Your First Amp(s)?

[BiC]

What was your first / current amp?

 

Sorry I did not include this with your first guitar thread.

 

Actually, my FIRST amp was home-made. Although it was really cheezy, it WAS an amp. This is what I did... I basically placed one of those little recording mics into the hole of my acoustic, then ran that through my stereo. I was only in the 7th grade or so and thought that was the coolest thing!

 

Once I bought my Kay electric, my Dad bought me my first amp which was a 50 watt Crate. I forget the specific model, BUT it did look like a speaker enclosed in an actual "crate"! I then bought an open Peavy cab with 4 10" scorpion speakers, and ran the Crate through it... my FIRST "stack"!

 

I became hard-up for cash and sold the "stack". Then soon thereafter, I bought a Laney 50 Watt Reverb which I still have and play through. I since replaced the speaker with a Celestion. (SP)

My main amp now is a Marshall JCM 900 with the slant cab.

 

Can you believe that at one time I had my Marshall stack up for sell for ONLY $1,000!!!

Once again, hard up for cash. I'm now very happy that no one bit at that bargain!!!

 

Peace

[Marc_Lafrance]

My first amp was a small univox. 10 Watts I think. i've got a busted up 9x8 that's missing three speakers so I can't use it and I have a fender stage 100.

[Gato]

Almost 20 years ago ... a Giannini made in Brazil. What a piece of sh ...

[loubeck]

My first amp was a Charvel I think. It was a horrible SS practice amp that I ordered from Musician's Friend for about $100.

 

I quickly realized how much of a peice of crap it was and promptly traded it in for a Crate amp that was probably just as bad.

 

I've had a few amps since then- but that was the last time I made a "lateral" move like that. There's no sense in trading in a peice of crap for another peice of crap.

[alguit]

Hey BiC,

 

I don't even know the manufacturer of my first amp. The only writing on the thing was under each knob. I had my parents buy it for me because they were tired of me playing through the stereo! I liked this amp because it had tremelo, but that's about all I can remember about it.

 

Now, I vary among a Vox AC15, Bad Cat Hot Cat, Budda Twinmaster, THD Univalve and a Trace-Eliot Bonneville (one of only 400 made, all tube), which I take about every other month to a store to sell and then change my mind every time!

[Caevan O’Shite]

Well, i had been loaned a cheesey little SS Harmony with a six-inch speaker and all the raging power of a Playskool walky-talky; but the first amp that I owned was a SS Peavey Deuce 2x12 combo. Heavy as Hell, and not much to write home about in the tone department, but I didn't know much about amps and tone and all then. Most people didn't seem to!

 

Then I got a Scholz Rockman (headphone gizmo from the tail-end of the days of eight-tracks and the Dukes of Hazard) and went through a series of little amps, including a sf Fender Champ that I wish I still had. Beautiful, even ferocious overdrive, especially when hit with a healthy "clean boost"!

 

I was in glorious Heaven when I got my "red-knob" Fender Twin, and managed to get the cops called on me once!

 

I found a very badly beat up '56 tweed Fender Twin, the two-6L6/two-rectifier/two-twelves mounted diagonally 5E8A model, that a guy sold to me for $40.00. No tubes, no speakers, no baffle-board, and a lot of wear and tear; I had it in peices, cleaning off rusty transformers, clearing out mouse turds and cigarette buttes, etc., when I sold it for $150.00 in a time of need-for-cash. I still kick myself for that!

 

Currently, I've got a little Carvin Vintage 33 1x12 combo, and a bf '67 Fender Pro Reverb 2x12 combo that I need to repair (soon, now that I'm back to work from being laid-off). And in the near future, I'm gonna pick up someting else, but there's too many candidates to include here.

[djwayne]

My first guitar amp was a Small Kalamazoo practice amp with an 8" speaker, about 10 watts(?).

