What is the best pedal platform amp?

  • Thread starter Thread starter mooncobra
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mooncobra

mooncobra

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I have seen guys getting some bad ass tones out of the Suhr Bella with distortion pedals.

this is Shawn Tubbs (who is a bad ass player) playing the Revv pedal through it, and it sounds awesome through it!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7kxULnRUDNE&t=342s

I cant even remember the last time I used a clean amp with a distortion pedal. It was probably at least 20 years ago, playing a Mesa V Twin through a vintage Fender Twin and I got some pretty fat tones with that combo. I always loved the feel of a great Fender Twin.
 
I'll always say NMV Marshall, 50 or 100. Don't have to fight the amp to get those mids...Marshall has em in spades.
 
Maybe check out the Morgan SW50? Tosin Abasi is getting pretty phenomenal tone out of one as a pedal platform
 
My favorites are the clean channel of a mark iic+ and a vintage vibrolux reverb (my favorite blackface amp). I also really like the 1st channel of my wizard mtl and sovtek mig-100h (low input) as pedal platforms
 
Racerxrated":2zt3ziyz said:
I'll always say NMV Marshall, 50 or 100. Don't have to fight the amp to get those mids...Marshall has em in spades.
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this is the answer for me at least. I have a 4 holer JCM800 (1959). All my pedals sound the best, by far, through this rig. Mega, mega loud too.
 
I found an Allen Old Flame amp to be a great pedal platform. Sounds killer with a VH4 pedal, Suhr riot, and OCD!!!
 
Wampler makes one very comparable to the Bella...and before that, Brian Wampler himself always used the Port City Pearl.
 
Anything that gets great cleans and sounds BIG. Don't mistake big for loud. It's usually those oversized trannies that make an amp sound big. As long as you have that and it gets great cleans, any decent pedal should go well with it.
 
Rick Lee":1u6mngls said:
Anything that gets great cleans and sounds BIG. Don't mistake big for loud. It's usually those oversized trannies that make an amp sound big. As long as you have that and it gets great cleans, any decent pedal should go well with it.
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That's good advice. I have looked at the Wampler before, that looks pretty cool. But it's hard to bring myself to go "clean" amp and only use pedals because I feel like I'm missing a stage even if it's just perceived, haha
 
Not sure if it’s “best” but a 50w Bassman Head is an excellent choice.
NMV, minimal tone stack, oversized trannies. Get one with the channels in phase
so they can be coupled for a wonderful full sound that will compliment any box
you put in front of it.

Bill
 
billboogie":2hocl83m said:
Not sure if it’s “best” but a 50w Bassman Head is an excellent choice.
NMV, minimal tone stack, oversized trannies. Get one with the channels in phase
so they can be coupled for a wonderful full sound that will compliment any box
you put in front of it.

Bill
Click to expand...

I was going to say a Bassman. Mine took pedals really, really well.
 
DeathbyButterslax":136dhtfl said:
Maybe check out the Morgan SW50? Tosin Abasi is getting pretty phenomenal tone out of one as a pedal platform
Click to expand...

I played an MVP23 and the cleans were unreal. I think Tosin is on to something with that SW50! Makes me wonder (i.e. worried) how much spare cash is it gonna take for me to start stockpiling boutique clean platform amps :scared:
 
I'm biased, but a LG Jose, ala CCV channel 1 is super flexible. It can clean up plus 1 diode setting the let you get the mild breakup that pedals like Klons and Tube Screamer like to kick in the nuts.
 
The Bella is a KILLER amp. The Friedman Buxom Betty is also a great choice.

That said though, I occasionally do some pedal demos for the retailer that I used to work for, and I wanted to pick something up that that was a good pedal platform...but was financially realistically within reach for most players. I ended up grabbing a used Fender Super-Sonic 60 head for $500, and it actually sounds great. It has a Bassman mode (no bright cap) and a Vibrolux mode (bright cap)....so it plays well with a variety of pedals. The dirty channel is really cool too. Not in a Marshally way, but it does a cool pseudo-Dumble thing. If you stumble across one, it's worth taking for a spin.
 
Germino club 40 sounds tits with pedals driving it. I really like it with a Timmy pushing it.
 
Fender amps.... Marshall type amps usually sound like crap compared with Fender when using a pedal based rig.
 
It really depends on what u want to get from the pedal platform.
But dumble sss #002 or #005 style amps are one of the best pedal platforms.
It sounds like upgraded fender twin reverb and has rediculous dynamics.
 
I think it depends on the pedals and tones you are targeting. I've used NMV Marshalls, BF Fenders, Trainwreck Rocket (Vox AC30) as clean only or Channel 1 of a Ceriatone King Kong or a Mark IV clean channel (which I like a tiny bit better than my IIC+ clean) and depending on the pedal they all were fantastic.

I typically use the Mark IV because it really likes a BE-OD so I get the great clean and high gain channels plus great rodded Marshall tones.
 
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