Clean amp?

A

axemanstu

New member
Hi I'm looking into getting an amp for clean sounds!
I use a Marshall SL-X & a 1987x for overdrive tones and have been getting my cleans from backing off on the guitar and sometimes use a boss GE-7 to cut frequecies and acheive the same thing! This all works quite well but i've recently been thinking I'd like to have a dedicated Clean amp with a nice full tone to switch to. I'd use it for live and recording.
If anyone is using an amp like this and could share some insight i'd love to hear from you!
 
Re: Clean amp?

Well I used to play through a Marshall 900 & a Fender Super Reverb A/B'd. I used the SR for my clean tones but had a TS9 in front of it to push it when I wanted a blueser OD type of tone. The Marshall was used mostly for OD/ solos. The Clean channel on the Marshall was a tad touchy so it was either to clean or not clean enough. The Fender solved most of that. Depending on the volume you will be playing at the Super Reverb may not be the best choice. It's 40W with 4 10's and it can overdrive right around 4 to 5. If you want the amp to stay very clean and still be pretty loud a Twin might be a better option. The other thing to consider is the A/B box. I have used a few and I still use 2 amps today(same approach). The way I do this is I use one amp for claen and one for drive. THe idea is you can be playing through your clean amp and setup the overdrive amp, then just switch to it. You can have the volume louder, overdrive effects, etc, all set up and with one step of a switch you have it. The A/B box needs to have ground loop transformers in order to minimize ground loop hum and to isolate the signals from each other. I initially used a Morley A/B/Y but it sucked tone and it was very noisey as well as I had a lot of bleed from one side to the other. I replaced it with a Loopmaster A/B/Y which was considerably better, but I still had some hum. I added the HumX to one side and it eliminated about 90% of the hum. Probably the best A/B/Y that will stop all of this is the Lele but it's about $300 so I decided to go with the Loopmaster and the HumX (total cost was about $100). Works great and my amps are very quiet.
 
Re: Clean amp?

i used a fender/marshall dual amp setup as well. a fender twin for clean and jcm 800 half stack for dirty, it worked very well. i started with a whirlwind a/b/y and it was ok but eventually made a single switch a/b box. anytime you run two amps you will have potential for ground loops causing hum but with a little effort these can usually be worked out
 
Re: Clean amp?

Definately a Fender of some sort for cleans. I play a 50w plexi and you will probably want a twin to keep volumes similar.
 
Re: Clean amp?

I gigged for years with a solid-state Fender Ultimate Chorus, everything from small auditoriums to university coliseums.

I have liked it better than any tube amps I've tried for cleans. Please understand this is a matter of personal taste, but it's clean and loud, and really clean while it's loud. All the t00bers I tried would have some breakup at higher volumes, and I didn't want that. Some folks find it desireable, but I want a clean amp to be super clean, all the time.

They don't make them any more, but anybody who owns one will tell you it's richer than a JC-120 and even cleaner.

-Hunter

-Hunter
 
Re: Clean amp?

My vote goes to Fender Blues Deluxe, or Blues Junior, depending on how uch you want to spend, and how much wattage you need.
 
Re: Clean amp?

Dont forget about the peavey classic series. I LOVE the clean tone of my classic 100. You can get a classic 50 combo for a nice used price.
 
Re: Clean amp?

The little Fender hot rod deluxe has great clean tone with lots of headroom and volume if you need it. For the price it is a really nice amp. It's not as chimey as a classic Fender but it is definitely worthy.
 
Re: Clean amp?

Based on your wattage needs, go with a Fender... Deluxe, Super, Pro or Twin Reverb, they would all fit the bill based on your speaker and power needs...

Even my little Princeton Reverb has great cleans at practice/house volume. (It turns into great Fender breakup pretty quickly so I'd avoid it for your needs)
 
Re: Clean amp?

My first answer would be a Fender Twin, but you also might look for something like an old Musicman amp. I used to use one for just the same purpose. Their overdrive sounds are anemic, but the clean is beautiful. The one I used was a Musicman 112, which put out about 50 watts through a single 12" EV speaker. The result was glassy and crystalline. A Roland Jazz Chorus also has a lovely clean tone.
 
Re: Clean amp?

Why no love for the Fender Deville? You can get it in a 2x12 or 4x10. The 4x10 is incredibly bassy and full.
 
Re: Clean amp?

The new VOX 100watt highgain amp has an awesome clean channel, with the same treble bite as a fender.

Egnator sound great clean, but need the right guitar.

The Randalls with the fender modules are awesome.

My clean setup is Guitar -> SD Doubleback -> BD-2 -> GE-7 -> ISP decimator -> GE-21 Rack -> Randall G3 Head -> 1960A. This setup is totally clean with no dirt, even with the BD-2 on.

Good luck!
 
Re: Clean amp?

ImmortalSix said:
I gigged for years with a solid-state Fender Ultimate Chorus, everything from small auditoriums to university coliseums.

I have liked it better than any tube amps I've tried for cleans. Please understand this is a matter of personal taste, but it's clean and loud, and really clean while it's loud. All the t00bers I tried would have some breakup at higher volumes, and I didn't want that. Some folks find it desireable, but I want a clean amp to be super clean, all the time.

They don't make them any more, but anybody who owns one will tell you it's richer than a JC-120 and even cleaner.

-Hunter

-Hunter
Click to expand...

Thank you! I thought I was the only person who had ever heard of this amp,.. they used to have one in one of the studios here on campus. It was just.. the best sounding clean amp I've ever played. It had such a natural sounding clean, really responded well to difference in attack.

I will add too.. that it also had, hands down one of the best distortion/overdrive channels I've ever heard, nevermind just on a solid state.
 
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