The Vinnie Vincent Forum - Where Freedom Rocks!

Hi all,

Seeming as there seems to be a lot of guitar geeks here I was wondering what your thoughts were on a couple of amps I've had my eye on. Unfortunately they are located quite far away, and being rather busy I'd have to buy blind (unless I can help it). They are priced quite well too!

First is a Marshall JCM800 2003 reissue 100W head (I already have a Marshall 2x12 cab)

Second is a Mesa Boogie Express 5:50 combo. Here's a site on it:
http://www.musicplayers.com/reviews/gui ... xpress.php

Third is a H&K Tubemeister 36

I'm guessing we all attempt to nail that Vinnie Vincent and Kiss sound, so the amp has to deliver. My guitar playing varies a fair bit though - one day I'll be (attempting to be) playing Ozzy, another day I'll be playing Megadeth, or I'll get funky and start doing my best Nile Rogers impersonation

Thoughts and other suggestions welcome!

Nick

I would go for the mesa boogie but its just a whim.

I have never heard anyone complain about the Marshall JCM 800.
Clean and powerful.

I had a original Marshall Jcm 800 2203 the one the reissue is based on. A fantastic amp, but just silly loud and really does not come to its own unless you push the tubes a bit. Not that loud is a bad thing, I just found I never really needed that much on tap at a gig or at home. The other thing is Marshall cleans are never really clean clean.

The Mesa Boogie 5:50 is another fantastic amp and does what you are asking. This is the one I almost bought myself when I switched amps. Only thing was the switching is best for home play. Nothing bad to say about it.

H&K tubemister 36 another fantastic amp, lots of gain on tap good cleans I think the thing that stands out on the this amp is the "RED BOX DI " for recording or just silent playing, best Direct out sound I have seen on a amp. Very versatile amp

I ended up getting Carvin x100b reissue. This was a bang for the buck issue it did every thing I needed for playing out and had all the options I wanted . Great cleans great crunch foot switchable boost, master volume or boost mode 25/50/100 watt switch DI, FX loop And I can switch from 6L6 tubes or EL34. And the price was under 700 bucks. Takes ODs upfront very well. Plus there 10 day try it or return it no questions asked was a good deal.

But if I had a bigger budget I may have gone another route but, I did sell off my Marshall and a couple other amps.
But each and every amp on your list is a good amp it just depends on your needs, At home play only , playing out, Just one style of music, versatility.

I was more than likely no help at all.... If I had the cash I would have them all. LOL

1031 wrote:I had a original Marshall Jcm 800 2203 the one the reissue is based on. A fantastic amp, but just silly loud and really does not come to its own unless you push the tubes a bit. Not that loud is a bad thing, I just found I never really needed that much on tap at a gig or at home. The other thing is Marshall cleans are never really clean clean...

Exactly. AC/DC all the way. Put an overdrive pedal with it and you can live in pinch harmonic heaven !!!!

my favourite is the M1 KittyHawk, you can get that Winger sound and a great Bryan May. The only thing is its a little loose for rhythms sometimes. I think its kind of based on the mesa boogie as the german company who made it used to import them into europe. I believe VV said he used the Mesa for Lick it up.

Get guitar rig or something like that if you're only playing at home and you got a pc handy! Full on everything you'd want in the headphones!!!

1031 wrote:I had a original Marshall Jcm 800 2203 the one the reissue is based on. A fantastic amp, but just silly loud and really does not come to its own unless you push the tubes a bit. Not that loud is a bad thing, I just found I never really needed that much on tap at a gig or at home. The other thing is Marshall cleans are never really clean clean.

The Mesa Boogie 5:50 is another fantastic amp and does what you are asking. This is the one I almost bought myself when I switched amps. Only thing was the switching is best for home play. Nothing bad to say about it.

