Cagey said:
Yeah, I suppose that's true.
One of my brothers just bought a Mesa Mark V and he's disappointed. Supposed to do anything, but it doesn't. Not that it's a bad amp, but it's not the Holy Grail. He actually prefers his Rivera Fandango. So, what does that say?
I played with a Peavey 6505 a while back and IMO, it was the Holy Grail of Metal. The sounds were incredible; everything from the volume to the overtones, etc. It was nothing short of awesome, EXCEPT it was a one-trick pony; 2 channels, 1 EQ. That didn't work for me. Now, if I were in Slayer, maybe so, but I wanted something I could use for everything, not something which had no other focal point than Metal.
I eventually decided against the 6505 and had the opportunity to sit down with a 6505+ for about 2 hours. I could not find a single tone out of that head that I liked. One would think that the 6505+ would be that much better than the standard 6505, especially with one extra tube, but that was NOT the case. Sure, the 6505+ had an EQ for both channels and an additional tube, but the tone was not there. It sounded dry and I couldn't get any sort of overtones out of it whatsoever. It's a good thing I had an opportunity to try one because I almost just bought the thing, figuring "It's a better 6505."
That's when I wound up with my Randall RT100H, which I loved. Unfortunately, I had very bad experiences with this head. My first one arrived and neither the Lead or Rhythm channels worked. My replacement lasted me a total of 2 weeks; out with the garbage, in with the good stuff.
I declined another replacement RT100H and upgraded to a Peavey 3120. I based the decision on reviews I'd read, a few YouTube demos, and a few suggestions from another forum. It had all the features I wanted except for it was lacking a "Reverb" adjustment. I just figured I could grab a pedal and be done with it, which I've since done. The price was right and I jumped for it. I think I wound up paying around $750-$800, which was an excellent price.
Well, this Peavey 3120 has treated me well thus far, and being fairly green to all this fancy gear, I've been doing a lot of playing with knobs since I got the thing, mainly because while I'm standing off to the side the settings I choose sound great, but when I move into the "path of sound," things aren't so great. Live and learn, right? So, that's where I'm at.
I've enjoyed my reliable gear and I enjoy messing with the settings. I've dialed in a sound which I like and dialed in the right amount of Reverb, and all is well. I'm real happy with the sound I've reached.
That being said, I also played some heads that were far beyond my price range. Those included the Mesa Trans-Atlantic, Dual Rectifier, and Triple Rectifier. Sure, they were all great products and clearly very well built, but as with the 6505+, I just couldn't quite get that sound I wanted to hear.
If I ever win the lottery, I think I'm going to buy an Engl Powerball II. Yeah, it's a one trick pony, but its tricks are impressive. :headbang1:
Considering I only paid
