Help me decide on a great tube amp to accompany my Balls!

[menvafaan]

Hey,

I have an Axis Super Sport H/H and have an Albert Lee MM90's incoming, and I've started to look for a great tube amp to get the most out of my Balls, tone-wise!

Today I'm playing on a POD through an Atomic Reactor. It sounds good and the flexibility is fantastic, but now I'm after the real deal!

So please tell me your stories! What amp you're using today, if you have tried an amp to die for or if you know a friend of a friend who has found the ultimate tone! I would love some pics/vids/soundclips!

I'm mostly after a great clean tube tone, and crunchy, attitude-filled lead tone. I play mostly funk, classic rock and blues and heading into jazz, folk, country and fusion territory. So I'm not interested in high-gain heavy metal amps.

I've tried this one with a vintage strat, and liked it alot. Although I haven't tried out that many tube amps, so I have no reference. Has anyone tried one of these?

Twang Guitars - prime vintage guitars and oddball axes

I hope some of you can help me out.

Thanks.
/Sebastian

 

[marantz1300]

Try typing Hiwatt custom 100 in You Tube.Some great tones there.I also use boogies(studio pre 50/50 pow),they sound great too and are a bit more versitile then the Hiwatt.Built in reverb and distortion.But the Hiwatt has a smoother tone.

 

[guertzi]

I'm mostly after a great clean tube tone, and crunchy, attitude-filled lead tone. I play mostly funk, classic rock and blues and heading into jazz, folk, country and fusion territory. So I'm not interested in high-gain heavy metal amps.

Hi Sebastian,

you may want to try a Bogner Shiva then:
it has a really great and three dimensional clean tone and the lead channel is so versatile you will most likely find the tone you are looking for.
I tried one myself two or three months ago when I was considering a new amp and this would have been the one for me.
(I did not purchase one but upgraded from a POD XTLive to a POD X3 Live instead because I play mostly cover tunes with my band and we did not want to have amps on stage anymore bleeding into the FOH sound.)

 

[candid_x]

Has anyone tried one of these?

Twang Guitars - prime vintage guitars and oddball axes
/Sebastian

Ampeg was my very first amp in 1966, back in the days of wooden ships and iron men . Mine was a big ole Gemini II, but all the models had a great clean sound and one of the best reverbs in amp history, imo.

If you're into pedals for overdrive then the Reverb Rocket makes a good platform. But if you're looking for an amp that will break up on its own, you either need one with a Master Volume or a very low watt amp you can push over the top without destroying your ear drums.

There are so many decent choices out there now, it's hard to say what would suit you best. Everyone will suggest their own personal favorites, but only you can define your sound. I'd go to a store which has a few different amps, and give 'em a go, for starters.

I personally use 50 watt 6L6 Laneys, and as fussy as I am about my tone, I'm happy with these relatively inexpensive amps... well, after replacing tubes and speakers anyway. It's all what you like.

 

[D.K.]

I would say go ENGL!!! Great tube amps, with a very full, reach, thick sound with A LOT of headroom and sustain. If You are great, they'll make You sound even better.

My personal favourites would be the savage 120, or the Ritchie Blackmore Sig. Both have wonderful cleans and extremely beautiful crunch and distortion sounds, which to my ear are much more musical than their only-metal-oriented amps like the powerball or the invader (although they are great, too)!!!

 

[philiprst]

A couple of amps that I have encountered recently that may fit your preferences are the Bogner Shiva (mentioned earlier) and the Suhr Badger. The Shiva has an absolutely spectactular clean tone; in fact it is very good across the board. THe Suhr sounds great clean and also has a wide palette of crunch tones. It also has the power scaling feature that means you can adjust the output from 18W down to 1/4W while still keeping the power tubes full bore.You should also look at some of the Fender reissues like the Deluxe Reverb reissue.

 

[Nemesys]

Mesa Lone Star. Amazing cleans, and a nice low to mid-gain drive channel.

 

[KennethB]

A Trainwreck amp is a great tube amp.

 

[Roubster]

Peavey JSX is a very versetile amp and you wont have to sell your house to have that one. The Cleans are really beautiful, and are meant to work well with pedals.

 

[ScoobySteve]

Peavey JSX is a very versetile amp and you wont have to sell your house to have that one. The Cleans are really beautiful, and are meant to work well with pedals.

I've been looking into the JSX head from peavy as well, but I'm wondering how it matches up against M/B's Road King Series II units.

Not necessarily like overall, but dollar for dollar, whats the greater value?

THoughts?

 

[Purple ASS]

Mesa Lone Star. Amazing cleans, and a nice low to mid-gain drive channel.

I'll second that. Mine sounds amazing with all my Balls.

 

[Spudmurphy]

Mesa F50 - great cleans.

Great with an overdrive pedal.
- shame they stopped making them.

It is the best amp I have played through - very loud for a 50 watter !!
- you oughta hear it when it goes through a 4 x 12 !!!

 

[Virginia Metal]

I'll second that. Mine sounds amazing with all my Balls.

This is a great amp. I tried out Koogs guitar and it was awesome. Tonal heaven.

 

[TNT]

First you should determine what your choice of "power tubes" would be! This is the first and most important step.

If 6L6 is that choice, then based on your playing style, one amp - Mesa Boogie MK IV!!!

 

[beachjammer]

I personally dig all the Mesa amps with 6L6's. If you want Metal then go Rectifier series, tightness go Mark IV, classic with killer clean go Lonestar, all the above go Roadking or Roadster.

I also recently played through a Marshall JVM and although Marshall's reliability is questionable IMO the new JVM amps sound terrific! It's definately the best sounding Marshall I've heard.

On the smaller side I've been impressed with the Orange Tiny Terror amps. The Fender Blues Jr. is also a good tube amp and really likes pedals run in front of it. If you want a hybrid tube/modeling the Fender Super Champ XD rules! You can youtube any of these amps and get a good idea as to the tone.

 

[Axilla]

Boy, whatcha lookin' after is a Diezel "Einstein"... damn clear

Well, at least mine suits my balls just fine for Pop, Rock, Funk and even the Hi-Gain if you want.

...and it suits my Balls

 

[58super]

Dr.Z, Z-28: 6V6 tones and you can pull great harmonics out of the amp by changing the way you pick.

A truly great amp.

 

[RobW]

Boy, whatcha lookin' after is a Diezel "Einstein"... damn clear

Well, at least mine suits my balls just fine for Pop, Rock, Funk and even the Hi-Gain if you want.

...and it suits my Balls

Great pic!

(and the gear is pretty sweet too! )

 

[Stevie]

Hey Axilla,

Good to see you keep a picture of your girlfriend in your music room...

 

[pjc812]

Am I the only one here who plays a Krank? Unbreakable clean and the "krank" channel sounds like a freight train. Been very happy with it.