Most versatile amps ever

[a.hun]

For that sort of money you should definitely be including either a vintage Hiwatt or a modern equivalent such as a Reeves.

Basically sweet sounding clean amps but also among the most big / powerful sounding and versatile due to the great design. Excellent EQ which'll allow (when wanted) way more mids than you'll normally get from a Fender. Tonality wise you can get close to most other makes out there, Fender and Marshall both included. Very hard to get bad sounds out of (which is handy) but also very easy to get lots of very different sounds out of (which is very handy!) They also take pedals brilliantly, so with a small selection of classic overdrive / distortion / fuzz pedals and that one amp you'll have solutions to most sound problems.

I know I do go on about Hiwatts a bit, but if you ever try one you'll know exactly why. On the back of the old ones it says 'AP' = 'all purpose'. They can be used in basically any situation with any instrument to get fantastic results. They are also basically bomb proof reliable.

Seriously, get a good Hiwatt in there!


Andy.

[snickerpuss]

Hiwatts are ridiculous. At first I thought there was something wrong with the preamp of the dr504 a friend had just cause it felt like it fed your signal through unfettered and transparent. Davey Gilmour loved his 100 watts in the studio, but do they have a model or clone that does a lower watt Jimmy Page style studio friendly design?

[a.hun]

Hiwatts are ridiculous. At first I thought there was something wrong with the preamp of the dr504 a friend had just cause it felt like it fed your signal through unfettered and transparent. Davey Gilmour loved his 100 watts in the studio, but do they have a model or clone that does a lower watt Jimmy Page style studio friendly design?

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Yeah your typical vintage Hiwatt can seem very 'straight through'. Partly to do with the amazingly spec'd transformers they used.

The DR103 Partridge Output Transformer
This is a wide bandwidth "hi fi" transformer, much more so than the normal guitar amp output transformers in wide use.

Primary Impedance (Raa) 1750Ω
Frequency Response (-3db) 3.6 hz - 112 khz (!)
Weight 3.2kg (7 pounds)

That and the fact that they stay relentlessly clean until cranked extremely loud.

Nick ('fiveightandten') described them well here:

In all seriousness, Hiwatts are a pretty different beast from about any other amp out there,aren't they 5/8/10?

They are and they aren't. They're a little too transparent to have any strong sonic signature to them, the way Oranges or old Marshalls do. But that's kind of what makes them unique. If that makes any sense.

They sound like tube amps. The only thing really distinguishable about them is the gritty texture they get when they overdrive. But even that can be dialed out at different EQ settings. It's tough to pick them out of a mix because they sound completely different with different guitars, and the tone controls offer a real wide range of sounds, not just variations on the same sound, like most amps. They can sound Voxesque, Marshalleqsue, Orangesque...but still retain a certain transparency and clarity that's hard to find elsewhere.

Oh, and I dig 'em.

-Nick

Totally agree with that. So versatile and great sounding. I first played one (with my own bass) in about '81 or '82. I never ever forgot how good it was, and when I eventually grabbed a nice one about 4 years back it was even better than I'd remembered. If you put one in a studio, trust me, you'd get really good use out of it, low or high gain.


Andy.

[OR73]

I think every studio needs a Fender Champ, an old lower wattage Supro and a Vox AC30. You can get a lot of sounds from those and cover many many bases outside of chugging metal.

[Wired]

Orange AD30TC
Marshall JTM-45
Vox AC30
Fender Deluxe Reverb
and ???

Marshall JCM series, like a JCM 900 or something?


Essentially one would need 5 amps that cover the basis of all popular music. The 5 most popular amps.

So I just look on stages and I see:

Fender Twin
Fender Bassman
Fender DLX Reverb
Marshall JTM-45
Marshall JCM900/800
Vox AC30
Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier
Orange Rockerverb series

What about bass amps? or would she just DI all the bass? Because a studio should have a Portaflex fliptop at the very least.

[Randy Bass]

Even though lots of people record bass guitar directly now, it would be handy to have the option of a classic tube bass tone. A Bassman, Ampeg V-4B, or M*rshall Super Bass would be a great way to go because they are excellent for vintage guitar and bass tones in one box.

[snickerpuss]

She usually records bass direct, unless the band specifically requests against. She's got a vintage SVT that sounds killer and that's always worked when the band doesn't want to use their own gear.

[Vertikal]

Matchless 30/15
Matchless Chieftain
Matchless Independence
Matchless Lightning

Those vary from 15 to 40 watts so ideal for studio usage. If you don't mind digging deep into your Visa Debit Card.

Hope all goes well for, and much sympathy for her sad loss.

[0000]

Matchless 30/15
Matchless Chieftain
Matchless Independence
Matchless Lightning

Those vary from 15 to 40 watts so ideal for studio usage. If you don't mind digging deep into your Visa Debit Card.

