What's that one amp you bought repeatedly trying to love it, but couldn't?

[ChuggNorris]

After a while I realized after having 3 5150, 5150ii, 6505, 6505+, 6534+, that maybe I just didn't actually like them that much... but then again... I think I was going through a crisis of tone also.

It's been 5 years since I had the last one. And I'm about ready to try another one

 

[scottosan]

Any stock marshall

 

[Smash]

Those need volume. Which is why they don't work for me. Masters are touchy! Have to goose it to get rid of that fizz.

You remember that thread about how you dont understand the "feel" of an amp? 100% this is why. If you dont play amps loud, you have no idea how it "feels" which is tied to the sag of saturated power tubes and the transformer.

This is also a reason that some people say strange things about Punch. How the hell do you compare punch of amps if you arent shaking walls?

 

[MusicIsLife]

I've had the JVM410H a couple of times. Sounded good, but not great. There are a couple of basic mods though that I think could get me there, if I ever wanted to give it another try. I was happier with the Satriani edition.

Hughes & Kettner Triamp 3. I've had that one twice, and I really wanted to like it, but even after living with the 2nd one for awhile, I couldn't get there. Just not open and organic enough, and I probably should have known that going in.

 

[LPMojoGL]

A boosted SLO can be as tight as a boosted JCM or Friedman, on the crunch channel, with the right boost and cab.
Gotta crank the presence on the amp.
CB65 is not great for this, imo. V30 works. A closed back 2x12 is tight vs looser 4x12.
It'll never be razor sharp, like a Wizard, ss amp or distortion pedal.

For what amps I've bought repeatedly trying to like: Shiva, Sig X, AC30, original 5150/6505...

 

[napalmdeath]

You remember that thread about how you dont understand the "feel" of an amp? 100% this is why. If you dont play amps loud, you have no idea how it "feels" which is tied to the sag of saturated power tubes and the transformer.

This is also a reason that some people say strange things about Punch. How the hell do you compare punch of amps if you arent shaking walls?

I think you're taking that thread and its contents out of context. What I said was I didn't understand people, and their silly sayings about amps.. and one was "Feels good under the fingers".

My point about that particular amp was that it relies so heavily on the preamp gain, (as do most), that it's can of bees fizzy until the power amp catches up. And the nature of those amps is a very, VERY touchy master volume. They go from zero to insane.

Lots of fake news, trolling and misquoting around here of late.

 

[Smash]

I think you're taking that thread and its contents out of context. What I said was I didn't understand people, and their silly sayings about amps.. and one was "Feels good under the fingers".

My point about that particular amp was that it relies so heavily on the preamp gain, (as do most), that it's can of bees fizzy until the power amp catches up. And the nature of those amps is a very, VERY touchy master volume. They go from zero to insane.

Lots of fake news, trolling and misquoting around here of late.

I am not trying to troll you right now. My only point is that when people are talking about the punch of an amp in context of comparing to other amps, and you arent playing at volume but are saying the amp has balls, i just think it gives off misinformation by omission.

I think that some guys are looking for tube amps that sound good quiet, and that is fine. But in no way should those people be comparing amps in knowledgeable way about how it Punches compared to other amps without qualifying they like to play at conversational levels.


These omissions are where the real misinformation comes from when others are reading about the amps.

If i were trolling you, i might speak of your new amp days that are ground breaking best amp ever shortly followed by a members classified ad.

I honestly dont want to troll you because i am frankly surprised you havent blocked me for picking on you so much. I know you hate me. Respect. I dont do it to be mean. I actually love that you are on here.

 

[napalmdeath]

I am not trying to troll you right now. My only point is that when people are talking about the punch of an amp in context of comparing to other amps, and you arent playing at volume but are saying the amp has balls, i just think it gives off misinformation by omission.

I think that some guys are looking for tube amps that sound good quiet, and that is fine. But in no way should those people be comparing amps in knowledgeable way about how it Punches compared to other amps without qualifying they like to play at conversational levels.


These omissions are where the real misinformation comes from when others are reading about the amps.

If i were trolling you, i might speak of your new amp days that are ground breaking best amp ever shortly followed by a members classified ad.

I honestly dont want to troll you because i am frankly surprised you havent blocked me for picking on you so much. I know you hate me. Respect. I dont do it to be mean. I actually love that you are on here.

