What amp(s) are you using?

i'm playing my prestige 250 thru a late 70's fender musicmaster bass amp w/ a 5E3 mod. that's my small gig rig, and my fave. when i need more clean power, for a larger room, i have a 90's ampeg super jet. oh, and both are TUUBE!

what's everybody else pluggin' into?

Main rig is a Holden 100w tube combo with a slant fronted quad should I need extra projection, which is rarely! The amp is a 70's NZ built Marshall clone running 2x KT88s in the power section and 4x ECC 83s in the pre-amp and reverb. Bass amp is an ELFA 100w solid state combo, also ,from the 70's; this from Australia and powerful but light to cart about.
These days, though I just go straight into the board, or in smaller gigs, into the PA amp which is a much easier solution!

I play through an early 70s (71 or 73 I can't recall) Fender Twin Reverb. It's in dire need of an overhaul as the tubes are crackling like crazy right now.

It has a beautiful warm tube tone as you'd expect. I really don't need an amp as powerful but I simply can't part with it.

hi,

i mainly play through a line 6 15 watt (plenty loud enough) or a 50 watt marshall acoustic amp, i think they made this one for the thunder range, perfect match, LOL.

so thats my setup... apart from the variety of boss pedals i use. (DD7, AC2, CH1, SD1, BD2 and a tuner, not boss)

bye for now,

mark.

Oh yeh i also have a HH studio 50 in the uk but it needs a look at.

After owning an Ampeg SVT 4 Pro, then a Trace Elliot GP7, I finally found my ideal amp in the (very compact) form of the Markbass "Little Mark" II . Paired with two 12" Markbass cabs, it's a very portable, very versatile and VERY loud little set-up.

Here's the full stack (with my Wal Custom MKII, which I sold last year):


Here's the half-stack configuration (still plenty loud enough for small gigs):


And here's the 2.9kg, 500w head in it's "gig bag" - a laptop case, of all things !


Finally, a rig that I can actually carry all by myself !

I currently have a peavey 6505 head (bought without cab). changed my mind and realised it's gonna be to damned heavy.. about to do a straight swap for a 5150 2x12 combo.

Is that a good deal?

i'd prefer a 5150. but, probably because i'm a "made in USA" nut. i' toured the peavey factory back in the early 90's. (it's not far from my home "20). they used to have alot of pride back then.

I have a Line 6 Flextone III Plus, 1x12 Celestion, with an external cabinet, also with a 1x12 Celestion , both sitting on Auralex Gramma Isolation platforms, & a FBV shortboard footswitch.....

The Marshalls off to the sides are owned by my 2 sons.....

Well, not to be outdone by all you showoffs with your fancy amps and gizmo's:

I've got a little Fender Champion 600 Valve amp, a little Marshall G10 MKII amp and a Marshall SV-1 Supervibe Chorus Pedal! So there!!!!

Oh yeah, and I've got a pink guitar lead too!

Pauline :flower: :queen:

Pollyanna wrote:

Oh yeah, and I've got a pink guitar lead too!

Oooh; I'll just bet that pink leads make it go better!! (Once again, ignore me - I have a veritable rainbow of coloured cables; none, however, pink!)

corsair wrote:

Oooh; I'll just bet that pink leads make it go better!!

Of course!!!!

Oh, but I do have to plug it in first to make it go really well! :arrow:

I've got red leads too but I only use them when I get my red Spectrum SX out to play!

SIGH!!! I don't know! Do you chaps not know that a girl must be colour co-ordinated in these things? :queen:

Pauline :flower: :queen:

Pollyanna wrote:
I've got red leads too but I only use them when I get my red Spectrum SX out to play!

Pauline :flower: :queen:

Is this a little known secret?

You have to match the color of the cables to the color of the guitar?

If this is true, I have a lot more purchases to make!!!!!

Pollyanna wrote:I've got red leads too but I only use them when I get my red Spectrum SX out to play!

..Right!! The gloves are off.... show-off!!

ppc6mm wrote:Is this a little known secret?

You have to match the color of the cables to the color of the guitar?

If this is true, I have a lot more purchases to make!!!!!

..See; all this good info you're picking up just being here?! You won't get that a your local guitar emporium!!

ppc6mm wrote:

You have to match the color of the cables to the color of the guitar?

Most definitely!!!

Not just that though Rod, you have to have matching guitar straps as well! Oh, and if at all possible, matching outfits too!
(Of course, Wellies are an optional accessory!)

There now! Aren't you chaps soooo glad that you have me to advise you on all these little dress code secrets?

