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What Is The Best Amp You Ever Owned?
- Thread starter faulknersj
- Start date
All the amps I've ever had have been good, but my recently re-aquired (after stupidly selling) Genz Benz Streamliner 600 is the best I've ever owned. I've had Walter Woods, Mesa 400, SWR SM400, several GKs, Trace, Eden, Peavey, Ashdown, Genzler. The Walter W, the Ashdown, Genzler Magellan and the GKs get honorable mentions, but the Streamliner kills it for my taste. I will take this amp to my grave. I leave all knobs at 12 o'clock, except the master, and it works perfect in any room.
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I miss my David Eden WT400+. It's probably nostalgia, but that amp just sounded wonderful.
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A GK 400RB from the early 80s is my favorite. Countless gigs, took a beating. Played it through a bunch of different cabs. Usually some flavor of Ampeg. Got stolen when my drummer's GF walked away from it almost immediately after saying she would watch it. Something shiny probably distracted her.
Those old Eden amps were amazing. I didn't really understand the parametric…but the amps sounded amazing flat. That was the first amp I played (WT550) that didn't need some significant tweaking. A few years back I bought a simplified WT390, partially out of nostalgia and partially because it's still an awesome amp!
There's been a few amps in my 25 years of bass playing.
Ampeg, Ashton, Behringer, Carvin, David Eden, GB, GK, Mark Bass, Mesa, Randall and none of them come close to the Australian made Labsystems amps.
600 watts, 4 ohms, solid state, one with 12aX7 preamp valve.
Built like a tank. Reliable, workhorse, simple to use, no fuss, plug in and play and all the dials behave exactly like you'd expect them to behave. If you want more X turn up X. None of this if you want more X, turn down X, boost Z and Y set M, N and O 9oclock, 12 o'clock and 3 o'clock respectively....
Ampeg, Ashton, Behringer, Carvin, David Eden, GB, GK, Mark Bass, Mesa, Randall and none of them come close to the Australian made Labsystems amps.
600 watts, 4 ohms, solid state, one with 12aX7 preamp valve.
Built like a tank. Reliable, workhorse, simple to use, no fuss, plug in and play and all the dials behave exactly like you'd expect them to behave. If you want more X turn up X. None of this if you want more X, turn down X, boost Z and Y set M, N and O 9oclock, 12 o'clock and 3 o'clock respectively....
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Perhaps nostalgia, but this amp did me right on so many occasions. In the studio, it always sounded great with an EBMM Stingray.
SWR Baby Blue (or Baby Blue II). They also had a 2x8 version which was great as well.
SWR Baby Blue (or Baby Blue II). They also had a 2x8 version which was great as well.
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I love all my amps and cabinets but the one that brings a smile above the others is my Fender ACB50.
1969 Ampeg B-15N. This one has the CTS square magnet speaker.
Bought it used back in 1971 for $150 which is about $1100 worth of buying power in today's dollars when adjusted for inflation.
Still going strong.
Bought it used back in 1971 for $150 which is about $1100 worth of buying power in today's dollars when adjusted for inflation.
Still going strong.
My most recent Big Rig (aka "The Towering Inferno") was pretty damn irreproachable:
- Alembic F-1X tube preamp
- Alembic SF-2 SuperFilter
- Crown CE1000 power amp (275 watts rms into the 2x10, and 450 watts rms into the two 1x15 cabs)
- Eden David Series D-210T, D-115, and D-115T cabinets
I suppose if I wanted to split hairs I could've upgraded the power amp to something even swankier, but frankly it got used so infrequently in the past ~4 years that I recently sold off the two Alembic components and donated the amp and speaker cabinets to a local recording studio. But it kicked the living snot out of the SWR rig that preceded it, which itself kicked the living snot out of every other bass amp I'd ever owned prior. Nowadays I'm using an Acoustic Image head with Flite Sounds cabinets, which arguably sounds better than the SWR rig but not quite as good as the Alembic/Crown/Eden rig. Close enough though.
