Ever own TOO many amps?

[BluesWithoutBlame]

I'm becoming one of "those"....

 

Used to be, I had two amps. One I used with my band, the other for practice. For years, and years and years.

 

Then I fell out of music for a couple of years.

When I got back in, I started loving the research part, and finding new amps, pedals, guitars...sounds. It all just seems so promising, the next gear.

 

By this list standards, I really don't have all that much. But just sticking to amps, now I have a Carvin MTS3212, Carvin Vintage33, Peavey Classic 30, Fender Prosonic, and a couple of SS practice amps, oh...and an OLD (80's) Roland Cube 60 (orange) I never use anymore.

 

Thing is...I got the MTS3212, and was happy.

When I was looking for a backup amp, that also was a little smaller and less wattage, for practice at home OR band practice and backup for gigs, at the same time I saw the Peavey AND the Vintage33..both priced nicely. I thought I could decide on them, but liked them btoh too much.

Bought 'em.

 

Recently, in some discussion here, I got turned onto the Prosonic (which I had never heard of before) and I am LOVING this amp....except the effects loop is too hot (+4db) and no reverb (bought a EBS Dynaverb, which IS great, and will enable me to buy amps I was borderline on before where they had "no footswitchable reverb" which is important to me...well now I don't have to care about that so these amps got more going for them for me buying them...see how this works?)..

 

Anyway...I am not one to pretend "amps are like children" or any of that weirdness, but I gotta say I feel a little guilty with some of the amps that I haven't used in a while.

 

Also, when I am going to band practice, I suddenly get a little touch of angst over "which amp is the BEST to bring tonight?"...

 

It's weird really. I can get all indecisive sometimes, whatever amp I take, I think, "maybe I ought to take that other one too?".

 

Kinda the same with guitars too. But I solved that by thinking "just take the strat...later on take another..just take one" because I had been taking a strat and a ES-335 and whichever I started with, I just almost never get around to trying the other.

 

Then I start thinking...other than backup for an amp failure (and even then...probably a backup ought to be solid state), what am I doing with all these amps? I could use two amps for splitting after my H2O chorus. Tried that a few times and loved the sound. Otherwise, maybe it is nice to have an amp AT the practice place and not have to shlub it around, except I often experiment at home with pedal order, amp settings, speaker configurations, and there is no point doing that with the non-practice/gigging amp really.

 

I also have been modding one of my amps, and repaired it too...and I think I will start working on the Vintage33 so that is a project amp really. STill, three other tube amps. Like em all. Feel weirdly guilty when I chose one over another, or if I haven't used one of them in a long time.

 

and I am so easily dist....oh a PEDAL!!

 

Gotta go!

[Bluesape]

I've got amps that been in storage for over a year. Another is at a former band member's workshop, another is in for service and has been for two years. Another is at another buddy's place. Now that I'm no longer into power lifting, the Twin, Carvin, and SG410 stay home most gigs.

[webe123]

Well I used to be that way about EFFECTS, until I got an amp and effects all in one...Now I simply use my Line 6 Vetta II and I have everything I need in one package.

 

If I do play a different style, I just switch the vetta to the amp and effect I need and play, but I DO have four guitars with me onstage:

 

A PRS soapbar with P-90s a fender strat, a brian moore that I use for MIDI and a Taylor accoustic/electric.

 

But with the combo of guitars and this amp with a Roland GR-33 MIDI unit, I can basically get any sound I want. So to me, no, my amp problem is solved. It was a ton of money to get the vetta, but I don't regret buying it for a second, as I do a LOT of different styles of music.

[A String]

Must be nice. I have no amps and no money to buy an amp. I plug in direct to my computer when I'm recording and am unable to jam with others. But my daughter has a few new Fisher Price toys so I suppose I shall live vicariously through her happiness.

[Dr. Ellwood]

As much as I am one way about collecting guitars (a little excessive ) I seem to be the other way with amps! I only have the Marshall DSL50 JCM2000/1960A and the newely restored 1962 Fender Pro Amp, and the 1968 blackface SuperReverb Fender.I'm All tube, I gave my two SS amps to my son.

[picker]

Still trying to get a decent little practice amp with an effects loop, myself, donations cheerfully accepted...

