Amp Suggestions for Rock and Country

[ryanpullin]

I'm in the market for a new amp and I so far have a few in mind:
Budda Superdrive 45
Fender Supersonic 100
Mesa Boogie Lonestar (haven't seen/heard much of this amp, but I like what I've been able to hear and see of it)

I live in an area where good music stores are sparse to completely nonexistent so I've unfortunately had to base my opinions of the amps purely from youtube videos and demos.

Basically, I'm looking for an amp that can give me an awesome and really dynamic distortion, but also be able to clean up decently well. My band plays rock/alt rock, but I've been getting into country/blues/bluegrass a lot lately and would love for an amp that could do both. Tones like Closure in Moscow to Brad Paisley are really what I'm after. My main guitar is a tele with single coils, I'll probably be trying to get a set of Kinman Broadcasters for it soon; it's got Dimarzio areas in it as of now.

Edit: I'm hopefully looking for something 2000 bucks or less, but I might be able to push into the 2500 area.

If you'd like to check my band out to get a gist of our style, here's some links:

 

[Badronald]

Do you currently own a tube amp?

 

[ryanpullin]

Nah, I've just got an Axe FX II at the moment.

 

[Badronald]

Are you gigging live?

If not, you may already have what you need.

 

[stratotone]

Rock and country? Bogner 101B. One of the best cleans in a head, awesome mid gain dirt in the blue channel and the red is over the top.

 

[ryanpullin]

Are you gigging live?

If not, you may already have what you need.

Just getting back into gigging actually, that's why I'm lookin for an amp. I had gotten the Axe FX II because I thought I would do more home recording, but I don't like how it functions as my main preamp for live applications

 

[ryanpullin]

Rock and country? Bogner 101B. One of the best cleans in a head, awesome mid gain dirt in the blue channel and the red is over the top.

Awesome, thanks, I'll give that a look! The only Bogner I had really checked out so far was the Shiva, that's one of the only Bogners I can really say I've ever heard anything about

Edit: whoa that might be a little out of my price range haha. I guess I'm lookin for somethin like 2000 bucks or less hopefully

 

[Badronald]

Fender Twin Reverb, Bogner Red pedal and two Carbon Copy's. One set for slapback and one set long.

Or a Bogner Ecstacy.

 

[ryanpullin]

If you're suggestin a Twin, I'd probably just get the Super Sonic then because that seems to have a pretty true Twin tone as far as I can tell. Someone be proactive in proving me wrong if I am though haha.

And that Bogner Ecstasy looks sweet, but that's just so out of my budget.

 

[Heritage Softail]

If you can try a Dr Z they do pretty good. I have a Maz 38. Smokes for modern country and takes pedals. With a compressor and a Tele, it is that trademark sound. Has a loop.

The 38 is significantly louder than the 18. I carry a Wampler Triple wreck pedal and can cop all the gain I want.

The YT vids seemed too good. It really does not disappoint. And yes, it is very loud. Not sure how they calculated 38W, but it has punch.

 

[Red_Label]

Rock and country? Bogner 101B. One of the best cleans in a head, awesome mid gain dirt in the blue channel and the red is over the top.

Awesome, thanks, I'll give that a look! The only Bogner I had really checked out so far was the Shiva, that's one of the only Bogners I can really say I've ever heard anything about

Edit: whoa that might be a little out of my price range haha. I guess I'm lookin for somethin like 2000 bucks or less hopefully

I gigged for many years in a classic rock and country band. I gigged a Bogner XTC Classic, Bogner Shiva (EL34), H&K Triamp Mk I, Traynor YCS100H, Fender Twin Reverb Reissue, Peavey Classic 50 and other amps. I would say that my favorites for that gig were the Shiva and Triamp Mk I. Both of which can be easily had for under $1500 right now. The XTC can also be had for under $2K if you keep your eyes open. I have an XTC 101B at the house right now and I would recommend the Shiva over it for what you're looking for. The XTC is overkill and the cleans on the Shiva are better for country IMO. I used a Visual Sound Route 66 and later an MXR Dynacomp to get my "squish" on ala Paisley. The clean on the Triamp is probably my favorite clean of all time. But that thing is a BEAST to haul around for country gigs (and like the XTC, it's overkill). Mine weight 96# in its road case. Ouch!


Btw... the Mesa Lonestar that you've been considering is also a GREAT choice. I know a guy who's been gigging one for years and his Paisley tone is right-on. If I was still doing the country thing, I would definitely have tried a Lonestar by now. And I also second the Dr.Z suggestion... as that's what Paisley uses anyways. I did dig my Twin for country, but had to use my Carl Martin Plexitone pedal to get the rock tones that I wanted out of it.

