Friends, Wombans, Guitarists... lend me your ears

[Azraphael]

Greetings and hallucinations, all.

Long story short, I'm starting to consider changing guitar amps. Unfortunately, I can't afford to own more than 1 guitar amp at a time. Currently, it's a Fender Twin.

However, as time goes on, I'm finding that I'm not really digging on the gain channel on the twin. For the stuff I'm playing these days, higher gain would certainly be helpful. Not crazy facemelting metal kind of stuff, just a nice, thick meaty balls out rock kind of gain.

However, I play a lot of clean stuff too, and I LOVE the clean tone of the Twin.

Plus, it would be helpful to have an option somewhere in between, a kind of nice crunch, but it's not entirely necessary. Kind of a "nice to have", rather than "must have".

I also think I want to go to a closed back 412.

Anyway, from what I've played thus far, the current leader is probably the Soldano Decatone. However, it'll run me around $5000 CAD all told, which is more than I'm comfortable with at the moment.

Incidentally, I'm not a rectifier fan.

Anyone have any thoughts/opinions they'd like to share? Anyone have any experience maybe with a good voerdrive pedal through a twin driving a 412 cabinet? Is it worth trying? Am I completely off my nut (again)?

Your thoughts would be welcome.

Cheers,

Dave

[62Jazzbass]

It's so hard to describe this stuff in words, so I'm not sure what you are looking for exactly. However, I'll just say that my favorite guitar amp is the VOX AC30 Top Boost. Can be clean "ish", can be crunchy "ish". I just like 'em. This is of course, coming from a bass player.

[crunch]

I dunno man.

Almost anything you drive through that twin is going to sound Fender-y, even through a 4x12 with a tube driver or whatever kinda distorto-matic stompbox you go through. For me, heads are all about personality. Ya got yer Fender sound, yer Marshall sound, yer Vox sound, the Mesa Boogie "somewhere between a Fender & Marshall" sound, the Orange (which is, to me, a cousin of the marshall sound) and then others, which either have kind of a "no particular personality" or one of the more contemporary "revved up metal" heads.

What are you looking for? What kind of music? One size fits all, or distinctive sound?

[Cosmic Pig]

What year of Twin? I run a red knob "The Twin" through a Marshall 2-12. The closed back gives it a little more heavy without adding gain. Or I used to. Lately I've been using a Leslie 145 for a cab. With the rotors off it don't sound bad at all, although strictly tone wise the Marshall sounds better.

But really it's an individual thing you won't be able to get much help with from other players. A guy I know plays through the most horrid late 70's solid state 30 watt Traynor and gets great tones, but when I tried it sounded like a cat karking up a hairball.

Cos.

[Azraphael]

Well, one of our tunes is on the Aardy & Dwoz Rotation (Blind Fish), if that helps at all.

We were accused today of being "post grunge indie rock"... whatever the hell that means. It's alt rock, kinda Pearl Jamish at times, I guess.

The other guitarist/singer plays a tele or SG through a Hot Rod Deluxe... I want something with more bite, but not in a scooped mids kind of way.

I guess what I want is the shimmering Fender kind of clean, but I also want thick, ballsy distortion a la my old hotrodded JCM800 that I sold like the idiot that I am. Problem is that the amps I used to love for higher gain (mesas, marshall) are all... well.... shitty these days. I might get lucky with a used one, but I find that the people that have them tend to hang onto them. The new Marshalls and Mesas I've heard sound like complete dogshit to my ears.

That led me to consider Hiwatt, Soldano, Wizard, Matchless, etc... and I'm getting pretty scared of the prices.

Unfortunately, I find myself unwilling to compromise on the cleans or on the dirt tone... and with the Twin, I feel like I'm compromising on the latter.

Mayhaps I'm looking for too much. Just figured that someone in here might have a few thoughts on the matter.

In the meantime, I'm going to continue looking for that elusive $5000 for the Soldano Decatone... but I'm not holding out too much hope for that at the moment.

Cheers,

Dave

[Azraphael]

What year of Twin? I run a red knob "The Twin" through a Marshall 2-12. The closed back gives it a little more heavy without adding gain. Or I used to. Lately I've been using a Leslie 145 for a cab. With the rotors off it don't sound bad at all, although strictly tone wise the Marshall sounds better.

But really it's an individual thing you won't be able to get much help with from other players. A guy I know plays through the most horrid late 70's solid state 30 watt Traynor and gets great tones, but when I tried it sounded like a cat karking up a hairball.