Pauline :flower: :queen:

I use a Line 6 Pod XT Live modeller either direct for recording or into the effects return on a newer tweed Peavey Classic 30.

The little Peavey has a great clean sound. The dirty channel sucks though. And the Peavey's preamp does not take pedals well.

By running from the guitar into the POD and out of the Pod into the Peavey's effects return, I bypass the Peavey's preamp circuit and only hit the tube power section. Believe it or not, the Pod sounds even better going through the tubes and 12" guitar speaker than it does going direct into studio monitors. The tubes and guitar speaker give it a warmer tone and microphones respond well. My master volume is the output gain on the POD. None of the knobs on the Peavey do anything in this mode. The little 30 watt combo is plenty loud for local gigs.

I use lots of different models in the POD: Fender, Boogie, Marshall, Budda, Hiwatt, etc.

I really want the newer Pod XT 3 Live because it allows 2 different, independent signal paths. That is the key to a big tone live.

HI all

i havent been around this site for a while as ive started school again and havent had the chance.
ive just bought a peavey valveking head which i use with one of the two cabs my dad bought a while ago and doesnt use, the cabs have three: 100 watt, 16ohm 'fane' speakers wired in parallel wich to those of you who want to know adds up to 300 watts and 5.3 ohms. the peavey has great sounds going through the clean or lead channels and it is very loud, hehe

bye for now,

mark

Hi,

At home and small gigs I use an old&small SWR workingman combo (1x12 - 100watt), sounds great but needs some compression through an EBS multicomp.

Gigs are through a 500 watt Yamaha BBT500T head (similiar to an Ashdown Superfly, but way more versatile) and 2 Ashdown mini cab's 1x15" en 4x8". It's very portable and loud enough.

hummel wrote:At home and small gigs I use an old & small SWR workingman combo

...I used one of these for a while and loved it to bits - volume was not a problem for even the biggest gigs as I just used the line out into the board! I didn't have any compression problems though?

sticky wrote:i havent been around this site for a while as ive started school again

... yes, yes!! Thank you for reminding us all in here that we're all old fogies!

cool! a wrinkle in my response. i just found a seymour duncan convertable 100.....in de pwan shop.....dey let me "in th' back ruum"............has a couple of minor issues....but, i got it fo' $200......reasonable score, i reckon.....


boo-yah-cah-shah!

I just got myself about the sweetest amp deal I can imagine. And it came from the guy who sold me my first Westone! The family is staying together! It's a big Hartke setup, a 350 watt Hartke 3500 amplifier hooked to a big 300 watt Hartke MX series 115 cabinet (15" bass driver, 4" attack driver). He also threw in his old distortion pedal, a Russian Big Muff Pi. Only $200! With the amplifier set at ONE I have things vibrating all around me. I am very pleased, to say the least.

Although I've only ever owned 4 basses since I started playing in 1982 (2 Westones, a Stagg fretless and my first bass, a pretend, nondescript sort of thing with a plywood body), I'm on my 6th and 7th amps, searching for "that sound" to bring out the best in my Thunder III bass.

I think I might just have found it now: My main rig is an Ashdown Superfly 500 (500 watt compact digital head) hooked up to two Yamaha 2x10" cabs. The Ashdown head is much-maligned in the bass-playing fraternity, but I've owned mine for about 10 months and think it's brilliant. The Yamaha cabs are well made and nice and portable too.

My practice amp is a Behringer BX108 "Thunderbird" - really inexpensive but with a sound and build quality that puts much more exotic, big name practice amps to shame.

POD2 with floorboard combined with a Peavey Bandit 112 for me. Set up with the POD as pre-amp and the Peavey just delivering the power. More than enough power for my domestic playing! I enjoy the flexibility of the POD for different tones but I often seem to drift towards the 'Small Tweed' and 'Tweed Blues' models so I guess if I was forced to buy another amp I would be looking at the fender options!

David

MARSHALL JCM 2000 DSL 401 8 valves (tubes) into a Vintage gold 12" celestion. Marshall regenerator pedal. I mike it up with a SM58 vocal mike into a 4K PA rig for live work. Not really into pedals, prefer to let the amp find the drive I want. Ive got a Line 6 flextone with a FBV floorboard as a back up, but they are bloody complicated for an old Luddite like me!

