Infamous late-80s metal amps

Infamous late-80s metal amps

Edgecrusher said:
SLX came out in 94, Have you ever played one? They get fuzzy and mushy really quick, Their underlying tone is still the toppy honky 900 tone not the girthier 800 tone that hair metal is associated with.
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I bought my SL-X in 94 and it came with Tesla EL-34Ms. With those it did not sound like you are describing. However after the original tubes went out and were replaced with others, then some of what you are saying became true. It got fizzy after that and lacked girth but not mushy.
 
Re: Infamous late-80s metal amps

The Bogner Fish preamp.

Or if tracking one of those down proves difficult, the Hafler Triple Giant.
 
Re: Infamous late-80s metal amps

Late 80s/90s Mesa Boogie M190, Trace Elliott Bonneville 4X10 and Peavey Rockmasters that I am presently using.
 
Re: Infamous late-80s metal amps

Kosh Naranek said:
The Bogner Fish preamp.

Or if tracking one of those down proves difficult, the Hafler Triple Giant.
Click to expand...

There has been one Bogner Fish on sale here for almost a month, not even that expensive. How they sound like?

Edit: I remembered the price wrong... anyway
 
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Re: Infamous late-80s metal amps

I had quite a few of the amps mentioned here as well. Two Lee Jackson amps, the Lee Jackson XLS-1000
LeeJacksonfront.jpg


And a Crate Stealth combo that just flat cranked. I mean, killer. Interesting story about the GK 250ML. Around 87 or 88 I had a 67 Fender Deluxe. The jackwagon singer in the band was busting my hump to get a more "modern" or metal type amp. So I traded the Deluxe for a 250ML. I don't know if it wasn't working right or what, but it wasn't loud enough to sit in with the band (no, I wasn't putting it through a cab...I was dumber then than I am now), and the channel switching wasn't worth beans because both channels shared the EQ section. I also hated the way it sounded. Of course, I did this the night before a gig. The next day I called the guy and offered him fifty bucks to take back his amp and give me mine. He did. Told my singer I'd punch him out if he ever pushed me to do anything like that again and kept my Deluxe for many more years. Sounded great with my Rat pedal.
 
Re: Infamous late-80s metal amps

This SL-X thing was real interesting....

I have played a bunch - but nothing recently. I'm guessing all the ones I played were original tubes!
 
Re: Infamous late-80s metal amps

Hi...i am a new user here. As per my knowledge the JCM 900 Dual Reverb and the awesome Dual Master's plus the red hot SLX amps both hit around 1990 and were designed specifically to compete with the Soldano and Jackson modded amps out of the box for those metal tones you are seeking.Also may want to look at the Hot Rod mod Carvin X100B heads starting around 1988 or so as those are just flat ripping amps!Fender had a couple with the Bruce Zinky Custom Shop designs in the Prosonic and also the Arena rocking Tonemaster's.You hit on the Soldano amps but also be aware that Lee Jackson also did a lot of those hair metal amp mods. Jackson designed a couple amps for Ampeg and crate in that era the Crate Stealth in particular is a vicious metal amp.
 
Re: Infamous late-80s metal amps

I gigged with an ADA Mp-2 for years and years... nothing is more 80s than an ADA preamp! The MP-2 is superior to the MP-1 in every way but it is much harder to dial so it has a bad reputation. I still have mine but it's getting too damn expensive to keep it running so I don't use it anymore.
 
Re: Infamous late-80s metal amps

2ndhandband said:
I gigged with an ADA Mp-2 for years and years... nothing is more 80s than an ADA preamp! The MP-2 is superior to the MP-1 in every way but it is much harder to dial so it has a bad reputation. I still have mine but it's getting too damn expensive to keep it running so I don't use it anymore.
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How is it expensive? Is it breaking down?
 
Re: Infamous late-80s metal amps

Yeah, that figures. The MP-2s don't surface very often either. MP-1s should be good to go for some time still, fortunately, since there are a lot of them around. I have two that could use a change of caps but which are otherwise in great shape.
 
Re: Infamous late-80s metal amps

Sirion said:
Yeah, that figures. The MP-2s don't surface very often either. MP-1s should be good to go for some time still, fortunately, since there are a lot of them around. I have two that could use a change of caps but which are otherwise in great shape.
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The MP2 is a study in what might have been if that idiotic retro craze hadn't happened in the early 90s. Amps with knobs shouldn't even be a thing anymore, yet here we are.
 
Re: Infamous late-80s metal amps

I guess we all got the worst of it in that decade… well, anybody still following this thread, at least. I wish I had been around at the time, though, to scoop up all the Kramers, Marshalls, ADAs &c. that were to be found for cheap back in my elementary school days.
 
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Re: Infamous late-80s metal amps

Laney to out-marshall the Marshalls

Good cab w/ right speakers makes or breaks everything
 
Re: Infamous late-80s metal amps

Agreed on the last point. For my use I have found that I prefer the reissue Greenbacks to the V30, that many people seem to swear to for 80s stuff. It might have a less modern sound, and metal tones have to be coaxed a little more out of it, but I find that it has a lot more personality in its top-end breakup. None of the other *back models seem to do this, which is a real pity: I would have loved to have a speaker that could do this at a higher wattage.
 
Re: Infamous late-80s metal amps

2ndhandband said:
The MP2 is a study in what might have been if that idiotic retro craze hadn't happened in the early 90s. Amps with knobs shouldn't even be a thing anymore, yet here we are.
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What you're supposed to adjust your settings with, if you don't have knobs?
 
Re: Infamous late-80s metal amps

Jacew said:
What you're supposed to adjust your settings with, if you don't have knobs?
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The Force? Your mind?? ..who knows

Or maybe thats just a millenial who doesnt remember ever using any tech without bluetooth and a touchscreen?
 
Re: Infamous late-80s metal amps

You did not expect me to not have a an extended Laney AOR post here did you ?

It does not get enough credit for its contribution to the sound of the 80s, and some also like to give it aggressively negative reviews ...

This Laney AOR - the 6 knobber, I have an email from Criss's tech that confirms HOMK, GB and Streets were done with AOR.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=peOJvvysjnQ&spfreload=1

While forum was up on Vinnie's site he confirmed to that this is AOR with tubescreemer here and Boss gate, I believe he used it on the second album a lot.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhHvDYBX1zM

And lets not forget Richie Kotzen's first album, DiMartini early days - although he used live not recording from what i understand, Vinnie Vincent, Ace Frehley, Candlemass, and later on it became the staple in the Doom metal sound, my understanding that one of the guys from Sword still uses it.
 
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Re: Infamous late-80s metal amps

Some of the preamps I've had over the years were:
Marshall JMP-1
Engl E530 (2007)
Engl 620 (1985)
Rocktron Pirahna
Hafler T2
ADA MP-1
ADA MP-1 Classic
ADA MP-2
I miss the JMP-1 and the MP-2 the most. I've been meaning to fix that, but I've had my current setup since 2006 and I love it.
 
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