Cos.

I agree that it's an individual thing, and in the end it'll be up to me, my ears, and my bank account.

Still, I figured that someone here might turn me on to something that I wouldn't otherwise consider.

As for the Twin I have, it's a recent (< 5 years) 2 channel model. Technically, it's from Fender's Pro Tube series, and is actually called Twin Amp, if that helps. Basically, it's the current version of the Twin as sold in stores right now.

I forgot to mention Vox and Orange in my last post.... I haven't played much in either line, though my limited experience has been pretty good with both. However, I found a similar limitation for high gain sounds from the Vox stuff I played, and everyone I've known that has an Orange says that they are notoriously unreliable.

I really want to just hit the stores for many hours and play the hell out of some stuff... but now is not the time of year to do so. That being the case, I'm hoping I can at least get a basic shortlist to check out.

Cheers,

Dave

[blackieC]

My guitar amp preferences pretty much begin and end with Marshall.

I love my JCM 800 2210. The dirty channel has plenty of articulte crunch and the not so dirty channel, while nothing like a twin, is definately usable.

I know that bashing the TSL heads is a favorite passtime among Marshall snobs, but crunch manages to get some pretty sweet tones out of his. You may want to try one of them out.

[Azraphael]

Blackie,

I've tried. I know people that can get decent tones out them, but apparently I'm just not one of them. It might be because I'm subconscioulsy chasing the tone I used to get from my 800 2210 that had been hot rodded. Dunno.

Your 800... I'm guessing it's an older one, and not the recent reissue?

Dave

[Cosmic Pig]

Yup ditto on the DSL's. I went to help my kid with picking one and had four lined up in the music store. Three were dogs but the one fifty watt sounded great. It was also the cheapest. Had a Mesa Switchblade in there too, but we didn't dig it.

I'd say find the cab you figure will be best then line up as many amps as you can at the music store and try them all through the same cab. IMHO don't bother with combos.

Cos.

[seagate]

How about running on the clean channel and shaping your tone with pedals? http://miaudio.com/Pedals.htm are my current favourites.

[volthause]

Clean sound? BAH!

Get another 800 and screw clean tones. Those are for complete wusses and wanna be Nicklefuckers!

:lol:

[seagate]

Clean sound? BAH!

Never said anything about clean sound...

[volthause]

Wasn't talkin' to you bro.


However, I play a lot of clean stuff too, and I LOVE the clean tone of the Twin.

[seagate]

Wasn't talkin' to you bro.

:Redface:

[Bivouac]

How hard have you looked at pedals?

There are some boutique builders out there that are doing brilliant things for the "clean guitar amp" people of the world. I've heard the distortion channels on the newers Twins and I have to say that they don't even come close to what, say, a Zvex Box of Rock or Fulltone OCD can do...

Spend $150 before you blow the big load on another amp...

If you're determined to try something completely different, try the new Orange Rocker series, specifically the 30 and 50. Superb, versatile, two-channel amps. The Fender Supersonic sounds like another option from what I've heard...

Then again, you're talking to a guy who run a JMP 2203 and and old Twin Reverb. I have to have both of those sounds...

[binaural turbine]

How about a silver face dual showman, into a 4x12 of your choice, and a pedal like a Landgraff dynamic overdrive. You'd get the thump of a 4x12 cab, fender cleans, and some really nice boost/overdrive sounds. The LDOs aren't cheap, 400 for new with 6-8 months waiting list. They sell for more on ebay because people hate to wait.

The Dual showmans can be had for 7-8 hundred. They are 4 ohms, so keep that in mind when picking a cab.

[seagate]

Spend $150 before you blow the big load on another amp...


Exactly...
I'm running a Tube Zone and a Blue Boy from the company I mentioned above through the clean ch of my HRDx. Pretty much nothing I can't do with this set up, all I need now is to be able to play...

:lol:

Btw, the sound clips on the site are spot on, and can be trusted...

[Cosmic Pig]

Pedals are for tricycles and gay guitar players. The sad part is how many quite manly guitar players have no idea how gay pedals are. Like putting the earring in the wrong ear gay. Like reaching for the dropped soap, many a player has been buggered from behind while reaching down to adjust the gayness.

Or maybe it was the Carmen Miranda fruit hat, but my ass hurt for a week.

Sorry Seagate. One day you'll understand, but in the meantime be careful.

Cos.

[seagate]

Sorry Seagate. One day you'll understand, but in the meantime be careful.

