High-gain amps:

<div class="bbWrapper">The triple XXX sounds OK stock, but throw some EL34&#039;s in there and some JJecc83 pre amp tubes and you rocking, I love the tone of my XXX with the EL34&#039;s, its the only way to go on that head, also run it through a v30 loaded cab, that might be the ticket for you, I have a boss GE7 in the loop as well and it sounds amazing on the clean and dirty channels -</div>
 
<div class="bbWrapper"><blockquote data-attributes="" data-quote="OrangeChannel" data-source="" class="bbCodeBlock bbCodeBlock--expandable bbCodeBlock--quote js-expandWatch"> <div class="bbCodeBlock-title"> OrangeChannel said: </div> <div class="bbCodeBlock-content"> <div class="bbCodeBlock-expandContent js-expandContent "> I have a less expensive solution for you for an all tube product...<br /> <br /> the RAndall RM-100....and as you acrue more $ you can get different modules for different sounds... </div> <div class="bbCodeBlock-expandLink js-expandLink"><a role="button" tabindex="0">Click to expand...</a></div> </div> </blockquote><br /> Fantastic Amps, l&#039;m saving up for one.<br /> <br /> I&#039;m not a big fan of the Mesa Boogie tone, l found it very sharp, it actually gave me a headache. Where is my 5150ii sounds like a freight train coming out you. I was impressed with the steletto, but l still prefered my 5150ii though, and my 5150ii was like 1/2 the price, even more.<br /> <br /> Scott.</div>
 
<div class="bbWrapper">Just my 2c, dont buy an Engl! They sound fabulous, but have serious reliabilty problems, and their after sales is completely non existant.<br /> <br /> I am now a Line 6 user. My Duoverb and MXR Zakk Wylde sound &#039;awesome&#039; !</div>
 
<div class="bbWrapper"><b>Amps</b><br /> <br /> Guess I have to throw in my $0.02 on the amps. <br /> <br /> Mesa Boogies do have a very good clean and crunch sound, but you&#039;re really going to have to tweak them to get the sound you want. Also, the EQ section on a Mesa is very different from most amps and also very touchy. You can&#039;t just half-dial or three-quarter everything like a Fender and get a decent sound. Reading the manual with these amps actually helps a lot...<br /> <br /> Soldano amps are great, none better. I don&#039;t know what they run now, but the amp I liked most out of all that I&#039;ve had (lots) was a Soldano HR 50+. The clean channel was so full and lush that it took you a while to realize the amp didn&#039;t even have reverb. The crunch channel had more string definition than any amp I&#039;ve heard before. <br /> <br /> Marshalls are pretty much a one trick pony, but it&#039;s a hell of a trick. If you&#039;re after that Marshall crunch nothing else will do. If you want clean look elsewhere. <br /> <br /> I had a 5150 when they first came out. I didn&#039;t like the amp, but my son loved it. I could get a decent crunch, but the clean was disappointing. <br /> <br /> VHT amps get overlooked a lot. The pitbull series are really nice amps. They get a good full crunch sound and a very respectable clean. <br /> <br /> Just my .02...</div>
 
<div class="bbWrapper">Actually tried out a &#039;Genz-Benz&#039; at one of the shops near hear not too long ago a Diablo I think it was called. It was 100 watt head/2x12 cab ... sounded awesome actually. I was just plugged straight in to the amp. Was very much in high-gain territory. Sounded similar to the Soldano amps, obviously not that good, but good. Defintely on par with other amps of that type though.</div>
 
<div class="bbWrapper">Might as well ask everyone what their favorite foods are. Amps are so subjective.</div>
 
<div class="bbWrapper"><blockquote data-attributes="" data-quote="CudBucket" data-source="" class="bbCodeBlock bbCodeBlock--expandable bbCodeBlock--quote js-expandWatch"> <div class="bbCodeBlock-title"> CudBucket said: </div> <div class="bbCodeBlock-content"> <div class="bbCodeBlock-expandContent js-expandContent "> Might as well ask everyone what their favorite foods are. Amps are so subjective. </div> <div class="bbCodeBlock-expandLink js-expandLink"><a role="button" tabindex="0">Click to expand...</a></div> </div> </blockquote><br /> <br /> Amen dude! <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f600.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":D" title="Big grin :D" data-smilie="8"data-shortname=":D" /></div>
 
