Best Amp You Ever Played ?

[Goatroper]

1976 Marshall 100 watt Superlead.

 

[Nik Henville]

.
.
.
JTM45, 1965 or 1966. If memory serves it said Mk.II on it...
...but this WAS back in the early seventies,
and pharmaceuticals were involved as well.
.
.
.

 

[Angus Rhoads]

I will probably get flamed for this being as it's a Marshall forum, but when the Peavey 5150 first came out in the early 90s my local mom & pop music store briefly had a full stack that a factory rep had set up in a demo room (this was back when Peavey didn't sell through GC/MF). I knew the owner (he was my first guitar teacher) so he let me come in after hours and plug into it with my Charvel 475, and crank it up pretty loud. Jeezus, I have never gotten that glorious sound out of my head!

 

[lovehifi]

Not sure about best but one that I liked the most is my current Friedman Smallbox 50 using a 2x12 cab with a pair of Alnico Creamback 90s. Of course back in the 60s and 70s I played through some great Marshalls and Fenders. Just can’t remember much about them. That was a lot of years and brain cells ago.

 

[Clifdawg]

Peavey Windsor half stack.

Okay, okay, so that's not technically the best amp I've ever played... That one probably should go to the vintage Vox AC30 I recorded with in studio with my church band. But I came into ownership of the Windsor through trading a 1985 Ibanez super strat I had in college. And that was the first time I stood in front of a raging 100-watt all-tube beast, plugged straight in with a limited-run Epiphone Les Paul Special (that I later sold and would sell off a kidney to have back).

And then I understood.

There's no substitute for raw power and a 4x12 able to convert it all into sound pressure levels capable of violating noise ordinances two zip codes away.

I finally sold the thing because I needed something more portable to lug back and forth to church. That Peavey is one of the reasons I've always wanted a Marshall, and now I have one. Truth is, my DSL40 is probably a much more robust and a tonally better amp than that Windsor, and I love it to death. But I won't trade the memories of cranking the Windsor for anything.

 

[Geeze]

JMP 2203 with partridge PT/OT from a Hiwatt - that damn thing just SANG. I'd have to sell my first born and the ex wife - oops never mind on the ex I'd have to pay even more.

The problem with questions like this is I'm a moody motherfucker and it DEPENDS on the day. Right now its a JMP 2203 with 6550's. Or a 1959X or then a 2555X with KT66's. Some days its a Satellite Barracuda - think JTM45 with sweaty Billy Gibbons sized balls. See - moody motherfucker.

Russ

 

[Gene Ballzz]

HOLY CRAP! I guess I'm odd man out in this discussion by having even dared to mention the Tweed Deluxe! Oh well, my ears and hands like what thyey like! And yet, I still gig primarily with Marshall Amplification!

Just Sayin'
Gene

 

[67mike]

Three way tie for me between

Vintage Hiwatt dr 504, Mesa electra dyne, and Marshall Vintsge Modern 2466.

 

[slagg]

Mesa DC 2 Studio caliber.

 

[AlvisX]

Too many ,there aint just ONE

My favorite amps are the ones I resurrected from other people's trash.
My '73 1959 is a tone machine ....'70 1987t
One of my most killer amps is a silverface Bassman 100 that I rebuilt with a tweed pre. I had a builder tell me he's been chasing that sound (one of my best "marshalls")
I did the same to a sound city 50+ , it sounds insane
As soundman said my 2203 is the best guitar amp he ever heard .....they're usually tellin ya to turn down

1982 Champ II is one of my favorites these days

Best Sounding Amp? Hands down, bone stock (except for a 12AX7 in V1, instead of a 12AY7) 5E3 Tweed Deluxe! Let me qualify that though.

A) It needs a little "goose in the caboose" at the input (like most Fender circuits), when you want to get into the gainier territory of what a Marshall can do, but then it does it gloriously! When not goosed, it does everything else in the universe!
B) It has no reverb or loop for adding anything into the signal path, but "tell you what" it's so touch sensitive and tactile and gives amazing clarity throughout the tonal range, without ever being too clean!
C) It makes a fabulous dry platform for wet/dry rig, where you are driving the wet part of the rig from from a speaker out derived signal, as with a RedBox, or such. Absolutely fantastic as a core tone/sound.

Yeah, best amp I've ever played, but is lacking some of the modern features that we all love! With that being said, if I had some young buck to haul my crap around, set it up and deal with it, Id use a wet/dry rig with the 5E3 as the core, or with a dedicated, on retainer sound engineer to know and do all my effects cues, I'd play nothing but a 5E3, a low wattage, 5E4 Tweed Super, or a 5E5 Tweed Pro.

I mostly play Marshalls, but the Tweed Deluxe will have to be pried from my dead hands!

You Asked!
Gene

I used to use one about 20 years ago , I hear ya ....

