Frustrated AF with my amp search

  • Thread starter Thread starter donalddemon
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jemplayer said:
Check out a Mesa Maverick if you can. That on channel one with the gain at noon and my Blue Angle together is one of my favorite tones.

No mesa head or combo is light. I move 4x12's easier than I can either of my combos.
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Older Mesa combos are annoyingly heavy. IDK, I'm kind of over the Mesas I think, usually like them at first but then something always ends up bugging me. Usually it's the voicing of the dirty channel, no bite and congested mids.

romanianreaper said:
Yep, good option. My 5150-III covers tons of bases.
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How are the cleans on the 5150-III? Will it stay clean w/ humbuckers at loud gigs?
 
VonBonfire said:
Honestly sounds like what I been looking for myself and I have my sights set on a Laney LA30BL. Good cleans but not sure how the edge of breakup tones sound cause everyone demoes them pretending like they are Tony Iommi. It's supposed to be bluesbreaker-ish so I think when I get the cash together I might grab one. 30 watts will let me work those smaller gigs a little better. Right around a grand too, 700-800 used. Circumstances have forced me to work on dialing in my Twin for that and actually I have finally been getting a passable tone with it so at least I got that going for me.
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Sounds great but yeah all I'm hearing is metal stuff (like many suggestions here). I forgot to mention I had the Laney GH30R for a short bit and while it sounded pretty damn good, it couldn't stay clean at gig volumes because it's sort of designed to get that power tube breakup sound. The LA30BL also doesn't have the options I need but damn, that's a fine looking amp.
 
donalddemon said:
Sounds great but yeah all I'm hearing is metal stuff (like many suggestions here). I forgot to mention I had the Laney GH30R for a short bit and while it sounded pretty damn good, it couldn't stay clean at gig volumes because it's sort of designed to get that power tube breakup sound. The LA30BL also doesn't have the options I need but damn, that's a fine looking amp.
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I won't lie, I like simple, single channel NMV amps the best. I am a luddite so fewer knobs is better for me. I am not adept at dialing in amps with many controls and it always means more fudging around at gig, which I really hate. Not sure how clean the LA30BL can stay at volume. Someone suggested a Twin with a bunch of pedals and I think it is a reasonable suggestion to get something with a good base clean tone you like and then build your drive using pedals of your choice.

What I hate about channel switchers is that to me it sounds extremely artificial to have a clean tone and then one click of a button and you have this searing lead. For blues I personally don't like it. It's smoother and more life like to my ears just getting the gain with the guitar's volume knob, but it requires more fine motor skills on the fly and sometimes you won't get it exactly how you want. I understand some crossover style rock music pretty much can't happen without the channel switching but I don't know what exactly you are after musically. Some more detail might help the guys offer more adept suggestions.
 
skoora said:
I feel my TA30 would be perfect for this and is certainly not thin. It could be your ear is too tuned to the heavy sounds that are your bread and butter and what are actually good tones in what you’re looking for just don’t appeal to you?
You say no to pedals but I’d be all over a headroom clean amp and pedals for what you’re asking for. Killer pedals available today.
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I like thicker tones but with some chime or grind available on the top end if I want it. I usually don't care for loose lows and hate muddy mids or dark amps. My TA-30 sounds scooped in the mids and low/mids on the clean channel and too much mids, too bright, not much lows on the dirty channel. It doesn't clean up with the guitar volume very well either.

I’m not looking for the typical Marshall sound or high gain, which makes it tough to nail down. I don’t like the sound of pushed Fenders either. Maybe something more Dumble-ish? Idk, never really played anything like that but sowing like a Fuchs Blackjack or Fullhouse seems kind of close, although I’m not sure I can deal with the efx loop situation.
 
VonBonfire said:
I won't lie, I like simple, single channel NMV amps the best. I am a luddite so fewer knobs is better for me. I am not adept at dialing in amps with many controls and it always means more fudging around at gig, which I really hate. Not sure how clean the LA30BL can stay at volume. Someone suggested a Twin with a bunch of pedals and I think it is a reasonable suggestion to get something with a good base clean tone you like and then build your drive using pedals of your choice.

What I hate about channel switchers is that to me it sounds extremely artificial to have a clean tone and then one click of a button and you have this searing lead. For blues I personally don't like it. It's smoother and more life like to my ears just getting the gain with the guitar's volume knob, but it requires more fine motor skills on the fly and sometimes you won't get it exactly how you want. I understand some crossover style rock music pretty much can't happen without the channel switching but I don't know what exactly you are after musically. Some more detail might help the guys offer more adept suggestions.
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I know exactly what you mean because I’ve always been the same way too. I’ve only enjoyed playing an amp that’s mid gain crunchy and used my volume to roll back for cleans or a boost to get into high gain, but I’ve also never needed real clean sounds at gig volume before like I do now.

