# Big Loud Tube Amps (whats your poison?)



## egordon (Feb 8, 2021)

I'm a sucker for big stupid loud tube amps. High gain... lotsa tone.

I play lotsa metal, downtuned sludgey stuff, as well as faster stuff sometimes. Got a Mesa Mark V, Orange TV200, Orange DD100, Hiwattt Sa112 and a Sunn Model T (this ones on loan from a pal) with mesa and orange 412s at my jam space.

Always hard to resist emptying my bank account when vintage orange or matamp type amps come up. Also really interested in some smaller builders like Verellen, Blackhawk and JPTR to name a few.

Who else is part of the Too Much Amp club?


__
http://instagr.am/p/CMI6-lQpTa3/


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

My 83 jcm800 2203 was pushing 130w, ran it clean to boot. Chop a twin into a head and go! Sad i couldnt swing the mesa coliseum for $1200 in toronto a couple years back. There's a peavey roadmaster in TO for $600 right now, probably pushing 150w easy. Orange also had the AD140, a good time indeed.


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## JBFairthorne (Oct 11, 2014)

TWIN


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## MetalTele79 (Jul 20, 2020)

I have to constantly talk myself out of the high powered amps that come up for sale. They are so tempting but also super impractical for my current basement playing situation.


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## tdotrob (Feb 24, 2019)

Me! Love em. Right now my live rig is a cranked EL34 120W Uberschall.
It’s addicting for me, not buying the amps but just cranking them up and standing in front of them, I love it.


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## loudtubeamps (Feb 2, 2012)

my very own Loudtubeamp....
















Sorry...I just had to do it. Cheers!


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## loudtubeamps (Feb 2, 2012)

couple more....


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

Did that sound city on here sell?


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## David Graves (Apr 5, 2017)

Mesa Royal Atlantic 100.
All the big tube power, gain and tone. With a built in attenuator. 
Life is good!!! lol


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## LouisFNCyphre (Apr 23, 2021)

I like little solid state gear. 😚


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## Okay Player (May 24, 2020)

egordon said:


> Who else is part of the Too Much Amp club?


I live in a 3 bedroom townhouse and have 2 amps.

They're both Fender Twin Reverbs.


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

Okay Player said:


> I live in a 3 bedroom townhouse and have 2 amps.
> 
> They're both Fender Twin Reverbs.


In college I had 2 peavey 412's powered by a peavey JSX then Mesa Roadster Recto, next to the adjacent unit's baby room. 1 noise complaint in 2 or 3 years.


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## Okay Player (May 24, 2020)

Budda said:


> In college I had 2 peavey 412's powered by a peavey JSX then Mesa Roadster Recto, next to the adjacent unit's baby room. 1 noise complaint in 2 or 3 years.


I also have a baby,


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## laristotle (Aug 29, 2019)

loudtubeamps said:


>


Jammed through one of these a while back. Man, what a sound.


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## gtrguy (Jul 6, 2006)

An '83 JCM800 2203 with a 1960B (G12-65) for dirt and a '66 Twin with C12Ns for clean. An ABY near the end (there's a dedicated delay for each amp after the split) of my fx signal chain. Doesn't have to be loud but when it is, it's pretty frigging glorious.


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## Chito (Feb 17, 2006)

Okay Player said:


> I also have a baby,


You can always use pedals on those twins you have. I used to gig with a Twin and to get dirt, you need a pedal.


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## Grab n Go (May 1, 2013)

Biggest amp I ever owned was a 70's Traynor Mk3 head. It was conservatively rated at 80W, but it was more like 100W. I used to gig it with a 2x12.

I think the loudest amp I've ever owned is my DV Mark GH250. This tiny thing can get stupid loud.


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## Okay Player (May 24, 2020)

Chito said:


> You can always use pedals on those twins you have. I used to gig with a Twin and to get dirt, you need a pedal.


100%.

A light gain overdrive does a beautiful job of complimenting a Twin with single coil guitars. If memory serves playing a Tele into a Twin is what made Bill Finnegan develop the Klon.


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## DavidP (Mar 7, 2006)

In my much younger days, nothing could compare to a Garnet BTO for pure loud!


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## Chito (Feb 17, 2006)

Okay Player said:


> 100%.
> 
> A light gain overdrive does a beautiful job of complimenting a Twin with single coil guitars. If memory serves playing a Tele into a Twin is what made Bill Finnegan develop the Klon.


I played my 62 RI MIJ Tele with the Twin for at least 10 years starting from the mid 90s before it became too heavy. But I always get my dirt from pedals.


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## bzrkrage (Mar 20, 2011)

Biggest I had was an Ibanez Thermion TN120.
Hoo £ee Fük! That think was LOUD! And heavy. The circular transformer was a thing of beauty.


