List your Amplifiers

[PeterTSkelton]

I'm living life tubeless with a Fender Mustang II right now. Sooner or later I'll get back to the endless pursuit of the perfect tube amp, but right now the Mustang sounds good enough through headphones, and with three small kids and living in a town home and no band I've got nowhere to really stretch the legs on a tube amp.

In the past I've pretty much always rocked a series of hand built amps, starting with the usual suspect JTM45 and Twin knockoffs, but I quickly graduated into a variety of more versatile designs.

All that aside, if I had my choice with no limits I'd go back to a Trainwreck Express running KT66s with a 2x12 with a Vintage 30 and a G12H30. Probably the ultimate in amps that you can play with your fingertips, and the speaker pairing cuts through any live mix you can find.

 

[Kostas]

A photoshoot I did for fun. All my amps and cabs with a few of my guitars:

Heads:
'73 Fender Bassman 50 Great Fender clean tone.
'05 Marshall 1959HW Super Lead 100 The BEAST! Love the clean tone and the bite it gives to the pedals. Can't say anything about the OD since I don't have an attenuator yet.
'15 Bad Cat Cub III My Vox tone and more. Perfect MV without affecting the tone or the feel of the amp. The EF86 rocks.
Epiphone Valve Junior (not in photo and not in use since I have the others)

Cabs:
Orange Anniversary 4x12 (Celestion G12H30 Anniversaries) Nothing like a 4x12 and nothing like an Orange 4x12. Huge low end and 50kg weight compared to the under 40kg Marshall (type) cabs.
THD 2X12 (currently with Jensen Blackbird - ASW Crossroads) A great cab cleverly constructed.
Mesa Boogie 3/4 1x12 I wanted this (discontinued) cab for years and I'm glad I found it. It's not a 4x12 but it has a big spacious sound with the unique openings on the back. The stock speaker is a surprise, clear but not clinical sounding.

 

[rgand]

I had one of those early Fender Bassman heads. I loved it. They're one of my favorites.

 

[Boston Joe]

Background: I play mostly jazz these days, though I do do the occasional fusion or rock gig.

1. The Derelict: Mesa Boogie Lone Star Special - Blown output transformer. Currently taking up space in the garage. Will probably part out.

2. The Off-Season athlete: Fuchs ODS 50 watt - For rock and fusion - don't really use it that much. Should probably sell it.

3. The Workhorse: Acoustic Lead 60 - A light, reliable solid state amp with an effects loop. Really, really good tone for the price. I use this for rehearsals and jam sessions, and the occasional gig if I need to get in and out quickly. This amp was a revelation. It's a cheap solid state thing, and I was not expecting it to sound good, but I plugged an archtop into it and was blown away by a VERY creditable jazz tone. With the right effects (or not) it can handle everything from Joe Pass to Pat Metheney. Overdrive sounds are not great, but that's not what I need it for. This was a replacement for a Polytone that died on me. It does everything the Polytone did and more.

4. The Show Pony: Dr. Z Maz 18 Jr. - Every note that comes out of this amp is lush, full, round. Simply an amazing amp. Also amazingly heavy. Only used for gigs where I've got at least a couple of hours between load in and load out, and where I can park close to the door. Amazing sounds both clean and overdriven. Not a ton of gain, but a good OD pedal in front will get some very nice high gain sounds. Only 18 watts, but loud enough to explode your head.

 

[JD0x0]

That's quite a rig. And you play them all at the same time of course? On full volume, right? :laughing7:

I actually do like to use multiple amp setups, when I can, and I'm not feeling lazy. I want to do a quadraphonic setup, too.

I've acquired a few amps since my last post, So I guess I should add those, too.

8. 'Shortblock' singled ended high gain Marshall
9. 70's Fender twin modded into a Marshall killer w/ verb and trem.
10. Traynor YGL-3 modded for to be a clean pedal platform

 

[rob91bob]

I am currently playing through an Orange Micro Terror, good sounding little 12ax7 amp. I own a Crate Vintage Club 50W 3X10 tube amp but the channel switching is messed up and it jumps in and out of channels. I am thinking about buying one of the tube amp kits and retrofitting the cabinet on it with a twin reverb style amp.

 

[amigarobbo]

I've got a little Marshall bass 12,
and a I think, 1976 Fender Bassman 100, which goes into a Trace Elliot 2 10" + horn tweeter cabinet.

Works nice for both bass and skinny string guitar things, never been able to overload the input section for any distortion, which suits me to be honest.

Maybe I'm just too much of a wussy to turn it up high enough.  :headbang1:

 

[JeffBlue]

1968 Fender Vibro Champ 10 inch speaker mod

1969 Fender Bandmaster Reverb head

Trace Elliot Bonneville 4X10

Vox Lil' Night Train head

Fender Super Champ X2 head

Rack system: (from top to bottom) Peavey Futura (rack mount speaker cab) loaded with a 12 inch Black Widow, Art SGX-2000 Express, Mesa Boogie M190 power amp.

 

[spe111]

Store bought:
Mesa F-30
Rivera Suprema 55
Fender Princeton Reverb RI with 12" Weber speaker

Hand made:
Weber Fender 5e3 copy - made by someone else
Weber Super Reverb copy - made by someone else
AX84 - made by me

 

[snouter]

2 Genz Benz Black Pearl combos with the Tube Store branded preamp and EL84 power tubes.
1 Peavey Bandit 65 circa mid '80s with Eminence Governor speaker.