[Dr. Ellwood]

Originally posted by Bluesape:

I've got amps that been in storage for over a year. Another is at a former band member's workshop, another is in for service and has been for two years. Another is at another buddy's place. Now that I'm no longer into power lifting, the Twin, Carvin, and SG410 stay home most gigs.

Ok Blue..I gotta ask...WHY has that amp been in the shop for TWO YEARS!!!!

[BillWelcome Home Studios]

I have a PILE of amps, but I have quite a few less than I had a year ago.

 

In the studio, I thought that I needed to cover all the bases, which is a reasonable thing. But I did tend to go overboard, so I had, like one of every silver series Silvertone/Danelectro except for the six by 10" model; vintage Ampeg, Marshall, Fender, Vox, and other amps, plus a few oddities (like an old Bogen PA amp, used for guitar) and a couple of bass rigs.

 

I had been considering something boutique, but not seriously. Then I joined this forum, and after discussing it with some of the members, I decided to buy one.

 

After I did, I knew that I didn't care about all those other amps anymore. I had found what I must have been subconciously looking for. I bought another boutique-y amp and started selling off the others.

 

Same thing happened with the electric guitars.... since I got the 336 and put in the Phat Cats, I rarely plug in anything else, besides that and my Pellow. I even sold off one of my 1965 Fender XII's. And I'm still chewing over if I am going to sell off a 1964 ES-125. This cool stuff should be played by soneone, after all.

 

So I think that there are two issues to overcome. One is : "this is what I do....I buy stuff." The other is : "the Hunt". If you know that you don't need to buy stuff, and you're no longer in the Hunt....

 

Bill

[Blue Strat]

I've got 8 amps. Two home-built JCM 800 2204 clones, a Peavey Delta Blues, a Magnatone MP-1 from 1965, a 1961 Fender Princeton, a Peavey Studio Chorus 210, a home-built Champ clone, and a little Kustom 10W practice amp.

 

I play the solid state Peavey Studio Chorus 210 more than anything else, including my Marshall clones and the Fender. It just does everything, and it's solid state.

[Mike Gug]

Originally posted by A String:

Must be nice. I have no amps and no money to buy an amp. I plug in direct to my computer when I'm recording and am unable to jam with others. But my daughter has a few new Fisher Price toys so I suppose I shall live vicariously through her happiness.

I'm sure you realize this, but looking back at this time, you'll appreciate her smiles and happiness more than your amps, by a long shot.

 

Having said that, you can over do it with toys just like gear, so...

 

I'm becoming one of "those"....

 

Used to be, I had two amps. One I used with my band, the other for practice. For years, and years and years.

 

Then I fell out of music for a couple of years.

When I got back in, I started loving the research part, and finding new amps, pedals, guitars...sounds. It all just seems so promising, the next gear.

 

By this list standards, I really don't have all that much. But just sticking to amps, now I have a Carvin MTS3212, Carvin Vintage33, Peavey Classic 30, Fender Prosonic, and a couple of SS practice amps, oh...and an OLD (80's) Roland Cube 60 (orange) I never use anymore.

 

Thing is...I got the MTS3212, and was happy.

When I was looking for a backup amp, that also was a little smaller and less wattage, for practice at home OR band practice and backup for gigs, at the same time I saw the Peavey AND the Vintage33..both priced nicely. I thought I could decide on them, but liked them btoh too much.

Bought 'em.

 

Recently, in some discussion here, I got turned onto the Prosonic (which I had never heard of before) and I am LOVING this amp....except the effects loop is too hot (+4db) and no reverb (bought a EBS Dynaverb, which IS great, and will enable me to buy amps I was borderline on before where they had "no footswitchable reverb" which is important to me...well now I don't have to care about that so these amps got more going for them for me buying them...see how this works?)..

 

Anyway...I am not one to pretend "amps are like children" or any of that weirdness, but I gotta say I feel a little guilty with some of the amps that I haven't used in a while.

 

Also, when I am going to band practice, I suddenly get a little touch of angst over "which amp is the BEST to bring tonight?"...

 

It's weird really. I can get all indecisive sometimes, whatever amp I take, I think, "maybe I ought to take that other one too?".

 

Kinda the same with guitars too. But I solved that by thinking "just take the strat...later on take another..just take one" because I had been taking a strat and a ES-335 and whichever I started with, I just almost never get around to trying the other.

