Amp advice

So, my Lynch Box is great and all, but the cleans aren't quite what I want them to be and I'd like something more manageable in size. I'd love to find a combo less than $1000, but I'd go for $1500. I'm open to used gear.

Chattanooga is unfortunately limited on amps, so I'm sort of stuck gathering as much advice as I can so that when I do end up at a nice guitar store I have an idea of what to look for.

Cleans and headroom are incredibly important to me. Obviously, in a sense, there's no one trick pony, but I'd like to sort of find something that has great cleans and will either work well with my Fulltone GT500 or that has a nice mid-to-high gain distortion option. Anything strike someone off the top of their head? I'm honestly not much of a Fender amp fan.

I've thought about the Mesa Lonestar Special, Epiphone Blues Custom, Bad Cat to name a few.

I'm not a Fender amp fan either. If you dislike them for the same reasons I do, I may be able to point you in some cool directions...

I dislike them because of the generally "scooped" voicing. They sound thin and weird to me, I like amps with a healthy mid-range voicing, more balanced across the spectrum.

Rivera makes some really cool amps that will do what you want, but the cleans may be a little too Fender-ish for you, you'd have to try one to know for sure.

As far as big cool cleans, and killer OD and distortion sounds, I'm a huge fan of Marshall's JCM2000 combos. I'm betting a TSL602 would knock your socks off.

I would say try some of Fuchs stuff, but they are really hard to find, and way out of your budget.

Depending on exactly how much headroom you need, and what kind of volumes you play at, an AC-30 might also be a good option for you in that price range. If you dig the Vox thing, I usually don't...

Even used wouldn't Fuchs and Rivera be pretty expensive (I know I mentioned Bad Cat, but I think I could get a used Hot Cat 30R for $1500, not sure if an EL34 amp is what I want for cleans).

Ampeg any good? How do they work with pedals?

Cleans and headroom are incredibly important to me. I'm honestly not much of a Fender amp fan.




What You are saying is a contradiction in terms. A paradox.
"Cleans and Headroom" equates Fender Twin Reverb.
A Twin Reverb is the standard industry reference regarding "cleans/headroom".
If I was going "Solid State" then I'd say Roland Jazz Chorus 120.

Well, the Blackface Twin is clean, but it's got that where's the midrange scooped sound. So the two are not the same.

So, in a sense it would seem like I could want just about anything that is clean without too much break up. Maybe I should be more specific about what I'd like out of a clean tone.

There's something sort of desirable about class A tweed amps. Their cleans just feel really 3D, rich and full. It also seems with that comes either a little or a lot of grit. I don't mind a little bit of grit. I like the tone on Jeff Buckley's "Hallelujah" the way he plays softly, but that one moment when throttles it, it's got a nice little spanky light OD sound.

Fenders to me are a little flat, or at least not very dynamic. They are a little jangly and thin.

I've had very limited experience with the Mesa Lonestar Specials, but it had some real tone. I guess the question there is if my memory serves me right. Aren't the Lone Star Specials AC30-like? But I don't know if I like AC30s (once again, limited experience). Videos of either usually involve a lot of overdrive, which sort of scares me. Are the Lonestar Special and AC30 more gritty?

I have played a Mesa Dual Rec Maverick which is EL84 Class A (I think the Lonestar Spec is a newer edition) that I liked ok. Something about the cleans were just a little off, but overall I liked it.

I've listened to a lot of videos. A few that struck me:

This Ampeg is a bit flat to me, but I do find the cleans nice and thick. I'd think with a non-humbucking guitar it'd sound better. Not perfect, overall nice:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vx3lc9Gdbvw

Also, this Epiphone Blue Custom was surprising:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxGWvlyi36Q

It's hard to find good videos, because most of them are just guys cranking it up and throttling it with full on OD or distortion.

With all amps, the question then is how will the GT500 sound with it?

Start with the basics if you want advice that you can actually use. What guitars do you have? How loud do you need the amp to be (bedroom, small clubs, large clubs? and are you in a band where you can mike up a small amp anyplace it isn't big enough on its own, or do you need an amp that can play unmiked with a loud drummer in a medium to big room?) Give us some tonal references from recordings we'd know about what you want to sound like, the more specific the better (like ... I want to get a rhythm sound like Tom Petty's guitar in American Girl, and to be able to get a solo tone like Angus Young on Back in Black). Do you need an effects loop or not? With some specific requirements from you we can give you some better advice.

Aside from that, before doing anything, go play some classic amps, loud, both dirty and clean, to get a feel for what those are like. You must play an AC30 with Celestion Blues, and AC15 with a Celestion Blue, a big Fender Tweed like a Bassman or a Tweed Twin reissue, a small Fender Tweed like a Deluxe, a Fender Super Reverb, a Fender Deluxe Reverb, a Fender Twin, a Marshall 18 watt, a Marshall JTM45, a 4-input 50 Watt Marshall, a master volume 50 Watt Marshall. There are other 'classic' amps, but those listed are a lot of the classic/reference sounds that other amps are aiming at. If you've played the "classic" amps and can tell us what you liked and didn't, again we can help you more.
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And honestly, the last thing you should worry about in amp shopping is whether your Fulltone GT500 would sound good with it. That's like buying a car only if it uses a particular tire. Get the core amp tone down, then decide later if you need any stompbox, and if so which one.

