What Are Your Favorite Amps To Play?

László said:
The Little Walter amps are intriguing.

My current amps are all High Gravity Bobs.
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Curious what intrigues you. I read some older posts elsewhere about originality of design and cost. I think the Milkman amp guy took some shots?

I like the amp, the order experience was hands on and I like the amp. It feels right for me. I feel very comfortable recommending it after comparing it to the other amps I own and like.

Still want that Komet though!
 
GGJJGG said:
Curious what intrigues you.
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A couple of Robben Ford videos of his Little Walter amps sounded beautiful. I go for the 'edge of breakup' and clean stuff. The 8 Watt amp has a tight bass and doesn't sound mushy like most low-wattage amps - the way most mush up on the bottom end is why I generally play higher wattage amps. It also has a round midrange with a Tweed character I like.

So, yeah, would be useful in any studio setting.


This is the 50W, and there's also Robben demoing both of his PRS' -- the difference between the brass tailpiece and the aluminum truly amazed me.. Robben talks about the differences between bridges and demonstrates. It's cool.

 
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László said:
The 8 Watt amp has a tight bass and doesn't sound mushy like most low-wattage amps - the way most mush up on the bottom end is why I generally play higher wattage amps. It also has a round midrange with a Tweed character I like.
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Boy that little amp sounds great, doesn't it?

When you design a small single ended amp like this, the design choices are critical. The old "champ about to explode" tone that many like, is the result of a small transformer (3 watts in many cases!), small power caps, and of course the 8" speaker. So a tube capable of putting out 5-7 watts is choked by the transformer and caps, then played through a small speaker, many of which are only rated for 10 watts or so, so they "break up" pretty easily! I modded one Valve Junior and after having it sounding very nice in that arena, added a 15 watt SE transformer. The whole "sag and bloom" vibe of the amp was gone, replaced by much more punch and better tighter bass. With no circuit mods or speaker changes, the whole vibe and sound of the amp changed with the transformer.

When he talks about how big it sounds, it's a bigger power section and then the other huge factor, the 12" speaker. An SE single power tube amp with big power supply and big speaker can sound completely different than that same circuit with small power section and small speaker. This demo is a GREAT example of how good a simple design, lower power tube amp can sound, and how big it can sound at reasonable volumes.
 
DreamTheaterRules said:
Boy that little amp sounds great, doesn't it?

When you design a small single ended amp like this, the design choices are critical. The old "champ about to explode" tone that many like, is the result of a small transformer (3 watts in many cases!), small power caps, and of course the 8" speaker. So a tube capable of putting out 5-7 watts is choked by the transformer and caps, then played through a small speaker, many of which are only rated for 10 watts or so, so they "break up" pretty easily! I modded one Valve Junior and after having it sounding very nice in that arena, added a 15 watt SE transformer. The whole "sag and bloom" vibe of the amp was gone, replaced by much more punch and better tighter bass. With no circuit mods or speaker changes, the whole vibe and sound of the amp changed with the transformer.

When he talks about how big it sounds, it's a bigger power section and then the other huge factor, the 12" speaker. An SE single power tube amp with big power supply and big speaker can sound completely different than that same circuit with small power section and small speaker. This demo is a GREAT example of how good a simple design, lower power tube amp can sound, and how big it can sound at reasonable volumes.
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The EL84 gives it a little different tone than a tweed. I really like the way it plays.
 
Today Is Bogner XTC Day! Going To Mess Around With EQ's In The Loop On The Classic And See If I Can Hunt Something Down I Am After. Should Be A Fun Night Like last Night Was.
 
GGJJGG said:
I think the speaker that came with it is pretty good too. I took it on Phil’s recommendation. Glad I did.
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I'm not familiar with that speaker, but it sure sounded good in the demo!

I was just suggesting alnico as it has a whole different vibe.
 
I played through all of my amps yesterday evening. After listening to Robben Ford playing through his Little Walter amps in those videos I no longer like any of my amps!

"Maybe it wasn't the amps, doofus; maybe it was because Robben F#ckin' Ford was playing through them." :rolleyes:

"Wait, you're saying I'll never sound like Robben no matter what amp I have?"

"Yeah. I'm saying Robben sounds better than you ever will no matter how long you live. You are not him."

"Damn! Well, what if I'm you?"

"Crawl back under your rock, I'm practicing. You'll never be me, Mr. OCD uncreative Left Brain."

"That's OK. I don't need to be creative. I can read music, you can't." 😂
 
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László said:
I played through all of my amps yesterday evening. After listening to Robben Ford playing through his Little Walter amps in those videos I no longer like any of my amps!

"Maybe it wasn't the amps, doofus; maybe it was because Robben F#ckin' Ford was playing through them." :rolleyes:

"Wait, you're saying I'll never sound like Robben no matter what amp I have?"

"Yeah. I'm saying Robben sounds better than you ever will no matter how long you live. You are not him."

"Damn! Well, what if I'm you?"

"Crawl back under your rock, I'm practicing. You'll never be me, Mr. OCD uncreative Left Brain."

"That's OK. I don't need to be creative. I can read music, you can't." 😂
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Happy to let you give it a try since I think you’re not too far from me.
 
GGJJGG said:
Happy to let you give it a try since I think you’re not too far from me.
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That is a kind and beautiful offer. At the same time, I have to remind myself...

“All things that are
Are with more spirit chased than enjoyed."

-- Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice, 2, 6

Seriously, I'm working on the (for me) elusive concept of 'Take a little time to enjoy the stuff you lusted after and already acquired'!

"But you haven't bought a new amp in five years."

"Probably because I kinda like the ones that are here."

"That's no excuse." 😂
 
I brought my Fishman SA200 on vacation instead of the Kemper, mostly to avoid playing through headphones.
I think playing through an amp that does nothing to colour the sound keeps your playing honest. Not that I don’t appreciate what my Boogies do, but sometimes it’s nice to exercise how much your fingers shape the sound.
 
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I have been playing since 1958 so I have gone through tube amps from the beginning. I have been playing out since 1961 and I have owned all kinds of Fenders through the years and used them on gigs. In the past 30 years I have owned and played Dr Z, Mesa Boogie, and a very nice Dumble clone (way too heavy). I have tried the new Fender Deluxe solid state (that is a pretty nice amp) but the amps I gig with and record with are the Boss Katana. I have three of them now. One in my gig rig, one that stays at a recording studio and one at home in my home studio. I switched from my Quilter to the Boss because I can create or edit patches and get whatever sound I like using the Boss software. Believe me, it's so nice to be able to take a lite weight, inexpensive amp with no pedal board (just the foot pedal to switch between patches) to a gig. My set up time is only about two minutes. I get all kinds of compliments on my sound and no one in the audience knows the difference between my Dr Z and the Katana........really! I play every week and it's a great band playing mostly R&B and jazz. We do a regular club gig every week and larger events. I record every week as well (yes, I get paid for it) and use a Katana that I can quickly change patches or edit them for the producer. Nothing wrong with heavy tube amps except, you have to bring a ton of pedals, they don't sound good unless they are loud, they are heavy, they sound different if the power is too low or too high and they require maintenance........oh and the are very expensive. That's just me but I have a lifetime of experience and I'm not going to carry more than I need to anymore! Not trying to get anyone to go this way, just wanted to offer a different perspective.
 
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