The ultimate high gain amp?

jerryjg

PinkElephantologist
Bogner Uberschall ?, Splawn? what else. Mesa Triple Rectifier? I'm new to high gain ampage, having played Marshalls most of my lives. Hoping someone can provide some insight into the super-high gain amps.
 
Re: The ultimate high gain amp?

Lots of good ones out there. I chose the Diezel Herbert. Can be dialed loose or bone tight.
 
Re: The ultimate high gain amp?

Ultimate? Get ready to spend some money. Diezel, Bogner, VHT, Soldano, ENGL, Cornford, Marshall JVM etc.

If you're not competing with a drummer, and just need a good versatile amp for home, look into the Vox Valvetronix and L6 modelers. At least they don't need to be loud to dish out the gain.
 
Re: The ultimate high gain amp?

I have a Splawn, it really isn't "high gain" compared to the rest. It's a Marshall on steriods, dripping with tone. You can hear ever note played, good or bad! The real tone of the guitar shines thru. My last amp sounded great but the same no matter what guitar I was using. My QuickRod lets a Tele sound like an Tele....a LP sound like a LP...and so on!

If you're happy with Marshall but want more you'll probably like the Quickrod.......
 
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Re: The ultimate high gain amp?

My Mesa Roadster dishes out some mean Triple Rec-worthy high gain as well as good, tasteful cleans. It has a setting for Mark series cleans, as well as the two Tweed/Brit settings, both of which can get Fender AND Marshall type tones (even with the stock 6l6s). There is a final output control so you can crank the master without destroying your ears. You can set your high gain tones to use silicon diode style rectification for fast, chunky response, and you can set your cleans to use tube rectification for beautiful tube tone (or mix and match). You can switch the tubes to el-34 too if you so desire. Another plus of the Roadster over the Dual/Triple recs is that it has reverb- reverb taken directly from their Lonestar series. Having 4 channels is awesome too, especially with an OD pedal. I like being able to set up two similar tones on two channels at my home and then decide which is better when I get to band practice. Two channels each for two guitars plus a boost pedal... endless combinations! Sounds great with low output and high output pups- but with my Bill Lawrence L-500XL, I only had the gain up a quarter of the way and it was screaming. So there's A LOT of gain on tap, and while I prefer low output pups now, high outputs sound very tight and solid. Lots of cut through a live mix.

Alot of people get down on rectifiers for various reasons (sterile, bad cleans, fizzy top end), but it all comes down to getting to know the amp. You have to dial in what you want, not dial out what you don't want. And you do (or at least I did) have to balance pickup choices with the amp since some pups will bring out unwanted tonalities. Takes some getting used to, but doesn't everything? Just my .02 cents.

(PM me if you end up interested in a Roadster, have any questions about pup choices, or anything Mesa-related)
 
Re: The ultimate high gain amp?

I think it depends on the "type" of hight gain you're looking for and what kind of feel you're looking for in an amp. You want thunderlous low end and gain for days then its an bogner uberschall, if you want more a more classy, refined and articulate type of gain, its a Soldano.

I've got a friend that plays in a hardcore metal band and he plays a VHT pitbull Ultralead and that thing is a Monster!!! The low end will make you drop a loaf quicker than you can blink an eye and at the same time is has no trouble cutting through a band mix.
 
Re: The ultimate high gain amp?

If you like that british sound, Orange amps are good too. The thunderverb is supposed to be a real monster I hear, but I've yet to play thru one and I'm kinda glad, cuz I'd have to sell a kidney or something to afford one.

I'm officially the orange wh*** here I guess, everytime someone asks for amp suggestions, I say orange. I love my orange and probly won't ever get rid of it, it never gets old.
 
Re: The ultimate high gain amp?

As always ...nothing but the best advice from Duncan forums bros. Ive come to expect it..almost take it for granted..awesome!! THANKS.

QUOTE_"I'm kinda glad, cuz I'd have to sell a kidney or something to afford one".........

Oh btw, how much you want for that kidney..I might need one eventually, but right now Im saving for a liver Buaaaah!
 
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Re: The ultimate high gain amp?

