Rate The Worlds Best Cleans

[jerryjg]

As an owner of a 74 Hiwatt 50 watt 1/2 stack ( marshall cab), and a 73 pt. 2 pt. Superlead Marshall 100 full stack, Ive undouibtedly got a couple of the best clean sounds on planet earth.
That said, Fender blackface clean, which I actually passed on a blackface Super reverb for my Hiwatt cause I damn sure can't afford both, and the Blackface Fender is rated as the best cleans in the world and Hiwatt comes in second, or so I've heard, cause Fender has more pristine cleans and is by nature more of a loose / spongy feel and tonality.


How about Vox? I know nothing about Vox.
Lets hear your ideas on this.

 

[Dogs of Doom]

Mesa is very similar to Fender...

 

[jack daniels]

I had an early 60's red panel, non-top boost Vox AC30 that I bought from Music Ground in Doncaster England. I ended up selling it to Mark Benson (John Lennon) of the band 1964 The Tribute. The AC30 was clean and chimey up to a certain point although, the 15W/ speaker Blue Bulldogs were at least 40 yrs old and the tubes appeared to be original NOS. I remember a GT book commenting that jazz, and blues guitarists prefer the Class A Vox AC30 for its cleans.

 

[jack daniels]

Mesa is very similar to Fender...[/QUOTEait" part. ]

Because Randall Smith modified a Fender Princeton as a joke to deliver 90W into a 1x12" combo (aka Mesa MkI Boogie). Carlos took the bait, and the rest they say is history.....

I had a blonde MKI Boogie RI combo myself that was a very nice amp but, too darn heavy.

 

[jerryjg]

I have a dead nuts Tweed Low Power Twin Clone, and the cleans are sweet, but not much headroom. Somone buggered the OT..need to get a better OT, then it will be 90% there to a real old Tweed Twin.

 

[jerryjg]

one thing is, Ive heard Fender cleans. The amp sag , the sweet buttery cleans its the most beguiling sound on Earth IMOP. But the Hiwatt..I keep thinking where are the pristione cleans, and before you know it Ive just been playing the hell out of the Hiwatt/Strat ;you just dig deeper, you gotta work the knobs, you get a tone, a soundget a sound that makes you wanna dive into it.hard to explain, but the Hiwatt is a keeper.

IDK, tuning your ears to the subtleties..its a religious experience - you just wanna keep playing the Hiwatt...theres just something there that is phenominal and for some reason ya can't put the guitar down...

I dont mention the 73 Superlead, casue i played it briefly, then socked it away for a Cap job I havent got to yet.

 

[Mosher Zone]

I used to own a Hiwatt 100 & it had the best & loudest cleans I've heard but I recon Fender are the best overall. I've played a vintage Twin years ago at a rehearsal space but was to young to appreciate it but being a surf music fan I really want to own a Fender someday, those cleans are like bells.

 

[Sitedrifter]

Rivera amps are kick ass when it comes to clean. I love my Clubster Royale!

 

[Silverburst]

depends on your definition of clean.

best Clean I now own for the 3rd time is the clean on my Carvin Legacy I, a nmv amp. it breaths, reacts, oozes harmonics, very warm and responsive. does not break up at all, so if your definition of clean has that, squeeze an SD1 in front with low gain, and you just get more of that.

on top of that. they can be found dirt cheap! Vai stil uses the Legacy I altough there was a II and the current model is III.

If you never tried it, you really should. Each time I sold the amp I realized no other clean comes close so I bought one again.

 

[jack daniels]

I'd have to say vintage Fender and HiWatt amps. After pulling my early 70's HiWatt cab out of storage and A/B'ing said cab with my Marshall Plexi SL and JTM50 heads, I really had to tweak the heads to bring out the Celestion dirt/crunch because the Fanes ARE so efficient and clean which is why I prefer G12T-75 speakers over Greenbacks typically.

 

[deadear]

Strats and tele's through a Fender twin reverb

 

[GIBSON67]

I get great cleans through the low input of my 2203, nice and punchy still, too!

 

[jack daniels]

Strats and tele's through a Fender twin reverb

Absolutely no doubt about that one I was just talking to a younger guitar slinger, and he said he wanted an old twin preferably BF. I mentioned that my 60-61' 6G14 blonde Fender Showman head is essentially a blonde Fender Twin. I've never actually seen a blonde Twin combo but, they were made. The thing that the Marshall JTM45/100, Blonde Showman, Black Face Twin Reverb, Blonde Twin Reverb all have in common is their 80W output with 6L6 tubes (or variants thereof) such as the KT66.

 

[PHUSION974]

Rivera amps are kick ass when it comes to clean. I love my Clubster Royale!

+1
I have a Rivera Knucklehead Tre Reverb, and it has some the best clean tones ive heard.
Makes sense, since Paul Rivera did some innovative work for Fender known as the "Rivera Era".

 

[jack daniels]

I never cared for my Fender Princeton Deluxe Reverb that Paul Rivera designed. Paul Rivera's Fender Super Champ however is still sought after even today.

 

[Metroman]

I like the Cleans much better with my Metro GMP45, than the cleans of my 69 Dual Showman.

Cleans ??

Hi Watt DR103 into an Alembic F 2B preamp.

Marshall JTM45/100/Metro GMP45

Metro 10,000 Series

 

[EndGame00]

How about Supro? They've got some great cleans. The Black Magick intrigues me though it has the most gain in their lineup.

 

[GuitarMutant]

Carvin X100B, 1984-1986.

(I'll edit this to include any of the Mark series Boogies with the graphic EQ)

 

[GuitarMutant]

depends on your definition of clean.

best Clean I now own for the 3rd time is the clean on my Carvin Legacy I, a nmv amp. it breaths, reacts, oozes harmonics, very warm and responsive. does not break up at all, so if your definition of clean has that, squeeze an SD1 in front with low gain, and you just get more of that.

on top of that. they can be found dirt cheap! Vai stil uses the Legacy I altough there was a II and the current model is III.

If you never tried it, you really should. Each time I sold the amp I realized no other clean comes close so I bought one again.

The Legacy Series clean is astounding. I prefer it over vintage Fenders. I had a Legacy I and now have a Legacy III, and the cleans are incredible. If it just had the graphic EQ like the vintage X amps, it'd be uncontested

 

[Silverburst]

I was about to ask you if the X100b's clean is anything like the Legacy's