Simple, touch responsive Amps

(sorry - this post is so long!) I'm in the market for a a simple, touch responsive, harmonically rich sounding amplifier. I plan to play classic, roots and blues oriented rock for the most part, but will also dabble in country and eventually, hopefully, solo fingerstyle jazz standards (all over the board aren't I!)
The amplifier I'm most familiar and impressed with is the Dr. Z. Carmen Ghia. However, I've seen recommendations for so many more here such as the Winfield Thomas Winfield, the Bluesboy, and others, and wish to hear a few more opinions. I'm not interested in Fender, Traynor, Peavey etc. as I currently own or have owned many of these and now want something "different", and the botique aura now appeals to me.

Any advice on other amps to search for and try? I'm planning on shopping this weekend at a shop that carries Dr. Z, Savage, Matchless and Carr amps, and hope to find some setups similar to the Carmen Ghia to play. I'm leaning towards the Carmen Ghia, however, I want to do a thorough search, try as many amps as possible and get a "keeper"

One of my challenges with going the botique route is my decision to be strict about *not* buying an amp I haven't actually gotten to play (I've done this before with mixed results). So, that makes it hard to consider, for example, a Winnie Thomas amp. However, I can travel from the Kansas City area a few hundred miles (St Louis, Tulsa, OK City, Omaha) to try out other amplifiers that you might recommend.
Thanks for any advice / suggestions!

If you find one amp that covers all that territory, and does it all well, be sure to let me know.

Your first sentence is true of the GC. It is very warm and incredibly touch responsive. It's a real joy to play at home. However, the lack of headroom is an issue for me. It grinds very nicely but very soon. That will probably be an issue for the jazz stuff. You will be in crunch territory if you have a moderate to loud drummer. I haven't tried a Mazzeratti but often wished I would have bought that intead.

The Winfield is a knockout. You can hear it on record and live at my bands website www.super400.com I know I never shut up about this amp, but it is the most satisfying gear purchase I have ever made. My #1 amp 3 years and counting. I think Winnie gives you a couple says to check it out and send it back if you don't like it too.

you've dismissed many good amps by not considering Fender, Traynor, et al.

even more so with the right tubes, speakers, and settings.

and even more so when the older PTP examples are considered.

play a few blindfolded and you may be surprised.

I've not played a lot of boutique amps but have played many good "lower end" amps that have lots of the tube touch and feel.

anyhow, I hope you find what you're looking for, but don't pay too much :shock:

Mike

you've dismissed many good amps by not considering Fender, Traynor, et al.....anyhow, I hope you find what you're looking for, but don't pay too much :shock:
Mike

Good point Mike, it's just that I've got the Fender territory covered well enough for now with a DR and a VR, both serviced and with years of experimentation with tubes and speakers. I had a BFTR too that I recently sold to help fund my next purchase - it was just too loud and heavy.
I've played several dif Peaveys recently at rehearsals, C30, a C15 (is it 15 watts?) and a Delta something or other with a 15" speaker. All of these sounded real nice, but just didn't do it for me. I'm looking for that amp that blows my socks off - I played a Clark that did that at a guitar show, but it was more in the clean territory than I'm wanting now. Thanks for the advice all the same - just wondering if I'm missing anything. And you're right, I don't want to pay a lot of money, so the Carmen Ghia seemed like a pretty good deal if I can find one used.

How about a nice tweed Fender, or a boutique copy (Clark, Victoria, etc.)? Very different than the Fender territory covered by a VR and DR.

If you need reverb and trem in addition to the qualities you mention, I hear good things about the Carr Rambler.

I have got this incredibly funky old Alamo Capri.
it's tiny, has tubed I've never heard of, has one knob (simple?) when you crank it with the guitar dimed, it teeters on the brink of chaos.

it's not exactly giggable, but it's got the tone, and is about as touch sensitive as it gets.
and it won't scare the neighbors.
mp

If by touch sensitive you mean an amp that plays clean when you pick the strings lightly and then plays dirtier when you pick the strings strongly, you'll want to stick with simpler signal chains with fewer components, as opposed to channel switching amps with a lot of parts. The Marshall 18 watt (both the Marshall brand one that's available now) and the boutique versions and variations like GDS (among the best "faithful" 18-watt clones, London 65 (that's a really interesting amp, has an EF86 channel as well as the 18-watt tremolo channel), the DST Marwatt (a stock 18-watt normal channel and a Hiwatt-voiced channel, brighter and gainier) are all pretty spectacular.

