Favorite Clean Amps

Re: Favorite Clean Amps

Most SF/BF Fenders have a neat clean tone. My fave though has to be the clean channel of my Rivera R100. It'll do BF Twin cleans or get a bit tweed-y and compressed if you adjust the tone controls properly.
 
Re: Favorite Clean Amps

I really like the cleans from the Road King and the Mark V (they are different from each other), the F-30 has some really cool cleans also.

Fender amps just never intrigued me.
 
Re: Favorite Clean Amps

Clean amp?

1- Fender Twin
2- Voc AC30
3- Roland JC120

...But I must also add that my fav clean sound from an electric guitar is a good guitar directly into a slightly driven TLA tube preamp/compressor that is plugged directly into the mixing desk...
 
Re: Favorite Clean Amps

greatbob6 said:
Thanks for your input guys...unfortunately around here its kind of difficult to find much beyond the standard Fender's actually carried in stores. I've played a Vox AC15 a little bit and enjoyed that...unfortunately it was at GC which tends to be a poor place to really check out amps due to the throngs of people milling about, impossibility of finding a guitar that isn't dropped D and horribly out of tune, etc. :)

A smaller store in the area tends to carry a good selection of the Fender amps so I'm going to have to swing by there when I get a chance and check out what they have.

I tried out a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe at GC this past weekend and I was quite impressed with it...however, at this point I'm a bit overwhelmed with the variety of "Deluxe" models. There's the Blues Deluxe, Hot Rod Deluxe, Deluxe Reveb (is that the '65 Reissue?)... Their naming schemes kind of suck in my opinion! :D
Click to expand...

For anyone who likes the AC15 clean, check out the night train. Mine had some high headroom power tubes so it was clean and quite chimey/sparkly and with that Vox spank, a good bit cleaner than an ac15.

I also like the HRDx clean. I played one once with a weber 12F150... that was awesome.
 
Re: Favorite Clean Amps

There needs to be more love for the top boost model Vox AC-30s. That Vox jangle is something you don't easily get out of your head :)
 
Re: Favorite Clean Amps

There needs to be more love for the top boost model Vox AC-30s. That Vox jangle is something you don't easily get out of your head
Click to expand...
+1 Grew up listening to mainly that sound hence its my favourite tone and my favourite clean tones use them (The Church, Early Beatles, U2)
 
Re: Favorite Clean Amps

I'm all about the Fender BlackFaced clean tones....My current and for ions favorite clean amp and tone,is from my 66 Fender Pro Reverb amp...Perfect wattage at 40 watts and with 2x12s..Pedals always sound great through it also..If I had to give up all of my other amps and could keep just one,it'd be this one!
 
Re: Favorite Clean Amps

I definitely need to look more in depth at the Fenders...but I also need to see if I can find an AC30, and check out the AC15 some more, and check out the Night Train again (looked at it when it first came out)... I wish someone around here carried some Boogies.
 
Re: Favorite Clean Amps

Lots of great options (I love fender cleans)
On a lower budget, older Peavey SS with spring reverb have great cleans.
 
Re: Favorite Clean Amps

I generally like solid state cleans.. at the moment I'm using a ZT Lunchbox, which has just.. massive headroom for a speaker so small. I also really like the cleans on those older Fender Ultimate Chorus'
 
Re: Favorite Clean Amps

TimmyPage said:
I generally like solid state cleans.. at the moment I'm using a ZT Lunchbox, which has just.. massive headroom for a speaker so small. I also really like the cleans on those older Fender Ultimate Chorus'
Click to expand...

x2, and x2. I still have my Fender Ultimate Chorus +DSP from 2001.

ImmortalSix said:
I have actually owned a Roland JC-120 --- unlike most folks. Most people don't get all the way to the finish line because the amp sounds terrible without the chorus on - and that's true; it does sound terrible without the chorus on.

I used to play in a big funk band, and I wanted the cleanest, loudest amp in the world, so I got a Roland JC-120, and I also got a Fender Ultimate Chorus, which was kind of like getting a Camry and an Accord - two different companies' take on the same idea.

Roland JC-120:
Sterile is overused in tone discussion, so let me qualify for you a bit. This amp felt "stiff," it had a very direct tone, with 0 sag or sponginess to it. The sound that came out of it "felt" brittle. High frequencies were reproduced perfectly, and I mean perfectly --- it sounded like what you heard playing unplugged, almost as if it made your pickups a little "truer." Impossible, I know, but observable.

Mid reproduction was super "closed," like it pained the amp to do it. Mid reproduction was the thing that gave these amps the reputation for being sterile, I think. There's just something so unnatural about the mid reproduction on these amps, I can't put my finger on it too well, but the mids always sounded unnatural.

Low reproduction: there wasn't any. For a closed back 2x12, you'd expect a lot of punch and woof, but you'd be sorely mistaken - the JC-120 never thumped. Some of you know I love a big low thump in my tone, and I actually gigged for years with a subwoofer in my live rig (same band, needed big thick clean tone). The JC-120 had no low end, and you can believe that I turned every knob trying to get it there.

Fender Ultimate Chorus:
This amp sounds unnaturally warm for a solid state amp, on the clean channel. For the record, I'm only referencing the clean channel in both of my assessments. High reproduction on this amp is clear, but sweet - the speakers may be the cause of this, but the highs are not harsh, they are, well...sweet.

Mid reproduction is excellent in this amp. Fender actually added a MID BOOST button to the later revision of this amp (which is the one I had) which can really change the sound of the amp. I used the MID BOOST button a lot when switching between G-style and F-style guitars. Mid reproduction has a very lively and active feel to it --- and carries an immediacy that is generally associated with active pickups, although I never used actives with it.

Low reproduction is ridiculous --- bump city if you dial it that way, or clear and authoritative if you dial it that way.

Overall, this amp had a spongier feel to it --- almost elastic, where the amp would save up some energy and kick it out extra hard based on how you picked. It just felt alive, and the Roland didn't.

Both amps have true stereo chorus, and two separate power amps, as in the Fender, rated at 130W, has two separate 65W power amps sitting next to each other --- essentially two 1x12 65W amps sitting next to each other in one cabinet. The Roland was built the same way.

The Roland was closed back and had fixed casters, I believe, and the Fender was open back and had removable casters.

I also found the chorus on the Fender to be both more pleasing and more adjustable.

I offloaded the JC-120 to a hippie bass player who wanted it for some reason, and kept the Fender.

Real reviews based on real experience from your boy I6.
Click to expand...
 
Re: Favorite Clean Amps

For my ultimate clean tone, I run my Bogner Shiva and Fender '65 Twin Reissue in stereo. Yummay! (But LOUD!)
 
Re: Favorite Clean Amps

JOLLY said:
I've always had a soft spot for Roland JC-120's.
Click to expand...

No ****. I'm a "metal guy" through and through so, needless to say, it's fairly rare that I decide to throw on a bit of reverb and stomp on that channel switch. But, jeez...they had a JC-120 2x12 at my local shop maybe a year back and holy hell...that was THE clean sound! I couldn't put it into words if you put a ****ing gun to my head but, it seems like once I heard that amp - right off the bat - that clean sound was exactly what I was looking for. That was IT, ya know? I haven't heard another amp like it yet. I mean, I don't go actively seeking a clean amp but, dayum...I won't forget that one and haven't heard one like it since. I regret it to this day not picking it up if only just to let it collect dust here, it'd be MINE!
Sorry for the paragraph but, that **** brought me back to that day and I still kick myself for that! :banghead:
 
Re: Favorite Clean Amps

B2D said:
For clean tones, Fender Vibroverbs and Super Reverbs make me feel all warm and fuzzy. :D
Click to expand...

jeremy said:
fender blackface deluxe reverb or super reverb is my type of clean tone. twins are great too but very very clean and very very loud
Click to expand...

Yes sir! The super reverb is a great clean rhythm amp.

Standel made some great clean sounding amps. I remember BB King using Standel in the late 60's/early 70's.
 
Re: Favorite Clean Amps

Since the Blackstar is a smaller amp (5 watts and a single 10) something just a little bigger will give you a nice clean sound and anything over 5 watts will have more headroom to keep it cleaner longer and help make it a good match with the Blackstar.

If I were you I'd be looking at something like used AC-15CC1 or a used Blues Jr...both of those are 15 watt, 1x12 combos...both will stay cleaner longer than the Blackstar and both will have more top end sparkle and clarity than the Blackstar.

Another option is a pedal...I've been curious about the HBE Detox EQ for a while now, Paul uses his in such a way that he runs it at LESS than unity gain to clean up the signal and the eq section will add sparkle if you want it to.

Watch this clip around 4:40 or so and he kicks it on to go from a crunchy tone to a cleaner tone with an eq shift.

 
Re: Favorite Clean Amps

it all depends on what you are playing. I love lots of fender amps for clean sounds but I also loved my rt66 and I love my greer studio ten. I am a big fan of small amps cause they can do it all and still be able to be sat in front of when they are cranked.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top