- Alembic F-1X tube preamp
- Alembic SF-2 SuperFilter
- Crown CE1000 power amp (275 watts rms into the 2x10, and 450 watts rms into the two 1x15 cabs)
- Eden David Series D-210T, D-115, and D-115T cabinets
I suppose if I wanted to split hairs I could've upgraded the power amp to something even swankier, but frankly it got used so infrequently in the past ~4 years that I recently sold off the two Alembic components and donated the amp and speaker cabinets to a local recording studio. But it kicked the living snot out of the SWR rig that preceded it, which itself kicked the living snot out of every other bass amp I'd ever owned prior. Nowadays I'm using an Acoustic Image head with Flite Sounds cabinets, which arguably sounds better than the SWR rig but not quite as good as the Alembic/Crown/Eden rig. Close enough though.
I bought it in January 2022 along with a SW 115 - so, I've had it a few weeks shy of two years. I added a second 115 and that's my Mesa rig: the TT into two SW 115s. A glorious sound for me. I have no gas for another amp.
I mostly play in a six-piece band (keys, drums, two guitars, sax and me). We play a mix of mostly classic rock, Motown, and a little country. I like to put my pbass through the Boogie channel and a jbass through the Subway channel. Both basses are passive and 4-string.
To my ears, the Subway channel sounds similar to the D-800+. If you've heard that amp, it's a good reference, I think. It's a little brighter than the Boogie channel, but there is a nice range of tone from reggae to modern rock. With the jazz bass in that channel, I overdrive it slightly and get a terrific, driving rock tone. I feel like I am really driving the band on good hard rock tunes, with smiles all around.
The Boogie channel is where it's at, to my ears. Warm, deep, articulate, and punchy. Folks have described the Boogie channel as addictive, and I can't disagree. It feels like an all-tube amp, with heft and dimensional presence, but also articulate on the bottom end. It does not get muddy or soft. I wasn't that familiar with the tone controls, so it took a little bit to understand. The manual is a great help, including the suggested settings for various tones. I found them to be an excellent starting point.
You can bypass one of the pre-amps with an outboard pre, using the power amp only. I did this for a while with an Arkham Oracle (fantastic preamp, btw). But honestly, I found I could dial a very similar tone off the Boogie channel. I couldn't tell the difference in the mix, so I sold the Oracle. The Boogie channel has a nice OD tone, but I use it mostly clean.
The High Pass Filter is very useful, as are the the bright and deep switches. A gain switch amps up the overdrive nicely, and a symmetry pot adds a little tightness (more modern) or looseness (more vintage). Every control adds something useful and musical to tone shaping.
Sadowsky sa200 is by far the best amp I have ever owned and played.
Those who own that thing know what I'm talking about. The warmest tone and most balanced I have ever heard.
Those who own that thing know what I'm talking about. The warmest tone and most balanced I have ever heard.
I had a Genz Benz Shuttle 6.2 that was stolen, and nothing has held a candle to it since, ESPECIALLY if we are comparing smaller form factor modern amps
The best I ever sounded was this . . . .
80's Yamaha PB-1 Preamp
. . . . sitting on top of one of these . . . .
Yamaha P2200 stereo power amp, same time period.
. . . . pushing two of these:
JBL Cabaret Series single 15.
I'm not much for looking back, but this rig was the loudest, easiest, most responsive rig I ever owned, and after conventional (i.e., Peavey bass stacks) rigs it was an utter revelation, I never worried about not loud enough/pushing to catch up and going into ugly, out-of-breath distortion. And that amp was the heart of it, those P-series Yamahas were so smooth. No LPF, no compressors, it needed nothing, and there was never a bass player out in the house that didn't want to talk my ear off about it on break. I've never sounded as good since the days of this rig.
80's Yamaha PB-1 Preamp
. . . . sitting on top of one of these . . . .
Yamaha P2200 stereo power amp, same time period.
. . . . pushing two of these:
JBL Cabaret Series single 15.
I'm not much for looking back, but this rig was the loudest, easiest, most responsive rig I ever owned, and after conventional (i.e., Peavey bass stacks) rigs it was an utter revelation, I never worried about not loud enough/pushing to catch up and going into ugly, out-of-breath distortion. And that amp was the heart of it, those P-series Yamahas were so smooth. No LPF, no compressors, it needed nothing, and there was never a bass player out in the house that didn't want to talk my ear off about it on break. I've never sounded as good since the days of this rig.
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The most satisfying amp I've ever owned was a Marshall JTM45 (used for guitar). That amp sounded like a million bucks! The best bass amp I've ever had (and still use) is a Euphonic Audio iAmp 600 with a Whizzy 12. It always sounds right
