Suggestions for a high gain amp

chcjunior

chcjunior

New member
that also has great cleans. Here's the deal; ever since I got my Rivera Chubster 40, I realize how lackluster the cleans are on my Soldano (in spite of the mods). So...I'm considering selling off the Hot Rod Plus and replacing it with another 50 watt head. Another thing I noticed is the Chubster 40 doesn't quite have the clean headroom I need. I may just sell them both off and start anew.

I guess I'm looking for what alot of us are looking for....a modded Marshall channel with a Fender channel. Candidates at this point are the Orange Rockerverb 50 and Rivera Knucklehead.

I just ordered a new speaker from Avatar for my cab to try and smooth out the cleans with the Soldano...I'm giving the G12H30 a try.
 
Re: Suggestions for a high gain amp

Hey, i have the Knucklehead, but the 100watt reverb head. I know what you mean about wicked cleans.... stunning on this amp! I was happy with the gain on this but thought i could get a better smoother gainer sound by playing with the pre amp tubes. They come stock with sovteks which i for some unkown reason have something against. I replaced the tube from V1 with a JJ ECC 803 S long plate and the rest with ECC83's.... woooo a much bettter sounding amp, imo.

But this beast is one loud mofo, not sure how a hotplate will change the sound but need something so i can have the master on 4.5 or more.

Sorry bit off the topic there, and its a well priced head compared to other heads its competing against....... and this has cleans to die for!
 
Re: Suggestions for a high gain amp

Justice4all said:
Hey, i have the Knucklehead, but the 100watt reverb head. I know what you mean about wicked cleans.... stunning on this amp! I was happy with the gain on this but thought i could get a better smoother gainer sound by playing with the pre amp tubes. They come stock with sovteks which i for some unkown reason have something against. I replaced the tube from V1 with a JJ ECC 803 S long plate and the rest with ECC83's.... woooo a much bettter sounding amp, imo.

But this beast is one loud mofo, not sure how a hotplate will change the sound but need something so i can have the master on 4.5 or more.

Sorry bit off the topic there, and its a well priced head compared to other heads its competing against....... and this has cleans to die for!
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I'm getting ready to drop some new JJ's in my Chubster right now. Hopefully that will bump up the clean headroom. I'm also transferring a V30 over from my 2X12 to see what that does.

I like the look of the 55 watt Knucklehead with reverb and EL34's.
 
Re: Suggestions for a high gain amp

Looked into VHT's at all? I've only heard great things about the cleans, and the gain...well; it's a VHT!

The Carvin Legacy is also supposed to have orgiastic cleans, as well.
 
Re: Suggestions for a high gain amp

chcjunior said:
I'm getting ready to drop some new JJ's in my Chubster right now. Hopefully that will bump up the clean headroom. I'm also transferring a V30 over from my 2X12 to see what that does.

I like the look of the 55 watt Knucklehead with reverb and EL34's.
Click to expand...

Yeah i have the 6L6 version and while im happy with it at the moment i'll get a set of EL34's to try at some point as well.
I have the rivera cab with V30's and GT12 75's loaded, tightens the bottom end thump up quite a bit.
 
Re: Suggestions for a high gain amp

DSS3 nailed it... VHT all the way. Everything from high gain to crystal cleans, it can run the gamut without a bit of sacrifice on either channel. Something like the Fifty/ST would be an ideal two channel setup ;)
 
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Re: Suggestions for a high gain amp

the_Chris said:
DSS3 nailed it... VHT all the way. Everything from high gain to crystal cleans, it can run the gamut without a bit of sacrifice on either channel. Something like the Fifty/ST would be an ideal two channel setup ;)[/QUOT

Yeah ive been meaning to lookm into the VHT stuff but they are hellishly expensive for a new head.... but i still need tp play one, as well as the Randall heads with the interchangeable modules, that could be what youre after! And they arnt a bad price, and if u feel u dont like a certain sound, whip a one moudule and replace it with another.
They have a good range of them as well, Fender Blackface,bassman,modded marshall and recto sounding ones..... well worth a try if you have the time.
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Re: Suggestions for a high gain amp

This post is probably worthless, but here goes:

I run a Boss GT-8 preamp into a Mesa 50/50 power section. Out of all the amp models at my disposal, I have recently been using the modeled H&K Triamp for everything. The cleans are awesome, the crunch channell is very Marshally (quite Plexi-like, actually), and the Lead channell is big and bad without getting out of control.

