Great Amps that get NO RESPECT!??

[BigDaddyLH]

Originally Posted by randysmojo

I forgot to mention. I've heard some really good Country tones out of a SS Polytone Brute.

Hmmm... I always think of the Mini Brutes as one trick ponies: that classic jazz "honk".

[strat a various]

Back in the late 60s, Fender amps got dissed a lot because they were "Country" amps and they were the mainstream amp that every mom and pop music store and every big fancy store that had clean cut salesmen with neckties featured. The cool guys wanted Marshalls cause Hendrix played a Marshall. They wanted Hi-watts and Sound City amps. Jensen speakers were similarly panned by the "in crowd" because Celestions were so much cooler.
Forget about Kustom, only John Fogarty would visibly be associated with them and their "electric cat monster" mascots. Then Fenders slowly came into more favor as Peavey took over the "square and cheap" amp position. They were the new "country" amp, and yes, Sly and the Family Stone were endorsed by Peavey (matching white Peaveys), and later Lynyyrd Skynyrd became the big Peavey band, but they still fight the reputation of low quality, low class, especially the SS models.
All of this is relative. The best Jazz amp of the 70s, Polytone, is now third fiddle to Acoustic Image and Henriksen, and is largely dismissed as lower quality and reliability. Meanwhile, amps that circled the drain in the 60s, Teisco, Univox, Heathkit, Silvertone, are being seen under a new light as "kitch" and groovy, if not really cool.
None of these perspectives mean anything except reflections of popularity based on famous guitarists or on successful advertising campaigns. The amps themselves didn't change. The technology hasn't leaped forward since the 50s except for superfluous analog and digital effects, or versions of SS amp design that still sound like solid state.

The amps haven't changed, we change. Now, Fender is the coolest, as long as it's a vintage tube Fender, because SS Fenders (or Hot Rod Series, or Vintage Reissue, whatever) are as square as black and silver faces were perceived to be by wanna-be rock stars back in the 60s and 70s.
Now the Traynors that were the crappy import mainly suitable for rental amps in big music stores are sought after all-tube amps with mojo. It's all perception. Fenders, Peaveys, Traynors, they were always good amps. Those low end Japanese amps, like Teisco, were always iffy, maybe mojo-worthy, if not good quality. These amps are as respected or as reviled as our perception allows.

My nomination for a great amp that gets no respect: Peavey Heritage, sort of a Twin Reverb on steriods, a really great sounding guitar amp.

[Telesavalis]

Lab Series L7.

[Donnie55]

I had a killer little amp, it was a Park by Marshall . Solid State little screamer !!! I think it was called Park 10. I wish I had kept it now.
www.myspace.com/redtele2

[BrownsBrick]

Small KMD solid state amps from the 80's, used to have one, sounded JUST like a tube amp. Even came stock with a British Celestion 10". They were mainly used by shredders and pop-metal acts but sound great for just about anything. Wish I woulda kept it.

[Travis in BMore]

Originally Posted by BigDaddyLH

Sorry, but I'm fixating today:

What the heck! Are those Zu Druid speakers!!!???

Nevermind- quick google search reveals they ARE in fact Zu Druid speakers.....at more than $2K a pair, I doubt these will see serious production, but that is a freaky thing to see....like a Hello Kitty Ferrari.

[1962guitargeek]

I kinda like my Fender Princeton Chorus....It's not bad amp, even being ss and all.....

[NealVossy]

I agree with most everything on this thread, but if you are talking about those 80s red knob twins, come on. I had a friend who had one and it was awful.

[SixString821]

60s magnatones, not the really expensive ones, but rather the low end 6ish watt models like the 401. you can still get them for about $180, and they sound great.

[JayFreddy]

Originally Posted by NealVossy

I agree with most everything on this thread, but if you are talking about those 80s red knob twins, come on. I had a friend who had one and it was awful.

Robben Ford, Larry Carleton, Steve Cropper and I can make them sound good. I bet your friend isn't one of the preceding people...

One of the things with the RK Twins is that they have lots of knobs, and are entirely capable of dialing in bad tones for people who don't know how to use them. A BF Deluxe or an old 50 watt JMP Marshall are idiot-proof... They basically sound good no matter where you set the knobs.

Another amp I forgot to mention is the 80's vintage Yamaha G100's, both the II's as used by Phil Keaggy and Mike Stern, and the III's, that were used by no one famous, but were assembled at a piano factory in Ohio...

