What were the amps you've owned leading to what you have now

[cradlefish]

I have to say that after owning numerous amps in the past and for some reason shying away from the Mesa Dual Rec and Mark IV. I have to say that I really missed out on the great Mesa tone. There are many out there that will say that mesa has a buzzy tone but that really depends on how you dial your amp. I've heard many clips on youtube with alot of DR owners cranking up their gain to the point where it just sounds like a buzz saw...yikes, and there are some that take the time to work with their settings and able to dial in some great tones! But aside from that here are some amps I've owned that in some way shape or form didn't meet the mark and I end up selling it. This is the first Mesa that I love! The Dual Rec is an unbelievable amp along with my Laney VH100R. I took it out for an audition. It's incrediblely loud, very nice dynamics..notes ring out nice and full. You can make it saturated or very tight sounding. The cleans are fantastic for a high gainer. This amp is also very quiet making recording very easy. I don't think I would've gotten it if I wasn't offered such a good deal on it. I'm glad I took advantage of it. This is definitely a keeper! Here are some of the amps I've owned in the past.

What's your story leading to the amp you have now?
Fender Roc Pro700
Line 6 Spider 2x12
Marshall AVT275
Fender Vibrolux
Carvin MTS
Orange Rockerverb 50
Engl Thunder50
Rivera K55
Laney LH50R
Laney AOR Pro II
Mesa Stiletto Duece I
Mesa Stiletto Ace
Laney TT50H
Peavey XXX
Marshall 2210
Marshall 6100 30th Anniversary (Blue EL34)
Marshall DSL 100
Marshall DSL 50 (still have)
Laney VH100R (still have)
Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier 3 channel (still have)

 

[ximgonex]

Current
VHT Deliverance 120
Frenzel BUD 50
Frenzel MMX2 (50 Watt) --- on its way but will be sold soon
92 Rackmount Dual Recto

Past
Heads
Peavey 5150 x2
Peavey 6505+
Peavey Triumph
Fender M80
Fender Prosonic
VHT 50cl
VHT Ultra Lead
VHT Deliverance 120
Hughes and Kettner Triamp MK1
Voodoo Amps cp50 prototype
Voodoo Amps cp100 protoype
Bogner Uberschall x2
Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier 3 channel version
Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier Rackmount Version x2
Mesa Boogie Triple Rectifier
Soldano Avenger 100w
Mako Makoplex

Rack (preamps, poweramps, effects)
Mesa Boogie 2:90 Poweramp
Marshall 9009 Poweramp
Mesa Boogie v-twin preamp
Marshall JMP-1 preamp
BBE Sonic Maximizer

 

[Ang3lus]

I had a BC Rich 15watt transistor amp with a preamp tube in it long ago
Seymour duncan convertible (still have) (very boogie sounding)
Marshall 50watt plexi clone (still have) (awesome cleans and tight distortion)

i'm getting the road king 2 hopefully in 2 months time (saving up for it)
it's a monster of a price to pay, but it seems well worth it
it will be my first boogie

 

[Undeadpaladin]

Squier Strat pack amp(Basically 10 watts of SS suck)
Fender Cybertwin 2x12 combo (Collecting dust)
Dual Rectifier Head with Stiletto 4x12 (Current used)


That's it.... i still have the first two, just because honestly i'v been too lazy to sell them

 

[Fleflo]

Ok, let´s see...

What I used to have:

Randall head (don´t remember what)
Music man HD130
Marshall JCM900
Marshall 6100
ADA mp2/Marshall 9100
Mesa Boogie Express 5:50

What I´m using now:

Mesa Triaxis / Marshall 9100
Mesa Dual Rectifier
Mesa Quad / Marshall 9100

 

[Lou]

First amp was a Lafayette. Probably bought it in like 1970...maybe even 69
Twas a combo and I remember making into a head and speaker cabinet.
Some other items along the way with no recollection

Got a '66 Fender Pro Reverb Black Face in 1980.

Picked up an Acoustic 150 head some time in the late 80's
Got a Marshall JTM 60 in about 1990.

albeit wiht 2X12's

Now playing in a smaller practice space I needed a smaller amp, wanting something nice and willing to spend at least a little, I checked out an LSS on my way to look at a 5:25.....the guy hooked me up to a Stiletto. Now completely confused I wound up getting a.............

Studio 22
Fell in love with the and was longing to have like amp at home as the 22 was at the practice spot....and...now that I had the Boogie bug I sold the pro reverb and 150 head.

Have purchased but not yet received an LSS (thanks monsta tone)

Marshall is in the shop being repaired to also sell.

 

[Don]

My first amp was a Pignose 30/60.

