Anyone else prefer single channel amps to multi channel ones?

[The Golden Boy]

When I was a kid, I could afford the $400-500 JMP 2203 and 2204s. Thus, those were the amps I got. I *wanted* the JCM 900 two channel amps like some of my friends had. After that, I *wanted* a Dual Rectifier and a Soldano... at some point I realized the amps I wanted sounded really terrible and I already had the amp that made the sounds I really wanted.

At some point in the mid 90s I discovered the treble bleed cap- and since I use a Gibson style volume/tone setup on my guitars- I effectively use the neck pickup with the volume rolled down as the "clean" sound. I've always played the amp with the pre set to where I wanted the gain and used a fuzz/distortion/OD pedal for lead boosts, I have a chorus I sometimes use for "shimmer." And I just have them plugged inline with the guitar cable. In a world of people with tiered pedalboards and rack effects and switching and all the other happy horseshit- 99.9% of the gigs I play guitar on, I have 3 pedals in front of me- tuner, OD, and chorus- and I totally could do without the chorus.

 

[V-man]

Multiple channel amps are superior in every way…

- except most have a shared EQ, eviscerating half the point of having one;

- oh, then there is the distracting knob array, making them exceptionally difficult to dial;

- and then there is the point that they are overly complex and harder/more expensive to fix.


lately I have been preferring those inferior single channels by far.

 

[Georgiatec]

When I started playing in early '70's, we never had a choice. In fact as we had no idea about electronics, guys used to class the 4 holers as multi channel amps. You could plug multiple instruments into the 4 inputs and they all worked....to an extent. Many times we had two guitars and a bass running through an early 70's 1959. If you were in a band where you all had your own top gear you were considered semi-pro.
If you had one guitar and a good amp and could play you were good to go. More than one guitar and Whoa!!, you had it made.

 

[Derrick111]

Multiple channel amps are superior in every way…

- except most have a shared EQ, eviscerating half the point of having one;

- oh, then there is the distracting knob array, making them exceptionally difficult to dial;

- and then there is the point that they are overly complex and harder/more expensive to fix.


lately I have been preferring those inferior single channels by far.

Don't forget that overly complex amps like multi channel types have more circuitry that the audio passes through to load down the tone and dynamics. But yea, aside from a heaping pile of points, multiple channel amps are are superior.

 

[SkyMonkey]

Muliti please. Thank you. Sorted.

 

[FennRx]

Yes

 

[dro]

Multiple channel amps are superior in every way…

- except most have a shared EQ, eviscerating half the point of having one;

- oh, then there is the distracting knob array, making them exceptionally difficult to dial;

- and then there is the point that they are overly complex and harder/more expensive to fix.


lately I have been preferring those inferior single channels by far.

JTM45 JMP2204 A 4holer and a 2 holer

 

[V-man]

JTM45 JMP2204 A 4holer and a 2 holer
View attachment 104726

exactly where I stand (on holes… different models, same idea).

 

[GuitarIV]

In the meantime my JCM 2000 from the pic on the first page died... classic bias drift issue. I'll fix it, but this just further solidifies my urge to go and seek out another single channel old school Marshall... the simpler, the better

 

[Moony]

I'm fine with 2 channels.
That's why I play JVM2 series amps and not the 4 channel ones.

 

[FutureProf88]

I prefer single channel amps all day every day. Like @The Golden Boy said above, part of it stems from an amp I was able to afford. When i was in my college band I really wanted a JCM 800, specifically a 2205. I couldn't afford any of the 2205's that I found, but I did find a modified 2204 that I could swing. I bought that amp and played it for a couple years and learned to work single channel amps. Now it's what I prefer to play, and if I am playing a channel switcher I will typically set it up on its crunch channel with light gain like a pushed-but-not-dimed plexi and then boost it for more aggressive stuff.

 

[Gunner64]

Some of us predate channel switchers. We learned to use the guitar volume, and that's what still feels natural to us. Single channel here.

 

[tubes]

My JCM 900 MkIII is a one ch amp.
It has footswitchable volume.
It's great.

Unfortunately, it will not change from regular duty to Loud-AND-Clean without somebody turning a knob.
I have used the 'underdrive' approach at times. But the amp doesn't bring out its inner Bassman unless you adjust knob.

 

[mrjones2004x]

My JCM 900 MkIII is a one ch amp.
It has footswitchable volume.
It's great.

Unfortunately, it will not change from regular duty to Loud-AND-Clean without somebody turning a knob.
I have used the 'underdrive' approach at times. But the amp doesn't bring out its inner Bassman unless you adjust knob.