I could care less anymore. Really. Rig-Talk has turned into HC. Sure, there's great moderators here, alot of good people, and free speech is hard to come by these days. But I see more trolling, bullying, and total lack of respect for one another that I don't get involved here as much as I used to. Sure, I can be an asshole too, but I'm getting too old to really give a shit. And I don't "hate" anybody here.

 

[TheGreatGreen]

I felt this way about Rectos until I had my big epiphany about amps, which is that my demand that an amp be basically a mystical black box that gets me 100% of my desired tone is… entitely misguided. An amp is a platform. A starting point. The question “why should I have to add a $100 drive pedal to a $2000 amp for it to sound like I want?” makes about as much sense as saying “why should I have to buy a $10 pair of sunglasses to drive a $100,000 sports convertible in the sun? The car should provide 100% of the driving experience I want."

Ever since I shifted my expectations to think of amps as starting platforms rather than demanding them to be start-to-finish total tonal packages custom made for specifically me out of the box, the majority of all my frustrations with amps, and to be honest pretty much guitar tone in general, mostly vanished.

I can get all kinds of sounds I like out of Rectos now.

 

[Bardagh]

Bought more than my fair share of 2 and 3 channel rectifiers and could not figure out how to get them to work for me. Wanted to in the worst way as a lot of my favorite guitarist/bands were using them. I wasn't into boosting many years ago, I think that would have helped a lot for the low end how loose/flubby they tend to sound but still find they just have an upper presence buzz that sounds a little anemic when listening back.

I didn’t buy a bunch of them but I have used them and tried them out and had the same experience- but also mostly way back in the day before I was aware of boosting to tighten things up. Even after that I have occasionally come across one and gotten the urge because “this time it’ll click” and still end up not being able to figure out how to get a sound out of it that isn’t bloated, harsh and fizzy.

I still want one though.

 

[scottosan]

You remember that thread about how you dont understand the "feel" of an amp? 100% this is why. If you dont play amps loud, you have no idea how it "feels" which is tied to the sag of saturated power tubes and the transformer.

This is also a reason that some people say strange things about Punch. How the hell do you compare punch of amps if you arent shaking walls?

It depends. Not everyone buys an amp to crank. If they are home players that only get to moderate levels, then the feel is only applicable to how they use it. People buy sports cars and don’t race, but how it performs with daily use is equally important.

 

[Smash]

It depends. Not everyone buys an amp to crank. If they are home players that only get to moderate levels, then the feel is only applicable to how they use it. People buy sports cars and don’t race, but how it performs with daily use is equally important.

I am all for it. But if they dont open it up and push it around a corner, they arent qualified to speak of handling

If someone tells you an amp has no sag, but doesnt qualify that they have it at whisper volume, it misrepresents the amp. I dont go wide open on amps most of the time, but i have the volume as high as it can go to get power saturation before it goes to rock sag. Usually around noon.

I just feel opinions are varied enough without throwing a wrench in the spokes with random variables that are not qualified.

I am not really attacking bedroom guys. I am a bedroom guy. I just like my bedroom loud. The character of the amps i use is when the power amp becomes involved

 

[pipboy90]

I am all for it. But if they dont open it up and push it around a corner, they arent qualified to speak of handling

If someone tells you an amp has no sag, but doesnt qualify that they have it at whisper volume, it misrepresents the amp. I dont go wide open on amps most of the time, but i have the volume as high as it can go to get power saturation before it goes to rock sag. Usually around noon.

I just feel opinions are varied enough without throwing a wrench in the spokes with random variables that are not qualified.

I am not really attacking bedroom guys. I am a bedroom guy. I just like my bedroom loud. The character of the amps i use is when the power amp becomes involved

I agree that amps need to get to the volume where the speakers are activated, or starting to move. But a lot of high gain amps don’t need the power section pushed at all to get the goods. They’re designed to be run clean. You don’t need to distort the phase inverter, like with old Marshalls. Most high gain amps will sound worse that way.

 

[Smash]

I agree that amps need to get to the volume where the speakers are activated, or starting to move. But a lot of high gain amps don’t need the power section pushed at all to get the goods. They’re designed to be run clean. You don’t need to distort the phase inverter, like with old Marshalls. Most high gain amps will sound worse that way.

Yeah. I think the big disconnect is metal/rock guys. Metal guys dont want the power section to distort, but if it barely starts that way, you can turn down the preamp gain, and bam..sexy metal tone.

I dont care about saggy loose butthole rock