Why so many amps?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Smash
  • Start date Start date
Gear is just tools. I kept what was useful.

Entering the void with intent I remembered I could use a few more wah pedals...
 
NowYou'rePlayingWithPower said:
It was all about those four player Simpsons/TMNT/Xmen games for me. Pacman is always worth a quarter to this day, though.
You ever play Pacman Jr?

View attachment 319353
Click to expand...
Robotron was my jam. I could play it on one coin until it crashed and then they would give me a free play to make up for it. This was a cycle that got my cheap, 14 year old ass through an entire afternoon.
I was also one of the asshole kids who would pick up pinballs and drop them so they would give free games…lol
 
  • Like
Reactions: rsm
I find it amusing when people feel the need to justify things. Especially when they say something like my playing isn't good enough for this particular amp or I'm not gigging right now so I can't justify having more than a practice amp. Who gives a shit? If you want 2 dozen Mark II C+'s and can afford it then go for it.

It's pretty simple for me having multiple amps. The main reason is I wanted them and can afford them. If I can't afford it at that moment I'll save up what I need then buy it. A secondary reason; which is more of why I buy a particular amp, is I don't just buy something to try it out and sell later. If I buy something it's for a particular reason, I'm 100% sure I want it, and will keep it for life.

If I do happen to decide I no longer want something; which is very rare, I'll straight out give it to a friend. Either that or bring it to the local music store and tell them "next kid who's been working hard to afford something decent; sell it to them for a dollar."

This is my basic process when deciding to buy a piece of gear or not. In the initial do I want this amp I usually evaluate the reasons I'm wanting it. This and waiting at least 6 months if I'm not sure helps separate if I really want it or it's just GAS.

1718884008535.png
 
MadAsAHatter said:
I find it amusing when people feel the need to justify things. Especially when they say something like my playing isn't good enough for this particular amp or I'm not gigging right now so I can't justify having more than a practice amp. Who gives a shit? If you want 2 dozen Mark II C+'s and can afford it then go for it.

It's pretty simple for me having multiple amps. The main reason is I wanted them and can afford them. If I can't afford it at that moment I'll save up what I need then buy it. A secondary reason; which is more of why I buy a particular amp, is I don't just buy something to try it out and sell later. If I buy something it's for a particular reason, I'm 100% sure I want it, and will keep it for life.

If I do happen to decide I no longer want something; which is very rare, I'll straight out give it to a friend. Either that or bring it to the local music store and tell them "next kid who's been working hard to afford something decent; sell it to them for a dollar."

This is my basic process when deciding to buy a piece of gear or not. In the initial do I want this amp I usually evaluate the reasons I'm wanting it. This and waiting at least 6 months if I'm not sure helps separate if I really want it or it's just GAS.

View attachment 319443
Click to expand...
I like how you mentioned you’ve given an amp to a friend before. I did the same thing a long time ago. A best friend had to sell his 5150 full stack to help his parents with medical bills. Dude could play and was trying to make it by with an old peavey bandit. I’d just stopped gigging and had two 5150 half stacks - a 5150 II and a block letter 5150. The 5150 II is in my signature and still with me downstairs. The block letter and one of my 5150 cabinets I gave to my best friend no strings attached. He still owns it to this day.
 
glpg80 said:
I like how you mentioned you’ve given an amp to a friend before. I did the same thing a long time ago. A best friend had to sell his 5150 full stack to help his parents with medical bills. Dude could play and was trying to make it by with an old peavey bandit. I’d just stopped gigging and had two 5150 half stacks - a 5150 II and a block letter 5150. The 5150 II is in my signature and still with me downstairs. The block letter and one of my 5150 cabinets I gave to my best friend no strings attached. He still owns it to this day.
Click to expand...
How have you been enjoying the bandit?

:LOL:
 
I blame Rig Talk.

I took break from gear forums for a few years; when I came back to rig talk, I had three tube amps, two small Fender tube combos (still have), and my Engl rack rig (still have all but sold the preamp), and was using digital modeling, mostly a Boss GT-1000.

A year later, I have an Engl Artist Edition 100 E561, Marshall Origin 50C, Origin 50H, JVM410, 1959HW, '76 Fender Super Twin, Mesa JP-2C, and Ceriatone clone of a Vox AC-100.

My savings account really hates this forum. :yes:

Now I'm focused on keyboards, and that's even more expensive.
 
