Your Favorite Amp's Tone Signature?

[László]

Seems like it'd be fun to discuss the amps we love in (perhaps) a different way.

What I mean by an amp's tone signature is that a great many amps are based on a few ancestors that are pretty easily identifiable. For example:

Tweed Fender
Early Marshall (Yes, based on Tweed Bassman but still very different!)
Black Panel Fender
AC30 Vox
Mesa Mark and Recto
Dumble

As we all know, there are ten zillion/kajillion amps that are based around these tones. Some are hot-rodded versions of them, some are replicas, etc. But boiled down to their essence, each of the above has a certain signature that later amps have used as a starting point.

I'm SURE there are others! So feel free to elucidate.

But -- there are amps that were cool, but never really became 'foundations' for later amps (that I'm aware of).

You don't see people making amps saying, "This amp has the clean tones of an Ampeg Reverberocket II and the dirty tones of an overdriven Magnatone at full throttle!"

Even though those happen to be pretty unique and cool tones, they didn't seem to inspire many descendants.

On to the discussion:

I'd have to say the foundation tones of my favorite amps are Fender Tweed with a little Plexi thrown into the mix.

What I like about the Fender Tweed tone is its fat-but-not-harsh midrange, and its ability to respond to pick attack, guitar volume, etc. Plexi has more top end overtones, but also has a nice pick response, and cleans up well with the guitar's volume control.

These would be the antecedents of my favorite amps. As you can see from my description, the ability of the amps to go from clean to overdriven with just the picking hand and/or the guitar volume controls makes them easy to work with (for me).

I do love Vox. I like certain Black Panel tones, Dumble and Mesa, sure, love 'em. But the most 'me' tones are Tweed and Plexi-based. Yours?

 

[Jimmy Ramone]

I’ve had many amps over the years. Too many to list. But the three that have stuck around:
Victoria 20112 - Fender Tweed Deluxe clone
Shaw Full Tilt 30 - a Matchless HC30 clone with Vox / Marshall channels
Allen Chihuahua - a super hotrodded Fender Champ

 

[Senor Verde]

My favorite amp is the Dr Z Therapy, which folks say is similar to a low power tweed Twin. I've never played a low power Twin, so don't know how accurate that statement is but many descriptions on the web make that statement.

I have owned many blackface and silverface Fender amps and clones, a few Mesas, a couple Marshall clones, Dumble copies and few other Dr Z's.

Blackface Fenders sound great when playing alone, but when the band gets going, something doesn't sound right to me.

I really like Dumble sounds, but have never been able to dial any of the clones in to get those great sounds.

I did play through a Mesa Tremoverb at a jam in the 90's that sounded insanely good, but never bought one. I had a few Blue Angels that sounded great, but foolishly sold them all. I've seriously considered checking out the Fillmore 50 and Cali Tweed, but at this point the Therapy is keeping me happy. I even bought a second recently so I could have one where we practice and one for at home.

 

[Tony M.]

The best sounding amplifier I ever owned was my Hiwatt DR 103
powering two 2 X 12 cabinets loaded with EV SRO 12" speakers.
It sounded like the amplifier of the Gods.

My #1 now is a 1964 Fender Blackface Deluxe non reverb.
It sounds pretty darn good too.

 

[Bogner]

I Seem To Like Them All For Some Reason Or Another.

 

[Black Plaid]

Not sure if it's good, but it's certainly nostalgic for me: Gallien Kreuger 250ML

They were in vogue for a couple of years in the mid 80s, and in the late 80s cheap enough for me to be able to afford one used.

I recently found one used and it's almost just as I remember. It probably needs all new caps to sound right, need to find a really good tech that won't destroy it as it's probably on it's last legs at this point.

 

[Wyzard]

My reference tones sound like they've been filtered by Steve Kimock and Eric Johnson: Fender "cleans" (all eras), Boogie texture and sustain, and Dumble Ultraphonix/ODS/SSS gain. Bigger amps by and large: 50-100W, through Celestion Black Shadow, EVM12 and 15L, JBL K130, and Fane (12- and 15-inch) Crescendo speakers.


Although I was surrounded by Marshalls when I started, I didn't really grow as a musician until I got my first Boogie. So that's one of my foundational sounds. As far as my tastes were concerned back then, the Boogie MkIIA was the Hulk to Fender's Bruce Banner.