 

[Badronald]

If you're suggestin a Twin, I'd probably just get the Super Sonic then because that seems to have a pretty true Twin tone as far as I can tell. Someone be proactive in proving me wrong if I am though haha.

And that Bogner Ecstasy looks sweet, but that's just so out of my budget.

The Twin has a much bigger, fatter tone. It's a classic beautiful tone.

An the Bogner Ecstasy pedal is better dirt than ANY Fender gain channel. Better than most amp gain channels. Imo.

 

[Red_Label]

If you're suggestin a Twin, I'd probably just get the Super Sonic then because that seems to have a pretty true Twin tone as far as I can tell. Someone be proactive in proving me wrong if I am though haha.

And that Bogner Ecstasy looks sweet, but that's just so out of my budget.

The Twin has a much bigger, fatter tone. It's a classic beautiful tone.

An the Bogner Ecstasy pedal is better dirt than ANY Fender gain channel. Better than most amp gain channels. Imo.

Agree on the Twin deal. That tone is FAT. But the damn amp needs casters! My backed hated that beast.

In regards to the XTC Red (or Blue) pedal... I had one last year and it was great running into my custom Straub head (6L6 blackface tone). But it definitely sounds just like an XTC and not a more open Marshall tone. I find that I'm preferring the Marshall roar this year so I sold my Red pedal. For classic rock, I find the Bogner XTC sound to be too compressed and smooth for my liking. The Shiva is a little more raw to my ears (though dark). I wish Bogner would come out with a two-channel Shiva pedal that was more or less the preamp from that amp.

 

[SLOgriff]

 

['63-Strat]

Dr. Z and a couple pedals is what I'd get if it was me.

 

[ryanpullin]

I'm really leanin hard on the Budda Superdrive, the Dr. Z Maz 38, or the Lonestar. I'm really hopin to get just a head because I'm in the process of ordering a custom speaker cabinet through Omega Enclosures. I'd like to have an amp that can do its own thing in regard to distortion. I'm not a huge fan of pedals, but I guess I'll get a couple if I have to haha

 

[ibenhad]

This post is not a joke. Country guys love Peavey's I say try a 5150. I love the clean on mine with my Tele. Plus enough gain on tap for anything else you may want. Keith Urban uses older Marshall's and Bogner's and I believe Aldean's guitarist was using some form of Boogie. 5150 is cheap and a dime a dozen. If you don't like it the resale value is always there. Maybe a 5150 combo and a Peavey Classic 30 or something in stereo? Just my take and I listen to lots of country. If you can afford to get the Ecstasy as it is a keeper. Hands down one of the best amps I own. I have the classic and it's three channels of Bogner goodness.

 

[rokket2005]

I'm not sure why you're against using the axe. If you are getting a cab, get a nice poweramp and it will cover all the tones you have. You already have it, and it's a cheaper option overall. An even cheaper option would be to ditch the cab and just get some nice in ear monitors and go direct.

 

[ryanpullin]

This post is not a joke. Country guys love Peavey's I say try a 5150. I love the clean on mine with my Tele. Plus enough gain on tap for anything else you may want. Keith Urban uses older Marshall's and Bogner's and I believe Aldean's guitarist was using some form of Boogie. 5150 is cheap and a dime a dozen. If you don't like it the resale value is always there. Maybe a 5150 combo and a Peavey Classic 30 or something in stereo? Just my take and I listen to lots of country. If you can afford to get the Ecstasy as it is a keeper. Hands down one of the best amps I own. I have the classic and it's three channels of Bogner goodness.

I understand that, our other guitarist has a 5150 as a matter of fact. I used to own a 6505+ and although it is a very good sounding amp, I feel like it's almost a channel wasted since the red channel is too high gain for my tastes. And the amp is so loud, trying to push it harder to get the power tube saturation just makes me go deaf. I've played through both a 5150 and a 6505+ and I've just come to a definitive conclusion that I really don't want something along those lines.

 

[ryanpullin]

I'm not sure why you're against using the axe. If you are getting a cab, get a nice poweramp and it will cover all the tones you have. You already have it, and it's a cheaper option overall. An even cheaper option would be to ditch the cab and just get some nice in ear monitors and go direct.

Because to effectively use the Axe FX, I'd pretty much be just as much in a financial hole than if I just bought a whole new amp all together. I'd have to buy more than just a power amp, and I miss being able to just turn knobs on an amp, as dumb as that sounds. Axe FX has amazing effects and I'd never get rid of it because of it's awesome amp models and it's almost limitless functions, but there's just something about a real amp that you can't beat, in my mind.

And I can't really go direct because a lot of the places my band has played has had really shady PA systems, whether we actually got a good PA or some crappy one some guy had in his basement. We can't even guarantee a good, solid PA so going direct isn't really an option for me right now.