What is the best guitar amp you have ever played?

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The best I have personally played is the metal panel Marshall Super Lead from ‘72. 1976 1960B with 4 original black backs. I’m sure there are better products now, but tough to beat if you understand them.
 
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Tough, for me today, I lean on the Friedman jj100. That said, I ran bogner xtcs for a long time. Clean is better on xtc20th, but dirt on JJ is a bit meaner sounding than xtc to me. No one amp does all my ideal tones... Thought about offering up my butterslax to Dave to warp into my dream but modding a signed, signature amp sounds a bit wrong to me...
 
tonedover said:
according to the classifieds, its whatever you blockheads have for sale at the moment
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Ain't that the truth!!!

Best doesn't exist in my world. What seems like the best today, will very likely not be over time. Speaking only for myself, it's the reason I shop carefully and try to have as many of those "best" amps, guitars, tiddly winks, or ass wipes of the day in a collection.

Somedays none sound good, but that's all highly subjective and rare, pursuant to my limitations of the moment, mood of the day, and usually one out of the collection sounds awesome. Just not everyday, just not every situation.

Metaphorically speaking......perhaps like "sex". The worst I ever had was outta this world ;)

Some of these "oh the best ever" are very much like pre-pubescent juveniles experiencing copulation for the very first time........if their heads didn't explode!
 
Random observation: when I was young and didnt care about amps I was a way better player. I had a beat up 5150 combo and the internet hadn't told me the speakers sucked yet. A les paul with EMGs, and a chorus pedal. That was my rig.

I played that fucker 4-5 hours a day and seemed to get better every day. Now I play when I have time and think about amps and tones the rest of the day. I am not nearly as good as I was on that shitty old peavey.
 
creep66 said:
Random observation: when I was young and didnt care about amps I was a way better player. I had a beat up 5150 combo and the internet hadn't told me the speakers sucked yet. A les paul with EMGs, and a chorus pedal. That was my rig.

I played that fucker 4-5 hours a day and seemed to get better every day. Now I play when I have time and think about amps and tones the rest of the day. I am not nearly as good as I was on that shitty old peavey.
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I’m with you 100% on all this. I think the more time you waste obsessing on gear, the less your working and thinking about your actual playing. I’m guilty.
 
I agree that the more time you spend obsessing about gear, the less time you spend playing. However, the biggest difference between then and now is that we all know more about what's out there, so of course we have to try everything or spend time thinking about it where when we were young and ignorant, we had no idea about all this stuff, so we didn't think about it. However, after you try most of the stuff you've learned about, that goes away and you can get back to practicing.

Anyway, after a certain level, there is no "best," only different flavors of ice cream. That said:

Clean:
Mesa Lonestar - biggest, fullest crystal clean sound I've heard from any amp. HUGE low end without getting tubby, and tons of high end clarity and presence that never gets harsh, 100 watts so you have as much headroom as you could ever need, and the master volume is excellent. Also as a bonus, if you know what you're doing, the 2nd channel has some of the best "vintage Fender about to explode" blues tones you'll find anywhere.

Leads / High Gain Rock / Low Gain Rock:
Bogner Ecstasy 101B - Along with having a great overall voicing and being one of the most flexible amps ever made, the 101B does something I've never heard any other amp do. There are several amps out there with "dynamic" high gain but the 101B's dynamics seem to sit in a range that to me is basically perfect. If you pick lightly, while there's still plenty of bite and definition, you get a big round warm kind of subdued sound. But, when you dig in, you really hear the engine intake open up and the afterburners kick on in real time, so to speak. The amp really does "bloom" and flare up when you hit it hard in a way no other amp does. You can really hear and feel it breathe with your playing. Compared to other high gain amps, it almost feels like the XTC's gain knob is turning up and down in real time with your playing dynamics. So if you're a dynamically expressive player who likes high gain, there's really nothing else that does quite what this amp does. The one other amp I've played that comes close to this level of dynamics would probably be the Wizard Modern Classic, but playing soft on the Wizards makes those amps go clean and lean, like a Plexi, whereas the Bogners seem to go bassier and thicker when you play quietly. But besides that, there's just something about the Bogner's dynamics and voicing that draws me in more. I still want to compare my XTC 101B with an XTC 20th 6L6 to see if those dynamics are still there but packaged in a sound with a bigger, broader bandwidth. But out of everything I've played so far, the Ecstasy 101B is the best amp out there for dynamic, expressive playing at gain levels anywhere other than the cleanest cleans and the heaviest metal.

