This may or may not go here but!!!!!. As builders of high end great guitars and players of the same. If you could have one amp to show off the great guitar you have built or just sold your soul to buy what would it be. I am in the market for a new one and would love your opinion. In my opinion a great amp can make a so so guitar sounds way better than a great guitar making a suck amp sound great.
There are just so many choices, I'd recommend going to a store with several boutiques to try out. It's kinda like going to Baskin & Robbins. . . many flavors taste great. I've got a Bogner with my Thorn guitar, but I like Bad Cat, Carr, and many others. Typically, I prefer a 6L6 or EL84 amp.
and so it begins again, for me anyways....having finally found the right guitar for me after a decade long search (a Grosh Retro Classic) its time to find the right amp...leaning towards a Bruno Cowtipper 22 although I like Bad Cat's stuff alot too....in the meantime while I save up a Carr Rambler might work for me, I just know I need to get out of Fender Blues Jr land
AJ, I'm currently playing my retroclassic thru my friend's carvin vintage 16. it's got JJ tubes and an eminence speaker and it just kills the blues jr, IMO. for the same price too. there's one on ebay for $300 with no bids right now. you could probably unload it for what you bought it for. if I were you I'd sell the bj & pickup the v16. the only thing is that the v16 was way less gain than the bj, short of cranking the amp, but the clean tones are not as obnoxious as the blues jr. the cleans can get really mellow and warm if you need them to without getting muddy. I think this is an amp that doesn't get enough credit. so if you have a decent OD pedal, this should keep you satisfied while you save up for your perfect amp. I"m going to try to buy the amp from my buddy. that's how much I like it. sorry if this post didn't answer the original poster's question.
I'd say the Komet 60. A hell of an amp, very versatile, as touch responsive as you could want. With the right tubes, it'll give you almost any rock sound you need, plus a crystal clarity if set up for that. Not an amp I have a use for (though I love how they sound), but if I were a luthier showing off my wares, I could certainly see using one.
Well currently I have a custom encased Splawn (its a snakeskin tolex and has a custom quilted faceplate that matches the top on my guitar) but when the Thorn arrives I really want either a Bad Cat Hot Cat or a 65 - London. The 65 is the absolute top of the list but its just so pricey and you cant really find any on the used market (go figure) Here are pics of the Splawn and one of the guitar it matches. Its practically impossible to take a decent picture of the amp due to glare and what not.
The allessandro Beagle and English are incredibly transparent or sensitive to different guitars. The amp really presents the guitars natural voice. It is on the voxy side but I think that the Allies do a great job of showing off the guitar. cmn
wouldn't it be more important to have one amp, whatever kind, and a few standard reference guitars to compare the gutiar to? like, "this is the guitar i built, played through my fender deluxe. this is how it compares to an off-the-shelf LP, ES-335, strat, and tele. doesn't mine sound better?"
Well, you'd think so, but some guitars work better with one type of amp, and some work better with another. Everything works as a system. rooster.
I really think the way to go is to have a couple of good amps to demo the guitars with. When I demo my amps, I use a Heritage H150CM, a Frankenstrat with Bill Lawrence pickups, and an American Dean with a Seth in the neck and a P-90 in the bridge. This gives the customer an idea of what the amp can do. Otherwise, I tell them to bring their own guitar and plug it in. I've found that my amps are not so fond of EMGs, but others have said my amps work very well with them. rooster.
