Amp You Have Owned

blues

blues

New member
I will apologize in advance if this has been done before. Its late and I cant sleep.

List all the amps you have owned since you started playing. List the top 3 that you use now if you have 3. List your top 3 that you wish you could have back.

My first amp was a solid state with an 8" or 10" speaker that I cant remember the name.

Fender:
1953 Wide Panel Deluxe
1968 Deluxe Reverb
70s Silverface Twin Reverb with stock JBL speakers
Fender Blues Deluxe (American Version when they first came out.)

Marshall:
1973 50 Watt Head (PTP Wiring) With 1974 4/12" Checker Board Cab.
1980s Solid State Lead 12 Combo
1980s JCM 50 Watt 2x12" Combo
1980s Studio 15 Combo Sold it and bought it back
1980s Small Box 2553 Silver Jubilee Head With Matching 2x12" 2556 cabinet
18 Watt Reissue 1x12" Combo
Vintage Modern Purple Tolex 100Watt Head with Matching 4X12" Cab.

Victoria:
45410 (Tweed Bassman Combo)
2nd 45410 (Tweed Bassman Combo)
20110 ( Tweed Deluxe Combo)
5112 (Tweed Champ With 12" Speaker Combo)

Peavey:
1980s Bandit Combo(Scorpion Speakers)
1980s 180 Watt Musician Head In Flight Case With Ported 2x12" Cab(Black Widow Speakers)
Vyper 15 Watt Modeling Amp
1970s Pacer (My Wives Amp Still Own)

Vox:
AC30 reissue 2x12" Combo With Celestion Alnico Blue Reissue Speakers (Blue Tolex)
AC15H1TV Heritage Series Combo With 1x12"Alnico Blue Reissue Speaker(While Tolex)
AC4 Watt Combo 10" Speaker (White Tolex)
Vox 1x10" Or 1x12" Speaker Cab (White Tolex)

Aiken:
Aiken 18 Watt Invader 2x12" Combo

Lovepedal:
Lovepedal 2Watt Plexi 8" Speaker Combo (Red Oak Wood Cab) Runs on 2 9 Volt Batteries

I only have 2 amps:
1:Victoria 5112
2:Lovepedal 2 Watt Plexi
3:1970s Pacer (My Wives Amp Still Own)Dont Really Use
The 3 I wish I could get back
1: 1973 50 Watt Head (PTP Wiring) With 1974 4/12" Checker Board Cab
2: Victoria 45410 (First One)
3: 18 Watt Reissue 1x12" Combo

Honorable Mention: Aiken 18 Watt Invader 2x12" Combo With The Vintage Modern Purple Tolex 100Watt Head with Matching 4X12" Cab. A Close 2nd.
 
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Re: Amp You Have Owned

Lots to list, so I'll go with this: 90%+ of my gigs and jam sessions over the past 30 years have been with a SF Fender Twin (early 70s), a 78 Hiwatt DR504, or an early model Marshall JCM 800.

The last six years have involved severe geographical relocations. Anything that I had when that started is long gone.

I am walking forward into the world of gigs and serious jam sessions once again with a Trinity 18 TMB, and PV C30 II (new model), and a Laney LC15 110.

What would I like back? Nothing, really. I was lucky to have a lot of really great amps through the years, but that is the past...
 
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Re: Amp You Have Owned

My first amp was a solid state from Sears.
Oliver Powerflex 500 - God I miss that amp
Fender Silverface Deluxe Reverb
Peavey Backstage 15
1972 Fender Quad Reverb - still got it.
Randall R-300 Head/Ampeg V4 Cab - still have the cab
Roland Jazz Chorus 120 - Miss that baby
Marshall MG-30
JBL/Chandler Stack - Still got it
Fender M80 Pro Head/Fender FM412SL cab - Still got it
Marshall Valvestate VS100- Still got it.
Fender Excelsior - Still got it I play through this the most.
 
