The Jemsite guide to amps - Page 5

Drew · #1 07-22-2004, 10:03 AM

One of the best clean tones I've ever had the chance to play was my strat through a Dr. Z Carmen Ghia dricing a 1x12 cab. Neil Zaza describes his Route 66 on the edge of breakup as "like angels flying out of my speakers," and that's pretty much dead-on (incidentally, i'm not 100% sure, but I believe it's the Dr. Z that's responsible for the magority of the slightly overdriven tones on his "Staring at the Sun," and in addition to being an overall kickass guitar album, he dials up some of the best guitar sounds I've ever heard on that one)

-D

muddeone · #2 08-07-2004, 10:38 AM

Anyone have thoughts on RIVERA amps?

Mr Orange · #3 08-10-2004, 12:28 PM

Please refer to page one or take it from me:

Got a '94 Rivera Hundred Duo Twelve. Love it. Have had Mesas, Marshalls, Fenders... the Rivera is a keeper. Tone, versatility, bells & whistles... you name it.

muddeone · #4 08-10-2004, 02:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr Orange

Please refer to page one or take it from me:

Got a '94 Rivera Hundred Duo Twelve. Love it. Have had Mesas, Marshalls, Fenders... the Rivera is a keeper. Tone, versatility, bells & whistles... you name it.

I have a 2002 Rivera Hundred Duo Twelve as well a keeper!

BeastofLove · #5 08-10-2004, 08:49 PM

Got a Rivera M60 4x10 combo... amazing tone, flexible as hell, massive sound. Definately a keeper!! Would highly reccomend them to anybody.

-Ben

muddeone · #6 08-11-2004, 08:56 AM

how about an

Soldano Atomic 16

[img]http://i20.****img.com/02/i/02/02/b3/d3_2.JPG[/img]

anyone? thoughts GENERALLY on Soldano as well?

Thanks!

vai n maiden · #7 08-12-2004, 12:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ukwan

For me the ENGL tone is absolutly amazing!! no way is this amp a cheap Mesa copy. it's a totally different animal... imagine the presence of a Marshall with the balls and smoothness of a Mesa.

Damn right, I for one really don't like Rectos but adore my ENGL.

Really screamy tough tone with bags of gain, doesn't get fizzy or muddy at all, really defined, giving pure violence with a hint of clarity.

jay ratkowski · #8 08-20-2004, 02:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr Orange

If you guys have hand-on experience with these Hughes&Kettners etc, please feel free to share as it's pretty easy for everyone to find all those manufacturer websites...

One time Triamp owner here...

I think H&K (the amp guys) make a pretty nice amp. It is somewhat limited in sounds. You really have to try all of their amps and find the one that has the tone for you, and stay there. Whatever tone the amp gives you is a very nice, well-articulated sound... it is just limited. I think of it as a refined Marshall, with a bit more even of a frequency range. Whereas the Marshalls (to me) have a harsh "V" shape in the EQ band, cutting the mids out pretty dramatically, the H&K's start out a bit more flat. The rest of the tone is pretty similar.

They tried to make a few other amps, like their solid state Vortex series or their modelling amp, which never really caught on. The Vortex amps have a pretty interesting sound, almost Roland sounding clean but with insane solid state distortion. Tried to gear it around electronic music, but I just see it as an even more limited sound.

The Triamp is best thought of as having 3 channels with progressively more gain. There is no true clean channel, kind of like the 5150 (but cleaner than that). The 2nd channel is like a typical Marshall with the gain set to 5 and then channel 3 is all out insano gain.

Can't offer much more than that, I haven't played around with their entire lineup.

muddeone · #9 08-25-2004, 09:07 AM

Regarding the H&K Edition TUBE...any thoughts? http://www.hughes-and-kettner.com/sc...prod&id=93

I am deciding on the following:

Mark 4 combo for $850.00 out the door (OTD)

a Mesa Boogie Subway Rocket for 450.00 OTD

or a Hughes & Kettner Edition Tube 20th Anniversary 375.00 OTD...

....

what would u do?

Mr Orange · #10 08-26-2004, 05:13 AM

Please keep your personal quests for amps out of this thread & start a new one insted, OK? No offence.

muddeone · #11 08-26-2004, 10:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr Orange

Please keep your personal quests for amps out of this thread & start a new one insted, OK? No offence.

is thaqt a personal question ? lol

pete944 · #12 02-14-2005, 12:56 AM

I gotta give a plug to the Vox Valvetronix amps. I tried one out and was blown away. I started selling off my rack gear and bought the AD120VTH head. I'm running it through a Marshall 4x12 cabinet wired in stereo. I can dial in any sound I need from an acoustic sim that sounds very real to very high gain leads. It does Marshall, Mesa, Soldano, and Dumble sounds quite well. The built in effects sound good too. It uses a 12AX7 into a dummy load to give a real tube feel. Unlike the Line 6 stuff, this one sounds and reacts like a tube amp and gets even better when you crank it up.

j.arledge · #13 06-26-2005, 01:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pete944

I gotta give a plug to the Vox Valvetronix amps. I tried one out and was blown away. I started selling off my rack gear and bought the AD120VTH head. I'm running it through a Marshall 4x12 cabinet wired in stereo. I can dial in any sound I need from an acoustic sim that sounds very real to very high gain leads. It does Marshall, Mesa, Soldano, and Dumble sounds quite well. The built in effects sound good too. It uses a 12AX7 into a dummy load to give a real tube feel. Unlike the Line 6 stuff, this one sounds and reacts like a tube amp and gets even better when you crank it up.

i had the vox 60 watt version head and it was not a good amp, it had good effects and stuff but it didn't have good gain on any setting and was extermly nosie. I sent it back the next day . I may have had a bad one but i was sure put off to the vox valvetronics series after that. It is british made but all the setting had the british sound which was annoying at the least.

peavey by far to me has the best amps out. the 6505 perviously know as the 5150 is used by many metal and hard core guys, the xxx is used by many rock/metal guys and is extermly versital. The jsx, well you know who that one is used by .

I myself am going to buy a peavey xxx or 5150/6505 . To be honest with you i have yet to play the 5150, i only have one music store in town and they dont carry them but i will be able to play one shortly . The xxx on the other hand, i have played extensivly at my local store, it is one of the best amps around. For the price and what your getting you can't beat them. You want a soild amp head that is reliable and has power plus guts peavey is the only way to go.

bonehead189 · #14 07-22-2005, 03:13 PM

What's your opinion on the Spider II series. (Combo's not the head.) I was comparing it to a Vox Valvetronix and didn't know which one had better value. I was leaning towards the Spider II, but WOW the combo with an attiTUBE! Do guys know? If so post info on it here: http://www.jemsite.com/forums/showth...3&page=1&pp=15