What are some of the WORST amps you've played?

[Strat+Marshall]

Yamaha t50 was a buzzy POS.
Rivera KH gain channel is one of the worst I have heard.


I own a Metaltronix m1000 and understand why everyone is hating on them but they are not a bad amp. They have a very quirky preamp that is hard to dial in and they aren't really a true high gain amp. They don't do the "liquid gain" thing at all. They are hard to dial in but what they do well is a powerful, clear hard rock tone with a boost for leads. They start to go down hill when you push them for more gain than a stock 2203. They also need to be turned up LOUD.

 

[stephen sawall]

For you guys that said Stiletto .... they are like the other Mesa amps. If not set up right they sound horrible. They are capable of some very good sounds.


For me I would say any of the Diezels ....Way to compressed and no upper midrange in the mix cut range.

...... Just kidding .... I think the Diezels are killer at what they do.

I could not find a usable sound from the stock JCM900 SLX. But I have heard of people getting a good sound after modifications.

 

[Valtiel]

My uncle has a Mesa F-30 that I really really dislike for anything other than clean. The clean channel sounds great, the drive is just......weird.

OTOH, I played a Mesa Lonestar 2x12 today that sounded amazing.

 

[liamlw]

For you guys that said Stiletto .... they are like the other Mesa amps. If not set up right they sound horrible. They are capable of some very good sounds.


For me I would say any of the Diezels ....Way to compressed and no upper midrange in the mix cut range.

...... Just kidding .... I think the Diezels are killer at what they do.

I could not find a usable sound from the stock JCM900 SLX. But I have heard of people getting a good sound after modifications.

they produce some killer metal tones but i couldnt get a tone that id exactly like out of one either.
worst amp ive played? im not exactly sure

 

[Subclavian]

One man's Golden Tone is another's poison... with that in mind, probably the worst 'non practice amp' I checked out was a Krank Krankenstein. It made an AM radio sound like dolby surround sound by comparison.

Pete

exactly...plus that old overused "tone is in the fingers part"

my stories...I saw the Marty Friedman lesson he gave in Tulsa a few years ago in which he was plugged into a blue voodoo and sounded amazing. I played the same exact amp the next day at the store that put on the clinic and it sounded like shit...with his settings. Go figure.

maybe I just sound like shit?

That being said I do agree...the Krank Krankenstein is worthless but the blue voodoo is by and far the worst amp i've ever plugged into. horrible

sub

Heh, I was at that Friedman clinic. Were you at the instore appearance he had at GuitarXpress?

no, I didn't make it to that one. I still snicker at his little temper tantrum he had at the beginning. He was a really nice guy though and signed all of my shit I brought (which I framed and is still on my wall)

 

[Hard&Heavy]

Jcm 900
Peavey xxx
anything crate

And this is all going to be up to your own ears. And that will very from person to person.No rights or wrongs here just what did not work for you.

 

[JTyson]

Yamaha t50 was a buzzy POS.
Rivera KH gain channel is one of the worst I have heard.


I own a Metaltronix m1000 and understand why everyone is hating on them but they are not a bad amp. They have a very quirky preamp that is hard to dial in and they aren't really a true high gain amp. They don't do the "liquid gain" thing at all. They are hard to dial in but what they do well is a powerful, clear hard rock tone with a boost for leads. They start to go down hill when you push them for more gain than a stock 2203. They also need to be turned up LOUD.

I bought 2 of the heads and between the 2 they blew up 3 times. I got some decent tones out of them, I just gave up. I guess I was speaking more about reliability than anything. I had gone to NAMM that year and talked to him about them and decided to take a chance, but had real problems getting the issues solved quickly, and we were gigging non stop at that time. It left a bad taste in my mouth, and I had to almost give them away once word got out about the problems. I will say they were some of the loudest heads ever

 

[tnourse]

Framus Cobra
Cornford MK50H (I know many people who love this amp, but I could never dial in a tone that I liked. Just not for me I guess...)
Line 6 POD

 

[AC]

Peavey 5150...flame on

Crate Blue Voodoo

Peavey JSX

Line6 HD147

+4

 

[Strat+Marshall]

I bought 2 of the heads and between the 2 they blew up 3 times. I got some decent tones out of them, I just gave up. I guess I was speaking more about reliability than anything. I had gone to NAMM that year and talked to him about them and decided to take a chance, but had real problems getting the issues solved quickly, and we were gigging non stop at that time. It left a bad taste in my mouth, and I had to almost give them away once word got out about the problems. I will say they were some of the loudest heads ever

Oh ok, I have had one for about 10 years now and it hasn't had any problems at all. The power amps on them are absolute beasts. His ampegs all had the same problem with some shit connector they put in them.

