Your Guitars

[NFU]

2002 Paul Reed Smith Custom 24 Quilted 10 top in whale blue

1976 Gibson Les Paul Custom in Alpine White

Fender Twin Reverb 65 reissue amp

Hughes And Kettner combo amp

various pedals and affects

Korg Triton keyboard/synthesizer

Mac with pro tools and various other effects/recording software

 

[Leper_/-\ffinity]

2002 Paul Reed Smith Custom 24 Quilted 10 top in whale blue

1976 Gibson Les Paul Custom in Alpine White

Fender Twin Reverb 65 reissue amp

Hughes And Kettner combo amp

various pedals and affects

Korg Triton keyboard/synthesizer

Mac with pro tools and various other effects/recording software

Holy crap, how old are you, and where do you work, so I know what profession to go into. Those are some nice guitars and amps.

 

[stringy]

Wow, that's awesome...dont see too many VHT players around here, but they are really great amps, and the modded 5150 is smokin.

I'm a diehard VHT fan. I've been through every amp brand imaginable and VHTs have just been my thing. The Mesa Mark IV I have now is just blowing me away every time I turn it on though, but someday I'll own another VHT head. The VHT CLX is calling my name...

The only reason I got rid of the 50/CL was because it was a bit limited on headroom. Don't get me wrong, I like a little powertube saturation in my high gain tones, but I was starting to saturated the transformers a bit. It is a 50 watt amp and the trannies just couldn't push all the frequencies out at SUPER high volume without distorting them. The amp could do high volumes, don't get me wrong (that thing put tube amps that were twice it's power to shame, and it could slay pretty much any SS guitar amp), but I just wasn't satisfied. I had even put high headroom 6CA7 tubes in there...but to no avail.

The modified 5150 is indeed smokin'. It has that standard high mid emphasized grind that is so prevelant in 5150s. This modified one is actually my second 5150, as I had a stock one a few months ago and sold it like a fool. I had played VHTs exclusively for about a year prior to my 5150s so I was very used to the response and attack of the VHTs (if you have ever played one you know exactly what I mean, they are the "fastest" amps out there). I had a tech modify the preamp board on the 5150 for less gain, which tightened up the high gain tones and made the clean channel way more usable. 5150s have something like 6 or 5 (I can't remember which) gain stages if I remember right, so the loss of gain wasn't even noticable. The tech also supplied me with a trim pot, new resistor, and a few leads of wire to convert the amp over to adjustable bias. I did this mod myself with help from a good schematic a few of my friends gave me. 5150s and 5150IIs come biased very cold from the factory, and this sort of chokes the poweramp down and doesn't let it work to its full potential. I think my DMM read the powertubes running at like 20mA from the factory. After I rebiased the amp I put them up around 39mA. Put that amp on 7 and the 6L6 loaded poweramp just screams, not weighed down by the utterly incorrect bias from the factory.

Somewhere in between all of this I owned a Engl 530 preamp, but I didn't like it and sold it. Engl makes a fine piece of equipment, but not for me. For those of you out there looking for a good modern high gain head, take a look at Engl. The Powerball and Savage heads are reputably some of the best high gainers out there. For $1600 and $1800, these heads can compete with amps that cost way more.

The Rivera KHII was a bit of a risk. I had never even played the amp prior to buying it, but I got a killer deal and decided to jump all over it. I traded it to a friend of mine from another forum, for the Mesa Mark IV. I don't even know where to start with the Mark...that thing is simply amazing. For those of you who don't know what a Mesa Mark series amp sounds like, go listen to Dream Theater or early Metallica (newer Metallica is Triaxis, with the newest Metallica being Diezel VH4). The Mesa Mark IIC+ is all over that stuff...the Mark IV can get very close to that sort of tone, only it is a bit less "raw" or "filtered."

Sorry for the long post....but you get me talking about guitar gear and I'll keep going on. Lol!

