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ms1012 wrote:GC associates are idiots sometimes. I enjoy putting them to shame, especially when it comes to pedals but those hot rods are overpriced IMO, and you can get them used for alot cheaper. the thing i find funny about those Egnaters is that when they first came out, they were pretty hyped up. but you slowly start to notice the number of used ones popping up

I don't mean to rip on the guy. I just had a hard time explaining to him that I need a line out that mutes the speakers, not just provides a line out to the sound guy's board.

I'm not sure if it was just my playing that made me dislike the Egnater. I played the Rebel 30 with a store's SG months and months back (the spawn of this thread?) and it sounded good, but the SG didn't feel right.

The amp building workshop in Chicago is looking more and more interesting, but I can't be sure I'll end up building an amp I like, AND the real problem is that none of those vintage amps had the speaker-muting line out -- I'd have to get a weber attenuator or something with the line out / headphone tap. I really do like the sound of a Marshall 18 Watt.. when other people play them. I've never played one.

I guess I'll just get an attenuator with a line out / headphone tap.

RECOMMEND ME AN AMP. Original request applies, minus the requirement of a speaker-muting line out.

I want an amazing amp. One that I will love the sound of and bond with for life.

Looking for an amp that does bluesy/classic rock sounds of the Marshall variety, and has really nice clean channel too. Wattage doesn't matter. Reverb and effects loop would be nice. Price can be anything under a grand or so.
HI-GAIN BRUTALZ and hair metal amps need not apply.

Edit: I'm also considering doing the Chicago amp building class to build a Marshall 18 watt, as it would cost about the same. The class is taught by Ian Schneller of Specimen Products, who builds all those funky horn amps for Andrew Bird (and builds Andrew Bird's guitars, I think.)

have you considered the mesa boogie transatlantic? the transatlantic seems like a really cool amp, going from 25 watts to 15 watts to 5 watts. i haven't played one, but it just seems like a good amp from a great company

Off to try to find a motherfucking amp, round 2!

Update: Fell in love with an amp. An Ampeg Jet. SO AWESOME. Spring reverb, great sound, just not quiet.. so I'm going to get a Weber attenuator with headphone tap. The Ampeg was relatively cheap, too.



Also I couldn't resist buying the cheap vintage SG-knockoff that I demoed it with. It turns out it has singlecoils hiding under those humbucker shields.

Fuckyeah.

Double-posting, deal with it.

So I just ordered a Weber mini-MASS attenuator with a headphone tap.

I'm going to put in a few more hours working this weekend to offset the cost of this amp/attenuator/guitar and sign up for the Chicago Amp Building seminar at Specimen Guitars in Chicago (Ian Schneller, the guy who builds Andrew Bird's awesome speakerhorn amps and some of his guitars, teaches the class.) I'll probably build a Marshall 18 watt head in that class and learn a ton.

Thanks to snipelfritz for recommending Rockhaus music store here in Milwaukee, that's where I got the guitar and amp. He has a huge selection of pedals, always looking to get more. He also has a line with the guy who owns the Harmonic Percolator brandname and builds exact replicas -- I got to play a real Harmonic Percolator that he had in the back!!

Things are awesome!

excellent choice. don't know why i never thought of ampeg in the first place. and that guitar looks kinda cool....brand?

ms1012 wrote:excellent choice. don't know why i never thought of ampeg in the first place. and that guitar looks kinda cool....brand?

I had read a little bit online about Ampeg Reverborockets from the 60's before I went amp shopping, but I thought I'd never find one used. This isn't a Reverborocket, it's a Jet 2R from the 90's, as far as I can tell (haven't tried to look up the serial number anywhere yet) My issue was that it was going to be too loud and clean when I wanted something quiet and still overdriven. But I'm getting an attenuator for it, so I'll be able to dial in some quiet and still crank it up to where it distorts itself. I'm really digging the cleans though -- it sounds nice and smooth to my ears. There's no harshness like a lot of Fender amps that I've tried.

The guitar is a Global. Never heard of it before. Plays pretty well for an old guitar with a busted (parked against the body) tremolo. Bolt-on maple neck with rosewood fretboard (originally thought it was a stained maple fretboard, but it's rosewood.) Has a zero fret. Singlecoils hiding under those humbuckers covers. Looks like the gumby version of my SG when they're side-by-side. It sounds really good clean, too. Lots of sustain.

Here's a non-hipstamatic-style photo. Sorry for the bad lighting.

interesting. that ampeg is fucking sexy looking too. i love that checkered tolex look. are you gonna have to buy a pedal for the drives? because to my knowledge, Ampeg started as being completely anti-distortion...

Yep, the Ampeg is a clean, jazzy little amp. It's gotta be cranked to start distorting, it seems. Which I could do in the store, but can't do at home..

The Sparkle Drive I've got gives it a little bit of drive. Not enough to push it into overdrive territory when I'm playing it at apartment levels. My boost just makes things louder, it didn't actually distort with the boost cranked. (BYOC Triboost, in both silicon transistor and MOSFET modes.)

Maybe something like and OCD, dunno yet. I liked the OCD when I played it, but I'm not a huge fan of distortion pedals, so I'd use it somewhere between an overdrive and a distortion.

The Ampeg sounds sweet with my fuzzes and a touch of spring reverb, though.

i've been meaning to look into this company called Greenhouse effects. they've got 2 awesome drive pedals out right now that i've been meaning to get my hands on....



[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0u0xnBMQks[/youtube]



and this one is a little bit more on the tube drive side
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIJTl5fyazQ[/youtube]

Cool stuff. Not sure how it'd stack with the Ampeg, to be honest. I'm definitely a fan of FET-based drives/distortions like that Greenhouse Roadkiller. Need to try a bunch of pedals and find out what bonds with its tubes.

ms1012 wrote:i've been meaning to look into this company called Greenhouse effects. they've got 2 awesome drive pedals out right now that i've been meaning to get my hands on....



[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0u0xnBMQks[/youtube]



and this one is a little bit more on the tube drive side
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIJTl5fyazQ[/youtube]

Yeah, they're hand made in Isreal, a tad bit expensive to. When I met Gearmandude (at a guitar show) he was selling the one he had bought.

Apparently Prymaxe has them.

Edit: Prymaxe does have them; they are comparable in price to Fulltone (since I had mentioned the OCD) so I wouldn't call them overpriced. If it competes head to head with the OCD or Crunchbox and still does the overdrive thing with gain turned down, then it is pretty competitive at that price.

http://www.prymaxevintage.com/greenhouseeffectsgoldriveoverdrivepedal-1.aspx

It's cool that you found an amp you like

That SG is sweet too, I love copies and all their extra controls.