Guitar Amps

[londonleatherboy]

Got some early year GAS...got a Laney Cub Super top Head..it is bloody sensational

[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.

I got one of these as a backup amp before the last tour. The hired 6505's died after 2nd show and I ended up using it for the entire time.
Great bit of kit. I went DI to desk and went through a 4x12 at the same time.

[Josh20b]

Hi I will be back in Ireland during the summer and looking to sell and ENGL Richie Blackmore sig 100. It needs new valves, looking for a quick sale if anyone wants to make an offer? Cheers.

[Brokenbanjostring]

Currently I have a V30 loaded Kitty Hawk 4x12 that I run a modded Jet City JCA22h head into. Other rig is an Orange CR120 head that runs through a Barefaced Radical 2x12 (also with V30's). I recently purchased a Radial Bigshot ABY to run the two amps together for gigs (one guitar in the band). I'm hoping this will fatten my overall sound by blending the amps. Any tips from any of ye for doing this? Cheers.

[Shardknife]

Currently I have a V30 loaded Kitty Hawk 4x12 that I run a modded Jet City JCA22h head into. Other rig is an Orange CR120 head that runs through a Barefaced Radical 2x12 (also with V30's). I recently purchased a Radial Bigshot ABY to run the two amps together for gigs (one guitar in the band). I'm hoping this will fatten my overall sound by blending the amps. Any tips from any of ye for doing this? Cheers.

I know a few people that do this. You did a good step by getting the ABY so you can get rid of ground hum or phase problems, loads of guys don't and end up having problems at gigs even if they don't in the jam room. I would aim to have a good idea of what you are trying to achieve with the 2 amps, as in going cleaner with one for clarity and good distortion for heaviness in the other or having one for a mid heavy sound. Are you looking for a stereo spread? Will you be using just one amp at times and bringing the 2nd in for impact for example? Just throwing 2 amps on stage on it's own won't sound bigger by default you need to have goals for a sound and learn steps towards achieving them.

[Brokenbanjostring]

Cheers Shardknife. Just looking to thicken my sound a bit. I only use a small bit of chorus in song parts I don't use reverb or delay at all. Looking at using the CR120 for heft, and the JCA for a bit of high blend as the CR120 is a very dark sounding amp.

[Bürggermeister]

Currently I have a V30 loaded Kitty Hawk 4x12 that I run a modded Jet City JCA22h head into. Other rig is an Orange CR120 head that runs through a Barefaced Radical 2x12 (also with V30's). I recently purchased a Radial Bigshot ABY to run the two amps together for gigs (one guitar in the band). I'm hoping this will fatten my overall sound by blending the amps. Any tips from any of ye for doing this? Cheers.

I would say think of the overall sound of the band rather than your guitar in isolation. The bigger your guitar sounds, the less room there is in the frequency spectrum for the bass and drums. Any time you do a solo, assuming you do solos, the arse is going to drop out of the sound of your band if the guitar is a huge sounding thing. Ideally, you'd work on a guitar tone which will work with your bassist's tone, sounding big when all together, and one which still has some heft when you're on the thin strings. It's possible to have a big guitar sound and a big bass sound, but you've got to work on the overall sound of the band, the frequenceies allotted to each instrument, as a band. A big guitar sound is fuck all use outside of a bedroom, if the bass and drums don't also carry a lot of weight.

[Pentagrimes]

resurrecting this for the craic..and because i'm about to have an Orange Dual Baby delivered in the next few days. I've had a Marshall origin 50  for the last while that I like but which wasn't quite what I wanted. Also I'm old and tired of lifting big amps so I'm more than happy to get something smaller and lighter. I rarely gig but it'll be nice to have something easier to carry when I do. Excited to try it out.

[decy]

resurrecting this for the craic..and because i'm about to have an Orange Dual Baby delivered in the next few days. I've had a Marshall origin 50  for the last while that I like but which wasn't quite what I wanted. Also I'm old and tired of lifting big amps so I'm more than happy to get something smaller and lighter. I rarely gig but it'll be nice to have something easier to carry when I do. Excited to try it out.

I'd be keen to know how you get on with it. I'm with you on the heavy amps, sg have been playing through cheap tc electronics bass heads the last year or so for convenience. I have no amp in my house but I was thinking a 1x12 and small head would be nice at home. Have also started using 2x12s for gigs cos the rooms we play in are tiny and we're a drive around in a small car band now so the big yokes can stay put.

I like the look of the quilter heads for portability but I don't gig enough to justify the price.

[Dronesandtones]

Ditto, like to know how you get on with the dual baby, I was looking at that as well as the gain baby. Plus another few options like the Kraken V4 and laney do a 60w pedal amp too.

[Goosebumples]

One of the lads in one of my band has one of the quilter yokes. Tidy and sounds great with a decent pedal board going into it. Will likely follow suit and invest in one myself at some stage.

[Dronesandtones]

The guys using quilter heads here, sound great

[Rosco]

resurrecting this for the craic..and because i'm about to have an Orange Dual Baby delivered in the next few days. I've had a Marshall origin 50  for the last while that I like but which wasn't quite what I wanted. Also I'm old and tired of lifting big amps so I'm more than happy to get something smaller and lighter. I rarely gig but it'll be nice to have something easier to carry when I do. Excited to try it out.

I got the gain baby a while back and have used it live a few times. Great compact amp. Stereo outputs so you can run two 4x12s. Takes pedals well too. I've run an empress heavy menace into clean channel.
Enjoy!

[Pentagrimes]

will let ye know how I get on for sure

Just mentioning the gain baby - I was actually going to buy one of those from a particular Dublin Music retailer i won't name last week - they had a second hand one for 400 smackers in the shop. Went in to get it, asked the guy if I could just check it was all in order before paying, and to both our astonishment, when he plugged it in it woudln't switch on. Got a new (well, Bstock) Dual Baby online the same night for a tenner cheaper.

Decy - yep, just got a 2x12 myself recently after an age using brrowed cabs, delighted with it. A second hand Marshall. So between the new cab, new head, and the fancy Iceman a friend custom made for me I'm sorted for gear for the forseeable future.

[ochoill]

Have been eyeballing small amps and travel rig sort of stuff lately.  I love my EVH 5150 but I just can't justify hauling that to gigs on my own all the time.  I have used the Trace Elliot Elf for guitar and it is decent but I am always running two amps at the minute and that takes the "bass" side so I wanted something else for a guitar amp.

The Gain Baby looks decent but I would like to give it a go rather than a blind buy.  I love everything I have seen about the Quilter small amps but think I could maybe get what I actually need for cheaper.  Got a loan of one of those Behringer sansamp clone pedals lately and instead of doing what I was meant to to with it (DI bass lol) I ran it as a guitar preamp in front of the Elf for a bit of welly and it sounds great.  This prompted me to maybe build a dedicated preamp for the guitar side again, run the Elf there, then use the Behringer pedal (or similar) to DI bass instead.  Makes the setup a hair handier for travel.  Or just get another Elf since I know they work and are a decent price