I just traded my Princeton Reverb and some other gear and some cash for a Savage Macht 6:

http://www.savageamps.com/pages/home.html

While A/Bing with my PR, I was struck by how sensitive or accurate it was in its response to how I played. It is definitely an amp that will make me a better player. I was looking for a low powered amp that would break up decently and that would also handle lower volume clean stuff. This amp was perfect for that. I think the larger cabinet, the 12" speaker, and the superb design make it sound so clear.

If there is a dealer near you, give these amps a shot. And have fun looking for that perfect amp!

Dean

I'm not much of a player, but in my limited, noodling experience, the simpler the amp, the more touch-sensitive it is.

For instance, my '59 Princeton is more touch-sensitive that my other Fender amps. Definitely switches sound and overdrive based on how much I turn up the volume on the guitar and how hard I hit the strings. I think when you have one of these amps you change your mindset, and get the different tones from the guitar and playing style more than from amp settings. You (or at least I) set this kind of amp to one setting, no pedals, and go from there, as opposed to other amps, switching settings and pedals, and so on.

I think the BadCat amps are supposed to be very dynamic & touch sensitive- and they have a new one coming out- the ToneCat- that sounds like it's going to be incredible.

I have to cast a vote to check out the 18watt Marshalls and clones. Here's a great site with lots of clips, and these clips are very representive of what the amp actually sounds like live.

www.18watt.com

Sound clips here (http://www.18watt.com/modules.php?name=zina)

I also like the Marshall JTM45, it does a very good Fender clean when rolled back a little.

Good luck, I went on this journey last year, it's fun.

I used to have a THD Univalve. It was a wonderful amp. You can change tubes to your hearts content for a huge variety of tones. It's built solid as a rock too. New, I think there about $850. You can also go the Ebay route as well.

Wayne Dean and Bill hit it on the head about touch response...where the speaker(s) jump at the touch, it's 3D sounding and digging in or turning up gets more smooth grit and overdrive while backing off can get sparkly crystal clean...
Got out this weekend and played a few Dr Z's, a real (restored) '59 bassman, some tweed clones, a Carr Hammerhead and the new Tweed Twin Ltd and Bassman Ltd.
The best sounding was the real Bassman, though I don't want something that big, powerful (and expensive $2,100). The Mazarati head thru Z's best cab and a Maz Jr. were close. The new RI Fenders sounded real good too. Didn't care for the tweed clones as much and I was real surprised by how little I liked the Carr.

One thing missing that I wished for was to be able to really crank several of these amps. It's hard to do a thorough evaluation at music store acceptable levels.

I'm going to try and take several of your suggestions and look around a bit more, anyone know where I can find a 18 watt Marshall clone to try in the midwest?
I'm also going to continue and look for that Carmen Ghia that I originally mentioned and liked based upon the soundclips on the Dr. Z site.

This IS fun - wish I had more time and $ to do it more often!!

Thanks for all the advice.

anyone know where I can find a 18 watt Marshall clone to try in the midwest?


Go over to http://www.18watt.com and ask that question there. You'll get lots of help finding one near where you are.

In the St. Louis area, Eddie's Guitars has an unusually large selection of high-end amplifiers, and St. Charles Guitar Exchange frequently has limited run Fender and Marshall amps, as well as a large inventory of the more common varieties. Both would be easy to find.

Eddie's has a website that is pretty current so you can see if there's anything interesting. St. Charles would require a telephone call.

I just traded my Princeton Reverb and some other gear and some cash for a Savage Macht 6:

http://www.savageamps.com/pages/home.html

While A/Bing with my PR, I was struck by how sensitive or accurate it was in its response to how I played. It is definitely an amp that will make me a better player. I was looking for a low powered amp that would break up decently and that would also handle lower volume clean stuff. This amp was perfect for that. I think the larger cabinet, the 12" speaker, and the superb design make it sound so clear.

If there is a dealer near you, give these amps a shot. And have fun looking for that perfect amp!

Dean

Couldn't agree more! I love my Macht 6, using a Celestion G12H30. It purrs, spanks and roars, all with no help from any pedals. Turn up the amp, turn down the guitar and start taking it through its paces 8)

With low wattage Webers of your choice !

JJ :wink:

How about a 5e3 Tweed Deluxe clone? Mission and Weber sell kits or will build them for you.

Simple, light, toneful and you can tailor them to your sound by jumpering channels, simple replacements of one preamp tube and rectifier choice.

As mentioned above, much different than your DR or VR.

TT100