Because in the 80s the choices were few.
In the 90s I had the refrigerator sized rack set up.
By the 2000s and especially now, there are all sorts of builders making cool high gain stuff JUST FOR METALHEADS! This kinda gear didn't exist during my heyday in the 80s, and I certainly didn't have the disposable income then that I have now. My first ENGL made me wanna try them all. Same with the Herbert and Diezel. Then VHT. I eventually kept my favorites from each brand. Once I got my first weirdo amp, I realized there are other people making cool high gain amps and wanted to try them too. Then it got to the point that it was more of a hassle to sell and ship an amp than it was worth.

There have been unmitigated failures along the way. The REVV Generator. Diamond Nitrox. ISP Theta head. I never bonded with the Mark IV. Never really like anything Fortin designed either. Countless others that came and went. But a couple of good ones got away just to try something else...and now I refuse to let that happen again. All my keepers make me happy when I get to plug them in. I obviously have favorites. But I still wanna try amps I haven't got a crack at. It's not like you see a Wizard Hellrazor or a Hermanson at Guitar center in the boutique room...you gotta buy one to really know what's up. And 10-20 minutes on one at an ampfest will wet your appetite for sure, but you wont really know until you live with it.

In some cases, a best bro will know you well enough to say "I know you and your style of playing. You should get this amp.". Juggernaut Mike kept telling me to get an Ultralead. And for damned sure, he was right. Mailman Dan was right about a couple of amps I got from him and still have, mainly because they remind me of him at this point. Some have great stories, some have great tones. Some are just so different than everything else that I just dig them. Some were custom built or modded and signed for/to me. One was borrowed from me for a major concert and signed by the artist to me. How could I possibly let that go? I flew from Texas to California and back to buy an amp from a builder. The story on that one alone still makes me smile every time I plug into it.

But most importantly, I don't have to sell them. So why should I? I have zero debt and an insanely great credit rating. Plenty of money in savings. OK...I admit that my storage situation is out of control, as a few of my friends here can attest. But they all sound great to me and make me happy just knowing I have them. My guitars and amps all have a story. Those stories may only matter to me, but they are almost as important as the stuff I inherited from my mom and dad. Once you get old, memories are the most important things you will ever have.

But in all honesty, that is just how I justify my gear to myself. The rest of you can lick my taint.
 
I think I have 7 amps right now. I don't think it's excessive, but my SO has asked the question. "Why do you have so many amps?"

The explanation is that they sound different. Different amps do different things. Some do a particular sound better than others. I absolutely love my Mesa Roadster, but it doesn't sound like my Uber, and I wouldn't want to be without that tone.

It's kinda the same thing with guitars, but I do have multiple guitars that are the same. In that case, it's a tuning thing. I have 3 identical SGs because I have them all tuned different.
 
Smashedguitaris⸸ said:
I was talking with @Techdeth and then started wondering about others such as @RedB4Black What makes you guys want so many amps?

I only want one at a time. But when you have a bunch, is it to collect, collect/hoard, or because you need so many different tones?

Im genuinely curious

Also, i just realized, i dont want to have nice shit that i dont use. I would rather have someone else use it than just have it sit around
Click to expand...
That's pretty much me.

When I was amp flipping years ago I had alot sitting around but I only ever used one amp. Once I get my sound that is what I stuck with until my ears change. Since that time If I have multiple amps it's generally a direct back up or another amp just for a different flavor from time to time and even with that I'm right back to my main amp fairly quickly.

Some guys like a flavor for this or this or like to collect. Not me, I want my tone and generally not interested in anything else. And most times I've been able to take whatever amp I'm using and make that fit for whatever style I'm playing.

Now guitars, I can get carried away with those even though like above, I generally stick with one or two but amps...nope. I have three right now, 2 JVM's and a 5150 Stealth. Even with the JVM, I use two channels - OD1 Orange and the clean. That's it, everything is done by my guitar volume.
 
Techdeth said:
I just like each one I have a lot. After I get my Larry I will try to let more go .I literally just love amps and the unique tones , I even love plugging into a shitty head for the experience . Other than guitar books I don’t own much material things . I’m a weirdo with no car . No life . Just amps lol
I’m too weird
Click to expand...

You're lying to yourself having multiple herbert and 2 VH at least... you'd be happy with just 2 of those I'm sure. It's an ego thing. Admit it.
 
