Amp Recomendations?

[PawelPotapowicz]

I am looking for a new head right now. Something with a very fat tone and balls. I currently have a dual rectifier and am looking into the mesa lone star special, anyone else know of any great heads along that line?

no orange amps please.

[patrickhowell]

What do you want to sound like? What cab / guitar / pedals are you using ?

oh, and P.S. I messaged your band a few days ago about playing our show in Brooklyn on 8/25

[PawelPotapowicz]

oh hey dude! right now im rockin the 72 reissue tele with a mesa cab and just a few effects like the boss tuner and a maxon tube screamer and a digi delay

i'm gonna find out about that brooklyn show for you guys ASAP

[Eastwinn]

"very fat tone and balls" isn't very descriptive, so I don't think anyone can give you a great recommendation. Identify some bands that have that tone and find out what their guitarists use. Most of the tone is in the amp, so that method should give you a good amount to choice from.

[PawelPotapowicz]

"very fat tone and balls" isn't very descriptive, so I don't think anyone can give you a great recommendation. Identify some bands that have that tone and find out what their guitarists use. Most of the tone is in the amp, so that method should give you a good amount to choice from.

Thank you for stating the obvious. I think most people on here can identify with what a fat tone is. A tone that is rich and creamy yet when distorted holds the same qualities.

[patrickhowell]

Thank you for stating the obvious. I think most people on here can identify with what a fat tone is. A tone that is rich and creamy yet when distorted holds the same qualities.

I think probably what you're missing out on is power tube saturation... Next time you play you should try this: Your Dual Rectifier has four power tubes, probably 6L6 tubes. Pull out the two outside tubes. For example, looking at this amp, from left to right, you would take out the first and fourth tubes from the amp:

http://www.the-music-store.com/store/images/products_mesaboogie/mbdrheadback.jpg

Then you also need to move your output down one setting. If you have a 16Ω cab, then you need to use the 8Ω output. If you use an 8Ω can, you need to use the 4Ω output.

For the sound you're going for, you should probably use the Silicon Diode rectifier. If you want to experiment with the Tube Rectifier, you will also need to remove one of the rectifier tubes. That would be either the fifth or sixth tube in the back of your amp.

By doing this, you will be running your amp at 50w instead of 100. This will make your amp about 75% percent as loud as it was before, and therefore allow you to get more power tube distortion at lower volumes.

[Animalhill]

I'm going to go ahead and gloat one more time about the amp that is getting custom built for me right now:
http://www.kometamps.com/concorde.html

[Eastwinn]

Thank you for stating the obvious. I think most people on here can identify with what a fat tone is. A tone that is rich and creamy yet when distorted holds the same qualities.

>___________>

I'm sure the tone I'm imagining in my head and everyone else's is different than what you're imagining by a margin that's enough for you to not be satisfied with it. Do you what I said in my first post: find a band that has the exact tone you want, or very close to it, and find out what amps they use.

[patrickhowell]

I'm going to go ahead and gloat one more time about the amp that is getting custom built for me right now:
http://www.kometamps.com/concorde.html

Finally (haha maybe after the fifth time you posted that link), I went and read up about that amp... Looks pretty sweet dude. Handwired single channel amp built with quality components, and based on a Trainwreck design... can't go wrong there. The ONLY thing I would be worried about with this amp is that since it has no master volume, which by the way is a great thing, it will be LOUD when you start getting the tones you want. This will be fine most of the time, but there WILL be clubs you play where the sound guy asks you to turn down. For this situation, you should try hooking up an attenuator between your amp and cabinet so you can keep your volume up on your amp but play at lower levels.

[PawelPotapowicz]

I think probably what you're missing out on is power tube saturation... Next time you play you should try this: Your Dual Rectifier has four power tubes, probably 6L6 tubes. Pull out the two outside tubes. For example, looking at this amp, from left to right, you would take out the first and fourth tubes from the amp:

http://www.the-music-store.com/store/images/products_mesaboogie/mbdrheadback.jpg

Then you also need to move your output down one setting. If you have a 16Ω cab, then you need to use the 8Ω output. If you use an 8Ω can, you need to use the 4Ω output.

For the sound you're going for, you should probably use the Silicon Diode rectifier. If you want to experiment with the Tube Rectifier, you will also need to remove one of the rectifier tubes. That would be either the fifth or sixth tube in the back of your amp.

By doing this, you will be running your amp at 50w instead of 100. This will make your amp about 75% percent as loud as it was before, and therefore allow you to get more power tube distortion at lower volumes.

I've actually done a lot of that stuff. Done the silicone diodes and the 4 ohms things, just still too much bite and I think the main problem with the Mesa dual rec for me right now is that the mids are so scooped. I've been playing the amp for about 3 to 4 years now and I know the thing by heart. And as far as the dude who says play what other bands play, well that can go either way dude. A lot of bands play equipment they are endorsed by or just play what they like and won't give them technical issues on the road. It's also tough to find out what bands are using in the studio because most of the time there's so much blending of amps going on and so many different compressors and other effects and the way they're mic'd and blah blah blah.

