Favorite amp to play on the rocks

Mesa Boogie Mark Five:35. All of my favorite Mesa Mark series tones in one amp. Love it.

 

1970 Deluxe Reverb running 6L6s, 2x10 JBLs. Since I play clean, it's exactly my "on the rocks" amp. The only effects I use at all are the onboard reverb, and very occasionally, the amp's internal tremelo. The 6L6s give the amp a tight, punchy bass, and the JBLs get the Fender sparkle and chime with their own intrinsic punch- I don't need no stinkin' pedals!

 

Steve said it before I could......using your "drinking" parlance, I think you mean "neat" or "straight". "On the rocks" would be an effect, not unlike water, mixer, bitters, etc.
That said, I don't own an amp that I can't play "neat".....I use effects sparingly, and, when gigging, I'm "effectless" at least 50% of the time.

 

I’ve got 3:

- tweed deluxe clone
- PRRI
- vox ac15c1

Although I have to use an attenuator to get the tone I like with my 5e3, so I don’t know if that counts.

 

All my amps I play straight! But some do have reverb and or tremolo in them.
Thanks and happy holidays to all.

 

DRRI is the gold standard of tone for me and I've gigged with no pedals in an old school country band, just Telecaster straight into Deluxe. Glorious.

 

Express 550

 

actually i might update my comment... i put a VVR on my Ampmaker champ along with a couple of cathode bypass boosts and a variable NFB. Through a 12” Celestion blue, it lacks for nothing. I never use pedals with it.

 

I really like my Peavey TKO 115S. It’s an early 90s one with a Scorpion 15 speaker and the teal-colored stripe graphics.

I picked it up when I got interested in bass, but found it too power-limited (75 watts) with a loud drummer and guitarist. However I discovered that when I turn it up it’s a pretty lively guitar and lap steel amp too.

Some combination of a pretty flexible active EQ section, time spent figuring out how to dial it in, and the way the power section and DDT limiter circuit and speaker interact at high volumes makes it feel really good to me also, in how it responds to transients. It doesn’t feel saggy, but there’s enough non-linearity going on that it feels like a cranked amp without getting ugly on chords and low notes.

Normally I like reverb on lap steel tones but the TKO can get a pleasing fatness that makes up for the lack of reverb, to my ear.

It is tall and heavy and no fun to move, though.

 

That applies to everything I've kept in my arsenal. Soldano Decatone, Kustom Double Cross and 72 Coupe.

 

1962 6g2...it's all I really need....
https://www.tdpri.com/threads/nad-1962-6g2-princeton.1004227/


RJ

 

Sovtek MIG 50 all by itself.

 

'65 Princeton Reverb RI

 

THD Bivalve is one. Tone King Gremlin is another.

 

For me, an old beat up, but well functioning Princeton.

But until that comes along, this will havta do

 

I’ve thought about VVR myself; How do you find it?
I already have mine wired for a 1\4w option but that looses top end. VVR looks interesting as it doesn’t affect the preamp but like they say there’s no such thing as a free lunch...

 

It's sacrilege to plug any pedals into a Vox amp, in my opinion. There is something so rock 'n' roll about plugging a tele straight into an AC30, and the added pedal nonsense subtracts from it. I love Fender blackface amps just as much as the AC30, but I find Fenders more receptive to pedals. A blank canvas, in that sense.

I also believe putting pedals in front of the typical "jazz amps" never sounds quite like you hope. Jazzers love old SS amps, like the Polytone Brute or Cube 60. They are naturally dark and clean, but usually aren't particularly receptive to dirt pedals.

 

I wouldn’t say pedals “take away” from the experience. I’ve been at this over thirty years. I’ve owned hundreds of amps. Vintage, new, boutique, tube, SS, digital, all of it. I like them all better with a couple of choice pedals. It’s just more fun and versatile.

That said, I got a back Friday deal on a Supro Blues King 12. It’s the first amp I’ve ever owned that I can have fun with for hours with zero pedals. It’s still even more fun with a couple of pedals, but with the built in boost and gain capability I often play it without any and have a great time.

 

Point to point wiring on this,
no circuit board: