New amp advice needed...

[mom]

I need something to replace my main amp, a 64/65 Vox AC50, for practice and gigs. It's the best sounding amp I've ever heard and it's in great shape and has been nicely restored but I'd like to keep it put away for studio use only. I'd like to stay with the 2xEL34 50 watt(ish) thing so I've been primarily looking at Marshall style amps, though I'm open to suggestions. I need something with some clean headroom that I can assault with pedals to get overdrive/distortion or something with more than one channel as long as the drive channel(s) is natural and organic sounding - no metal. I play original rock/hard rock with various tunings, some quite low, so I need something that'll hold tight in the lowend. The vox does this beautifully btw. Also I play mostly strats with high output (p90-ish) bridge pickups. Here's a list of amps I've been considering....

Germino Classic 45
Germino Lead 55 and Lead 55LV
Metroamp JTM 45 Kit
Metroamp 50 watt Plexi kit
MOJAVE AmpWorks Plexi 45
MOJAVE AmpWorks Scorpion 50W
Egnater MOD 50 with vox and sl2 modules

I'm leaning toward the Metros as they are the most affordable of the bunch at around $1500 after they build it - I've no experience building amps. I'm selling my '96 Naylor Superdrive 60 2x12 combo to fund this endeavor so I need something under the $2500 mark.

You can get an idea of the sound I go for here...


http://www.myspace.com/vspeedwell or



http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=12024408


First 2 tracks are preproduction the rest have been mixed and mastered. They're all recorded with my Vox, Hiwatt cab (Celestions and Webers) and various strats and drive/boost pedals.

Thanks.

 

[Thurisaz]

Re: New amp advice needed...

I'd go for either the Metroamps or the Egnater with vox and sl2 modules.

 

[Dr.Mavashi]

Re: New amp advice needed...

I love the scorpions.

 

[Bludave]

Re: New amp advice needed...

A good friend of mine has the Scorpion & he loves it. IT has some really nice features... you can set the wattage in the back so you can get a real organic tone without blowing the walls down. Great sounding amp.

I own a Shiva & I play classic Rock/Blues rock. Its a great amp for this format. The Cleans are as good as any Fender I have used (I have 2 vintage Fenders Super Reverb & Deluxe Reverb). The Reverb in the Shiva is a s sweet as I have heard. The Gain channel is s little too modern for my tastes. It has a little too much mid for me, but I have been able to dial in a very rich sounding tone especially with a Humbucker in the Neck position. I would take a look at a SHiva. I have a 1 12" combo with EL 34's. I bought it used and was happy with the price I paid for it, but if I had to do it again I would look for a head. The Shivas tend to sound best with a 4 12" and especially with Vintage 30's. On occasions I hook up a Peavey 4 12" to it that has the Shefield 1290's. These are Peaveys version of the 75W Celestions. Either way it's a very nice amp. The Shiva is 80W, but it has 3 volume controls, so you can dial in a pretty good sound a lower volumes.

 

[Lake Placid Blues]

Re: New amp advice needed...

If you plan on using pedals then I would do the Metro 50 watt from your list. With pedals you won't need master volume and channel switching or reverb features that much. The JTM45 based amps will not be as tight in the low end due to the tube rectifier. The SS rectified 50 watt types are tighter due not only to the rectifier, but also the coupling cap values. Plus the 50 watt plexi types were designed around EL34's instead of KT66's as far as transformers ect....

I like the Mohave amps a lot but they are more expensive-not that they arn't worth it. They use a type of master, similar, but not exactly the same, as power scaling. Very clever.

Metro has an awesome FX loop design for non master point to point tube amps that you can have put in.