• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

What Are Some Great Guitar Amps?

L

lione27

Jun 24, 2014
1
0
37
Disclosures
love bass.
#1
Hey guys!

Ok, so basically the question says it all, what are some great guitar amps? My budget, well basically anything below $3000.

I mostly play hard rock and blues, but from time to time, I do play heavy metal as well. Most songs I play are Led Zeppelin songs.

I am a Zeppelin fanatic!!!

So I just need a great amp on which I can play Zeppelin songs, so that it will sound close to the recording. I have seen so many videos on Youtube with all these people playing Led Zeppelin covers, and they sound exactly like the recording. In order to do this, is a good amp enough, or do you also need a sh**load of other stuff as well?

I have also seen people doing covers of U2 songs, they also sound dead on, if not exactly alike!!! Is an amp enough for this, or do you need additional equipment?
Link Removed
Input would be insanely appreciated!!!! Thanks a lot!!!!
 
#3
Which specific Zep songs do you want to sound like?

Most people associate Jimmy Page with a Les Paul into a Marshall, but that's not what he used for the first few albums. Most of his iconic sounds on the first few albums were done with a Telecaster played into a small Valco/Supro amp. Since it was a small amp, it could be run at full volume without making everybody's ears bleed. So the speaker was being driven into breakup, the power amp section of the amp was being distorted, the power supply in the amp was likely overtaxed and sagging, allowing further distortion...

Don't be tempted to buy a Marshall stack thinking you'll sound like JP. The only way you might come close with that Marshall stack would be if you could rent out an empty arena where you could set that Marshall amp's volume on "10"

So for most of Page's stuff, a lot of expensive equipment really isn't necessary, it's knowing how to get a great overdriven sound out of a small amp.

As far as the Edge's sound with U2, I'm not that familiar, but I've seen a couple of documentaries on them and his setup is quite complicated. Some sort of delay to get a slapback sound I guess would be the key.
 
#4
For U2 you'd need a ridiculous amount of effects or a good processor. Amp wise - pretty sure the Vox AC30 w/ Alnico Blue(s) is the Edge's weapon of choice. Zeppelin - I'd imagine Page used Marshall.

The great amps under $3000 club: Carr, Swart, Dr. Z, Divided by 13, 3 Monkeys, Tone King, Victoria, Vox hand-wired series...or nice condition Fender Blackface stuff (even the reissues sound good - great). The three best sounding amps I ever owned at different price pts: Fender PRRI (< $1000), 1965 Fender Super Reverb (God awful heavy, but heaven tone-wise) ($1800, in excellent condition), and a Carr Mercury ($2400-ish).

If you'd like a nice little 5w amp that gets loud, and distorts nicely once cranked, check up the Swart Atomic Space Tone, or STR. The Night Light attenuator is a cool little gadget Mike Swart makes as well - bedroom practice levels of great tone. Dr. Z makes an attenuator too --- I think it's called the Stoplight, or Redlight...I don't remember.

Outside of the natural overdrive of the amp (obviously tubes amps here), there are literally hundreds of OD pedals to choose from in the guitar world. Talk about a saturated market.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: SirMjac28
#5
nashvillebill said:
Don't be tempted to buy a Marshall stack thinking you'll sound like JP. The only way you might come close with that Marshall stack would be if you could rent out an empty arena where you could set that Marshall amp's volume on "10"

This is not actually true....Yes these amps are incredibly loud but there are things you can do to play them at non- deafening volumes.You can use a power brake (100 amp attenuator) on it that would allow you to overload the preamp stage without cranking up the volume.I have Marshall stacks with 1987X plexi heads (pre- master volume control) and they sound great ,but without the attenuator on them they are EXTREMELY loud.
Click to expand...
 
#7
in addition to some of the fine models listed above I would look at Marshall (JTM45 or clones of the old Plexi), Rivera, old Ampegs (GV-22, V2, VT-22), and (to bring it around to bass) amps by Jule. As for U2, you'll need some Korg SDD-3000 and/or TC-2290 delay units driving multiple AC-30's
 
#10
nashvillebill said:
The only way you might come close with that Marshall stack would be if you could rent out an empty arena where you could set that Marshall amp's volume on "10".
Click to expand...

In fairness, setting all the controls on a Marshall 100-watt "Plexi" head (model #1959) to 10 is as near to godhead as a guitarist can get, irrespective of the size of the room. Every guitarist needs to experience that sensation at least once in their lives.
 
#11
Marshall super lead plexi
Hiwatt dr103
Vox ac30 top boost. Not a newer reissue.
Fender deluxe reverb or other models.
Those are the amps being used by most guitar heroes of the sixties and seventies.
I also really like the Orange and Matamp.
A Carvin x100b is a plexi clone and can be found cheap.
 
#14
A small sized class A amp turned up all the way will sound good. For instance, a tiny Marshall tube amp or a VOX AC-4. You want a heavily overdriven, saturated, tube sound to mimic Zeppelin. They drove the amp into that level of saturation with a JMI Tonebender pedal. It's such a simple pedal but it drives the input of a tube amp hard to give you the tone. Other pedals can be used to achieve this. They also used a Vox Wah pedal.

A big part of it is how you overdrive the tube amp. Check this out http://el34world.com/Forum/index.php?PHPSESSID=9a89135e1cc9bcf23d9df8f98ad119fa&topic=17218.0, basically a Fender Champ with a line out on the speaker output. There's an audio file towards the end of the thread [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]. A company called Garnet made a device called a Herzog in the 60's which this is based on. You feed the output into another amp. The Herzog is a tube based front end which would take the place of the Tonebender. I do something similar with a different type of amp and feed the output into a Marshall 50W to get a Zep type of sound at low volume.

The Line6 pod fed into another amp can do a pretty good emulation of their sound. Another thing they do is to use more than one amp at once to thicken the sound. Different types of amps add to the tonal complexity.
 
Last edited:
#17
What you'll need also depends on exactly which songs and just how close you want to sound to the original. For some Zep songs, in addition to a decent amp, you'll need a 6/12 string double neck electric to really get the same sound. For some others, you'll need a decent acoustic guitar. Some of my favorite Zepplin songs are acoustic.
 
#18
Hm...my grouping includes names like Selmer, Magnatone, Standel, and Sano, but those are wish list items. Good off-the-shelf guitar amps I like are the Fender Princeton, Champ and Blues DeVille, Vox AC15 and 30, any of the new Blackstar amps, and the Orange Tiny Terror.
 
#20
I play guitar as well. I'd highly recommend the Fractal Audio Axe FX. If you want to stay with all tube, I have always liked the H&K Triamp and the Orange Rockerverb. The EVH head is also pretty cool sounding.

I ended up building my own which rules for crunch and high gain (not that my playing does it any justice!)



ImageUploadedByTalkBass1403655260.999416.jpg
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back