Amplification

[Daniel Nestlerode]

What're y'all using out there?

I'm running my signal into an early 90's Ampeg J12T, 15 watt class A. The more amps I play through, the more I like this little guy. I bought an amp stand for it and now I'm even happier. No need to bend way over to adjust things.

One thing I miss is a master volume control. But I can have that installed, if I really want.

I borrowed a Mesa/Boogie .22+ ("22 caliber" is what they called it, and this one had a graphic EQ) for a recent gig and fell in love with that too. Different sound, but really nice!

Daniel

[Christian McKee]

I like Mesas a lot, especially in the lower power ratings. The higher powered ones sound great, too, but I haven't yet met the mandolin that can really push them adequately to get that super-saturated sound. I nearly picked up a 30w 1x12 combo the other day on a whim.

Honestly, I suffer from AAS more than MAS, currently I'm switching between a Fender Hot Rod, and a Laney LC 15r. I prefer the circuitry of the Laney, but the speaker is a bit pinched, so I end up playing the Fender more these days. I've also gotten *lots* of use out of a Fender Pro Jr. but I' don't use that much anymore because of the lack of an effects loop. The Hot Rod is far from ideal, but it's a lot of amp for the money, and playing with the tubes and speaker a bit can make it a much better sounding amp, without getting into caps at all.

Christian

[djweiss]

I just got my first amp, a Fender Blues Jr NOS...so far, I like it a lot.

-DJW

[CES]

I recently bought a 30W Roland solid state...it was the best combination of effects, volume, and solid state tone I found locally, and the different amp options are cool (though not all sound as good as I'd hoped). I tried an Epiphone 5W tube that had great tone, but was really bare bones and about the same $$ as the Roland, and funds limited me getting up into better quality tubes. As this is my first foray into the plugged in world, I also didn't really know what I was looking for, but I played what I could and think I got a decent value...I can get a lot of different sounds out of the Roland with my Mandobird and Tele and change the tone completely with a simple dial turn or switch flip, so it's fun. It also can be run through a PA. I think if I were decent/playing for pay I'd consider upgrading purely to get that tube tone, but for what I do it's solid.

[mandroid]

I have a Roland AC-60. stereo , so it's Chorus effect is better , [choir of one is not the same]
and I can leave the magnetic pickup plugged in one channel,
and the soundboard acoustic pickup with its XLR plug , into the Mic channel.
Then swap is as easy as picking the other one up.
really like the padded gig bag that came with the amp , cord pockets hold the few cables , and under the lid of the case I stow the extension cord .
a nice grab it and go, .. hearing aide.

had an old tube amp, blacktop 'Vibro-Champ' , amp hated travel , often DNF when I took it anywhere.
old tube sockets, most likely, sold it to a guitarist homebody.

[Ken Olmstead]

I am using a copy of a 1953 Champ that I built. Very lush, harmonically rich sound.

A friend has let me use his new Fender Vibro Champ XD and it is the cat's meow!! At $300 I can't think of a better value (except for below.)

I am wanting the Super Champ XD for the extra power, 10 inch speaker and the push/pull configuration. It is basically a modern day Princeton with nice usable effects and various voiceings. At $349, it is no doubt what I would buy if I was in the market!

[Gowanus]

I have two tube amps that work great with my Schwab 5-string. One is an old Music Man 210-Sixty-five from 1974 which I bought on Ebay, had recapped and retubed, and installed new Weber speakers. It's bright and Fender-y, has low and high power settings, fantastic reverb. Tons of clean headroom - a lot like a Twin Reverb (and almost as heavy!). No usable overdrive in the amp, but pedals work fine.

My other favorite is a new Traynor YCV50. The sound is a little darker and warmer, less chimey than the MM. At around $700 new, it's one of the best deals out there. Extremely well-made and great customer service. A very nice overdrive channel and channel switching. I mostly use the clean channel with various pedals.

My pedals of choice, in order from instrument to amp, are: MXR Flanger, Voodoo Lab Sparkle Drive, Visual Sound Angry Fuzz, and Visual Sound H20 Delay/Chorus (not used all at once!).

