Guitar - Compared Mesa, Fender and Marshall Combo Amps and Amp Heads

[bracheen]

Dave/Mike
Thanks, I was just curious. Seperate amp/preamp seems pretty common in bass racks but I've not heard of it mentioned in guitar racks and was wondering if component systems were available.
 
Sam

[lbpesq]

Actually, Jerry Garcia used essentially a pre-amp/power amp set up for years.  He used the pre-amp section of a Fender Twin Reverb and put it into a MacIntosh 2300 power amp I believe.
 
Bill, tgo

[dadabass2001]

So did Bobby Weir. I believe that was during the days of Alembics direct invovlement with the Deads live sound.
 
Mike

[andrewknight]

Was it the earlier, or later years that Jerry used the Fender preamp?

[lbpesq]

Andrew:
 
I copied the following from the dozin.com web site (a GREAT site for info about the Dead and their equipment)
 
72- ...  By this point, his silverface Fender Twin amp was already a central part of his sound. He continued to use the preamp from the Fender amp through 1993. From the late '70's to about 1993 he didn't use the power amp & speakers of the Fender, instead using three JBL D120/E120 speakers in a vertical box powered by a McIntosh solid state amp (note that this probably made the power amp Class A, which is not the Class AB power amp that the Fender normally has). It was miked with a Sennheiser 421 mic.
 
The site also has the rig that Jerry went to in the 90's.
 
Bill, tgo

[pace]

Interesting to note~ there's a part in the GD movie where there's what appears to be a F2-B sitting on top of his cab.... A lot of the late 70's - early 80's JGB shows he used a Mesa combo. Eventually the guts of the silverface got paired with the guts of a blackface & you'd see those together in a custom cabinet fliped on it's side next to his cab..  

[edwin]

On top of his cab? That would be 35 feet in the air! :-) In the GD movie, each instrument is running through its own PA with no intervening amps, mics or mixing boards.  
 
The blackface and silverface were setup as a primary amp and a backup. The silverface got the most use.
 
What I always wondered was, why 3 JBLs? How was it run off the channels of the 2300? Why not 4? or 2? Weird.
 
 
Edwin

[hollis]

I run my guitar through 3 12's. Why?  I have no idea.....  It just worked out that way...  Weird?
Sure, why not?  It sounds good to me... Oh yeah,  the sound must have something to do with it. Or mayhaps; The three bears fit in somewhere; 2 12's? Not enough umph....  4 12's?  Too heavy... 3 12's?....  Just right!......  Who's that blonde girl?  Yeah.... Weird..... LOL!

[kmh364]

Andrew: Just my two cents, but have you tried some of the boutique amps? For the price of some of the mass-market stuff (or sometimes for less), you can get hand-made hard-wired stuff that'll blow the more common stuff away quality and tone-wise. For instance if you're into the vintage Fender vibe, Victoria, Dumble, Koch, Straub, etc. make a super nice amps. For a Marshall sound, Germino, TopHat, Straub, Splawn, etc. are hard to beat.  
 
My point here is that it is ultimately your money and your choice. Play the hell out of EVERYTHING before you spend.  
 
I've spent over 25 years trying to find the right tone myself, and I think I'm finally there. I've settled on a modded silverface '79 Fender Twin Reverb 2x12 combo (in a Sultone custom mahogany/maple oversize cab with Weber VST JBL D-120 clones) for clean stuff and a Custom Straub Cantus 50W Marshall plexi-style head and custom 2X12 cab for the dirty stuff. See my thread in the Misc. section of the club for pix and info if interested.
 
Whatever you go with, good luck and enjoy!
 
(Message edited by kmh364 on February 11, 2005)

[andrewknight]

I still haven't made the purchase. I have decided to simply play through a Fender Blues Jr. that provides an adequate sound until I can convert my garage into a sound studio. Then I'll get serious about sound system and amp selections. I figure I might as well listen to what I am going to purchase in the place I'll play the most before I buy the stuff. Thanks for all the input everyone! I do have to say that I really like the sound through the little Fender...it is a tube amp combo and the Tribute really makes it sound good!

[tom_z]

Andrew - you might look into Two Rock amplifiers http://www.two-rock.com/
 
Check out some of the sound clips on their site.
 
Tom

[kmh364]

Have you considered a relatively cheap, mass-market Fender-style combo amp that is available everywhere and has great tone?
 
Peavey's Classic 30! Tweed cab, mostly tube, spring reverb and awesome sound!

[kmh364]

Bill Boekhoff over at Sultone.com did an awesome wood cab for a Classic 30 that needs to be seen to be believed. Either way, that little amp has vintage tone for days, and is about as portable as it gets for an amp that can gig out.

[alanbass1]

Being a guitarist of many years I have gone through so many amps it's unreal.  Many of these were Boogies and the only one's I would recommend are the Mk 1, Mk3 Simul Class and the Blue Angel.  I have two amps now, a Badcat Cub II for small gigs and a Victoria Low Powered Twin for bigger venues and these just blow away the mass market manufacturers for clear clean tone with depth, and break up ever so nicely.  They also take to pedals extremely well. I would agree with kmh 364, try some of the Boutique makers before plunging for a Boogie as they are not that much more expensive.

[lbpesq]

Mark III Simul Class YEAH!!!  I use it at the studio (reheasal) set at 15 watts  (I suspect it would be hard to find a louder 15 watts anywhere) and at 75 watts for gigs.  Two amps in one!  Or more like six amps in one - 3 channels, 15/75 watts.  The main complaint with the Mark III is the shared gain control for the clean rhythm (Fender) and crunch rhytm (Marshall) channels.   Solution?  I had Boogie take out the direct out pot in the back (I never used it) and replaced it with a gain control for the crunch rhythm channel.  Problem solved.  Great amp.  But I don't think you'd go wrong with the others mentioned above either.
 
Bill, tgo