That wasn't loud or good enough so I bought a friend's 1981 Fender Concert 4-10. That amp had channel switching but the clean channel didn't break up like an old Fender and the overdriven channel was muddy.

I replaced that amp with a near mint 1966 Fender Vibrolux Reverb around 1990. That amp's tone was lackluster so I had it modified- Boogie-fied, really! It ended up with EL-34s, channel switching, cascading gain, channel loop, etc. I liked it for a while but it was a compromise.

About ten years ago I bought a really clean 1968 Princeton Reverb to go with the VR for practicing and where I needed less volume.

I finally wised up and returned the VR to stock condition. Although there are a couple of extra holes on the back and underside of the chassis, all the important parts, the original Jensen speakers, original trannies, etc... are all still there. The amp is in great shape and sounds better than ever.

A year or so ago I had a Fender tweed Deluxe (5E3) clone built. It's a great sounding amp that follows the original Fender schematic faithfully except for a 30uF first filter cap, .047uF coupling cap on the bright channel and a 3 prong grounded power cord. This amp has a Weber 12A125 speaker in it.
It nails the sound of "Funk #49" by the James Gang.

When I noticed that there was some overlap between the tone of the Vibrolux Reverb and the Princeton reverb and the volume of the tweed Deluxe clone and Princeton Reverb were pretty close I decided that it was finally time to buy the Boogie that I tried to turn the VR into.

About 3 months ago I sold the PR for a big profit and bought a new Express 5:50 1 x 12 combo. I tried a bunch of amps, Boogies and others and this amp suited me the best, by far. Financially, it was close to an even swap.

In the time that I've had it, the 5:50 has been my favorite amp. The PR, VR and Deluxe clone are great amps, but the 5:50 covers so much ground and sounds great doing it.

The tweed Deluxe clone still covers "Funk #49" better though.

 

[LG]

Let's see if I can do these in chronological order starting with:
(All dates are approximate)

Marshall Lead 100 Mosfet head (1986)
Marshall Artist 3203 head (1990)
ADA MP-1 (1993)
Mesa 50/50 (1993)
ADA MP-2 (1996)
Mesa Simul-Class 2:90 (1996)
Marshall Dual Reverb JCM 900 50 Watt head (1996)
Mesa Subway Rocket combo (1997)
Marshall 30th Anniversary 6100 head (1998)
Marshall TSL-100 head (2001)
Mesa Dual Rec head (2002)- still own and in process of a Mercury Mag tranny and Mercury choke mod.
Marshall JVM 410 H head (2007)- still own
Line 6 Spider III 150 watt combo (2007)-practice amp-still own
Always used Marshall cabs

May have forgotten one or two but this is to my best recollection.

 

[BobL]

It's impossible to name all of the amps I've owned in a span of 45 years, and many of them I have owned more than once. I now use a pair of Lonestars because the tone is flexible and fits my style of music, blues, soul, Motown and classic rock. So in no specific order here are some that I remember and some I still own;

66 Fender Bandmaster
70 Heathkit 2x12
68 Fender Dual Showman w/ JBL's
67 Fender Twin Reverb w/ JBL's
68 Fender Super Reverb w/ JBL's
Fender Red Knob Evil Twin
Fender Vibrolux
Fender Vibro King
68 Fender Deluxe Reverb
Marshall JTM 45 w/ 1960 stack
Marshall Blues Breaker
SG Systems w/ 4x12"
Bad Cat 30 watt
Gibson GA30 ?
Gibson GA15 ?
Vox Super Beatle
1967 Vox AC30
Mesa MKIIC
Mesa Nomad w/ 4x10"
Mesa Rect-O-Verb

Some of those I still own, some of them I wish I still owned, most were bought new, and all of them had great tone to one degree or another. The most memorable are the JTM45, the Super Reverbs and the SG Systems.

Now I run the Lonestars and have all the tone I want, but to be honest it still doesn't have the classic Fender clean tone you get from a Super Reverb or Twin Reverb. But it's close.

 

[chemten]

ada mp1 + mesa 50/50
ada mp1 + peavey 50/50
engl powerball
randall rm100
line 6 pod xt + carvin dcm150
ada mp1 + carvin dcm150
mesa dr rackmount

 

[songrider]

well this aught to be a fun trip down memory lane...