See you soon

Best Wishes

Bluesman

dear old luddite, :?:

i got the answer to your modeling complication. it took me a while myself to figure it out. SIMPLIFY!
find 1 (count them->>> ONE) amp model you like, then, find the effects models (one of each) that you like best, then, switch your board to "effects" setting and forget that you have a million other choices in there.

in other words: "don't switch programs.......switch effects!"


i went thru 5 different modelers before i figured that out.


update on my rig. it has changed. i got shed of my fender and ampeg amps. i have since gotten a seymour duncan 100 watt convertable and a pignose G40V. both are surprizingly honkin' squawlers! i also have a special amp en route which may disqualify me from further posting......we'll see what's in the pawnshops, tho'.

Caucajan, thanks for the advice mate, much appreciated. The Line 6 is easier to get to grips with now.

I blew the valves in my Marshall DSL yet again!! it costs me £85 every 4 months time to replace them! The valve bias is linked to the volume so every time you alter the volume you alter the bias, as far as I know it only happens with Marshall DSLs. So I've sold it on and bought a Marshall 100DFX combo. It sounds bloody awful but it will do the job until I can find a Marshall JCM800!

Trace Eliot. S'nice.

Hope it's not too late to add my twice cents! More Line 6 users here than I thought.

I've "geeked" out my rig:

The get the neighbor's attention setup and Home recording setup:


Flextone HD + Floorboard with a Mesa Boogie straight cab/slant face 4x12 with Celestion Vintage 30's all around.

For many years I used a 1976 vintage Marshall 100w Super Lead Mk II, model 1959, with a 250 watt 1x15" Marshall Bass speaker (great for rythmn, loads of bottom end), then about ten years ago I added a model 1922 2x12" lead cab to make a rather odd looking stack, then five years ago I added a model 1960A 4x12, which normally had the 2x12 on top to make a 6x12 stack! The 1959 was semi retired as for gigs I was using a G100RCD twin channel transistor head, which has now been semi retired to practice amp status as I bought a Marshall Mode Four four channel 350watt head last year. You may detect a bit of a Marshall bias here... I met Jim Marshall himself back in 2003 and he signed both of the amp heads I had at the time. Regrettably I had to sell the 1959 two years ago to pay the mortgage that month (I'm still in therapy about that...) but the Mode Four is helping me get over that trauma. Also I use a Boss ME 50 multi effects unit and a de Armmond Volume pedal (the foot pedal on the ME 50 is usually set to Wah), so with the six button floor controller for the Mode Four I have a crowded floor in front of me at gigs! I used to have a set of EKO Bass pedals (like Moog Taurus) but they died a few years ago (tone generator chip went, and could I find a replacement? I should coco...) so they were sold too. One day Iwould like to get my hands (or is that feet?) on an actual Moog Tarus unit, but they are rarer than hens teeth right now and when they do appear online the price is astronomical. Sometime in the future I would also like to get hold of another 4x12, a 1960B Bottom cab so that the stack is complete. Also unecessary for most gigs, but it does scare the natives! I also had a 200 Watt Bass stack for a few years but again had to sell to pay bills.

Polytone, 100 watt combo, 12 inch speaker

Currently mainly using :

Fender Blues Junior tweed 15w valve combo, EL84 power tubes (this is the limited edition with the Jensen speaker) .. it's so 'chimey' and lovely



I also have a Fender Blues Deluxe tweed 40 watt valve combo (the original 1994 USA model, not the recent reissue) again a nice amp with a 6L6 power stage this time.



My effects vary as I kind of change my tastes (I have a cupboard full of gizmo's !) but currently stuffed into my BOSS BCB-60 carry case are:

BOSS EH-2 Enhancer (for added Knopfler-esque presence)
Carl Martin Compressor/Limiter (for twang)
Dunlop Univibe Chorus/Vibrato
Carl Martin AC-Tone Overdrive/Boost (great front end to the amp, was using a Vox V810 Valvetone before this)
Ibanez CS-9 Chorus
BOSS DD-6 Digital Delay

I also plug a Buddha Wah pedal in front of the other effects if I feel like waggling my foot

If I need extra 'dirt' this usually gets plugged in the form of a tuna-can sized Bixonic Expandora Overdrive/Distortion

cheers

Dave

I think I've got the amp that time forgot!

I've just collected an early 80s Washburn Raven (same DNA as Westones ) purchased on a buy-it-now deal on UK ebay. The seller wasn't prepared to sell the guitar separately from his old amp, so I came home with a little (but damn heavy --- well it was by the time I'd lugged it across London) amp as well. Wonder if anyone has heard of KMD amps? I can't post photos at the moment as camera not working & spare £s just spent on the guitar so here's the description....

