Top 5 amps of all time that you have owned and why?

  • Thread starter Thread starter MadAsAHatter
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@MadAsAHatter , we’ve got to get your Hellion loaded with some KT66’s. They really take the amp to different level. They pretty much destroy the EL34’s with that circuit.

Honored to be on your list!
I'm so curious to hear the Hellion! The MOAB that Kris got sounds unbelievable!!!
 
My top 5 are my current stable. Hard to pick a favourite because they all bring something to the table and I play them all equally, so I’ll have to rank them in order of expense / difficulty to get hold of again if I sold them.

1. 1978 JMP 2204 with (Hot Mod added by me). Jason at Headfirst was kind enough to give a picture of the innards of this amp a once over before I bought it. Bar one cap value everything is stock / factory spec and the whole thing (chassis and tolex) was super clean (bar one crack to a corner protector). It goes kerrang and also grinds pretty hard with an OD808X out front.

2. Headfirst MCII-inspired 25 watter in a smallbox format. Jason built this back in early 2021. Given distance (he’s on the other side of the world) and the fact he’s a busy man (between Alta builds, servicing, YouTube and boards) I’m not sure how long it would take to get another from him - if that’s even possible nowadays. Uncompressed, tight, a punchy low end and mean sounding, but with loads of flexibility with the two channels, separate channel boosts, separate channel bright knobs and the contour knob. It can cover a lot of ground.

3. Very early Mesa Mark IVB. Liquidy leads and crisp, percussive chugs on the Lead channel that also have a nice bit of bounce. Really fun to play. Nice cleans on Rhy 1 and I even like Rhy 2 for more classic rock or as a pedal platform.

4. Diezel VH4 (built a few years ago). Four great channels and a distinctive voice of its own. Lots of harmonic content when driven and a really unique gain structure. Sensitive (in a good way) and very useable controls across the board. A unique sound and feel.

5. Mesa Stiletto Deuce Stage I. Last only because so many people seem to not rate this amp and sell them on, so it may be easier / cheaper to replace than the others. I think it’s a massively underrated amp. Take the time to dial it in (ears not eyes) and with all the mode switches and power options etc you get a tonne of great tones. Sticking a Buxom Boost out front and switching to Bold really brings the Fluid Drive into play for higher gain stuff. Plenty tight and aggressive. Also love the bounce of the Spongey setting on the Crunch mode on Channel 1. A really fun amp to play.
 
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1. My old JMP 50 watt Master lead. The head I used when I gigged back in the late 70's early 80's.
It was Marshall magic.
2. My current Splawn Super Sport EL-34 50 watt. Does what I need it to do almost as good as my old JMP
3. Mesa Mark IVB my favorite Mesa, another one I wish I had kept.
4.Mesa mark III red Stripe. Balls out thrash
5. Peavey 5150 II. Great with 7 string guitars , this amp sounded huge and it wasn't 1/2 bad for soloing with either.
brought the "Bruutz" :)
 
3. 1982 2204
This was easily the best MV Marshall I’ve ever played. Incredible bloom. GC for 799. Had a slight gain mod and a tube loop.
Do you possibly know, what plate voltage the amp was running on?
 
Would you say it’s worth owning a Tremoverb and a Multi-Watt? I’m getting a Tremoverb tomorrow. I went back and forth on this decision.

Also, what’s your opinion on the Headfirst Alta for someone that likes 2203/2204s as well

Tremoverb is one of the best mesas ever built. Easily worth getting regardless of what you own.
 
1. Cameron CCV - very unique, plays and sounds like nothing I've ever experienced.
2. Mesa Triple Rec - regular old 3 channel...workhorse amp I dragged around for years to every bar and small venue around the area, left in vans for days in the winter and summer, never gave me an ounce of a problem, sounds like god when recorded and in a mix
3. OG 5150 - monster pure and simple, will always be king of the hill for some things
4. Bogner XTC 101B - is what it is, well-built- chewy-gooey goodness.
5. Herbert Mk1 - no longer have this, but it was a fully-produced, mixed and mastered high gain machine out of the box. Was a little compressed feeling for me, but its tone has been a benchmark thing since I've had it.

EDIT to add an Honorable Mention for the Rivera K-Tre. I don't necessarily think this amp had amazing tone, and I no longer own it, but I will always remember it for its explosive distortion and nearly unusable volume. I feel like it was almost a "parody" amp, as it had SO much gain, but then it had a GAIN BOOST which I found to be hilarious, as if it were built for an updated Spinal Tap movie..."when your tone almost sounds like white noise, and we need that extra push over he cliff, you know what we do? Exactly - the gain boost."
 