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Re: Amp You Have Owned

My collection has been pretty modest compared to most of you, but what I can remember:

Peavey Rage 108
Peavey Mace
Peavey Classic 30
Peavey VK112

Randall G12 75(I think that's what it was called)

81 Marshall 2203
80-something Soldano modded 1959 JCM800
Marshall ModeFour MF350

Line6 Spider Head

Crate BV300h

Metaltronix M1000/Killer Kab (still own that one) modded by FJA

Framus Dragon
Framus Cobra (2)

Bugera 333xl

Behringer practice combo thinger

Still own the Behringer and Metaltronix but if there were a couple I wish I'd kept:

Crate BV300h. The cleans were FANTASTIC, being basically an Ampeg SVT with 2 added dirt channels, and while the crunch channel was kinda mushy and lifeless, the Lead channel was badass. The only reason I let it go was because the head, alone, weighed 85 lbs.

Marshall 2203. It was the precurser to the JCM 800 we all know and love and sounded tough as hell with a boost up front.

Dragon. Versatile and dead reliable, which was probably luck because my 2 Cobras certainly weren't.
 
Re: Amp You Have Owned

First amp was a 20w Gorilla back in 1986. It produced sound, that's about all you could say about it. It had a built-in distortion function controlled by a switch on the front. Weak.
This is when I started buying pedals - SD1, Distortion+, etc. Thank God Almighty for BOSS and MXR.

A couple of years later I picked up another Gorilla, this time the 35w model. It had a "Tube Crunch" feature that could not be turned off.
This was when I Frankensteined a 1/4" Y cable so I could run the SD1 output to 2 pedal chains - one had the MXR into the 20w amp and the other had a Rocktek Distortion pedal. Both needed the SD1 in front to smooth out the distortion.

Around the same time I had a Radio Shack stereo amplifier (as in, home stereo) that I could plug my pedals into and play with headphones on. The receiver had a switch on the front to disable the speakers, for when using headphones. Forgot to turn that switch off one morning when I got home from work and had the volume way up with my headphones on. Mom wasn't happy :lol:

Bought an Ampeg B25B bass head from a friend in 1989, but have never had it tubed/tested.

After that I bought a Crate mini-stack. Had both cabs with the 10" (IIRC) speakers.
Traded that to an old guy for a 1970s Ampeg 4x10 combo, because he wanted it for the built-in Chorus (one of the things Crate did right on those amps).

I forget the model of the Ampeg - more on that in a moment.

At this point I sold all my pedals because a local shop had a used Digitech GSP21 Pro rack unit for cheap, and used that with the Ampeg.
The cabinet only had 2 10s, though, because the other 2 had blown some years prior. Never did get that fixed.

Took the Ampeg 4x10 head out and mounted it in the cabinet of the B25 head (leaving the bass head in a box in the closet).

Bought a Randall rack-mounted preamp that I do not recall the model of. Royal blue faceplate with white knobs, IIRC. Solid state. Could not get a good tone from it. Met a guy who loved the way it sounded and sold it to him. Sucker :lol:
He also bought the Ampeg 4x10 cabinet without the head.

Bought a Peavey TransTube Bandit 112. Great amp. Until it stopped working.

Bought a used Fender RocPro1000 head and Carvin VE2x12 cabinet, both of which I still have.

Bought a Marshall JCM800 a couple of months ago.


Now, getting back to the Ampeg 4x10 head:
-When we moved house in 1999, everything went in storage until we could find a place. We found a place, and my work schedule at the time meant I couldn't just run over to the storage place willy-nilly and spend all day lugging furniture and belongings.
I come home one day and my Dad says "we went to get some stuff out of storage yesterday, and I think some of your stuff is down at the bottom of the hill".

