SBlue
Well-known member
I'm so curious to hear the Hellion! The MOAB that Kris got sounds unbelievable!!!
J
Jimty
Well-known member
My top 5 are my current stable. Hard to pick a favourite because they all bring something to the table and I play them all equally, so I’ll have to rank them in order of expense / difficulty to get hold of again if I sold them.
1. 1978 JMP 2204 with (Hot Mod added by me). Jason at Headfirst was kind enough to give a picture of the innards of this amp a once over before I bought it. Bar one cap value everything is stock / factory spec and the whole thing (chassis and tolex) was super clean (bar one crack to a corner protector). It goes kerrang and also grinds pretty hard with an OD808X out front.
2. Headfirst MCII-inspired 25 watter in a smallbox format. Jason built this back in early 2021. Given distance (he’s on the other side of the world) and the fact he’s a busy man (between Alta builds, servicing, YouTube and boards) I’m not sure how long it would take to get another from him - if that’s even possible nowadays. Uncompressed, tight, a punchy low end and mean sounding, but with loads of flexibility with the two channels, separate channel boosts, separate channel bright knobs and the contour knob. It can cover a lot of ground.
3. Very early Mesa Mark IVB. Liquidy leads and crisp, percussive chugs on the Lead channel that also have a nice bit of bounce. Really fun to play. Nice cleans on Rhy 1 and I even like Rhy 2 for more classic rock or as a pedal platform.
4. Diezel VH4 (built a few years ago). Four great channels and a distinctive voice of its own. Lots of harmonic content when driven and a really unique gain structure. Sensitive (in a good way) and very useable controls across the board. A unique sound and feel.
5. Mesa Stiletto Deuce Stage I. Last only because so many people seem to not rate this amp and sell them on, so it may be easier / cheaper to replace than the others. I think it’s a massively underrated amp. Take the time to dial it in (ears not eyes) and with all the mode switches and power options etc you get a tonne of great tones. Sticking a Buxom Boost out front and switching to Bold really brings the Fluid Drive into play for higher gain stuff. Plenty tight and aggressive. Also love the bounce of the Spongey setting on the Crunch mode on Channel 1. A really fun amp to play.
1. 1978 JMP 2204 with (Hot Mod added by me). Jason at Headfirst was kind enough to give a picture of the innards of this amp a once over before I bought it. Bar one cap value everything is stock / factory spec and the whole thing (chassis and tolex) was super clean (bar one crack to a corner protector). It goes kerrang and also grinds pretty hard with an OD808X out front.
2. Headfirst MCII-inspired 25 watter in a smallbox format. Jason built this back in early 2021. Given distance (he’s on the other side of the world) and the fact he’s a busy man (between Alta builds, servicing, YouTube and boards) I’m not sure how long it would take to get another from him - if that’s even possible nowadays. Uncompressed, tight, a punchy low end and mean sounding, but with loads of flexibility with the two channels, separate channel boosts, separate channel bright knobs and the contour knob. It can cover a lot of ground.
3. Very early Mesa Mark IVB. Liquidy leads and crisp, percussive chugs on the Lead channel that also have a nice bit of bounce. Really fun to play. Nice cleans on Rhy 1 and I even like Rhy 2 for more classic rock or as a pedal platform.
4. Diezel VH4 (built a few years ago). Four great channels and a distinctive voice of its own. Lots of harmonic content when driven and a really unique gain structure. Sensitive (in a good way) and very useable controls across the board. A unique sound and feel.
5. Mesa Stiletto Deuce Stage I. Last only because so many people seem to not rate this amp and sell them on, so it may be easier / cheaper to replace than the others. I think it’s a massively underrated amp. Take the time to dial it in (ears not eyes) and with all the mode switches and power options etc you get a tonne of great tones. Sticking a Buxom Boost out front and switching to Bold really brings the Fluid Drive into play for higher gain stuff. Plenty tight and aggressive. Also love the bounce of the Spongey setting on the Crunch mode on Channel 1. A really fun amp to play.
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kmanick
Well-known member
1. My old JMP 50 watt Master lead. The head I used when I gigged back in the late 70's early 80's.
It was Marshall magic.