 

[NGC 3370]

I have a Jackson PS4 which is cool but I always find it a pain to change the strings on the floyd rose section. I am just a clumsy individual.
I also have an ESP Eclipse at the mopment with EMG 81's which is my baby at the moment hehe.
I use for an amp a crappy Peavy but it does the job. I am saving for a better amp at the moment.
Also a Digitech RPx400 which is sweet as. I used to have a boss GT3 i think but I love my Digitech more so sold it.
I am angry at the moment because my really expensive tuner from Boss is broken so I must rely on my Digitech for tuning which luckily it has one.

 

[Staffan]

Gibson SG standard 03 black
Ibanez Les Paul cherry sunburst(70's kult guitar)
Washburn steelstringed acoustic
Amada Nylon guitar

No effects

Marshall Valvestate 40w... it's ok for rehearsing and weighs almost nothing.

 

[MFJ]

I have a Epiphone Les Paul Studio and "Steven"

Steven is a strat body, a tele neck, one humbucker, one volume knob, and a bunch of crazy fucking shit all over the body that has been cracked and burnt. It's pretty horrible, but also I feel great knowing that I created it. Plus- no electrical buzz

 

[Leper_/-\ffinity]

I'm a diehard VHT fan. I've been through every amp brand imaginable and VHTs have just been my thing. The Mesa Mark IV I have now is just blowing me away every time I turn it on though, but someday I'll own another VHT head. The VHT CLX is calling my name...

The only reason I got rid of the 50/CL was because it was a bit limited on headroom. Don't get me wrong, I like a little powertube saturation in my high gain tones, but I was starting to saturated the transformers a bit. It is a 50 watt amp and the trannies just couldn't push all the frequencies out at SUPER high volume without distorting them. The amp could do high volumes, don't get me wrong (that thing put tube amps that were twice it's power to shame, and it could slay pretty much any SS guitar amp), but I just wasn't satisfied. I had even put high headroom 6CA7 tubes in there...but to no avail.

The modified 5150 is indeed smokin'. It has that standard high mid emphasized grind that is so prevelant in 5150s. This modified one is actually my second 5150, as I had a stock one a few months ago and sold it like a fool. I had played VHTs exclusively for about a year prior to my 5150s so I was very used to the response and attack of the VHTs (if you have ever played one you know exactly what I mean, they are the "fastest" amps out there). I had a tech modify the preamp board on the 5150 for less gain, which tightened up the high gain tones and made the clean channel way more usable. 5150s have something like 6 or 5 (I can't remember which) gain stages if I remember right, so the loss of gain wasn't even noticable. The tech also supplied me with a trim pot, new resistor, and a few leads of wire to convert the amp over to adjustable bias. I did this mod myself with help from a good schematic a few of my friends gave me. 5150s and 5150IIs come biased very cold from the factory, and this sort of chokes the poweramp down and doesn't let it work to its full potential. I think my DMM read the powertubes running at like 20mA from the factory. After I rebiased the amp I put them up around 39mA. Put that amp on 7 and the 6L6 loaded poweramp just screams, not weighed down by the utterly incorrect bias from the factory.

Somewhere in between all of this I owned a Engl 530 preamp, but I didn't like it and sold it. Engl makes a fine piece of equipment, but not for me. For those of you out there looking for a good modern high gain head, take a look at Engl. The Powerball and Savage heads are reputably some of the best high gainers out there. For $1600 and $1800, these heads can compete with amps that cost way more.

The Rivera KHII was a bit of a risk. I had never even played the amp prior to buying it, but I got a killer deal and decided to jump all over it. I traded it to a friend of mine from another forum, for the Mesa Mark IV. I don't even know where to start with the Mark...that thing is simply amazing. For those of you who don't know what a Mesa Mark series amp sounds like, go listen to Dream Theater or early Metallica (newer Metallica is Triaxis, with the newest Metallica being Diezel VH4). The Mesa Mark IIC+ is all over that stuff...the Mark IV can get very close to that sort of tone, only it is a bit less "raw" or "filtered."

