What do you look for in a “good amp”

[cobrahead1030]

Reliability; I won't buy anything that's known for being unreliable or difficult to work on, at any price point.

Simplicity; not so much in terms of features or lay out, even though I tend to lean more in that direction. I like to be able to plug into something and get what I need from it within a minute or two.

Feel; it's either there or it isn't.

 

[glpg80]

I hate amps that have every switch imaginable just because they can. I also hate the terminology of hiding what the feature does. I prefer an amp just sound it’s best without a ton of switches and odd names for simplicity. If it’s to have a switch or feature, it has better still sound great and also make a huge defining difference in the amp for another flavor of inspiration. If it doesn’t then it wasn’t needed in the first place and pick the state that sounds best and leave it.

I hate amps that only get along with certain speakers. They’d better be able to work with anything. I won’t own an amp that can only use V30s but sound awful in greenbacks.

I hate amps with midi and IR. I want my amps bulletproof reliable and easily serviceable. Companies go under all of the time and if they do and you have some proprietary board in your amp that depended on their customer support, then you’re fucked. No one learned from the rack days of now rare unobtainium chips in lexicons and eventide units.

It has to go from saturated insane gain to clean with just a volume knob. I hate having to change channels for clean because a designer can’t balance the gain stage to stage correctly without changing the voicing their after.

Noise. Either have a great grounding scheme or a built in noise gate that rocks. I’m really surprised the Uber ultra doesn’t have a built in gate with 7 stages. At some level it’s necessary for recording studio and live use both.

Build quality. It had better last or have generic enough parts to replace. The more expensive the higher the expectations. No odd designs or epoxy hiding circuits. No exploded cans of paint.

And last but not least it needs to not look like a toaster oven. Yeah I said it. If I have to stare at it daily to use it, make it look cool with a professional layout that has thought behind it. Nostalgia goes a long way from heritage ala Marshall or vox or fender. I’m also not rocking triangle guitar cabinets. Ever. Same point.

I own the amps I own because they tick these boxes. The only one that I keep that fits less of them is the Bogner XTC 101B.