[3 Chord]

I think the red knob twins are decent but to each thier own. Actually I like all the red knob Fender amps.

Carvin makes / made some good amps too but for some reason they are overlooked. SX series comes to mind.

[backalleyblues]

+1 on the red-knob Fenders, so long as you have a forklift to move them... picked a Super 60 up at a store the other day, I forgot how heavy those things are (I used to have one, so I should've remembered!)

+1000 on the Peavey Bandit, you can certainly get serviceable tones outta there... put in a better speaker and really watch that amp shine...

A buddy of mine has an old (orange) Cube 20 that I use when we rehearse... I've actually recorded demos with it, sounds real good, and the reverb is far better than it has a right to be...

And of course, the Hot Rod Deluxe, or what has become known as "the generic tube amp". Been using one for years, great sound, mine has been drop-dead reliable. Gonna tweak it soon, though, but nothing major, just some of the Justin Holton mods to solve the issues I have with it. Might change the speaker (Celestion Vintage 30 or a Weber copy of a G12-65), but I'll wait till after I do the mods...

I also have a little Univox (U-45B) GREAT recording amp for blues, gets really raunchy blues tones that don't quite sound like your normal Fender or Marshall... just a real pain to get tubes for it...

Franc Robert

[tazzboy]

Originally Posted by BigDaddyLH

:blinks:

How could an amp that's been in production since, what,1975, and used on a gazillion recordings get no respect? I mean, apart from the distortion

That's just it. It's good for Clean sounds, but not distortion.

[KCKC]

Originally Posted by randysmojo

I forgot to mention. I've heard some really good Country tones out of a SS Polytone Brute.

That's what I use! Minibrute iv, for guit and bass. Enough power for our small gigs and no heavy lifting required! I just found those country tones this summer!

Most folks I talk to around boston haven't heard of them.

KC

[smsuryan]

my carvin nomad gets noooooo respect...

[fstempleton]

I had nothing but an early-80s Bandit from 1984-1995, and used it regularly for gigging in a bar band with my strat. It's never sounded awesome, but it has never given me one instant of trouble at all. In about 1995 I got a 410 Deville, so the Peavey mostly sat in the corner until about 2 years ago.
Now the Bandit has made a comeback - I discovered that if you take the line out of a SCXD, and run it into the Bandit's Power Amp Input, the two amp volumes are relatively balanced [with a Cajun in the SCXD], and the 12" in the Peavey really fills out the bottom end/ The SCXD sits solidly on top of the Bandit. It's a great combination, and easier to haul around than the HRD....
ST

[jefcon1]

The Marshall 8040 Valvestate is one hot little amp if you never use the clean channel. And even the boost channel, with the gain on 3 and master on 10 makes it a very respectable clean amp for its size and cost.

I have a Peavey Special 130 that I never saw any iternet respect for until I came to tdpri. It has tons of sparkle and plenty of eq and gain flexibility to get the job done, what ever the job may be. And contrary to popular belief, the Titanic did not hit an iceberg, it hit a Peavey.

[openbar]

Originally Posted by BigDaddyLH

:blinks:

How could an amp that's been in production since, what,1975, and used on a gazillion recordings get no respect? I mean, apart from the distortion

People still poo-poo that amp every day, almost like it's hip to hate it.

[BuddyLee]

Musicman amps do not seem to get the love they deserve. And there is all kinds of misinformation on the net about them by "tube snobs". Most of whom have never played out of one and do not know what they are talking about.

[stantheman]

Originally Posted by openbar

People still poo-poo that amp every day, almost like it's hip to hate it.

I love the Roland JC Series "just for the record".
As for the individuals who "diss", take a picture of them as soon as You can and then pull it out in 20 years. A picture is worth a 1000 words, believe me there will be an instant of clarity unlike you may never see the like of again.

My favorite thing to do the little man is to threaten to show his "first day of middle school" pictures to mrslittleman - the clothes he chose because everything We chose was "totally ---!!!"
...Last month he came over and helped me fix the tractor after I reminded him who has "the picture" and I didn't even ask for help. Now I'm thinking about them leaves...

The first time I heard a JC-120 was with a Hollow Body Acoustic and that amazing SOUND is still in my head over 25 years later.
Oh broke as I am I've still got my eye out for one.
Absolutely.