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Amps you hate

#85
I love all tube amps. Marshall VBA400 and Mesa 400+ topping that list. After that comes Ashdowns :D.

One's that I hate:
Fender bass amps - though their bass amps make good guitar amps (and sound better as guitar amps).
Ampeg cabs - to big, to heavy, expecially when you can get similar results from lighter ones.

One's that I dislike (but would use):
Peavey - people complain that they lack low end, but my Basic112 from them seemed quite fine. 50W into a 12", not much umph behind it, but it got acoustic/low volume practices done.
SWR - can't say anything that hasn't been said yet. I would use one though if it were given to me..

every man to their own,

Ray
 
#87
Big Joe said:
I haven't officially asked yet (early spring) but we've discussed things quite seriously and I have her convinced that I'm good enough to get hitched to... MWUAHAHAHA! :eyebrow: :smug: :rollno:
Click to expand...
LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Dannyboy was right!!!!!
you are gettign married IYO
ROFL

by the way, i take back what i said about hartke. I don't "hate" their amps. I just feel that they are mid range amps in the same class as peavey, carvin, etc, but spend a lot of time pretending that they are in the "upper class" of amps. IMHO - :D
 
#90
Hi All,

I gigged reguarly the last few years and we've always asked for the stage to take care of an amp, so I don't have to carry mine. So I've played a lot of different stuff over the years.

Amps that really didn't gave me a sound I liked were:

Ampeg
gallien krueger

Amps that were okay to me but nothing special were:

Fender
Kustom (allthough the one in our practice room is awfull)
SWR

Amps that really made me smile on stage were:

Peavey
Trace Elliot
Yamaha (a 70ies that was the besthing I ever played, 2x15)

Well it's just my experience from the last few years, I guess other people would have found different preferences.

Yvette
 
#91
I loved my new Peavey Mark IV head, when it was my ticket into my first band. It sounded so much better than the small guitar amp I had started on, and most importantly, I could afford it.

I hated it later, after I realized that it lacked the power to sound anywhere close to good at the earsplitting levels favored by my friends.

I loved my new Carvin Pro Bass 500 head, when I put it side-by-side with the Peavey and realized it had better tone and clarity at almost every setting than the Peavey. It was loaded with features and I kept discovering new things to try with it to make it sound even better.

I hated it later, after I realized that it took an awful lot of tweaking to sound its best, and that my changing cabs and basses had taken it out of its comfort zone.

But I turned it into my backup/practice amp, and now I love it again.

I have a point to make, which is that our situation may have a lot more to do with our "hatred" of a given amp than we'd care to admit.
 
#92
I distain any tube guitar head that pushes more than 50 watts and/or "goes to eleven" I'd much rather spend money on tone than dump it into wattage, but that's what has to happen when you play with guitarrist that have a 412 and tube head that insists (dude i'm only on 3! I can't go any lower without the amp cutting out!)
 
#93
K Dubbs said:
I distain any tube guitar head that pushes more than 50 watts and/or "goes to eleven" I'd much rather spend money on tone than dump it into wattage, but that's what has to happen when you play with guitarrist that have a 412 and tube head that insists (dude i'm only on 3! I can't go any lower without the amp cutting out!)
Click to expand...
Here! Here! I think that guitar players should have to show proof of album sales exceeding at least Platinum indicating they do infact play larger stages and need the power before they are allowed to buy a 100 watt tube head
 
#94
renfield808 said:
Here! Here! I think that guitar players should have to show proof of album sales exceeding at least Platinum indicating they do infact play larger stages and need the power before they are allowed to buy a 100 watt tube head
Click to expand...

Haha, yeah, absolutely. What needs to be invented for guitarrists is a new type of tube that puts out only 5 watts, only works in class A type designs, sounds too amazing to pass up, and is so heavy that it is impractical to put more than 6 of them in an output stage.

See if that swung attention, we'd have sound pressures reasonable enough that drum kits wouldn't *need* to be put through the PA, everybody else could turn down, and audiences wouldn't be begging for 20dB earplugs.

...I'm 22 years old and I can't stand how loud some of these bands get.
 
#96
I think the one that I've regularly played that bothers me the most is an SWR Workingman's 15. I have 12 basses and only two of them sound "good" to me through it. The tone is just too harsh for my tastes. Well made amp and I respect SWR, but it just doesn't suit me.
 
#98
Everones gotta add to this string!

There hasn't been enough hate for Carvin.
I hate Carvin and you all should too :D

I'll put out a little hate for anything with a Crate tag on it as well.

I have SWR I don't hate it but it is a bit too clean (and low on the volume) but nice with a Sans amp on it!!

Peavey's big heavey loud and dirty, but it'll get the job done.
 
#100
Like some others, I feel that I can get a usable tone out of any rig, as long as it provides enough volume to keep up with drummers, and #$%^!n' guitar players.

For my tastes I dislike:
Hartke Aluminum Cone Speaker Cabs - Not only do they sound tinny, they look tinny
Gallien Kreuger Microbass Combos - Farts more than a football team that gorged themselves on cabbage, chili, and White Castle Hamburgers
Carvin heads and cabs - The only thing that would make them sound more generic is to put a white label with black stencil lettering on them
Fender - though I hear their new stuff sounds better, the older stuff has no soul. They are the Michael Bolton of bass amps.
Ampeg Portabass Cabs - Nice concept and sleek look, but there's no booty whatsoever in these cabs. It's like taking Jimmy Walker's butt and putting it on J Lo. Yup it's that ugly.

But for practical purposes, a big factor that makes me rule out a certain cab or head is weight. I like heads that weigh around 25 lbs or less. I like cabs that weigh under 60 lbs. Needless to say I don't care for Mesa 400s, Ampeg SVTs, Ampeg Cabs, Trace Elliots, Eden 4x10s, etc. I like the tones, but hate hauling the stuff around.
 

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