Sorry for the long post....but you get me talking about guitar gear and I'll keep going on. Lol!

Cool. I read good stuff about VHT heads somewhere a long time ago, and I think this brand does not get the recognition it deserves. Im gonna be looking into getting an all tube head in the future, so what kind would you recommend that has lots of presence, yet the gain can be turned down less than half, and my sound still sound clear when strumming chords with distortion?? Ive managed to find this with my GNX pedal, but I dont know how this will work on tube amps. Ive played Crate Blue Voodoo's which I liked, but didnt really mess around with them for too long.

 

[Nuk3m]

i play a Cort A4 , it are teh pr0no m4aster of tone

 

[The Jesus]

I currently use (& abuse):

Ernie Ball Music Man JP model
Fender MIA Strat
Epiphone Les Paul Studio (JB in Bridge)

Marshall JMP-1
VHT 2/50/2
Marshall 1960 B

Then theres a few pedals i have gathering dust on the floor,
Big Muff US reissue
Boss DD-6
Zoom something 707

 

[Moonstruck]

Electric: A Samick Custom Pro Shop guitar, don't know the model. I got regular Slinky's on it. Has a Floyd Rose which is now locked. Has 2 singles and 1 humbucker, and it sounds pretty sweet for it's price.

Acoustic: Stagg SW507ALL S-N. I recently bought it new, and it has a great tone.

Classical: Admira Rosario (or something), pretty old and lame. It's still quite playble though.

Effects: Boss Metal Zone MT-2, ofcourse, and a Korg AX1G, which I borrowed acctually, but it's pretty fun to play around with, and sounds quite decent.

Amp: Peavey TransTube Blazer 158, little 15W thingy, but it's decent to pratice with. I really messed one channel up, cause I went jaming with my band with it... Pretty stupid. At the rehearsal place rests a Marshall 100W amp, don't know the model.

Oh well.

 

[stringy]

Cool. I read good stuff about VHT heads somewhere a long time ago, and I think this brand does not get the recognition it deserves. Im gonna be looking into getting an all tube head in the future, so what kind would you recommend that has lots of presence, yet the gain can be turned down less than half, and my sound still sound clear when strumming chords with distortion?? Ive managed to find this with my GNX pedal, but I dont know how this will work on tube amps. Ive played Crate Blue Voodoo's which I liked, but didnt really mess around with them for too long.

Yeah, you are right about VHT being sort of under the radar. I equate that to music though. You usually have to dig to find the best music, the same goes for great guitar gear. Musiciansfriend, American Musical, etc will just sell your common amp brands. You usually have to search around for smaller boutique amp shops to find the higher end brands. Marshalls and the big name amps are great, I LOVE Marshalls, but sometimes you just want something different. Lol!

So you want a new amp? What is your budget? Your budget will probably be the most determining factor in what you get...

The Peavey 5150 cannot be beat for the price it goes for used. They will go for $500-$600 on eBay, and there is usually many of them on there. They don't have the best of clean, due to the shared EQ between the channels and the fact that the amp was never designed with the clean channel as a primary goal. You won't be getting any Opeth type cleans out them, that's for sure. At 100 watts that thing will enable you to play stadiums through a 412 without being mic'ed. I don't know if you've ever played a 100 watt tube head through a 412, but it is seriously the loudest sound I have ever experienced. Every guitarist should experience that feeling of power sometime...

There are so many differernt amps out there for you...you sort of need to try to narrow it down for me. What sort of mids do you like, how about bass? Can you name specific bands that you want to nail?

1) Marshall JCM800 w/boost
2) Mesa Mark series amp (II, IIC+, III, IV)
3) Mesa Rectos
4) VHT 50/CL, 100/CL, CLX, or UL
5) Engl Powerball, Blackmore, Savage
6) Bogner Uberschall
7) Framus Cobra or Dragon
8) Voodoo Witchdoctor or Hex
9) Diezel VH4, Herbert
10) Rivera KH heads
11) Peavey 5150, 5150II, or XXX
12) Etc, etc, etc...

