WizardAmpIphoneClip
Well-known member
Engl has an elite built in gate
Techdeth
RESIDENT ROCK PROFESSOR
My avenger didn’t even have a loop . I had an OG. But I think the gate in front tightens and improves any amp . But you already know that . I seriously don’t find any amp noisy now that I do that . Unless a pre amp tube s bad . I only use a loop for time bases and actually effects . But I know what you mean .
Devin
Well-known member
Bogner 20th Shiva
V
VonBonfire
Well-known member
If I suck at guitar and put a noise gate in my chain will any sound even make it to the amp?
Smash
Hack
I am a bedroom guitarist that plays too loud. So i am picky about noise. But yeah. I dont think the avenger hangs with many of your amps. But i had two, so i liked them
Smash
Hack
Hook up effects pedals backwards. That silences it right up
Smash
Hack
I did that one time. I hooked up cables return to send and vice versa.. i was convinced my amp was broken. Tried to get guitar center to warranty and everything. Man...i have done shit like that so many times...that is why i keep my setup pretty simple...dummy proof
V
VonBonfire
Well-known member
I keep mine simple because though I love knobs and toggle switches I start getting confused when there are too many knobs, switches, and numbers controlling stuff. That's how come I couldn't do the role playing game stuff for the guitar build. I lose interest with all them numbers. I only think in rhythms anymore and numbers aren't required for that.
Devin
Well-known member
Buddy of mine had a Protone Mechafuzz pedal back in the day and one of the "features" on it was a totally insane sound you could get if you connected it backwards
Seriously
stephen sawall
Well-known member
I was actually disappointed by most of the modern high gain amps. Just like most of the modified Marshall amps. Not that they sound bad usually. My expectations was higher. The sound I had imagined / created in my head.
Techdeth
RESIDENT ROCK PROFESSOR
Use that gate in front . It improves the tone of any amp . As long as it’s battery powered . It’s the most important too . You play loud !
Smash
Hack
Come to an amp fest down here. I dont know which ones you have played, but the last five years have been impressive
stephen sawall
Well-known member
I drove through San Antonio about a month ago. It was 5AM. I was on my way from Orlando to Arizona. I drove the entire length of I10 over to LA. Then up I5 to Seattle.
I was only off by a few weeks.
I think I have tried most of the amps there before. Same brand different model with some.
Last edited:
TotallyRadGuitars
Well-known member
This has been a great read. In the spirit of the original post though - some of you guys need to use less generalizations.
Like the "all diezels" or "all engls" or "all H&K" people. Name the ones you played, and if you say you played them all:
----
As for me, I'll give a little story on each one because it's not that these are BAD amps, it's that I had high expectations for them and was let down. There are other amps I think are worse than these, but these are the ones I got hyped/excited about only to find out they were mediocre.
1. Diezel VH2 - I still want to try a VH4, but I got this thing locally for an insane deal. Idk, it sucks.
2. ENGL Retro 50 - Someone told me I would like this if I liked Splawns. I should find that person and punch them in the face.
3. Laney AOR50 - picked this up way back when I couldn't afford a JCM800. $350. Even for that price, it was a waste of space and I sold it off. I actually wish I had it back now but more because it was unique and my expectations are curbed. At the time I thought it was going to be a budget JCM800 because that's how it was described so often online... clearly by people who have never owned one.
4. Fender Supersonic 100 - I loved the SS60. Played a SS22 in a store and wanted to take it home, then saw this online and figured hey, more is better! Nope. Especially compared to the ProSonic, what a let down.
5. Mesa Roadster - I already had a Rev G and a 3ch Triple at this point so when I got this it was another case of expecting the same kind of sound but "more." It had less gain, was somehow even looser, the extra crunch-ish channel didn't sound good to me. Huge flop... hilarious footswitch though.
6. Orange Dual Dark - I was on the Orange hype train, starting with a Thunderverb, then Rockerverb, then I kept reading about how this thing was a Mesa Mark killer and would do high gain metal like a boss. Again, not a bad amp, but especially for the price I was really disappointed.
7. Egnater Renegade - I played this amp several times in stores when I was kinda new to guitar playing. I loved the tube mix idea and thought it would be the perfect 80s rock amp, couldn't afford it, then forgot about it for a decade. Bought one years later and thought it was incredibly weak, too smooth, boring sounding overdrive. Good cleans though but that's not what I remembered wanting it for.
8. PWE EH3 - I got a PWE EH (original) on ebay and thought it was just the tits. It covered a lot of ground so I was excited to see what was next in the PWE world and picked up the EH3. He really went backwards on this one IMO, it has fewer tubes, less gain, less definition, less punch. I know some of these were custom orders so maybe whoever ordered mine picked some weird stuff?