2. My current Splawn Super Sport EL-34 50 watt. Does what I need it to do almost as good as my old JMP
3. Mesa Mark IVB my favorite Mesa, another one I wish I had kept.
4.Mesa mark III red Stripe. Balls out thrash
5. Peavey 5150 II. Great with 7 string guitars , this amp sounded huge and it wasn't 1/2 bad for soloing with either.
brought the "Bruutz"
It was Marshall magic.
2. My current Splawn Super Sport EL-34 50 watt. Does what I need it to do almost as good as my old JMP
3. Mesa Mark IVB my favorite Mesa, another one I wish I had kept.
4.Mesa mark III red Stripe. Balls out thrash
5. Peavey 5150 II. Great with 7 string guitars , this amp sounded huge and it wasn't 1/2 bad for soloing with either.
brought the "Bruutz"
BesaMoogie
Well-known member
Do you possibly know, what plate voltage the amp was running on?
mooncobra
Well-known member
Tremoverb is one of the best mesas ever built. Easily worth getting regardless of what you own.
Beyond Black
Well-known member
220, 221, whatever it takes.
Rayneman
Well-known member
1. Cameron CCV - very unique, plays and sounds like nothing I've ever experienced.
2. Mesa Triple Rec - regular old 3 channel...workhorse amp I dragged around for years to every bar and small venue around the area, left in vans for days in the winter and summer, never gave me an ounce of a problem, sounds like god when recorded and in a mix
3. OG 5150 - monster pure and simple, will always be king of the hill for some things
4. Bogner XTC 101B - is what it is, well-built- chewy-gooey goodness.
5. Herbert Mk1 - no longer have this, but it was a fully-produced, mixed and mastered high gain machine out of the box. Was a little compressed feeling for me, but its tone has been a benchmark thing since I've had it.
EDIT to add an Honorable Mention for the Rivera K-Tre. I don't necessarily think this amp had amazing tone, and I no longer own it, but I will always remember it for its explosive distortion and nearly unusable volume. I feel like it was almost a "parody" amp, as it had SO much gain, but then it had a GAIN BOOST which I found to be hilarious, as if it were built for an updated Spinal Tap movie..."when your tone almost sounds like white noise, and we need that extra push over he cliff, you know what we do? Exactly - the gain boost."
2. Mesa Triple Rec - regular old 3 channel...workhorse amp I dragged around for years to every bar and small venue around the area, left in vans for days in the winter and summer, never gave me an ounce of a problem, sounds like god when recorded and in a mix
3. OG 5150 - monster pure and simple, will always be king of the hill for some things
4. Bogner XTC 101B - is what it is, well-built- chewy-gooey goodness.
5. Herbert Mk1 - no longer have this, but it was a fully-produced, mixed and mastered high gain machine out of the box. Was a little compressed feeling for me, but its tone has been a benchmark thing since I've had it.
EDIT to add an Honorable Mention for the Rivera K-Tre. I don't necessarily think this amp had amazing tone, and I no longer own it, but I will always remember it for its explosive distortion and nearly unusable volume. I feel like it was almost a "parody" amp, as it had SO much gain, but then it had a GAIN BOOST which I found to be hilarious, as if it were built for an updated Spinal Tap movie..."when your tone almost sounds like white noise, and we need that extra push over he cliff, you know what we do? Exactly - the gain boost."
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J
JSutter
Active member
If I was able to have only 5 amps from all the amps I ever owned:
PRS MT15, simple and straight forward, small format.
Peavey JSX, of all the Ultra series amps, this one has all the features and most variety of tones.
Mesa Mark V, covers almost every style.
Marshall 6100LM, classic tones paired with a fantastic clean channel.
Marshall G50RCD, it's modded, head format, it's been tightened up and the fizz removed.
Honorable mention, Peavey transtube Special 212, who wouldn't want a higher powered Bandit?
PRS MT15, simple and straight forward, small format.
Peavey JSX, of all the Ultra series amps, this one has all the features and most variety of tones.
Mesa Mark V, covers almost every style.
Marshall 6100LM, classic tones paired with a fantastic clean channel.
Marshall G50RCD, it's modded, head format, it's been tightened up and the fizz removed.
Honorable mention, Peavey transtube Special 212, who wouldn't want a higher powered Bandit?
pintspiller
Active member
Pissed off, 'clanky' and articulate, almost a sort of cocked wah vocally thing as well, I like it alot!
