Amps that have surprised you

[glpg80]

carvin blue voodoo -

Hmmm..?
Crate?

sorry yes

 

[droptrd]

Never heard a Quickrod in person.
Wouldnt mind to check one out.
But I know I didnt care for the Nitro when I owned one.

I recorded with a Competition a few weeks ago. Im now saving my allowance That thing is soo MEAN! And I was only in 2nd gear!

 

[TheMagicEight]

Mark V. It doent suck but I think all the hype ruined it for me. It made me go "meh"

A big +1 there. I think when you cram that much circuitry together, the amp loses something. A tangible something, as in if you took only one channel and one mode and put it by itself, the amp would probably sound better. Guess that's the trade-off between sound and features, but maybe they just didn't pull it off.

Anyway, I owned one for about a week before returning it. Spent 20 - 30 hours pushing knobs before I decided I'd rather be playing. FWIW, I think it might have been defective, though a complete tube swap did nothing for it.

 

[sandman]

Blackstar HT-5 is by far the best surprise and good sounding little amp to me for what it is...and cost factor

 

[VoodooChild24]

Ubershcall rev 1. I was just blown away first time I plugged and played this amp. Broooootal.

 

[mysticaxe]

Peavey Vypyr - use it at home as a practice amp - smoked the comparably (cheap) priced Line 6 stuff.

Greenback speakers - You should have seen the look on my face when I took the cord from a 1960a cab to a 1960ax cab at guitar center....

Uber - I've tried a couple versions over the years, but never quite got them. People tell me it sounds great, but I have never liked it. I guess I'm more of a Marshall EQ curve than the chuggggg.

 

[tonmazz]

Uberschall Blue Rev - Big surprise, expected it to be too dark, love it.
OD100SE - Nothing like the clips we had heard, seemed flat or something.
Twinjet - Letdown, expected a two channel beast.

 

[ejecta]

For the Good:
Eganter Renegade
Roccaforte Custom 40
Splawn modded plexi
Modena M60

For the Bad:
Diezel Herbert was compressed and sterile
a Friedman modded amp just flubby and lifeless.. that said the work he did on a Cameron modded amp was great.
Several Fuchs amps were just bleah

 

[glassjaw7]

Mark V. It doent suck but I think all the hype ruined it for me. It made me go "meh"

When I played it I was expecting it to suck from the opinions I gathered here, and it was actually quite good sounding. I was pleasantly surprised. The graphic eq is way different sounding from the IV I played. Maybe that's part of the problem?

 

[dstroud]

Plexi - played guitar for far too many years without ever trying one. Didn't realize that was the amp I had always been looking for.

 

[Jeff Hilligan]

Still to this day a Randall RG100ES just kills with a overdrive pedal.

 

[PeteLaramee]

I was surprised how much I liked the Titan, Diezel Einstein, and Budda SD-18.

I was surprised how much I did not like the Bogner Ecstasy 101B.

 

[vultures]

Mark IV. I was told it could not do 'death'/modern metal. That was completely proven wrong.

 

[thiswaythatway]

Laney GH100L. Heard great things about them but you never really know until you sample something first hand, figured it was just people saying/justfying they loved it because they bought it dirt cheap (the 'poor mans Marshall' tag it gets). Thing blew me away (in a good way), nevermind the price.

+1. I bought one for 400 bucks years ago and it sounded better than my JCM800 at the time. On Greenbacks it sounded great.

 

[thiswaythatway]

Mark V. It doent suck but I think all the hype ruined it for me. It made me go "meh"

A big +1 there. I think when you cram that much circuitry together, the amp loses something. A tangible something, as in if you took only one channel and one mode and put it by itself, the amp would probably sound better. Guess that's the trade-off between sound and features, but maybe they just didn't pull it off.

Anyway, I owned one for about a week before returning it. Spent 20 - 30 hours pushing knobs before I decided I'd rather be playing. FWIW, I think it might have been defective, though a complete tube swap did nothing for it.

Another +1 from me. I thought the V didn't come anywhere close to the hype that Boogie smothers it with. I think the IIC+, III, and IV all sound better on the lead channel.

 

[iplayloudly]

tremoverb.



flame me if you wish

 

[locoed]

Uberschall Rev 1,had one and sold it,then regret set in so i tried in vain to find another one,found
one,pre 100 and i will never sell it.Most brutal amp my ears have heard.
Not to mention how great it sounded out of the box,i was amazed,great amp.Who needs cleans.

 

[Audioholic]

+ 3 for the blackstar HT-5. had one, loved it. I know have a HT-20 on backorder

 

[BAN-ONE]

+1 on the HT5.. Killer home recording amp, I also used a Series One 200 last night for some overdubs and it was pretty awesome too.. Had it wound down to 20 watts. They're fantastic value for money.

Wizard Modern Classic- it blew me away, I knew it would be good but the AC/DC tone was right there!! Not an "AC/DC style sound" but the real deal. Every time I plug in I shake my head in disbelief. If I had have known how good they are, I would've got one years ago.

 

[toxikdeth]

Bad
Mesa boogie mark v-Like someone said above not a bad amp but I was expecting much much more.
Marshall jvm-Sounded too muddy and loose
Mesa boogie roadster-Well just gross

Good
Uberschall-
Mesa boogie mark iic+ played this one cranked, sounded ridiculously awsome.
krank chadwick- played a used one at guitar center sounded good for 550
Diezel vh4-That shit is fuggin awesome. Nothing needs to be said about this amp.
Splawn nitro-When I first heard this amp I thought it was the god of amps....kinda getting sick of it now though