S
shogunlegend
Guest
I got a chance over the last couple of weeks to get down and dirty with several amps. maybe if you're in the market for an amp, this might help.
PEAVEY 6505 1/2 STACK: suprisingly great amp. the cleans are excellent and the distortion is authorative, crisp and defined. i was really suprised with the clean channel. you can get some intermediate distortion tones with this amp too. you might have a play with it a little, but it's almost a garantee that you will find a bluesy tone to stick with. there's plenty of power for almost any gig. for around $1300 to $1400, it's hard to beat.
PEAVEY JSX 212 COMBO: i did not really like this amp. in my opinion, it's overpriced $$$. i've heard others have had success with the XXX combo, but i have yet to compare with one of those. this amp has plenty of distortion and the cleans are ok. unfortunately, the sound was rather lackluster to me - especially after playing the 6505 1/2 stack.
MESA BOOGIE LONESTAR SPECIAL: i'm sold on mesa boogie amps now. i used to have the impression that they were a bit overpriced and overrated, that is until i spent some quality time with them. whew! these amps are hot! sweet sounding, class a mode @ 5/15/30 watts. mesa really has a quality tone. no matter whether you find the tone you're looking for in one of their amps or not, you will respect and appreciate the quality of their tone. it just sounds better than most other amps. very loud, but it falls short of mid-size clubs. it should be fine in the average bar, and it's perfect for recording and practice.
MESA BOOGIE EXPRESS 5:50: i bought this amp because it was so ****ed good. you won't believe how good the clean channel is, and IMO, it's better than the fender cleans i've heard. this amp is perfect for anything from jazz to blues, classic rock, to hard rock. it's definitely capable of nu-metal, but you'll need a stomp box. the tone on this amp is pure world-class quality, totally top notch. to me, this amp sounds kind of like a laney or something, but better. super great amp. i won't ever part with this one.
FENDER SUPERSONIC 112: i own this amp. aside from the noisy burn channel(which i think is a problem with the tubes), there can't be any complaints about this amplifier. some may say the vibrolux channel is thin, but even if you don't like it, you got the bassman channel and it sounds great. the drive channel sounds super good, especially when driven at higher gain stages. it's got that signature fender tone, but maybe more modern. the highlight of this amp is hte bassman channel and the burn channel. i love this amp. the reverb is just as good as any other fender reverb and sounds like it's part of the tone rather than an applied effect. maybe one drawback is that it's got 8 preamp tubes. that can be costly when it comes time to replace tubes, but not much more than my mesa 5:50 with 5 preamp tubes.
FENDER HOT ROD DELUXE: super great blues/rock amp. needs a tube change, but even stock is overall pretty ****ed good. i like the way the cleans sound, the reverb, and the overdrive is very sweet to me. i've heard some complaints about the drive, but that's becuase they're expecting something this amp wasn't designed to deliver without pedals. it really does sound good. it is a little noisy on hte more gain channel, but i'm wondering if that has something to do with the stock tubes. great amp never the less.
FENDER HOT ROD DEVILLE: similar to the hot rod deluxe to me. it sounds terrific, but at full overdrive, it get's a fuzzy bottom end that's kind of muddy and the top end thins out. like the hot rod deluxe though, it handles pedals extremely well. i'm pretty sure you can get what you want out of this amp with a good pedal.
PEAVEY CLASSIC 50: this amp has got the shimmering, sparkly cleans to brag about, and a classic sounding overdrive. i'd say though that this is more of a blues/jazz amp. in fact, it seems to be specialized as a blues amp. i wouldn't attempt metal or hard rock without a pedal, and even with a pedal, i think it may lack bottom end. if you want a serious workhorse at a great price for blues and classic rock, you can't go wrong with this amp. i give it an A.
MARSHALL TSL 602: great marshall tone and very loud. the footswitch completely sucks and there's nothing you can do about it because it uses some proprietary connector. you can get it replaced, but it's almost guaranteed to break again. other than that, i can't say much bad about this amp. some people say the speakers need to be replaced, and i would agree if you really want to improve the already great tone, but the stock speakers sound just fine to me. overall, i'd give it a 7 out of 10 because i think marshall has become too complacent.