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mooncobra
Well-known member
My Hermansson modded vintage Laney PA with enormous partridge transformers. It has the raddest clean, sparkly, yet kind of defined and touch sensitive. Just great clean channel.
Then, the magic begins..
Channel 2 is his 3 gain stage mod
Channel 3 is his 4 gain stage mod
Channel 4 is his 5 gain stage mod
Just an all out killer tone machine
Also has many tone shaping controls
It’s is a fire breather if epic proportions, massive tight bottom end. Defined and articulate high gain.
Does all sorts of music extremely well. Henric is very gnarly.
VIVA LA HERMANSSON!!!!
Friedman SS100 modded - unbelievable amp, this and the Hermansson fall under the never going anywhere category, played a lot of other friedmans and for whatever reason, this one just shines, Dave is a genius, even Charvel Dan agrees with this statement and everyone knows that whatever Charvel Dan says becomes the absolute truth and THE LAW.
Matchless Chieftain - just amazing cleans, heavy yet weightless, warm yet crisp, thick and round, yet defined, just truly amazing cleans. I tried most of the matchless amps, and I liked this ones feel and tones. There are a few others that are also magnificent. The independence and DC30 are also great. For killer cleans, it’s matchless, two rock or vintage fenders. I would love to have a two rock for cleans, but currently, they are a bit out of my price range. Those lower wattage two rock don’t sound nearly as good as those 100watt models, regardless of the claims by two rock.
Mesa mk3++ no/black stripe kicks some serious ass, this thing is a true metal machine.
Nicks schmidt era CCV clone with Cameron transformers that he built for himself, great amp. Nick knows amps and tone.
Honorable mention
And last but not least, the first amp I truly ever developed a severe case of GAS for, the MIGHTY PEAVEY BACKSTAGE PLUS! One of my friends older brother was a local
Guitar legend. He went by the name Razz, as in razzle dazzle. He was only 4 or 5 years older than me, but yo me, this man was a god. He dated and slept with the hottest girls, drive a bitchin ride, and had a handful of charvels, this was the 80s and he had the real deal. Every once in a while, I would build up the courage to knock in his door while he was practicing. I would hear, “enter,”’from within. I would hesitantly walk in. At this point, I would be close to speechless as I watched him blaze uncontrollably, effortlessly tearing through eruption while looking so cool doing it. His long hair danced in the breeze from his fan. His walls were covered in Ratt, VH, and the sports illustrated swimsuit girls like Elle McPherson, Kathy Ireland, and others. I was now dizzy being in the presence of someone so cool and adopted a semi retarded stutter. I focused in on his amp and the magical tone coming out of it, “hey r-r-razz, is that a p-p-p-peavey b-b-b-b-b-backstage plus?” Razz says, “for the 29th time, yes it is, now beat it, not done practicing yet and my girlfriend is coming over to fuck (this is so incomprehensible to me, that I almost black out) don’t let me catch you little pervs trying to peek through the curtains again!! “Uh-uh-uh-uh-uh-uh-uh razz, I would NEVER do that!!” (Of course, my eyes were glued yo the window trying to catch even the slightest hint of a bare tit) Razz goes, “your coke bottle glasses were directing a beam of light against the curtain so I know you are one of the pervs!” I tuck my tail between my legs and leave the room, now enveloped in a powerful shame spiral. In my head, “peavey backstage plus, must get one, peavey backstage plus, must get one, peavey backstage plus, must get one, BUT HOW !!?”
I thought the peavey backstage plus was the greatest thing I’d ever seen. There were two Marshall half stacks in the room, yet the peavey was what I most wanted I. The world. He played a delay and distortion pedal and it sounded really good at the time.
Don’t tell me none of you guys idolized some local player when you were 10 or 11 years old. I’m sure you wanted the gear they played.
Then, the magic begins..
Channel 2 is his 3 gain stage mod
Channel 3 is his 4 gain stage mod
Channel 4 is his 5 gain stage mod
Just an all out killer tone machine
Also has many tone shaping controls
It’s is a fire breather if epic proportions, massive tight bottom end. Defined and articulate high gain.
Does all sorts of music extremely well. Henric is very gnarly.
VIVA LA HERMANSSON!!!!