I'm dying to try the real thing. :burnout:
 
Re: Suggestions for a high gain amp

chcjunior said:
The Shiva is high gain?
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It works for Jerry Cantrell. That's what he uses now. Plus, there's a boost on the gain channel for leads, and individual reverbs for the channels. If someone stole my Ecstacy, I'd quickly scrape together the money and get a Shiva head.
 
Re: Suggestions for a high gain amp

Gearjoneser said:
It works for Jerry Cantrell. That's what he uses now. Plus, there's a boost on the gain channel for leads, and individual reverbs for the channels. If someone stole my Ecstacy, I'd quickly scrape together the money and get a Shiva head.
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Interesting. I believe I need to check out some VHT's and the Shiva.
 
Re: Suggestions for a high gain amp

I just roundaboutly (is that a word?) picked up a VHT 2502 & VHT GP3 power amp/preamp..........cleans are stellar....high gain smokes & the in-betweens are FANTASTIC!

I think I'm done trying to be a little GearJoneser & I'm stopping here for the time being.

Very nice set-up that can be had for decent deals on the used market. I got my stuff just trading up.:bigok:
 
Re: Suggestions for a high gain amp

I think if Money is an issue...(and maybe not even if), I'd go with Splawn or Voodoo or Bray modded Marshall high gain amp. These guys can do wonders for the cleans or install clean channels as well as soak the helll outta the gain channel for ya.

For other brands, I've always been partial to Soldano SLO100s, and VHT. Both are a little dry and a little grainy but VERY cool modded Marshall tones. Unfortunately I've never found the cleans on either to be very good.

Haven't tried anything from Bogner except a Ecstasy Classic (which was PHENOMENAL..just wayyyy to pricey, as is the Soldano).

Why not get a great clean amp, and A/B switch it w/ the Chubster for gain? or is space/$ an issue?

And yes, very little headroom on the Chubster 40.Have ya though about retubing it with EL34Ls/KT 66's or similar?
 
Re: Suggestions for a high gain amp

JeffB said:
Why not get a great clean amp, and A/B switch it w/ the Chubster for gain? or is space/$ an issue?

And yes, very little headroom on the Chubster 40.Have ya though about retubing it with EL34Ls/KT 66's or similar?
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I've been thinking about A\B'g an amp......but I can see that getting old fast.

I just installed E34L's two days ago in the Chubster and biased it just a little cold to see exactly how much headroom I'm looking at here.
 
Re: Suggestions for a high gain amp

PUCKBOY99 said:
I think I'm done trying to be a little GearJoneser & I'm stopping here for the time being.
Click to expand...

Actually, Puckboy passed me up a long time ago. He's bought twice as many amps as me in the past 3 years. :wave: :beerchug:
 
Re: Suggestions for a high gain amp

If I had the money I'd be searching for a Marshall MkIII MV combo.
 
Re: Suggestions for a high gain amp

Gearjoneser said:
Actually, Puckboy passed me up a long time ago. He's bought twice as many amps as me in the past 3 years. :wave: :beerchug:
Click to expand...

Not a good thing, but there's only one way to figure out what you want. Buying low & trading up or making a few bucks kind of makes it fun, but I'm done for now. This set up rocks!

And I still bow to the Joneser! :beerchug:
 
Re: Suggestions for a high gain amp

What VHT? I own one and don't find the clean channel to be that great. The CL line has OK cleans and I am not really blown away by the UL or CLX either. The gain is obviously world class on both. You can get great cleans from lower gain VHT models but those won't rip your face off without a pedal. For high-gain plus great cleans you can't beat a Diezel VH4 or Herbert IMO. Also that CA OD-100 is a bad boy.

Can't go wrong with Gorilla and DOD OD pedal either.
 
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