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amp dilemma! please help me pick one!

Posted: Tue Jun 22, 2010 6:54 pm
by tchen
twin? super? class a? something else?

okay, sorry for all the amp questions lately... but i've been in the market for a new amp, and while a part of me (probably the wiser part) says i should be patient and wait till i know exactly what i want (which will probably change eventually anyway. anyway, all these interesting amps keep popping up and i want to check them all out. i know someone will say "just go try it out!" or "what kind os sound are you looking for?" i guess i dont know really. i'm 25 and have owned a lot of nice gear over the years... music man 410hd, marshalls, orange, sovtek, matamp, fender deluxe, etc. i've liked something about all of them but am always looking for something different. dont know if i just havent found "the right amp" yet, or if ill always want something different.

anyway... let me just tell you what i've been looking at... i was really interested in the vintage traynor stuff for a little bit and still may be able to get a good deal on a ygl "twin killer." today i saw the ampef vt-40 in the pawn shop. and just now, a super reverb popped up on craigslist as part of an estate sale for $500! i am hoping to definitely go check out the super and if its in good condition, if anything id assume i could flip it if unsatisfied.

to throw a big wrench into this... i've kind of been obsessing after the elusive vox ac30 tone a bit.. though havent actually played one in a LONG time. mainly just like the recordings of them and what is said about them. so for a while i was thinking id go for a "blank slate" kind of amp.. like a twin or something real clean and use a menatone or some other vox in a box. (i know someone will say "just get a vox, nothing else is one). anyway.... so part of wonders if i should just wait it out, get an ac30 or ac15 OR some other similarly voiced EL84 amp... but it seems safer to go the former route and use a nice clean "pedal platform" so i could somewhat always achieve different sounds with different pedals.

can i just get some opinions all all these different amps? sorry, i know i sound like an amateur, but really im just a gear slut.

Re: amp dilemma! please help me pick one!

Posted: Tue Jun 22, 2010 7:55 pm
by tuffteef
i had a vox ac15 cc2 for awhile
it was pretty slick had the greenback version
great cleans sick overdrive perfect for recording

the bad: reverb sucked, bit brash in a bad way, really fussy kind of amp pedal and guitar wise ( or atleast i like to think)

LOVED jazzmaster and jaguars and gretsch guitars teles stuff like that

thats all i got :idk:

Re: amp dilemma! please help me pick one!

Posted: Tue Jun 22, 2010 8:38 pm
by tchen
yeah, thanks for the info. i know most people say the new vox reissue stuff is crap... but the one that just came out this year (ac15c1 and ac30c2) seem to be somewhat well spoken of and seem to have retained some of the admirable aspects of the originals. maybe vox designed these models to make up for all the bad stuff people were saying about the former. anyway, i think if i went vox... i'd go for the newer ac15c1 or ac30c2 if i thought the the 15's headroom didnt cut it. the fact that voxes are suppose to be picky pedal-wise makes me a bit reluctant though. and lack of funds.

Re: amp dilemma! please help me pick one!

Posted: Wed Jun 23, 2010 3:10 am
by tuffteef
yeah i didnt get the reissue hubub i think there great, maybe a few bugs but other then that great, gigged with the 15 for 6 months and it only broke down once

overdrive wise it was picky, and yeah i think the newer c2s are the reworked version fixing the issues with the cc2s like changing it to greenbacks insted of wharfdales and some changes on the panels yada yada

Re: amp dilemma! please help me pick one!

Posted: Wed Jun 23, 2010 7:25 pm
by Sockgazer
I'm in a similar boat at the moment.

Still haven't found a new amp. Tried some out recently, was kind of, well they're all NICE but...

Re: amp dilemma! please help me pick one!

Posted: Wed Jun 23, 2010 8:05 pm
by RossCanyonsofstatic
I love my super reverb, I have the ri but I want to get an original one some day..

i had an ac15 for a few years and just got rid of it...for the most part I was always dissatisfied with it in some way or another..The reverb was bad among other things that just didn't work for me..
$500 is a good price for a super...what year is it??

Re: amp dilemma! please help me pick one!

Posted: Wed Jun 23, 2010 8:18 pm
by tchen
RossCanyonsofstatic wrote:$500 is a good price for a super...what year is it??


i'm not sure what year... the craigslist post was real vauge and said it was being sold as part of an estate, so im assumming the poster doesnt know what it is which is probably why is being sold at a decent price. unfortunately, i havent gotten a response from them yet.

for you guys who've had the AC15s, did they have enough headroom for band settings?

Re: amp dilemma! please help me pick one!

Posted: Wed Jun 23, 2010 9:20 pm
by RossCanyonsofstatic
personally it was not enough head room for my band, however we play at high volumes

Re: amp dilemma! please help me pick one!

Posted: Wed Jun 23, 2010 10:14 pm
by futuresailors
Get the super!

On a related note, my dream is to have two super 6s one day...

Re: amp dilemma! please help me pick one!

Posted: Fri Jun 25, 2010 9:03 pm
by metalmariachi
Super Reverbs are great amps, the quintessential blues rock machine.

Ampeg VT-40 freaking loud 4 x 10 combo around 70 watts with the 7027s.
Clean head room for days plus the sensitivity switch. Cuts the padding resistance on the input which makes it louder and over drive quicker.
The stone’s “Give Me Shelter” in a box, a heavy box.

Over looked and often under loved fantastic amps.

MM

Re: amp dilemma! please help me pick one!

Posted: Sat Jun 26, 2010 3:10 pm
by theavondon
metalmariachi wrote:Super Reverbs are great amps, the quintessential blues rock machine.

Ampeg VT-40 freaking loud 4 x 10 combo around 70 watts with the 7027s.
Clean head room for days plus the sensitivity switch. Cuts the padding resistance on the input which makes it louder and over drive quicker.
The stone’s “Give Me Shelter” in a box, a heavy box.

Over looked and often under loved fantastic amps.

MM



There's an old VT-40 at a guitar store near me. The tolex has been replaced with cowboy leather, the speakers have all been replaced and they don't even match (2 are Electro Harmonix? They make speakers?), it's a later model so it has a distortion channel that bleeds through to the other channel, and it's kinda static-y. BUT, when i turn up the active EQ and play a big power chord, it has the greatest of KERRANG tones ever. It's only $400, and I have issues with leaving that guitar store without it sometimes.