Bad Cat mini cat always sounds good using a royer 121.

Fender Twin Reverb
Roland Jazz-Chorus JC-120 (KILLER solid-state amp)
VOX AC-30
Mesa Boogie MKIV

Great topic.
Roland JC120 kicks ars. Great amp...tube or not tube.
Along with trying to contribute to the thread. I am sure that the Marshall (whatever model) will make this list.
I have been looking at some Marshall JCM800 (with 12" speakers) all tube combo amps.
But I'm not sure which model of Marshall is THE best.

How about mods on guitar amps. That is where alot of my $$$$ has been going lately.

it very much depends on the music and the band, but i really like the 60s -70s fender champ/vibro champ. i actually really like recording mesa boogie dual rectifiers / marshall jcm 800/900 for the really heavy stuff. i like almost all of the fender amps, i have had really good luck recording the fender deville for a newer amp.

like i said, depends on the band, the music, the song.

If the money is no object – Bogner. All the way.

I have found one very interesting amp. Hughes & Kettner Tube 20 Anniversary. Heaven for only 500 €. Even if you are not on the budget, you should give it a try. Clean like Vox/Fender, drive like Soldano/Marshall.

Really unbelievable.

My pick is my amp, for obvious reasons. Mesa Boogie DC-3. Great littlel 30 watt screamer. Its a short head so it's very easy to move around the studio and is loud as can be from 3 on up. I'm actually going to do an entire song with my new Epi valve jr. head. I had a band over the other day and they were ohhing and ahhhing over that hundred dollar amp. Can't wait to hear it when I change the tubes and finish converting my old Marshall solid state 1x12 combo in a Celestion greenback cabinet for it. BTW is the JCM800 worth a crap? I played the 2000's and 900's and didn't really like either and I know there has to be a decent Marshall out there somewhere.

jonnyc wrote: BTW is the JCM800 worth a crap? I played the 2000's and 900's and didn't really like either and I know there has to be a decent Marshall out there somewhere.

That's what I want to know as well. It seems that the Marshall JCM900's are NOT like the JCM800's, and both are way different than the 2000's.
And many owners of JCM800's on ebay, have various amp mods, by different amp mod'ers.
I want a Marshall combo amp, but I like really over driven distortion and tons of gain. Will a stock Marshall amp do it? Or is the best way to get killer tone, is get your Marshall mod'ed?

the jcm 800 is a great amp for certain music. the jcm 900/2000 are good amps too, but i wouldn't recommend them except for hardcore/nu-metal type sounds. i really like the jcm 800 for hard rock and emo/screamo type sounds. it usually sounds best when you compliment it with a mesa boogie or other high gain amp. (soldano, bogner, etc)

Groff wrote: Bogner. All the way.

I went to Bogners web-site. And read some other web-pages on Bogner amps. WOW! I had no idea that just as many "major label" artist(s) use Bogner amps as they use a Marshall amps. Bogner MUST be the real deal.
Learn something new everyday. :oops:
Guess I'll put the Bogner near the top of the list.

Much like the topic of this post... I want to use "all tube" and combo amps. I would prefer most of them to be rated at or around 50Watts or so. That way I can crank them up. Without being ungodly LOUD. And get a nice overdrive going on. I also like feedback from time to time. On the really HOT stuff.

Have I assumed wrong to think that 50Watt combo amps are great for recording?
Or is the BEST way to get the BEST tone and recorded tracks to use the 100W heads (whatever brand) that sooo many "major label" artist use, to record with themselves? With a 4X12 cabinet. At darn near 11. And so loud that God's on the phone, leaving a message saying "Turn it Down" (in deep voice)

I wouldn't say a 50watt amp is the "best" I actually wouldn't say that for any amp on the planet. You can record through anything in a studio, 100watts is by no means a necessity. I record all the time with amps from 5 watts to 35 watts. A 35watt tube amp will scream its ass off if you crank it up to 10. But really it all depends on tone and what you're going for. There's probably a laundry list of players that have recorded with amps under 50 watts.

Two more for visiting:

http://www.egnater.com/

http://www.cornfordamps.com/

Wow! I want them all. Well, at least one of each :roll:
Great links man!
I had NO idea. I really like the sound clips as well.

StevenColbert wrote: I want them all.

8-)

Tell me about it ... :cry: :evil:

I owe you this one:

http://www.hughes-and-kettner.com/products.php?mode=prod&id=93#

Play the demo/sounds (clean, drive)

It's all tube, 1x AX7 and 2x EL 84. 20W but loud as hell. I was impressed with it more than some boutique’s.

I could only imagine how it will sound with the NOS tubes and Royer 121 in the front .....

I use a Mesa 20-20 power amp:

..with a valve pre, driving a home made 2*12 cabinet loaded with Celestions.

Sounds great! :D

Ive been trying to get amp amp for a 90's thrash metal type sound. Metallica/Megadeth... Tried the Marshall Mode4 / Messa Dual... none really were liked much... The small Randall RG50 Tube combo sounds quite appropriate though... Maybe driving the guitar into the amp via something like a tube screamer with mild gain might help.. but seriously dunno...

any suggestions ??? Thanks

Sidhu

I have had a fair few amps over time, haven't found an "all in one" but here's my biased opinion on the ones I have had......

SOVTEK Mig100 head, with a marshall JCM800 Quad LOUD!!!!!!!!!!!, 100w one channel all valve Russian volume - was cool for a time, great for stadiums - not any of them in my vicinity though, not so good in the studio or club. Sold it to buy the marshall combo (not a wise move) still have the quad though, Cut the back in half so it's semi open & it gave it a pretty good overall tone, and a bit less bass (good) - Most of the time it's just a good looking amp stand though.

Marshall JCM800 50w 2x12 valve combo : had this about 9 or 10 years ago, I hated it, no mids, lots of gain, not really my thing - It got stolen from an outdoor gig, best day of my life :)

Fender Champ25se 1x12 hybrid combo - Bought this for peanuts when my marshall was stolen, it has a valve poweramp, and a solidstate pre. I don't like the Dirty, but being 25w you could drive it hard without your ears bleeding, and it has this cool valve saturated thing going on. I like it's sound, quite gritty and attitudey. still have it today.

soldano Reverb'0'sonic 50w 2x12 valve combo - This had a great dirty channel,and pretty red snakeskin put some GT KT66 valves in it & it went very loud... pretty good all rounder (didn't do metal though) sounded good when I played it, didn't when my very good guitarist friend did, then again I couldn't stand his mesa DC3 which he made sing....
Sold it to buy a Soundcraft 1600, Rode K2 & pair of NT5's - still not sure if I regret it or not!?!

Vox AC30TBX read good and bad about this, bought it anyway about a month ago, I have recorded and played various AC30's over time, never heard one I didn't like - they are quite smoothly nauseating ( in a good way) - cut through without killing a mix somehow - I like it I do....

In General I find amp A which suits Guitarist A is crap with Guitarist B and vice versa for amp B, If there is an amp C that suits everyone I am yet to see it....... I find I do have better luck with combo's (solid state or no) though

AltheGatman wrote: Marshall JCM800 50w 2x12 valve combo : had this about 10 years ago, I hated it

Anybody else hate their JCM800? I was hoping this amp was good for heavy metal.

howdy! this is mostly for steven colbert, the best model of 800 is going to be the 2204,which in combo form is the 4010 i believe (ebay research is actually pretty handy)

forgot to add this- the reason the 900's and 2000's suck is because of their crummy transformers. i have an old valvestate vs100 that sounds way better than the 900 or the 2000 and has a great emulated line out. this amp is generally my studio channel strip, although i am in the market for an 800 or maybe the new deville

rudedogg wrote: ... i have had really good luck recording the fender deville for a newer amp...

Agreed - I just bought a Fender Hot Rod DeVille 212 Stereo Combo & it's wicked... vintage tones but versatile too & it sounds great recorded with the standard SM57 mic up config.

I actually went into the store to buy a Line 6 Flexitone III which I figured, as a studio amp, would probably be satisfactory & give me the most options for the price.
I demoed it for 15 mins & then... plugged into the DeVille & it was no contest - I knew, heard & felt it straight away!
Real tubes are unbeatable! It's a cliche but soooo true huh!
I reckon modelling needs another couple of years of evolution & devlopment yet - it'll get close eventually probably but right now - no way!
Anyway I tried a few others, an ampeg, a marshall, a peavey, a laney, a boogie but came back to the Deville & walked out with it!
Very happy.

For recording I've got 3 preamp/amps to choose from.
RockmanXPR which is Solid state and can go direct, Triaxis to a 20/20 power amp or straight to a mixer, and a Hughes and Kettner Triamp mkII.

The RockmanXPR is great for the direct line stuff but I'm a big Boston nut so that's why I got it, I could get a good 80's metal tone like George Lynch but not my preferred choice for today's metal, however I love the rockman clean tones and would use those instead of tube.

Now for the tube gear! The Triaxis coupled with a power amp and good speaker is a great choice because of it's versatility of channel settings and modes. Just make sure you get a good mic and nice enviroment to record in. I wouldn't bother with the Record outputs on the Triaxis, to me it was just very stale...

Hughes & Kettner Triamp. Now this is Marshall on steroids! Only issue I have with recording using this is the C note when you even just lightly chug it, it really spikes up, but letting it ring out all is good. That's a question for another thread... Again I tried to record with the Red Box III that allows you to plug in the amp to a mixer, again not good enough.

These are my favorite amps for studio work:

for pristine cleans: JC-120

for character cleans: Fender Twin

somewhere in between: Vox AC30

for gain/metal: JCM800, DUAL REC, 5150

At home i've been using the Randall RM20B. You can mod the mods!