37 posts
OK I have $1,150 saved up for a new amp. My thoughts are the Bogner Alchemist head, or the Egnater Renegade head.
How about some other suggestions in that price range 40-50 watts all tube, and if there are any point to point wired amps out there with two channels, clean and overdrive with channel switching and reverb out there I want to know about them even at about 2 grand which is high as I can push this thing.
I won't buy anything off e-bay used, unless it is near Phoenix Arizona, so I can check it out in person.
I strongly suggest you look at a Dr. Z (pick your model) and a Budda Superdrive. My $1200 short list (there are others, but you would drive yourself crazy trying to find them all) would be Renegade, Superdrive 18, and Maz Jr. Keeping in mind, that I like more gain than you do. I know both the SD and Maz cost more than $1200 but they are readily available used and like new. I'd rather have "better" and almost new, than just new. I really think given your lack of need for a gain channel, that you should find a Dr. Z. They're killer for clean stuff.
I love the Bogner Alchemist. It really has great tones. There are, of course, tons of used options and always steals that can be found, but new, I think you need to play that one and see for yourself.
charger — Feb 25, 2009I love the Bogner Alchemist. It really has great tones. There are, of course, tons of used options and always steals that can be found, but new, I think you need to play that one and see for yourself.
I don't need much, just a relatively quiet amp that does old school overdrive like a Fender no master volume overdriven, I need an amp with a channel switcher and Reverb (so I can eliminate the need to take my pedal board out). I think the Alchemist or The Renegade may be the one. Time to go to GC and try one or the other out. Some reviews are hot and some are cold on the Alchemist.
DreamTheaterRules — Feb 25, 2009I strongly suggest you look at a Dr. Z (pick your model) and a Budda Superdrive. My $1200 short list (there are others, but you would drive yourself crazy trying to find them all) would be Renegade, Superdrive 18, and Maz Jr. Keeping in mind, that I like more gain than you do. I know both the SD and Maz cost more than $1200 but they are readily available used and like new. I'd rather have "better" and almost new, than just new. I really think given your lack of need for a gain channel, that you should find a Dr. Z. They're killer for clean stuff.
I don't have a lack of need for a gain channel, it needs channel switching and reverb so I don't have to take out my pedal board. All I really use is clean, overdrive, and reverb.
I played the Alchemist the other day,........WOW!! Awesome amp! It was a 40W 1x12 combo that switches down to 20W! NOICE!! Very nice cleans and it worked like a 4 channel amp. It had three channels with a boost on the third one. I think it even came with the footswitch. It had all these little switches on it and they worked really well, you could hear the difference when switched. If I had the $$$, I would get one. Even if it is made in China.
cgtrox 8-)
cgtrox — Feb 25, 2009I played the Alchemist the other day,........WOW!! Awesome amp! It was a 40W 1x12 combo that switches down to 20W! NOICE!! Very nice cleans and it worked like a 4 channel amp. It had three channels with a boost on the third one. I think it even came with the footswitch. It had all these little switches on it and they worked really well, you could hear the difference when switched. If I had the $$$, I would get one. Even if it is made in China.
I am thinking that is probably one of two options, it is in the lead at the moment.
Up to 2G opens up some options!!
I've heard some clips of some amps from a company called Reinhardt amps. http://www.reinhardtamps.com/Amps.html
The one that has some REALLY good clips is the amp called The 18. I know it's only 18 watts, but listen to the clips of Greg Martin of the Kentucky Headhunters. Awesome tone!! For a little more power, the Titan would be a good one.
Another amp you might want to check out is the Genz Benz Black Pearl (they are actually made in Scottsdale). All Class A, 30 watts. I recently picked up a used 212 version (in addition to my Boogie). It is an awesome little amp. Cleans are Vox AC30 like. When you crank the boost channel, it gets more into Bad Cat territory (especially with a booster). They offer head, 112 combo, 212 combo, 310 combo, and different cab options for the head. It also has a half-power switch that drops it down to 15 watts. Flip the Pentode switch down to Triode and it drops down to 7 watts.
If we are venturing into the $2K arena IO would look at divided by 13... http://www.dividedby13.com/
Great amps!
cgtrox 8-)
cgtrox — Feb 26, 2009If we are venturing into the $2K arena IO would look at divided by 13... http://www.dividedby13.com/
Great amps!
cgtrox 8-)
Leon from Andy's forum has one of these (you could probably email him for specifics).
on an 18 watt note, you want to consider a Brown Note 18 Watt plexi! If one of the "name brands) (Budda, Egnator or the like) doesn't derail this, an 18 watt lite KIT would be my next amp.
All nice suggestions, all of them do not have the features I want.