Metal / High Gain Rock:
EVH 5150 III 100w EL34 - A flamethrower. There's really not much else I've heard that sounds as huge and aggressive. It has tons of cut and slice with clear but gnarly mids and a gigantic low end. It's just huge. The voicing of the gain sits in a good place between raw and smooth so it's easy to play but still sounds mean. It's also very defined without sounding anemic. If you're a tight player, the amp will bring out a lot of metallic "clang" in palm mutes which everybody (including me) seems to love without sounding thin. It's also compressed in a way that evens out your playing, but it never sounds "squashed" or congested. And it's versatile, at least within the metal and rock territory. The Blue channel is great for an alternative high gain channel when boosted or a more classic high gain sound without a boost, all the way down to mid/low gain JCM800-ish rock tones that can be quite dynamic if you set the gain really low. The Red channel turns the amp into a white hot jet engine monster that sits right between being tight and articulate but also huge sounding with enough give that it’s easy to play.
 
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First post in this thread. I guess my response isn't the best amp I've played, cuz there are many many many I've never played. I'll cover 2 points: Amps I've known I would buy right when I plugged in, and amps I've heard live(worked in a live music venues for years).

2 amps I knew right away: Splawn Quickrod and EVH combo. Knew instantly I would buy both from the first note.

In a live setting, there were some memorable tones, but 2 stick out. 1 was a guy from L.A., not sure the band as they were a direct support act...he had long black dreads, but had a Herbert and VH4 in stereo, it sounded massive and killer. I made a point to go talk to him after his set and tell him it was beyond killer.
Next was the guitarist of Dokken. Not lynch, but their lawyer guy. and his rig was simple. DSL100 into stereo Mills Acoustic 4x12s. Sounded killer. Soundcheck, set, whatever....just crushed.
 
I still like the PV 5150 combo amp. So much so that I have two of them. I own a Metro-Plex which is very cool but does not get played as much as the combo amps. Plug a delay in run them in stereo and nothing else needed for my needs.
 
DanTravis62 said:
Larrys amps do a very specific thing in the low end that nothing else does. It has a tell-tale "gunshot" sound to the palm mutes.

They also have a ridiculous amount of usable gain that never gets messy, undefined, or wooly. The high end has a very trainwreck thing going on, that sounds like it "seethes" with open chords.

Everyone has their favorites - and I can see the appeal of many of them. Medics Morin modded Marshall sounds fantastic, lots of lead players love the bogner ecstacy, many will swear by the 2c+, many prefer old marshalls. All of which I totally get.

But if you're going for tight, defined while retaining ease and playability, Larrys stuff is the business, and hopefully I'll die with mine 🤷
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The 'gunshot' comment is bang on, exactly what I hear on Iced Earth and some (most) of your clips! Well said man!
 
jasonP said:
What in your opinion is the best production amp you have ever played, and what did it over the others that you have tried? I know a lot of us here have had many, and have tried many.

I need some inspiration for a new guitar amp to try. I really want to check out the PRS MT100 when it comes out.

I remember way back when I first got into guitar my friend and I went to guitar center and played a Soldano Hotrod 50 with Mercury Magnetic transformers, wish I would have bought that amp, man did that thing rip. Now I own a Avenger 100 and it really does something similar to that tone I remember hearing. I'm interested to hear some thoughts on what amp you are playing now and really liking.
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EVH lll 50 watt original with 6L6's.
 
Soldano SLO is the greatest amp ever! The Fryette Sig:X is amazing too. The Custom Audio 3+ Slays dragons.
 
I've owned several higher end, and bang for buck sleepers in my time.

The Laney GH50 & 100L's have always been on my list of best amps I've owned.

Splawn Competitions have always done it for me. Bogner Helios even more.

Right now, the Friedman PT-20 V2 I have, is certainly a bit of a treasure. It checks every box for me, minus the bigger bottles. But, it's quickly becoming one of my favorite amps ever. It's a little beast.
 
CarlF said:
A few I can remember-

Early 70's Marshall Super Tremolo 100 watt. It had 4 speaker outputs in the back and I believe a third switch (polarity) in front.
68 Smallbox Marshall. It wasn't mine. I played it in 1973 and it was glorious.
The first mid-70's JMP Master Volume Marshalls. I owned a few, 100's and 50's. Probably my fav amp of all time.
A few Hiwatts I owned.

Mesa Quad Preamp. Amazing preamp and at the time I was naive to the endless possibilties it had.

I had many SLO's, a few Ecstasys, many others, but my ear always gravitates towards Marshalls.
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Funny, Was going to say a ‘69 plexi I had briefly but also love my Quad Pre, which does quite a bit and very well. That Plexi wasn’t an amp where you played rock. It made you feel like you were rock itself.
 
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