It's a KMD GS18 amp. It proudly boasts "made in England" on the front panel (a rarity in itself, we've stopped making stuff here ) and it's got a Celestion G10D - 25 speaker. It's transistor not valves (shame!!) and is nice & loud for a little amp.

Can't find anything much on the web about this model although a few of it's big brothers are reviewed on harmony-central. Apparently Richie Sambora used to endorse KMD amps back in the 80s. Anyone know anything else about these unknown amps

norfolkngood wrote:I've just collected an early 80s Washburn Raven (same DNA as Westones )

..well done, you!! I haven't seen any of the Matt Washburns for ages, and I lusted after an Eagle for long enough!!

norfolkngood wrote:I think I've got the amp that time forgot!

Is it kind of like this one?




Snigger, snigger!!!!!

Sorry mate, I haven't heard of it before either but I'm sure somebody out there will be able to give you the low down on it!

Pauline :flower: :queen:

Yeah, that's the one!!

- Laney RB9 top
- Boss GT6-B
- selfmade 15"-bassbox (planning the 4x10"-box at the moment)

erm.... marshall g15r cd it's an old one, off ebay, with a 'park'(?) speaker...? anyway, it's not great. maybe i'll start saving for something better. dunno what, though...
when i go jamming with my mates, i hire one from the guy who runs the rehearsal rooms!

when i'm recording i plug my yamaha dg stomp into the mac!

Anybody remember Badger Amps? I saw one on ebay the other day and it brought back a few memories... My first electric guitar was as previouly mentioned a Thunder I dating from 84, but at the same time my first amp was a Badger 15 watt practice amp. I have fond memories of it, though I sold it about 18 months later to buy a Marshall 30 watt amp (which was loud enough to compete with most makes of 50 watt amps as I recall). The picture below is of an 8 watt practice amp but the only real difference was a larger speaker with fret cloth over it.

yes, i do vaguely remember badger amps. don't think i ever had the pleasure of playing one, though. i did have a shocker of a fender practice amp though. 'hot' something, maybe. had red push buttons for the different settings, like clean, crunch, etc... 4 of them i think. pretty bad, it was. wish i could remember more about it.

Marshall VS65R Valvestate (Made in England 1996) - Its a 65 watt Valve/solidstate hybrid power stage into 1x12" Marshall Gold Back speaker. The tube components are ECC83 [12AX7] pre-amp valve, which is active on both channels. Really simple with two seperate channels - 'Clean' and 'Overdrive'. I haven't had much luck playing around with the contour control on the overdrive channel. The built-in spring reverb is pretty nice, actually I love this feature. It also has a line out jack for connection to external equipment. Good crunch and good clean sound. Not quite big enough for a live show but I've used the line-out to a PA. As I said, the warmth in the tone generated by the tube in the pre-amp stage really rounds out the sound in this amp (Marshall stack sound). I've really beat the hell out of this thing and so far so good, great value and sound for a hybrid. If I ever upgrade this I will look for a bigger Marshall tube amp or if I can get a good deal, something by Orange. I'd give this an overall rating of about a 9/10.

Line 6 Spider III 30 - update: July '09...TRADED the Line 6 for a Peavey Classic 50/410.... more on this at the end of this thread.

Edit: Based on some advice from a lister, I went out and bought a used Zoom G2.1u multieffects pedal. This MIJ pedal has got some good models (Fender twin reverb, Marshall JCM 2000, my favourite is the 5150) -, has a metal case, is able to run on batteries, and both the preset clean and dirty patches are good, quite useable - and this pedal is dead quiet with the right gating.
The strength of this pedal is in the ability to use the EQ, effects, compression, cabinet, mic models, etc to modify and create your own patches. Almost all of the effects are top-notch, with a passable auto-wah, pedal wah, chorus and 3 types of reverb. Crazy metal patches with enough gain to blow the basement up - one is a close approximation of early VH - and one can general some interesting dive-bombs. Outstanding value. Thanks again to Hendrik for his advice, best 125 bucks I've spent on effects.

Hi,

I'm thinking of of buying a used fullstack:

- Hughes & Kettner BassBase 600
- Hughes & Kettner Bass Custom Series 410H
- Hughes & Kettner Bass Custom Series 215H

Does someone of you perhaps have any experience with this equipment?

Best wishes,
hans

I recently picked up a TubeWorks Provalve 1160 rack amp. And it's sweeeet! These were made/designed by Genz-Benz back in the day. And for the money (cheap) I highly recommend anyone checking them out if they are looking for a nice rack amp for short money!