I do still believe that more simple amps sound better, more dynamic, and usually end up keeping them over the amps I’ve owned with a ton of knobs and switches. I can manage the controls just fine but I’m never as thrilled with the sounds no matter where I set it.

A few bands I’m in now play funky or jazzy styles and I need pristine cleans, which I don’t know are possible with cleaning up a dirty amp. I know most people do the clean amp + pedals, and I’m doing that now with a HRDx at practice, but I don’t love that either. I hate how the delays and reverb mix gets jacked up when hit with a dirt pedal.

FWIW, the styles I’ll be playing with this amp is very little rock and zero metal. There’s funk, soul, jazz, blues, RnB, rootsy stuff. One band that does covers will have more classic or 80s rock but nothing that requires heavy gain.
 
Find a used Egnater/Rocktron TOL 100. They can be found for well under $1k quite often. Dial in Channels 1 & 3 to what you want, and then use the gains/masters for Channels 2 & 4 to be solo boosts for 1 & 3.
 
Fender Deluxe Reverb. Keep it simple. This is the standard.
 
marvcus said:
Fender Deluxe Reverb. Keep it simple. This is the standard.
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He mentioned in the OP he didn't wanna do a Deluxe and I would guess the reason is that with a good loud band a Deluxe is basically a no-go for sparkling clean tones if you need to get on top of the band. That's why I don't care for a Deluxe, it's a great sounding amp but there just isn't enough clean headroom if you have a cracking drummer.
 
VonBonfire said:
He mentioned in the OP he didn't wanna do a Deluxe and I would guess the reason is that with a good loud band a Deluxe is basically a no-go for sparkling clean tones if you need to get on top of the band. That's why I don't care for a Deluxe, it's a great sounding amp but there just isn't enough clean headroom if you have a cracking drummer.
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Also I owned a DRRI for while if anyone bothered to read the OP, but then again I keep getting suggestions for 100 watt metal amps so.....:bash:
 
donalddemon said:
Also I owned a DRRI for while if anyone bothered to read the OP, but then again I keep getting suggestions for 100 watt metal amps so.....:bash:
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I know you need/want channel switching but tbh what you are looking for is either gonna be deficient in some other way or will lack channel switching. Or it will meet your needs but cost an absolute fortune. I was thinking maybe a Pro Reverb with a couple good OD boxes. Lighter and not as loud as a Twin, more portable than a Super, but still a good base clean tone and should take pedals well. I personally would rather have a Super or Bassman but it might be worth a look for what you need. TBH you could get a Twin for the same money or less. How about a Fender 75? The Nuge used one for a time, is a good amp. There was one for under $500 on my local CL recently.
 
VonBonfire said:
He mentioned in the OP he didn't wanna do a Deluxe and I would guess the reason is that with a good loud band a Deluxe is basically a no-go for sparkling clean tones if you need to get on top of the band. That's why I don't care for a Deluxe, it's a great sounding amp but there just isn't enough clean headroom if you have a cracking drummer.
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I must have missed the part about the DR. I saw HR DX, but alas. EDIT: found it. Sorry for the confusion

I second some sort of a Peavey Classic then; 30/50. Look for a 2000s Peavey Ranger 212, clean is based on a Twin. Dirty is usable. Fender Prosonic would be good, too.
 
Torgo2003 said:
Honestly you may want to try a different forum man - not that you can't get good recs here but this forum is mostly hard rock/metal focused. Have you tried tan pants dot com?
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Lol, I did actually and it was mostly suggestions for Fender w/ pedals. I figured I'd see what kind of suggestions I got here and it's not surprisingly as expected
 
donalddemon said:
Lol, I did actually and it was mostly suggestions for Fender w/ pedals. I figured I'd see what kind of suggestions I got here and it's not surprisingly as expected
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Regardless of what you choose you definitely need 35-50 watts to get that spanky sparkling clean tone you are after unless your drummer is a lightweight. There are so many good OD and dual OD pedals I can't see not at least considering a low cost high quality NMV amp as your base for a clean tone. It's definitely gonna be easier to shoehorn that into a budget. I saw an older 50 watt Peavey Classic with the fugly logo and yuck covering on Austin CL today for $220.....
 
I know you mentioned sticking to budget stuff, but have you considered a Bogner GF45 or Bogner Shiva? Not the latest/newest ones, but the older ones I sometimes see in the sub $1300 range if you are willing to wait for a good deal. Both of those have great tones both clean and driven - the GF45 especially I feel like has some of the best cleans I've gotten from an amp.