So in conclusion, what I want is an amp with a warm tone that can still get jiggy with it and sound very full and saturated. Something along the lines of Fender Hot Rod Deluxe, Mesa Texas Lone Star Special, Orange Rockerverb, etc. Just need more recomendations.

[Yontsey]

I have an Orange Rockerverb 50 and it was my dream amp and now I know why. The gain on that amp is underrated but like any other amp, you get the best sound when you have the volume turned up. The mids are great on this head too. This head is also really loud, don't be fooled by it just being 50 watts. I run it with an Orange 2x12 closed back and it seriously cranks.

The clean channel is awesome too. I love playing the clean channel with my fender american strat and some reverb on it and it gives you the most amazing blues sound too. It's a very versatile amp and I've gotten compliments on my set up from small venue sound guys to large national touring bands.

Definitely look into it! Cost is pricy, but you can get good deals on places like harmony-central.com and ebay. I look at something as a lifetime investment because I really have no need to ever buy another head in my life. Just food for thought.

[Animalhill]

Finally (haha maybe after the fifth time you posted that link), I went and read up about that amp... Looks pretty sweet dude. Handwired single channel amp built with quality components, and based on a Trainwreck design... can't go wrong there. The ONLY thing I would be worried about with this amp is that since it has no master volume, which by the way is a great thing, it will be LOUD when you start getting the tones you want. This will be fine most of the time, but there WILL be clubs you play where the sound guy asks you to turn down. For this situation, you should try hooking up an attenuator between your amp and cabinet so you can keep your volume up on your amp but play at lower levels.
Haha its funny that you should mention that because he literally just offered to custom build a power attenuator for it. Cannot wait for this.

[splitsecond]

I am not entirely sure what your beef is on orange. My brother also plays a 72 thinline reissue through an orange ad30 twin, and it is a great combination. very warm, fat and "ballsy".

[patrickhowell]

I've actually done a lot of that stuff. Done the silicone diodes and the 4 ohms things, just still too much bite and I think the main problem with the Mesa dual rec for me right now is that the mids are so scooped. I've been playing the amp for about 3 to 4 years now and I know the thing by heart. And as far as the dude who says play what other bands play, well that can go either way dude. A lot of bands play equipment they are endorsed by or just play what they like and won't give them technical issues on the road. It's also tough to find out what bands are using in the studio because most of the time there's so much blending of amps going on and so many different compressors and other effects and the way they're mic'd and blah blah blah.

So in conclusion, what I want is an amp with a warm tone that can still get jiggy with it and sound very full and saturated. Something along the lines of Fender Hot Rod Deluxe, Mesa Texas Lone Star Special, Orange Rockerverb, etc. Just need more recomendations.

"Warm", "Fat", "Full", and "Saturated" all make me think that you would like a lower-wattage amp without a master volume so you can get your grit out of the power tubes. What speakers are you using? Since you've got that Mesa cab, I'm guessing Vintage 30s... which I wouldn't really describe as "Fat" or "Warm", more like "Sharp" and "Icepick".

You should look into some nicer, handwired boutique amps. They will sound much better than all of the PCB amps you mentioned, will be a lot more reliable, and are much cheaper / easier to repair if anything does go wrong.

Really, I think that what you should do is learn more about amps and how different components affect your tone. Josh isn't building amps right now (or else I would recommend buying an Electrosonic amp), but you should check out his description of tubes and other components because he does a really good job communicating the sonic characteristics of everything.

[PawelPotapowicz]

I've actually tried a ton of different cabs, everything from the high end marshall cabs with the pepper grills to fender and whatever else you could think of and I actually really love the mesa cabs. Those V30's are super versatile. What boutique brands would you recommend?

[splitsecond]

If you want an amp with more mids, the Bogner Shiva is the way to roll. Fucking love mine, it is angry. Very angry.

[PawelPotapowicz]

I've heard good stuff about bogner, have you had any tech problems with yours?

[mylastflight]

I've heard good stuff about bogner, have you had any tech problems with yours?
bogner amps has a common problem. sometimes it does this farting noise when you hit certain notes. but its an easy fix tho. there are parts which are made of foil like material and they vibrate and hit each other and thats why it sounds like rattling or farting noise.

but other than that its awesome
my best bud has a bogner shiva and its kick ass.
also bad cat black cat 30 has good middy sound
so does bad cat cub


love,
d

[splitsecond]

I've heard good stuff about bogner, have you had any tech problems with yours?

Only problem I have had was a tube crapping out on me early recently, and I buy my tubes on ebay so that is likely the problem. Aside from that I have had no problems, though I have only had the thing 6 months, and the guy I bought it from used it strictly for recording.