Crate cr-1
ampeg vt 40
peavey special
peavey classic
traynor 50 watt combo
sound city 120 stack
1969 Marshall 50 watt stack
1978 marshall super lead 100 watt stack
Randall rg 80 stack
peavey renown
peavey roadmaster stack
laney 50 watt stack
ampeg 2-12 100 watt combo
carvin 2-12 combo (solid state)
carvin x100b stack
marshall split 50 combo
crate blue voodoo stack
carvin x100 b stack (another one)
marshall jcm 900 4100 stack
marshall jcm 900 slx 100 stack
fender stage 100 combo
marshall tsl 100 stack
traynor ycv 80 4-10 combo
line 6 spider
Randall 75 watt combo (solid state)
line 6 flextone
Mesa maverick 2-12 combo
mesa maverick 2-12 combo (I went stereo)
mesa stiletto trident stack (series one)
carvin mts 100 stack
Peavey 5150 2-12 combo
Fender hot rod deville 2-12
Fender blues deville 4-10
Mesa dual rec triple channel (Still own)*
Epiphone valve Jr. (still own)*
Lee Jackson XLA 1000 stack
mesa subway rocket (still own)*
Splawn quickrod stack
carvin V-3 stack
Mesa Roadster stack(still own)*

There are probibly others & if I think of them ill insert them in.

Ive been really fortunate over the years to own some really neat gear. But I have always had to go this for that pretty much... I have owned a few of these at the same time but most were trade ups or lucky deals that I ran across over the years.

I currently have the Dual rec, the subway rocket,the valve Jr. and the Roadster. And I am really happy with them all. But the Roadster stands out above them all because it has so many of the great amps built into it.

When I was ready for a new amp after the mental glitch of ordering the v-3 (sent it back fast) I kicked back and really thought about all the amps I had had over the years and which ones stood out as being the best to me.

I narrowed my choices down to the Roadster, Roadking or a Splawn Nitro. The Splawn stuff is built FANTASTIC just like the Mesa stuff. And Scott is probibly one of the nicest guys out there to work with. And I have always been treated fantastic by the folks at Mesa to. So customer support was a tie. I know the Splawn stuff sounds great but isnt as versatal as the Mesa stuff and decided on the Roadster. The Roadking just looked like to much of a hassle where as the Roadster had all the "cool stuff" of the Roadking without the extra crap that I really wouldnt use.

I made the right choice!

 

[Aart]

Yamaha 10W
Stagg 15W
Marshall SL-X 2100 halfstack
Peavey 5150 II halfstack
Mark IV combo
Mark IV Rackmount
Ada MP1
London City plexi clone
Mark IV medium head(still own)
Crate Blue Voodoo BV150(still own)

 

[cradlefish]

well this aught to be a fun trip down memory lane...

Crate cr-1
ampeg vt 40
peavey special
peavey classic
traynor 50 watt combo
sound city 120 stack
1969 Marshall 50 watt stack
1978 marshall super lead 100 watt stack
Randall rg 80 stack
peavey renown
peavey roadmaster stack
laney 50 watt stack
ampeg 2-12 100 watt combo
carvin 2-12 combo (solid state)
carvin x100b stack
marshall split 50 combo
crate blue voodoo stack
carvin x100 b stack (another one)
marshall jcm 900 4100 stack
marshall jcm 900 slx 100 stack
fender stage 100 combo
marshall tsl 100 stack
traynor ycv 80 4-10 combo
line 6 spider
Randall 75 watt combo (solid state)
line 6 flextone
Mesa maverick 2-12 combo
mesa maverick 2-12 combo (I went stereo)
mesa stiletto trident stack (series one)
carvin mts 100 stack
Peavey 5150 2-12 combo
Fender hot rod deville 2-12
Fender blues deville 4-10
Mesa dual rec triple channel (Still own)*
Epiphone valve Jr. (still own)*
Lee Jackson XLA 1000 stack
mesa subway rocket (still own)*
Splawn quickrod stack
carvin V-3 stack
Mesa Roadster stack(still own)*

There are probibly others & if I think of them ill insert them in.

Ive been really fortunate over the years to own some really neat gear. But I have always had to go this for that pretty much... I have owned a few of these at the same time but most were trade ups or lucky deals that I ran across over the years.

I currently have the Dual rec, the subway rocket,the valve Jr. and the Roadster. And I am really happy with them all. But the Roadster stands out above them all because it has so many of the great amps built into it.

When I was ready for a new amp after the mental glitch of ordering the v-3 (sent it back fast) I kicked back and really thought about all the amps I had had over the years and which ones stood out as being the best to me.

I narrowed my choices down to the Roadster, Roadking or a Splawn Nitro. The Splawn stuff is built FANTASTIC just like the Mesa stuff. And Scott is probibly one of the nicest guys out there to work with. And I have always been treated fantastic by the folks at Mesa to. So customer support was a tie. I know the Splawn stuff sounds great but isnt as versatal as the Mesa stuff and decided on the Roadster. The Roadking just looked like to much of a hassle where as the Roadster had all the "cool stuff" of the Roadking without the extra crap that I really wouldnt use.

I made the right choice!