Folks, very interested in doing clones of the mid '80's Peavey Bandit 65 circuit.  I can't tell how many name brand, "reissue" tube amps it blew away on open mic stages over the years.

 

[civilaggie06]

Not in any particular order just the batch I've been playing out of.

1)BanTamP Zombie
2)Vox Lil' Night Train
3)Westbury Model 550
4)Hughs and Kettner Grand Meister 40
5)Ampeg PF-800
6)Bugera 6260 120W 2x12 2-Channel Tube Guitar Combo Amp with Reverb Regular

Playing out of the Following Cabinets:
1)Bugera BN115TS 1x15
2)Ampeg PF-210HE 2x10

 

[Rick]

Yamaha JX30
Yamaha something that's been ripped apart and modified and I have no clue, except it weighs only 5 Lbs.  Perfect for the garden parties.

 

[mayfly]

2 Genz Benz Black Pearl combos with the Tube Store branded preamp and EL84 power tubes.
1 Peavey Bandit 65 circa mid '80s with Eminence Governor speaker.

Folks, very interested in doing clones of the mid '80's Peavey Bandit 65 circuit.  I can't tell how many name brand, "reissue" tube amps it blew away on open mic stages over the years.

Hi Jim,

I'm interested in understanding more about the Peavey.  What is it about the Peavey circuit that you like?  Also, considering they are pretty cheap used, why would you clone one?  Different features?  More channels?

 

[Cagey]

He's not the first one to sing praises of that amp. Two of my brothers had them and couldn't say enough good things about them. I don't remember hearing them (although I almost certainly did) as it was before my accident and while I was living hundreds of miles away and didn't get much exposure, but anytime we talk about "The One That Got Away" those amps always come up.

 

[mayfly]

Hmmm.  You know, looking at the schematic (see below), it's not stunningly different from 90% of the SS amps out there.  Distortion is with a typical dual diode in op-amp feedback loop arrangement, and other stuff like the tone controls are not shockingly different either. Must be just careful tuning of the various passives.


Update:  Hey Jim:  can you take some photos of the insides of the thing?  I'm talking about closeups.  I'd like to know what clipping diodes they're using in there.

 

[Cagey]

Perhaps they were just one of those "perfect storms" that occur once in a while. A pile of small differences here and there that in and of themselves would make little or no difference added up to a raucous little amp. And don't forget the speaker. Then there's the question of taste. One man's perfect amp is another's trade bait.

 

[mayfly]

Yep - no question.

There's one for sale around here for $150CAN.  Wonder if I should get it.  I could probably get my money out of it

 

[Cagey]

Sounds pretty low-risk. Pay that much for a crummy pedal, and a lot more for a good one.

 

[davegardner0]

2 Genz Benz Black Pearl combos with the Tube Store branded preamp and EL84 power tubes.
1 Peavey Bandit 65 circa mid '80s with Eminence Governor speaker.

Folks, very interested in doing clones of the mid '80's Peavey Bandit 65 circuit.  I can't tell how many name brand, "reissue" tube amps it blew away on open mic stages over the years.

Hi Jim,

I'm interested in understanding more about the Peavey.  What is it about the Peavey circuit that you like?  Also, considering they are pretty cheap used, why would you clone one?  Different features?  More channels?

I've got the same amp and I love it! The Peavey Bandit 65 was from Peavey's "Solo Series". Mine has the stock Scorpion speaker (I actually really like Scorpions), but in general that little amp just has something about it. It always really cuts through well in a band mix too and definitely responds well to picking dynamics. I like both the clean and lead channels, and my only criticism is that I wish they had separate tone controls for each channel.

I also have a "Red Stripe" Bandit which is from the early 2000's I think and while it's a very nice SS amp (has the "Transtube" circuit) I think I like the 65 better. I'll have to do a demo on it some time.

Interestingly I also have a Peavey Renown from the Solo Series that somebody gave me a while back. I had to replace some transistors to get it running again and while it's a nice amp, for whatever reason the Bandit sounds better. They seem very similar, especially in the preamp, but the tone of the Renown is both thinner and muddier at the same time compared to the Bandit.

The best part about the Bandit's is that they're super cheap still, as their fan club is devoted but small. I got mine as an add-in on a craigslist trade but I only traded about $50 worth of gear for it. Sometimes I think about picking up a 2nd to leave at rehearsal spaces, etc.

P.S. Here's my current list:

Marshall JVM210H
Marshall 1960A Cab
Marshall 1960B Cab
Traynor YBA1-MOD1
1968 Traynor YBA-1
1968 Traynor YBA-1A
Fender AB763 Deluxe Reverb Turret Board Wired Clone - Wired by Me
Peavey Bandit 65 Solo Series
Peavey Bandit Red Stripe
Peavey Renown Solo Series
Pignose GA40 Converted to a Head
2 x ADA 2x12 Vertical Slant Cabs
SUNN 610L Cab
Gallien-Krueger 1001RB-II
Fender PRO 8x10 Bass Cab
Acoustic B200
Weber Mass III Attenuator for the non-MV Amps

 

[TBurst Std]

All this Peavey talk:
Had 3: a Mace, a Classic and a Heritage (as I recall)
The Mace ,while not definable,always delivered the goods.
The Classic was a great keep at home amp;As was the Heritage.  The Heritage took my Digitech processorI had at the time much better.  The Classic delivered in spades the Nashville tones that at times I was looking for.