Friedman SS100 modded - unbelievable amp, this and the Hermansson fall under the never going anywhere category, played a lot of other friedmans and for whatever reason, this one just shines, Dave is a genius, even Charvel Dan agrees with this statement and everyone knows that whatever Charvel Dan says becomes the absolute truth and THE LAW.
Matchless Chieftain - just amazing cleans, heavy yet weightless, warm yet crisp, thick and round, yet defined, just truly amazing cleans. I tried most of the matchless amps, and I liked this ones feel and tones. There are a few others that are also magnificent. The independence and DC30 are also great. For killer cleans, it’s matchless, two rock or vintage fenders. I would love to have a two rock for cleans, but currently, they are a bit out of my price range. Those lower wattage two rock don’t sound nearly as good as those 100watt models, regardless of the claims by two rock.
Mesa mk3++ no/black stripe kicks some serious ass, this thing is a true metal machine.
Nicks schmidt era CCV clone with Cameron transformers that he built for himself, great amp. Nick knows amps and tone.
Honorable mention
And last but not least, the first amp I truly ever developed a severe case of GAS for, the MIGHTY PEAVEY BACKSTAGE PLUS! One of my friends older brother was a local
Guitar legend. He went by the name Razz, as in razzle dazzle. He was only 4 or 5 years older than me, but yo me, this man was a god. He dated and slept with the hottest girls, drive a bitchin ride, and had a handful of charvels, this was the 80s and he had the real deal. Every once in a while, I would build up the courage to knock in his door while he was practicing. I would hear, “enter,”’from within. I would hesitantly walk in. At this point, I would be close to speechless as I watched him blaze uncontrollably, effortlessly tearing through eruption while looking so cool doing it. His long hair danced in the breeze from his fan. His walls were covered in Ratt, VH, and the sports illustrated swimsuit girls like Elle McPherson, Kathy Ireland, and others. I was now dizzy being in the presence of someone so cool and adopted a semi retarded stutter. I focused in on his amp and the magical tone coming out of it, “hey r-r-razz, is that a p-p-p-peavey b-b-b-b-b-backstage plus?” Razz says, “for the 29th time, yes it is, now beat it, not done practicing yet and my girlfriend is coming over to fuck (this is so incomprehensible to me, that I almost black out) don’t let me catch you little pervs trying to peek through the curtains again!! “Uh-uh-uh-uh-uh-uh-uh razz, I would NEVER do that!!” (Of course, my eyes were glued yo the window trying to catch even the slightest hint of a bare tit) Razz goes, “your coke bottle glasses were directing a beam of light against the curtain so I know you are one of the pervs!” I tuck my tail between my legs and leave the room, now enveloped in a powerful shame spiral. In my head, “peavey backstage plus, must get one, peavey backstage plus, must get one, peavey backstage plus, must get one, BUT HOW !!?”
I thought the peavey backstage plus was the greatest thing I’d ever seen. There were two Marshall half stacks in the room, yet the peavey was what I most wanted I. The world. He played a delay and distortion pedal and it sounded really good at the time.
Don’t tell me none of you guys idolized some local player when you were 10 or 11 years old. I’m sure you wanted the gear they played.
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R
Racerxrated
Well-known member
High 400s; around 480 I believe. Which is very close to my 72 Superlead.
PBGas
Well-known member
In no particular order:
1.) Bogner XTC 50watt
2.) Bogner XTC 20th EL-34
3.) Diezel Herbert
4.) Marshall JVM410HJS
5.) Friedman SSV2
1.) Bogner XTC 50watt
2.) Bogner XTC 20th EL-34
3.) Diezel Herbert
4.) Marshall JVM410HJS
5.) Friedman SSV2
RedPlated
Well-known member
Yep I’ve got a quad for you. I use ARS tubes, which are red base Chinese just like the TAD’s. Same tube. Really good. I’ll shoot you a PM.
Love to have you try one!
angelspade
Well-known member
Great choices here.
6
67mike
Well-known member
1983 Marshall 2203 modded into a face-melter.
Early Hiwatt DR 504
1986 Marshall 2204
Marshall 2555x tied with Mesa Mark V
Marshall 2466
Early Hiwatt DR 504
1986 Marshall 2204
Marshall 2555x tied with Mesa Mark V
Marshall 2466
midnightlaundry
Well-known member
I haven't owned many amps..
