Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Nice aesthetics on the Rivera! Appearance has a bit to do with an amplifier's appeal. I remember being completely put off by the ridiculous eyes on the Bad Cat amp line. Dr.Z's logos look like some horrid early 80s Peavey throwaway idea...

To me amps are tools.....each one does a different thing and is used for a different purpose. Same for guitars. That said, certain amps are more versatile than others......the AC30 being one of the most versatile, and many Fenders, especially blackface ones would fall into that catagory too.

Some amps are great for certain sounds and not so great for others, like my Mesa Dual Rectifier. It does the heavy thing better than most, but it's clean pales in comparison to a vintage Fender or an AC30. They're tools...learn what each one does well and use it that way....but sometimes its also ok to break whatever rules you set up.

Greg

soundmasterg wrote:To me amps are tools.....each one does a different thing and is used for a different purpose. Same for guitars. That said, certain amps are more versatile than others......blackface [Fenders] would fall into that catagory too.

My Deluxe Reverb nails so many tones...that's why I love it.

N.F.A. wrote:Old school is my thing. Marshall SLP 100, Hiwatt DR103, Vox AC30 and a Matamp GTO are all tied for me. They all sound good with either guitar and bass, except the Vox. Double duty!

Those old things? Just kidding.

I hear you 10,000%
All of those amps are big time faves in my book.

have a 1975 DR504 Hiwatt, a Vox AC-30, and a Roland JC-120, and a Kustom 250 as my main amps at the moment. All 3, like Greg said, are tools to get different sounds. These would be the amps I would use live in whatever configuration was required. I also have a half dozen or so small combos that do different things for recording or around the house playing.

To me, favorite amp falls in to the favorite band category, so how do you really answer that?

Anyone on board here playing their Ric through a Savage Audio Macht 6 or Macht 12 tube amp?

(First two are 6's and the third one's a 12.)

JakeK wrote:It's like you said, Bill, "Nobody does reverb like Fender!"

Actually, the Kustom '36 Coupe has a reverb equal to that of any of my vintage Fenders.

JakeK wrote: My favorite amp is a Fender Deluxe Reverb '65 reissue.

Mine too until I got a Fender Princeton Reverb RI. It's even better for playing at home and is the perfect amp with a Ric if you don't need a lot of clean headroom.

Princetons are cool, but they're too small for my liking.

A cool amp I saw on eBay that really caught my eye was the Fender Super Six Reverb amp. Six ten inch speakers with a push-pull pot for distortion. Mike Campbell remembers TP using one exclusively for the first four Heartbreakers' records.

Heartbreakers played B*llbreakers...that amp is about 90 pounds.

kiramdear wrote:I miss my old Ampeg VT-22, a twin-sized combo with a V4 amp with 2X12 speakers. Gotta get me some more Ampeg!

Those things sounded great, I also loved V-4's. For bass Ampeg SVT's far surpasses anything else for me. I have trouble with these kind of questions because the more I think about it the more "favorites" I have. I love just about all pre=master volume Marshalls, also love Super Reverbs, and Bandmasters. A good old Bandmaster does the pretty clear sound really nice.

kiramdear wrote:I miss my old Ampeg VT-22, a twin-sized combo with a V4 amp with 2X12 speakers. Gotta get me some more Ampeg!

A friend of mine has one that I could possibly try and make available. It does need some work as it hums, but given it's age that is to be expected as he has not had anything done on it, like replace the caps, etc.

Hey what's up Jeffrey?
I think the Stone's used them around the Exile on Main St period, way before Keith fell out of a coconut tree and smoked his father's ashes.

rictified wrote:Hey what's up Jeffrey?
I think the Stone's used them around the Exile on Main St period, way before Keith fell out of a coconut tree and smoked his father's ashes.

So that's what happened to him, eh?

The only time I saw any Stoner was the New Barbarians show I saw in the early '80s; when Keith walked on stage the first thing he did was trip over a cymbal stand! In fact, that was the most memorable thing about their show.

The other part of the show I enjoyed was seeing SRV, as he opened the show.

Actually, Keith snorted his fathers ashes. But he's still my idol. No one could touch the tone he got on those early Seventies' albums. I love him to death.

My favorite amp is a Vox AC15CC1X (Blue Celestion). I mostly play at church and in my music room at home, so I don't need the power of an AC30-----although I'd love have one. My wife on the other hand, would not be amused at all by an AC30