<div class="bbWrapper"><blockquote data-attributes="" data-quote="CudBucket" data-source="" class="bbCodeBlock bbCodeBlock--expandable bbCodeBlock--quote js-expandWatch"> <div class="bbCodeBlock-title"> CudBucket said: </div> <div class="bbCodeBlock-content"> <div class="bbCodeBlock-expandContent js-expandContent "> Might as well ask everyone what their favorite foods are. Amps are so subjective. </div> <div class="bbCodeBlock-expandLink js-expandLink"><a role="button" tabindex="0">Click to expand...</a></div> </div> </blockquote><br /> No way man... my amp sounds the best, period!<br /> <br /> <br /> <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink ;)" data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" /></div>
 
<div class="bbWrapper"><blockquote data-attributes="" data-quote="blackspy" data-source="" class="bbCodeBlock bbCodeBlock--expandable bbCodeBlock--quote js-expandWatch"> <div class="bbCodeBlock-title"> blackspy said: </div> <div class="bbCodeBlock-content"> <div class="bbCodeBlock-expandContent js-expandContent "> No way man... my amp sounds the best, period! </div> <div class="bbCodeBlock-expandLink js-expandLink"><a role="button" tabindex="0">Click to expand...</a></div> </div> </blockquote><br /> That goes without saying.</div>
 
<div class="bbWrapper">I&#039;ve been mildly interested in all the promo I&#039;ve seen lately about Alex Lifeson&#039;s new line from Hughes &amp; Kettner. I love his tone. Has anyone had any experience with anything from H&amp;K?<br /> <br /> fred</div>
 
<div class="bbWrapper"><blockquote data-attributes="" data-quote="fsmith" data-source="" class="bbCodeBlock bbCodeBlock--expandable bbCodeBlock--quote js-expandWatch"> <div class="bbCodeBlock-title"> fsmith said: </div> <div class="bbCodeBlock-content"> <div class="bbCodeBlock-expandContent js-expandContent "> I&#039;ve been mildly interested in all the promo I&#039;ve seen lately about Alex Lifeson&#039;s new line from Hughes &amp; Kettner. I love his tone. Has anyone had any experience with anything from H&amp;K?<br /> <br /> fred </div> <div class="bbCodeBlock-expandLink js-expandLink"><a role="button" tabindex="0">Click to expand...</a></div> </div> </blockquote> I saw 3 Days Grace play in Hartford CT a few months ago, one guy used an H&amp;K and it sounded pretty good live. I don&#039;t know what magic (if any) the soundguy did, but I was impressed with his tone.</div>
 
<div class="bbWrapper">Does anyone has experience about ENGL-amps?</div>
 
<div class="bbWrapper">Definitely my Mesa Boogie MarkIV head, with my 2x12 Recto or 4x12 Marshall Vintage cabinets, the tone is awesome, and i find the association Mesa MarkIV + EBMM guitars to be very impressive, especially the Axis (or Axis SS), and the Luke !</div>
 