Those are some very common modern high gainers that could do a skull crushing metal tone with no sweat. They vary in price hugely though, from about $500 (for a used 5150) to $4100 (for a Diezel head). Just a lil' more info and I could help you out better...

 

[Xes]

Well since this thread's still going, I guess I'll list mine.

Guitars:
- Gibson LP Standard - Black (completely stock)
- Epi LP Standard - Trans Blue (nothing stock except wood...EMG 81/85).

Guitars I rarely/never play but still own:
- Ibanez Stagestar - Black/White (cheap strat copy)
- Fender 12-string Acoustic Electric
- Hohner 6-string acoustic (very small...only 18 frets)

Amps
Marshall DSL 100
Marshall 1960B

Effects
Boss Noise Supressor
Boss Chorus Ensemble
Boss Equalizer
Boss Acoustic Simulator
Ernie Ball Volume pedal

I bought a PODxt the other day just to fuck around with since I'm now in this tiny apartment. It's pretty cool so far, but I miss the Marshall.

 

[Leper_/-\ffinity]

Yeah, you are right about VHT being sort of under the radar. I equate that to music though. You usually have to dig to find the best music, the same goes for great guitar gear. Musiciansfriend, American Musical, etc will just sell your common amp brands. You usually have to search around for smaller boutique amp shops to find the higher end brands. Marshalls and the big name amps are great, I LOVE Marshalls, but sometimes you just want something different. Lol!

So you want a new amp? What is your budget? Your budget will probably be the most determining factor in what you get...

The Peavey 5150 cannot be beat for the price it goes for used. They will go for $500-$600 on eBay, and there is usually many of them on there. They don't have the best of clean, due to the shared EQ between the channels and the fact that the amp was never designed with the clean channel as a primary goal. You won't be getting any Opeth type cleans out them, that's for sure. At 100 watts that thing will enable you to play stadiums through a 412 without being mic'ed. I don't know if you've ever played a 100 watt tube head through a 412, but it is seriously the loudest sound I have ever experienced. Every guitarist should experience that feeling of power sometime...

There are so many differernt amps out there for you...you sort of need to try to narrow it down for me. What sort of mids do you like, how about bass? Can you name specific bands that you want to nail?

1) Marshall JCM800 w/boost
2) Mesa Mark series amp (II, IIC+, III, IV)
3) Mesa Rectos
4) VHT 50/CL, 100/CL, CLX, or UL
5) Engl Powerball, Blackmore, Savage
6) Bogner Uberschall
7) Framus Cobra or Dragon
8) Voodoo Witchdoctor or Hex
9) Diezel VH4, Herbert
10) Rivera KH heads
11) Peavey 5150, 5150II, or XXX
12) Etc, etc, etc...

Those are some very common modern high gainers that could do a skull crushing metal tone with no sweat. They vary in price hugely though, from about $500 (for a used 5150) to $4100 (for a Diezel head). Just a lil' more info and I could help you out better...

Well, price is an issue, I would definitey try to keep it under 1000$. I definitely want a GREAT clean channel, since I play a lot of clean stuff, but I also want a good gain channela as well. The most important thing for me is warm tone, lots of mids, and clarity on clean and distorted playing. I dont want something that just gives off an aura of fuzz everywhere when the gain is cranked, I want it to sound some decent crunch (think Opeth, particularly blackwater park sound) while retaining the calrity of the notes as much as possible. Dont know if that descripton fits any amps, ID probably need like extra eq, and a bunch of compression to achieve that sound. But basically, I want to be able to strum really complex chords on distortion, and have it be pretty clear, which is pretty hard to attain, and I want a warm clean tone with lots of mids, and smoothness lol.

