. ;)

However, once everything settles down and I have my PRS amps on hand including the 30 Watt HXDA, I may revisit the amp thing. I still have a strong pull for an AC30 style amp.
 
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I am the opposite of most guitarists here...I don't sell hardly anything. I've sold one amp. I've never sold a guitar (don't hate me). I've flipped a few pedals, but that's it. Why? Because I'm stupidly methodical in my "what's and whys" during research and am carefully striving for something specific - and hopefully not pickup a one-trick-pony. Oh, and then there's the sentiment issue. I am a softy.

In my justification stage of the acquisition process, I'm careful to identify what Les mentioned: overlap. If I keep the right combination of amps on hand, I can do almost anything, play anywhere. If the rig is intuitive enough, I can adapt to any situation. So I have vintage, modern, and "classic". What else could a guy want? Umm, big and small of each. (Dammit!)

I've thought several times about selling my MkIII and picking up something more up-to-date and flexible, but then I fire it up and fall in love again. Back in 1989, I finally pulled the trigger on something I'd pined for, forever. SO much research went into that decision...why would I second-guess myself? So, that means that I have to cough up the $$ to pick up a Mark Five-25. (Crap!)

I wish I could be as pragmatic about my gear, as Les and so many of you guys are. Can't do it. No sir-ree Bob. It ain't me. So my Boogie Cave (Les: I got some recessed lights installed this weekend. No update photos yet) continues to fill with gear. Eventually, something has to go, but until then, I'm with Aristotle...it's a one-way door for my gear.
 
I have let go of just one piece of music gear over my life: a Peavey SS amp from the mid-80s that just did not have anything good going for it, IMHO (at the time). I can't recall which model, would have been about 30w, I suspect. It was the first "real" amp I could afford - any kind of tube amp was well outside my budget. I struggled with it for years trying to get a good David Gilmour or Neil Young sound. One day a buddy bought a Fender HRDX, and I loved the clean channel and how it took pedals, and quite liked the lead/dirty channel for that Neil Young ragged-grunge sound, and it was affordable, even in Canadian dollars. So I bought one. The Peavey was relegated to the practice-amp I hated to use, so I never used it.

A couple years later a (different) buddy had a Fender Strat case from the 70s or 80s he was looking to get rid of (he didn't have a Strat - I have no idea why he had the case!), and he wanted a simple amp to muck about with. So we traded, and he got my old Peavey. We were both happy.

I'm in the process of acquiring my first new amp since the HRDX, but I won't get rid of it - it does the clean channel quite nicely, and gives me that Neil Young ragged amp-on-the-edge-of-destruction dirty sound when I want it.

So amp-wise, I have nothing to really say either way - I've only owned one or two real amps (not sure the Peavey was ever a "real" amp, and some will say the HRDX still isn't a real amp ;) ). My next amp should be quite acceptable to everyone here, though...I'll post a NAD thread when I get it.

Now guitar-wise and effects-wise, I'm with Boogie: I still have every guitar and pedal I've ever owned. The non-PRS guitars get used in minor rotation with the PRSi in heavy rotation. And my effects come and go on my boards, as I balance whether to have a gigging board separate from my home board (I currently have a PT3 crammed to the gills that I use for both gigging and home). But the effects pedals will likely rotate on/off over the next while as I play with what I want/need, and any leftovers will still make a good ultra-portable quick/dirty board. I think I will need a PT mini for that... :top:
 
And they're a pain in the ass to ship. :biggrin:

So true! But one benefit of not owning a lot of amps is that I have room to save their original shipping boxes.

Put 'em in their original box with the original packing materials, tape it up, put some strapping on the box for heavy amps, and spend the extra nine bucks to call UPS for a pickup so I don't have to carry the thing to the car, carry it out of the car, and stand in line with a heavy box at UPS. Not too bad!

In my justification stage of the acquisition process, I'm careful to identify what Les mentioned: overlap. If I keep the right combination of amps on hand, I can do almost anything, play anywhere.

Oh wait, there is such a thing as a logical process? Here's my 5-step process:

1. Project comes in. Project calls for something expensive that I don't have (or that needs to be replaced because it's broken or obsolete).

2. Panic!

3. Look around for something that isn't nailed down to sell. And what's easy to sell? That would be guitars and amps.

4. Sell object.

5. Rinse. Repeat.

This is called the Stupid Method of Studio Ownership. I have patented the Stupid Method, and follow it religiously. It's Stupid because while it's true that at least I'm recouping a % of the money that I originally spent on the item I'm selling, I'm always spending additional money on the new thing.

And often I actually will revisit the kind of project that needs the thing I sold, in which case I buy the very same thing over again down the road. As I said, Stupid.