In the "old days" I gigged with my 1984 Roland Cube 100. Solid state but heavy as hell to lug around so I added casters to the bugger! God knows what the hell is in it. A really powerful beast...made the 'ole Spectrum into a formidable weapon! Especially when trying to compete with the other two band jokers on their Strats!

In the really old days I used my 1965 Danelectro DM25, an all tube, real nice vintage sound with an absolutely wicked tremolo and funky reverb. I recently blew the dust off it and plugged in my Danelectro '56 U2 Re-issue--wow! I'm 15 years old again.

These days I mostly noodle in my basement music room so I don't use the Roland!
I used to use my 15 watt 1996 Washburn Southside Junior a lot. It's a cool looking amp with vintage tweed covering and has a mellow blues sound with an overdrive that really delivers. It's solid state but sounds like a tube. I normally use it with a Boss CE3 chorus pedal since it has no built in effects.

BUT...I made a deal back in November for a beautiful '07 Epiphone Les Paul Studio (worn cherry finish) and the package included a VOX DA5 "practice" amp.

WELL! Let me tell you--practice amp, shmactice amp!
This thing is the size of a toaster and ROCKS YER SOCKS OFF!!!

I have no clue how the clever folks at VOX did it but the advertised 5 watts somehow comes out sounding like 500!! If you've never experienced this little box o'dynamite, run, do not walk to your nearest music store and try it. You'll want one immediately! It even runs on batteries!
I could ramble on about it but best read about it for yourself here:

The first amp I bought for myself was an 80's era solid state Sound City. It's 10 or 15 watts, very clean sounding but has no overdrive or reverb. I've still got it somewhere, mainly because it's worthless!

I replaced this when I got the chance at to buy my first real tube amp, a silver face Fender champ. An amazing punchy little thing I'm never letting go of. I replaced the tubes and upgraded the speaker to a Jensen alnico item but it still didn't have the option of overdrive or my beloved reverb without having to resort to stompboxes all over the floor. I don't need all that extra work when I just want to sit in front of TV or play along with an album.

So I got me a Laney VC15R. I love this amp, it's loud with a great overdrive channel and a sweet reverb (if you don't overdo it). I can just plug in, kick back and noodle away!

Barry wrote:

Oh yeah...I also have a Danelectro Honeytone mini-amp in Daddy-O Yellow. 4 exciting watts, and it clips on yer belt! Now I can walk about the house and annoy the hell out of everyone!

I love these type of amps. So far I've got a couple of the Marshalls (a half stack and a full stack!). And I've got the mini Fender Deluxe and the cool Mini Tweed complete with leather carry handle. Best of the lot is the Orange Micro Crush. A metal chassis and wooden cab construction, it comes with an awesome overdrive and a built in tuner. Pretty loud for 1 watt of giggle inducing noise!

Barry wrote:

I recently blew the dust off it and plugged in my Danelectro '56 U2 Re-issue--wow! I'm 15 years old again.

Cool guitar mate . I got one in Limo Black, they sound amazing with both pick-ups on together. They are built so simple they shouldn't work!

DAN.

DuoFuzz wrote:my first real tube amp, a silver face Fender champ

A lot of folks like the Champ. Can't beat a real tube-type for that authentic sound. My buddy had one for years and I briefly had one but swapped it out for the Roland which has the reverb and overdrive built in plus a lot more power. Depends on what music yer playin' at the time I guess. I wouldn't mind having it now though!

DuoFuzz wrote:I got me a Laney VC15R. I love this amp

I seen these and heard good things about them, but never had the chance to play one...yet.

Do check out the VOX DA5 if you're into a smaller amp for noodling around, or even very intimate gigs! It's got all the effects you could ever want built (11 of them) in as well as 11 amp styles plus the ability to program them all, AND it can optionally run on C batteries! I've heard tell of lots of pros who use this for both recording and as their main source when live, patching into a larger amp or the PA for volume!
Ain't it grand to have so much choice these days?

Yep; sure is!! I don't know what the situation was like in Canada when you were a young fella, Barry, but out here in the Antipodes it was pretty dire!! But a couple of NZ firms came up with versions of the famous amps of the time, one of which I still use to this day... or would if it were in the same city as I am!! It's an all-tube Holden 100W combo loaded with 2x KT88's and 4xECC83's - heavy as all hell but what tone,,, sort of marshall-y with a heavy Blackface vibe; I've never liked the idea of a practice amp simply 'cause I think you should practice with what you're gonna gig; that way there are no surprises and you know exactly what sort of tones you are going to get at most settings.
If you don't gig of course, then a wee job makes a hell of a lotta sense!! (You can always turn a big amp down, though...)