What's the most FUN amp to play?

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THD Deco 36
 
My Splawn Quick Rod. I have a several more expensive amps, but every single time I plug into that thing, songs come out. It just responds to my playing exactly how I want and it's the sound that's always been in my head. I have an album that's being mixed right now, and I experimented with all kinds of amps and cabs when I was dialing in tones, and 99% of the time I just came back to the Quick Rod and just dialed it in differently for different tones. I've often thought of just buying something like a Mesa Lone Star or a Suhr Bella, and using a clean/dirty amp rig and just selling everything else.
 
Hands down, my Hagen. Absolutely. HOURS pass - morning to night - gone - poof - the thing is addictive AF and just keeps me playing till I'm burger. Not sure what it is - but it's such a fantastic stand-alone amp, and the lead (4th) channel is unto itself a massive blackhole of options and tones... SO fun.

Yes. Diezel Hagen. My happy-maker.
 
Jubilee 2555x and Landry Lexi. The 2555x is a bachelor party with a few strippers. The Lexi is a bachelor party in Vegas!!!
 
Andy Marshall built me a one off Deco 36 amp.

2 x 12AX7
4 x EL84

Two inputs. 1M and 6.8M
Single Volume and single tone (high roll off) pots.
2 or 4 power tube switch.
High volt and low volt switch.

The 8 combinations of different input and switch combinations all have different sounds and feel.
The 1M input is similar to the Bivalve / Univalve. The 6.8M input is similar to the Flexi. The sound frequencies and feel is different.

This amp sounds different than the other THD amps. There is two prototypes that were built many years ago and this amp will go into production. He has parts to build a few more hand wired versions. He built one more for someone else.

The amp is built on a Univalve / Bivalve cage amp chassis. The production will not be a cage amp. Likely upside down so easy to convert to a head or combo.

The amp is self biasing. Class AB or Class A. Depends on the settings used. The transformer is made for the Decco 36. Depending on settings you can get more tube overdrive or transformer saturation.

The tremolo was added after. It almost has a Univibe sound to it.

This is Andy's favorite amp built by him or anyone else. Personally I am surprised by how versatile it is for limited controls. Keeping the signal path simple allows for the unique sound and feel.
 
cetanu said:
One of the most fun experiences was playing a Digitech 2112 with an additional S-Disc upgrade chip (making it a 2120) and using a variety of ridiculously overpowered power amps from a Strategy 500 to a Velocity 500 and a Pearce A3 600W into two 4x12 cabs equipped with 12Ls. Dual analog (SS & tube) distortion paths panned left and right, true preset spillover and seamless patch changes (that most modern modelers probably still can't do, except for the Helix since 3.0) and morphing between presets all day with the expression pedal on the (phantom powered) Control One.

It's not just that it was fun to play but it was convenient and uncomplicated even though the manual was the size of my F16 flight simulator handbook. So it was a fun experience overall even when gigging regularly. I can't say the same about pedalboards. The closest I got convenience wise is the Helix Rack & Control.

The most fun amp for me that is still being built today? Fryette Deliverance probably but I'm a rack guy at heart so I still have some well maintained and overbuilt power amps that I like to use with nice preamps.
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I dumped my Eleven Rack and started using my Digitech 2112 SGS. It simply sounded way better .

A friend came by with his Kemper to " capture" some of my presets from my 2112 and RP-12.

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I love the Cali tweed for cleans too.

Gain stuff, all about the Larry. There's nothing on earth with that kind of clarity.
 
Ventura said:
Hands down, my Hagen. Absolutely. HOURS pass - morning to night - gone - poof - the thing is addictive AF and just keeps me playing till I'm burger. Not sure what it is - but it's such a fantastic stand-alone amp, and the lead (4th) channel is unto itself a massive blackhole of options and tones... SO fun.

Yes. Diezel Hagen. My happy-maker.
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You mind taking a picture of your settings?
I love mine as well and am curious how others set them up across the channels!
 
Addicted to playing my Diezel VHX.
It takes real discipline to stop playing it.
So many options, all tube tone, great fx, quick dial in, no time wasted tweaking,
just hours of getting lost playing.
 
I’ve had fun playing most of Friedman stuff. My 2203 is a joy to play boosted or unboosted. I like the Marshall mg100 in short spurts. Had some fun with some boogie stuff a while back.
 
My 1986 Carvin X-100 B
VHT Pitbull 100 Watt head
Moded Marshall JCM 800
Carvin Legacy 1,2 and 3
Carvin Quad X
Fender Princeton
Crate Power Block
Peavey JSX
Marshall Mode Four
Mesa Boogie Mark 5
 
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