Curious, what's your amplifier of choice?

SteveGlitch

SteveGlitch

We are all one so we may as well have some fun ❤
Joined
Jan 21, 2024
Messages
636
Location
Michigan
My favorite amp for gigging is the all tube Marshall JTM Studio 1x12, which as you know, is a modern reboot of Jim Marshall's classic take of a highly modified Fender Bassman. I run the channels jumpered. Sounds good with everything, without treaking. Amazing headroom for pedal platforming..

My favorite Practice amp is the solid state Positive Grid Spark Go 1x2. Love the features on it and how small it is. It says it's 5 watts but feels like 2 watts maybe. Tube amps have spoiled me lol
 
I have used a number of tube amps over the years. I have played a lot of gigs with a Marsh The Springfield. It is a hand wired version of a Vibrolux Reverb amp. The circuit is modified from the stock Fender circuit. It has two 10" speakers on it. The clean sound is fantastic and it takes pedals really well.

Another one that I have played a lot of gigs with is a Peavey JSX 2x12. I have one of the first ones that came out. I had the shop I was buying all of my stuff through order one for me when they first released them. I still have the amp but it feels a lot heavier these days. :)

When I start playing live again, I will take my Friedman Twin Sister out. I haven't gigged since I bought it. I like the amp but will have to run things quite differently than I do with the Marsh.
 
I'm in a serious amp funk. Got a lot to figure out but for now my jcm800 studio head is just acceptable.

Been playing with a variac. Watched a video of a couple guys using one to help get EVH brown sound.

They explained that the variac can help get your outlet voltage to a level recommended by the amp manufacturers. For instance, fender stuff was designed to run at 117 VAC. My jcm800 calls for 120 VAC.

My house is 123 VAC and bringing it down to 120 seems to help tame the harshness I hear.

I also I ordered a new prs 18 foot cable as my intex cable is damaged.

I bought some new 14 ga wire today and I'm going to rewire one of my cabs but I'm going to twist the wire like marshall used to and make sure my solder joints are solid.

I'm doing this because I have some weird stuff going on that's really pi$$ing me off.

I've been through quite a few amps as of late and the most common complaint I have is "too harsh".

I also have this weird thing going on where a single note starts to fade away and at the end I hear this distortion or maybe static?

So once my new cable arrives and I have cab rewired THEN I will go guitar new cable amp short speaker cable cab and see where I am.

The two things that have me so frustrated is getting good tone shouldn't be this hard AND if a component of my setup has caused my issues then I've unfairly disqualified a lot of amps. UGH

I have been talking with a few on the forum about this and I really think before I spend another dime on another amp I need to be 100% certain what is causing my dissatisfaction.
 
JasonE said:
I have used a number of tube amps over the years. I have played a lot of gigs with a Marsh The Springfield. It is a hand wired version of a Vibrolux Reverb amp. The circuit is modified from the stock Fender circuit. It has two 10" speakers on it. The clean sound is fantastic and it takes pedals really well.

Another one that I have played a lot of gigs with is a Peavey JSX 2x12. I have one of the first ones that came out. I had the shop I was buying all of my stuff through order one for me when they first released them. I still have the amp but it feels a lot heavier these days. :)

When I start playing live again, I will take my Friedman Twin Sister out. I haven't gigged since I bought it. I like the amp but will have to run things quite differently than I do with the Marsh.
Click to expand...
Very cool!

Both my Marshall Studio JTM and Fender Chris Stapleton amp are hand-wired.

One is PCB tube socket board integrated, the other is eyelet board. Then I have a few other tube amps and solid state amps. One thing I've learned over the years is that hand-wired and non-wired doesn't make much a difference in quality, as Psionic pointed out, just as vintage or modern doesn't.

Anyway,
It's all about component quality, my Marshall JTM Studio which just came out last year is PCB and yet I'd pit it against any vintage Marshall for durability and sound quality. It shouldn't shock anyone that today's pcb amps are on par in quality as yesteryear vintage amps but engineering today is done with affordability in mind as well as attenuation. Hence why this year's winner at Namm was Donner's Jack White pedal and why it's now common for amps to have a low wattage mode built in.
 
Archon 100w. Might as well be the only amp I own. It's the only one I play through. I love the cleans. I love the leads. The amp is built like a tank.

Technically I own 3 other amps: boss Katana 50w, orange micro dark, and a old tiny solid state Squier amp. But the Archon is the only one that gets played.

I do have my eye on the MT100. We'll see...
 
gush said:
I'm in a serious amp funk. Got a lot to figure out but for now my jcm800 studio head is just acceptable.

Been playing with a variac. Watched a video of a couple guys using one to help get EVH brown sound.

They explained that the variac can help get your outlet voltage to a level recommended by the amp manufacturers. For instance, fender stuff was designed to run at 117 VAC. My jcm800 calls for 120 VAC.

My house is 123 VAC and bringing it down to 120 seems to help tame the harshness I hear.

I also I ordered a new prs 18 foot cable as my intex cable is damaged.

I bought some new 14 ga wire today and I'm going to rewire one of my cabs but I'm going to twist the wire like marshall used to and make sure my solder joints are solid.

I'm doing this because I have some weird stuff going on that's really pi$$ing me off.