40-50 watts, 2 channels with Reverb, with a channel switch. one clean, one overdrive. Those are the basic wants regarding my new amp. I am getting close to the Alchemist as we debate this. Genz Benz had a nice one called the El Diablo, that looks interesting, but it seems to be discontinued.
desertbluesman — Feb 26, 2009All nice suggestions, all of them do not have the features I want.
40-50 watts, 2 channels with Reverb, with a channel switch. one clean, one overdrive. Those are the basic wants regarding my new amp. I am getting close to the Alchemist as we debate this. Genz Benz had a nice one called the El Diablo, that looks interesting, but it seems to be discontinued.
Ya sure about that on the El Diablo? It's still in their 2009 catalog (and we're a Genz dealer).
I'll be honest with you, the sounds you can get out of the Black Pearl are probably going to be more to your liking than the El Diablo. The Black Pearl is much more organic.
As far as your requirements then, maybe a Mesa Lonestar or Lonestar Classic.
Take a look at the Hellcat. (
http://www.cornfordamps.com/launch.html ). I did and I'll tell you Harvey, YOU WON'T WANT ANYTHING ELSE!!!
Bold statement I know but the only thing I've heard that comes close to this baby costs twice as much (Matchless DC30R) or you have to build it yourself and get it right.
The only thing that put me off just getting a Hellcat was the common tone stack to both channels. I even contacted Cornford and asked them if they would build me a one-off with seperate tone stacks for each channel but they said no! (They have a 60watt, 2 channel head with reverb in the pipeline for late 2010 that will fit that niche).
There are a bunch of youtube clips of the Hellcat out there but hearing real deal (especially the Head version with Cornfords own 2x12 cab) just fucks with your head it's that good.
Dearthian: — Feb 26, 2009[quote author=desertbluesman link=1235581881/0#11 date=1235668302]All nice suggestions, all of them do not have the features I want.
Genz Benz had a nice one called the El Diablo, that looks interesting, but it seems to be discontinued.
Ya sure about that on the El Diablo? It's still in their 2009 catalog (and we're a Genz dealer).
No has it in stock, MF site says discontinued item maybe they mean discontinued from their catalog.
Dearthian: — Feb 26, 2009 I'll be honest with you, the sounds you can get out of the Black Pearl are probably going to be more to your liking than the El Diablo. The Black Pearl is much more organic.
As far as your requirements then, maybe a Mesa Lonestar or Lonestar Classic.
Does the Black Pearl have channel switching, it looks like a boost only. I would buy a Mesa but no way to adjust the BIAS on any of their amps, they have a fixed BIAS and there is a fairly big difference from cold to hot in tone.
DreamTheaterRules — Feb 26, 2009This or a combo. DROOOOOOLLLLL!
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180332026476&ssPageName=ADME:B:SS:US:1123
Nice but no ceegar amigo. 40-50 watts channel switching with separate full tone stack on both channels, reverb.
spud — Feb 26, 2009Take a look at the Hellcat. ( http://www.cornfordamps.com/launch.html ). I did and I'll tell you Harvey, YOU WON'T WANT ANYTHING ELSE!!!
Bold statement I know but the only thing I've heard that comes close to this baby costs twice as much (Matchless DC30R) or you have to build it yourself and get it right.
The only thing that put me off just getting a Hellcat was the common tone stack to both channels. I even contacted Cornford and asked them if they would build me a one-off with seperate tone stacks for each channel but they said no! (They have a 60watt, 2 channel head with reverb in the pipeline for late 2010 that will fit that niche).
There are a bunch of youtube clips of the Hellcat out there but hearing real deal (especially the Head version with Cornfords own 2x12 cab) just fucks with your head it's that good.
No dealers nearby, can't try it, ain't buying it. Looks cool however.
desertbluesman — Feb 26, 2009[quote author=Dearthian: The Boogieboy link=1235581881/0#13 date=1235677210][quote author=desertbluesman link=1235581881/0#11 date=1235668302]All nice suggestions, all of them do not have the features I want.
Genz Benz had a nice one called the El Diablo, that looks interesting, but it seems to be discontinued.
Ya sure about that on the El Diablo? It's still in their 2009 catalog (and we're a Genz dealer).
No has it in stock, MF site says discontinued item maybe they mean discontinued from their catalog.
Dearthian: — Feb 26, 2009 I'll be honest with you, the sounds you can get out of the Black Pearl are probably going to be more to your liking than the El Diablo. The Black Pearl is much more organic.
As far as your requirements then, maybe a Mesa Lonestar or Lonestar Classic.