 

Next amp was a Kustom Amp with Blue Sparkle/Glitter padded case, 12" speaker (?)1972

 

A Roland Jazz Chorus, an acoustic Crate Amp 125 Watts, a vintage 50 Watt Marshall Half stack.

 

Currently I just use a collection of rack effects and a BGW (240 watt)stereo power amp, into some Yamaha club DJ speakers( 15's and a horn) or just plug into the mixing board and play thru my studio monitors. I'm not playing out currently.

 

The Crate 125 watt amp was the best sounding portable amp I ever had, in my opinion.

 

The rack stuff sounds great together. For awhile, I even had a CD recorder wired into it, which worked out really good for practicing and writing.

[DIAMOND DUST]

My first amp was a harmony H-400, very small tube practice amp. My second amp was a Music Man 210/65, which i loved. Then a 65 Fender Bandmaster, the best sounding amp i've ever had. Now i have a Fender Showman, and a Ampeg Gemini. The worst amp i ever owned was a fur coverd Quantum 2-10 solid state beast.

[NMcGuitar]

1st amp was a little 10-watt (I think) SS amp called a Dwarf (sort of a Pignose clone). It has (yes, I still have it) a 6" speaker, and a switch for "Clean" and "Dirty".

 

I recently plugged a PA cabinet (Yamaha - 15" & a horn) into it's speaker out, and it actually sounded pretty good (and passable volume-wise too!). the "dirty" setting has a real gritty, solid-state snottiness about it. I'm glad I hung onto it; hopefully I'll use it to get cool tones on some track or another one day.

 

Hey Caevan - my 1st "real" amp was.... a Peavey Deuce. Did you have the 120W model or was yours the 100W? (They changed them around 1980 or so, I think). Mine was the 120W. I loaned it to a friend about 10 years ago... I have no idea if he still has it...

[Blue Strat]

My first amp was a Crate G10-XL. 30 watts with a single 10" speaker. Got this in the 9th grade. Then I bought a Peavey Rage 158 - 15 watts and a single 8", and I liked it better than the Crate! Then I got a Peavey Studio Chorus 210 (my first "real" amp) when I got my blue Strat. That was in 1994, my senior year of high school.

 

From there I bought a Peavey Delta Blues in '95. I got lucky and got a 1961 Fender Princeton and a 1965 Silvertone 1482 for $100 (plus repair costs, before I knew anything about tubes). I learned a lot re-wiring the Silvertone, and then decided to build my own amp, a Fender Champ. Then I built a JCM 800 Marshall 2204 because I wanted a lot of gain! Then a second JCM type amp was built, and a Silvertone 1483 was re-built.

 

Now I'm down to the two home built JCM 800's, the Princeton, a 1965 Magnatone MP-1, the Champ, my Studio Chorus 210, and my modified Delta Blues (soon to be gutted and re-wired).

[fallfast]

My first amp was a Squire 15 watt practice amp. Not very good at all.

 

Now I'm using my Fender Blues Jr. Love that little amp.

[strat0124]

The first was an old White, then I had a Deluxe, but it wasn't near loud enough for a teenager who listened to Deep Purple....dumbass that I was. Sold it to buy the mighty Super Six.

[KHAN]

My first amp was a '75 Dual Showman Reverb

That my brother sold me when I was about 20 yrs old.

http://www.click-smilie.de/sammlung0903/sehrgrosse/large-smiley-003.gif

 

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.

 

When I was about 30, I sold it to

my cousin because I wanted to go with a "Rack Mount Rig"

http://www.click-smilie.de/sammlung0903/sehrgrosse/large-smiley-041.gif

 

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Last year, when I was 37, I bought

It back from my cousin.

http://www.click-smilie.de/sammlung0903/sehrgrosse/large-smiley-055.gif

 

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But He had treated it badly.

http://www.click-smilie.de/sammlung0903/sehrgrosse/large-smiley-051.gifhttp://www.click-smilie.de/sammlung0903/sehrgrosse/large-smiley-029.gif

 

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So I found a good tech, and had it blackfaced,

recapped and given a good going over.