 

[jguzmos]

I didnt like the Engl Powerball.

I liked the Fireball 60, but I needed a EQ to get the tone I wanted. Sold it.

I cant believe I see a few Cornford's on here. I have always wanted to try one.

 

[PsychoholicSlag]

Crate Blue Voodoo

JCM900

 

[lolzgreg]

new peavey 6505's and 6505+'s. they sound like complete ass.

These have the EXACT SAME CIRCUIT as their counterparts. The only difference is tubes.

im not talking about the schematic.

im not talking about the model difference, or the fact it was lawsuit with eddie van halen as to why the the 6505 resembles the start dates of both peavey in 1965 and the year the name date for the model started in march of 2005.

i explained further on ONCE before why i said what i said.

hartly's wife died. he said fuck the company, and got out of it. it wasnt for him anymore, and he hasnt been the same since that happened. the newer amplifiers have different distributors, and areas where boards are being made now.

quality is shit. components are shit - 20% off their noninal values in some cases, and the build quality suffers.

the quality control is nowhere NEAR what it used to be.

the history of components used inside the amplifiers and the power transformers in regards to their years has not been the same, and they change them at will - and always have done so. thats why they keep sounding worse, and some years they sounded better than others.

so no - the amplifiers made now, are NOT the same as their earlier counterparts or mid models. the tolerence levels of the components are not the same, quality control is way down, and some components of the boards are not from the same companies - some overseas. as the price of the amplifiers have gone up, yet quality has done the opposite.

its cheaper for them to have an in house tech and make money off of that then spend the cost up front.

if they were always exact, then all models would sound the same. because the schematics have not changed. schematics mean nothing when a 1.8K resistor is closer to 2.2k because of tolerances. raise that to the 360 degree because thats about how many components make up a 5150 amplifier. then throw in the fact of tubes, and you get an even higher number of amplifiers that sound different, worse, or the same as older models. but they didnt stop at the component level, the transformers have gone through 3-4 different revisions since july of 1992 when the amplifier was released after van halen's tour over that summer.

Thank you for the informative post. I had no idea all that was going on. How did you find this stuff out?

 

[stratotone]

You guys complaining about component parts having a 20% tolerance would shit about some of the stuff that was put in vintage Marshalls and Fenders

 

[MississippiMetal]

I remember when Melia died, my uncle was working for Peavey as part of plant maintenance, and he used to bring home issues of the Peavey Monitor magazine. I remember reading through the 25th Anniversary issue, which included many articles by Melia, and then shortly thereafter, Melia passed. I was about 13 at the time. I remember my uncle saying a couple of years later when he quit working there that the company just wasn't the same since Melia died.

 

[Valtiel]

You guys complaining about component parts having a 20% tolerance would shit about some of the stuff that was put in vintage Marshalls and Fenders

Haha no kidding! I would guess thats why some are magical and others are duds.

 

[HerbieTheRadDorklift]

This thread goes to show how subjective amps are.

I know people who love Diamond Spec Ops, ENGL Powerballs, VHTs, Mesa F series etc..

Worst for me was a Peavey 5150, but it was probably my Ibanez Prestige RG I was using, it made my Mark IV sound a bit shit too.

 

[Parap14]

I would have to say the Marshall JCM900 4100. Clean was good. Gain up to 20? LOL!
Yeah right. This thing had no balls without an overdrive in front, and even then not enough for me. Major disappointment to replace the JCM800 with.

 

[Rob Tahan]

Did nobody mention Hughes and Kettner..???
Triamp is absolute harsh shrill brittle garbage tone...
Anything else for them ive ever played or owned was spikey and harsh

 

[dstroud]

Probably that Bugera 1990 - sounded very "plasticy". Any of those Fender combos that have the boost on the footswitch - I couldn't even get a good lead tone with Tubescreamer - which is something I thought I could do with any amp, until that one