As always ...nothing but the best advice from Duncan forums bros. Ive come to expect it..almost take it for granted..awesome!! THANKS.

QUOTE_"I'm kinda glad, cuz I'd have to sell a kidney or something to afford one".........

Oh btw, how much you want for that kidney..I might need one eventually, but right now Im saving for a liver Buaaaah!

Well, my kidneys aren't probly in the best of shape along with my liver the way I like to do it:friday: But I'll trade ya a kindney for an orange halfstack (of my choice) and a nice vintage Les Paul.:14:
 
Re: The ultimate high gain amp?

I would personally stay away from a triple rec since I had a dual and I can't imagine how muddy a triple would be. Most that were mentioned are nice. Of course if you have the money bogner and hughes & Kettner mkII are top of the line. If I were you I would definitely look into a rivera knucklehead. If you want high gain with versatility the marshall jvm.
 
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Re: The ultimate high gain amp?

You mean POD with Kidney?:D

Dude...
You need to choose one of these
a)Do i need MIDI interface?: If the answer is yes ,Look for Diezel VH4 ,Engl Savage and Special Edition and Marshall JVM..Brunetti EVO is a good one too
b)How many channels you need?
If you say no midi and 2 channels ,Engl Fireball (60 watt monster) ,Cornford MK50 II (one of the best lead tones evar) ,Bogner Uberschall and Diezel Einstein are yur choices!The Orange AD50 is a great one too!Just a tad loose on lowend!
BTW ,Splawn ,VHT all are awesome!
And Soldano Avenger is one of the best amps ever...
Many choices dude!
 
Re: The ultimate high gain amp?

I've heard good things about soldano. I saw one at guitar center the other day. Shoulda tried it out.
 
Re: The ultimate high gain amp?

I highly recommend ENGL heads for High-Gain, and more specifically the Engl Savage.

The Savage is probably one of the best high-gain metal amps out there. Runners up are the Powerball and the Engl Blackmore (which is based off of the Savage).

I have the Powerball, its simply brutal and has tons of usable gain


Also, almost all Engls have Clean channels that can rival (or sometimes Best) fenders.
 
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Re: The ultimate high gain amp?

Ultimate? Isn't that up to each user? I think I have a pretty good and versatile setup, but for the coin a Diezel or Bogner gets, I'd hope they are twice as good...
 
Re: The ultimate high gain amp?

Most people will dissagree with me here, but Laney VH100 is definately to be considered as well Laney TI100(Iommi's sig). I am currently drunk on soldano SLO/Avenger ... people say its same thing as 5150, but I just don't hear it.
 
Re: The ultimate high gain amp?

hey what about that ashdown amp they came out cpl years ago the fallen angel or some name like that? also the crate blue voodoo
 
Re: The ultimate high gain amp?

It'd be fun to line up every great highgain amp and listen to all of them. Then opinions and hearsay would fall by the wayside. Most people would rule out all of them and narrow it down to 1 or 2 that knock their socks off.

Without having the opportunity to do that, I can only go by what I've heard on their own. The Diezel Herbert is the most amazing metal amp I've plugged into. The Bogner Ecstacy will always be my favorite 'Marshall modeler.' It still has it's own sound, but does the clean/plexi/highgain thing better than anything else I've tried.

For all-out brutal crushing, the Diezels win IMO. My favorite amp of all time is the Ectacy, but the Ubershall is too limited......it's like power amp cleans with a ridiculously crushing gain channel /
Putting the Ubershall against the Herbert, I'd probably take the Herbert. I play more classic stuff so the Ecstacy or Shiva are my vibe, but if a person wants pure metal, the Diezels just kill. The Ecstacy has unlimited gain, and it's structure switch allows it to be voiced more Marshally or Mesa-like. Too bad VH4's and Herberts are so damm expensive, but they're monsterous sounding.
I tried the Herbert with 2 Marshall cabs, and it sounded like it could sterilize a person.....just huge tight gain like Metallica X 2.
 
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Re: The ultimate high gain amp?

Pure Metal
Diezel%2001.jpg


Pure Rock
gj-Bogneritis.jpg


You asked for ultimate.....there it is.
 
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