Later, and coinciding with becoming more "musically responsible" later in life, I learned about Two Rocks. After buying a couple of them back in 04/05, I've pretty much relied on them ever since.


I still love all my various other amps. I get great tone and texture with the Mark series amps I first bonded with; also with my big Fenders, Hiwatts, Marshall plexi PA, Groove Tubes etc. These get used with pedals: Pete Cornish, KOT, and Free The Tone reverb.

But at the heart of it, an S-type played through a Custom Reverb Sig V1 is where I'm happiest. It's got "Fender+" cleans, it sustains as well as my Boogies, and I like what comes out of it at least as much as all the Dumble tones I've ever heard. Using it, I almost sound like a real musician myself - as opposed to a guy with a bunch of guitars and amps - when I'm properly warmed up and playing in that fabled "responsible musical context".

 

[Mentalo87]

Modern era Marshall (>90s) boosted with an SD1, a match made in Heaven. Tight low end, pronounced mids but no sizzling/fizzy highs. Gain as much as needed but as low as possible, in terms of high gain. Just one way to describe it - just ripping. Cuts through the bands mix and our other guitarists recto like nothing.

But I think the influence of speaker and cabinet choice is most of the times overseen. You can turn your sound completely by changing the cab. I prefer a combination of V30s and Greenbacks with a closed cab.

 

[veinbuster]

I’ve played Mesa for so long that nothing else really matters to me.
Though I have a 50 year old Fender Bassman that treated me well tucked in a closet.

 

[László]

I did play through a Mesa Tremoverb at a jam in the 90's that sounded insanely good, but never bought one. I had a few Blue Angels that sounded great, but foolishly sold them all. I've seriously considered checking out the Fillmore 50 and Cali Tweed, but at this point the Therapy is keeping me happy. I even bought a second recently so I could have one where we practice and one for at home.

One of the early leather-covered Tremoverb 2x12 combos was my main studio amp for about a decade! It was a wonderful amp. I liked my Blue Angel, thought my Maverick was great, and currently have a Fillmore 50 and a Lone Star.

I also had their all-tube Bass 400+ amp. 400 tube watts. A zillion tubes. Sounded killer, and Paul McCartney still uses one. Wish I'd kept it.

The Fillmore can get me pretty close to the Tremo, and has its own interesting qualities, being based on Tweed. But it can get the Mesa OD tones in two of its modes.

After I got into Two-Rocks, my son took over the Tremoverb and gigged with it through high school and college. At the end, a tech "improved" it and basically ruined the tone. So we moved it and I got him a Stiletto that worked well with his punk aesthetic.

Later, and coinciding with becoming more "musically responsible" later in life, I learned about Two Rocks. After buying a couple of them back in 04/05, I've pretty much relied on them ever since.

I played Two-Rocks exclusively for about ten years, and had a great "artist" relationship with the company. The ones I had were several versions of the Onyx Sigs (wonderful amp) and a couple of Custom Reverb Sigs (v1 and v2). I got along better with the Onyx models, but they were all great amps.

I switched to the PRS CAD amps because clients (and I as well) wanted a more vintage tone, but I wish I'd kept a Two-Rock Onyx Sig v2 around. They're SO good. I'd certainly still be playing it from time to time.

 

[WEDGE]

Brand aside because a number of amps can do this nowadays, I listen for a really hard pushed Plexi tone that has just stepped into saturation, but still has that ‘stringiness’ that I like from a plexi. Ideally it will sound huge and aggressive when playing open chords but will stay tight and percussive when palm muting.

The right amp for me should sound good but also feel great under your fingers.

Lastly, they have the type of clean tone I like when turned down at the guitar. Not perfectly clean, can get jangly, and is percussive if hit hard.

 

[Gtrbldr]

It has been an evolution for me. Started with a bedrock amp, which has voxy and marshally qualities. Actually bought it for the cleans, that were awesome. Drive was dark, but nice as well.

Then got into the mesa boogie mark series, after listening too much dream theater in the early 00's. Got myself a MB Quad pre and MB poweramp. Those were awesome!! Best hi gain sounds I ever had. Period.

