Blackface Super Reverb VS 3 Monkeys Orangutan

[Sleepless]

Hi there!

I' posting here as I really don't know what to do. I have a Fender Super Reverb from 1973 which I have blackfaced and it sounds great. No issues at all. I play blues/rock with tones ranging from cleanish stuff ala Clapton/Mayer/SRV to heavy blues ala Gary Moore/Bonamassa/Trower. The first type of sound is easily achieved with the Super, the second not quite so. Now I can have a huge deal on a 3 Monkeys Orangutan set: a custom finished head and 2X12 matching cab with Greenbacks with flightcases for both the head and cab. It has never been gigged out and is as new, minus the price: I can have it all for 2500$, it's amazing.

So I need you to tell me what you guys would do: sell my beloved Super and get the 3 Monkeys or keep my Super. I like changing gear but I hate having regrets. Is the 3 Monkeys really superior sounding compared to the Super? Thanks for helping me out on this one!

Oh, and having both is not an option...

[dewman]

If I am comparing both, I'd take the Orangutan, more tones inside than the Super Reverb. More reliable than a vintage amp too. However, a vintage amp is a vintage amp and it is hard to get one when you give it up. It is a differet sounding amp than your Super Reverb and I'd hate to guide you to selling something you liked a lot and are used to only to immediately hear differences and regret the sale. For me it is a no brainer since the combination of portability (I can easily fit the cab in a sedan), flexible tones, new boutique build quality, great tone and a better natural overdrive, ability to take pedals well and smaller stage footprint make the decision easy for me. I've never bonded with SR amps. However they are different enough that one would want both in the herd. Good luck with a tough decision.

[eldanko]

Agree with dewman - there are definitely more tonal options inside the Orangutang. Plus, there's still plenty of good Supers out there if you ever get the itch again someday...

[SReynolds]

3 Monkeys Orangutan

Is the 3 Monkeys really superior sounding compared to the Super? Depends on who you ask but I played a 67 blackface super gone through by a rather famous tech for 3 years and the 3 Monkeys orangutan is better all the way around IMHO. If your after true Gary Moore/Bonamassa/Trower sounds you might want to explore a plexi type amp with a box, or maybe Dewman can chime back in as I don't have enough experience with the Orangutan to know if it will get these tones, but the tone it does get are great.

[Sleepless]

Thanks for your input guys. Yeah, I'd like to know if the 3 Monkeys can get into plexi land as well as achieve great cleans...
I know Supers are rare but 3 Monkeys here are even more scarce...

[sagegreer]

Coincidentally enough, I run a '73 Super stereo with an Orangutan on voice 1 or 2. HUGE clean sound!!! If you can somehow keep the Super AND get the Monkey, you're looking at a beauty of a stereo rig. If not, go with the Orangutan; it can fairly close to the Super plus it has all of the higher gain options.

[JubileeMan 2555]

Here on the Gear Page you will rarely get any sort of advice except to go for the boutique and the "newest and greatest".

The 3 monkeys is probably an amazing amp. POssibly 100 times better then a super reverb....

...but I still recommend you keep your super.

We guitarists are always trying to chase something that isn't there. We keep thinking the grass is greener on the other side, and it rarely is.

You're familiar with that super. You know the nuances and the subtle tones you can coax out of it. You already said you love it.

By buying something new AND getting rid of what you are comfortable with, you are probably just going to start down a path of changing. You'll get the new amp and you'll love it...except for ONE thing...or ANOTHER thing....maybe pickups...speakers...yeah speakers would make the 3monkeys better....etc.

And in the end, the super was working just fine, but you sold it. And you'll, in 3 years, be posting in one of those "wish I didn't let go" Gear Page threads.

What you're struggling with is the more chaotic artifact filled Marshall tone that is hard to get out of a super. I'd say, either get the 3 monkeys while keeping the super, or start looking into some pedals.

I personally have been playing a super reverb for about 10 years now. I ran into a similar problem as you, and BUILT a Marshall amp. Now I have both shades of tone. But you better believe me when I say I smile everytime I get a chance to play the super again. I would have been VERY upset to have ever sold it.

[dewman]

Well said

[dewman]

And yes under the right settings and with humbuckers it gets a great Marshall tone, but the orangutan has so much more inside.

[Tone Meister]

Originally Posted by JubileeMan 2555

Here on the Gear Page you will rarely get any sort of advice except to go for the boutique and the "newest and greatest".

The 3 monkeys is probably an amazing amp. POssibly 100 times better then a super reverb....

...but I still recommend you keep your super.

We guitarists are always trying to chase something that isn't there. We keep thinking the grass is greener on the other side, and it rarely is.