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## danielSunn0))) (Dec 28, 2015)

I too am still a fan of big, loud, back breaking amps! My go to's right now are my Morris Custom XSIII, Morris Class A 65, and Mesa Studio Preamp running through a 160watt poweramp with KT88's.
As far as some of your mentions, I've owned 4 Blackhawk Amps (mostly other brands modded by Brooks), and 2 Dean Costello Amp's which you didn't mention, but I'm sure you've heard about.. Even though I ended up selling them due to the ever-demanding GAS I still think they're great builders making great amps. I sold a modded Blackhawk Amp to a friend which I almost immediately regretted, so I made a deal where if he ever plans to sell I get first dibs.























PS: Your band is siq & I think we've played shows together in the past.


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## StratCat (Dec 30, 2013)

I’ve never had the pleasure but I imagine this is it...
Edit: the best reaction is Phil X’s @ 11:44.


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## Paul Running (Apr 12, 2020)

Ampeg V-series:


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## laristotle (Aug 29, 2019)

I had a couple of JCM 800 half stacks back in the 80's, but when playing live, the soundman wouldn't let me turn it up to hit the sweet spot.
My '79 DR 103 was able to do that though.


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## slag banal (May 4, 2020)

Had a Marshall 100w Superlead full stack, but it came down to three only heavyish pieces. The real back breaker I had was a combo: Ampeg VT22. Both thrilling to play, but painful to lift. Could never turn either up, so both were completely impractical. Ahhh, to be young and impractical again! P.S. I could get the three pieces of the stack into a Volkswagen Beetle. Just happened that the slanted cab matched the slant of the roofline.


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## Hell Hound (Oct 31, 2015)

danielSunn0))) said:


> As far as some of your mentions, I've owned 4 Blackhawk Amps (mostly other brands modded by Brooks), and 2 Dean Costello Amp's which you didn't mention, but I'm sure you've heard about.. Even though I ended up selling them due to the ever-demanding GAS I still think they're great builders making great amps. I sold a modded Blackhawk Amp to a friend which I almost immediately regretted, so I made a deal where if he ever plans to sell I get first dibs.


I love Blackhawk amps. Getting an Odin 120 or even an Odin 5 would be great. US conversion and duties are a killer though so not possible right now. I do keep an eye out for resale. The preamps look wicked.


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## loudtubeamps (Feb 2, 2012)

laristotle said:


> I had a couple of JCM 800 half stacks back in the 80's, but when playing live, the soundman wouldn't let me turn it up to hit the sweet spot.
> My '79 DR 103 was able to do that though.
> View attachment 366636


@laristotle ...very nice. 
Back in the day ,I purchased the 200 watt head and a 4x12 bottom from Kalua.
99%of the time, the cab was on it’s back, pointed straight up.
Once and a while we would get a big outdoor or arena gig where I could stand it up and blow the dust off of my sneakers.
Just a taste of what Pete would have felt standing in front of his double stack.


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## numb41 (Jul 13, 2009)

I too enjoy big loud amps. My recently acquired ‘82 Mark iib, and my 73 JMP50 and my ‘76 Superbass modded to Superlead


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## Steve_F (Feb 15, 2008)

A model T and an Orange OR80 are my big amps. They were both bucket list amps for me and happily they both delivered.


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## Granny Gremlin (Jun 3, 2016)

I have a 70s Sunn 1200s. 4xKT88 (just like the Model T but with reverb and tremelo) underrated by Sunn as 120 watts (closer to 200 like the Marshall Major - similar ultralinear 4 tube power section) but they didn't wanna freak out customers that the 2x15 that came with it couldn't handle the power). I use it for bass (sometimes a fatter guitar sound when recording) and it never goes above 2. I tried cranking it to 8 once just to see. I hurt myself that day.


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## Kerry Brown (Mar 31, 2014)

Went through the whole range, big huge really loud tube amps, mid range 50 watt tube amps, smaller 20 watt tube amps, very small 8 watt tube amps with a few 50 to 100 watt SS amps thrown in there as well. Currently I have a 50 watt Quilter SS and a 1 watt Blackstar tube amp. I got very tired of loading heavy gear in and out for very limited use. Even for outdoor use I found a Fender Pro Jr was more than enough if miked. I like to play semi-hollows and hollow bodies. The huge amps were too hard to control if turned up to where they sounded good.


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## danielSunn0))) (Dec 28, 2015)

Hell Hound said:


> I love Blackhawk amps. Getting an Odin 120 or even an Odin 5 would be great. US conversion and duties are a killer though so not possible right now. I do keep an eye out for resale. The preamps look wicked.


My buddy has an Odin 120 and used to have a Loki. They were both great amps but the Odin 120 is something special; I think I'd rather have one of those over my old Green GT120.


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## danielSunn0))) (Dec 28, 2015)

Granny Gremlin said:


> I have a 70s Sunn 1200s. 4xKT88 (just like the Model T but with reverb and tremelo) underrated by Sunn as 120 watts (closer to 200 like the Marshall Major - similar ultralinear 4 tube power section) but they didn't wanna freak out customers that the 2x15 that came with it couldn't handle the power). I use it for bass (sometimes a fatter guitar sound when recording) and it never goes above 2. I tried cranking it to 8 once just to see. I hurt myself that day.


That's a bucket-list amp for me. If you ever decide to move on, try and keep me in mind please.


