Comparison of 26 tube amps (clean, crunch, rock & metal)

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Hey everyone, new guy here. I can't believe I've only discovered this forum now. It looks like an awesome place! I'm looking forward to chatting about amps, effects and all that good stuff here.

Ok, so I currently own 26 tube amps so I guess it's safe to say that I'm an amp addict... Since I have all these amps I thought it would be fun to make a comparison between all the amps. I did a similar comparison a few months back when I had 22 amps but I did that one only with a heavy rock tone and only in full band context. So this time around there are clean, crunch, rock and boosted metal tones for each amp. Hopefully this will make the comparison appealing and useful to more people. It was a lot of work but in the end I really enjoyed it and it's just a lot of fun for me to be able to see and hear all my amps side by side.

This time around there are also isolated segments for each amp during the second half of the comparison. You will be able to hear the differences between the amps more clearly this way. I personally prefer the full band segments in the first half because to me it's much more important to hear how an amp functions in context. I do understand though why people would also want isolated clips.

I included a Maxon OD808 this time around for the metal segments because I know a lot of people like to boost their amps. However I would recommend checking out the 'rock' segments if you want to hear the amps with unboosted high gain settings.

And here is a list of the amps that are included:

EVH 5150 III EL34 50W
Mesa/Boogie Mini Rectifier 25
Marshall JVM410H
Orange Tiny Terror
Peavey 6505
Marshall Studio Vintage SV20H 1959 SLP
ENGL Fireball 100 E635
Orange Rocker 15 Terror
PRS MT15
Marshall JCM 2000 DSL50
Mesa/Boogie Mark 5 35
Orange Jim Root Terror
Laney IRT60H Ironheart
Marshall Studio Classic SC20H JCM800
Hughes & Kettner Grandmeister Deluxe 40
Orange Dual Terror DT30H
Peavey 6505MH
Mesa/Boogie Dual Rectifier
Marshall JMP-1 preamp (through the DSL50's power amp)
EVH 5150 III LBX
Orange Brent Hinds Terror
ENGL Ironball 20 E606
Marshall Silver Jubilee Studio 2525H
Laney IRT Studio
Orange OR15
Marshall DSL20HR

It's not a short video but there are timecodes in the description for each segment so that should help if you don't want to watch the whole thing :) Of course I would love to know what you guys thought and which of the amps were your favorites....

Here we go:

 
That is really good, so good in fact, all of the amps sounded great. I liked the big iron amps myself and didn't realize how much of a difference big iron makes! Thanks for this, it must have been pretty labor intensive.
 
Markedman":g2rarlor said:
That is really good, so good in fact, all of the amps sounded great. I liked the big iron amps myself and didn't realize how much of a difference big iron makes! Thanks for this, it must have been pretty labor intensive.
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Thanks! Yes, it was a lot of work but very rewarding! It's a lot of fun to be able to hear all my amps side by side like this. It's just something that I HAD to do, if that makes sense. :)

What is it about the big iron amps that you prefer if I may ask? Some of the EL84 amps sound pretty huge, like the H&K Grandmeister Deluxe or the Mini Rectifier.
 
Welcome to Rig-Talk GuitarJon :cheers:

Rig-Talk is an awesome place :D

Disregard the current spam fest going on in a few of the threads right now regarding Fortin and Larry amps. We are just letting off a little steam.
:lol: :LOL: :lol: :LOL: :lol: :LOL:


So cool that you did this. I'm sure it was a lot of work. Looks like a great list and I look forward to checking it out tonight. Thanks for posting :yes:
 
311splawndude":1pfabnjp said:
Welcome to Rig-Talk GuitarJon :cheers:

Rig-Talk is an awesome place :D

Disregard the current spam fest going on in a few of the threads right now regarding Fortin and Larry amps. We are just letting off a little steam.
:lol: :LOL: :lol: :LOL: :lol: :LOL:


So cool that you did this. I'm sure it was a lot of work. Looks like a great list and I look forward to checking it out tonight. Thanks for posting :yes:
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Thank you! It's good to be here. I really like the fact that there are areas here for specific brands that don't have any large forums. And it seems like there are a LOT of people here who like to talk gear so I'm already loving it :)

The video was a LOT of work indeed. I've been wanting to do it for a while but I had a Marshall phase in the last 6 months or so so I wanted to wait until I had all the Marshalls that I wanted. I hope you enjoy the comparison!
 
Considering you are playing the same thing for clean crunch and lead it`s crazy how close in sound they are. Not knockn it but to my ears you could close youre eyes and pick one and you would be good to go.
 
panhead":3567ca2y said:
Considering you are playing the same thing for clean crunch and lead it`s crazy how close in sound they are. Not knockn it but to my ears you could close youre eyes and pick one and you would be good to go.
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Well, we have to take into account that I'm playing all those clips, with a reamped take so only recorded once, with the same guitar/pickups and I'm the one dialing in the amps. Plus the cab IR's make a huge difference. All those things combined will make them sound more similar by nature BUT it will also allow people to hear the actual differences within the limitations of how I personally like to set the controls of the amps.
 
Awesome video as usual Jon. You're videos are the best imo when it comes to amp demos and the playing. Such a variety!
 
Guitarjon":2q91qzku said:
panhead":2q91qzku said:
Considering you are playing the same thing for clean crunch and lead it`s crazy how close in sound they are. Not knockn it but to my ears you could close youre eyes and pick one and you would be good to go.
Click to expand...

Well, we have to take into account that I'm playing all those clips, with a reamped take so only recorded once, with the same guitar/pickups and I'm the one dialing in the amps. Plus the cab IR's make a huge difference. All those things combined will make them sound more similar by nature BUT it will also allow people to hear the actual differences within the limitations of how I personally like to set the controls of the amps.
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Cool
 
This was amazing, thank you!
For what it's worth, I thought the EVH EL34 50 watt sounded the best!

DSL 50 hung in there too. Would have liked to have heard a full 2203 in there. The 20 watt version just didn't cut it for me.

Really brings out the differences between big bottle amps, smaller amps, and hybrid/digital amps.
 
Great video, playing and whatnot...but why no inclusion of any Fender amps?
 
herewegoagain":3913978g said:
Great video, playing and whatnot...but why no inclusion of any Fender amps?
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The answer is simple, I just don't have any Fender amps to include. You're not the first one to say that though :)
 
Great stuff!
And quite recognizable from some of the amps that I own or know well.

I agree that big iron/glass makes quite a difference; the PRS MT15 surprised me.
While the Mini Rectifier can give the illusion of sounding big, it's a bit 2 dimensional.
I'm comparing the Isolated Rock samples, where some of the differences perhaps better noticable. And the EVH 5150III EL34 50W turned out to be pretty much the standard that I compared others to. That one sounds awesome. In comparison to the EVH, I noticed that the Mesa Mark V:35 did still exhibit the 'smallish' EL84 tone for instance.

On a related note:
Do you also find that the Engl Ironball, while big sounding for an EL84, is quite dark? I find myself running mine with Treble and Presence around 2'oclock and sometimes even higher.
 
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