<div class="bbWrapper"><b>H&amp;K and ENGL</b><br /> <br /> I won&#039;t be of much help I suppose, but anyway.<br /> <br /> I have both an ENGL Rackhead 850 and a H&amp;K Triamp MK I. I admit that I got both of these used for cheap, as I live in Germany, and that besides those I have not really that much experience with amps.<br /> <br /> FWIW, the Triamp is the MK I Combo with 2 G12H-100 speakers and 6L6s in the poweramp. Amp 1A has a really shimmerimg beautiful clean, 1B can get you in bluesy territory. Amp 2 has a marshally vibe going on, 2A being quite bright, 2B a little bassy, almost too bassy for my ears. Many have stated that they have no use for 2B, but I think it&#039;s still usable. Amp 3A is not a really high gain channel, I miss a little sustain with it, but it&#039;s a good heavier rhythm channel. 3B is really the lead channel, but it has its own thing going on soundwise. I am hesitant to compare it to any other amp because of my lack of amp knowledge. The amp is of quite good quality, altough the one I bought used had a problem with the clean amp (Amp1), it was really quiet in comparison to the other 2 amps, but that was easily fixed with some soldering at the input stage (a cable was a little loose). The schematics are available online and the support from H&amp;K in Germany was fast. Maybe that is already bad news for you, but I have not heared of many problems with H&amp;K&#039;s tube amps.<br /> <br /> The ENGL is a early 90s rackhead, EL84 based with 2x35 watts. It&#039;s my &quot;main&quot; amp (out of 2, haha!). 3 channels, shared EQ. No brilliant cleans, not really high gain. Built very well. A great amp for rock, not metal. Most modern ENGLs seem to be made for metal, although the Blackmore Sig and the Special Edition are very versatile as far as I&#039;ve heard. But I didn&#039;t play either of them.<br /> <br /> I played an ENGL Screamer 50 combo once and was impressed with the sound and the gain that thing had. I don&#039;t remember if the EQ was shared. It was built well as far as I could see.<br /> <br /> Maybe anyone can use something I wrote.<br /> <br /> Regards,<br /> Jochen</div>
 
<div class="bbWrapper">I refer to my earlier post...<br /> <br /> Just my 2c, dont buy an Engl! They sound fabulous, but have serious reliabilty problems, and their after sales is completely non existant.<br /> <br /> I am now a Line 6 user. My Duoverb and MXR Zakk Wylde sound &#039;awesome&#039; !</div>
 
<div class="bbWrapper"><blockquote data-attributes="" data-quote="mhorse" data-source="" class="bbCodeBlock bbCodeBlock--expandable bbCodeBlock--quote js-expandWatch"> <div class="bbCodeBlock-title"> mhorse said: </div> <div class="bbCodeBlock-content"> <div class="bbCodeBlock-expandContent js-expandContent "> I want to speak up to defend Mesa a bit. . . . </div> <div class="bbCodeBlock-expandLink js-expandLink"><a role="button" tabindex="0">Click to expand...</a></div> </div> </blockquote> <br /> Me Too!<br /> <br /> I have a Nomad, which is by no means an expensive amp ($1400 new for my 55 Watt 4x10 combo) but it&#039;s incredible. It has the best clean sound I&#039;ve ever had in a guitar amp, which works great for my Piezo. It is also Class A/B power, which if I understand correctly switches the tubes between full on and full off depending on demand, unlike class A which is full on all the time. This give the amp a breathy almost wind instrument quality which sounds incredible in solos. It sings. I get the perfect tone for me. Since they don&#039;t make them anymore, I would either get a Mesa Mark IV, or consider a Rivera, I played one of those and it sounded great on every setting from <i>super clean</i> to <i>scare your neighbors.</i></div>
 
<div class="bbWrapper">I just ordered a Peavey JSX head and sold my Mark IV. <br /> <br /> BTW, the 6505+ has an extra preamp tube in the gain stage for even more gain. The clean tone is the same as the 6505. These don&#039;t have a &quot;clean&quot; tone so I&#039;m not interested.</div>
 
<div class="bbWrapper">Hi guys, in my opinion there really is no call for these &quot;huge&quot; valve amps anymore, I work in a music store and have tried alot of high gain gear. Im a huge JP fan and have my own fully loaded JP six. With Line 6 amps such as the POD XT or the Vetta you can get tremendous high gain tones, easily as good as a soldano or mesa at a fraction of the cost, they are digital and very reliable, wont be long before valves are a thing of the past!!!!! I used to own a 5150II, a real monster for gain but I went to a guitar show and heard line 6 demonstrating the Vetta, it blew me away so i sold the Peavey and bought a Vetta, Awesome!!!</div>
 
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