Most disappointing amp

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Smash

Smash

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I would do most overrated, but I am trying to avoid the peanut gallery that just chimes in with every expensive amp they have never tried...

If you have tried an amp and thought it was the biggest letdown...fair fucking game.

If I think back to all the amps I have owned, I believe price/lore vs realization...SLO comes to mind. Maybe I need to revisit it, but it really did nothing for me, and I was very into Avengers at the time.

It was just so smoooooth and bland. I believe the twin jet did the smooth darker voicing so much better while having balls. I have been told it is good for leads...but most leads are fucking contrived shit noodling anyway...so fuck that.

One thing i will add for the inevitable shitstorm here is I am not saying it is a bad amp. And it sounds much better than the evh 5153... But it is two to three times the price, so..
 
Peavey Windsor, in stock form.

Allegedly based on a jcm 800.

Not the better modded versions, just the stock Windsor head. Could not jive with it at all. Lots of potential, just not fun...like I thought it would be.

Not a high priced amp by any means, just unrealized expectations.

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These fit the bill:

1.) Some years ago I was doing a lot of shows and recording with a Peavey Vypyr amp. That thing could get some really, really killer heavy and lead tones. I had decided that I needed the newer, nicer VIP 3 for whatever reason and sold my trusty amp and picked one of those up.

Did not get the same epic metal tones at all. I spent hours trying to to dial it in and was just shocked it didn't have a great sound, not as great as what I was getting from the older one. Sold the VIP shortly after.


2.) Hughes and kettner Grandmeister deluxe 40. What an absolute turd of an amp. Smallest sounding 40 watt head ever, especially for tube. You spend hours trying to configure tons of patches for none of them to level out with one another, etc, etc.

The built in effects sound trash, the clean tones are lifeless and tiny, the crunch and lead tones are terrible. Muffled, brash, tinny.

I thought it was the speakers or something so I went on a gear hunt I really couldn't afford trying to make the amp sound good.

Had constant noise issues and parts failures within a few months. Multiple warranty repairs, etc.

The company did something pretty evil to me in that they also stole an autographed part of the amp and claimed they could not give it back to me for whatever reason. It was a little metal plate that sat on top of the amp.

Fuck HKs new made in China bs. Absolutely trash amps that sound like ass and will shit on you quicker than one.
 
I can’t say I have hated everything g but for me the Diezel Einstein was not my favorite. I like the plex channel on it but the high gain was a middy mess.

I traded it back for a Herbert and loved that amp.
 
Both wizards I have had. Both were mk1s, a MC and a MTL….just did not gel with them. Want to check the later offerings out, especially the Hellrazor, but found them brittle/sterile/grating in the room. Been several years so maybe my ears and tastes have changed
 
gybe! said:
Both wizards I have had. Both were mk1s, a MC and a MTL….just did not gel with them. Want to check the later offerings out, especially the Hellrazor, but found them brittle/sterile/grating in the room. Been several years so maybe my ears and tastes have changed
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Yeah the early wizards could bite your head off.
 
NowYou'rePlayingWithPower said:
My REVV Generator 120 was basically a $3k white noise machine.
Wasn't too impressed with my TH100 either.
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This is my experience as well. I absolutely hated the generator 120 and 100p Revv's i've played.

I could not fucking believe the prices they go for, either.

Like, you would seriously be better off just buying a 5150 of whatever flavor.
 
Tone Monster said:
Diezel Herbert for me. Lots of people love em but it was just too synthetic sounding to my ears.
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gybe! said:
Oh, and diezel herbert mk2. Absolutely disappeared in a live setting despite mids being cranked.
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This is weird to me, as isn't it SUPPOSED to be a scooped amp, like for Korn or whatever?

I thought it sounded fine for that style of music, but it definitely isn't "my" type of tone at all
 
Laney AOR 6 knobber. Everyone says "oh they're awesome, just like a JCM 800 but with more gain". LOL, no they're not. Sounds like absolute trash.

Peavey Windsor. Basically the same as the Laney. Sounds nothing like an 800. Has a horrible gritty distortion. Trash.

Friedman Runt 20. Harsh, tinny, thin, gritty. All the bad adjectives. Junk.

Early 3 channel Dual Rectifier non-multi-watt. Ew! Very disappointing. I just couldn't get that thing to sound like how a Rectifier should sound.

Marshall JVM410. Bland as it gets.
 
Marshall JMP 2104 2x12 combo.

Picked it up for $50 at a sale about 15 years ago and it was gone three days later. My 1987X sounded way better to my ears in a direct comparison. From memory at the time I thought my old MG30 sounded better. In all fairness the amplifier wasn't set up properly and I didn't have the knowledge I do now to give it a fair chance but it sounded horrible.
 
I thought the Windsor was decent for what it was.

Owned a Peavy Valveking, and yeah stock it sucked. With some simple mods, better tubes and a speaker swap it was decent. But just decent.

Hughes & Kettner - never really impressed with any that I've played.
 
ENGL Powerball - Processed and sterile. Literally turned to vapor in the mix

Mesa Triple Crown - Bland, bland, bland, no attitude or edge at all

KSR Colossus - Really good amp, great build and features, but "something" just not right for me
 
I tried to make the Seymour Duncan Convertible amp work I really did but next to a good Marshall it sounded like a toy. So I went out and got the JCM900 Reverb model that was new at the time but also one of the worst iterations of Marshall. Dark days, but a Mark III saved me a few years later.
 
Orange Dual Dark 100
Engl Savage 120
Revv Generator mk3 120
HK Triamp mk3

all 4 sounded very synthetic to me

Friedman Custom 50- just was very average sounding- not bad but I expected way more
 
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