Amps we dont talk about in public.

[purpleplexi]

I had a Randall Nuno Bettencourt that when I checked the serial number turned out to be one of Nuno's amps that he'd used to tour with Rihanna. Had a cool little retro output dial on the front and as good a crunch channel as I've ever heard. The lead channel was just too fat sounding for me. When it blew up - which it did a couple of times - it went with a hell of a bang. I later learned that Nuno always had a spare Marshall on stage for when his blew up.

 

[Rudy v]

Here some other amps we dont talk about steavens and a reubenzehn

 

[GWWhitehead]

Hows about a 1963 Bird Golden Eagle 2/15?


Or
Toneking Majesty combo + Ext Cab?

Jeez i just watched That Pedal Show with a Casino...i have a 63 Hofner that does the trick but DAMNED i MUST THIS GUITAR!

 

[GWWhitehead]

I have, gigged, and still sometimes use its big brother, the Fender M80 Stereo Chorus head. Think a Roland Jazz Chorus, but with a Fender quality clean channel, good reverb and great chorus. The gain channel was as you describe - pretty much full-on solid state saturation. The gain channel was a one trick pony, but it does that trick well.

Was it covered in gray carpet!?

 

[GWWhitehead]

I had a Crate Blue Voodoo 120 Tube Head with a Crate 4X12 Cab with Celestions that I used on stage for years until I bought my first Marshall Half Stack. I had some Groove Tubes put in it and actually loved it! It was a tuff old amp, had a lot of Shows and Miles under its belt and I must say, that I never had any problems with it at all. Sold it about a decade ago..

The only Crate worth buying!

 

[Neptical]

My old school rig....a Peavey Ultra 60 head through a Peavey 4x12 loaded with Sheffields.

FANTASTIC killer tone!!

I'd take that rig again in a heartbeat and play gigs with it.

 

[Sg-ocaster]

1985 Dean Markley CD60 1x12 combo...... I love that amp...........albeit I had to put a Fender Hotrod deluxe PT in it when I got it as well as recap it.

 

[Buzzard]

Here some other amps we dont talk about steavens and a reubenzehn View attachment 85364 View attachment 85366 View attachment 85367

Why? Just curious. That second one is horrid imo. Looks like you could use part of that cage for a “ little jerry Seinfeld’s “ cock fighting rooster. Lol

 

[purpleplexi]

The only Crate worth buying!

Only crate I've ever played. Don't see them in the UK. I was in the States and tried a norlin LP through it in a pawn shop. I loved it - always made me wonder why people dissed them. Actually liked the norlin too - didn't buy it. Should've.

 

[saxon68]

The only Crate worth buying!

You need to try the stealth also.
Lee Jackson designed, gigged one for a couple years till grunge hit. Kept it for 20 years or so, sold to finance a move.

 

[Drinkingdeath01]

You need to try the stealth also.
Lee Jackson designed, gigged one for a couple years till grunge hit. Kept it for 20 years or so, sold to finance a move.

Plus one on the Stealth. IMO they smoke the BV. I still own two of them for a reason.

 

[end user]

The only Crate worth buying!

Obeid Khan designed some for Crate like the Vintage Club amps and then the Palominos and VFX units were based off of those. The Palominos and VFX I can attest will hang with any Marshall of the same wattage as far as tone goes. All of the aforementioned amps though tone machines are not for someone who doesnt either have a tech or know how to use a soldering iron. Once the cheap factory wave soldering is fixed though they are rock solid. My VFX 5112 is 100% tube and 100% American made and rips with a WGS ET-65 in it.

 

[Rudy v]

Why? Just curious. That second one is horrid imo. Looks like you could use part of that cage for a “ little jerry Seinfeld’s “ cock fighting rooster. Lol

It is a single ended class -a-amp handwired by thomas reubenzehn and i wanted one but is already sold for 550€ new 990€ you can put a 6l6 a6v6 a kt88 a 6560 or a el84 with a adaptor also make power and output transformers building hifi amps here a picture a v8 hifi amp build in 1998

 

[Frank DeVincenzo]

I’ve got a nicely set up Peavey VK2 which I know has a crappy online rep.
I’m not sold on the dirty channel but I like the clean and the class A emulation you can mix with straight AB.

Probably not one I’d normally admit to!

I also have the last edition of the Peavey Valve King II 50watt Combo. Needs a retube and a decent speaker fitted. Maybe will be a project in the future. I had trouble with the bias adjuster right after the warranty expired. Fell out of favor with me after that. TheClass A/Class AB knob is exactly the same as the ISF knob on the Blackstar products. Just another flavor to add to the mix. Very, very loud. Very noisy with single coils.

 

[Gunner64]

It is a single ended class -a-amp handwired by thomas reubenzehn and i wanted one but is already sold for 550€ new 990€ you can put a 6l6 a6v6 a kt88 a 6560 or a el84 with a adaptor also make power and output transformers building hifi amps here a picture a v8 hifi amp build in 1998 View attachment 85710 View attachment 85711 View attachment 85712

Dude that v8 amp is sweet! You built that? I want one I may borrow that design..so cool!

 

[Rudy v]

Dude that v8 amp is sweet! You built that? I want one I may borrow that design..so cool!

Its a reubenzehn made in germany but too my why not man happy built

 

[Alter Ego]

Counting the mentions it looks like Crate wins by a nose over Peavey in the "Amps we don't talk about in public."

On a side not I'm not surprised. I had a music store from 1988 - 1995 and was a dealer for Crate, Marshall, Randall, Hughes & Kettner, and Laney. The Crate brand sold 10 to 1 over the other four brands combined. It wasn't just the smaller 10/20 watt offerings either, I sold a ton of the 50 to 100 watt combos and heads. High Gain was king back then and in a controlled amp room environment the Crate solid state and tube preamps sounded very nice, were inexpensive comparatively, and were easy to sell. The Crate Stealth, all their chorus amp offerings, and later the Blue Voodoo were very impressive and sold like crazy. I also remember the ADA MP-1 preamp was a huge hit along with the ART Multiverbs for the rack mount guys. Back then my giging amp was a Randall RG80 head with a 4/10 Celestion cabinet; gain on 10 and mids scooped.

 

[OriginOfTheSpecies]

I had a Crate Blue Voodoo 120 Tube Head

My guitarist bought an amp with some stupid amount of power about 15 years ago. I couldn't remember if it was a Krank or Crate but this inspired me to google and I'm now pretty sure it was the 300 watt variant of the Blue Voodoo.
He didn't keep it long, but I remember liking how it sounded at the time.

Krank though. Theres a 20 watt Krank Rev Jr some local guy's trying to get rid of cheaply for yonks. Looks gaudy as hell (and the clean channel is named "Kleen"...), but checked out some demo's and although not really my sound, was pretty impressive (reminded me a lot of properly dialled in dual rec).

 

[yladrd61]

 

[Arc Anjil]

My fave "untalked-about-amp" is the Peavey Vypyr Tube 60.

Great tones from every single one of the amp models, and loud as all get out. VERY different from the all solid state Vypyr versions.

Also, I never cared if it sounded like the amp it was modeling. All I ever cared for was if the sound and tone were usable.