:icon_eek:

As a homophobic, I never bend over in front of anyone, pedals or not...

I get where you're coming from though, if I had the cash, storage and the facilities I'd have a tube amp for every sound I need and a no pedal sticker on the front door...

But, life get's in the way. :Thumbdown:

[Azraphael]

I've checked out the distortion/overdrive pedal idea, and toyed around with the usual suspects (i.e. none of the boutique stuff) such as everything in the Boss line (the DS1 has it's uses, I guess, but other than that, not impressed at all), Voodoo labs, tube screamer, marshall, etc.

I haven't yet heard one that stood up to an actual tube distortion. For that reason, I'm very interested in the Soldano Supercharger GTO, which is the high gain preamp from their SLO100 head in a pedal. The thing actually has 2 12ax7s in it, and will only run plugged in (no batteries) because it runs at full amp voltage, or amerage, or whatever.

Problem is, I can't get one to hear it (special order only), Soldano isn't making them anymore so what the stores have in their warehouses is what I'm stuck with, unless I go the eBay route, and the retail cost is $500.

I know it's not much compared to a new amp, but I'm just not sure that I can spend $500 on something I haven't heard, without a good deal of corroborating evidence.

Anyone here checked it out by any chance?

Cheers,

Dave

PS: Volt - yeah, yeah, yeah... I do miss my old 800... but clean isn't for wussies. Clean is for guys that want to get laid by women that don't live in trailer parks. Think it over, you'll see the light eventually. :D

[blackieC]

Blackie,

Your 800... I'm guessing it's an older one, and not the recent reissue?

Dave

Yup.

'87 model.


Try as many as you can. Marshall has never been known for consistancy. I had an '83 2250 that for lack of a better word, sucked.

[seagate]

...but clean isn't for wussies. Clean is for guys that want to get laid by women that don't live in trailer parks. Think it over, you'll see the light eventually. :D


:lol:

[Jason Phair]

...clean isn't for wussies. Clean is for guys that want to get laid by women that don't live in trailer parks. Think it over, you'll see the light eventually. :D

Good thing that doesn't include bass players. I'll keep my dirt, thanks.

[crunch]

Pedals are for tricycles and gay guitar players.

:lol:

Cosmic, ya kill me man.

I don't think that pedals necessarilly denote "faggery on the high seas", but TO ME, they get in the way of guitar and head tone in a major, major, MAJOR way. If it wasn't for the fact I've got a cry baby and a crappy boss stomp box tuner, I would be plugging straight into the heads. That's where the action is. I remember in the mid/late '80's people we're running tube screamers into bassman heads and going to their 4x12 cabinets. An interesting sound, but TO ME, no matter what axe they had, it got lost in a sea of tube screaming flanged chorused delay crap.

I basically play Gibsons and more or less expect that come out the other end. And it does, for better or worse.

I know, yer thinking "Jesus, crunch, get to the fucking point".

Here's the point.

No wait.

Ok, HERE'S the point.

Dude.

Azraphael.

How did you get 3 A's in yer name? That had to take some doing.

Fuck.

Ok, wait.

HERE'S THE POINT. FOR REAL THIS TIME.

Keep the Fender Twin, man. Yer not gonna get a voluptuous "clean" sound sound out of anything made by Marshall, and most everything else doesn't, in my opinion, have enough personality to warrant the purchase. Get another head dedicated for nastiness. and a 1960A 4x12 box. You'll want to ground lift one of those bad boys. Switch between them. I did that on a funk gig I had for quite a while, it's the only way to fly if you need them both.

I think amps that try to be a swiss army knife end up doing nothing particularly well, but then, I like guitar with attitude and balls for miles. I'm not a fan of contemporary metal sounds. Kinda like dudes that spend a little too much time on their hair. Sounds a little primped and not very dangerous.

Realize, I'm hopelessly lost in a sea of marshall tones from AC/DC, pre-alesis ZZ Top, Thin Lizzy, Rush, Hendrix, Alex Harvey, early Aerosmith, early Judas Priest and a bunch of other stuff.

Blackie's right, snobs boohoo about my TSL head until I hike that fucker up, with another head through 4 4x12 cabinets, then all bets are off.

Less bullshit means more rock. I think the TSL or the DSL is a great deal, stands up to A LOT of abuse, totally replaceable and from a dirty nasty rock tone perspective, has a long list of tonal possibilities.

Of course, now I've got blackie's plexi on semi-permanent loan, so I'm thinking those two paired (his plexi with 2 tubes pulled running at 50w is FRIGHTENINGLY louder than the 100wTSL, so I'm pretty jazzed to start playing big rock gigs again...

