Famous guitar amps?

[glebert]

In a different thread someone brought up the Deacy amp made by John Deacon and used by Brian May on some Queen songs, and it got me thinking about famous guitar amps. Not models or brands but actual individual amps. We imbue certain famous guitars (eg Clapton's Blackie) with reverence and mystique, but other than the Deacy the only amp I could come up with is SRVs Diaz modified Vibroverb. Are there other single amps that are known, or are they always more of a disposable commodity? Maybe some Dumbles, but I couldn't tell you who owns which one.

With the Deacy I think it is funny that it is famous and iconic and was literally pulled from a dumpster and wasn't even supposed to be used for guitar.

[Chuck H]

Well I think the thread can't possibly be whole until the mention of Eddies Marshall. There are a couple of notorious Marshall amps belonging to specific players but of course Eddies is the most famous. Everyone wanted to sound like him and there were a lot of rumors about the amp. It was always reported to have been stock the whole time. I actually doubt that since Eddie was a tinkerer and so was his road tech. Surely some tweaking was done.

[Chuck H]

I guess as the amps go it comes down to the "model" a famous player used rather than the original amp. Unless provenance could be demonstrated at the time of sale of course.

Terry Kath was known to have used a Bogen PA amp for a lot of his work. It's reported that he liked it so well that he got another to serve as a backup.

I read that Slash used a 30th anniversary Silver Jubilee for some of his early GnR work and people thought it was an important part of his sound.

Randy Bachman is said to have used some Garnet amps. Also supposed to have been part of a signature sound.

George Lynch was known to be very particular about his Marshall amps. Some tweaked or modded. There are a few of known provenance that sell for big bucks whenever they go to market.

Sorry I'm not able to provide more specifics about the amps themselves but I hope this helps get the ball rolling. Fun idea for a thread.

[Greg_L]

I guess as the amps go it comes down to the "model" a famous player used rather than the original amp. Unless provenance could be demonstrated at the time of sale of course.

Terry Kath was known to have used a Bogen PA amp for a lot of his work. It's reported that he liked it so well that he got another to serve as a backup.

I read that Slash used a 30th anniversary Silver Jubilee for some of his early GnR work and people thought it was an important part of his sound.

Randy Bachman is said to have used some Garnet amps. Also supposed to have been part of a signature sound.

George Lynch was known to be very particular about his Marshall amps. Some tweaked or modded. There are a few of known provenance that sell for big bucks whenever they go to market.

Sorry I'm not able to provide more specifics about the amps themselves but I hope this helps get the ball rolling. Fun idea for a thread.

George Lynch and Slash actually used the same amp for a very short period. The amp that Slash used for Appetite for Destruction was a Marshall 1959 Tremolo model modded by Tim Caswell at SIR Studios in California. George Lynch had the amp before that for some work with Dokken. This amazing amp that everyone wanted was just a lowly rental amp! SIR rented amps and backlines to bands. That legendary amp was just part of it's regular inventory. Slash actually kept the amp though after he used it for recording and never returned it. He liked it so much that he stole it. A bit later one of his techs or a roadie brought the amp back to SIR for maintenance not knowing that Slash had stolen it from them. They took their amp back and no one knows where it is now. This is when Slash migrated to the Jubilees for pretty much the rest of his career.

Another famous amp/player combo is Mike Ness and his Bassman. Mike Ness has a very signature gained up raw rock and roll sound from his P90 Les Pauls and his heavily modded Bassman. It's a great sound for what he does.

[glebert]

I think Sonic Youth had some amps that they had done a bunch of mods on over the years and then were stolen. Because nothing had been documented they didn't know if they could ever recreate the sounds they got.

[Greg_L]

Joey Santiago of the Pixies has used the same Marshall JCM 800 2205 since the beginning of his band. I don't think it's modded or anything particularly special. He just keeps it running and uses it for everything. I think Tom Morello of Rage Against The Machine is similarly particular about his JCM 800 2210 as well.


This is an interesting exercise. Many guitar players are well known for the guitar(s) they use, but not so much for amps. Guitar players love their guitars because they actually put their hands all over them. Relatively few have that same kind of intense intimate infatuation with their amps.

[pdf64]

Well I think the thread can't possibly be whole until the mention of Eddies Marshall. There are a couple of notorious Marshall amps belonging to specific players but of course Eddies is the most famous. Everyone wanted to sound like him and there were a lot of rumors about the amp. It was always reported to have been stock the whole time. I actually doubt that since Eddie was a tinkerer and so was his road tech. Surely some tweaking was done.

