What was your first guitar amp?

[Ryan Murphy]

Mine was Line6 Spider IV. Deacent amp for a 14 year old at the time. Now i have a Blackstar HT5.

 

[Kwcsports]

1980 Peavey Bandit, still have it.

 

[IKnowALittle]

Bro', i LOVE that guitar.
AWESOME.

A small Magnatone that I really wish I had kept... along with a Magnatone X15 Tornado guitar that was my first electric guitar...

 

[Wakester]

I don't remember the brand, something cheap I'm sure, but it sucked. It was a little 6" thing with volume, tone and OD settings. It really only had 2 settings, off and really loud and distorted. I could never find a happy medium with it. I wound up selling it to a kid just learning to play, and bought myself a Boss Cube 30X.

 

[xjbebop]

Bro', i LOVE that guitar.
AWESOME.

...sure wish I still had it now...

 

[Lister]

I pulled out my second guitar amp the other day, a 1980's vintage Peavey Backstage Plus and went through it, spraying the pots and resoldering the reverb tank leads and guess what? I can say without hesitation that it still sounded as crappy as I remembered...

 

[veinbuster]

I pulled out my second guitar amp the other day, a 1980's vintage Peavey Backstage Plus and went through it, spraying the pots and resoldering the reverb tank leads and guess what? I can say without hesitation that it still sounded as crappy as I remembered...

I eventually sold my crappy Peavey to a local kid for $10. It was a treat for him.

 

[Davey]

Fender Sidekick Reverb 35
It was a package deal with a Sears Harmony guitar I bought from a guy I used to work with back in '89 for $125
Still have it, but tossed the Sears Harmony.

 

[Dancing Frog]

Stage 400 210. Made Guitar Player Magazine's worst amps of the 70's list.

 

[CVS]

1st amp - in the early 70's - can't remember - but for sure a piece of "junk"
1st legit amp - also in early 70's - Pre CBS Fender Baseman Head (I think 50 watts) with a speaker cabinet with 6 ten inch speakers. My ears are still ringing............

 

[Tremontinator]

One of them piece of junk Squier 10 watt jobs. Gain volume bass mids treble
8" speaker

Got it for $20 from a liquor store owner who got ahold of used stuff once in a while.

They called him Rip. For good reason.

 

[Lister]

I eventually sold my crappy Peavey to a local kid for $10. It was a treat for him.

Funny enough, as bad as that Backstage was/is, I absolutely love my Classic 50 410. It was my first "good" amp and it doesn't have an effects loop, so it's a either a first year 1991 or early 1992 model and it's been dead nuts reliable all these years.

 

[Outlier22]

I had some really awful no-name solid state practice amp that had soft cloths sides (almost like a felt) and a round grill over the 6" speaker. I think I actually destroyed it instead of trying to sell it.

My first real amp I bought with my own money was a Peavey Classic 50. (I think it was a 1x12) I ended up selling it because I couldn't get good high gain sounds. (was too dumb to know I could have put some pedals in front of it lol.) I almost bought one used a few years back because I remember loving the clean tone, but people are asking too much for them, so bought a Blues Jr instead.

 

[GADonis]

I eventually sold my crappy Peavey to a local kid for $10. It was a treat for him.

I traded my crappy Backstage for a slightly less crappy (???) Peavey Classic VTX which I played for many, many years before picking up a '69 Deluxe Reverb.

 

[Parralax view]

Peavey Musician head, with a 15" cab. Loud as @#$%*.

I too had a Peavey musician head, the Mark III or something like that. It had a big cab with two silver cone 15" speakers, and a horn if I remember correctly. It was indeed loud as )(*)(#*)(#, but the sound of the thing was not to be desired. The built in distortion was ok, bu the verb was a tin can with a stick clanging around in it. I eventually lost it in a divorce with the rest of the rig. In that, she did me a favor that one time. The judge ordered me to liquidate the entire rig and give her half, so an original Fender Thinline 69 tele in natural, a Guild S-100 Polara, and that amp all went for the price of 500 bucks. I gave her half. She was mightily pissed, but there was no monetary expectation set by the judge and he said, "he fullfilled the requirements of the order"..... I only miss the guitars now.

 

[Lister]

I too had a Peavey musician head, the Mark III or something like that. It had a big cab with two silver cone 15" speakers, and a horn if I remember correctly. It was indeed loud as )(*)(#*)(#, but the sound of the thing was not to be desired. The built in distortion was ok, bu the verb was a tin can with a stick clanging around in it. I eventually lost it in a divorce with the rest of the rig. In that, she did me a favor that one time. The judge ordered me to liquidate the entire rig and give her half, so an original Fender Thinline 69 tele in natural, a Guild S-100 Polara, and that amp all went for the price of 500 bucks. I gave her half. She was mightily pissed, but there was no monetary expectation set by the judge and he said, "he fullfilled the requirements of the order"..... I only miss the guitars now.

Bummer about the Tele and Guild. I happen to know of a similar divorce story but it involved a gorgeous 1965 Mustang fastback that got sold to a brother for a $1. Once the proceedings were finalized, it was sold back for the same $1. Of course this was back in the day when the lawyers and general public were still just looking at them as "old" cars and not at their appreciation potential. Probably a much different story if this happened today. BTW, he still has the '65 even after another divorce, although he finally got smart with a prenup that time around.

 

[dogrocketp]

Mine was a Silvertone twin twelve, which I believe had about 20 fire breathing watts. I blew it up in college, but kept it, and had it rebuilt around 1995 by a vintage fanatic. Sounded great, but it was also a Divorce casualty. Sold it to a friend who is an amp collector and will never sell it. I visit it every once in a while. Then tech 21’s (I have them all) and a PRS 2 channel 20 and 30. Done for life.

 

[Parralax view]

Bummer about the Tele and Guild. I happen to know of a similar divorce story but it involved a gorgeous 1965 Mustang fastback that got sold to a brother for a $1. Once the proceedings were finalized, it was sold back for the same $1. Of course this was back in the day when the lawyers and general public were still just looking at them as "old" cars and not at their appreciation potential. Probably a much different story if this happened today. BTW, he still has the '65 even after another divorce, although he finally got smart with a prenup that time around.

The only entertaining thing about the memory is the sale of the amp. Some guy that played for a belly dancing troupe in Dallas at the Goldfinger's Greek restaurant came after calling about the ad. He brought a Gourd sort of instrument, bushkazi (sp) maybe. Came into the living room, plugged it in and dimed the thing while playing and I thought I was in Beirut.....he took it home, or to the restaurant and that was that...;-)

 

[django49]

WAY back when....A 35 watt, 1 x 15, tube bass amp from Monkey Wards, apparently made by Supro. Had a modern art/psychedelic front that "moved" when I played. I recall certain folks that were "a bit impaired" trying to focus on it in motion....."Far out man!"

 

[JJJ]

Very similar to my '75 Classic 50 2x12. IIRC, the Classic had reverb, but no chorus/vibrato effects. 6L6 tubes. Could just about hear myself think in a crowded room.

These are the hybrids with a tube power section right?

Two for sale locally, I have heard great things. Maybe I should look into them...