Top 5 tightest Amps

[Hardvalve]

Not 1 mention of my favorite super tight brutal as hell Metal amp,

Ampeg VH140C Head. It also cuts in a mix like a beast. Had a few Pitbull UL amps, Deliverance, Diezel VH4S, Marshalls, Peaveys, KSR Ares, numerous boutique amps. Still my favorite for tight Metal Rhythm tones. Others for lead tones, more vintage metal/rock tones. Straight up crushing, it is the one amp I always keep around.

Sometimes kick myself for not buying the VH140C that was up here a while back

Still digging on your ARES though

That is a bad ass amp too. KSR is my favorite all around modern metal amp. I will have a 100 watt eventually. KSR does it all REALLY well.

 

[Ventura]

The Mesa Mark really is a great example of a tight sound with a great feel.

A-B'ing my Mark to my Sig, the Mark is tighter but it's more compressed and saturated. The Sig is more raw and open, less compression. The Sig is harder to play convincingly.

... and you say it like it's a bad thing?

I like saturation and good deal of natural compression. It greases-up the tone in just the right places imhe. Who wants an amp that is hard to play? That doesn't sound like fun.

Heh heh... "Greasy". You know who came up with that term on this forum doncha?!?!?!

The Hagen - when I reviewed it after rolling a number of bottles through it, jamming with it, gigging, recording, and trying several different cabs - was "greasier" than the VH4. And for this, I preferred it as my daily player when I was Diezel only. It was more fluid, slippery, *greasy*... Slick. It's not that "stiff" amps are bad, I just find them less "rich" and "luscious" in their tone than the greasier ones, but it's a fine line. Too greasy is just pock-marked noise; too stiff is just unruly and unmusical. I like an amp that let's me play it, and in turn, plays me...call and response. With a more stiff amp, for instance the VH4, or Fortin, or Fryette, they're razor sharp - percussive - cutting - awesome to mic - but your playing has got to be surgically precise. And while this is a good thing, I also like to let my gear breathe and wander...hard to explain; I like always being on the edge of feedback, I love the squeak of my fingers on the strings, I love being able to hold a note and just vibrato it into feedback and then segue in a more softly arpeggiated run...just a nice "dance" between soul, fingers and fiddle - and of course - amp. Stiff is good (ask any woman!), and has its place (ask another woman after the first you asked slapped you!), but a little "slippery" goes a long way (third woman....ask!) to making the playing seamless and enjoyable.

Just IME, YMMV...

 

[Starman22]

My Fortin has the ability to either relax to “normal” tight or become insanely tight by using the feel knob. Like the others say you need to be incredibly precise (I’m not) to use the feel knob full sweep. I use it half way and it’s alteady near razor sharp only my shit playing and noise gate clamp is the issue not the amp for sure. Killertone Texas Jason’s YouTube channel has some vids of some pretty tight amps FYI

 

[ras1988]

Mesa Mark IV
Diezel VH4
Carol Ann Triptik
Fryette Pitbull Ultra Lead
Engl Invader

 

[stephen sawall]

The Mesa Mark really is a great example of a tight sound with a great feel.

A-B'ing my Mark to my Sig, the Mark is tighter but it's more compressed and saturated. The Sig is more raw and open, less compression. The Sig is harder to play convincingly.

... and you say it like it's a bad thing?

I like saturation and good deal of natural compression. It greases-up the tone in just the right places imhe. Who wants an amp that is hard to play? That doesn't sound like fun.

Heh heh... "Greasy". You know who came up with that term on this forum doncha?!?!?!

