Amplifier Corner
Here we have my old angle-front Marshall 4x12 cabinet (model 1960) with 'salt and pepper' speaker cloth which dates it from somewhere between 1968 - 1970. It has two 'pre-Rola' Thames-Ditton Greenbacks in there dated 1970, and two very early 70s 25w Greenbacks. Sounds pretty mcu as real as it gets! :-)
Also pictured (right) is a Marshall JMP Super Lead Mk2 100 watt head (model 2023) made in 1980. I bought these 'forever' ago. Over the years I'd tried many other makes, but kept returning to Marshall.
In 1997 I was looking for an amplifier a bit smaller than the Marshall half stack I've had for years (and will always have). I'd also had an old (transistor) Marshall (5010) Master Lead 30 watt combo for some years. It was wonderful little amp and I wish I had never sold it. Where have you heard that one before? July 2009 - just bought another on eBay :-) Pics when it arrives.
After a great deal of looking around and trying a ton of different amps I bought this USA Fender Hot Rod DeVille (2x12). It's got to be the loudest 60 watts I've ever heard! The tone is very versatile for my style of playing - blues and rock. But it's definitely not for heavy metal players. It has that great Fender reverb too. A brilliant amp! Some people have mixed feelings about the HRD but I give it a solid 10/10!
After receiving advice from people who know more about amps than I will ever know, I upgraded the stock Eminence speakers in this Fender combo to Celestion Vintage 30s and upgraded the valves too. This made an already great amp into an awesome amp. Thanks to Solidbody Guitar, MN for the advice and Watford Valves for the hardware.
If you love Fender amps, this book is a MUST have!
October 2001 saw another amp purchase. A very tidy 1972 Vox (VSL) AC30 TB. For those who care about such things, this has a ply cabinet, grey panel, tag-board circuitry, silver Celestion speakers and solid-state rectifier.
I LOVE this amp! What else is there to be said about an AC30? Some players would mark this model down for not having the valve rectifier, but to be honest, I can't tell the difference.
Again, this is one of those pieces of gear that I used to have so many years ago and wished I'd never sold. Funny - when I had an AC30 then I didn't really appreciate it. I just wanted Marshall stacks!
I still have my Marshall gear which I'll never sell, but the phrase 'older and wiser' often comes to mind :-) This old Vox is just tooooo sweet, especially with my Les Paul, 335 or '62 Strat!
To hear an AC30 at its best (to my ears anyway) listen to any early live Rory Gallagher (Taste).
Another beauty here in Vox corner. This is a Vox Defiant (50 watts), and dates from somewhere between 1966-1970. I would love to find a matching speaker cabinet for it (and afford it).
These have a great reputation as the best solid-state amps made at that time, and I would totally agree. Whoever says solid-state can't sound good - go try one of these! Sounds wonderful to play bass thought too.
It is pretty reminiscent of my AC30 and has beautiful depth of tone. The reverb is lovely, and the tremolo effect is really cool. The 'brilliant' channel has some interesting pre-set tones on offer, probably best described as the tones you get from a wah pedal set halfway. These is also a mid-range boost (MRB).
It also has a distortion setting which is often described as very 'Satisfaction' by the The Rolling Stones and 'Sgt Pepper' by the Beatles. In fact, the Beatles did use these Vox Defiants during their Sgt Pepper era.
Amazingly, this amp didn't cost me anything!!!! Yes, one of those times we all dream about. An old guy we knew gave it to me in '02 because it was taking up space in his house!
Traynor YGL III First things first ... this amp is AMAZING! I'm sure it is one of the hidden secrets of the valve amp world! I used to play in a band with someone who had one of these, and I was always impressed with the power and clarity. So when I saw one on eBay for a good price, I couldn't resist it! You don't see these very often these days.
This is an all valve 2x12 80w point-to-point wired combo made in Canada in 1979. I love the way channel two overdrives in a Fender-ish , but almost Plexi way - and the cleans of channel one are very good too. It has a master volume and nice spring reverb.
Some people used to see these as a 'poor man's Fender Twin' but I think they are wonderful amps in their own right. I have seen these described as a 'Twin on steroids'. It can be as clean as a Twin but also 'dirty up' nicely, which makes it much more useable than a Twin for my style of playing.
When I got it the speakers were an odd mismatched pair. It now has a pair Celestion Vintage 30s. Sounds wonderful - tone tone tone!
Just for old time's sake :-)
I used to have a Wem ER40 and ER100 about a million years ago. I seem to remember they fried output transistors with alarming regularity. I bought another one in '06 - just because.
Same goes for this HH IC100. A sold-state leader of its era. And to be honest, I still have a soft spot for them. And they never blew up on me. Neither has this one.
I saw Eric Bell with the original Thin Lizzy in the early 70s (the best line-up, for my money). He was using a H|H stack and sounded completely awesome!
I think Eric is/was a very under-rated player. Hell of a nice guy too! He still tours occasionally but these days uses a trusty old Marshall combo. A short bio of Eric here.
In October '07 I got this 1995 USA Peavey Classic 30 combo. It's a lovely little single-channel 1x12 amp that gives very Fender-ish cleans and has a very nice overdrive. Oh yes, the reverb is pretty good too. I've heard that these are modelled on AC30s, but I don't know.
Funny, I keep going more and more towards combos. These amps get great reviews - and I can hear why! I put a Vintage 30 in and it really made a lot of difference, in a good way.
First impressions - I really loved this amp ... and still do! Gotta love the retro tweed look and the chicken-head knobs on the chrome panel too!
In Jan '08 I got the matching Peavey 1x12 extension
cab :-)
October 2008 saw the GAS Demon (predictably) triumph over me once again with this Marshall 2104 combo :-)
Made in 1978, here is all the classic Marshall tones you've ever heard, and all out of a 50w 2x12 combo. Talk about a 'wall of sound' - here is rock tone by the ton, delivered from this amp's original Greenbacks.
I'd wanted one of these 'forever', so it was only a matter of time :-)
More info to follow ...
July
2009
Trace Elliot AH-150
Simply the best bass amp I have ever had - wish I had bought one of these years ago! Together with the Trace Elliot 15" cab (right) it's just awesome combination!
1987
Marshall Master Lead, Model 5010 (30w)
solid-state with the original 1x12 Celestion
G12M-70 speaker.
I read that these are supposed to be the solid-state version of the JCM
800. A big sound from such a little amp, for sure.
Somewhere near the top of this page I mentioned a Marshall combo I sold many years ago, but wished I hadn't. Nostalgia (and GAS) made me find another one in July 2009.
I forgot what a great little amp this is! :-)