I need a good British "voiced," high gain amp...

Christopher Caruana

Christopher Caruana

New member
What is a good birtish voiced, high gain, tube amp? I play a lot of hard rock and classic rock (60's, 70's and 80's) as well as some blues. What a good british amp that can do everything from plexi type crunch to hot rodded 80's gain, to modern levels of gain. (Not gonna play modern metal)

I like: a tight bass, crunchy upper mids and an articulate (but not harsh) treble, a presence knob and a gain knob. Reverb isnt a must.....but would be nice to have. Also sound good at low(er) volumes so I dont have to kill my ears to get good tone.

I have a Laney AOR 100 pro tube that i love, but the only problem is I have to run it very hot to get gain out of it and it's LOUD.

Some amps that come to mind are:

Marshall JCM 2000 DSL
Marshall JCM 900
Splawn Quick Rod
 
Re: I need a good British "voiced," high gain amp...

Uh, you just basically described the Marshall DSL. Alternative: JVM.

/thread.
 
Re: I need a good British "voiced," high gain amp...

The QR will own all of those mentioned. They like to be played loud, but some folks have had some luck running either a hot plate or a volume pedal in the loop.
 
Re: I need a good British "voiced," high gain amp...

To add from the ones mentioned above, a Laney GH50L.

Or a used Laney VC50/VH100R. The first channel would take care of cleans and 60s-70s OD while the second channel is practically a GH50L which should be able to handle hair metal.
 
Re: I need a good British "voiced," high gain amp...

rk50htc_2x12.jpg
 
Re: I need a good British "voiced," high gain amp...

God I can't tell you how much I hate those Orange things everything they stand for is wrong.

Have a look at the Framus Ruby Riot. Great sound with German engeneering.
 
Re: I need a good British "voiced," high gain amp...

I've heard a bunch of people say they hate Orange... varying things about sound vs quality vs price. No idea what's true or not.
I dunno I've heard that they're not what they used to be, and that certainly sounds reasonable. A lot of the biggest amp makers aren't what they used to be, Fender and Marshall included. Doesn't mean I don't like what they are now, but they've changed a bit.
 
Re: I need a good British "voiced," high gain amp...

If the Laney AOR is too loud for you then ALL of the other amps mentioned in this thread are also going to be too loud.
 
Re: I need a good British "voiced," high gain amp...

crguti said:
^could you explain why?
Click to expand...

Everything about them. They sound terrible they look horrible and they seem to attract a certain type of person. If you see someone with an Orange amp they are almost certainly a twat who thinks Oasis were the best band ever and can only play 'Wonderwall' badly.
It's also what they represent, the reissues came out in 95 and seemed to start the whole 'vintage is king' movement which in the UK means you can't buy anything modern with out ordering it from the mainland.
 
Re: I need a good British "voiced," high gain amp...

The Mesa Express 5:25 covers lots of the ground you're talking about and although it's still pretty loud it's much more usable kinda loud and can also be switched to 5w mode to get the tone at domestically friendly volumes.

Like John L I'm also not a fan of Orange amps... but that's mainly down to the looks and the fact that here in the UK nothings cool unless it looks like it was designed in the sixties, which I dislike.
 
Re: I need a good British "voiced," high gain amp...

i don't like the color neither and I would rather get an Orange Rockerverb with black tolex.
 
Re: I need a good British "voiced," high gain amp...

John_L said:
Everything about them. They sound terrible they look horrible and they seem to attract a certain type of person. If you see someone with an Orange amp they are almost certainly a twat who thinks Oasis were the best band ever and can only play 'Wonderwall' badly.
It's also what they represent, the reissues came out in 95 and seemed to start the whole 'vintage is king' movement which in the UK means you can't buy anything modern with out ordering it from the mainland.
Click to expand...

Wow, in the US they are associated with the stoner/doom movement (Sabbath inspired) and the modern metal bands that have picked up on that lineage. You'd never see a power pop type band playing them, they'd have Matchless and Badcats.
 
Re: I need a good British "voiced," high gain amp...

PFDarkside said:
Wow, in the US they are associated with the stoner/doom movement (Sabbath inspired) and the modern metal bands that have picked up on that lineage. You'd never see a power pop type band playing them, they'd have Matchless and Badcats.
Click to expand...

Well the stoner/doom movement is not that big over here and Orange amps are sold to people who like mirrors in guitar shops to make sure that Fender Jaguar they're about to buy doesn't clash with their pink paisly shirt.

I actually auditioned for a band last year (playing bass) and I didn't get the gig as I was playing a modern ibanez with my fingers rather than a p-bass with a pick, not that I liked their songs much anyway ;)
 
Re: I need a good British "voiced," high gain amp...

If cost is an issue have you looked at the Blackstar HT series? Great amps from what i've played and I'm not a huge fan of the "british Tone" if you want to call it that, but this amp is just versitile and seems well built.
 
Re: I need a good British "voiced," high gain amp...

How about the JVM410H? It can do all you are asking for and even more.
 
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