How Many Amps Do You Have?

[Maguchi]

Monoprice 5w, if you want to keep things cheap and good.

I bought a Monoprice LP copy guitar a while back for about 149.00 …the bass player steered me to it But I thought the guitar felt a little stiff and the tuners were almost to tight to tune. And the weight was too light to pass off as an LP even in the dark.

I guess ya get what ya pay for.

Sorry your $149 Les Paul copy didn't work out. IMHO amps are probly easier to clone successfully than guitars. I bought one a those Monoprice 5 watt tube combos 2 years ago and have been playing it constantly since. Sounds like and as good as a small 1950s Tweed amp. Of course it's PCB construction, but anything not boutique is nowadays. Has 2 preamp tubes and one power amp tube, a volume and a tone knob, an 8" Celestion speaker and an 8-16 ohm speaker out jack in case you want to hook up another speaker. Mine was $114, they've gone up to $159 now, but still a good price. There still is the rare good deal out there and occasionally you get more than what you pay for.

 

[jays0n]

Hmmm 4 but … there is that other ..

And .. gave my kid a Roland Micro Cube that he does not use so … thinkin .. maybe it will be … assimilated!!!

 

[Robb]

29, 30 by tomorrow .

 

[ampking300]

Do you actually use all of that equipment? Or are you a merchant ? I have never seen that many amps together. Even in a music shop.

Like I stated, this is only about 10% of what I ever had at one single time during the last 55 years, most I had at any one time was about 800 pieces---I have at least played them all for the most part during these years, some more than others . I have about 30 really large rigs in my garage, used to use all of these in decades past. Once I organize my garage I will post some photos. Have had great fun playing/collecting and have become pretty knowledgeable regarding vintage amps/cabinets/speakers from the mid '30's to the mid '70's, the very few people that really know me would say that this is an understatement, to me it's an old kid in a toy store. As I have gotten older I realize that i really can't keep up any more, at least not like I used to, so I started selling off my huge/rare collection , a little at a time, over the last 20 years. There are only a very small handful of vintage amps that I have not owned and would consider buying at this point.

 

[RetiredUnit1]

Too many and NOT enough. btw, I build amps....so..... I'm currently building a 5F6A and a 1974x.....

 

[redchapterjubilee]

The appropriate answer is “1 or 2 more than I have now”

I have a 70 Bandmaster, an early 80s Bassman 20 cut down to a head, a 59 Bassman LTD chassis in a headshell, a carls custom 5E3, an Origin 20 head, a Mesa Mark I reissue head, and an MV50AC, along with a bunch of G-Tone cabs (4x10, 2x10, two 1x12’s, and a 2x12). Still want a 6g3 of some sort and I’m likely to wind up with something else thats too good not to buy.

 

[JeffBlue]

1. Fender Super Champ X2

2. Peavey KB-100 modified w/3 way crossover/mid & tweeter

3. '69 Fender Bandmaster Reverb/Fargen ODS Mod

4. Rack unit Art SGX-2000 Express/Mesa Boogie M190/ Peavey Futura rack-mount speaker cab

5. Mojotone Studio One amp kit

6. '68 Fender Vibro Champ modified w/Mercury Magnetics OT and 10 inch 4 ohm Peavey Scorpion speaker

7. Trace Elliott Bonneville 4X10 (bottom two speakers upgraded Weber California Alnico speakers)

8. Blackstar Fly 3 modified with a more efficient 3 inch Neodymium speaker, speaker out jack and Schaller strap lock buttons

9. Stromburg-Carlson pa converted to guitar amp in a Laney cab loaded with a 12 inch Peavey Scorpion

10. Vox MV50 Clean

 

[Burning Fingers]

2 x 5e3
1 X Proluxe
1 x Princeton non reverb
1 x Blues Junior 3
1 X Seymour Duncan 100 watt convertible
1 X Seymour Duncan 84-40
1 X Goldentone 9-60
1 X Playmaster 116
1 X Eminar 100 watt
1 X Peavey Classic 30

Guess I need more as optimal number is always 1 more than you currently have.

 

[Jakedog]

I have 7 currently. 4 of them work. They’re the cheapest and least popular. But they don’t break. So there’s that.

 

[CCK1]

About 15, +/- 4 or 5.

 

[marc2211]

Joyo American
Wampler Plexidrive

Orange crush 12 combo
Supro blues king 10

Vox mv50 clean
Orange micro terror

Marshall Studio Silver Jubilee

2x12 Silver Jubilee Cab
1x12 vintage 30 cab

 

[Cyberi4n]

Depends. I have an Egnater Tweaker 15w stack, two cabs and a head. I have a marshall Origin50H and a single 2x12 vintage 30 cab. I also have a small amp-in-a-tin altoids thing which is great fun.

I've ALSO got a Line6 PODHD Pro rack unit which currently has around 35 amps modelled internally, and just for good measure that rig ALSO includes a 1U power amp to drive a cabinet.

 

[Lonn]

How does that work at gigs ?

I don’t play out. Actually after 20 years I can barely play anything, just a hobby player.

 

[bgmacaw]

I bought a Monoprice LP copy guitar a while back for about 149.00 …the bass player steered me to it But I thought the guitar felt a little stiff and the tuners were almost to tight to tune. And the weight was too light to pass off as an LP even in the dark.

I guess ya get what ya pay for.

I haven't owned one of their guitars but I have setup a couple of their Strat copies for other people. They were decent, about the same as a Squier Affinity or similar.