The silver lining is that I have become a very good customer of pro audio and guitar shops. Good for the shops, not so much for me. lol

I have reformed in one area though: I'm not at all tempted to sell my PS-level PRS guitars. They mean too much to me. However, I recently discovered that microphones are not nailed down and are pretty easy to sell. So... ;)

Also, because of the insanely cold weather I still haven't had Jack ship the 30th Anni guitar I bought nearly two months ago. Can't sell what I don't have! There's logic for ya! Woo!
 
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I wish I still had my Fender Bandmaster head and HUGE 2x12 cab that went with it.
My dad bought it used for me around '73, and we had new tubes put in it.
Very clean amp, and it took pedals very well.

I used that amp in a band I was in while in high school.
Also used an EHX booster, the kind which plugged right into the heads input, and then you plugged your guitar cable into it.
Had a sliding on/off switch on it plus the boost volume.
That amp was insanely loud with that little booster.

Sold the amp around '82 when our first child came along.
 
I have never sold a guitar, but have given 2 away.

Have sold 2 amps. One fender solid state to my aspiring nephew for cheap, then other an all original '75 twin reverb in great condition. The chrome kick-back legs weren't even pitted. It was stupid loud and stupid heavy , at the time I always played my BDRI. I only sold it because I doubled my investment . Still wish I had it. Because it had the mojo.
 
C'mon Les.... You know you want that Two Rock Custom Reverb Sig V2 back!

Kidding aside, and storage space not withstanding, I really do find that amps (and some guitars) that I haven't played in a while surprise me. I can't say that I'm as thoughtful as Boogie is in how I go about acquiring amps, but so far at least, I haven't acquired anything that I consider a dog. I just finished band practice with the "C" this evening, and for the life of me, I don't understand why I haven't played it out more.....
 
C'mon Les.... You know you want that Two Rock Custom Reverb Sig V2 back!

Kidding aside, and storage space not withstanding, I really do find that amps (and some guitars) that I haven't played in a while surprise me. I can't say that I'm as thoughtful as Boogie is in how I go about acquiring amps, but so far at least, I haven't acquired anything that I consider a dog. I just finished band practice with the "C" this evening, and for the life of me, I don't understand why I haven't played it out more.....

Ha! I gotta admit that I did like the Onyx Sig better than the CR Sig 1 or 2. The CRs were great amps, but the Onyx was kind of a sophisticated blend of Dumble and Marshall, and I liked it a lot.

You're right, it is interesting to explore older gear that you once owned. I get to do that at other studios, and I do have some friends who've bought stuff I've sold. But - here's the weird thing that happens when I do this - I discover that my ear is acclimated toward my current gear, and I generally can't wait to get back to my studio and play my own amps.

Whether it's an evolutionary process for me, or a matter of just getting used to what I'm working with, I find it hard to get juiced about the stuff I sold off.
 
I wish I still had my Fender Bandmaster head and HUGE 2x12 cab that went with it..
I have one of those cabs. It's responsible for nearly as many pulled back muscles as my Bassman 4x12 cab. It took some water damage a few years ago and is currently being refurb'ed. The problem is, where to put it? Other than Chuck Berry's monster 2x15 cab, I think I have the two biggest cabs Fender made.
 
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He he, they are big.
And I remember a gazillion screws on the rear to access the speakers as I think we put in two new CTS ones to replace the old ones.
I think that was the brand.
 
The only I've sold that I regretted was a THD BiValve head about ten years ago. It funded a Mesa Lonestar, which I still have and play about half the time. I ended up buying another BiValve through eBay for a couple hundred less than I sold mine for. As I've developed over the last ten years, I've learned how to make it an amazing amp through tube and cab/speaker choices, along with changing my guitar technique. It sounds glorious opposite my Sweet 16+, too. I have them angled up at my standing position, and sometimes add some deep tremolo to one side. Awesomeness.

I'm with Les, in practice. Things go up on the chopping block to fund other purchases. I've kept most of what I've bough for the last five years or so, but even as I write this, I have a P22 and an '08 Mira up on Craigslist. The Mira makes me sad.
 
Awe, come on, Les! We've all watched you plan your pedalboard and studio layout six or seven times...oh! I get it! :wave:
 
My goal is to one day be rich enough to buy new amps without first having to sell one or more old ones to help fund them. I'm still a long way off, sadly.
 
My goal is to one day be rich enough to buy new amps without first having to sell one or more old ones to help fund them. I'm still a long way off, sadly.

Then again, once you're rich, you're going to have to buy amps to match your new trophy wife's decor, because you will be her dog.
 
Awe, come on, Les! We've all watched you plan your pedalboard and studio layout six or seven times...oh! I get it! :wave:

ha! The studio layout changes partly because the room wasn't truly designed to be a studio. I'm always experimenting in ways I wouldn't have to if it was.correctly designed in the first place. But I have to confess that's part of the fun of the studio disease.
 
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