My list would almost be the shit I've ever owned in my lifetime.. LOL
My list would almost be the shit I've ever owned in my lifetime.. LOL
311boogieman
Well-known member
I think I've only had 5 amps as I'm still a bit new to all of this 
In order of purchase
1. Peavey Valveking - not bad after speaker swap
2. Splawn Quick Rod - wanted a Marshall but didn't know much about how to shop for one and didn't want to take a chance
3. Peavey Vypyr Tube 60 - 6L6 power section, Transtube technology, amp models
4. Black Heart Killer Ant - 1 watt goodness
5. Mesa Rectoverb - because everyone needs to own and experience a Recto at least once
In order of purchase
1. Peavey Valveking - not bad after speaker swap
2. Splawn Quick Rod - wanted a Marshall but didn't know much about how to shop for one and didn't want to take a chance
3. Peavey Vypyr Tube 60 - 6L6 power section, Transtube technology, amp models
4. Black Heart Killer Ant - 1 watt goodness
5. Mesa Rectoverb - because everyone needs to own and experience a Recto at least once
rickenbacker198
Active member
Mesa Strategy 500 -- I know, not a complete amp and a totally impractical anchor ... but feed it with any decent preamp , even something digital or a dirt box, crank it up and be prepared to be pummeled with a dense grinding wall, let the neighbours feel it too.
MK1 Diezel Herbert -- The big one , Pop to Metal to Doom to whatever... Something I enjoy about all Diezels is how they fill out the full spectrum, no reedy mmeeeiii mmmeeeii sounds here folks, just full smooth tone.
2000 Diezel VH4 -- A modern classic, a bit more barky in the mids than his big brother, a little leaner. This is my benchmark for allround.
Wizard MC1 -- The only Wizard I've had the pleasure of owing. Punch unreal, this thing would loosten my basement walls and my stools always needed to be rescrewed.. Super clear and 3D.
Needed a lot of volume to sound good. Didn't take pedals well.
Just a little too vintage sounding for my taste in the end. What nobody talks about are the cleans .. absolutely stunning.
79 JMP 2203 -- Those mids and highs, wow, add any pedal -- even something completely unpalatable -- and this amp somehow regurgitates it into the most beautiful smear, modern amps don't hold a candle this way.
MK1 Diezel Herbert -- The big one , Pop to Metal to Doom to whatever... Something I enjoy about all Diezels is how they fill out the full spectrum, no reedy mmeeeiii mmmeeeii sounds here folks, just full smooth tone.
2000 Diezel VH4 -- A modern classic, a bit more barky in the mids than his big brother, a little leaner. This is my benchmark for allround.
Wizard MC1 -- The only Wizard I've had the pleasure of owing. Punch unreal, this thing would loosten my basement walls and my stools always needed to be rescrewed.. Super clear and 3D.
Needed a lot of volume to sound good. Didn't take pedals well.
Just a little too vintage sounding for my taste in the end. What nobody talks about are the cleans .. absolutely stunning.
79 JMP 2203 -- Those mids and highs, wow, add any pedal -- even something completely unpalatable -- and this amp somehow regurgitates it into the most beautiful smear, modern amps don't hold a candle this way.
alund
Well-known member
I have owned just a few… moreso recent last 6 years. My be all end all amp thus far is: Rivera TBR 1SL. Better than the 2SL because it’s more quietly playing for normal places. However I am using the power section of the 2 for an Axe Fx. That is for my style of music. 70-80s
TotallyRadGuitars
Well-known member
These are great threads. I really appreciate some of the choices that are more... nostalgia based? Especially amps that have a ton of utility. I love @Rayneman's 3ch Triple Rec choice, something cool about a relatively standard amp you can just drag around to everything and it just works. Don't get me wrong, love a boutique modded tone monster too but I like seeing some of the more classic/common amps pop up too.
Here's mine at the moment. It was tough to pick.
1. '86 Marshall JCM800 2210 - Just something about it. Love the tone, even if I only ever use it set one specific way. Mine's been converted to EL34's and had the reverb tank replaced with a MOD one because the original was destroyed in a shipping incident (along with a cracked head shell). I also have a 2205 which has the factory Drake transformers and 6550 tubes but that one is much brighter sounding so the 2210 gets the edge, but they are both great.