[vcalcaterra]

Since I double on Violin and Mandolin (both electric), I play through an
Acoustic Image head into a small Fender Pro Jr speaker cabinet (amp removed).
I use an ART Tube MP before the AI amp to warm the signal a bit for both instruments. This is my main amp these days, though I also have a '69 Fender
Bandmaster head in a custom 2-10" combo cabinet. I really like the Fender sound
for both Violin and Mandolin, but the AI is cleaner and a lot lighter.
The Bandmaster gets old after 3-4 gigs...

-vince

[Mattg]

My kid's 30 watt, one tube Vox sounds pretty good. It combines solid state effects with the smoothness of the tube.

[Mike Bromley]

Fender Hot Rod Deluxe with a hot bias adjustment. These amps come from the factory biased 'cold' which means they break up and distort easily. With the addition of some industrial-grade 5881 tubes and a re-bias to 69 mA, it sounds clean and not too brittle, and works great with a Schertler rig though a 5-band parametric EQ.

I used to have a Dean Markley B400 bass amp head, which was literally the cat's patoot for clean amplification, through a Black Widow 15" cabinet. That rig got stolen. Bah. If I find another one I'm buying it NQA.

I also have a 1965 Super Reverb (a real blacktop) into which I put a 12AU7 preamp tube. This tube has a fraction of the output of a 12AX7, resulting in a clean signal. I put the tube in the Normal channel, but it could be used as easily in the Vibrato channel, so as to take advantage of the greater range of tone adjustments. The Super is a bit bulky for continual moving about, but a good thing to use should one be gigging in place for a few days.

[Christian McKee]

Ah Mandoflash, man after my own heart... I did some similar things with my Hot Rod, and really was glad: changed the speaker to a cheapie Celestion, had a good tech re-bias, and put in a 12AU7 in the first pre-amp position. Totally different amp than it used to be, and much better at that. One of these days I might get around to putting a speaker with higher power handling in there, I played one with a 75w speaker, and liked it more.

What kind of sound are you looking for from an electric instrument? I tend to do the electric guitar on an electric mandolin thing, so a little saturation is nice.

Christian

[Mike Bromley]

What kind of sound are you looking for from an electric instrument? I tend to do the electric guitar on an electric mandolin thing, so a little saturation is nice.

Christian

Well, the aforementioned rigs were tweaked to get maximum acoustic mando sound thru an amp. I'm an occasional stand-in member of Amos Garrett's Eh? Team, and the requirement is to be able to play at electric stage volume while still sounding like an F. In that regard I really miss my DM.

As for electric sound, two words: Humbuckers & Super. Hence my hesitation to 12AU7 the Vibrato side of my super, 'cuz it sounds so juicy with a 335 and nuttin' else. My Fender Dust Bunny Mando sounds interesting this way, but I simply prefer to do Acoustic tone if at all possible. It is a MANDO after all....

[clem]

For me, it depends on the gig. I generally run a '64 transitional Princeton (6G2 circuit in a black top cabinet/white knobs) that has a 10" Tone Tubby Ceramic hemp cone speaker. When i need a bit more I add the 50's Ampro speaker cabinet with 12" Jensen concert speaker.

For big/loud gigs, I have been using a 60's Standel 82L15, with a 15" JBL D-130. Spectacular sounds...clean and loud (if need be).

I just bought (but have not yet received) a Burriss Royal Bluesman head and David Freda Power Sound cabinet. This rig is small, light and versatile (which is why I went for it). The BRB is 18 watts, EL 84 powered with reverb and vibrato on board and weighs less than 14 pounds.

Can't wait to get the new rig and play my new (also in transit) Mann 5 string long scale through it. Tom Petty is right...the waiting is the hardest part.

[groveland]

I had an older boogie .22 caliber for a while, and eventually traded it at a high-end shop for some other stuff - They were pretty excited to get it, actually. I thought it was okay, and I have been a Mesa fan.

But what I wanted to say was - For electrics you might try a Mesa 20/20 power amp, a couple Celestions, and use a Boss GT8 as a stereo preamp. I am not very sold on digital modeling, particularly the shredding stock models, but cut way back on the gain and distortion (in the GT8) and let the tubes in the Mesa power stage make all the difference. I get a great expressive 'vocal' quality from that simple rig, for days. (Especially with the 25.5 scale, 6-string CGDAEG electric octave mando... )

[frankseanez]

These days, I'm less likely to roll out the big Twin. You can't beat the sound, but even in a rolling case, it's a beast. I use a single tube Peavey that should have been part of a beginner's guitar combo, but sounds great when it's just a housejam. I've got a G Major that I keep in a rack, but for little jams, I still like the Digitech GX or GX2. It's got all the effects that a Cheesified Deadhead needs, and more.

