• 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?

#21
I have always liked Marshall and Vox. One thing to be careful of is falling into the trap of thinking you need 100 watts or more and two 4x12 cabs in order to get a good sound and be heard. Both of my guitar players used to do this but now use 25 watt combo amps with two 12" speakers. They can get a nice distorted sound at a much lower volume and we have no trouble hearing them. No need to spend $3,000.
 
  • Like
Reactions: nashvillebill
#22
DiabolusInMusic said:
Marshall JCM 800. To my knowledge, that is the Marshall, but I play bass.
Click to expand...

Yup, Marshall JCM 800 handwired. Not the re-issue. Finding one may be difficult, cause those that have one, probably won't want to part with it. I think they stopped making it in 1991. Not 100% on that though. The model that replaced it, (JCM 900), is widely regarded as junk. The re-issue JCM 800, though good, is no match for the original. They truly don't make them like they used too!
 
#23
My first choice would be a JC-120. Perfectly clean sound, louder than you'll ever need. Built like a Mactruck, extremely reliable. Every recording studio has one or more of these in it.

With it's perfectly clear sound and the addition of pedals processors you can get any sound you want or need.

Reverb is great, chorus is still probably the best ever put in an amp, distortion is arguably (really not arguable) the worst ever put in an amp. Just horrid, I don't know anybody who uses it after trying it once.

Second choice, Blackface Super Reverb. Heavy as all get out, but more tone than most guitar players need.

Third choice, Vox Berkeley I, third and a half choice Vox Berkeley III.
 
#24
stinkybass said:
Yup, Marshall JCM 800 handwired. Not the re-issue. Finding one may be difficult, cause those that have one, probably won't want to part with it. I think they stopped making it in 1991. Not 100% on that though. The model that replaced it, (JCM 900), is widely regarded as junk. The re-issue JCM 800, though good, is no match for the original. They truly don't make them like they used too!
Click to expand...

The 800 was never hand wired, it was always PCB, as were the MV JMP's before them. Around 85 IIRC, they went from vertical to horizontal inputs which is when the pots and jacks went from flying lead to directly mounted to PCB's. Sockets remained chassis mounted. I've had several of both and they sound the same if set up and maintained properly. The reissues went back to the vertical inputs with flying leads for the jacks and pots, so you could argue they were built better than the original horizontal input ones. Marshall biases cold from the factory which is why the reissues can sound underwhelming but they sound like the old ones when biased properly. I'd take a reissue over a beat up old one.
 
#25
Jcm 800

Jcm 800

JGR said:
The 800 was never hand wired, it was always PCB, as were the MV JMP's before them. Around 85 IIRC, they went from vertical to horizontal inputs which is when the pots and jacks went from flying lead to directly mounted to PCB's. Sockets remained chassis mounted. I've had several of both and they sound the same if set up and maintained properly. The reissues went back to the vertical inputs with flying leads for the jacks and pots, so you could argue they were built better than the original horizontal input ones. Marshall biases cold from the factory which is why the reissues can sound underwhelming but they sound like the old ones when biased properly. I'd take a reissue over a beat up old one.
Click to expand...

Yes, they used PCB's, but the earlier 80's models had hand wired pots, and inputs. Most metalhead guitarists, including guys like Jeff Hanneman, Scott Ian, to name but two, attribute this to the outstanding metal tone they get from thier JCM's. Yes, these guys all have had their heads massaged, and modded, but the base build remains the same. The re-issue was built, afaik, in this same manner, although they were unsuccessful in duplicating that OG tone. Of course, I'm a bass player, so this is mostly here say, and speculation! LOL.
 
Last edited:
#30
I have 2 Mesas, a Subway Rocket and a 5:50 Express that cover a huge amount of ground tone and volume wise. They don't sound as good as the uber-boutique stuff in nailing any one particular sound, but it's pretty close, and at that point to me it is more about how well I can play the guitar. The Subway is especially cool, and it's tiny and totally worthy of just about any gig other than hard rock/metal. I can play guitar right next to my friends' Tone Kind Imperial, 60's Princeton Reverb, Gibson Skylark, and old Magnatones, and I am totally happy with the tone I get. I bought them both used, total combined cost of $1125 ($350/~775 for the 5:50). Both amps are great platforms for pedals, it's a more realistic way to try to emulate a ton of tones on one gig. I also have 3 <$1000 guitars that sound as good as anything in the right hands (not necessarily mine).
 
#31
I'm mixed live shows with many of the above. The VOX AC series is used by many for it's clean sound. Divided by 13 gets close to grind and crunch if you have it built. A used one may not have that sound. You can get a Paul Reed Smith goosed up to give you some mi-T fine screaming sounds but it's not cheap. And most gtards have a huge supply of pedals. I mean a LOT of pedals! That said, one of the three guitarists in a blues band I just heard used a Fender Champ and about 3 pedals with a fairly new Strat. I think he could copy the sound you're looking for.
 
