Guitar Amps

[ochoill]

Pulled the trigger on the EVH 5150 Stealth.  Every demo with any guitar or cab used with it just sounded great.  Any review online was basically "it works and sounds unreal".  Should have it in the next week or two so I'll let ye know how I get on.

[Drought]

Pulled the trigger on the EVH 5150 Stealth.  Every demo with any guitar or cab used with it just sounded great.  Any review online was basically "it works and sounds unreal".  Should have it in the next week or two so I'll let ye know how I get on.

You really can't go wrong with the EVHs for heavier music. They're definitely tighter and more refined than the original 5150/6505 which some people don't like. But I find they work great for lower tuning especially. You can always turn up the resonance and mids to get them closer to the 5150/6505.

The stealth is meant to be a little tighter and have a bit more gain than the standard one. But tbh I've not noticed that much difference.

[KingHostile]

I have the Krank Rev 1, Marshall JCM KK, a Fender combo and an Orange Dark Terror.

All sound great but the Dark Terror is my go to at the moment.

https://www.gear4music.ie/Guitar-and-Bass/Orange-Dark-Terror-Head/FYF?origin=product-ads&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjw9p24BhB_EiwA8ID5BsyMh9F8F0hZzr-eBx1u6OWp0wAu-OH4sveJagf74GX3LImxC4xaGBoCiWUQAvD_BwE

[ochoill]

Had a few jams with the EVH Stealth 100w now and it is fantastic.  Couldn't fault it in any way.  Bar how much it fuckin weighs compared to my Elf

Instantly great amp sounds so I'm using them at the minute, mainly red/third channel.  Boosting with two of my own pedals (Richter - dual boost/drive at 12v, and Sardonic Perpetrator - Harmonic Percolator clone) here and there and there's some great sounds across it but I need to dial in those to suit more.

Mainly going high gain for the Ordinator stuff, but on the other hand there is huge punch out of the clean channel on low gain being hit with the Sard Perp, neck pickup.  Sharp, violent noise rock tone.

Anyway, delighted

[Poley]

I've always had a DSL100, modded it a bit here and there but it's been my go-to for over 20 years and it's never let me down. However, more recently having to consider fly-gigs, I picked up a Victory V4 Kraken (the Rabea Massaad one). Two channel full valve preamp and a 180 watt solid power section to plug straight into a speaker, or a Two Notes cab SIM on a DI out. And the whole thing takes up a quarter of a pedalboard, it comes with me in hand luggage. Has a headphone jack for backstage practice, and even a 9V-out to power the other pedals on the board.

https://www.victoryamps.com/product/v4-the-kraken-guitar-amp/

It is the fucking ticket, I must say. All the travel handiness and most of the gig/recording versatility of a digital modeller but with the clout of a real amp.

[ochoill]

https://www.victoryamps.com/product/v4-the-kraken-guitar-amp/

It is the fucking ticket, I must say. All the travel handiness and most of the gig/recording versatility of a digital modeller but with the clout of a real amp.

Was looking at these too and they're great, the only thing stopping me getting something like this (or the Orange Pedal Baby as was recommended elsewhere too) was I already have a light travel fix that works!  Once of those little Elfs is 200w/120w for 4 or 8 ohm so you are fairly safe with it, has DI out and headphone out too.  It is fairly plain on its own but running a preamp in front works great, I've a few pedal ones built based off a Sunn Beta Lead there that work nicely with it.

[Poley]

Dare I look these up. The GAS is never kept at bay for long.

[Rosco]

I've always had a DSL100, modded it a bit here and there but it's been my go-to for over 20 years and it's never let me down. However, more recently having to consider fly-gigs, I picked up a Victory V4 Kraken (the Rabea Massaad one). Two channel full valve preamp and a 180 watt solid power section to plug straight into a speaker, or a Two Notes cab SIM on a DI out. And the whole thing takes up a quarter of a pedalboard, it comes with me in hand luggage. Has a headphone jack for backstage practice, and even a 9V-out to power the other pedals on the board.

https://www.victoryamps.com/product/v4-the-kraken-guitar-amp/

It is the fucking ticket, I must say. All the travel handiness and most of the gig/recording versatility of a digital modeller but with the clout of a real amp.

Is that kraken amp pedal any good?
Does it sound good cranked loud through a 4x12 cab? Was looking at them but I was worried about the solid state power section.

[Poley]

[double post]

[Poley]

I've always had a DSL100, modded it a bit here and there but it's been my go-to for over 20 years and it's never let me down. However, more recently having to consider fly-gigs, I picked up a Victory V4 Kraken (the Rabea Massaad one). Two channel full valve preamp and a 180 watt solid power section to plug straight into a speaker, or a Two Notes cab SIM on a DI out. And the whole thing takes up a quarter of a pedalboard, it comes with me in hand luggage. Has a headphone jack for backstage practice, and even a 9V-out to power the other pedals on the board.

https://www.victoryamps.com/product/v4-the-kraken-guitar-amp/

It is the fucking ticket, I must say. All the travel handiness and most of the gig/recording versatility of a digital modeller but with the clout of a real amp.

