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Post by brianellefson on Oct 9, 2015 11:45:34 GMT -6
Curious to see if there is a general consensus here on which vintage amp would be considered "The" amp to own. I know it won't be unanimous.
I feel like it may be a '65 Twin or Deluxe.
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Post by brianellefson on Oct 9, 2015 11:46:44 GMT -6
Oh, not based on how rare or price. But tone, etc.
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Post by popmann on Oct 9, 2015 15:02:16 GMT -6
No way. Because guitar tone and preference varies too much. There is no amp that does Slash SRV and Haggard. Personally, I think the closest you'll find, is gonna be an old 100wt Plexi or a tweed Bassman, which are damn similar circuits. Add a proper good drive pedal and not care about the output volume....and you're prolly set.
I wouldn't buy any vintage amp today I don't think if you gave me endless budget. They've all been either duplicated or bettered, IMO. Not in mass produced amps, but by the tons of builders who hand build amp, which is how those were made. I would bet you can go to an amp show and find someone who can build you a self bias amp that has a switch to go between Plexi and Bassman stacks--and the cathode bias will make you able to put in 6L6 or 5881 or el34s (or any other octal power tube) with no more than a selector for a plate voltage on the back.
I think people make a poor equation....vintage amps are amazing compared to the modern ones made by the same companies (as a rule)....not when you count the number of custom/small shop builders in the world. They're inferior to the best of those, IME--if only in functional flexibility.
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Post by mrholmes on Oct 9, 2015 16:45:01 GMT -6
With the years (27) I do think the Vintage hype, on both sides of the window, is overrated.
Give me a decent amp, a decent e-guitar, plus a tube-screamer and my fingers play a vintage Hendrix-Stile-Blues.
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Post by Johnkenn on Oct 9, 2015 17:15:26 GMT -6
The 3rd Power Dual Citizen would cover a ton of ground in a killer way.
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Post by jcoutu1 on Oct 9, 2015 18:01:39 GMT -6
I have a buddie with a blackface super reverb and its pretty killer. I have a blackface bassman that I like a lot too. Neither would be a be all end all for me though.
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Post by Johnkenn on Oct 9, 2015 18:47:23 GMT -6
I played a Transition Deluxe (right before they went to Silverface in like 66/67- these are Silverface with the piping around them) and it was freaking fantastic...
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Post by brianellefson on Oct 9, 2015 23:29:06 GMT -6
I have a '65 Twin with the original "death cap" and a smell to it like it lived in an old ladies shoe closet for 30 years. It sounds almost perfect. But not.
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Post by nobtwiddler on Oct 11, 2015 14:43:47 GMT -6
Part of my Collection... As previously stated, not just one will do. That being said, I would guess you need at least 4 or 5 that would probably cover most ground. And if you buy used, it won't cost you a fortune. By the way, the pic only includes half of what I owned on that particular day. I had it with carrying amps out of the storage room and just gave up at that point. So I took the pic, and stopped after that. There were more then 40 other amps still in the storage room at the time! I don't even wanna talk about the cost of tube replacement and upkeep on 100 amps each year! Attachments:
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Post by jcoutu1 on Oct 11, 2015 18:07:27 GMT -6
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Post by Martin John Butler on Oct 12, 2015 21:49:08 GMT -6
66 Super reverb. Late 60's Marshall 100. The only amp I've ever heard that equals these is the Blankenship Leeds 21, and I've heard just about all of them.
The touch sensitivity is what separates these amps from the herd IMO. I used the volume knob to go from rhythm to lead, that's it, no pedals between me and the amp, except a wha wha I used for a year or two.
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dfh
Full Member
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Post by dfh on Oct 13, 2015 9:54:24 GMT -6
Do modified classic amps count? I put a 12" baffle and a Warehouse ET65 speaker and a Heybour T020 output transformer into my 1965 Princeton Reverb for some added clean headroom. It makes chimey chords with very nice tight bass with the volume backed off on the guitar and sings with great touch sensitivity when opened up.
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Post by Ward on Oct 13, 2015 10:14:34 GMT -6
Magnatone Tonemaster 213 is one of the Holy Grail amps... as is a
Vox AC30 before 1985. The 70s and early 80s ones are really choice.
71-76 Marshall non master-volume Super Leads are pretty killer.
Just about any blackface Fender from 63-66.
Modern day? Dr.Z covers it for me.
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Post by Randge on Oct 14, 2015 7:41:15 GMT -6
I have a 15 watt, 22 watt and 50 watt Little Walter tube amps here and really love them. Second choice is my Fender Pro Reverb that has been modded to Blackface CBS by Todd Sharp of Nashville Amp Repair. I have several different older amps in storage as well since the Little Walter's have made the scene here. If I gotta get loud on a stage, I take my Music Man RD 100. That is a lot of juice in a tiny package. I have shocked a lot of guys using a Marshall stack with that amp. It will certainly hang and it sounds great, too, but I still prefer the tone of the LWTA's over it.