You have been warned.

Best of luck to ya though, my vote is keep the twin and expand yer rig. Hope to hear the results soon!

[Azraphael]

Yup.

'87 model.

Cool.

Can I have it? :)

Seriously though, I wish I had the scratch to just expand my rig with another amp, but that's just not in the cards right now. I'm also lazy to the point of really not wanting to haul both a half stack and the Twin around for shows.

Dammit, I need more money. And a roadie. Or two.

Anyway, I think that I'll take a closer look at some pedal options, and keep an eye on the used market for something at a good price. I think I'll have better luck finding an inexpensive way to get a better dirt tone than I will trying to find a good dirt tone in an amp that has a clean tone as nice as the Twin. It's not impossible, but I'll keep my eyes and ears open.

Who knows? Maybe Santa (or my wife) will be kinder this holiday season than I deserve.

:)

Cheers,

Dave

[blackieC]

Cool.

Can I have it? :)

Cheers,

Dave


You can have my JCM 800 when you pry it from my cold, dead hands.



Even if you have a gun and the time to drive to Texas and back, I would advise against murder.


I have added a stipulation to my will that in event of murder by a wiley Canadian, my entire Marshall collection goes to crunch.



And crunch, in event of murder by a wiley Texan, my Marshalls got to my Mom.



Who will keep them unused.



In a garage.




In Okla-fuckin-homa.





just sayin'.....

:D

[Azraphael]

Wait a sec... so if I kill you, crunch gets your gear... and if crunch kills you, you give it your Mom?

Hmpf.

Seems like an unwinnable situation from my perspective.

That being the case, I'll let you live.

As for the gun thing, I don't have one anyway... but when you hit the Texas border, if you're unarmed don't they just issue you a loaner or something? :)

Cheers,

Dave

[blackieC]

They used to, but since the BATF had the Brady Bill updated in 2003, we're not allowed to anymore. That is if you can't pass the FBI NICS phone in background check. It usually takes five to six minutes.

But if you're not willing to wait that long we understand.


Of course we can only issue loaners to US residents.


That is unless you obtain the proper permits as a non-immigrant alien.

Then mi 12 gauge es su 12 gauge.


Along with a complimentary box of "Welcome to Texas" double ought buck shells.

[crunch]

Along with a complimentary box of "Welcome to Texas" double ought buck shells.

Still have mine!

At least half a box left. I'll show 'em to ya on Friday for roadhouse night, come early (by 9, please, I'm beggin' ya), btw, made some pretty tasty waco koolaid for ya, c'mon over early I'll pour a tall glass!

:lol:

Brother, I always got yer back. That's a fact, jack.

Azraphael, if that's too much gear to tote, maybe a 2x12 Marshall combo? I've also played through some combo Laney's that, while solid state, we called them "the poor man's marshall", and they sound pretty nice both clean and dirty, with fast switching to boot. At least based on my experience gigging in tejas, weezianer and okrahomah (blackie, ever been to the samurai saki house?), it's best to not tote anything too fancy. Shit happens. A lot.

I'm pouring MM's scotch and heading for the chatwomb...

cheers!

[Johnny]

Bad Cat.

[Tim Armstrong]

I have a suggestion that'll probably make your beverage of choice squirt out your nose, AND bring universal scorn for clownfucking...

http://img3.musiciansfriend.com/dbase/pics/products/tn/1/5/8/425158.jpg

VOX Valvetronics AD30VT (http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Vox-Valvetronix-AD30VT-30W-Guitar-Combo?sku=481959), $240 at MF.

Yeah, it's not boutique, it's not loud enough to cause birth defects, heck it isn't even really a tube amp (it has a 12AX7, but...). But before you dismiss this idea out of hand, consider that I've actually played through one of these (my brother, the guitarist in our band, got one in September and uses it as his main gigging amp) and it surprised the fuck out of me. The AC15 and AC30 tones are sweet at lower gain, and nicely snarly at higher gain, and it has two Dumble settings that make for lots of distorted fun.

"But Tim, I want a big gnarly 50-watt head into a 4x12 cab! That little thing can't possibly work at a gig!"

My answer to that:

http://img3.musiciansfriend.com/dbase/pics/products/tn/3/1/0/244310.jpg

"But Tim, what about that whole clownfucking issue???"

My answer:

http://i6.ebayimg.com/06/i/000/79/47/94a2_1_sbl.JPG

I'm just saying...

