Marshall Style amp question...

[SlimGrady]

I have finally got the funds to purchase my life long dream amp, a Germino lead 55LV! Only problem is now Greg is not accepting any orders, not sure when he will and on top of that, when he does it is 5 month lead time. I understand the lead time as he is a one man shop and does incredible work. My question is though, I have researched the Suhr SL67 enough to know those two amps are more similar than different and I could get the same sound I am going. The Suhr is available right now and is also built and handwired in the US. Am I silly to wait around for the Germino? Does anyone have experience with both that can help me out? Or even better, does anyone want to sell me one? haha

But seriously is the Suhr on the same level and should I just pull the trigger on it?

 

[tubedude]

Might be your best option.
But "It takes action to make action"
As soon as you do, you might find a Germino available.

 

[SlimGrady]

Might be your best option.
But "It takes action to make action"
As soon as you do, you might find a Germino available.

That is my usual track record. I finally decide to get something else comparable that is available and then the original amp I wanted pops up.

 

[dan40]

Suhr is top notch in my book. They build incredible products and their customer service is some of the best in the business. You will not regret the Suhr if it has the sound you want.

 

[Short on cash]

When you are young 5 months is forever......
When you get older 5 months goes by incredibly fast.....

Wait and get what you have had your heart set on.....you will
enjoy that amp for years to come.

 

[ahiddentableau]

If I was spending that kind of money on an amp I would make certain that I am getting exactly what I want. When you're putting down three grand you have every reason to be picky.

 

[basher]

Ten years from now, when you’re playing your beautiful Germino amp, you won’t remember the five months you waited for it.

 

[SlimGrady]

If he was accepting orders, I would gladly order and wait the five months. Problem is, he is not accepting new orders. At least not for the time being. That's what started my whole internal debacle. I have seen and heard enough clips to know the Suhr would give the sound I am after, but it certainly does have a more "modern" quality to the plexi sound. So I'm not sure if I am experiencing brand bias towards the germino or what. They are practically the same circuit it seems.

As a side note, now as I have looked for the Suhr, they are also out of stock everywhere and I have heard a couple month time frame until the dealer receives another... So again, if anyone wants to sell I am open haha, but it appears I have to play the waiting game either way.

 

[11 Gauge]

Problem is, he is not accepting new orders. At least not for the time being.

Did you email or call him? If so, did he give any kind of guesstimate on when he might start taking orders?

If he did reply and said he had no idea when he might be taking orders again, I'd personally move on, either to the Suhr, or maybe even something else.

I guess I need to add that I feel that way because I mostly think that there's potentially no amp that I think is so good that I'd be willing to wait very long to get a hold of one. I mostly just play rock music, and any number of readily-available amps would work just fine for me.

...Or, put another way - I'd rather be playing music right now with anything decent I can get my hands on, instead of trying to imagine how much better things might sound if only I had X piece of gear that is not available to me.

 

[SlimGrady]

Did you email or call him? If so, did he give any kind of guesstimate on when he might start taking orders?

If he did reply and said he had no idea when he might be taking orders again, I'd personally move on, either to the Suhr, or maybe even something else.

I guess I need to add that I feel that way because I mostly think that there's potentially no amp that I think is so good that I'd be willing to wait very long to get a hold of one. I mostly just play rock music, and any number of readily-available amps would work just fine for me.

...Or, put another way - I'd rather be playing music right now with anything decent I can get my hands on, instead of trying to imagine how much better things might sound if only I had X piece of gear that is not available to me.

I did email him and he did not hint at any amount of time until he would resume orders. It's not that I don't have any amp though, I am playing an Orange currently and am happy with the tone. However, it is clearly not a plexi and I want that tone. Greg is the best in the game in my opinion. If people think the Suhr is right there with it though I am not opposed to picking up one of those.

 

[HomeOffisRockstar]

Have you looked at Metro Amps?

Metropoulos Amplification

The official Metropoulos website for the Metro-Plex, Super-Plex, DVL-1 and other designs by George Metropoulos

www.metropoulos.net

I have read and heard great things about them.

 

[naveed211]

I’ve been really impressed with the Suhr amps I’ve tried. I’d probably go that route.

Buy used if possible and keep Germino in mind. Maybe a used one will pop up, and in the meantime you’re enjoying making music with a great amp in its own right with the Suhr. And by then, maybe you and the Suhr will have a connection.

Lots of guys can make a great Plexi, though yes, everything I’ve heard about Germino is top notch.

It’s been over a month, did you make a purchase?

 

[uriah1]

Fuchs and Goodsell have nice products too.

 

[Paul G.]

While the Germino is a fine amplifier, there are many high quality Plexi-style amps out there. While there will be fine differences, any of them will do the same thing.

One point, if you are not playing big stages, you might find a realistic copy of a Plexi to be a bit hard to handle and not very versatile. I don't like master volumes on these very much, but past 1-1/2 on the volumes will get most of us fired from a normal gig, and they really start to sing at about 4 or 5.

 

[MuddyWolf]

Get a deluxe reverb or reissue and put a celestion in it. It will sound closer to a lower volume plexi than you would think.

 

[Swirling Snow]

If anyone has their finger on the pulse of the Plexi builders, it will be the Les Paul Forum. I'd ask there.

 

[uriah1]

Or try the 18watters.
If not Marshall others.

 

[Tim S]

Maybe I’m low-brow, but when the idea of owning a mod’ed Plexi pops into my head, I start thinking about one of these to scratch that itch

Hot Rodded Plexi Son Of Yeti | Ceriatone

At the request of many players, we decided to try if we could combine the tones of our Hot Rodded Plexi series with a lower output section and smaller footprint. It took a great deal of experimentation, but the Son of Yeti rocks (and much more). We started by adjusting the preamp of the Yeti …...

www.ceriatone.com

 

[W.L.Weller]

0 affiliation, just looked out of curiosity:

Germino 55LV Head black https://reverb.com/item/55906948-germino-55lv-head-black

 

[SlimGrady]

I’ve been really impressed with the Suhr amps I’ve tried. I’d probably go that route.

Buy used if possible and keep Germino in mind. Maybe a used one will pop up, and in the meantime you’re enjoying making music with a great amp in its own right with the Suhr. And by then, maybe you and the Suhr will have a connection.

Lots of guys can make a great Plexi, though yes, everything I’ve heard about Germino is top notch.

It’s been over a month, did you make a purchase?

Alright, to touch base back on my own thread. Yes I did make a purchase, two actually haha.
I found an Echopark Vibramatic 23 head that was owned by Bones Owens. It is a take on a brownface fender deluxe and does the marshall thing pretty well.

And then a Germino Masonette 25 popped up, a late version. Actually Greg confirmed one of the last he made. It sounds fantastic! the 25 watts is certainly more manageable for what I do.