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Post by Bob Olhsson on Oct 15, 2015 11:58:56 GMT -6
The very best I've ever heard was a tan Bassman sitting on and driving a 4 12s Hiwatt cabinet with NO pedals being used. My other choice is a late blackface or early silver face Deluxe which is OK although somewhat castrated with pedals.
I'm NOT a player, just a recording engineer.
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Post by swurveman on Oct 15, 2015 15:39:47 GMT -6
If there was a Holy Grail amp, wouldn't Jimmy Page, Jim Hendrix, Pete Townshend, Gary Rossington, Duane Allman Eddie Van Halen, Joe Satriani, Andy Summers, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Mike McCready, Jerry Cantrell, Kim Thayel, Slash, Tom Morello etc. etc. all be using it?
I'm glad there's no Holy Grail amp or guitar.Diversity is where it's at.
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Post by Bob Olhsson on Oct 15, 2015 16:25:07 GMT -6
The Marshall 50 was a knockoff of the Bassman.
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Post by Martin John Butler on Oct 15, 2015 16:26:31 GMT -6
Yes it was. I used to use a Bassman with a Marshall cabinet for small gigs, it was killer.
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Post by geoff738 on Oct 15, 2015 18:15:46 GMT -6
The Marshall 50 was a knockoff of the Bassman. I think it may be the Holy Grail circuit - because it gets the tweed F thing and the M thing right up to the late 70s if we allow for a few minor tweaks. As for amps though? Hard to argue with a tweed Fender of some sort, a blackface Fender (I'd say either Deluxe or Princeton for lower wattage and a Super or Twin for the higher wattage) and a non-master Marshall. But then again an AC30 can do elements of those to my ears, while being entirely its own thing. If we're talking recording only? Jeez, do I halfta pick only one? Maybe a THD Bivalve with a bunch of different cabs and a healthy selection of NOS tubes. Cheers, Geoff |
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Post by Bob Olhsson on Oct 16, 2015 9:37:56 GMT -6
I wasn't talking about a Tweed which is a different animal. I like Supers for bass but don't like twins at all.
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Post by popmann on Oct 16, 2015 14:15:46 GMT -6
Yeah-tweed is a different bird than later Fenders. When you're playing it clean it's not THAT apparent....crank it....or better yet drive it harder on the front (more gain going through the tone stack), and it's a different beast.
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Post by Guitar on Oct 17, 2015 19:09:39 GMT -6
Fenders, man.... that's it for me
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Post by crossbones on Feb 11, 2016 9:30:50 GMT -6
I have had a bunch of holy grail amps, the funniest being a mint 65 Deluxe Reverb that I got for a couple of hundred bucks in the 80's.
In the last decade, I had a line of people constantly bugging me to sell it to them....for really stupid money.
The funny thing was, it just wasn't a good amp.
It was fine, but a one trick pony.
I have a friend with the same amp that is beaten to s***, and it sounds a lot better. (But.......a lot of modern amps blow it away)
I ended up selling it to a guy who I had to talk down in price.
He is all over the place talking about how he has this holy grail that sounds magical, swirly, pre CBS, yada yada....
Funny thing is, it doesn't.
Plugged in a 74ish, $300 Champ to a 2x12 cab and it sounds really great. Blows away the Deluxe.
Go figure.
After getting over the voodoo, my holy grail amps always tend to be weird ones that aren't worth much.
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Post by Martin John Butler on Feb 11, 2016 10:35:12 GMT -6
I've used perhaps 90% of all the Fenders ever made at one time or another, including Tweed and pre-CBS Bassman's, a Harvard, original Princeton's, Deluxe's, and 1966 Super's, 75's, Dual Showman's, Acoustasonic's, Champ's, etc, etc. I hate Twins, their ear slicing tone ruined a few important gigs where I had no choice in amps, the Grateful Dead can keep all of them as far as I'm concerned.
A Bassman head with a Marshall cabinet was one of the best practice amps I've ever used. Tone for days, without head splitting volume. Just plugged the 68 Deluxe with a 59' neck Les Paul I used to own in, and with the volume knob, it had all the clarity or sustain I needed. I owned and spent a lot of time with a 60's Princeton, Bassman, Deluxe, and Super.
That said, the Tone King Imperial Mk II, is as good, possibly better than all of them. It was like having the best Fender tone you can imagine. So, it's entirely possible for a new amp to be as good or better than the older ones.
Some of the higher end 15 W. Bad Cat's and older Matchless amps will make you jump out of your skin, they sound so good. I wish I could afford one right now. Today, given any choice, I'd probably buy the Bad Cat Cub III, or the Tone King.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Feb 11, 2016 10:53:33 GMT -6
Too many that's why I use a Kemper. If I had to pick one it would probably be some Vox or Fender but I would be in some trouble if that's all I had to record with.
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