Cheers, Tim

[Brendo]

What about running a preamp of some sort into it, like an ADA MP1 or a Marshall JMP1, Mesa Triaxis or whatnot?

[Brendo]

Also, while on the Vox trip, these don't totally suck:
http://www.voxamps.co.uk/products/valvetronix/ad60vtx.htm
http://www.voxamps.co.uk/images/products/valvetronix/AD60VTX_ph.jpg
We got one for our rhythm guitarist for his 21st bday.

[bunnerabb]

yo:

http://www.picvault.info/images/537023278_Pitbull.jpg

[seagate]

While not suitable for gigging, seeing it's only single channel, can't go past these for recording...

http://www.msc.id.au/private/tmp/tm10.jpg

[Johnny]

No, really. Bad Cat.
http://www.badcatamps.com/home.html

[Brendo]

http://www.engl-amps.com/pics/e330_1.jpg

??

[Bivouac]

Pedals are for tricycles and gay guitar players. The sad part is how many quite manly guitar players have no idea how gay pedals are. Like putting the earring in the wrong ear gay. Like reaching for the dropped soap, many a player has been buggered from behind while reaching down to adjust the gayness.

Or maybe it was the Carmen Miranda fruit hat, but my ass hurt for a week.

Sorry Seagate. One day you'll understand, but in the meantime be careful.

Cos.

*yawn*

[ATTICus Finch]

Triaxis/2:90/Ear Candy Buzzbomb
End thread.
-R3

[otek]

No, really. Bad Cat.
http://www.badcatamps.com/home.html

No, really. Johnny's right.

Though it's a sure-fire way to extend your mortgage.

The Bad Cat is amazing. Absolutely impossible to make that baby sound bad. I don't care who you are.

Here's some more food for thought: If you like the clean sound of the Twin, would it be out of the question (and I know it's somewhat already been suggested so bear with me) to keep the Twin and get an amp with good distortion tones, and simply swich between the two? It's been done many times before, SRV and Michael Landau being two examples off the top of my head.

E.g. Morley makes several switches, and even a buffered splitter which allows you to run up to three amps simultaneously without loading down the pickups.

[Senap]

Make sure you check out the Orange amps. Sweetest rock-tone I've ever heard. The Rockerverb blew me away when I heard it the first time.

[binaural turbine]

Has anybody here any experience with Matamp amps? I saw some details on their construction a couple of years ago, and it was pretty amazing.

[jimmyjazz]

Ever play a Marshall Bluesbreaker? It has a lot of Fender qualities, but I like the way it overdrives much better. It's essentially a reissue of the amp Eric Clapton played in John Mayall's band, which was based on a Fender circuit (the Bassman, I think).

http://img3.musiciansfriend.com/dbase/pics/products/7/6/7/266767.jpg

[Statick]

our guitarist uses a twin driving a 4x12. he actually modded (well, destroyed!) the amp by removing the speakers then sawing it in half roughly 6 inches below the control panel. he then reattached the bottom panel and corner brackets, added a speaker jack - result the twin is now a proper head (looks like a bassman), and will drive any cab he likes. he uses a 4x12. it sounds awesome.

[Cosmic Pig]

*yawn*

Yawn? Ha. I must have offended another spandex shredder with a pedal board.

[Statick]

the same guitarist in our band has around 10-15 pedals

the bassist has something like 15-20

yes they do use clean sound a lot as well (the bassist even went to the trouble of building a true-bypass pedal, which bypasses his entire pedal chain with one stomp, useful not just for switching the loop on/off but also because about 6 of his pedals are not true bypass so when there's lots of them connected up it's rather detrimental to the quality of the clean sound), but the effect driven stuff is just insane. we are all very influenced by noise and psych rock, so the pedals are pretty important. its pretty hard to make a swirling vortex of drone doom with just a gain channel.

no spandex in sight, i hasten to add

[Jason Phair]

Third the BadCat.

[Bivouac]

Yawn? Ha. I must have offended another spandex shredder with a pedal board.

Nope, that garbage was before my time. Tele>>a few pedals>>'79 Marshall JMP...

...and when I step on that $200 SPF Green Line, watch out! Don't get me wrong though, it's still mostly guitar and amp, I just need some different textures every once in a while.

Oh, and I finally found the Zvex Box of Rock video. I'm going to get on of these for my Twin Reverb. Tell me this doesn't sound great...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0grV9CeHtbg

[Cosmic Pig]

Yep that's an awesome pedal. Possibly the least gay pedal I've ever heard.

