What are the hardest, stiffest, most difficult tube amps to play through?

[rlm297]

I've owned a lot of amps and some were a lot more forgiving than others.

Someone has said, a lot of the greatest tones have come from very stiff amps that allow "no crutches."

In your experience, what were the hardest, stiffest, most difficult amps you've played through?

What were the most forgiving amps you've used (the amps that make you sound great no matter what)?

[Boogie92801]

any low biased and bad tubed fender...

My deluxe reverb was stiff, harsh and strident (one of the worst amps I had ever heard) before I had her retubed biased and retweeked... now she sounds fantastic.

[tele_jas]

The least forgiving amp I've ever owner, and I've owned many amps, was the Dr Z RxES. Not stiff in any bad way, just in your face. I really had to pay attention when playing as it would expose all sloppiness.

Probably one of the best amps I've ever played through as well!

[realityczech]

It starts with the player.
Rough trade is a touchy subject.

[Stevo57]

Two Rock Opal. Also one of my favorite lead tones out there, but it yields no quarter.

[jjmoreno]

HIWATT... very responsive to touch and your mistakes

Never played one, but supposedly VHT, Fryette pitbull ultras can be as well.

[TwoTubMan]

70's Ampeg VT-22 with an Electrovoice speaker. Even your heartbeat will be amplified.

[jhideout]

My Morgan 3.8 is Extremely stiff/touch sensitive. It will definitely make any mistakes stand out.

[Huggy49]

I had an Egnater Rebel 20 that I would describe as "brittle". I never found a good mix of me, guitar, and that amp. As far as unforgiving, " I used to have a Dr.Z that sounded great / when I played great. When I didn't, it insisted on amplifying what I actually played, rather than nebulous intentions. I miss that amp. My room now is just too small for it.

-Gary.

[diagrammatiks]

fryette's.

i'd agree on dr z for for general transparency though.

[vicdeluca71]

Had a HIWATT DR103 that was very stiff

[TubeStack]

I've got the hardest, stiffest... oh never mind, wrong forum.

[Bezzy]

I have a Hiwatt 100 that makes me very stiff. I wouldn't call it a supper stiff amp because it can get a little chewy, maybe more punchy than stiff.
I'm not sure I've played a really stiff amp.

[mattz]

The spongiest crunch I've played through was my old Mesa 50 Caliber with the EL84's. I don't know what the 6l6 version is like.

Can't recall the stiffest.

[Scobro]

Rivera amps. These amps get accused of sounding flat, dry, and sterile all the time. I also agree with Hiwatts. Any amp with a real clean transparent sound is going to get that complaint.

The easiest amp to get a great sound, for me, was Dr. Z amps. Great sounding amps and fun to play with, too bad I'm primarily a ultra clean tone guy.

I would say the easiest of them all to get a good tone out of is some Metal high-gain amp. I've seen kids play through them with guitars with crappy intonation and for all intents and purposes, sound pretty good.

Scobro