The Hagen - when I reviewed it after rolling a number of bottles through it, jamming with it, gigging, recording, and trying several different cabs - was "greasier" than the VH4. And for this, I preferred it as my daily player when I was Diezel only. It was more fluid, slippery, *greasy*... Slick. It's not that "stiff" amps are bad, I just find them less "rich" and "luscious" in their tone than the greasier ones, but it's a fine line. Too greasy is just pock-marked noise; too stiff is just unruly and unmusical. I like an amp that let's me play it, and in turn, plays me...call and response. With a more stiff amp, for instance the VH4, or Fortin, or Fryette, they're razor sharp - percussive - cutting - awesome to mic - but your playing has got to be surgically precise. And while this is a good thing, I also like to let my gear breathe and wander...hard to explain; I like always being on the edge of feedback, I love the squeak of my fingers on the strings, I love being able to hold a note and just vibrato it into feedback and then segue in a more softly arpeggiated run...just a nice "dance" between soul, fingers and fiddle - and of course - amp. Stiff is good (ask any woman!), and has its place (ask another woman after the first you asked slapped you!), but a little "slippery" goes a long way (third woman....ask!) to making the playing seamless and enjoyable.

Just IME, YMMV...

I find that amps with different feel changes how I play. I don't really have a strong preference of either.

I have been vocal about my preference of Fryette for highgain amps for many years.
A large part of this is because dynamics are very important in the way I play.
Truth is I like a lot of different amps. What one I use is very dependent on the particular needs for the gig.

If you really want to clean up your playing and technique use amps that do not have highgain or any pedals that add gain for a few years.

I learned to play in the era when there was no highgain amps. I still prefer poweramp distortion over preamp distortion for most things I play.

 

[Wizard of Ozz]

The Mesa Mark really is a great example of a tight sound with a great feel.

A-B'ing my Mark to my Sig, the Mark is tighter but it's more compressed and saturated. The Sig is more raw and open, less compression. The Sig is harder to play convincingly.

... and you say it like it's a bad thing?

I like saturation and good deal of natural compression. It greases-up the tone in just the right places imhe. Who wants an amp that is hard to play? That doesn't sound like fun.

Heh heh... "Greasy". You know who came up with that term on this forum doncha?!?!?!

The Hagen - when I reviewed it after rolling a number of bottles through it, jamming with it, gigging, recording, and trying several different cabs - was "greasier" than the VH4. And for this, I preferred it as my daily player when I was Diezel only. It was more fluid, slippery, *greasy*... Slick. It's not that "stiff" amps are bad, I just find them less "rich" and "luscious" in their tone than the greasier ones, but it's a fine line. Too greasy is just pock-marked noise; too stiff is just unruly and unmusical. I like an amp that let's me play it, and in turn, plays me...call and response. With a more stiff amp, for instance the VH4, or Fortin, or Fryette, they're razor sharp - percussive - cutting - awesome to mic - but your playing has got to be surgically precise. And while this is a good thing, I also like to let my gear breathe and wander...hard to explain; I like always being on the edge of feedback, I love the squeak of my fingers on the strings, I love being able to hold a note and just vibrato it into feedback and then segue in a more softly arpeggiated run...just a nice "dance" between soul, fingers and fiddle - and of course - amp. Stiff is good (ask any woman!), and has its place (ask another woman after the first you asked slapped you!), but a little "slippery" goes a long way (third woman....ask!) to making the playing seamless and enjoyable.

Just IME, YMMV...

Yep. Duely noted.

I still prefer the VH4 or Herbert to the Hagen though. They just feel right. Nice balance of tight, gain and the right eq. The Hagen was like the Bogner-Diezel hybrid. I missed the tight precision and percussive attack.

But then with the Fryettes and Fortins, they are too much of a good thing. The ultimate suprulative in this case would be the Fortin Natas or Randall Satan. Super, super, super tight... very articulate... almost to the point of sounding solid state... in the process they sacrifice a lot of tube warmth, thicker low-mids, and tubey goodness. Ideal amps for those that play 7-8 strings and really downtune low... but otherwise overkill for most other applications. Like hunting deer with a Barret 82A1.

With these sort of amps they sound cool at first, but when switching back and fourth with other amps, the sound and feel always leaves me lacking. Like some key ingredient is missing.

For the money, the Mesa Marks are hard to beat in this regard. And are an excellent balance tonewise.