2. VHT Pittbull 50/CL - This amp actually sounds sort of similar to the JCM800 2210, but a little darker. Super thick and full sounding, and I love the voicing switches especially for low/mid gain sounds. Mine doesn't have the EQ, instead it has an EF86 powered spring reverb, although it has a short tail so it's not my favorite reverb sound - still like it for cleans though. It has a very unique voice that is hard to replicate.
3. ENGL Savage 120 Mk1 - Ripping, tight metal tones but also does a damn good classic rock/modded Marshall sound. I especially like Ch1 Crunch mode with the Contour turned on. Something that confuses a lot of people on this amp is that it's actually a "two channel" amp, and each channel has a mode - the manual confusingly calls this "main channel 1 and 2." Channel 1 for example contains two modes, clean and crunch 1. Main channel 2 has the crunch II and lead modes. Long story short, if you're using the lead mode, whatever you have the gain of Crunch II set to ALSO affects the sound of the lead channel. So, if you have the Crunch II gain set to 9 O'clock, the lead channel is going to sound pretty bad even with the gain maxed out, because the first gain stage is only letting a little bit through. The Mk2 Savage does away with this, all "4" channels have independent gain controls. Personally, I prefer the Mk1 specifically because I have a little more control by tweaking the two gains.
4. Diezel Herbert Mk1 - Just, insane tone. With or without the mid cut, and since the mid cut has the level control, and the amp itself has two masters, it feels just endlessly versatile to me as far as super saturated high gain tones go. This amp blew my mind when I got it, I really liked (and still do) a 5150/6505 but now that I've had this, I think I'd prefer to use the Herbert for just about anything I'd use a 6505 for. With the mid cut in it feels super clear and smooth. Leave the mid cut off and it gets a little nastier sounding, with more grit and cut. I love both sounds for both rhythm and lead depending on what I'm going for. I'm a sucker for channel 3, even just leaving all the controls at noon. Channel 2+ is close too. I haven't fully explored the 2- mode although I remember enjoying it as well as the clean channel. Ask me on any given day of the week and I'd be really conflicted whether I like this amp or the Savage more - my gut reaction is that the Savage is more versatile with a bit more upper mid brightness for the lower gain sounds, which is my preference as a "Marshall guy." But on the other hand, I'd give the Herbert the edge for really high gain stuff.
5. 2006 Splawn Quickrod - the clean channel sucks, the headshell has been broken and replaced *twice*, but damn man if this isn't a great sounding amp. This is the offset input, 3-pre tube version. The tone is super gainy, bright, cutting, saturated, and crazy punchy. Honestly, it's not that different sounding from the Herbert at certain settings, but I don't get the mid cut feature. I treat it like a one channel amp, and I always use it in 3rd gear. I don't love the voicing in 1st/2nd gears or for lower gain sounds, so it's a bit of a one trick pony in my mind. This specific year is important, 2007-2012 QR's had a different circuit and voice, 2012+ have a different circuit as well, and I've had all 3. The only one I haven't had is the pre-gears QR..
Honorable mention: It was really hard to leave some kind of Recto off this list, but playing by the rules, I'd have to say Mesa Mk IVB, of which I've had two and stupidly sold one. I really love Rhy2 with the contour pulled, and of course the killer lead channel with the GEQ, and I think those two sounds are sufficiently unique that another amp can't copy it. I love my Rev G recto and while it''s unique in its own right, I think I could "get by" with the Diezel for example for that type of sound, but on the other hand I don't think any other amp can substitute that Mark IV GEQ-on Lead sound. For those not aware, the Mark is unique as far as high gainers due to the location of the EQ controls in the circuit (right after the gain), as opposed to a recto, marshall, diezel, splawn, engl, etc where the EQ controls are after a few gain stages (which is where the GEQ is located on the Mark). It's also why some people love Mark's and others hate them, because it's not an amp that sounds that great if you just walk in and set everything to noon and start playing - set treble to max and then use the GEQ to tame the brightness if it's too much.
Here's mine at the moment. It was tough to pick.