 

[stringy]

Well, price is an issue, I would definitey try to keep it under 1000$. I definitely want a GREAT clean channel, since I play a lot of clean stuff, but I also want a good gain channela as well. The most important thing for me is warm tone, lots of mids, and clarity on clean and distorted playing. I dont want something that just gives off an aura of fuzz everywhere when the gain is cranked, I want it to sound some decent crunch (think Opeth, particularly blackwater park sound) while retaining the calrity of the notes as much as possible. Dont know if that descripton fits any amps, ID probably need like extra eq, and a bunch of compression to achieve that sound. But basically, I want to be able to strum really complex chords on distortion, and have it be pretty clear, which is pretty hard to attain, and I want a warm clean tone with lots of mids, and smoothness lol.

OK great, that gives me some ideas.

You've described many amps out there, and many of them can attain what you described.

You mentioned Opeth's Blackwater Park album. That is all British overdrive right there. Your Marshalls, Laneys, and basically any EL34 loaded amp will nail that sort of high gain tone. EL34s when broken up give off a great middy tone and have a distinct "British" flavor to them, contrary to 6L6s which are usually deep and have a rounded top end. I say USUALLY because not every powertube follows those rules.

If you want supreme tightness without extra fuzz, then I'd say to check out VHTs (they are seriously the tightest amps out there) but they are a bit out of your price range. You might be able to track down a used 50/CL for under $1k. The new 50/CLs and 100/CLs are about $1500 and $1800 respectively. Also, if you come into some extra money sometime, check out the Bad Cat Hot Cat head. If you listen to Porcupine Tree's new disc (In Absentia) Steven is using the Bad Cat exclusively. Awesome sounding amp, but about $2500!

Man, honestly, I'd say Laney. I would have said Marshall, but in this case (since you specifically mentioned Opeth) I would definetaly go with Laney. Specifically the VH100 model, I believe that is the head I am thinking of. It is a multiple channel amp, and has a seriously great overdrive tone and some stellar cleans to match. It is EL34 loaded, and it is a 100 watt amp. I think they are right around $1k also.

But don't just take my word for it...try to get out there and try these amps out. You may just find one you absolutely love that is the complete opposite of what I recommended! Lol!

 

[Leper_/-\ffinity]

Awesome, thanks for the advice, you seem like you really know your stuff, so I will definitely look into some of those. I was also thinking Laney, but didnt know which specific models to check out. Now Ive got great ideas and amps to look at, thanks.

 

[Pita Bread]

Leper, if you're a bit tight on cash, you might want to check out the Mesa/Boogie F series; I own one and it has such a clean and clear "clean" channel, with nice warm overdrive in the 2nd channel. The 3rd contour channel was a waste in my opinion but maybe you might like it for the scooped sound. Overall, the sound can be described as warm and big with clarity. All this, for under or around $1000 USD.

 

[stringy]

Leper, if you're a bit tight on cash, you might want to check out the Mesa/Boogie F series; I own one and it has such a clean and clear "clean" channel, with nice warm overdrive in the 2nd channel. The 3rd contour channel was a waste in my opinion but maybe you might like it for the scooped sound. Overall, the sound can be described as warm and big with clarity. All this, for under or around $1000 USD.

Yeah, he brings up a good amp. Randall Smith, the founder and owner of Mesa, boasts that the cleans on the F series are some of the best in any of his amps. The overdrive channels though are more of a Recto sort of tone, very modern and Americanized...sort of the opposite of Opeth's tone.

 

[NFU]

Holy crap, how old are you, and where do you work, so I know what profession to go into. Those are some nice guitars and amps.

im 21...and im a co-owner of a furniture store in southern california.

 

[Pita Bread]

Horray for entrepreneurs!

 

[jaykeegan]

Jackson JS30 W/A Reverse Headstock.

P.S. Sorry to dig up a rather old thread but there is a large bunch of new members on this forum that could possibly wan't to contribute to this thread. Besides, It is always interesting to see what guitars fellow users are using.