Does the Black Pearl have channel switching, it looks like a boost only. I would buy a Mesa but no way to adjust the BIAS on any of their amps, they have a fixed BIAS and there is a fairly big difference from cold to hot in tone.
The Pearl doesn't have channel switching, but the boost is foot-switchable. It is also very pedal friendly. A lot depends on how 'clean' you run the pre-volume (gain) on the non-boosted side. If you run it really clean, the boost won't drive it hard.
If you run the gain a little higher, engaged the boost while it is Dimed and engage an OD to slam the front end and it sings. Now, the closer you get to dime-ing the gain, the more 'modern' sounding the amp gets (very BadCatish, which is what Genzler was going for). Keep the gain down without the boost engaged (but with an OD), it gets a nice blues sound. The gain is VERY reactive depending on how high you have the boost. Even if it isn't ultimately the amp for you, I think you should go give one a whirl. There are no less than 8 Genz dealers in the greater Phoenix area (including Glendale, Phoenix, Mesa, and Tempe). Personally, I like it more than the Alchemist. Clean is sweeter, od is more organic and tone-ful.
Their customer service is excellent. We've called them when a reverb tank on a El Diablo's reverb went out and ended up talking to Jeff himself and he shipped out a new tank the same day.
I wonder why there are suggestions for $3500 amps in this thread... I thought DBM said he had $1100 for this. It's fun to talk about stuff that's 3x your budget, but ultimately, not very useful.
Other than the Cornford, which ones are $3500? :-? As far as the others go, he did say $2000 was his absolute limit and wanted to explore those options (he mentions that at the end of his 1st post). The rest, for the most part, lay in the $1500 range. ;)
The Cornford is $3500 :o :o :o.
£1600 in my local guitar shop (who are known for being pricey). If I search online, I can get one for £1325 which is about $1900 at todays exchange rate. Say another $200 to ship and your just over Harv's $2K max (The Hellcat has an international voltage switch ;)).
OK. I get the no local dealer thing and Harvey's NO TRY=NO BUY policy, but hell, DON'T flame for making suggestions just because the US dealers fuck you all over for UK gear. We pay WAY over the odds for US made stuff in the UK because the government screw us with import duties and then tax the shit out of the total paid to the point where I guess we're all in the same boat. (A Gibson Les Paul is about twice here what you get it for over there ::)).
Sorry Harv, I was just trying to help......I'll just shut up now and go back to clearing up after dinner :-[.
FYI. The Matchless DC30 retails for around £3300 here. THAT'S $4725 and some change :-?
cornford sounds good like this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J503OvHWKko&feature=related
fingers — Feb 27, 2009cornford sounds good like this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J503OvHWKko&feature=related
Holy Frickin' Crap! That's it, I'm selling all my gear. :o :o :o
The Govan clip is great, he's incredible and tone is so thick you could stuff a mattress with it.
The little boutique shop I got my Marshall at just got in a brand new Splawn Nitro head - the owner emailed me yesteday about it, wants me to come check it out next week....I'm loving my new amp though, especially with the OCD now, told him that, but I still wanna go check it out (with my own damn guitar, lol). He gave me the ole "well for you, I'd sell it for $1500" ($500 more than I'd paid for the jcm), thats not bad for a true boutique, killer sounding head...I'm 99% sure I won't even consider it, the two strikes being the added $$ I'd have to pay and the fact that its a 100 watter - and eveything I've read about them suggests they're not low voume friendly amps, have to be fully cranked, eh, yet the 50 watt Marshall sounds great at I'm sure much lower levels, lol!
But they do sound good...amp on the left is the "Nitro" (they both sound great IMO, but the one on the right sounds more compressed)...player on the right shoulda been using the Nitro, I like his playing more.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WnrYMBNdk1o
Anyway, pretty hot sounding amp line that can be had between 1-2k if you look around. Still think the Renegade can do this sound (if not better) AND have all those nifty features (and clean tones).
Thanks for all of your suggestions, I finally get it, most of you guys are metal players/fans. I don't want anything high gain like that.
I want a classic old Fender overdriven no master volume control sound. You know the old bassman black face or black face Deluxe Reverb turned all the way up sound, so far the only amp that I have seen in all of the suggestions that does that is the Bogner Alchemist.
40-50 watts, two channels, with a channel switching capability, and a decent reverb on board.
Kabala — Feb 27, 2009Anyway, pretty hot sounding amp line that can be had between 1-2k if you look around. Still think the Renegade can do this sound (if not better) AND have all those nifty features (and clean tones).