Hope all goes well for, and much sympathy for her sad loss.

As a fellow Matchless amp owner (Phoenix and Clubman), I must agree that a Matchless is a must have for any serious recording studio. No other amp comes close to the three-dimensional, sparkling, swirling, richness of a Matchless amp. Having four of them would be overkill, yet amazing. I would suggest any Matchless that utilizes a EF86 preamp circuit, such as the DC30 or Phoenix (both two channel amps, so you have 12ax7 and also EF86).

In the lower wattage Matchless line, the Lighting would make the most sense to have in a studio, as it exemplifies the Matchless tone perfectly. My preference would be the Nighthawk, but that's just because I love the EF86 preamp.

[Wired]

I asked one of the engineer of one of the best studios in town what his studio amps are. This is his list:


Acoustic 370 (Bass amp)
Ampeg B15s Portaflex
Ampeg SVT 8x10
Gnez Benz BG15 1x15" Cab
Brisco 2x6 solid state
Fender 1965 VibroChamp
Fender 1972 Pro Reverb 212
Fender 1968 Bandmaster Reverb w/212
Fender 1972 Musicmaster Bass amp
Guild 66J
Vox 1966 Cambridge
Afterburner Pocket Guitar Amp
Marshall JTM-45


His idea is that chances are if the guitarists and bassists that are coming in with the mainstream gear already, Fender Twins, JCM's, AC30's etc. If they like that tone, they will own that amp as they are readily available. So those amps never got used when he had them in the studio. He sold them all to get more rare obscure stuff that could fit special needs depending on the situation.

Talking with another engineer that we are getting ready to master our record with, he has a similar philosophy. He went with botique amps or rarer amps like a Soldano Astroverb, Matchless Chieften, Ampeg Gemini, Dr.Z Maz18... that kinda thing.

Interesting that it's kind of the reverse of these two major local studios compared to what we were thinking.

[Puckhog]

You've asked for the most "versatile" - Its far from an exhaustive list, but I presently own and regularly use the following amps, and the last one listed is easily the most "versatile" I've ever encountered.

Fender '65 Deluxe Reverb Reissue (combo)
Fender '57 Deluxe - Tweed (combo)
Carr Rambler (combo)
Magnatone 280 Double-V (combo)
Magnatone 480 Venus (combo)
Goodsell Super-17 Reverb (head)
Orange Rocker-30 (head)
Marshall DSL-50 (head)
Mesa-Boogie Studio Pre with 50:50 Stereo Power Amp (rack mounts)
Redplate Blackverb Standard (head)

It can't do the full-on metal or thrashing thing, and they don't come cheap, but from Fender Twin cleans to Dumble-esqe OD and everything in between, the Redplate is unreal. It gets about 75% of my time playing, and I've owned it now for 5-years, so the honeymoon hyperbole is long gone; its just an exceptionally versatile amp, period.

Good Luck!

[sidvicious]

i'm with puckhog on the versatile thing in mentioning the dumble clone. that's why i mentioned the fuchs ods.

those amps are extremely quiet and have a huge range available. very large in sound if room micing. i wouldn't have a studio without one. and for putups or shutups, i have a fuchs 4 aces and an ods on the way.

*never played the redplate but i hear nothing but great things about it.

[Puckhog]

Yeah, no doubt. I've been seriously considering an ODS for about 10-years now and/or a Carol Ann OD-50 (EL-34) too; probably would have pulled the trigger on one or both if I'd have had sufficient bank. Of the two, the ODS is easily the more versatile, and he (Alan) makes some truly stellar products. I've dabbled with a couple of the ODS's over the years and they're definitely in the Cadillac class.

[sidvicious]

puck, i've been circling the carol ann stuff myself. in fact, i've imagined that, with a fuchs ods, and carol ann el34 amp, damn near everything is covered in those two amps. over the years i've seen quite a few dedicated marshall, boogie, and other die-hards jump ship to a good dumble style circuit.

the carol ann stuff looks very nice. as for the fuchs, all i can say is WOW! if you have a fender twin or deluxe, etc., and wanna REALLY get something out of it, have andy fuchs mod it for you. you'll scratch your asss and feel it for the first time.

[Ddjembe Mutombo]

For 5 amps she should just by amps that capture each sound the best.

With that being said, these are the most versatile amps I have ever played through:
Hughes & Kettner Triamp MKII
Diezel VH4
Fractal Audio System's Axe-FX II
ENGL Invader or SE
Bogner Ecstasy
Marshall 6100

I've owned both the Triamp MKII and 6100. They were both good heads that can cover a lot of sonic territory, but they just lacked the character that made the classics sound great. I ended up selling my Triamp MKII in order to pay for a Rocker 30 and AD30. I sold my 6100 to purchase studio monitors.