What Amp Surprised You the Most?

B

Bogner

New member
For this thread I am talking about when you initially heard the rumor that an amp was coming out or you saw the advertisement, etc of such and such amp coming out and then you finally heard said amp and or played such amp and was surprised.

It could be that it sounded better than you ever imagined.

It could be that it sounded worse than you ever imagined.

Ultimately, it was something you just didn't expect. Pick an amp and let's roll.



For me, It was the PRS Archon.

I was surprised PRS would put out an amp that could sound so heavy and sound great doing it. I was also surprised at how great the clean channel was and the fact they put both together in one amp.

I was very pleasantly surprised by the PRS Archon.
 
Diezel VH4. For as much as I'd heard about the amp, when I got to actually try one, I was shocked at how much I hated it. I don't think I've ever heard an amp with so little character, a high-gain amp that's so... boring. There's nothing overtly offensive about it (although the low end really is rather excessive, and not in the "wall of sound" Uberschall/Recto way, and not in a loose way either, but rather in a "this is really dark and boomy for no reason" way), but I also couldn't find anything about it that excited me at all; it was just totally sterile and lifeless, with neither aggression nor heft. It took me about 3 minutes on it to decide I'd rather go back to playing on the 20-watt Silver Jubilee sitting right next to it.
 
The Peavy Classic 20 head shocked me. I got the classic cleans I was hoping to get from the amp. The high gain the amp delivers without the aid of pedals is wild. The amp has such a wide range of tones.
 
The Tone Master Deluxe Reverb. It is a great Fender sound at half the weight, more power and an XLR out. It is awesome for gigging players.
 
PRS MT 15. After getting a chance to play one at a local shop it shocked me how good the little amp was. Later I found a great on line deal on a new one so bought it as an inexpensive grab and go small rig. Quickly found out it was much more and it became my #1 amp. Liked it so well I bought a PRS Archon head and sold my Boogie DC 5.
The Archon is the real monster and is unlike anything else I have ever owned. However I would have never seriously considered the Archon with out owning the little MT 15.
The new Sewell designed PRS amps shocked me as before he came on board I did not care for PRS Amps now I'm hooked! Want a 2 channel Custom C head next.
 
Last edited:
My Vox AV30. I had sold my AD50VT after years of use but lower back issues demanded a lighter amp. After trying a few others, I was directed at the AV30. It has a single 10" speaker but I'll be damned if it doesn't keep up with a very loud drummer in a full band setting. I was very surprised at how loud this thing gets. And the tone is great.
 
Marshall 2555 - I figured it would be good, but it was epic IMO....

That said, I bought the Mesa Stiletto. because Epic. On Steroids. x 2 channels and 50/100 watts. And Crocodile front.
 
In retrospect, Crate Vintage Club 50 combo with 3x10" speakers. This was my first real amp, and was in storage for a decade before I sold it. I gave it a swing again just as it was leaving the house, and whilst it wasn't what I wanted from an amp, I think it sounded great for what it was meant to be, regardless of the fact that it said Crate.

Marshall 9040/9100 power amps. Whilst the tube power amp sounds better, the difference just isn't large enough for me to bother with the extra weight, so in my rack rig I am running a SS power amp on my own volution (I will be getting a SD power amp at some point and see if I can cut weight without cutting tone).
 
Aceman said:
a) Is that hard to do?
b) What speaker do you recommend?
Click to expand...

A) Not at all. I removed the four screws that hold the grille on, removed the screws holding the speaker in, and basically shoved the replacement speaker in after connecting the wires. The screw holes are not in the same place, and the hole in the baffle is *just* too small for the replacement speaker, so it's basically a friction fit. I only use it around the house, so it doesn't get banged up too much, but the Vox model now gets pleasantly grindy, the Mesa model has lots of thump and roar, the Marshall model crunches pretty well, and the Blackface model lost all the flub and fartiness in the low end while retaining the sparkle and spank that it always had.

B). I used a Jensen Mod 5-30. It's built much heavier than the original, but it's an 8 ohm speaker vs the original being a 4 ohm speaker. This does cut the amp's overall volume, but that just makes it better for late night practice. It's a win-win for me.
 
Last edited:
I tried many brands except Marshall, mainly because I couldn't afford one and I didn't want a combo. I wanted a Marshall half stack.

I finally got a Marshall 2204 and a Marshall 2x12 (1936) and I was blown away how I could hear every note clearly in a chord. It wasn't muddy junk like all of my other amps. Clear distinct notes from every string no matter the preamp gain or volume.

I knew then why they are so popular.
 
Two incredible surprises..

I found a music man HD 130 in a pawn shop for about a quarter of its value and took the risk that it would actually work. After reverting to the correct tubes, it's a twin on steroids..

it turns out that Leo really wanted to build a better amp and boy does this puppy nail it.. everything you would expect in a twin, takes pedals well but with 130 watts it has much more headroom and lots of thickness with plenty of high-end.

Strangely enough, it also overdrives nicely... I normally dislike drive In fender designs other than the prosonic models.

The other was a trade that was too good to be true that I imagined I would sell immediately...and has become my favorite all time amp.

It's a Splawn Streetrod, and I always thought of Spawn as metal, where I'm a rock blues guy.

It turns out It has extremely tight bass, wonderful shimmering highs and the clean channel is the most beautiful clean I've ever had.. including Yamaha, Roland and lab series that were designed for cleans.

And the multi-gear drive channel is absolutely perfect...gear one provides light brownness and gear 2 gets into big crunch and three is usually beyond my needs and I guess this is where the metal players live.

So it's kind of a Plexi meets a jcm and a jcm on steroids plus a hyper clean channel.. I have no idea how that much flexibility is possible, but it's easily my answer to the single amp on a tropical island question.

Sent from my SM-G781U using Tapatalk
 
Last edited:
While I wouldn't say most, but certainly surprised me was the Randall MTS series. A buddy of mine had one with a pretty good selection of modules. He used a Fender clean module, a Modern module, and an 800 module. He went through the matching 4x12 cab loaded with Vintage '30s ( my least favorite speaker ). It sounded really good. Not at all what I expected. Not the best I have ever heard, but far from the worst.

I was also very impressed by a Peavey classic 30. The blues/rock band that it was employed for suited it perfectly. Clean enough, raunchy enough, cut through well, and fit the sound they had perfectly.
 
A band my band plays with occasionally's guitarist switched from a vintage Fender Princeton to a Boss Katana -for reliability for touring etc.

I swear he lost nothing switching for live purposes.

It sounds great and he has a ton of flexibility now.


That amp shootout posted had an ENGL that I was excited about, I don't know much about ENGL.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Ascension
Praise for my first gen PRS Archon after blowing a power tube
Replies
14
Views
558
JMP/HBE
JMP/HBE
FuseG4
Incoming amp
Replies
9
Views
247
Solarflares
Solarflares
ehdwuld
Adding a Carry Handle to the Blackstar I-Beam Amp
Replies
2
Views
280
ehdwuld
ehdwuld
SirJackdeFuzz II
If you want to your amp to sound tighter, you use a TS9 . . . right ?
Replies
15
Views
337
Bill Dennis
B
blakejcan
Anyone own a Two Rock amp?
Replies
2
Views
342
blakejcan
blakejcan
Back
Top