How Many Guitar Amps Do You Own?

[Little Jay]

Last night I took the AER Alpha with my Boss Reverb for a duo gig with a singer. The Alpha is still a great little amp for those smaller gigs. The Boss reverb sounds a lot better than the built in reverb imho and makes the amp much more usable.

[camhead]

Mid-70s Music Man 210 130W combo. When I bought it at age 13 with my hard-earned paper-route and lawnmowing money it was the most expensive thing I'd ever bought, $200! Less than a year after I bought it, the previous owner tried to buy it back; I turned him down.

Fender Acoustasonic. Yawn, it's pretty "meh."

Quilter 101R. Nice lightweight SS head that can get quite loud at 50W.

Frenzel Super Deluxe FM-5E3. I just bought this 40W head based only on online reviews, but for a boutique tube head the price was pretty good (even brand new they're under $1000). I'm super impressed with its dual Fender and Marshall channels. Its got a "presence" knob that bypasses the tone stack and produces some of the nicest tube-driven gain I've ever heard. Highly recommended, though I wish it had onboard reverb.

I've also got way too many speaker cabinets:
115 open-back plywood with Eminence Legend
115 closed-back maple with an unknown-brand refurbished hemp speaker
210 open-back pine with 1962 Jensen P10Q's
412 Marshall 3/4-sized cab that would not be that great even if I did like British speakers
In-process 115 Fender tone-ring reproduction cab that'll get loaded with an old JBL D140F

[coyote-1]

Strictly ‘guitar’ amps? Lessee now:
Fender PRII - great for jazz guitar
Marshall 40w combo - not good for jazz
Drive practice amp - irrelevant

I think all my other amps are technically bass amps. That said, one of ‘em is great for jazz guitar: Crate BX100. It has a similar character to the great old Polytone amps. Not an exact duplicate mind you.... but to my ear better than, say, the Ibanez WholeTone amps. It is unfortunately large and heavy, but that can easily be mitigated with a small luggage wheel thing. And it has Contour and 8-band EQ, so you can really customize the tone to suit you.

Ideally, if you are in search of one you’d look for the Crate BFX100. Same amp but with built-in digital effects. A touch of reverb might occasionally be nice in a dry room, and if you do use such effects it’s one less thing you need to carry around.

When I think on it, I’d wager that many bass combos would be suitable for jazz guitar.
I would consider ‘re-boxing’ the Crate into a smaller and lighter configuration, with the controls mounted on top, but right now portability is not a big issue in my life.

[citizenk74]

Strictly ‘guitar’ amps? Lessee now:
Fender PRII - great for jazz guitar
Marshall 40w combo - not good for jazz
Drive practice amp - irrelevant

I think all my other amps are technically bass amps. That said, one of ‘em is great for jazz guitar: Crate BX100. It has a similar character to the great old Polytone amps. Not an exact duplicate mind you.... but to my ear better than, say, the Ibanez WholeTone amps. It is unfortunately large and heavy, but that can easily be mitigated with a small luggage wheel thing. And it has Contour and 8-band EQ, so you can really customize the tone to suit you.

Ideally, if you are in search of one you’d look for the Crate BFX100. Same amp but with built-in digital effects. A touch of reverb might occasionally be nice in a dry room, and if you do use such effects it’s one less thing you need to carry around.

When I think on it, I’d wager that many bass combos would be suitable for jazz guitar.
I would consider ‘re-boxing’ the Crate into a smaller and lighter configuration, with the controls mounted on top, but right now portability is not a big issue in my life.

[sasquatch]

'64 Fender Super Reverb (cutdown original BF)
Ceriatone OTS50 Dumble clone, switchable 2X 6L6 or 4X 6V6
Woogie 300W hybrid bass head
Kustom 100 'Tuck 'n' roll' with 2X12
Yamaha G100-212B
Pignose 30/60
Echolette 2X12 cab with alnico Isophons
Mojotone Super Reverb combo cab
TL bass bin with 15" Etone 484

I haven't restored the Super Reverb because I dread the weight, but I will when I eventually sell it.
The cabinet sounds fine using it separately, especially with the Ceriatone

[Grateful A]

Three:

Traynor YCV40. Bought new in 2001(?) Replacement Eminence Texas Heat. Was my workhorse for sixteen, seventeen years. Not very reliable, subtle or warm, yet cuts through very well and is extremely loud.

Carr Rambler, bought from John Paricelli many years ago. Replacement Red White and Blues. A great amp.

Roland Blues Cube Artist, ex-demo from 2017 ish. Love, love, love this amp. Light, versatile, powerful. I primarily use the low-gain input, with Fender guitars. It's extremely good with pedals. Am thinking about the Sparkle capsule for it.

All three benefit from various settings on my Chase Tone Secret Preamp. I heartily recommend that to anyone for adding special sauce to your sound.

[citizenk74]

Three:

Traynor YCV40. Bought new in 2001(?) Replacement Eminence Texas Heat. Was my workhorse for sixteen, seventeen years. Not very reliable, subtle or warm, yet cuts through very well and is extremely loud.

Carr Rambler, bought from John Paricelli many years ago. Replacement Red White and Blues. A great amp.

Roland Blues Cube Artist, ex-demo from 2017 ish. Love, love, love this amp. Light, versatile, powerful. I primarily use the low-gain input, with Fender guitars. It's extremely good with pedals. Am thinking about the Sparkle capsule for it.

All three benefit from various settings on my Chase Tone Secret Preamp. I heartily recommend that to anyone for adding special sauce to your sound.

I too have a YCV40WR. I raved about it upthread. Shall we say my experience has been different. i agree, it can be very loud, especially with the extension cabinet, which I have. YMMV, etc.

[Just Fred]

Does "too many" count as a response? Because just like with my guitar buying, I've gone overboard. I'll have to do an inventory:

• Fender Champion 40 - currently my "go-to" amp
• Fender Mustang II v2
• Behringer GK112 "Blue Devil" (bought for $35 as a bass amp)
• Monoprice/Laney Cub
• Line6 AMPLIFi 30
• NUX Mighty 8SE (meh...)
• VOX AC2 RhythmVOX
• Pignose 7-100 (my very first amp, in the early 1970s)
• Pignose 150R Crossmix

So, four 1x12 amps, and a handful of "tabletop" amps. The AMPLIFi 30 is a monster for its size!

[jazzhead1969]

1. Quilter MicroPro Mach 2 head
2. Quilter 101 MINI Reverb
3. Quilter 101 MINI
4. Boss Katana 100 12
5. Roland Cube Street (modded and replaced spkrs)
6. Bugera AC-60

I love tube amps, but at 62, schlepping gear for all these years, and an accident... going light. I have my son my Blackface Fender Deluxe Reverb, Vibrolux, and Dumble. No worries... I am a thankful man!

[Hammertone]

Old tube amps are a terrible burden.
I will gladly assist you by taking the Dumble off your hands.

[MysteryMadman]

I have a single amp, a Laney GC50 combo.
I rarely turn it on these days as I almost always play the unplugged archtop.

Anyway, it's an 80's combo and I bought it for 2 reasons:
- It's a solid state, so no tube maintenance and great clean sound (used to have an OD pedal but sold it)
- It has a metal grill, which means my cats can't ruin it. They just love to sharpen their claws in anything tweedy.