Guitar Gear Forum

Man I feel like most of the amps I've had have been pretty excellent. Out of what I currently have (which are all excellent) my Roadster is definitely my favorite, and I'd definitely rank it in the greatest amps I've owned..


My favorites from the past:
Mark V
Mark III
Fryette Pittbull 50cl
ENGL Steve Morse
Orange Thunderverb 50
'65 Fender Bandmaster

I've pretty much kept all the ones that really blew my socks off.

Bogner Uberschall Rev Blue
Mesa Roadster
Rivera Knucklehead II

Other than these, there are a couple of amps that I really liked and should not have gotten rid of.

Soldano Hot Rod 100 Plus - I got rid of it solely because of the loop. In hindsight, I should have just got it modded with a proper loop.
Marshall JCM900 4500 - I loved this amp and only sold it because my 6100 did a perfect impersonation of it...until it fucking died.

Marshall 2204
Tone King Imperial MK2
'68 Fender Princeton (vintage)
Orange OR15

5150
5150mh
5153 V2
Mesa Single Recto

Mesa Road King
Peavy Ultra 60 (got rid of and kept the Peavey Rockmaster Preamp since it does the same thing)
Mesa Electra Dyne (too loud for bedroom playing, this amp needs to be played in a band setting)
Third Age Amplifiers Siso (single channel, was made to be a cross between a JCM800 and 5150, high gain amp no clean at all, sounded great for what it was but no longer have due to lack of effects loop and delays reverbs just didn't like being put in the front)

Voodoo V-Plex ( still have the V-Reck)
Rivera Knucklehead reverb
Mesa Tremoverb
Soldano HR 50
CAA PT 100

Mesa MK II c+ and an original JCM800 (albeit horizontal inputs)

Those were the top in legendaryness. And also got bought and sold for a ridiculous price compared to today.
If I'd sat on both for 20 more years, I'd be rich

Other cool ones have been Mesa MK1 reissue, Mesa Caliber .50+, Koch Powertone, Diezel D-moll

Now I'm mostly rack based, and happy with it

Dude.

Steavens preamp - Marshall 50/50 power amp - Rivera Carpet cab.

YOU are speaking MY language. Outstanding.

Bludotone Bludodrive - “High” gain, oversized vintage transformers and EL-34s. Like an old Mark series or Blackface Fender kissed by a Marshall. Love this amp.

Bogner Fish with Cantrell mod - Cantrell made me pick up the guitar, shit my first guitar was a G&L Rampage I still own and have refretted twice. I don’t know if it’s because I lusted over a Fish forever when I had his rig rundown taped to my wall as a teenager, but it makes me smile every time I play it. Fish into a 2/50/2 into a Bogner cube with a G12-65.

Fargen JW-40 - Almost sold this to help cover some training and I am grateful the sale fell through. It’s like a Fender Super and Deluxe had a baby. This with a King of Tone is my favorite Strat setup. Has that old SRV tone in spades.

Mesa Mark IV hardwood combo - Loved this amp. Probably the fourth or fifth MKIV I owned. Looked beautiful and sounded amazing. Only MKIV combo I owned, but my favorite Mesa or all time. Had something special. Unfortunately sold it.

1980 Marshall JMP 2203 - Biggest regret of a sale. Bought it and a beat to shit 1960A with G12-65s for $1000 total. Completely unmolested circuit and it sounded huge with plenty of gain on tap. My buddies told me not to sell it when I decided I was “done” with heavier playing and I didn’t listen. Miss that amp like crazy.

I dunno . . . I have moods so~

Fuck it let’s go.

Diezel Herbert MKII. Top amp of all time. This thing does it all.

Orange Dual Dark. Most modern I’ve heard out of an Orange and it kills. Doom riffs for days up to modern metal with great cleans.

Orange Rockerverb MKI. We all know the MKI used 6V6s and they sound better. Worlds better.

Egnater Arma. This thing is disgusting. It rules. Nuff said.

OG 5150. Don’t care, no fucks. This thing slays.

Ampeg SVT II Pro - Loud, Heavy, and Unwieldy. The perfect bass amp.
Mesa Boogie Mark III Red Stripe - The only regret I have, where gear is concerned, is trading my Mesa for my Lambeth.
THD Bivalve 30 - I got one over on GC, because they didn’t reseat the fucking tubes. It also ended up being the amp I used most of all, because it sounded nice.
THD Flexi 50 - I had always wanted to try it, and, while I sold it a year and a half later, I wasn’t disappointed by it. The bias drift issue, though, did bother me.
Lambeth JL-100 - I can’t sell this fucking white elephant, but it is a nice JCM 800. I just wish it had a dedicated effects loop, proper speaker output jacks (it has one, and a three-position switch, for impedance), proper channel switching, and independent channel controls, on stacked pots; that would be an amp I would not sell, because it actually sounds great.

Not necessarily ranked but here is what I own/owned since I started playing:

Peavey Butcher with matching 4x12 (my very firs tube amp in the mid-80s)
Peavey 5150 II
ENGL Powerball
Framus Cobra
ENGL SE w/EL34
VHT CLX
Mesa Boogie Mark IV (2 different times)
Mesa Boogie Mark IIC+
Fortin modded Marshall JCM800 (Cali mod with a dedicated clean channel)
EVH 5153 (50 watt)
Bogner 20th Anniversary XTC with 6L6
Henning Bottle Rocket
3rd Power Kitchen Sink

I have enjoyed every one of these amps but would say my favorites are the following in this order:

1. 3rd Power Kitchen Sink (my desert island amp)
2. Bogner 20th Anniversary XTC
3. Henning Bottle Rocket
4. Peavey 5150 II

Easy.

Swart MkII Master.


I love me some Fenders, Princeton Reverb and Deluxe Reverb are my favorites. And the mortatrem mentioned in the OP (thanks!) is my personal favorite circuit that I’ve built but I’m not sure how it compares to [most] originals. I’ve played exactly one real 50’s Tremolux and it had WAY more headroom.

All that said, the other day I heard a Welagen ODRS in person. I tweaked the controls while the owner played it and OH MY GOD, it totally lives up to the hype. Easily the best sounding amp I’ve ever been in the same room with. It’s just ridiculous how sweet that thing sounds both for cleans and overdriven sound. I could barely believe my ears.

This is one of my all time favorite threads... it's really cool to see what everyone's favorites are!

BroSlinger wrote:Dude.

Steavens preamp - Marshall 50/50 power amp - Rivera Carpet cab.

YOU are speaking MY language. Outstanding.

It's a nice setup, and very versatile. The Rivera cab is awesome, and I got it for an awesome price.