Frank Zappa once said something like this. "There's nothing like the stink of a too loud guitar". I totally agree and amps are a totally essential part of electric guitar tone. Obviously. When I started playing in '86 I borrowed amps off friends but in late '87 I bought a terribly used Jennings solid state combo that sounded bad and weighed a ton! I bought a Laney 100 Watt head and a jumbo Wem Cab in 1990 and that kicked ass until I got rid of it in 1993 and downsized to a Roland JC 55 combo. In late 1994 I while in a band I bought the holy grail of rock monsters, a Marshall JCM 900 head and cab. It might be labelled a half-stack but it sounded like hell and thunder! It was in storage until I sold it in 2003. All I had left was the JC55 as I was going through my computer recording phase. By 2008 I was again itching for a tube amp and a friend of mine sold me his Marshall JCM 2000 TSL602. I still use this amp but it's very hefty for gigging. I picked up a Marshall AS50D in 2013 for my solid body acoustics and was given a Marshall Valvestate S80 combo. This is thin sounding and just lying around. Earlier in 2017 I picked up a Fender Super 210 Red Knob all tube combo and this is a lovely amp that I play through most of the time. I also have an Ibanez practice amp, a Danelectro Honey Tone mini amp and two Smokey mini amps! So there you go, from large to tiny!
ROLAND JC55 Jazz Chorus is a clean solid state amp with the famed stereo chorus effect.
It also boasts the 'worst sounding distortion' ever!
MARSHALL JCM 2000 TSL 602, is a very loud all tube monster with two Wolverine speakers under the hood. While a Marshall is a standard for hard rock and metal the clean is far from sparkle clean like a Vox or a Fender. This has been cited as a tech's nightmare to fix!
MARSHALL AS50D is a very versatile little acoustic amp with a nice sounding acoustic guitar channel, an RCA in for iPod, an XLR mic in, an aux in for electric guitar or drum machine, built in chorus, reverb, notch filters to kill feedback. Great for a one man show in a small venue.
FENDER Super 210 all tube from the 'Red Knob' days, this one gives the glassy clean you expect from Fender but a big low bottom two with plenty volume on tap. The Volume and Presence pots are push/pull which give you all the vintage tones you need. I don't use the OD setting as it's pretty loud instead preferring to use OD pedals through the clean. I added the castors myself for easy rolling!
ORANGE Rockerverb 50 is a great amp. This was in a shop and I was playing various guitars through it then it dawned on me I had to have it! SO I bought it and now it's my favourite. Clean, while not Fender is miles away from the stuffiness of Marshall and more like a Vox with bell-like chimes and great clarity. The OD channel is the best I've ever heard in an amp and the reverb is nice and also tube driven. It makes all guitars sound good and it's an amp you just like to sit next to and plug in without effects and it's lovely.
BASSBREAKER 007 while it's not James Bonds amp it's a little killer with beautiful tone and just enough features at the price point. I bought this used and it's great for late night playing with a master volume, two gain stages and three band eq. It's got a great variety of sounds too and with certain pedals you can go from Marshall to Vox to Mesa-Boogie and back!
DANELECTRO Honey Tone is a small 9V amp with OD, headphone socket and belt clip.
Perfect for the garden or park, but beware of the bumble bee tones!
SMOKEY mini amps. I found these in a junk shop a few years ago. They run on a 9V battery and are ideal for late night chops in bed when you don't want too much noise. They are clean when your volume is rolled back and overdrive when volume is turned up. Real cool amps.
