Most Indestructible Amp?

[The Jeff]

The only amp I've ever seen actually break down on stage is a Marshall. Twice. Take that how you will.

 

[Mr. Willy]

I only counted 8 . . .

You sure?

 

[JohnnyCNote]

I only counted 8 . . .

You sure?

Give or take a few . . .

 

[Johnny LaRue]

out of that list I have owned Mesa, Marshall, Soldano, VHT and the Soldano was the most reliable, and best built. I bought a brand new Stilleto that crapped out after two weeks, and in one old band, other guitarists Rectoverb crapped out at gigs on two occasions.
My old Hot Rod 50+, never stopped, even after getting a full beer spilled on it and ...ooops.

 

[rupe]

Anybody else have a lifetime transferable warranty? If not, its hard not to go with Soldano.

I'm shocked by how many people have stated Mesa Boogie. My buddy recently let go of his franchise due the high rate (50%!!!) of amps coming back for warranty repair work (mostly Rectifier series amps) combined with Mesa's reluctance to pay for collateral damage (tubes wiped out by whatever the malfunction was). I personally have had mixed luck with Mesa. I still have a Studio .22+ that was in the shop all the time back in the 90's but has now given me about a decade of solid service. I've also had issues with a Mark III, Stiletto Duece (actually the next owner after I sold it), and a Triaxis. That said, I have a '92 2:90 that I bought new and have seen it take some heavy abuse (falling off of a 4x12...twice) and never had a hiccup.

 

[killertone]

Since the poll was aimed at the amp you have actually owned I had to say my JMP. Toured with that thing all over the world and saw it fall off of a conveyor belt from about 10 feet right onto the tarmac (in a case) while going in to a plane. Just about shit myself. Got to the gig the next day fired it up and it worked flawlessly.

 

[JohnnyCNote]

Toured with that thing all over the world . . .

Slightly off-topic, but your message reminds me of what someone told me back when I was in the USAF. "You'll have to switch to an acoustic guitar because once they send you to Europe, your equipment won't work because the electricity is different." I assured her that there were adapters and transformers, and that some amps even had dual-voltage capability, but she insisted that they wouldn't work. I'm sure she meant well . . .

 

[whathasitevermeant]

That Bogner video makes me shed a tear every time I watch it. If that were to ever happen to my amp...

 

[tripstan]

I had a Soldano HotRod 50 in the practice space in my basement. Came home from class in college to a broken washing machine that was directly above the HR50. Took about 2.2 secs till I shit my pants and thought about all the gear downstairs. Luckily it was the only piece of gear that got wet. . . . .Downside it was SOAKED! took the tubes out and amp out of the shell, dried it off and put a fan on it for about a day. Thing fired right up the next day like nothing happened.

Have a Boogie MK III too that felt out the back of a moving truck, 1x12 combo in a roadcase, took a good tumble at about 40-45mph and the SOB worked fine after I replaced the broken tubes power tubes . Blew my mind.

I got a Einstein now and that seems even more of a solid build than the other too