PEAVEY 6505 1/2 STACK: suprisingly great amp. the cleans are excellent and the distortion is authorative, crisp and defined. i was really suprised with the clean channel. you can get some intermediate distortion tones with this amp too. you might have a play with it a little, but it's almost a garantee that you will find a bluesy tone to stick with. there's plenty of power for almost any gig. for around $1300 to $1400, it's hard to beat.
PEAVEY JSX 212 COMBO: i did not really like this amp. in my opinion, it's overpriced $$$. i've heard others have had success with the XXX combo, but i have yet to compare with one of those. this amp has plenty of distortion and the cleans are ok. unfortunately, the sound was rather lackluster to me - especially after playing the 6505 1/2 stack.
MESA BOOGIE LONESTAR SPECIAL: i'm sold on mesa boogie amps now. i used to have the impression that they were a bit overpriced and overrated, that is until i spent some quality time with them. whew! these amps are hot! sweet sounding, class a mode @ 5/15/30 watts. mesa really has a quality tone. no matter whether you find the tone you're looking for in one of their amps or not, you will respect and appreciate the quality of their tone. it just sounds better than most other amps. very loud, but it falls short of mid-size clubs. it should be fine in the average bar, and it's perfect for recording and practice.
MESA BOOGIE EXPRESS 5:50: i bought this amp because it was so ****ed good. you won't believe how good the clean channel is, and IMO, it's better than the fender cleans i've heard. this amp is perfect for anything from jazz to blues, classic rock, to hard rock. it's definitely capable of nu-metal, but you'll need a stomp box. the tone on this amp is pure world-class quality, totally top notch. to me, this amp sounds kind of like a laney or something, but better. super great amp. i won't ever part with this one.
FENDER SUPERSONIC 112: i own this amp. aside from the noisy burn channel(which i think is a problem with the tubes), there can't be any complaints about this amplifier. some may say the vibrolux channel is thin, but even if you don't like it, you got the bassman channel and it sounds great. the drive channel sounds super good, especially when driven at higher gain stages. it's got that signature fender tone, but maybe more modern. the highlight of this amp is hte bassman channel and the burn channel. i love this amp. the reverb is just as good as any other fender reverb and sounds like it's part of the tone rather than an applied effect. maybe one drawback is that it's got 8 preamp tubes. that can be costly when it comes time to replace tubes, but not much more than my mesa 5:50 with 5 preamp tubes.
FENDER HOT ROD DELUXE: super great blues/rock amp. needs a tube change, but even stock is overall pretty ****ed good. i like the way the cleans sound, the reverb, and the overdrive is very sweet to me. i've heard some complaints about the drive, but that's becuase they're expecting something this amp wasn't designed to deliver without pedals. it really does sound good. it is a little noisy on hte more gain channel, but i'm wondering if that has something to do with the stock tubes. great amp never the less.
FENDER HOT ROD DEVILLE: similar to the hot rod deluxe to me. it sounds terrific, but at full overdrive, it get's a fuzzy bottom end that's kind of muddy and the top end thins out. like the hot rod deluxe though, it handles pedals extremely well. i'm pretty sure you can get what you want out of this amp with a good pedal.
PEAVEY CLASSIC 50: this amp has got the shimmering, sparkly cleans to brag about, and a classic sounding overdrive. i'd say though that this is more of a blues/jazz amp. in fact, it seems to be specialized as a blues amp. i wouldn't attempt metal or hard rock without a pedal, and even with a pedal, i think it may lack bottom end. if you want a serious workhorse at a great price for blues and classic rock, you can't go wrong with this amp. i give it an A.
MARSHALL TSL 602: great marshall tone and very loud. the footswitch completely sucks and there's nothing you can do about it because it uses some proprietary connector. you can get it replaced, but it's almost guaranteed to break again. other than that, i can't say much bad about this amp. some people say the speakers need to be replaced, and i would agree if you really want to improve the already great tone, but the stock speakers sound just fine to me. overall, i'd give it a 7 out of 10 because i think marshall has become too complacent.
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