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If I was able to have only 5 amps from all the amps I ever owned:

PRS MT15, simple and straight forward, small format.

Peavey JSX, of all the Ultra series amps, this one has all the features and most variety of tones.

Mesa Mark V, covers almost every style.

Marshall 6100LM, classic tones paired with a fantastic clean channel.

Marshall G50RCD, it's modded, head format, it's been tightened up and the fizz removed.

Honorable mention, Peavey transtube Special 212, who wouldn't want a higher powered Bandit?
 
Langner modded 71' Marshall super lead, this is why....



No other amp needed...

Pissed off, 'clanky' and articulate, almost a sort of cocked wah vocally thing as well, I like it alot!
 
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My Hermansson modded vintage Laney PA with enormous partridge transformers. It has the raddest clean, sparkly, yet kind of defined and touch sensitive. Just great clean channel.
Then, the magic begins..
Channel 2 is his 3 gain stage mod
Channel 3 is his 4 gain stage mod
Channel 4 is his 5 gain stage mod
Just an all out killer tone machine
Also has many tone shaping controls
It’s is a fire breather if epic proportions, massive tight bottom end. Defined and articulate high gain.
Does all sorts of music extremely well. Henric is very gnarly.

VIVA LA HERMANSSON!!!!

Friedman SS100 modded - unbelievable amp, this and the Hermansson fall under the never going anywhere category, played a lot of other friedmans and for whatever reason, this one just shines, Dave is a genius, even Charvel Dan agrees with this statement and everyone knows that whatever Charvel Dan says becomes the absolute truth and THE LAW.

Matchless Chieftain - just amazing cleans, heavy yet weightless, warm yet crisp, thick and round, yet defined, just truly amazing cleans. I tried most of the matchless amps, and I liked this ones feel and tones. There are a few others that are also magnificent. The independence and DC30 are also great. For killer cleans, it’s matchless, two rock or vintage fenders. I would love to have a two rock for cleans, but currently, they are a bit out of my price range. Those lower wattage two rock don’t sound nearly as good as those 100watt models, regardless of the claims by two rock.

Mesa mk3++ no/black stripe kicks some serious ass, this thing is a true metal machine.

Nicks schmidt era CCV clone with Cameron transformers that he built for himself, great amp. Nick knows amps and tone.

Honorable mention
And last but not least, the first amp I truly ever developed a severe case of GAS for, the MIGHTY PEAVEY BACKSTAGE PLUS! One of my friends older brother was a local
Guitar legend. He went by the name Razz, as in razzle dazzle. He was only 4 or 5 years older than me, but yo me, this man was a god. He dated and slept with the hottest girls, drive a bitchin ride, and had a handful of charvels, this was the 80s and he had the real deal. Every once in a while, I would build up the courage to knock in his door while he was practicing. I would hear, “enter,”’from within. I would hesitantly walk in. At this point, I would be close to speechless as I watched him blaze uncontrollably, effortlessly tearing through eruption while looking so cool doing it. His long hair danced in the breeze from his fan. His walls were covered in Ratt, VH, and the sports illustrated swimsuit girls like Elle McPherson, Kathy Ireland, and others. I was now dizzy being in the presence of someone so cool and adopted a semi retarded stutter. I focused in on his amp and the magical tone coming out of it, “hey r-r-razz, is that a p-p-p-peavey b-b-b-b-b-backstage plus?” Razz says, “for the 29th time, yes it is, now beat it, not done practicing yet and my girlfriend is coming over to fuck (this is so incomprehensible to me, that I almost black out) don’t let me catch you little pervs trying to peek through the curtains again!! “Uh-uh-uh-uh-uh-uh-uh razz, I would NEVER do that!!” (Of course, my eyes were glued yo the window trying to catch even the slightest hint of a bare tit) Razz goes, “your coke bottle glasses were directing a beam of light against the curtain so I know you are one of the pervs!” I tuck my tail between my legs and leave the room, now enveloped in a powerful shame spiral. In my head, “peavey backstage plus, must get one, peavey backstage plus, must get one, peavey backstage plus, must get one, BUT HOW !!?”

I thought the peavey backstage plus was the greatest thing I’d ever seen. There were two Marshall half stacks in the room, yet the peavey was what I most wanted I. The world. He played a delay and distortion pedal and it sounded really good at the time.

Don’t tell me none of you guys idolized some local player when you were 10 or 11 years old. I’m sure you wanted the gear they played.
 