Going more budget, I paid like $900 for an Orange Rocker 30... not Rockerverb, Rocker. It's a damn good sounding amp, although the clean is just a single volume control - I like it, but it's not super flexible. Oh and no effects loop, maybe that's a no-go. Same problem for the AD30, no loop. Maybe the new Rocker 32? That has a loop, but I haven't played one so I'm not sure how it holds up.

Also honorable mention, some of the Bad Cat stuff seems right up this alley, and the USA Player Series should be in your price range. I have a Cub40R that is amazing although it doesn't get dirty enough for 80s rock, so maybe the Lynx would be the better choice.

or... Fender ProSonic. I just got one of these and it kicks the crap out of my Super Sonic. Great cleans and drive tones, and an effects loop. My head was something like $800, I see the combos all the time around that price too. Could easily do your edge of break up right up to 80s rock tones.

Last one - Mesa Royal Atlantic, GC had one for $1199 that sat unsold for a while. Might be worth calling and seeing if they'd cut you a deal. You get 2.5 channels, built in power soak... if you like your TA30 but want "more," it's a pretty good option.
 
donalddemon said:
Older Mesa combos are annoyingly heavy. IDK, I'm kind of over the Mesas I think, usually like them at first but then something always ends up bugging me. Usually it's the voicing of the dirty channel, no bite and congested mids.


How are the cleans on the 5150-III? Will it stay clean w/ humbuckers at loud gigs?
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Really, I've never played a Mesa that didn't have decent bite to it, but I do agree that it can be hard to tame the lower mids sometimes in some of them.
 
VonBonfire said:
Regardless of what you choose you definitely need 35-50 watts to get that spanky sparkling clean tone you are after unless your drummer is a lightweight. There are so many good OD and dual OD pedals I can't see not at least considering a low cost high quality NMV amp as your base for a clean tone. It's definitely gonna be easier to shoehorn that into a budget. I saw an older 50 watt Peavey Classic with the fugly logo and yuck covering on Austin CL today for $220.....
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Yeah for sure, 40 watts is around the sweet spot but no less than 30. My drummer starts off light and then is pounding by the end of the night and the other drummer I play with hits hard all the time. I think the rabbit hole with the pedals is that only certain pedals sound good with certain amps IME, and the possibilities are overwhelming. If I saw a PV Classic for that price I'd definitely hit it just to try.

TotallyRadGuitars said:
I know you mentioned sticking to budget stuff, but have you considered a Bogner GF45 or Bogner Shiva? Not the latest/newest ones, but the older ones I sometimes see in the sub $1300 range if you are willing to wait for a good deal. Both of those have great tones both clean and driven - the GF45 especially I feel like has some of the best cleans I've gotten from an amp.

Going more budget, I paid like $900 for an Orange Rocker 30... not Rockerverb, Rocker. It's a damn good sounding amp, although the clean is just a single volume control - I like it, but it's not super flexible. Oh and no effects loop, maybe that's a no-go. Same problem for the AD30, no loop. Maybe the new Rocker 32? That has a loop, but I haven't played one so I'm not sure how it holds up.

Also honorable mention, some of the Bad Cat stuff seems right up this alley, and the USA Player Series should be in your price range. I have a Cub40R that is amazing although it doesn't get dirty enough for 80s rock, so maybe the Lynx would be the better choice.

or... Fender ProSonic. I just got one of these and it kicks the crap out of my Super Sonic. Great cleans and drive tones, and an effects loop. My head was something like $800, I see the combos all the time around that price too. Could easily do your edge of break up right up to 80s rock tones.

Last one - Mesa Royal Atlantic, GC had one for $1199 that sat unsold for a while. Might be worth calling and seeing if they'd cut you a deal. You get 2.5 channels, built in power soak... if you like your TA30 but want "more," it's a pretty good option.
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I'm not against trying mre expensive stuff, I'd just have to sell several things to do it. I played a Bogner 3534 at GC the other day, they wanted $1700 for it. I only played it a t low volumes but my Bogner red Mini pedal sounded almost as good (through the right amp). I wasn't too impressed with it but I imagine it needs to be played louder. The Shiva sounds like it would be a great contender, esp if I can find a head for that price.

No loop is a problem on a gainy amp. I had the OR15 which as great, just not for this kind of music. I like the new Bad Cat Hot Cat 45 but I'm not sure how clean the clean stays with humbuckers.

Prosonic is a contender too, never played one but I'm interested. I was set on the Super Sonic for a bit but it sounds like they have too many issues. I'd love to try a Royal Atlantic too.
 
anomaly said:
Really, I've never played a Mesa that didn't have decent bite to it, but I do agree that it can be hard to tame the lower mids sometimes in some of them.
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And yet the TA-30 is weirdly lacking low mids on the dirt channel. It's the only Mesa I've played like this. It gets the bite, but loses the low end punch, which is odd for a Mesa.
 
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