Recommendation for a Stoner Rock amp to compliment my JJ100

[DG335]

I love my JJ100 for that tighter Marshall JCM-ish tone. It can also do that newer Orange type sound with a mids boost in the loop (I use an EQD Tone Job). But I often find myself wanting something with a looser gain structure more like a vintage Orange OR80 or 120. Essentially I want the polar opposite of the JJ.

Buying a vintage Orange is certainly on my radar, but since the JJ will always be my first love and primary amp, I was hoping to spend less on a secondary amp. I've tried the modern Orange's and they don't do it for me.

Any recommendation on a slightly more budget level stoner rock amp to get that looser gain structure with a voice similar to a 70's Orange or perhaps any other suggestions for looser sounding stoner rock amps?

 

[paulyc]

Any English Marshall or variant (Orange, HiWatt, Laney or even a Marshall super lead type 50 or 100) or clones. Ceriatone maybe ?

 

[DG335]

Any English Marshall or variant (Orange, HiWatt, Laney or even a Marshall super lead type 50 or 100) or clones. Ceriatone maybe ?

Yeah, problem is there aren't any cheap 70's Orange's clones floating around. I did have a cheap JTM45 clone that I sold. I really liked that amp, but given the choice I think I would take a 70's Orange OR80 over the JTM45.

 

[GOHOINC]

Verellen Skyhammer

 

[GOHOINC]

Sorry, missed the budget level part. In that case, if say a clean amp and a fuzz pedal like a stone deaf pdf.

Or maybe a used sovtek head.

 

[DG335]

Verellen Skyhammer

I thought the Skyhammer was on the tight side and the Loucks and Meatsmoke were more the looser gain amps.

I would absolutely love a Verellen, but that point I'd be at the same price as a vintage OR80. Both of which I've considered, but was really hoping to save some dough this time around.

I wonder if an old Ampeg Vb4 or vt22 might get me there. They are under a grand.

 

[mchn13]

A bud of mine uses a solid state sunn concert lead and a Caroline distortion, and a Caroline fuzz for different dirts, and it just kills for that style. I honestly thought it sounded better than my '76 jmp I had at the time. Cheap too.

 

[Chris O]

1st Gen Rockerverb w/6V6 tubes comes to mind. Definitely had that loose/fat/mushy stoner vibe.

 

[GOHOINC]

Verellen Skyhammer

I thought the Skyhammer was on the tight side and the Loucks and Meatsmoke were more the looser gain amps.

I would absolutely love a Verellen, but that point I'd be at the same price as a vintage OR80. Both of which I've considered, but was really hoping to save some dough this time around.

I wonder if an old Ampeg Vb4 or vt22 might get me there. They are under a grand.

The Loucks is a clean amp I think. Mike from Russian Circles uses one or used one but with a distortion box.

One of the guys in the Sword has a Skyhammer. I dont think of them as a "tight" gain band but I suppose they might be the more I think about it.

Maybe a Dual Terror? I had a pair of them I ran in stereo for a while and I dont recall them being especially tight by any means, maybe not all the way to a vintage Orange but still a cool tone. I've seen some Bogner Barcelona heads around $800 or so recently for a good clean platform. New Yorker is loose too but only 12 watts, still loud though. Still Though, for that kind of tone, the Sovtek MIGs are hard to beat for the price.

 

[paulyc]

Any English Marshall or variant (Orange, HiWatt, Laney or even a Marshall super lead type 50 or 100) or clones. Ceriatone maybe ?

Yeah, problem is there aren't any cheap 70's Orange's clones floating around. I did have a cheap JTM45 clone that I sold. I really liked that amp, but given the choice I think I would take a 70's Orange OR80 over the JTM45.

Sound City ? Maybe an old tube PA amp ?

 

[DG335]

Verellen Skyhammer

I thought the Skyhammer was on the tight side and the Loucks and Meatsmoke were more the looser gain amps.

I would absolutely love a Verellen, but that point I'd be at the same price as a vintage OR80. Both of which I've considered, but was really hoping to save some dough this time around.

I wonder if an old Ampeg Vb4 or vt22 might get me there. They are under a grand.

The Loucks is a clean amp I think. Mike from Russian Circles uses one or used one but with a distortion box.

One of the guys in the Sword has a Skyhammer. I dont think of them as a "tight" gain band but I suppose they might be the more I think about it.

Maybe a Dual Terror? I had a pair of them I ran in stereo for a while and I dont recall them being especially tight by any means, maybe not all the way to a vintage Orange but still a cool tone. I've seen some Bogner Barcelona heads around $800 or so recently for a good clean platform. New Yorker is loose too but only 12 watts, still loud though. Still Though, for that kind of tone, the Sovtek MIGs are hard to beat for the price.

Loucks has 2 channels, clean and dirt. The Russian Circles guy uses the clean channel with pedals. The dirt channel has a vintage-ish gain tone, but can actually can get quite fuzzy with the gain cranked. There are some demos on Youtube that show off the gain tones. It's an awesome amp.

 

[sleewell2]

hovercraft falcon or caribou
verellen skyhammer
orange dual dark

 

[CEG85]

Sunn, Matamp, and Hovercraft would be my top pics.

 

[Candiria]

Just to be different...Unboosted Dual Rec in vintage mode? You can find TremoVerbs for $700-800.

 

[napalmdeath]

OR-15. $699

 

[skoora]

DSL50/100...get the gain up past 2 O'Clock on Ultra and you're Fu Manchu. That's why they use them live.

 

[godgrinder]

It's worth noting that lots of stoner bands just plugged fuzz pedals into whatever amps they can find at a good price. Back in the 90's used amps like Sunn Model T/Ampeg V4/old Orange/Sound City didn't cost much, most of these amps don't really have much gain. For example Model T was more or less a Superbass preamp into a Dynaco hifi power section. Then they became "cult" items when these bands got popular and prices went up.

Might as well just get a Muff or 2.

 

[SBlue]

OR-15. $699

That's exactly what I think!!!

 

[chaosmonger]

The other day I was experimenting with my Mesa Boogie Studio Preamp, and I found that dialing in enough bass and cutting some highs on the rotary knobs (which is basically the opposite from the typical Mark settings for a tight tone) produced a fairly fat, slow and sludgy tone. I really enjoyed playing some slow stuff through it. Turning off the lead bright and fat switches also pushed the amp even more into such territory.

Am I alone here or did anyone else try the same thing on their Boogie Mark?

 

[DG335]

I guess I need to revisit the OR15, but I didn't find it at all to be loose, doomy or sludgy when I demoed it at the local shop. To me it sounded more like a JCM voiced with more bass and mids than a vintage Orange.