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In no particular order:

1.) Bogner XTC 50watt
2.) Bogner XTC 20th EL-34
3.) Diezel Herbert
4.) Marshall JVM410HJS
5.) Friedman SSV2
 
Yeah, I wanted to leave it as EL34 for the time being when I sent it to you for the updates. Didn't wat to make too many changes all at once. It's been a bit so I'm thinking it may be time to give some KT66's a go. Any particular brand you recommend? Or if you have spare set I could cut out any guess work and buy straight from you.
Yep I’ve got a quad for you. I use ARS tubes, which are red base Chinese just like the TAD’s. Same tube. Really good. I’ll shoot you a PM.
I'm so curious to hear the Hellion! The MOAB that Kris got sounds unbelievable!!!
Love to have you try one!
 
1. Cameron CCV - very unique, plays and sounds like nothing I've ever experienced.
2. Mesa Triple Rec - regular old 3 channel...workhorse amp I dragged around for years to every area bar and small venue around the area, left in vans for days in the winter and summer, never gave me an ounce of a problem, sounded like god when recorded and in a mix
3. OG 5150 - monster pure and simple, will always be king of the hill for some things
4. Bogner XTC 101B - is what it is, well-built- chewy-gooey goodness.
5. Herbert Mk1 - no longer have this, but it was a fully-produced, mixed and mastered high gain machine out of the box. Was a little compressed feeling for me, but its tone has been a benchmark thing since I've had it.
Great choices here.
 
1983 Marshall 2203 modded into a face-melter.

Early Hiwatt DR 504

1986 Marshall 2204

Marshall 2555x tied with Mesa Mark V

Marshall 2466
 
I think I've only had 5 amps as I'm still a bit new to all of this :lol:

In order of purchase
1. Peavey Valveking - not bad after speaker swap
2. Splawn Quick Rod - wanted a Marshall but didn't know much about how to shop for one and didn't want to take a chance
3. Peavey Vypyr Tube 60 - 6L6 power section, Transtube technology, amp models
4. Black Heart Killer Ant - 1 watt goodness
5. Mesa Rectoverb - because everyone needs to own and experience a Recto at least once
 
Many of my top 5’s were already mentioned (IIC+, Rev C, Hermansson, vintage Marshall’s), but for diversity sake some others worth mentioning:

Alessandro DAZZ: easily the best clean amp I’ve heard so far. Exceptionally detailed and articulate. What hi-fi tone really is to me

1980 Jim Kelley Reverb: best amp I’ve tried for soulful, melodic leadwork due to how 3D its tone is and how legato the notes connect to each other. No high gain/metal amp I’ve tried can rival it in those departments

Alessandro Redbone & English: most organic and tonally complex sounding non-vintage amps I’ve tried

1997 Diezel Blueface VH4: the “fresh squeezed” version VH4 to the “from concentrate” silverface counterparts that came later. Massive powersection that the later ones lost and much more raw and gritty, not as filtered sounding like the later ones

1989 Soldano SLO: more raw, organic, open, clear and harmonically rich than the later SLO’s I’ve tried from the early 2000’s. Almost like it’s 70-80% 2000’s SLO and 20-30% ‘70’s JMP2203
 
Mesa Strategy 500 -- I know, not a complete amp and a totally impractical anchor ... but feed it with any decent preamp , even something digital or a dirt box, crank it up and be prepared to be pummeled with a dense grinding wall, let the neighbours feel it too.

MK1 Diezel Herbert -- The big one , Pop to Metal to Doom to whatever... Something I enjoy about all Diezels is how they fill out the full spectrum, no reedy mmeeeiii mmmeeeii sounds here folks, just full smooth tone.

2000 Diezel VH4 -- A modern classic, a bit more barky in the mids than his big brother, a little leaner. This is my benchmark for allround.

Wizard MC1 -- The only Wizard I've had the pleasure of owing. Punch unreal, this thing would loosten my basement walls and my stools always needed to be rescrewed.. Super clear and 3D.
Needed a lot of volume to sound good. Didn't take pedals well.
Just a little too vintage sounding for my taste in the end. What nobody talks about are the cleans .. absolutely stunning.

79 JMP 2203 -- Those mids and highs, wow, add any pedal -- even something completely unpalatable -- and this amp somehow regurgitates it into the most beautiful smear, modern amps don't hold a candle this way.
 
I have owned just a few… moreso recent last 6 years. My be all end all amp thus far is: Rivera TBR 1SL. Better than the 2SL because it’s more quietly playing for normal places. However I am using the power section of the 2 for an Axe Fx. That is for my style of music. 70-80s
 
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