In recent years I moved away from the American sounds and back to the brittish voicings. Partially due to me mostly playing in church, where sounds are predominantly Vox (and vox derivatives, like matchless and bad cat) driven. However my amp was still a mesa boogie (Transatlantic 15), that I used for profiles in my kemper. I kind of notice the voxy cleans, breakup and slight overdrives and more old school marshally sounds for gain and lead - where I started - are my fundamental amp sounds.

Bought a Bad Cat Black Cat yesterday to get a Vox "with bigger stones" sound. So far works very well.

 

[Senor Verde]

The Fillmore can get me pretty close to the Tremo, and has its own interesting qualities, being based on Tweed. But it can get the Mesa OD tones in two of its modes.

You aren't helping me get over my desire to try a Fillmore. Then again, what do I expect from a gear hound forum.

 

[Black Plaid]

Not sure if it's good, but it's certainly nostalgic for me: Gallien Kreuger 250ML

They were in vogue for a couple of years in the mid 80s, and in the late 80s cheap enough for me to be able to afford one used.

I recently found one used and it's almost just as I remember. It probably needs all new caps to sound right, need to find a really good tech that won't destroy it as it's probably on it's last legs at this point.

I guess I didn't really answer the question correctly, my favorite amp is a Mk-V: 25's crunch setting on channel 1.

It's great for edge-of-breakup all the way to singing for me!

I love the tone-stack-before-the-gain setup they have, really lets you decide on the actual character of the drive.

 

[WEDGE]

I guess I didn't really answer the question correctly, my favorite amp is a Mk-V: 25's crunch setting on channel 1.

It's great for edge-of-breakup all the way to singing for me!

I love the tone-stack-before-the-gain setup they have, really lets you decide on the actual character of the drive.

Agree totally about ch1 crunch on the MKV25. Tried the 35 and the 90 water to try to setup up and get the crunch on a separate channel from the clean but the tone isn’t the same on the two larger version. Doesn’t hit the same way. Too bad, if I could afford it I’d get two and use one for clean and one for pushed crunch channel. Into a 1x12 slant recto cab that 25 crunch mode is TIGHT!

 

[Bogner]

Chug, Clean, Crunchy Rock Tones, Edge Of Breakup, More Chug.

 

[GGJJGG]

The best sounding amplifier I ever owned was my Hiwatt DR 103
powering two 2 X 12 cabinets loaded with EV SRO 12" speakers.
It sounded like the amplifier of the Gods.

My #1 now is a 1964 Fender Blackface Deluxe non reverb.
It sounds pretty darn good too.

My Hi-Tone is something else. Not sure if it matches the original HiWatt, but it is a great sound. The guitar’s individual characteristics stand out.

My dirty secret is the original Rockman sound. Not everyday, but every once in a while….

 

[László]

You aren't helping me get over my desire to try a Fillmore. Then again, what do I expect from a gear hound forum.

I loaded my Fillmore with NOS military-grade GE preamp tubes and Telefunken 6L6s. The clean tones alone are worth the price of admission. Without question my favorite clean tones in my studio.

Not that I want to make your GAS any worse, of course.

I paired mine with one of Mesa's recently-introduced 4x10s with Creambacks. The great gods of tone were made ever so happy.

 

[aamefford]

I loaded my Fillmore with NOS military-grade GE preamp tubes and Telefunken 6L6s. The clean tones alone are worth the price of admission. Without question my favorite clean tones in my studio.

Not that I want to make your GAS any worse, of course.

I paired mine with one of Mesa's recently-introduced 4x10s with Creambacks. The great gods of tone were made ever so happy.

Hey Les - Any further comments on the Mesa 4x10? That caught my eye as a smaller, lighter, gentler on the 'ole back alternative to a 2x12 or 4x12. It's open, correct? The Marshall 4x10 is closed. I'm torn. I like my closed 1x12, but I also liked my open 1x12. If I were to stumble on a good example of them, not sure which way to go. I sure liked the cream back 45 watt 10 in my MkV25 combo though.

Edit - Plus, the Mesa is well, ah Mesa.

 

[dmatthews]

On my Kemper, I've found myself using Fender profiles... a lot!
Clean = 67 Pro Reverb
Light crunch = 63 Vibroverb
Crunchy = 57 Deluxe

These all using a Celestion G12 Creamback.

No beatings... at least not the face!