---
Honorable mentions
Mesa TC50, Marshall VM, and Rivera KR7. I didn't have super high expectations for these so they don't really belong in the disappointments category, but I don't really like them.
IMO, amps like the Peavey Valveking don't belong in this thread. Did you really have high expectations for it? Not much of a disappointment unless you are totally unrealistic.
Also I'm surprised to see the Henning Cherry Bomb around here a bunch, I've heard mostly good things elsewhere and would love to have one. Someone who has one they hate, PM me in like 3 months.
Like the "all diezels" or "all engls" or "all H&K" people. Name the ones you played, and if you say you played them all:
----
As for me, I'll give a little story on each one because it's not that these are BAD amps, it's that I had high expectations for them and was let down. There are other amps I think are worse than these, but these are the ones I got hyped/excited about only to find out they were mediocre.
1. Diezel VH2 - I still want to try a VH4, but I got this thing locally for an insane deal. Idk, it sucks.
2. ENGL Retro 50 - Someone told me I would like this if I liked Splawns. I should find that person and punch them in the face.
3. Laney AOR50 - picked this up way back when I couldn't afford a JCM800. $350. Even for that price, it was a waste of space and I sold it off. I actually wish I had it back now but more because it was unique and my expectations are curbed. At the time I thought it was going to be a budget JCM800 because that's how it was described so often online... clearly by people who have never owned one.
4. Fender Supersonic 100 - I loved the SS60. Played a SS22 in a store and wanted to take it home, then saw this online and figured hey, more is better! Nope. Especially compared to the ProSonic, what a let down.
5. Mesa Roadster - I already had a Rev G and a 3ch Triple at this point so when I got this it was another case of expecting the same kind of sound but "more." It had less gain, was somehow even looser, the extra crunch-ish channel didn't sound good to me. Huge flop... hilarious footswitch though.
6. Orange Dual Dark - I was on the Orange hype train, starting with a Thunderverb, then Rockerverb, then I kept reading about how this thing was a Mesa Mark killer and would do high gain metal like a boss. Again, not a bad amp, but especially for the price I was really disappointed.
7. Egnater Renegade - I played this amp several times in stores when I was kinda new to guitar playing. I loved the tube mix idea and thought it would be the perfect 80s rock amp, couldn't afford it, then forgot about it for a decade. Bought one years later and thought it was incredibly weak, too smooth, boring sounding overdrive. Good cleans though but that's not what I remembered wanting it for.
8. PWE EH3 - I got a PWE EH (original) on ebay and thought it was just the tits. It covered a lot of ground so I was excited to see what was next in the PWE world and picked up the EH3. He really went backwards on this one IMO, it has fewer tubes, less gain, less definition, less punch. I know some of these were custom orders so maybe whoever ordered mine picked some weird stuff?
---
Honorable mentions
Mesa TC50, Marshall VM, and Rivera KR7. I didn't have super high expectations for these so they don't really belong in the disappointments category, but I don't really like them.
IMO, amps like the Peavey Valveking don't belong in this thread. Did you really have high expectations for it? Not much of a disappointment unless you are totally unrealistic.
Also I'm surprised to see the Henning Cherry Bomb around here a bunch, I've heard mostly good things elsewhere and would love to have one. Someone who has one they hate, PM me in like 3 months.
R
Racerxrated
Well-known member
The only amp that I could not stand, in any way was a Randall RD100 Diavlo. I'd played the 50w version and liked it; so I figured the 100 would kick ass. Instead it sounded like ass. That's the only amp that an EQ in the loop was REQUIRED to get any decent tone out of it. Returned it very fast.
Another disappointment was a Splawn modded 1987x. It sounded 'distant', like the gain ch was in the background. Hard to describe. I had another Splawn Marshall later that was much better.
Mesa Mark IIIs are also disappointing to me...lots love them but the 2 I had, loaded with Mesa 415s and Simul, were just harsh city. Could not dial that out....that experience made me hesitate on the 2Cs but thankfully they are TONS better to my ears.
Another disappointment was a Splawn modded 1987x. It sounded 'distant', like the gain ch was in the background. Hard to describe. I had another Splawn Marshall later that was much better.
Mesa Mark IIIs are also disappointing to me...lots love them but the 2 I had, loaded with Mesa 415s and Simul, were just harsh city. Could not dial that out....that experience made me hesitate on the 2Cs but thankfully they are TONS better to my ears.