That's quite a bit of amps you went through to find your gem!

 

[MF]

geez some of you folks are real gear hounds. this is what i've owned in my 15 years of playing:

-some no name 15W practice amp i bought when i first started (traded)

-Peavey Studio Pro 1x12 combo (still kicking, though the speaker is ripped and the input jack is pretty much shot. I played this thing for over 10 years in various high school and college garage bands)

-Marshall MG100HDFX head/MG412 cab (sold a few weeks ago. For a solid state it had incredible tone)

-Fender Ultimate Chorus 2x12 combo (traded last week - loved the cleans but i couldn't tweak a good distortion out of it no matter what combo of on board gain and pedals i used)

-Mesa Boogie 3-CH Dual Rectifier head/Randall R412CB cab (god i love this rig!)

- Vox Valvetronix AD100VT 2x12 combo (bought last week after trading in the Fender. It's pretty versatile, which is what i was looking for in a home/jam amp because i don't feel like bringing my main rig to every little session i go to. Still figuring things out on this one)

I've been doing a lot of buying and selling and searching in the past year or two now that i'm back in a steady band and have a reasonable source of income. Before that i was complacent in my crummy gear.

 

[Fcal124]

First amp ever was a Kent all tube back in 1966
Sunn Concert Lead
Fender Twin Reverb
Roland Cube 40
Marshall DSL 501
Fender Blues Jr (still own)
Marshall TSL 602 (still own)
Mesa Roadking II 4x12 RK Cab (Garnet/Black) on order

 

[loudguitars]

1960s Fender Twin (wish I still had it)
GK 212G (The first really good solid state guitar combo)
GK 250 ML (the end of my solid state phase)
1994 Dual Rec (What else is there to say) ROCK!!!!!
1996 MK IV (Stolen) I still cry about that!
Triaxis/2020 rack system (Flexible, but not clean enough)
THD Flexi 50 (Great, but something was missing)
LONESTAR LSC Perhaps my favorite of all time!

 

[R_ADKINS80]

Here's my 17 years worth f amps in order:
-Park by Marshall 10watt combo
-Peavey Express 112 combo
-Peavey Supreme 160 head (1st through an old Peavey 6x10, then a single Peavey sheffield 4x12 then added a second Sheffield 4x12)(ran an original, stock ADA MP-1 through the return jack for a while)
-Peavey Transtube Supreme head (same cabs)(sold 160 head and top cab to my brother)
-Peavey 5150II (later modded for EL34's and hotter bias; replaced sheffield speakers with G12t-75s)
-Randall V2 head (same cab)
-New Triple Recto in March 08 (same cab)

Wish I still had every piece of that gear minus the V2 and the Transtube head.

 

[Mountain Fever]

The ultimate admission of age.

The first amp was a Fender Pro Amp bought at a pawn shop in Reno where I grew up. The darn thing would shock you every time you touched the chassis to plug your guitar in. Lucky I didn't die.

The next was a Silvertone that would be something of a cult collector's item today. Tube amp with 2X12's. The Head was stored in a bay at the bottom of the speaker cabinet.

I bought a Bandmaster head that I never really liked. I think I had heard the amp during pre-CBS and then bought during CBS. I had built a refrigerator sized cabinet with 2 X 15" Electrovoice in it. I was certainly loud enough. I got a small 5 watt amp with Green Stamps (I told you I was old!) and used it to overdrive the Bandmaster...it worked great.

Since then, I seemingly never sell anything I buy as it is too much hassel. So I buy less and give away things I don't use.

Gallien-Kruger ML 250 Loudest amp per pound ever built. Given to my best friend's son as a gift.

Fender Hot Rod Deluxe--Still have it

Fender VibroKing--Still have it

Peavy 60--Given to my son for him to learn on

Genz-Benz Shen 200--best acoustic amp I have ever heard--Still have it

Mesa Lonestar Special--Congac Lizard--Since I have yet to figure out all the Mark IV can do, the LSS is absolutely my favorite amp. Sounds darn good with anything I plug into it.

Mesa-Mark IV--More capability in it than ability to tap into it by me, If I ever get this thing figured out I will die happy.


I have to admit though that the missing sound ( I really hate effects or modeling pedals) is that of a Vox AC-30 w/ Blues. That will need to happen sometime down the road.

 

[Rocky]

My memory isnt as good as others. I have gone through Marshalls, Hiwatts, GK's Peaveys, Fenders, Zinky's, Mesa-Boogies, Line6, Hughes and Kettners, Bat cats, Matchless, Joyce, Koch...I think that is everything.

 

[thejay]

Gone through Fender, Marshall and B-52 to get to Mesa. The Mesa hands down is the amp that I have wanted all these years.