What's the best amp?

  • Thread starter Thread starter guadalupefrazier
  • Start date Start date
My favorite amp ever is my Bad Cat Custom Shop Cub II. It's a 30-watt, 1x12 amp with reverb and tremolo built in.
 
anomaly said:
My favorite is my Mesa Boogie Mark IV which I have owned forever now... about 10 years actually I'd say. The reason I like it so much and the Mark series in particular is because it has that dual EQ going on, one before the gain stages and one after so you can adjust the feel and tightness as well as the frequencies you want to stand out more with the graphic EQ. I had a Mark III earlier, which I also owned about 10 years, it was a great amp as well, but perhaps not quite as refined and tight sounding as the IV. If I owned a IIC+ though 'm pretty sure that would be my favorite.
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I watched fryette speaking of the graphicc eq on these and on his pitbull. It was illuminating
 
Mesa double/triple rectifier. Very versatile and both channels have been on COUNTLESS records. They sit just right in a mix. Not to mention that the mods out there kick ass too. Can have them loose, or you can tighten them way up with a tc style boost. Or hit them with a tube screamer style. They JUST RULE.
 
If I want wow a guest who comes over my Pre Production CCV cranked. For all around sweet tone, great feel and versatility ground zero mods!!!
 
It varies day to day for me - I love all my amps and they all bring something to the table. If pushed though, right now I’d say either my Boogie Mark IV or Marshall JMP 2204.
 
I was kinda spoiled from the start. About 35 years ago, I started playing with some horrible Novanex transistor combo (70s plastic dutch thing) for roughly a year. It was alright but I was looking for something better obviously. I saw an ad in a paper magazine and went to see with a guitar playing friend. There, in front of me, was a vertical input 2203 half-stack in perfect shape. The seller was asking about 2000 french francs (long before euro, I'd say about $300 from that time).

Seems strange now but at the time, noone wanted those antiquated Marshall, big, heavy, fragile, costly tubes etc. In Europe, they were dime a dozen, and very cheap. I went home with it and never looked back. It's still in my studio. Of course I play with other very good amps, Soldano, Fender, Mesa etc. but none better than this one, just different.
 
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Smashedguitaris⸸ said:
I watched fryette speaking of the graphicc eq on these and on his pitbull. It was illuminating
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I saw that too. He was very critical of Randall, calling him just an "engineer" and the frequencies chosen were not what is written on the amp, which is true. They're actually something like this (centered around) 87.61hz, 371.74hz, 723.43hz, 1575.87hz, 4822.88hz, some of them are WAY off. That's for the Mark IV, i'm not sure if it's the same for the III and IIC+ as well, I assume it's probably close.

Thing is Fryette is a smart guy an all, but does he sell a lot of amps? not really. I hear no one raving about his amps that much and personally I find them kinda cold sounding, just kinda meh... none of his amps has really interested me.
 
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im a pretty simple guy
my 75 Music Man 65 210
reason being is a blend of SF BF and light tweed all rolled into one package
1/2 power switch is great

after that is my JCM 900 4500 head Ch 1
pure growly blues
 
Oof, tough call. Probably a loaded Mark III green stripe that was stolen out of a “secure” storage facility years back. I know it’s an amp that’s difficult to switch on the fly, but that lead channel just ripped and felt amazing to play. Clean channel was fantastic too.

Also stolen at the same time, and deserving of consideration, was a Peters Chimera (50w), and a Marshall JCM 800 with a Cameron Ocean mod. The last one probably hurt the most to lose, being the hardest to replace.
 
anomaly said:
I saw that too. He was very critical of Randall, calling him just an "engineer" and the frequencies chosen were not what is written on the amp, which is true. They're actually something like this (centered around) 87.61hz, 371.74hz, 723.43hz, 1575.87hz, 4822.88hz, some of them are WAY off. That's for the Mark IV, i'm not sure if it's the same for the III and IIC+ as well, I assume it's probably close.

Thing is Fryette is a smart guy an all, but does he sell a lot of amps? not really. I hear no one raving about his amps that much and personally I find them kinda cold sounding, just kinda meh... none of his amps has really interested me.
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I would not call them bland. I havent been lucky enough to play a deliverance, but the ultralead is one of the best sounding amps i have played
 
Smashedguitaris⸸ said:
I would not call them bland. I havent been lucky enough to play a deliverance, but the ultralead is one of the best sounding amps i have played
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Agreed! I bought and used my Pittbull Ultra-lead before I ever tried a Mark series amp. Loved that brutal beast from the first crushing chord! When I purchased a mkiv a couple years later, I loved it as well. The Marks I think get more saturated than the Fryette stuff; but I always felt they were more similar than different.
 
Smashedguitaris⸸ said:
I would not call them bland. I havent been lucky enough to play a deliverance, but the ultralead is one of the best sounding amps i have played
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I wouldn’t call them bland either, though I only ever owned a VHT CL-50 and that amp sounded fantastic.
 
The midrange in the VHT's/Fryette's tends to stay more neutral, smooth/less growl or richness of tone in that region (especially vs Marshall's), most apparent on simple long held powerchords, so I think that's why they can come off bland (at least in that context) with the strengths being clarity, punch, robustness and openness and imo good overall balance, but for me at least they don't have as much of a particular wow factor as some other amps. I even feel this way about my 2150 despite it being a keeper
 
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