[mando.player]

What's the Peavey that you're using?

I've been putting together my "beginner's rig" and quickly came to the realization that I didn't know enough about effects to go the stomp box route. The guys at Guitar Center were getting irritated with all my returns. LOL. So I bit the bullet and ordered a Digitech RP500. I think that will have enough options for me figure out what I'm looking for.

[Mike Bromley]

These days, I'm less likely to roll out the big Twin.

Ain't that the truth. Hernia in Tolex. So sweet-sounding. Yet so, er, HEAVY.

[Christian McKee]

I have a love/hate relationship with any guitarist bandmate who plays a Twin. Love, because it sounds soooo good, and hate because if my back isn't sore from carrying the thing with them, then my ears are because they play it too loud. I suppose I just have to get one of my own...

Christian

[Ken Olmstead]

Has anyone auditioned the Princeton Reissue yet? Not the "recording" just the regular reissue. Thoughts?

[Mike Bromley]

Has anyone auditioned the Princeton Reissue yet? Not the "recording" just the regular reissue. Thoughts?

I'll have to run down the street and try one....I'll get back to ya!

[Lee]

Hey Groveland, Have you tried matching up a Mesa V-Twin stereo pre-amp with the 20-20? I've never had a chance to try mine through a 20-20. Would seem the natural thing to do.

[Treblemaker]

I use an '86 Boogie Mark III. It's convertible from 60 to 100 Watts - all class A....

My B plan for smaller rooms is a Polytone MegaBrute that I found on Craigslist for very cheap. Its a screaming 100 watts of good sounding (but not tube based) power.

I recently put a Macintyre Feather in my Lawrence Smart F bluegrass mandolin - and it sounds nice and tranparent - but the output is not as potent as the Fishman Piezo Bridge pick up in my Flatiron Performer F...

My current rig is typically:
Intrument > LR Baggs Para Acoustic DI > Subdecay Quasar Phaser > TC Electronic Chorus > Dan Electro Fab Tone Distortion > Boss OC 2 Octave > Ibanez AF 9 Autofilter > Alesis Nanoverb > Amp.

I sometimes substitute a vintage Mutron III for the Ibanez Autofilter and a Proco Rat for the Distortion - gig dependent...

Finally, there's not much musical applicability to it - but I also occasionally screw around in my rig with an Digitech Whammy Pedal.

The more effects used - the more noise gets generated - so I tend to force myself to be judicious with this stuff...

-Treblemaker
SF, CA
www.WorldWideTed.com

[groveland]

Hey Groveland, Have you tried matching up a Mesa V-Twin stereo pre-amp with the 20-20? I've never had a chance to try mine through a 20-20. Would seem the natural thing to do.

Yes I have - The V-Twin rack mount. That was my main rig for a couple years - I ran it through the 20/20 and a Mesa stereo recto cabinet, and it sounded monstrous.

I rely more on the power-stage overdrive than preamp overdrive, so the V-Twin was a bit much, and I found myself using very little of the available gain. Pretty noisy, too with the higher gains. I had it in the shop one too many times. The Boss GT-8 modeling gives me reliable control of the preamp characteristics.

That's just my take on it. I sold the V-Twin and the new owner is very happy with it.

[JimRichter]

vintage Super Reverb, as it is my guitar rig as well.

For acoustic amplification, it's my Trace Elliot TA100 concert (2-5"s and a 12")

Jim

[musicofanatic]

Unless you're sitting in with Journey or some other mega-decible arena rock act, I think a fender Princeton might be the ideal e-mando amp. Dunno 'bout any reissues, though (I wasn't even aware it had been reissued, but it sounds like a d@mn fine idea!). My solid bodies love a 15" spkr, but I am generally too lazy to haul an amp that size. For a two-handed, one-trip-from-car-to-stage load in, the Princeton is the hands-down winner!