I am thinking Egnater is fudging their video clips to hide the buzz on the overdrive channels. They do not allow any overdrive sounds to play without hitting a chord and then playing like crazy, never letting a rest happen between notes. On one of the early clips I saw I heard a loud buzz when the channel was switched, now Bruce is waiting until a chord is played then he turns up the volume, and then never a single pause between notes or chords until the demo is over. I am suspicious. I am thinking the Alchemist. The Renegade has very nice features and it would be number one on my list if the gain channel is a lot quieter than the early demo I heard. But I have had some feedback on another forum,
I played at a gig recently where I brought my Bogner Alchemist and the guy I was playing with had an Egnater Renegade. They sounded pretty good side by side. I will say that there seemed to be more footswitchable tone options with the Egnater. it was a terrific sounding amp. I preferred the Bogner's tone, but hey, who doesn't prefer their own tone?
The Alchemist has oodles of flexibility and tone-shaping options, with a couple of drawbacks for my style of playing -- a parallel effects loop which I always find to be a pain to make effective and a "boost" switch that adds volume and mids in the clean channel , but only some mid-range "hair" in the dirty channel - NO volume boost.
I have asked him to tell me where they guy came by that amp, so far no answer.
Then I think ya need to go TRY an Alchemist. ;D
You're requirements and tastes make it hard to peg the amp for you. I personally think the amps Howie and I mentioned really peg your sound and musical tastes a lot better than the Alchemist (amps that can SMOKE the blues). Unfortunately they don't meet all of your requirements.
The Lonestar/Lonestar Classic would fit the bill PERFECTLY if it wasn't fixed bias (which I, personally think, movable bias is overrated). Cleans that are absolutely to DIE for and a great bluesy drive channel that sings. Comes with decent verb. Dig it before writing it off. http://www.mesaboogie.com/gallery_artist/video/AndyTimmons-hi.html
Schils, GG is STUPID good. Geez. WOW! And that Splawn... dude, I'm not saying to trade the Marshall for it... but get it anyway. I've got a friend that was in a big name Christian rock band that played them and his tone is killer!
DBM, that's why I suggested Dr. Z. Still think you owe it to yourself to try them. The guy I just bought a cab from had 3 different ones. He said that he had sold two older classic Fender amps when he heard the Dr. Z's. He also said that it was the best clean tones he'd ever heard (and they will do OD well, not high gain stuff, the stuff you want) and further, he said that the only cleans he had heard that were even close were the other guitar player in his bands Rivera. He said he didn't like the OD channel on the Riv, (taste, said it was good but more aggressive than he liked) but that the cleans were the closest he'd heard, but still preferred the Dr. Z stuff.
That recommendation (as Chris said) is completely based on what you like and how good they are supposed to be at it.
DreamTheaterRules — Feb 27, 2009And that Splawn... dude, I'm not saying to trade the Marshall for it... but get it anyway.
Yeah, don't worry about the money part, Howie will send you some! ::) ;) ;D
^^^ lol
Well, it wouldn't be a trade in/loss - he'd simply take back the Marshall I just bought and I'd have to fork over the other 5, but with each day that I spend more time with the 800, the more I love it so I doubt it'll sway me in person - but, I've been reading about them, seems it DOES have a "Half power / 50 watt" switch....hmmm. :-/
Try the Splawn knowing that is must be 50% better (in your opinion - the only one that counts) before considering the swap. Personally, I'd keep the 800 and use that extra money (which you must have or you wouldn't even be considering the deal) on one of the EH Stereo Memory Man with Hazarai pedals and $300 worth of beer! ;)
Dearthian: — Feb 27, 2009The Lonestar/Lonestar Classic would fit the bill PERFECTLY if it wasn't fixed bias (which I, personally think, movable bias is overrated). Cleans that are absolutely to DIE for and a great bluesy drive channel that sings. Comes with decent verb. Dig it before writing it off. http://www.mesaboogie.com/gallery_artist/video/AndyTimmons-hi.html
That is an interesting amp, it is a little pricey for my use but I think the short head at $1799 is doable. It does have a Tube Rectifier in the 10 and 50 watt modes. Then the 100 watt mode for large rooms (which I would never use probably). This is one I have to look at at GC when the shootout begins.
You should also look at the Lonestar Classic. It does 5/15/30. It's EL84 equipped.
I tried a Lonestar a couple years ago at GC -- thought it sounded totally awesome.
no idea how it sounds outside GC other than Andy Timmons recordings - but I definitely -almost- bought one... heheh :)
Dearthian: — Feb 28, 2009You should also look at the Lonestar Classic. It does 5/15/30. It's EL84 equipped.
I am a 6L6 man truthfully I like the smoother tone of the 6L6. The El34's are brighter/peaky-er. I know most folks prefer the EL34 or 84 to the 6l6 and 6v6, but I just can't get behind the difference in tone.