But after watching some good players trying to build the perfect pedal board for years yet never quite getting what they want I've become a little anti-pedal.

It's like a chorus pedal as opposed to a Leslie. When that top rotor swings by and growls at you you'll never go back to a chorus pedal. To some extent the same thing happens with overdive (sic) pedals. The amp is always the deciding factor. Maybe that Box Of Rock pedal might not sound so good through a Fender or Musicman amp. I notice the Marshall they play through in the vid sounds pretty good on it's own.

Anyway... to each his own. I use one channel with a wah and a talkbox and that does me okay for any application. If I want weird I drop the whammy till the strings are all guh-guh-guh off the pickups with the talkbox. Sound weird but organic.

Cos.

[Swafford]

No, really. JoHere's some more food for thought: If you like the clean sound of the Twin, would it be out of the question (and I know it's somewhat already been suggested so bear with me) to keep the Twin and get an amp with good distortion tones, and simply swich between the two? It's been done many times before, SRV and Michael Landau being two examples off the top of my head.

That's what i do. I get my Marshally tones from a Sewell. I use an overdrive in front of the Fender for some umph occasionally and a fuzz in front of the sewell for the over the top shit and run 'em off an A/B pedal. Lately I've been late to gigs as I can't find the right motor for my trike and damn if that isn't a lot of shit to haul on a three wheeler....and it's causing me missed opportunities to boff my new bass player, he's loving Jesus, so I know no one's been up his poop shute........yet. Santorum cocktail?

Yum, Presbyterians are just liberal enough....

[Bivouac]

Yep that's an awesome pedal. Possibly the least gay pedal I've ever heard.

But after watching some good players trying to build the perfect pedal board for years yet never quite getting what they want I've become a little anti-pedal.

It's like a chorus pedal as opposed to a Leslie. When that top rotor swings by and growls at you you'll never go back to a chorus pedal. To some extent the same thing happens with overdive (sic) pedals. The amp is always the deciding factor. Maybe that Box Of Rock pedal might not sound so good through a Fender or Musicman amp. I notice the Marshall they play through in the vid sounds pretty good on it's own.

Anyway... to each his own. I use one channel with a wah and a talkbox and that does me okay for any application. If I want weird I drop the whammy till the strings are all guh-guh-guh off the pickups with the talkbox. Sound weird but organic.

Cos.


I feel you...

I probably tried a dozen overdrives (all held in pretty high esteem) before stumbling upon this Green Line in a shop. Why did I settle on it? It sounds like my amp when it's cranked...

Set the JMP to a light crunch that cleans up with picking dynamics and kick in the overdrive when necessary. Adds a lot of versatility to my old one channel amp. The pedal sounds like like ass through my Twin Reverb though--wretched.

Also on my board is a Zvex Fuzz Factory for weird noises and the occasional over-the-top lead boost, an old Phase 90 (used during the bridge of ONE song), and a Line 6 DL-4 (for the solo on one song, and a lead line on another).

It's Tele>>Marshall the rest of the way...

[Calvin]

Some good suggestions thus far. I also like the BadCats. I'd also like to suggest you check out a 6L6-based Bogner Shiva. Terrific, fendery cleans and a great overdrive channel. Very versatile.

I also personally have my eyes (and, more importantly, my ears) on a Divided by 13 FTR37. It's 6v6 with great cleans and reverb with a "click" channel that produces great grind. Check'em out!

Calvin

[binaural turbine]

Some good suggestions thus far. I also like the BadCats. I'd also like to suggest you check out a 6L6-based Bogner Shiva. Terrific, fendery cleans and a great overdrive channel. Very versatile.

I also personally have my eyes (and, more importantly, my ears) on a Divided by 13 FTR37. It's 6v6 with great cleans and reverb with a "click" channel that produces great grind. Check'em out!

Calvin

was there a monetary limitations to the thread starter's amp search? The major problem with the Bad Cats, Bogners, Engls, /13s, etc, is they are very pricey to purchase new, and do not appreciate in value like vintage stuff does, for approximately the same price of admission.

[omikl]

Well, I'm a clean amp & pedals guy.

Here's a few options:

Mesa V-Twin. Discontinued now, but it's like shoving a Mesa preamp in front of your Twin.

Keeley DS-1 Ultra. An evil little dirt box.

[seagate]

Well, I'm a clean amp & pedals guy.

Welcome to the gay club...


:lol: