Amp head recommendation for drone/doom/stoner

Noisembryo

New member
Greetings,

I need an amp head recommendation for drone/doom/stoner:

1. It needs to be new and readily available in the stores (no 2nd hand, no 50yr old amps, no Sunns, Ampegs, AOR's etc...)
2. Must take pedals well, especially fuzzes
3. Must have effects loop
4. It's gonna be used only for recording (Plugged into Torpedo Live)
5. Budget up to 750$
6. I'm in EU
7. Bonus if it has nice clean channel

Anything that satisfies this list? :)
 
Re: Amp head recommendation for drone/doom/stoner

You want an Orange.

The OR15 falls in your budget. It is a damn good amp. In a store, I was getting huge stoner/doom tones from it with Strat/Tele single coils into it and no pedals. Into the Orange PPC212 cab, it sounded HUGE.

Nice clean channel... OR15 is only one channel. If you need another channel, maybe try a Marshall DSL100H. There is a really good YouTube video (look up "Acid King cover") by a guy with a stock SG getting great stoner/doom tones with a stock SG, Big Muff, DSL100H, and Orange cab.

Also, a hint (since I've been down this road before) - avoid the Peavey 6505 series for stoner/doom tones. Yes, they have resonance controls, but even with resonance maxed, they still don't feel loose and warm enough for stoner/doom. Oranges have that looseness and warmth built in, so that's the simplest route.
 
Re: Amp head recommendation for drone/doom/stoner

Fender Hot Rod Deluxe. Yeah, it's a combo, but you can run it into an external cab for more thump. On board gain channel gets good and sludgy, has a loop, takes pedals like a pro, you can pick them up anywhere and the clean channel is great too.
 
Re: Amp head recommendation for drone/doom/stoner

I agree with stratguy.

Definitely check one out.
(Cheap beer optional)
 
Re: Amp head recommendation for drone/doom/stoner

You could try a Laboga the Beast Classic 30...nice fat sludgy sounds from it for not a lot of $$..

..kind of like a JCM 800-meets-an Orange of some sort & works for anything from Sin After Sin era/70's Priest to classic/modern Sabbath to pretty much any kind of Stoner stuff out there with a pedal (..takes those like a champ too.)

30 watts, 2 channels, Speaker defeat/silent recording..works fine/great build quality...love mine :bigthumb:


Some youtube demo's I found:





Does'nt have a mid control but has a preset 'mid switch' instead which shifts the mids pretty drastically. I've found it very useable with killer tones all around & don't miss a mid control at all.

They're manufactured/available in the EU as well so maybe you could try before you buy..
 
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Re: Amp head recommendation for drone/doom/stoner

OR15. Replace stock tubes for Mullards if you want more clean headroom. It also cleans up the amount of fizz in the gain.


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Re: Amp head recommendation for drone/doom/stoner

Fender Hot Rod Deluxe. Yeah, it's a combo, but you can run it into an external cab for more thump. On board gain channel gets good and sludgy, has a loop, takes pedals like a pro, you can pick them up anywhere and the clean channel is great too.

The Orange is the prefered choice of the genre. However, I would suggest you try a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe. I used one with my band about a month ago and was blown away. We don't play drone/doom/stoner, we are more post punk hardcore. Still, I am fairly confident the amp can get you the tones you are looking for. They are also loud as hell. As far as the "thump" goes, I got more than enough without an ext. cab.
 
Re: Amp head recommendation for drone/doom/stoner

The Orange is the prefered choice of the genre.

I wonder why that is, though...I am no expert on that type of music, except I am a huge Sabbath fan, and the early Beat Club videos show them using Orange amps, which at the time, sponsored the TV show- all the bands, including Sabbath, hated them. I know the new ones are not like the old ones, but maybe they got the sound right..I don't know. I was just curious about the statement.
 
Re: Amp head recommendation for drone/doom/stoner

I wonder why that is, though...I am no expert on that type of music, except I am a huge Sabbath fan, and the early Beat Club videos show them using Orange amps, which at the time, sponsored the TV show- all the bands, including Sabbath, hated them. I know the new ones are not like the old ones, but maybe they got the sound right..I don't know. I was just curious about the statement.

Because when you dime Orange amps, the bass flubs out in a beautiful buzzy/fuzzy distortion that reeks of a Sabbath album - not that they used them, just that it sounds like the record. No other amp does it like that. If you back off the bass by about 2-4 notches, then the Orange flattens out like a Marshall. But all dimed is all fuzz. They sound like a very big version of a very small amp just being destroyed with volume. Probably why Jimmy Page used some little practice amp for that fuzzy/slide distortion in the studio and had Oranges on stage live to make that same sound.
 
Re: Amp head recommendation for drone/doom/stoner

Because when you dime Orange amps, the bass flubs out in a beautiful buzzy/fuzzy distortion that reeks of a Sabbath album - not that they used them, just that it sounds like the record. No other amp does it like that. If you back off the bass by about 2-4 notches, then the Orange flattens out like a Marshall. But all dimed is all fuzz. They sound like a very big version of a very small amp just being destroyed with volume. Probably why Jimmy Page used some little practice amp for that fuzzy/slide distortion in the studio and had Oranges on stage live to make that same sound.

Thank you- this makes sense to me. I've heard other amps that do that, too. I had an Ampeg 1/2 stack that had that, um, problem. It was great for 80s Sabbath.
 
Re: Amp head recommendation for drone/doom/stoner

Orange, Laney and Marshall are pretty much the standard for that style for a reason, they really sounds good for it.

As it has been said, Oranges have that little fuzzy distortion right off the bat, I've had a Dark Terror for a while and if it wasn't of the EL84s in it, I would probably still be using it in my band. I've moved to a JCM800 2203 clone with an extra gain stage and a switchable clean channel with very good results too. I really love the high wattage amps for that kind of music, the low end is easier to control and have more of that room shaking effect which is a plus, but its not necessary in any way. Laneys are another of those british sounding amps and I believe that Iommi has a signature amplifier with them nowaday, which should speak by itself. Maybe a Blackstar would do great too but I can't vouch for them as much as the others.

Cheers!
 
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