You're familiar with that super. You know the nuances and the subtle tones you can coax out of it. You already said you love it.

By buying something new AND getting rid of what you are comfortable with, you are probably just going to start down a path of changing. You'll get the new amp and you'll love it...except for ONE thing...or ANOTHER thing....maybe pickups...speakers...yeah speakers would make the 3monkeys better....etc.

And in the end, the super was working just fine, but you sold it. And you'll, in 3 years, be posting in one of those "wish I didn't let go" Gear Page threads.

What you're struggling with is the more chaotic artifact filled Marshall tone that is hard to get out of a super. I'd say, either get the 3 monkeys while keeping the super, or start looking into some pedals.

I personally have been playing a super reverb for about 10 years now. I ran into a similar problem as you, and BUILT a Marshall amp. Now I have both shades of tone. But you better believe me when I say I smile everytime I get a chance to play the super again. I would have been VERY upset to have ever sold it.

Not one syllable to add to this ^^

[79stratman]

Keep the Super Reverb. Get the 3 Monkeys, if you can.

I kept my '73 SR after having it BF'd by a major ampflier entity. I regretted BF'ing since then, because it never sounded right to me. Had it re-checked multiple times, which it was confirmed to be fine.

So, the SR sat neglected for a number of years. I figured I was the type who couldn't bond to a Super. It wasn't until I took the SR to my local tech/builder of Vintage Vibrations amps, when he discovered some rather obvious issues. Since there was no love loss at the time, I decided to try Dan's recommendation for the Normal channel gain mod and decided to add two of the THD speakers I had intended to try.

HUGE difference! Huge smile.

That was just on the Reverb Channel. Using an A/B pedal with the Normal channel was like having a whole new amp! Not really Plexi, but Marshallesque in it's own right. It was a revelation of what could be had from a Super Reverb and was on par with any of the finest Supers I've heard in the past. It is MUCH more versatile now than I had ever anticipated.

That said, I just orderd a Vintage Vibrations Hanwell 18 amp, for some savory early Marshall/Watkins tones. Can't wait to get it home!

[Sleepless]

Thanks guys. So far most of you tell me I should get the 3 Monkeys and sell my Super. The only ones who don't are guys who have never played a 3 Monkeys, which is...

Geez, that's tough. I wish the guy wasn't 600 miles away. I could then just try it and decide if he was closer. I can't travel 1200 miles round trip just to tell the guy "well, no, sorry, I'm not buying your amp". Well, I could, but what a loss of time...

Geez...
Geez...

[dewman]

Just ask to evaluate the 3 Monleys for 24 hours and cover shipping...give him a deposit...I've done that for something I wasnt sure would fit...

[Sleepless]

Hi!
I thought I'd give you some feedback on this topic... Well guys, I'm nuts, cuz I travelled 1000 miles round trip to TRY the Orangutan (with the firm intention to buy it I must precise). I took my Super Reverb with me to A/B them and I must say that I kept my SR. The Orangutan is more versatile, that's a fact, but when it comes to clean gritty vintage tones my SR slays the 3 Monkeys in a second.

I found that at least 2 to 3 positions on the Orangutan (namely 1, 5 and 6) are useless or of little interest. The best voicings to me are 2, 3 and 4. But to me a SR will have better cleans and a Metro replica will have better lead tones. I was a little concerned about headroom too. With the amp at 2 o'clock on the volume and the guitar full out it sounds great. But when I back the guitar down to half volume the sound gets thin and lacks in body. I found that to be the worst amp's flaw. At that price it shouldn't get so thin.

Don't get me wrong, the Orangutan is still a great amp. It just wasn't meant for me. I play with my volume and tone knobs and I realized that with this amp and the volume I play at I just have to play with my guitar volume full out all the time or it gets too thin, and that won't do. It's a pretty personal opinion and it doesn't mean that it's a bad amp. Some of you will still say that it's the best amp they've had and they'll probably be right. Others will say that its headroom is more than enough. I need more headroom that's all. I played a Metro JTM45 which is only 32 watts but its headroom is far superior to the 3 Monkeys. That was a big letdown on the Orangutan, and that's the reason why I travelled 1000 miles to buy it and came back with my Super Reverb and no 3 Monkeys.

Thanks a lot for your input!
Cheers!

[FFTT]

No one amp really does it all, but a Super is a damn fine one to have
in your sonic arsenal.

If you want something more aggressive look at the Custom Audio PT100
Reeves Custom 50 or 100, Reinhardt Storm 33, Bad Cat Black Cat or Lynx or
to take it down a notch to something like the Magic Amps Brit MKII series.

Look for an amp that compliments the Super, but also delivers
the tones you are currently missing.