And now it sounds better than ever.

 

http://www.click-smilie.de/sammlung0903/sehrgrosse/large-smiley-005.gif

 

My other amps include

Hot Rod Deville 4-10

'65 Bandmaster

'68 Bassman

'68 Bandmaster.

 

I still have the rack rig. But where's the fun in that????

[Blue Strat]

Originally posted by KHAN:

My other amps include

Hot Rod Deville 4-10

'65 Bandmaster

'68 Bassman

'68 Bandmaster.

 

I still have the rack rig. But where's the fun in that????

Nice amps there! I finally tried a Hot Rod Deville (or Deluxe, I'm not sure, but it had 4 10" speakers) and I must say I was impressed. Nice tones with Gibson style guitars. It's got a lot of midrange bite to it, so it's a great amp for tha bluz. (Elwood Blues voice)

[PBBPaul]

Ahhh the stupidity of youth...

 

My first amp was given to me by a friend of mine. It was an early 60s Gibson Atlas. I ended up parting it out but still have the 15" driver. My first REAL amp was a Marshall Lead 100 with - get this - a 4x15 cab. Yep 4 15" Celestions. It was like moving a refrigerator to every gig. Good thing I had that '69 Cadillac. The amp died on me and I was too stupid to get it fixed. I sold the cab for what I paid for the entire rig - $300. I've had a bunch since then but currently use a home-made rig centered around a SF Bassman with 2 Celestion 10s. This weekend will mark the debut of my latest project - a '65 Bandmaster head that I cleaned up, recapped, retubed and turned into a 3x10 combo with reissue Jensen AlniCos. This thing sounds unbelievable. I can't wait. I also use a '62 Ampeg and a Blues DeVille from time to time.

[KHAN]

Originally posted by PBBPaul:

This weekend will mark the debut of my latest project - a '65 Bandmaster head that I cleaned up, recapped, retubed and turned into a 3x10 combo with reissue Jensen AlniCos. This thing sounds unbelievable. I can't wait. .

SCHWINGGGG!!!!

 

That sounds sweet.

 

I built a 2-10 cab for my '68 Bandmaster. (w/Jensen AlNiCo's of course )

 

Here is a link to some pics

[Mudcat]

Plugged my Decca single pick-up plank into my Sharp compact stereo for a few months. I got a reasonably good guitar and the stereo had to go. Landed a Fender Super Six Reverb for $200 bucks (this was 1978?). The amp was incredible. A 100 watt combo amp with six 10 inch speakers. Only problem was that the center of gravity was so high it would fall over if you looked at it wrong. Maybe that's why they quit making it.

[Blue Strat]

Originally posted by KHAN:

Originally posted by PBBPaul:

This weekend will mark the debut of my latest project - a '65 Bandmaster head that I cleaned up, recapped, retubed and turned into a 3x10 combo with reissue Jensen AlniCos. This thing sounds unbelievable. I can't wait. .

SCHWINGGGG!!!!

 

That sounds sweet.

 

I built a 2-10 cab for my '68 Bandmaster. (w/Jensen AlNiCo's of course )

 

Here is a link to some pics

Whoa! Nice job! Very professional looking results. My amps look amateur by comparison, but they're good enough. Here's a project of mine:

My 50 watt JCM 800 clone

[henryrobinett]

My first amp was a Vox Buckingham. 2-12. Then I went to a couple of Ampegs. I don't know what they were. I liked Ampegs. Head with a big 4 12 cab. Looked like a Bassman. Another Ampeg was a twinn with black velcro like material. Yuk. Delux Reverb. Polytone Mini-brute. Fender Twin. Peavy Special 130. Seymour Duncan Convertible. Boogie Quad. I forgot a couple in there. For as long as I've been playing there's not a lot of great amps to show.