I've been through quite a few amps as of late and the most common complaint I have is "too harsh".

I also have this weird thing going on where a single note starts to fade away and at the end I hear this distortion or maybe static?

So once my new cable arrives and I have cab rewired THEN I will go guitar new cable amp short speaker cable cab and see where I am.

The two things that have me so frustrated is getting good tone shouldn't be this hard AND if a component of my setup has caused my issues then I've unfairly disqualified a lot of amps. UGH

I have been talking with a few on the forum about this and I really think before I spend another dime on another amp I need to be 100% certain what is causing my dissatisfaction.
Click to expand...
Kruse amp mod...
 
SteveGlitch said:
My favorite amp for gigging is the all tube Marshall JTM Studio 1x12, which as you know, is a modern reboot of Jim Marshall's classic take of a highly modified Fender Bassman. I run the channels jumpered. Sounds good with everything, without treaking. Amazing headroom for pedal platforming..

My favorite Practice amp is the solid state Positive Grid Spark Go 1x2. Love the features on it and how small it is. It says it's 5 watts but feels like 2 watts maybe. Tube amps have spoiled me lol
Click to expand...
I'd love to play the studio jtm head
 
For my band's gigs, I have landed with a Hughes & Kettner Tubemeister18 with the matching 1x10 Celestion loaded cab. It just works. The built-in Red Box is awesome! (Once I put decent tubes in)

If we're rocking a big outdoor, huge stage gig, I still have my Egnater Renegade 1/2 stack that is a beast. (Once I put decent tubes in)

I've got I think 13 or 14 more tube amps of various make and wattage, that I admit don't see much action. :(
 
I guess you could say I have a favorite rig, as opposed to a favorite amp.

The amps and switcher live in a small nook on the left in the recording area of my studio. Left to right: PRS HXDA, Mesa Fillmore 50, PRS DG30, Mesa Lone Star 100 W.

They’re all connected to an amp and cab switcher so any amp can play through any cab at the flick of a switch or via MIDI. Lots of different combinations can be switched on the fly when recording under tight deadlines. It's a pretty slick rig that way.

All four amps do different things, and feel necessary for different projects' needs, so while the HXDA and DG30 see a lot of action, and are certainly my two favorites - they always feel like higher-end beasts - the Mesas get used quite often, too, and I like the Mesa sound in general. Always have.

The two PRS amps are hand wired. The Mesas are not, but with the NOS tubes they’re very satisfying to play through, and I like the way they sound almost as much. I get tone compliments from clients - lots of ad creatives play guitar and notice good tone - so that’s a plus.

All four were improved by installing NOS tubes (the DG30 was one of the Experience "First 20" when the amp was introduced, and came with NOS glass).

The switcher in the equipment rack is by the Swiss company KHE, is dead silent when switching, and doesn’t affect the tone at all. There's also a Furman power supply with a 45 Amp reservoir that works as advertised. The reservoir makes an audible difference to the performance of the amps.

The amps and cabs are wired up with PRS/Van Damme audio and speaker cable, except the DG30 amp's speaker output and cab input are wired into the switcher with DH Labs T-14, a cable my vendor thought would work really well (it does).

The amps were bought between 2014 and 2019. They’re well beyond the honeymoon phase, and I still love working with them as much as when they were new, if not more, which is good since I tweaked the amps with tube experiments and I can't get that time back! ;)

cSpiGVk.jpg
 
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László said:
I guess you could say I have a favorite rig, as opposed to a favorite amp.

The amps and switcher live in a small nook on the left in the recording area of my studio. Left to right: PRS HXDA, Mesa Fillmore 50, PRS DG30, Mesa Lone Star 100 W.

They’re all connected to an amp and cab switcher so any amp can play through any cab at the flick of a switch or via MIDI. Lots of different combinations can be switched on the fly when recording under tight deadlines. It's a pretty slick rig that way.

All four amps do different things, and feel necessary for different projects' needs, so while the HXDA and DG30 see a lot of action, and are certainly my two favorites - they always feel like higher-end beasts - the Mesas get used quite often, too, and I like the Mesa sound in general. Always have.

The two PRS amps are hand wired. The Mesas are not, but with the NOS tubes they’re very satisfying to play through, and I like the way they sound almost as much. I get tone compliments from clients - lots of ad creatives play guitar and notice good tone - so that’s a plus.

All four were improved by installing NOS tubes (the DG30 was one of the Experience "First 20" when the amp was introduced, and came with NOS glass).

The switcher in the equipment rack is by the Swiss company KHE, is dead silent when switching, and doesn’t affect the tone at all. There's also a Furman power supply with a 45 Amp reservoir that works as advertised. The reservoir makes an audible difference to the performance of the amps.

The amps and cabs are wired up with PRS/Van Damme audio and speaker cable, except the DG30 amp's speaker output and cab input are wired into the switcher with DH Labs T-14, a cable my vendor thought would work really well (it does).

The amps were bought between 2014 and 2019. They’re well beyond the honeymoon phase, and I still love working with them as much as when they were new, if not more, which is good since I tweaked the amps with tube experiments and I can't get that time back! ;)

cSpiGVk.jpg
Click to expand...
Nice setup.
 
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