What was your very first amp?

Red Fred · Post by **Red Fred** » Wed May 19, 2004 9:37 pm

My first and current amp is a Marshall MG15CDR. Not a bad amp, 15w I think. Good Marshall style tones, however not foot switchible and the gain channel is terrible....

Hmm on saying it sounds good I can't say I have played through what I consider a good amp before...

porkpie · Post by **porkpie** » Wed May 19, 2004 11:01 pm

I had some kind of valve amp thing, ive no idea what it was and it sounded like poo, i still have it somwhere.
then i got a Ross RG10 i think, that was awful then i got a Marshall valvestate 8080 and that would always blow itsself up, then along came a Marshall JTM-30 which was pretty cool, then a Peavey Classic 50 which was very nice for a while untill i got a Marshall JCM 800 half stack which sounded like Angus coz i had an SG but it was too big and heavy so i traded it for a Marshall Bluesbreaker reissue which i got sick of pretty fast and swapped it for a VOX AC-15 untill i popped the output transformer from always running it flat out, my next amp after a break of 2 years was my wee Fender Bronco then i got my current Vox AC-30 which ill never sell.
sorry for the long post but ive just condensed about 10 years!!!

angry_young_poet · Post by **angry_young_poet** » Thu May 20, 2004 12:52 am

one of those battery powered marshall amps that u could clip onto your belt.. hehehehe..

Champers · Post by **Champers** » Thu May 20, 2004 1:11 am

I didnt have one for my first 4 or so years of playing, just played into a stereo or unplugged. got a jcm800 100w 1/2 stack with my first full time job, still have the same cab but got a tsl100 head now. no other amps really tempt me at the moment but might have to think about getting something a bit smaller when (if) i grow up.

Tsuken · Post by **Tsuken** » Thu May 20, 2004 8:33 am

a 30 watt Roland combo thingy. It came in a package deal with my Samick (brand, not adjective

) strat copy. Very transistory. Sold or gave (can't remember) it to a band mate when I bought a Jansen 100 watt transistor combo. That got nicked, and now I have an itty bitty Park 15 watt thing. It actually sounds better than either of the others (though with the Jansen I did discover the joys of using two types of od/distortion both on full at the same time

), but doesn't exactly cut it in the volume stakes.

goldtop0 · Post by **goldtop0** » Fri May 21, 2004 7:59 pm

Mine was back in 69/70 a Jansen 6/40 combo,the valves glowed red at high volume 2x7027A,it sounded pretty awful as I remember,but we didn't know the diff............seems so long ago now

stark · Post by **stark** » Thu Jun 03, 2004 12:31 pm

goldtop0 wrote:Mine was back in 69/70 a Jansen 6/40 combo,the valves glowed red at high volume 2x7027A,it sounded pretty awful as I remember,but we didn't know the diff............seems so long ago now

i still have an 8/Fifty head with two 7027As. massive amount of clean headroom, it's impossible to overdrive it at a sane volume.

sounds OK, but cab and speaker type make big diff. a lot of ppl hate those old Philips spkrs that Jansen used to use.

stewbaby · Post by **stewbaby** » Thu Jun 03, 2004 7:05 pm

Mine was a Fender Frontman 15G! It was OK, but I gave it to a friend who had no amp when I got my Holden Graphic (100w tubular - totally, man ;^) and Jansen 2x12 cab.

We also have a Leem KA1210 (1x12 100w s/s "multi-amp") which my kids use - my son for bass, and my daughter for keys and a couple of mikes. This is also easier to move around when I need to take the noise to someone else's house.

Patti · Post by **Patti** » Mon Jun 14, 2004 9:09 pm

First was a Fountain 15 W solid state (Yuk), then a Holden 30 solid state (yuk but had Fuzz!) but finally ended up with a NZ made Fender Twin, 70`s era. Crap sound, fucked tubes made for no overdrive. Got a Vox AC50 head next, old JMI model, luverly, great sound, simplicity and beauty at its best. Was cumbersome tho so now have Fender Super 60 (LOUD) which matches my USA Strat just right. But, give me the cash and I`ll buy some other old British valve amp, an Orange maybe!

xCaptainx · Post by **xCaptainx** » Mon Jun 14, 2004 11:46 pm

Mine was a Laney Hardcore Max, then a 5150 combo.

Rog · Post by **Rog** » Tue Jun 15, 2004 7:33 am

> But, give me the cash and I`ll buy some other old British valve amp, an Orange maybe

You'll need heaps of cash for that, mate!!

Richy11 · Post by **Richy11** » Tue Jun 15, 2004 4:46 pm

DrRog wrote:> But, give me the cash and I`ll buy some other old British valve amp, an Orange maybe

You'll need heaps of cash for that, mate!!

Give me the cash and I'll have Triple Rectifier.

goldtop0 · Post by **goldtop0** » Wed Jun 16, 2004 6:51 pm

stark wrote:
goldtop0 wrote:Mine was back in 69/70 a Jansen 6/40 combo,the valves glowed red at high volume 2x7027A,it sounded pretty awful as I remember,but we didn't know the diff............seems so long ago now
i still have an 8/Fifty head with two 7027As. massive amount of clean headroom, it's impossible to overdrive it at a sane volume.

sounds OK, but cab and speaker type make big diff. a lot of ppl hate those old Philips spkrs that Jansen used to use.

Yeah well Philips was all that was available in those days(60s). The Movie theatres were about the only organisation that could get speakers into the country and I think they used Super Gauss or something equally horrific at the time. I'm pretty sure those Philips would have come in 'knocked down' and had the cones put in here.

The Scarecrow · Post by **The Scarecrow** » Wed Jul 21, 2004 1:46 pm

The first amp I ever used, back when I was learning in high school was a Fender Princeton Chorus the school had, which I was able to use in my first high school band (industrial metal, all the rage in 1997) for our one and only proper gig, the school talent quest! I was playing a sorry-looking Ibanez strat (this was before I was a gear geek, didn't know the model) in Drop D. I thought I was the epitome of cool. Thinking back, the distortion channel sucked, the guitar was rubbish and I only played five chords very badly, but we did get awarded the best costume prize....

First amp I owned was a few years back now, a Starfire 10, some random sweat-shop produced solid-stater with three controls and an overdrive switch, pretty bland, but it was surprisingly toneful on clean and I had a DS-1 by that point for distortion. I eventually traded it on my next amp, a large unknown solid-state amp with germanium transistors that was very vintage sounding. I miss that little Starfire 10, I don't think you can get them in NZ, it came from South Africa. I saw it a while back in Cash Convertors in Newmarket, recognised power plug I'd changed over and should of bought it for nostalgias sake but as usuall, CC was overcharging.

My first tube amp was a bit later on, a Gunn 50, and that thing was pretty mean, but I eventually sold it to buy my JCM900, which I will probably be hard pressed to part with....

Post by **GrantB** » Wed Jul 21, 2004 8:46 pm

Gunn 100 watt valve jobbie with the greatest fuzz in the universe (at the time)...but as reliable as that acquiantence you called in to play bass for that special gig and he never showed...but that fuzz...

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What was your very first amp?

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