[Tedster]

My very first "amp" was an old 3M-Wollensak tape recorder. It had a "mic/PA" function...I plugged my crappy little Kingston guitar into it and played the one string riff from "25 or 6 to 4"

 

Other than that, I usually borrowed a buddy's Traynor when I wanted to jam.

 

A few years later (I was about 15 or 16), I talked my Mom into subsidizing me for a Sound City 50 watt with a 4x10 cab. Then, let's see, a fawn beige Marshall 50 watt half stack. About that time I bought a Music Man 4x10 65 watt amp. I also had one of those "Earth" amps for awhile.

 

I eventually sold 'em all and bought a Marshall 4210 1x12 50 watt tube combo...I could fit it in to my car easily. Still have it. Then, only recently, I got my TSL-122. Then, picked up a 1970 vintage Ampeg VT22. Also have a little Gorilla Tube Cruncher practice amp.

[Dak Lander]

Some Taiwanese bass amp I do not know the name of. I blew the speaker on it in short order & traded it away for a Roberts reel to reel tape deck.

Next was a Hohner amp that got me by for quite a long time. I sold it after I got my PA system.

The only amp I have now is a Fender Hot Rod de Ville, 2 X 12. I'll be looking for a low powered tube amp in the future.

[Dawill]

My first amp was a Checkmate 25w head and a Silvertone 2x12 cab with Jensen speakers. It worked for about a year until I got a Maestro fuzz pedal. I blew the amp and the speakers in about 1/2 an hour! This was in 1973. I went out and bought a used 1969 50w Marshall Plexi and replaced the speakers with JBL's. I've been using this setup ever since.

[Green657]

My first amp was a "Roadie" 60w 112. It was something else. One knob for volume, one for tone, and one for reverb. Even at full volume there was no distortion. (hence the purchase of my first pedal - MXR Dist+ with duct tape holding the back on).

 

To this day, I still compare every amp's clean sound to that puppy.

[Green657]

Oh, now I want a Fender Deluxe 90. (saving my pennies)

[guitar]

my first amp was a 15 watt Peavey Rage that i got in a starter pack with a Peavey Raptor. I really liked it and is a great first amp. I am currently playing through my Marshall MG100DFX or my friend's Rivera Hundred Duo Twelve. Both are amazing amps, especially the Rivera and i would recommend them to anyone!!

Peace out!

[JimK]

My first amp was a silver faced Fender Vibro Champ that I bought off of my cousin. I still have it. Now I mostly play through modelers, and mostly the vintage Marshall model.

[Guitarzan]

my first was some no name that i got with the Marlin, there were tubes in it though. probably 10 or so watts. i can't even comment on how it sounded. i used a tape deck and of course the home stereo i used to have a fender super reverb that i miss now. i presently use a yamaha dg100 and control it with a rfx midi wizard. lucky for me it was previously used for a dg80 , so i didn't need to set it up. which is good seeing i am midi retarded. but i am getting the hots for a tube combo that is bone head simple. don't know what, don't know when. but it will be mine ...bwwaaa ha ha ha aha ha

[Gabriel E.]

My first was an Acoustic 136 bass amp that I borrowed from my (now ex) step brother.

 

After I switched to guitar I saved up and bought a '74 master volume Fender Twin Reverb with Altec speakers. That amp weighed around 100 lbs.

 

A couple of years later I wanted something with channel switching, effects loop, lots of gain, etc. so I sold the Twin and bought a rack system comprised of a Marshall 9001 tube preamp, MosValve power amp and Marshall 2X12 cab. Still have it and occasionally use it.

 

Along the way I also picked up a Fender Champ 12, '57 Fender Super-Amp and a Sovtek Mig-50. Use them all.

[Franknputer]

...a cheesy little amp,

With a sign on the front that said "Fender Champ"...

 

Wish I still had the little sucker.

[mstreck]

Mine was the little Fender red plastic take-it-with-you amp. This was back before I could actually PLAY a guitar.

 

Mike