I got an old amp from 1963 now ,a Massie Lancer ....supposedly identical to a tweed Deluxe . I was playin it in the kitchen the other day and I just didnt wanna quit !

 

[MonstersOfTheMidway]

Each is great on their own, but together they can do anything:

Marshall JVM410H (stock form)
Mesa-Boogie Road King 2 (stock form)

Honorable mention: Fryette Pitbull 100CL

 

[ampmadscientist]

Marshall or other, owned it tested it or borrowed it ..... go.

Operadio 1A30

Well I'll be damned, it has cascaded gain stages. It was built in 1946.
It uses 6J7 pentode preamp tubes , 6SN7 phase inverter and 6L6 output tubes with a 5V4 rectifier.

You know what?
This amp grinds like a chain saw.
Reminding you that Mesa Boogie did not invent high gain amplification.

 

[Neil S]

The 2nd most un versatile amp I own but probably favourite, my 1977 JMP "2203" (I think it started life as a combo) I have not played a lot of different amps so my array is limited. I also had a JCM800 4104 from around 1982 that I remember sounded great. Foolishly sold many years ago, wish I still had it.

Here is the 1977 JMP. Guitar, cable, high input, V30 cab. Really want a green back cab for this.

 

[charveldan]

Ive had 5 Marshall heads :

79' JMP 2204

Two 78' 2203's

An 81' JCM-800

A 2009 JCM-DSL 100

All were/are great the video above is a stock 78 JMP 2203 with 6550's mint condition, prolly the best sounding stock amp ive had but they all have been good. The other 78' 2203 i had Dave Friedman Mod and thats the best Modified amp ive played.

I sold the 6550 JMP as it was too much Horsepower, i would have had to mod it to keep it and i didn't want to do that so i passed it along.

I gotta say my REASON SM-50 & MESA Dual Rec sound fantastic as well.

Its hard to narrow the Field.

 

[BowerR64]

Well of all the heads i have

Vintage Modern
JCM900 DR
Krank chadwick
Peavey Windsor
Acoustic GT50H
Laney GH50C
Krank 1980 jr.
Fender Super champ X2

I kinda like my friends Chadwick series 1, that thing has that weird older Marshall bark ive had in my head ive been wanting. My series 2 may have the same tone i cant remember i havnt hooked it up in over a year

 

[Trapland]

I’ve had low power and hi power tweeds, ever white fender, almost every blackface Fender, Mesa mk2,3,4, rect, Soldano SLO, most modern whiz bang Marshall’s 30th anniv, jcm900, jcm800, lots of amps I can’t even remember,
‘
The best amp I’ve played is my 1968 50 Watt small box through a FULL stack of 1968 model T1511 Greenbacks.
It’s the most 3D sounding, sweetest tone I’ve ever heard.

 

[ampmadscientist]

The 2nd most un versatile amp I own but probably favourite, my 1977 JMP "2203" (I think it started life as a combo) I have not played a lot of different amps so my array is limited. I also had a JCM800 4104 from around 1982 that I remember sounded great. Foolishly sold many years ago, wish I still had it.

Here is the 1977 JMP. Guitar, cable, high input, V30 cab. Really want a green back cab for this.

2203 is the basis for a lot of great amps, no matter who makes them.
It was "the" turning point for guitar amps.
The high performance amps of today are all based on a 2203, from boogie to Bogner from Fender to chupacabra....

Why, it's almost as good as an Operadio.

 

[justinrhoads80]

Friedman BE-100 Head.

I remember trying out a custom Jackson USA King V at the GC platinum room and I was so anxious since it was my first jackson I picked up and I didn't know what to use for an amp. I asked one of the GC guys to help me out and they just plugged me into the friedman, no pedals, nothin and he cranked it so loud my ears were ringing afterwards.

I remember distinctly playing Mr. Crowley and the tone was just lovely. I am currently going through an 80s nostalgia thing at the moment and I look back to that event thinking "Man that amp really did fuckin check all the boxes."

As of now the amp head I am looking at is this:



Sounds so good especially through that frankenstein replica. In fact I am even looking into getting a USA Charvel and load it with EVH frankenstein pickups and live my 80s hair metal need that must be kept from within.

I need help guys...

 

[Wailing]

+1 For my Tweed Deluxe clone (Abbott Amps) however for rehearsal with the band ( two guitars) my Marshall TMB 18 watt clone (again Abbott Amps) works best as the Tweed needs the volume up too high in the balance.

 

[xeizo]

I once had a Traynor 100W tube top that sounded fantastic, but way too loud at the time. A Fender Bassman 70W top I had also sounded very good and at more moderate levels. My original Peavey Bandit 65W with silver stripes sounded very good with a Tubescreamer, but was a little too weak.

I'm probably the most happy with my current DSL20HR using Creambacks, we will see if my incoming JC 100HDM(which sadly took a detour through the customs) can best it. I ordered it mainly for being able to go louder.