1. '86 Marshall JCM800 2210 - Just something about it. Love the tone, even if I only ever use it set one specific way. Mine's been converted to EL34's and had the reverb tank replaced with a MOD one because the original was destroyed in a shipping incident (along with a cracked head shell). I also have a 2205 which has the factory Drake transformers and 6550 tubes but that one is much brighter sounding so the 2210 gets the edge, but they are both great.
2. VHT Pittbull 50/CL - This amp actually sounds sort of similar to the JCM800 2210, but a little darker. Super thick and full sounding, and I love the voicing switches especially for low/mid gain sounds. Mine doesn't have the EQ, instead it has an EF86 powered spring reverb, although it has a short tail so it's not my favorite reverb sound - still like it for cleans though. It has a very unique voice that is hard to replicate.
3. ENGL Savage 120 Mk1 - Ripping, tight metal tones but also does a damn good classic rock/modded Marshall sound. I especially like Ch1 Crunch mode with the Contour turned on. Something that confuses a lot of people on this amp is that it's actually a "two channel" amp, and each channel has a mode - the manual confusingly calls this "main channel 1 and 2." Channel 1 for example contains two modes, clean and crunch 1. Main channel 2 has the crunch II and lead modes. Long story short, if you're using the lead mode, whatever you have the gain of Crunch II set to ALSO affects the sound of the lead channel. So, if you have the Crunch II gain set to 9 O'clock, the lead channel is going to sound pretty bad even with the gain maxed out, because the first gain stage is only letting a little bit through. The Mk2 Savage does away with this, all "4" channels have independent gain controls. Personally, I prefer the Mk1 specifically because I have a little more control by tweaking the two gains.
4. Diezel Herbert Mk1 - Just, insane tone. With or without the mid cut, and since the mid cut has the level control, and the amp itself has two masters, it feels just endlessly versatile to me as far as super saturated high gain tones go. This amp blew my mind when I got it, I really liked (and still do) a 5150/6505 but now that I've had this, I think I'd prefer to use the Herbert for just about anything I'd use a 6505 for. With the mid cut in it feels super clear and smooth. Leave the mid cut off and it gets a little nastier sounding, with more grit and cut. I love both sounds for both rhythm and lead depending on what I'm going for. I'm a sucker for channel 3, even just leaving all the controls at noon. Channel 2+ is close too. I haven't fully explored the 2- mode although I remember enjoying it as well as the clean channel. Ask me on any given day of the week and I'd be really conflicted whether I like this amp or the Savage more - my gut reaction is that the Savage is more versatile with a bit more upper mid brightness for the lower gain sounds, which is my preference as a "Marshall guy." But on the other hand, I'd give the Herbert the edge for really high gain stuff.
5. 2006 Splawn Quickrod - the clean channel sucks, the headshell has been broken and replaced *twice*, but damn man if this isn't a great sounding amp. This is the offset input, 3-pre tube version. The tone is super gainy, bright, cutting, saturated, and crazy punchy. Honestly, it's not that different sounding from the Herbert at certain settings, but I don't get the mid cut feature. I treat it like a one channel amp, and I always use it in 3rd gear. I don't love the voicing in 1st/2nd gears or for lower gain sounds, so it's a bit of a one trick pony in my mind. This specific year is important, 2007-2012 QR's had a different circuit and voice, 2012+ have a different circuit as well, and I've had all 3. The only one I haven't had is the pre-gears QR..
Honorable mention: It was really hard to leave some kind of Recto off this list, but playing by the rules, I'd have to say Mesa Mk IVB, of which I've had two and stupidly sold one. I really love Rhy2 with the contour pulled, and of course the killer lead channel with the GEQ, and I think those two sounds are sufficiently unique that another amp can't copy it. I love my Rev G recto and while it''s unique in its own right, I think I could "get by" with the Diezel for example for that type of sound, but on the other hand I don't think any other amp can substitute that Mark IV GEQ-on Lead sound. For those not aware, the Mark is unique as far as high gainers due to the location of the EQ controls in the circuit (right after the gain), as opposed to a recto, marshall, diezel, splawn, engl, etc where the EQ controls are after a few gain stages (which is where the GEQ is located on the Mark). It's also why some people love Mark's and others hate them, because it's not an amp that sounds that great if you just walk in and set everything to noon and start playing - set treble to max and then use the GEQ to tame the brightness if it's too much.