 

Then I start thinking...other than backup for an amp failure (and even then...probably a backup ought to be solid state), what am I doing with all these amps? I could use two amps for splitting after my H2O chorus. Tried that a few times and loved the sound. Otherwise, maybe it is nice to have an amp AT the practice place and not have to shlub it around, except I often experiment at home with pedal order, amp settings, speaker configurations, and there is no point doing that with the non-practice/gigging amp really.

 

I also have been modding one of my amps, and repaired it too...and I think I will start working on the Vintage33 so that is a project amp really. STill, three other tube amps. Like em all. Feel weirdly guilty when I chose one over another, or if I haven't used one of them in a long time.

 

and I am so easily dist....oh a PEDAL!!

 

Gotta go!

BTW BluesWB, I'm glad to see you got that off your chest! I feel guilty when I don't play one for a while, but mostly I feel that with guitars.

 

I see guitars more like people with personalities. I see amps as more like emotionless equipment. Guitars are more shaped and curved more like people. Amps are utilitarian in appearance.

 

I need to get out more don't I?...

[BluesWithoutBlame]

>I need to get out more don't I?...

 

Depends. When you see one of the cheesy ads for amps, with a bikini-babe showrooming it, is your first thought...

 

"damn...that's a FINE looking.....amp!" ?

 

If so then..yeah.

 

If someone has to POINT OUT the bikini-babe to you before you even see her, LEAVE THE HOUSE NOW!!

 

 

Seriously, sometimes I think I'm getting like one of the depression-era folk that stock up on canned good, etc. even though they make good money.

 

So many years no being able to afford equipment..but I had a great time with what I could afford. There is a real danger to me anyway with too many toys. I had a similar "effecte" thread recently, and it's funny...lot's of folk want to change it into another point, but to me the real point is like in the HC User REview form, "does this equipment help me make good music or not?".

 

I am thinking about learning more, and therefore using the Vintage33 as a pet project/knock around amp. Want to experiment with it, etc.

 

I actually went back to tubes, and simpler amps, but then started complicating them with lots of effects :-) but at least they have real knobs.

I had been recording a lot with menu driven stuff and realized I was spending so much time in menus I was not getting practice in.

 

But with amps it is different. Guitars definitely have personalities, but amps give the guitars personality too.

 

I think the quest for "the perfect sound" is kinda like the quest for the perfect woman, when you are single. In that case it is often you pass up fantastic flesh-and-blood women for some ideal that can't be found, or that make you go after the girl that LOOKS like the one, only to find out she's mean. Sometimes it is better to find out what you CAN about what is around.

 

Still...I think I have too many amps :-)

[myles_rose]

My wife thinks I have too many amps.....

 

http://www.guitaramplifierblueprinting.com/images/DSCF0001.JPG

 

http://www.guitaramplifierblueprinting.com/images/DSCF00022.JPG

 

http://www.guitaramplifierblueprinting.com/images/DSCF00032.JPG

 

and that does not include the Fender area, GT area, Marshall area, Mesa area, Rivera area.

[Dr. Ellwood]

Yes and if your amps could speak people speak...I'm sure they would say YOU HAVE ONE TOO MANY WIVES!!! (Lee - the amps advocate)and tattle on her for not dusting them of being mean in general to them when you are at work!!!!

[Pappy P]

Myles. That's amazing.

 

Show us the Mesa area.

[Dr. Ellwood]

PLEEEZZE show the MARSHALL AREA!!!!

[Gruupi]

Well this post became pointless after Myles blatant display of capitolism, but here are my amps.

Fender Blues DeVille 4x10 (great amp)

Fender Pro Reverb (currently broken)

Fender Champ dsp ( great to drag to parties)

Gallien Krueger something or another, little box

Roland KC-150 Keyboard amp for use with

POD XT Live ( I am not sure if I like this yet)

[Tedster]

I hate you, Myles.

 

To me, amps are like guitars, and guitars are like crayons. I wouldn't be content with one red crayon...you need other colors.

 

For me, right now I have a Marshall TSL-122 and a 1970 vintage Ampeg VT-22.

 

I'd like to have:

 

Old Fender Vibrolux Reverb

Vox AC-30

An old Traynor and an old Kustom Tuck and Roll for nostalgia (those were the days)

Matchless Chieftain

My old Sound City 50 watt with a 4x10 cabinet

And a Cornford in a pear tree.

