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Your Favorite Test Amplifiers

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  • Your Favorite Test Amplifiers

    Beyond inductance and resistance, with new winds obviously one has to prove it which to me entails plugging in, getting loud sometimes, and pissing off my neighbors! I'll pass prototypes around to experienced players to gig with occasionally but as a life-long working musician with ears still intact, I am confident that I can believe what I hear and have a few trusty amps to proof-test with:

    Carr Hammerhead Mk1
    Marshall 1974x
    '71 Fender Twin
    Peavey Classic 20
    Boss Katana Mk2 50

    I have a couple others as well but these are my go-to amps to cross-check with and see how they sound. I used to record direct into DAW and analyze wave-forms and frequencies too but the last few years I felt there wasn't much worth in that. So: favorite amps? Let's hear about your process!

  • #2
    the only one I need:

    Click image for larger version

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    Jack Briggs

    sigpic
    www.briggsguitars.com

    forum.briggsguitars.com

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    • #3
      The amp we use as a reference is an exceptional 71 super reverb with the stock alnico speakers. That amp is really neutral and revealing but we have a whole wall full of different ones vintage and new.

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      • #4
        Originally posted by Lollar Jason View Post
        The amp we use as a reference is an exceptional 71 super reverb with the stock alnico speakers. That amp is really neutral and revealing but we have a whole wall full of different ones vintage and new.
        just out of curiosity, are those speakers the grey alnicos with the manufacturer's code 67-**** and large magnet?
        EIA code 67 is Eminence
        If I have a 50% chance of guessing the right answer, I guess wrong 80% of the time.

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        • #5
          ...or rather the era-typical CTS alnicos?
          - Own Opinions Only -

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          • #6
            That amp is at my shop and we are shut down in this state so I cant check but I believe they are CTS . Its all stock bought it in the mid 80s and it was like brand new because it had the stock amp cover and it obviously had never been moved around Its still in fair condition despite 1000 + nights I spent in biker bars when you could still smoke.

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            • #7
              I've been to both his old shop and his new shop, I can say Jason's "music room" reminded me of a specifically stocked guitar store!, also having several tiers of selected guitars hanging on the walls to use with those amps!.
              (and he has one of my Classic Vibes as well)

              IIRC, Jason told me he actually uses the different amps in his development process as tools, so he can tell ya anytime which of his pickup winds/builds work best with this-or-that amp.
              -Brad

              ClassicAmplification.com

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              • #8
                I use the clean channel of a '94 Fender Twin Amp. It's very responsive, with lots of dynamics, very good for testing pickups.
                Last edited by Alberto; 05-06-2020, 12:16 PM.

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                • #9
                  I don't play (weird as that may seem for a winder), but I mostly use a Franklin 15 by a Texan boutique amp builder, Scott from Celtic Amplifiers for testing. It is a high end Matchless Lightning clone. Scott builds outstanding amps and customers demo'g my stuff seem to really love it. There are a few other amps in the test studio, but that one seems to be the most popular by far.
                  Take Care,

                  Jim. . .
                  VA3DEF
                  ____________________________________________________
                  In the immortal words of Dr. Johnny Fever, “When everyone is out to get you, paranoid is just good thinking.”

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                  • #10
                    I have an original 5F2A Fender Princeton. Tweed. Volume and Tone, and that's it. My dad bought it decades ago. 8" Jensen Special Design speaker.

                    I put new electrolytic caps and tubes in it, along with some Herbie's tube dampers. Everything I read said that tube dampers were a scam and did nothing, but it stopped the tube rattle in my case. The tube rattle was coming through on audio demos I was doing for my pickups, using a Sennheiser E906 front and center on the speaker. So for me, the tube dampers made a world of difference.

                    Love that amp. The 8" speaker is awesome for recording, and you can crank it without getting too loud. Beautiful tube breakup and tone at tolerable volumes.

                    Used to jam once a week with a great band, and used their amp...a Sunn something or other. Can't remember the exact model. But it had KT-88 tubes and a 4x12 bottom, and it sounded incredible. Best amp I've ever played through. I would mostly test my pickups out by jamming with those guys, and really hearing the full spectrum of my pickups in a live jamming context.

                    That's how I figured out I like "underwound" neck and middle pickups, and overwound bridge pickups. These days, the Princeton is all I use, but I'm experimenting with some amp modeler plugins you can use in any DAW. For recording demos, I would only use an amp and a mic or two, but for messing around, the plugins are pretty awesome. Running your pedalboard into one of those plugins can yield some really great sounds. I'm not nearly as biased against going digital as I was some years ago, though my first preference will always be a small tube amp, a dynamic mic on the speaker and a condenser mic as a room mic.

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                    • #11
                      Something like the Boss Katana is a good choice .especially if you make a broad variety of pickups .
                      "UP here in the Canada we shoot things we don't understand"

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                      • #12
                        I've been to Jason's first shop on the island, but haven't been to the other one yet. I've seen pics...it looks pretty damn cool! Jason and I were going to compare home built amps way back when...he finished his and I didn't finish that one yet, though I've finished others. Maybe one day!

                        Greg

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