I have a mk3 2501 and love the sound. Preamp 6, sensitivity on max. Turn down my guitar volume for a semi clean tone. Add a tube screamer to make it brighter and louder if required. Sometimes use the compressor to help the clean too.
If you set the 2501 clean it sounds shite. Much better to play the guitar volume.
I usually use my p90 LP on volume 8 and use tube screamer for leads. Very rarely go up to ten as it just sounds bad. I dunno why just don’t like the p90 on 10. Plus the hum is real bad up there

 

[tubes]

I have a mk3 2501 and love the sound. Preamp 6, sensitivity on max. Turn down my guitar volume for a semi clean tone. Add a tube screamer to make it brighter and louder if required. Sometimes use the compressor to help the clean too.
If you set the 2501 clean it sounds shite. Much better to play the guitar volume.
I usually use my p90 LP on volume 8 and use tube screamer for leads. Very rarely go up to ten as it just sounds bad. I dunno why just don’t like the p90 on 10. Plus the hum is real bad up there

This makes sense and I should offer an intelligent reply. But it's late and I'm tired.
Tube Screamer, Compressor... yep, I'm with you.
> If you set the 2501 clean it sounds shite.
I spose this depends on what 'set clean' means. What impresses me is that the amp can get big clean sounds despite that it is designed for other purposes.
The drawback is that a person has to turn knobs to achieve this.

> I usually use my p90 LP on volume 8... Very rarely go up to ten as it just sounds bad...
This is not surprising: you said 'sensitivity on max'.
When things are maxxed out more interference is heard.

 

[mrjones2004x]

This makes sense and I should offer an intelligent reply. But it's late and I'm tired.
Tube Screamer, Compressor... yep, I'm with you.
> If you set the 2501 clean it sounds shite.
I spose this depends on what 'set clean' means. What impresses me is that the amp can get big clean sounds despite that it is designed for other purposes.
The drawback is that a person has to turn knobs to achieve this.

> I usually use my p90 LP on volume 8... Very rarely go up to ten as it just sounds bad...
This is not surprising: you said 'sensitivity on max'.
When things are maxxed out more interference is heard.

My amp is modified so not as high gain as standard. All the clipping diodes are out and the negative feedback is raised if that mattered I don’t know. All mods were done before I got it years back. It’s thick sounding and enough gain for me.
If I turn the sensitivity knob to zero and preamp to 10 it’s very very thin and weak sounding distortion. I assume that’s because of the mods.
The sensitivity knob now acts as a thickening control more than a gain increaser which is why it’s on max normally. Sometimes I use both gain controls about 3/4 of way up and that’s pretty good too. Helps tame the p90 hum also a bit more. Happy to have some hum tho as my humbucker les paul just doesn’t sound as good as the p90s.
I love the a
Ps one channel it’s just a raw sound and not much to tweak.

 

[Bull Rock]

Single here, prefer 4 holers no loops are ok too.

Whoa. Nice freakin room.

 

[Maggot Brain]

Single here, prefer 4 holers no loops are ok too.

Dude, fucking cozy ass looking room!

Props man, I love it.

 

[FleshOnGear]

Yeah, I prefer single channel amps these days. 4-holers in particular. Even when I had a JCM2000 DSL I ran it as a single channel amp, getting clean by switching to my neck pickup with its volume set low.

Now I set my Traynor and SV20H to a light crunch, and get the rest of my tones with pedals and guitar volume.

 

[MarshallDog]

So yesterday after ages I put my pedalboard back together and I have this little pedal on it that I never used before:

View attachment 102924


Basically the Underdrive works like an "anti Overdrive" in that it reduces the mids, so it takes out distortion and gives you the option of adjusting overall volume, treble and bass so you can fine tune your "clean sound".

It's like rolling down your volume control but you don't lose all your highs and it works in an instant by pressing a button.

Anyway, what I actually want to say is I never seem to use the clean channel of an amp. I have my JCM 800 which is a single channel amp anyway, my DSL 100 and my Laney IRT Studio.

I usually set the amp to light crunchy overdrive, then add in an OD pedal to get into heavier territory and roll down my volume for cleans with some slight hair on them. I prefer the dynamics I get that way plus I don't have to fiddle with the amp, and now the Underdrive let's me skip to "clean" in an instant.


I guess if I was playing modern metal it would be a different story but for all the blues/hard rock based stuff I do it's all I need.


Anyone else here that utilizes the same approach? I find it gives your volume and tone controls on the guitar an actual purpose instead of playing always on 11

Yes I prefer single channel amps and I do the same thing mainly because I can not find a new amp that has two channels thats sounds old school Marshall...but I'm no Pro sooo!!!!!