[Pappy P]

I have a crappy line 6 spider.

 

I've had my eye on a Mesa Boogie.

 

I think I should try a Fender Deville though.

 

Mind if I come over and plug into your Amp Gruppi.

[doc taz]

I have 2 at home: a Kustom RC30, and a Fender Deluxe 85. No tubes on either amp.

 

But that bluetone thingy... wow. If I wanted that vintage Marshall tone... I'd want that! Again, it's tubeless, but it is analog SS.

 

Hmm... if I bought that bluetone with a 2x12 cab (running off a 100w power amp receiving the bluetone's line out signal), plus a Marshall stack (MG100DFX head + Marshall Vintage 4x12)... wow... aack... that's a lotta toe tapping just to switch sounds! But it would sound great to me, and I could actually keep the stage volume (somewhat) low. Plus, I can use them at home with the headphones.

[Dr. Ellwood]

Originally posted by Tedster:

I hate you, Myles.

 

To me, amps are like guitars, and guitars are like crayons. I wouldn't be content with one red crayon...you need other colors.

 

For me, right now I have a Marshall TSL-122 and a 1970 vintage Ampeg VT-22.

 

I'd like to have:

 

Old Fender Vibrolux Reverb

Vox AC-30

An old Traynor and an old Kustom Tuck and Roll for nostalgia (those were the days)

Matchless Chieftain

My old Sound City 50 watt with a 4x10 cabinet

And a Cornford in a pear tree.

Tedster..when you get ready for a Kustom 2X10 combo let me know... I have one tucked away....in perfect playing condition too.

[Gruupi]

Hey Pappy, I just rememebered your in Plano too. I wouldn't mind you trying my amp, but I live in an apartment so we would have to find a place to do it. Thats why I bought the POD setup.

[Tedster]

Will do, Ellwood...perhaps I'll buy it offa ya next time I'm up in Detroit...

 

Pappy...a perfect avatar! I'm a big "Calvin" fan...

[Pappy P]

Hey Gruppi:

 

I live in a house. We can jam in my Garage.

 

Thanks Ted. My kids love him too.

 

I never get tired of Calvin.

[musicalhair]

Oh come on now. If you have sooo many amps that you can no longer even fit you or the new amp in through the front door, then you ... well you don't have too many amps, you need to rent out some storage or build a shed or something.

 

But seriously, if you have more amps then you can reasonably expect to use for playing or recording then there is no reason not to sell the "odd amps out". I'm about to do that with a '70s pro-reverb.

[skipclone 1]

I NEED too many amps.

Just a Crate GLX-130 stereo which I`ve hardly used and an upscale mini amp, the TIVO.

Trying to get a low wattage boutique type, mostly looking at Cornford but nearly got led astray by Seigmund-now I`m not sure.

[Dr. Ellwood]

Ok Tedster..ya it's a beautiful rolled and tucked blue metalic..in very great condition.Just let me know.

[Dr. Ellwood]

OK all Formulites..please do not look at this post it is only for Myles!!! Myles look at this cristal ball on the chain here.....you fell very relaxed...you are getting sleepy....deeper and deeper into s l e e p....now Myles... remember to give all your amps to Ellwood..yes Ellwood Lee..in Detroit....Ok when I hit my wah wah..you will wake and feel very rested ..he he ..he he he ....

[Warthog]

I sold 3 amps last month on EBay so I could buy my Kingsnake and 212 cab from Reverend. So I only have one amp right now. Looking to buy a really good acoustic amp in the next 3 months, either a Rivera Sedona, Schertler Unico, or AER Domino. Wish I had the "too many amps" problem.

[BluesWithoutBlame]

Originally posted by Warthog:

I sold 3 amps last month on EBay so I could buy my Kingsnake and 212 cab from Reverend. So I only have one amp right now. Looking to buy a really good acoustic amp in the next 3 months, either a Rivera Sedona, Schertler Unico, or AER Domino. Wish I had the "too many amps" problem.

Oh no...no more "too many amps" for you.

 

You'll just sell em for more amps.

 

We're on to you.

[Bluesape]

Responding to Lee - the guy can't find a schematic for it - Hughes and Kettner Attax 100.