At the bottom of the hill on which the house sits was all my Dad's old TV-repair parephenalia. Large metal file cabinets full of Sam's Foto-fact schematics from the 70s and 80s for TVs and stereos and VCRs and all manner of home appliances. Mom did not want this stuff in the house, because she did not want Dad turning the house into a TV repair shop. It was cheaper to buy a new, bigger TV than it was to have one repaired, yet he insisted on keeping that crap.

Oddly, when we shlepped that crap from New Orleans in 1989, the only thing we didn't have room in the truck for was a huge metal cabinet full - and I mean full - of tubes.
Since Dad expressly stated "make sure all my Foto-fact cabinets get on the truck", the tubes were lobbed into a dumpster one drawer-full at a time. The dumpster was empty, too.
There's maybe 3 cents in recyclable paper in those file cabinets, and probably $40K in tubes that were shattered. Priorities.

I do not own anything rated for the outdoors. No plastic toys, no bicycle, no picnic tables, so it struck me as odd for him to say I had stuff at the bottom of the hill under the tarp with his junk, and I shrugged it off.

In 2003, I was down around the junk pile at the bottom of the hill. It had rained, and snowed, and rained, and snowed, and rained, and snowed from 1999 to 2003, and the old blue tarp was looking kinda ragged.
A gust of wind caught the tattered end and blew up to reveal my Ampeg head. It had been there since 1999.

Pissed doesn't even begin to describe it.

I demanded to know WhyTF my $850 head (going rate on Ebay at the time) was not safely in storage where I thought it was, or not in the house with my other stuff. He mumbled something about a $20 a month storage fee he wanted to "get out from under", like it was some massive burden and he was mere pennies away from being homeless.

Since it had already been down there in the rain and snow and excessive record-breaking heat for almost 4 years straight, I left it there. It's still there right now as I type this. 14 years later.
The grass has grown up around it and over it. I started to dig it out a while back. Found the handle on top and gave it a tug. The tolex is disintegrating, as is the plywood, and I'm sure there's nothing left of it worth saving.
I keep telling myself I'm going to go down there and dig it up and see what's what, but I'm afraid to.

And he has never once offered to replace it.
 
Re: Amp You Have Owned

All gone...

A small black box with a speaker and some junky transistorised circuit in it - probably went in a skip
Intermusic Imp
Laney Linebacker 65
Roland Cube 30

Still have...

Marshall Valvestate 8080 combo
Fender Super Sonic 22w Ltd combo
Zvex Nano Head
Trace-Elliot Speed Twin 50w combo
Roland Bass Cube 100w combo
Ampmaker SE5a head
 
Re: Amp You Have Owned

Forgot about the MicroCube and Fender Rumble 25. Sitting here under my computer desk, being cute.
 
Re: Amp You Have Owned

in order...

Line 6 Spidervalve 112 ( actually a really good amp)
Fender Gdec 3 thirty (took pedals well and was a fun tool for learning and jamming)
Vox AC15 VR ( hated this amp, only good setting was clean and it was sterile)
Fender Deville Red October 4x10 (could have been my pedalboard at the time but was a super muddy amp)


Currently own-

Traynor YGL2 EL84 cathode biased 30 watt 1x12... probably the most roaring and rocking combo I have ever had the chance to crank and throw fuzzes at

Mesa Lonestar Special 4x10 combo ... Great amp, VERY loud for 30 watts and has very interactive EQ controls.. Don't use it much because I love the Traynor way more
 
Re: Amp You Have Owned

back in the day and in no particular order
a small 10 watt Gorilla ( smashed it in drinking semi accident )
a small karaoke machine
Ibanez rage
pignose 20 ( blew out the speaker in the 45 day MF Warranty )
pignose hog 40 ( yea same thing )

won a Laney GC80A from Guitar Player mag ( still got it and its a tone monster )
Carvin Red Line 2X10 combo ( still got it and its a tank )
Carvin Belair 2X12 combo ( thought the tubes would be better that the SS Laney, its not , but it is nicely different ... oh still got it )
found a Peavey Vyper 15 for $50 at GC ( still got it, small bed room amp sounds good at low voiume )
got a Roland Cube 20 as part of package with a Candy Apple Squire ( still got it, nice little practice amp

I am sure there was some other little cheap amp in there with a Yamaha single pickup guitar I had back in the 90's
but other than small black and had what looked like a six inch speaker, i cant remember it at all
 
Re: Amp You Have Owned

Crate GX15R (gotta start somewhere)
Squier 15R
Marshall VS265R
Marshall VS100RH
'82 Marshall JCM800 50W 2x12 Combo
Boogie Rectoverb
Carvin Legacy I
Peavey Classic 50 head
Line 6 Flextone II 2x12 combo
Bogner 101B
Mesa Tremoverb
Mesa Dual Rec Multiwatt

cabs:
Marshall 1960A
Marshall 1936 (2)
Carvin Legacy 4x12
Trutone 2x12 w/ Webers
Carvin V3 4x12 shell loaded with an Eminence mix.
 
Re: Amp You Have Owned

Crate gx40m
Fender frontman 25R
Blackheart BH5 (both combo and head versions)
Fender Super Champ XD
Vox Night Train 15H and 1x12 cab
Marshall DSL50H
Egnater Tweaker 15 head
Fender Deluxe Reverb Reissue (current amp)
Fender Mustang I

The best have been the Tweaker, the DSL, and the DRRI.
 
Re: Amp You Have Owned

Oh man, I've been playing for 40 years and in that time , I've owned quite a few amps . Here's a list of what I have right now ;

1988 Fender Studio 85
Fender Mustang II V2
Fender Frontman 25R w/ Eminence Rajun Cajun
1993 Fender Champion 30

From what I remember, amps that I've owned ;
1989 Peavey Bandit 112 Solo Series
Crate GX-65 1988 model
Crate GTD 120
Fender Frontman 65R
Fender FM 212R
Marshall MG50DFX
Marshall G50RCD
1973 Fender Champ ( was my very 1st amp )
1980 Peavey Backstage 30
2009 Line 6 Spider III 75 ( Very Briefly ).
 
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Re: Amp You Have Owned

I haven't had that many... I tend to stick with an amp that I like, I am not a massive amp GAS enthusiast :)

Have owned:
Marshall MG15DFX (My first)
Marshall 4500 Dual Reverb 50watt combo (crap crap crap crap)
ENGL Screamer 50watt combo - über awesome gain sound, but too modern for my tastes.
Marshall JCM2000 DSL 100watt head - great allrounder. Solid amp with great sounds :)
Marshall JCM800 2203 - from 1990, modded with KT88s. Great, a beast - the best sounding I have ever had. I so regret getting rid of this. Pierre was quite stoked by this amp as well :) Despite all of the claimed issues these late 80s 800s have, it sounded damn great.
Vox DA5 - small 5watt modelling combo, for bedroom practice. Cool little amp.
Laney Cub 15R - 15watts of great sound. Many dont like these, but they have this rawness that just sits great in a band sound.. Very cool oldschool sounds.

And now I have a old 1994 Marshall Valvestate 8080 combo. Sounds good, albeit nothing great - works good as a cheap amp. Saving up for a DSL or 2203 again :)
 
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Re: Amp You Have Owned

I don't want any of my old ones back. They sucked, that's why they're gone. The best of the old ones was a Randall RG-80 which I played for years. I had a Crate that had real Telefunken preamp tubes in it. Kept the tubes. Amp gone. More happy now.

Top amps I use now:
1. Wallace BKW45 head + Marshall 1960BX cab
2. Fender '57 Twin (50th anniversary reissue)
3. Orange AD50 head + Marshall 1960AV cab

Honorable mention and following very close behind the top 3 (all 5 are really a neck-and-neck race...)
4. Fender Super Reverb (blackface reissue)
5. Hiwatt DR-103 head + Hiwatt 4123 cabinet
 
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