Is that kraken amp pedal any good?
Does it sound good cranked loud through a 4x12 cab? Was looking at them but I was worried about the solid state power section.

I'm very impressed with it yeah. It's always going to be shy of a valve power amp, but it has more than I've ever needed. I use it through a cab onstage rather than the DI.

[Shardknife]

I've always had a DSL100, modded it a bit here and there but it's been my go-to for over 20 years and it's never let me down. However, more recently having to consider fly-gigs, I picked up a Victory V4 Kraken (the Rabea Massaad one). Two channel full valve preamp and a 180 watt solid power section to plug straight into a speaker, or a Two Notes cab SIM on a DI out. And the whole thing takes up a quarter of a pedalboard, it comes with me in hand luggage. Has a headphone jack for backstage practice, and even a 9V-out to power the other pedals on the board.

https://www.victoryamps.com/product/v4-the-kraken-guitar-amp/

It is the fucking ticket, I must say. All the travel handiness and most of the gig/recording versatility of a digital modeller but with the clout of a real amp.

Is that kraken amp pedal any good?
Does it sound good cranked loud through a 4x12 cab? Was looking at them but I was worried about the solid state power section.

I haven't played through the Kraken but have seen a few bands using them live and they sounded great. So many touring bands are moving away from tube. I believe the tech has pretty much caught up. Lots of acts are switching to amp modellers or pedalboard amps. Solid state heads too. Plenty bands are going direct but you can get tiny power amps that will give you loads of volume through a cab too. They are really reliable and weigh nothing compared to the tube setups and I honestly think the tone difference is negligible and the crowd won't notice.  (I know that some preamps have tubes but I'm more talking about solid state power amps) I love my tube amps but it's hassle when they start getting noisy or break and need a service or repair. Bass players are almost all using solid state stuff these days, you see these tiny heads belting out massive volume and they fit in the pocket of your gigbag.

For local gigs I'll be bringing my tube heads out but if we're packing a van to travel or playing upstairs I'll be bringing a smaller setup. I've actually brought a pedal power amp and a HX stomp as a backup for a few shows, it's a whole rig in 2 pedals that I can play though a cab with! 

[Rosco]

Aye I think the technology has caught up.
I still think there are funny frequencies out of digital stuff.
I got a boss katana gen 3 head recently and it sounds great. But when it's cranked on full dirt there is something there I'm not mad about.
I'm trying to down size for fly in gigs so I might pull the trigger on the Kraken.
More gear. It never ends.

[Mooncat]

I've been digital for many years now. A shoulder injury a lot of years ago made lugging a 60lb amp very difficult so I made the switch and never looked back.

For the last good few years I've been using a Kemper Stage. Absolutely incredible all-in-one solution. The tones are magic, it has almost every effect you could ever need and the majority are studio grade quality, plus you can make as many changes as you need with one footpress - no more tap dancing! It's been such a reliable, hugely impressive piece of gear for years now. If I had to pick one slight con I would say that, while the tones are world class, the Kemper does seem to add a bit of compression which affects the attack transient ever so slightly. This doesn't affect the sound for the listener really, but it does affect the feel a bit. One of those things you'd barely notice until you'd played the Kemper a while and then went back to a tube amp and then it's really noticeable in the feel. If you're a metal guy this will never affect you, but if you're into more dynamic styles like funk, chicken picken, slap guitar etc it can make a difference (though even then you can dial some of it back in with the Kemper's onboard parameters).


Just lately I've been experimenting with a new setup. I'm trying the Tonex pedal on a pedalboard. The Tonex also gives world class quality tones, but also has that rawer, tube amp feel as well. Also means I can get a few more unique pedals back on my board such as the Boss SY-1 and DD-500, Chase Bliss Condor, and the Empress Zoia. Plus a few old faves like the OCD and the POG that sound a little better than the Kemper's versions. Still haven't road-tested it in practice yet to see how it does. I'm loving having some of the synthy stuff at hand, but I can tell already I'm missing the convenience of the Kemper, so the jury is still out on which setup I land on permanently going forward.

EDIT: should mention I have either a headrush powered monitor, or a Seymour Duncan Powerstage 170 to use with my digital setups, depending on what the gig requires.


Just to add an amp in there, the best one I've ever owned or played was the Marshall JVM, an absolute beast. Unfortunately had to sell it when I left Ireland, but I still think about it!