Mostly playing in a bedroom, and though I don't have a band I'd like the option of playing with a drummer in smaller a practice setting. I imagine something like say a Lonestar Special would cut bedroom to band levels, but then something like a Blues Jr wouldn't quite cut that. My 100W Randall Lynch Box halfstack actually manages bedroom levels ok. The Traynor YCV50blue I had only had one speaker and couldn't quiet down at all, so it's hard to tell by simple amp size.

I do want to play all of those amps, but it's a bit difficult in the Chatt area. That does sort of give me a direction what to try next time in a store.

I wouldn't discount the EL34s for cleans. I don't know where people got the idea that EL34=lots of distortion all the time, but they simply don't. Anyone who's ever played a Hiwatt can tell you that. Believe it.

I'm thinking Mesa. A used Mk I or Mk II or any of the older 1x12 combos really could give you some great cleans with molten distortion as well. The Studio .22, though 22 watts was one of the best amps I've ever used, both clean and dirty, and could easily keep up with my loud rock band of the time. A .50 Cal would more than suffice.

How about checking out the Carr Vincent (now called the Viceroy) ? Switchable 7 or 33 Watts, can provide great cleans as well as overdrive.

What with the current economy driving down used prices, you might be able to find a used one for around 1500 (I think that was what I paid for mine, and I considered it a great deal at the time).

Cowardm :

Go check out Pickers Exchange and Ricks Guitar Room in Chattanooga. Tell them that Ron sent you, and they will charge you double - :) Actually both shops are owned by great guys that used to be partners. Lots of amp knowledge and new and used equipment in both places. I'm in Chattanooa by the way.

Ron Vermillion

Cowardm :

Go check out Pickers Exchange and Ricks Guitar Room in Chattanooga. Tell them that Ron sent you, and they will charge you double - :) Actually both shops are owned by great guys that used to be partners. Lots of amp knowledge and new and used equipment in both places. I'm in Chattanooa by the way.

Ron Vermillion

Hey neighbor.
Ringgold, Ga. here.
Welcome.
+1 on Pickers Exchange.
Great Guys.
Better service.
A wealth of knowledge.

Familiar with both. On a first name basis with Rick. His shop is full of great Fenders amps! I've played most of his amps and while they are all fantastic, none of them are quite my thing. I knew Rick back at the Picker's Exchange, back when Bruce Bennett worked there. Great place as well, although a little off the beaten path for me (I live in Hixson). Picker's is a great place, learned a ton there about guitars and amps from Rick, Chris, and Bruce (Bruce has gone on to do interesting stuff: http://www.jbacklund.com/ ). I do need to stop in there (Pickers) and see what they have in stock. I've been to Rick's recently, but it's hard to get a word in he's so busy!

Ron and Hobbster, I'm a server at Macaroni Grill. If you're ever stop in ask for Michael. Always nice to meet someone close in the big world of the internet (and since I'm new here, it does make me feel a bit more at home).

I think the new Gibson's just might fit the bill for you. For some reason you don't see much in print about them, but they're a killer amp IMO and allot of amp for your money. I think that me and EFK1 are the only one's on the forum with these, but we both agree they're under the radar.

Here's the only review I've been able to find. It also has a few clips to listen to:

http://www.gibson.com/en-us/Lifestyle/Features/One%20Giant%20Leap%20for%20Ampkind_%20Gi/

Wow, that is pretty sweet indeed. I need to find one of those and see how some distortion pedals pair up. Very fair price too.

I'd be interested to try a Budda too. I haven't been crazy in the past, but some of the tones on the new Muse album tempt me to give them another shot.

I see used Dr. Z amps on Ebay and craigslist for under $1500. There is a single 12" Mazerati (not GT) in my area right now for $1000 even. I contacted the guy and it is the series 2 which is supposed to have more headroom and tighter bottom end from what I've seen, but I don't know what the differences are for sure.

Z's rock, but are hard to find. You either have to be lucky enough to live near a dealer that stocks them in depth, or take a chance based on advice & sound clips (well worth doing, IMO).

Vox? Nice cleans, but not scooped.

Not to resurrect my old thread, but I didn't want to crowd things up with a whole new thread for the same question. I've put some more thought into it and I remember how much I really love the Bluesbreaker tone at lower volumes.

The problem with the BBs is that they are LOUD. Also, they break up far too soon for me. I still like the really thick cleans on levels like 2 and 3. Any thoughts on something like that but more my direction?