ChuggNorris said:
You're lying to yourself having multiple herbert and 2 VH at least... you'd be happy with just 2 of those I'm sure. It's an ego thing. Admit it.
Click to expand...
I’m just amp obsessive . I do love them all . Like yesterday I got to play an old blue voodoo , I loved playing it . You would think I’d be like why try that with all my amps . But this summer is rough . Trying my best to not sell off too many . I sold my MLC and loved it
 
Techdeth said:
I’m just amp obsessive . I do love them all . Like yesterday I got to play an old blue voodoo , I loved playing it . You would think I’d be like why try that with all my amps . But this summer is rough . Trying my best to not sell off too many . I sold my MLC and loved it
Click to expand...

I was too and still have the tendency. I feel the "pull" of wanting more amps. But in the end it's ego if you have multiple models of a very similar thing and post the photos to people and mention it all the time, which happens alot with these folks.... it's absolutely an ego thing. You're seeing guys who can't play with 20k worth of tube amps now and that's due to youtube trends of racks with heads sitting on them. This whole trend blew the fuck up within the last 3 years.

And that whole situation there has alot to do with why alot of current amateurs have so many amps. Eventually they will come to their senses and realize they needed to just get an axe fxiii.

I believe people who can't let go of the amp wall, just aren't ready to give up what makes them feel like they have more riffing power.

They dial in the amps to sound similar because in the end you want a certain thing. Makes it pretty dumb. I can see having 4 amps. If you can't be happy with 4, or 2 for that matter... then you're lying to yourself, haven't tried it, or you are just feeding a false sense of pride/ego. It's one of those things.

I'm not saying it's wrong to have multiple amps. I'm stating why people can't let go of the other amps is because people like to possess things. It feeds whatever their ego is doing at the time.

FACT: most people plug into the same 1-2 amps 90% of the time regardless. This is what happens. The other amps collect dust and are there for "oh it does a special thing when I play it once every 2 years" when there is probably someone who would actually use the amps being neglected but can't because Joe Dipshit is hoarding so he can impress everyone with his trendy amp wall.
 
psychodave said:
Yeah. I still own a 67 Plexi, Uberschall rev 2, Randall RG, modded jet city 20 and a metro 50 watt Marshall clone and a Mesa Mark III.
Click to expand...
Did you sell your IIC+s to cash out on them? Curious because you still have a III. How do you like it in comparison? I have a red stripe that I love but enthusiasts, as you well know, say you can’t even compare the two amps which I feel like it’s ridiculous to say.

Also good to see you’re still in the Uber family. I thought for some reason I read that you sold it.
 
ChuggNorris said:
I was too and still have the tendency. I feel the "pull" of wanting more amps. But in the end it's ego if you have multiple models of a very similar thing and post the photos to people and mention it all the time, which happens alot with these folks.... it's absolutely an ego thing. You're seeing guys who can't play with 20k worth of tube amps now and that's due to youtube trends of racks with heads sitting on them. This whole trend blew the fuck up within the last 3 years.

And that whole situation there has alot to do with why alot of current amateurs have so many amps. Eventually they will come to their senses and realize they needed to just get an axe fxiii.

I believe people who can't let go of the amp wall, just aren't ready to give up what makes them feel like they have more riffing power.

They dial in the amps to sound similar because in the end you want a certain thing. Makes it pretty dumb. I can see having 4 amps. If you can't be happy with 4, or 2 for that matter... then you're lying to yourself, haven't tried it, or you are just feeding a false sense of pride/ego. It's one of those things.

I'm not saying it's wrong to have multiple amps. I'm stating why people can't let go of the other amps is because people like to possess things. It feeds whatever their ego is doing at the time.

FACT: most people plug into the same 1-2 amps 90% of the time regardless. This is what happens. The other amps collect dust and are there for "oh it does a special thing when I play it once every 2 years" when there is probably someone who would actually use the amps being neglected but can't because Joe Dipshit is hoarding so he can impress everyone with his trendy amp wall.
Click to expand...
I actually have a rotation and play all my Amos each month . I’m neurotic about my amps and practicing . I don’t even a car or any cool shit . It’s not ego for me to where I Lou’s to have lots . Another thing is my students other people can rent some of my amps for recording or even a special .
What you say is ego for some people . I get that . But I’m a special kind bro . Im about broke so we might see some things go
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
 
Back
Top