H&K tubemister 36 another fantastic amp, lots of gain on tap good cleans I think the thing that stands out on the this amp is the "RED BOX DI " for recording or just silent playing, best Direct out sound I have seen on a amp. Very versatile amp

I ended up getting Carvin x100b reissue. This was a bang for the buck issue it did every thing I needed for playing out and had all the options I wanted . Great cleans great crunch foot switchable boost, master volume or boost mode 25/50/100 watt switch DI, FX loop And I can switch from 6L6 tubes or EL34. And the price was under 700 bucks. Takes ODs upfront very well. Plus there 10 day try it or return it no questions asked was a good deal.

But if I had a bigger budget I may have gone another route but, I did sell off my Marshall and a couple other amps.
But each and every amp on your list is a good amp it just depends on your needs, At home play only , playing out, Just one style of music, versatility.

I was more than likely no help at all.... If I had the cash I would have them all. LOL

You were a big help! Thanks for taking the time to get back to me. Unfortunately I think I've missed the boat on the Boogie, but the other two I can buy new. The H&K looks to be more bang for buck, and if what you're saying about the marshall cleans not being the greatest then I may well go for that one. Watch thsi space!

Nick

The rivera amps nice. Not sure what the verdict on those is on this board.

These days versatility is a good thing. A one trick pony is very limiting, especially if you need to crank it to unusable levels. I say go for it!

ALL TIME favourite amp is now the Magnatone 480 Custom [youtube][/youtube]

440 and 450 are not bad either
[youtube][/youtube]

Not amps you mentioned but I bought a Marshall JVM 410c, a really cool amp that I believe Marshall copied some ideas from Mesa Boogie. 4 channels each with three modes (green, orange and red) each channel and mode can be preset with FX loop, Reverb and one of two master volumes. Add midi control and a recording out that sounds good. At 80lbs this combo is left at home mostly.

I recently bought a Peavey Vypyr 30 amp with Sampera II foot controller, a modeller amp with 12 amps, stomp and rack effects. Its light at around 35lbs which makes it ideal for taking out to jams and not expensive.

The best amp I ever played is an ENGL SCREAMER 50 top. (if you will need more power, its the same as the RITCHIE BLACKMORE TOP, wich has 100 W)

ultra clean sounds, very punching crunch and rhythm and a lead channel that drives you mad, and ABSOLUTELY NOOOOO NOISE! NO HUMMING! unbelievable.

i sold it a couple of years ago, but someday I will have a new one!

at this time I play a LANEY VH 100 R, wich is a great metal amp too, but, a little bit noisy...

http://www.englamps.de/index.php?id=104

Just noticed i hadn't updated this thread! Sorry about that. I ended up choosing.....

None of the above!

Tried the tubemeister - good cleans, but there were better ampa for high gain.

Boogie - all they had available at the store were the mega expensive ones. Knowing i would do something silly if i liked it i decided not to give it a go.

JCM800 - couldn't find one to try

ended up buying an EVH 5150 III - a cracking amp!

I've heard good things about the sound of those EVH units. Some of the first ones were a bit iffy on quality control but I'm sure that's been sorted.

If I was to get a new amp one of those or the Marshall JVM with everything would be good.

Now, we just need a video of you playing it Nick!

n3p wrote:Just noticed i hadn't updated this thread! Sorry about that. I ended up choosing.....

None of the above!

Tried the tubemeister - good cleans, but there were better ampa for high gain.

Boogie - all they had available at the store were the mega expensive ones. Knowing i would do something silly if i liked it i decided not to give it a go.

JCM800 - couldn't find one to try

ended up buying an EVH 5150 III - a cracking amp!

Did they fix the channel volume difference on the the "3" ? great amp but thats why I took a pass on them and the 5150 "3" was still not shipping yet. The amp still killed it was a tough pass.

A vid of me playing? Haha I'd love to! I'll try and convince her indoors to be the ipad cameraman

1031, the noise jump is still there, but nowhere near as bad as some I've seen on YouTube. Not sure why the clean and crunch channels share the same EQ... Madness! But it sounds so damn good!!

Just played the LITTLE (60 watts) EVH Fender amp in a Music store. IIt will be my next one for shure. the tone is so fucking great, I never heard one like this!!! awesome!!!