Eddie’s amp may well have been stock, but it seems to have been from an era when the 1959 SL design was in flux, and there may not have been many individual amps with the exact same circuit, board components and transformers.
Plus he supposedly used Sylvania 6CA7, which, when pushed hard, may sound a bit different to the Mullard etc EL34.
And then there’s the variac / dual variac thing, particularly cab / drivers used, and so on.

Hence just plugging a frankenstrat clone into any old superlead stack may not quite the the full recipe for the VH1 tone.

[Greg_L]

Eddie’s amp may well have been stock, but it seems to have been from an era when the 1959 SL design was in flux, and there may not have been many individual amps with the exact same circuit, board components and transformers.
Plus he supposedly used Sylvania 6CA7, which, when pushed hard, may sound a bit different to the Mullard etc EL34.
And then there’s the variac / dual variac thing, particularly cab / drivers used, and so on.

Hence just plugging a frankenstrat clone into any old superlead stack may not quite the the full recipe for the VH1 tone.

Not to mention most people are chasing the recorded EVH tone. There's compression and tape saturation and reverb and EQ and who knows what else all over the VH guitar tracks.

If someone did totally nail that tone it would sound pretty thin in a real world live setting.

[Helmholtz]

To me the most interesting amp would be Clapton's Bluesbreaker combo.

[Mick Bailey]

Jackson Browne's Dumble is pretty famous. Billy Gibbons, SRV and many more have used it.

[g1]

Santana's original Boogie maybe?
Dumbass Bob's 'Hendrix at the Hollywood bowl' amp? (at least certainly famous around here)

[Chuck H]

If someone did totally nail that tone it would sound pretty thin in a real world live setting.

Oh yeah. The studio recordings (and I'm sure the stage mic-ing, etc.) was WELL doctored up. With effects in stereo and added low end EQ. I remember seeing an old SNL episode where they were very exited to have Eddie sitting in with the band. It was pretty great. G.E. Smith with his full on east coast vibe and the SNL band holding it down was a good platform and Eddie just riffed at every break. BUT... I payed close attention to his rig. It was just him, his famous self decorated and hacked guitar, a 20' cable and HIS ACTUAL AMP sitting atop his equally beat up 4x12 cabinet. With only a mic angled at one of the bottom speakers and (I have to assume) going to the mixer the tone was somewhat thin and a little static-y. But with a lot of compression and harmonics. VERY midrange/upper mids and really nothing in the bottom and not much at the top but the atonal static element. Not even the sort of dynamic sound listeners associated with Eddie and that amp. It was one of my first clues about the reality of cranked up tube amps and what to shoot for in my designs. Not so much to duplicate THAT sound but to shoot for a sort of hybrid tone that hinted at that sound but with more dynamics. That's what I was trying for. It was also one of my first clues that good players that know their gear just make music no matter what and it's up to the studio engineers to make it sound "right". Two valuable lessons I garnered from a single event.

EDIT: Well I looked for a video but all I found was his 1987 gig on the show. My memory remembers something more raw but I could be wrong.

[The Dude]

I once repaired Rick Nielsen's Rivera modded Fender Deluxe- the one used in the "Live at Budokan" era. That was a pretty unique amp. There's a story that goes with the experience, but I best not tell it. That amp was beat to hell and almost completely held together by gaff tape. All of the dovetail joints were gone on the cabinet corners and the entire cabinet was wrapped many times over to hold it together, but it sounded great.

[jmaf]

Perhaps worth mentioning Ken Fischer's Trainwrecks?

Each had a woman's name to it IIRC

Each and every one of those is a masterpiece IMO

[Chuck H]

Perhaps worth mentioning Ken Fischer's Trainwrecks?

Each had a woman's name to it IIRC

Each and every one of those is a masterpiece IMO

Agree. Sadly many have fallen into disrepair and now exhibit odd or unstable performance at some settings. Ken on the other hand knew exactly what he was up to with each amp and serviced them himself whenever he could. But some have run into more typical techs that really just don't know the score on those amps. Let alone any specific amp. As a fan myself I have to admit that I can't think of any "named" models that have actually achieved fame. Though they might if more people knew how much they were used for occasional studio tracks that have been on known music recordings and radio and TV commercials. They are INDEED known to sound "right" for the player that knows how to use them. Alas, no famous models/names. The guy only made a hundred amps or so (I've read). And not nearly all of those were the famous Express model. With only a hundred amps out there it's hard to make a mark. Just the fact the name is known and a particular model is revered is remarkable. Strange then that we don't have more details about known recordings and famous players. So how did it happen that these amps are famous???