The First Amp You Ever Played On A Live Gig?

1968. For a school class party. The amp was a Teisco Checkmate Tube Amp with a 2X12 vertically mounted cabinet. For about 3 years I toted that amp from place to place and never had a single issue with it. At the time, I was playing a Penncrest Sunburst Semi-Hollow guitar. Playing songs by the Beatles, Stones, Animals, Beach Boys, Elvis, Yardbirds, etc. at the beginning and adding stuff by Cream, Hendrix, Deep Purple, etc. as they came out.

For a cheap amp the Checkmate actually played and held up quite well.

some kind of crappy Dean with a distortion switch and a delay pedal. I sang through it at a party in 1988, we did a bunch of goth covers (Bauhaus, Sisters, Cure.) No one could really play any instruments, but I had the coolest mic stand moves so I became the singer.

Playing guitar, I played at least one party later in 1988 with an old solid-state Peavey practice amp. It was probably some version of a Bandit?

After two "gigs" like that (basically, hacking through 5 songs and then an interminable version of "Bela Lugosi's Dead," the band I was in started playing at goth/rave-type parties in Quonset huts and barns and I needed a bigger amp. I bought a Roland JC-77 because I'd heard that The Edge used one. To this day I don't know if that's true.

JCM 800 2x12 combo. All White.

I sold it so I could buy a camera!

I'm going to go punch myself in the d!ck now.

I guess my first amp ever; a Peavey Envoy 110 (Transtube). Plugged my Peavey Predator straight in.

Well, for my middle school talent show I played an Instrumental-all overdriven-version of Metallica's "Fade to Black" on a Kustom 20-watt practice amp, which was my first amp that I got with my first guitar. (People still remember that performance haha) With a full band, a Marshall AVT-275 combo....still have it, trying to sell it, Mesa took it's place :twisted:

-AJH

1981' at a battle of the bands at a local High School

Yamaha G30 with an MXR Distortion that my older brother lent me. Guitar was a Gibson L6S that i sold (begins punching himself in the stomach)

Back in the late 90's. I think I played my first gig with a Peavey Super Chorus 2x12? I think it was called Super Chorus. We plugged 2 guitars into it at one point and ran vocals through another guitar amp because we didn't have a PA. Ahhh the good old days.

Charlie, You had some nice equipment for a "1st gig". That must have been one heck of a camera.

I see most folks started with a very basic model, (myself included). My first amp was actually a Silvertone "in the case" amp, but, no way was I going on stage having to stand next to my guitar case standind on end.

Yep. Bought me a Teisco Checkmate 1/4 Stack.

I was short. I don't think anyone noticed. :roll:

The first amp I played on a live gig was a friend of mine's Peavey Ultra 120. I was just sitting in with his band. It was a pretty nice amp actually.

My first amp was actually a Crate. A G-60 if I remember correctly... ?

The JCM800 was my second amp but I never gigged with the Crate. I think I paid around four hundred bucks for that thing used. I almost bought a Fender M80 instead of that JCM800 but my teacher at the time (who was cool as fu#k) was like 'no, dude... THAT'S what you should buy' and pointed to the 800.

The camera wasn't that great. If I knew then what I knew now....

the first amp that i gigged with was either a marshall mg 30dfx or a 40watt tube pignose...can't remember which. but i think the first gig that i played guitar in, i probably was using some crappy zoom effect pedalboard straight into a pa system. don't remember what happened to that zoom. good riddance.

Eclipse said:

I guess my first amp ever; a Peavey Envoy 110 (Transtube). Plugged my Peavey Predator straight in.

Click to expand...

ha. the envoy was my first amp too. but the first amp(s) i used for playing live were also a pair of peaveys, i went into a studio chorus 2x10 which was also going into the power amp input of a peavey bandit 65. this was 1995. i had yet to discover the virtures of tube amps it would seem.

Here's a link to an ebay auction for the amp I used. It's called a Stereo Chorus. This one isn't mind, just an example of what I had.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Peavey-Stereo-Chorus-212-Combo-Amp_W0QQitemZ180188319672QQihZ008QQcategoryZ64452QQcmdZViewItem

I never really had bad stuff.

My first gig was a 5-10 minute solo for about 350 fellow students.

Amp: Marshall Valvestate head 8100
Speaker: Marshall 1960B JCM900 top cab 300watt.

Guitar: ESP Kirk Hammett signature

Effects: Digitech RP1

I don't have anything left off the above stuff but have far better gear.

Friedmett, was that an ESP or LTD Hammett model? How did it play? I want one of the ESP Neck Thru KH2's......one day....when finances are better.

-AJH

It was the ESP model not the Grass root crap.

That was back in 1994. The neck was great and playing wise good. The only annoying fact was the bolt on neck but that was more based on it being not what Kirk actually used at all untill the Load tour where he smashed them as seen in the Cunning Stunts DVD.

I got fed up with the tremelo system and got behind on the payments on it so it got back the shop. I can't remember if the sounds were good but if I had ditched the effect board and gone straight into the amp it would had sounded great.

I noticed you can get neck through versions but I'm a general non tremelo player and my Jackson US RR just smokes it. That was the dream guitar when I had the ESP.

mkiii redstripe long head

Probably around 1981.

Blackface Fender BandMaster thru a Fender 4x12 Cab.

70s Gibson SG Standard.

Epi Les Paul. Fender Deluxe 90. Boss OS-2. Boss BF-2.

I think it was a Crate GFX1200 head and 2 4x12's, but I might of played one with a little marshall valvestate combo before that.