#33
There's been some great amps mentioned here. Ultimately, though, the amp is only a part of the "sound"--sometimes a much smaller part than people think.

There was an interview a few years back in one of the guitar magazines (back when magazines actually were printed) where a well-known guitar player was commenting on Eddie Van Halen's rig. The guitar player said something like: "Man I was like everybody else, wondering what EVH did to get his great sound. Then one night I got a chance to play through EVH's rig--his guitar, his amp, his pedals, turned to his usual settings. It didn't sound like EVH though! It sounded just like me trying to play a EVH song on my own amp!" I've read similar comments from people trying to cop the SRV sound by exactly duplicating his setup...nope, didn't sound like SRV.

On the other hand, I've seen some guitar players that used the most ordinary of amps and sounded practically as good as any of the original recordings. I've seen guitar players get great sounds out of a Peavey Bandit, it's all about knowing how to set an amp, how to use your guitar's tone and volume controls, knowing where and how to pick and fret on the guitar, and you don't need a $3000 Les Paul either, a simple MIM Tele can sound great in the hands of a good player.

And sometimes we form misconceptions about what amps can or can't do without realizing their capabilities. A Fender Deluxe 5E3 tweed, for example, some folks think that's just an amp for blues or clean country, not realizing Neil Young used that amp for Cinnamon Girl, Down By the River, Cowgirl in the Sand, Cortez the Killer, etc, just that amp cranked all the way up with no real pedals.

So I'll conclude by recommending that you evaluate what your real needs are as far as your amp, and not to get obsessed with duplicating somebody else's amp. How much volume do you *really* need, I've played a lot of times when an 18 watt combo amp with a single 12" speaker was more than sufficient. What channel switching do you need, would it be best to just have a great clean channel and get al your various sounds out of your pedals. Are you actually going to be playing out through this amp, or is it just going to be for home/bedroom practice.
 
  • Like
Reactions: will33
#34
I wouldn't hesitate to recommend a Marshall JCM800 2203X (denoting the new, reissue). It is head and shoulders above any other JCM800 I've owned. I DO play it with a THD Hotplate so I can crank it a bit.
 
#37
nashvillebill said:
There's been some great amps mentioned here. Ultimately, though, the amp is only a part of the "sound"--sometimes a much smaller part than people think.

There was an interview a few years back in one of the guitar magazines (back when magazines actually were printed) where a well-known guitar player was commenting on Eddie Van Halen's rig. The guitar player said something like: "Man I was like everybody else, wondering what EVH did to get his great sound. Then one night I got a chance to play through EVH's rig--his guitar, his amp, his pedals, turned to his usual settings. It didn't sound like EVH though! It sounded just like me trying to play a EVH song on my own amp!" I've read similar comments from people trying to cop the SRV sound by exactly duplicating his setup...nope, didn't sound like SRV.

On the other hand, I've seen some guitar players that used the most ordinary of amps and sounded practically as good as any of the original recordings. I've seen guitar players get great sounds out of a Peavey Bandit, it's all about knowing how to set an amp, how to use your guitar's tone and volume controls, knowing where and how to pick and fret on the guitar, and you don't need a $3000 Les Paul either, a simple MIM Tele can sound great in the hands of a good player.

And sometimes we form misconceptions about what amps can or can't do without realizing their capabilities. A Fender Deluxe 5E3 tweed, for example, some folks think that's just an amp for blues or clean country, not realizing Neil Young used that amp for Cinnamon Girl, Down By the River, Cowgirl in the Sand, Cortez the Killer, etc, just that amp cranked all the way up with no real pedals.

So I'll conclude by recommending that you evaluate what your real needs are as far as your amp, and not to get obsessed with duplicating somebody else's amp. How much volume do you *really* need, I've played a lot of times when an 18 watt combo amp with a single 12" speaker was more than sufficient. What channel switching do you need, would it be best to just have a great clean channel and get al your various sounds out of your pedals. Are you actually going to be playing out through this amp, or is it just going to be for home/bedroom practice.
Click to expand...


This ^


It's no different than me sitting behind a drumkit. It sounds like a guy hitting a drum with a stick. When my drummer does the same thing, with the same drum and the same stick, it sounds like music.
 
Last edited:
#40
Had a few guitar amps over the years. Really liked my Super Lead but 100 watts was just too much. Been very happy with a Mesa Rocket 440 for many years now. I can't comment on current production amps, haven't played any since I got the 440. A 4X10 combo is a bit of work to move, but it's got nothing on a bass cab. Flexible, and has all the effects I need on guitar - reverb and tremolo. Speaker mute for silent studio recording from the preamp. At 40 watts, it can still get too loud. Not much ultra low end but it cuts through. My guitarist (we both play guitar and bass) was unable to drown it out with his 400+. The D-180 makes an impressively brutal guitar amp, but no channel switching or any of that fancy nonsense. It's around 200 Watts, and playing guitar through it is a violation of the Geneva Convention, but it's glorious.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back