Most durable / reliable amp manufactuers

[FIREBALL]

I think today, unless its PTP wired, the PC boards are all wave soldered for the most part. So that makes them all kinda close i would think.

it is closer than it used to be atleast

 

[RJF]

Every Mesa I've owned has had problems. My Dual rectifier has been with my tech for the last 2 months with problems.

Does it mean I think Mesas aren't solid? Nope....

I don't think it matters what brand you have, you'll find examples of people having no problems over a long period of time, and you will have people that have problems with the same brand/model. Nothing lasts forever, regardless of brand.

 

[glassjaw7]

I haven't toured and gig'd a ton of amps by any means, so I can't say one manufacturer is the best. But I can say that in 6 years of playing my DR the only problem I've had is one of the switches going bad on my footswitch. Quick fix and back in action. I think Boogie stuff is very reliable. I know my buddy's Mark IV has never given him trouble either and he plays 4 hour sets almost every weekend.

 

[ACShreds]

My Mark IV has been around the country twice in the most extreme temperatures you can find without a roadcase and still works great, plus it was already 10 years old when i got it. Not gonna lie i know Mesa gets a lot of flack for stuff but i definitely think they will outlast damn near any other amp out there.

 

[FIREBALL]

My Mark IV has been around the country twice in the most extreme temperatures you can find without a roadcase and still works great, plus it was already 10 years old when i got it. Not gonna lie i know Mesa gets a lot of flack for stuff but i definitely think they will outlast damn near any other amp out there.

i love mesa, but my mark 4 eq sliders would break, and i babied it...so far my mark v is great

 

[noob_pwn]

my 5150 was from the original year of production and had been owned by a guy who toured it hard for a good 6 years before i bought it and thrashed it for another 2.
I played over 200 shows with that amp and never had a single problem with it ever

 

[FIREBALL]

my 5150 was from the original year of production and had been owned by a guy who toured it hard for a good 6 years before i bought it and thrashed it for another 2.
I played over 200 shows with that amp and never had a single problem with it ever

ive done the same with my 5150II

 

[Mudder]

In my experience:

Peavey (VTM, Ultra, 6505+ all built like a fall out shelter)
Mesa (Mark 4, single rec)
Soldano (Avenger, Atomic 16 - this was shipped to me from Fla in a box that was way too big with no padding. Put in new tubes and rocked out.)

 

[fickle]

I actually haven't held on to one amp long enough to tell.. However my Splawn Modded Marshall and Friedman Marsha will be put to the test!!
Those 2 amps are keepers for life

 

[emunder]

Peavey seemed to have created a tank of an amp with the 5150/6505s.

+1...this for sure. I have a script logo 5150 and it is a trooper. Not one problem with the amp other than tube changes.

 

[Heritage Softail]

SLO It has a lifetime warranty, even if you buy it second hand. Sounds like sonic sex and built like a tank......

 

[droptrd]

Soldano (Avenger, Atomic 16 - this was shipped to me from Fla in a box that was way too big with no padding. Put in new tubes and rocked out.)

I have the same story with my 5150. It basically showed up in a box 3 times its size with no padding. Didnt work when I turned it on. After some trouble shooting i found a bad V1 preamp tube. swapped it out and its been perfect ever since

 

[kissmyace]

Peavey, all the way !!!!!

 

[IntenseJim]

Soldano SLO

lifetime transferrable warrantee
mine has been bulletproof for the 20 years I've owned it

 

[Tawlks]

Peavey seemed to have created a tank of an amp with the 5150/6505s.

I thought that too, but my 5150 II broke down and my friend's 5150 blew a fuse and 3 power tubes the other day while he was reccording.. pretty sure that was user error.

Which is a shame because I was certain it was bulletproof. I think mine was abused by the previous owner.

 

[TeleBlaster]

I had a first run 5150 combo that blew up a couple times with cap problems.
But my second 5150 combo was a 2nd year production and that one has been all over the Southwest,
about a dozen years, no case.... Mostly just tube problems. Wore out the input jacks twice, it's been played so much.

I bought a used Rev1 that initially had a problem with the first run power tube socket board but Krank customer service was awesome and they replaced it, retubed the amp and checked everything over for free.
The amp has been really good since.
Picked up an Alan Chadwick assembled Krank Chadwick single last year that has been flawless, and as previously mentioned it appears to be built very clean with top notch components.

So I have to give Peavey the nod for sheer abuse and longevity, but so far so good the last year three and a half years with Krank, we'll see how they hold up but I suspect they will be fine.

BTW - Not to poke anyone or whatever, but there is a certain brand mentioned here I will avoid, after seeing literally stacks of their heads piled up at the local authorized repair place. A dozen or more at a time was not uncommon to see in that shop, so at my tech's suggestion I never did look seriously at those heads though they are popular.

 

[guitarmike]

I have played Marshalls for the last 20 years and never had one let me down. I gigged a lot with a JVM and it never gave me any issues, played mid 70's metal panels without issue too. Currently I gig with a 1975 superlead almost every week and never even think to bring a back up amp.

 

[dstroud]

Only amps I ever had that went down were a Gallien Krueger 250ML and a Marshall DSL100. Everything else seems to tick right along.

 

[spawnofthesith]

Well I have owned 4 tube heads:

Peavey 5150II - got used, stopped working after two weeks, took it to a tech that screwed me over and never saw it again

ENGL Steve Morse Signature - Had an issue with volume drops in one of the fx loops shortly after I got it, taken care of by a tech no problem though. I owned that for about a year.

Jet City JCA20H - 0 Problems, and I have been using it weekly for a church gig since February

Mesa Boogie Mark V - I have only had it for a couple months now (Traded the ENGL for it) but no issues, seems like a tank. No gigs through it yet, but quite a few practices/jam sessions

So I guess my American Mesa and Chinese JC have the best reliability and durability so far

 

[JTyson]

Marshall

I have Marshalls that are more than 40 years old and still going strong. Marshall has more than 20-30 years on most of the amps listed in this thread. Let's revisit in 20 more years...oh wait, my amps will then be 60 years old and still going strong.

How about Fender...

This ^^^ have multiple Marshalls in the 20-40 year old range that just keep going. Even my modded Marshalls have been reliable as bricks, although I did have to send the Langner Marshall to Mike Fortin for a slight tooth cleaning