I am a bit more cautious about cheap LP style copies in general though. They don't seem to do as good a job on them from what I've seen. I'd like to handle one of the Vietnamese made ones and see how they are.

On the Monoprice 5w, it's worked out really well for me, especially since my '64 Champ is in need of a major overhaul. I actually like the sound of the Monoprice better although that may change after the Champ is rebuilt ($$$).

 

[bgmacaw]

How does that work at gigs ? Doesn’t that drive your sound guy crazy. ? I know it did our sound guy the one or 2 times we tried it.

I've used modeling units direct into a PA at some corporate event type gigs. Keep in mind that these are easy going performances that are expected to have lower volume levels. This kind of direct-in setup is also popular with "Praise & Worship" players where volume is often tightly controlled.

 

[blowtorch]

I think twenty, that's not counting two or three mini amps but it is counting three bass amps

 

[codamedia]

Five... 1 tube, 2 SS and 2 modelers

The modelers direct to FOH/Monitors have become my primary rig for many years.... I kept two stage worthy amps for the rare times I need them.

How does that work at gigs ? Doesn’t that drive your sound guy crazy. ? I know it did our sound guy the one or 2 times we tried it.

Quite the opposite. Good tone, a strong signal and no stage volume to interfere with their mix.
I could see a tech not liking it if the FOH/Monitors were not up to the task. Those are the gigs I will take an amp to.

 

[11 Gauge]

Wow. That is some collection. Yours makes mine look like a kiddie size portion. I have a couple Peavey amps a fender cabinet a Marshall half stack a couple of Vox s and a Couple of Fenders amps and a Roland keyboard amp.

Thanks. I acquired everything over years and years, and never really picked up anything 'just because', with maybe an exception or two.

Probably the biggest excesses are the three little SE tube amps. I've had the '67 Champ for a long time, but the stock cab and little speaker really stifle the sound. So I got the Little Giant head, solely to use with various cabs. It suffered from the same small sound syndrome as the Champ in its stock form, because it had an undersized output transformer, just like the Champ. So I upgraded the OT, and also made other changes along the way. Then VHT came out with the Special Six, which has a big OT right from the factory, and was cleverly designed to provide both tweed'ish and BF'ish Champ sounds.

The AD15VT was my low volume rig for many years, until I got the Katana. I still prefer the AD15VT for some stuff though.

Both the SR and the AB165 Bassman were acquired from family, but both took a bit of TLC to get in proper working order. The SR especially took a bit of a long time to get the right speakers in it (it had neither speakers nor tubes when I received it).

The Trainwreck'ish scratchbuild and 2204 'almost scratchbuild' took years and years of building and rebuilding, before either one produced sounds to my liking. As much as I love both of them, they are loud beasts (at least they need to be to sound best), so they actually don't get used as much as other amps do.

The Atomic Amplifire 3 is my only 'pure modeling device', and at least up until now, I've only used it with headphones. That was the actual reason for getting it - something for silent playing that reasonably approximates cool popular amps of yesteryear. It's pretty impressive, at least to me.

The '71 VR and Origin 20H are my favorites. I've had the VR for almost twenty years now, and it's served me well. Really the only struggle with it has been swapping speakers until I got the right ones in there. It's had a pair of Eminence GA10-SC64s in it for a few years now, and sounds fantastic. The Origin embodies everything I've always wanted in a Marshall, but also includes goodies that the (bigger) old ones didn't have, like a tilt control, and cathode bias, which makes power tube replacement a simple plug-and-play affair.

...When the cabs are added to the list, it really makes the amp collection look big, but my cabs actually serve double, triple, or even quadruple duty for different heads. IMO, the right speakers are one of the biggest keys to really getting the best sounds from any amp (not just the tube stuff, either). So unlike all the speaker swapping in the VR or SR, they've allowed me to cut to the chase, and quickly get killer sounds from all of the various heads. The AB165 Bassman sounds unreal thru the 2X12 open back with Eminence Texas Heats. I previously had a pair of WGS ET65s in the same cab, and they sounded incredibly good, too.

 

[OlRedNeckHippy]

I have 3.

My 1st: 1997 Fender Deluxe 112+ (bought it new)
My 2nd: 1966 Fender Princeton Reverb (bought in 2011 for $400, then sunk 500 into it in the 1st 2 years) Gigged it until:
My 3rd: 2020 Fender Deluxe Tone Master. (bought new in 2020). Gigging it now.

Until 2011 I was the singer banging on an acoustic into the PA. Didn't have much need for an amp. Thats when a guy gave me a Heritage H140 said "try this. You might like it". 6 months later I was realized I was becoming a real guitar player as well as a singer.

 

[Fiesta Red]

How in the world did you pull that off? Mine is 19 years old, I’ve had it since 2007 and it never had the metal cover over the circuit board and the batteries have bounced around inside dozens of times. It’s survived multiple road trips across the country, been soaked in saltwater several times, and a spent a week getting dusty in the Mojave Desert during Wasteland Weekend. I recently replaced the speaker with an Jensen Mod 5 because I accidentally stabbed the stock speaker. I patched the puncture with half a dozen coats of liquid skin and it still worked fine, it just gave me an excuse to swap it View attachment 1001903

I bought it used abused over a dozen years ago. It had been “repaired” by a previous owner, and it regularly overheated—something I would not have thought possible. Towards the end, the crackle was horrible if you even breathed near it.

All is not lost, however…my daughter removed the speaker and the the guts and turned it into a purse, complete with an old guitar strap to carry it over her shoulder.