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## Granny Gremlin (Jun 3, 2016)

danielSunn0))) said:


> That's a bucket-list amp for me. If you ever decide to move on, try and keep me in mind please.



At this point I've toyed with possibly considering a trade + cash for the half power version (not ready to do that yet tho - hard to let this beast go as replacing it if I regret would be such a pain - headroom is nice for bass too). I actually had a 2xKT88 Solaris that sounded better (the tremelo mostly, but also in general, guess I could push it a bit harder) but I sold it and kept the 1200s. Regret that (the dude modded the shit out of it and tried to flip; a crime IMHO cuz it was the best sounding Sunn I had ever heard).

But yeah - you can be first in line.... maybe after the Cask Music guy (who has the 2 power tube model and wants the quad.... his might be EL34 tho, don't recall, so if that's the case I don't want it so you're first again ).

Pro tip, the 1000s is just the older version of the 1200s and for some reason significantly cheaper last I was looking online. More likely to have older model transformers (good) but also no 8 ohm out (like earlier 1200s's - not ideal but livable - I have heard the TX has an 8 ohm tap just not wired to a jack). They were all tube rectified (vs both - sockets with silicon diodes plugged in from factory on most 1200s; second rectifier tube socket installed but not wired up) - that's also easy to change - just solder 4 50c diodes direct to the underside of the first rectifier tube socket and disconnect the other - or buy/make a plug in module(s)).


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## Hell Hound (Oct 31, 2015)

danielSunn0))) said:


> My buddy has an Odin 120 and used to have a Loki. They were both great amps but the Odin 120 is something special; I think I'd rather have one of those over my old Green GT120.


I saw that Loki for sale on kijiji. Wanted to try it out. A lot more dials on it then the Odin.
*
Edit: It was a Bifrost not a Loki*


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## barryc (Dec 3, 2010)

Sunn


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## danielSunn0))) (Dec 28, 2015)

Hell Hound said:


> I saw that Loki for sale on kijiji. Wanted to try it out. A lot more dials on it then the Odin.
> 
> *Edit: It was a Bifrost not a Loki*


The Bifrost was mine! I ended up selling it to a guy in Maine.


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## MFW777 (Aug 3, 2017)

I landed a Two Rock Akoya 4 x10 a few years back. I love Super Reverbs but could never crank them up to the sweet spot volume wise both at home or out on gigs. I prefer tubes for distortion versus pedals and routing most effects through an effects loop. Bill Krinard designed the perfect amp for me - the Akoya is two channel, with an effects loop delivering exceptional cleans with an overdrive channel that goes from “D” to almost Marshall magnificently. The tremolo circuit was borrowed from the Two Rock Matt Schofield Signature. This amp sounds great at lower volumes and just blooms when the volume goes up.


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

Loud and tube shaped, not really that big, but sort of like speeders can't outrun a radio, any amp is big enough once you put a 57 in front of it.


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## Patrice Brousseau (Aug 12, 2020)

My Ampeg V4 ‘74 and my Traynor YBA-3 CS 68 or 69. Using it for bass and never tried a guitar through them…


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## Analogman (Oct 3, 2012)

100 watt Metropoulos Metroplex and a 50 watt Morris GCM-008


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## TubeStack (Jul 16, 2009)

My Mesa Electra Dyne is the loudest and most incredible sounding amp I've ever owned or played (which includes a 1959SLP and 2204). It is just an absolute volume monster. I use the 4x12 at practices and a Recto 2x12 for gigs. At home, I switch it to half power, which apparently is more like 30W Class A, and use it with an open-back Lone Star 2x12. Honestly my favourite amp of all time!


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## danielSunn0))) (Dec 28, 2015)

TubeStack said:


> My Mesa Electra Dyne is the loudest and most incredible sounding amp I've ever owned or played (which includes a 1959SLP and 2204). It is just an absolute volume monster. I use the 4x12 at practices and a Recto 2x12 for gigs. At home, I switch it to half power, which apparently is more like 30W Class A, and use it with an open-back Lone Star 2x12. Honestly my favourite amp of all time!


I've always been interested in this amp, how would you describe its sound?


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## TubeStack (Jul 16, 2009)

danielSunn0))) said:


> I've always been interested in this amp, how would you describe its sound?


It's part of Mesa's British-influenced line. The crunch mode is like a Marshall JTM preamp with a Mark V power amp, it's where I live 90% of the time, and the lead mode is like a Mesa-modded version of that, with a bit more gain. Both dirty channels have a great, spongy feel. Clean mode is really nice and is their take on a Blackface clean (as most Mesa cleans are, but the E Dyne's is really fantastic).

All the modes take pedals really well, especially boosts/ODs in crunch mode. Everything has a vintage vibe and none of the dirty channels are super high gain, more like JCM800 levels of gain, but it's not like an 800, sound-wise, more like a JTM/JMP/Mark hybrid.

The modes are actually separate channels but share a common EQ, however it has "ganged" controls that cover a different range of EQ depending on the mode selected, and are designed to work across the three modes in a usable way within a shared zone, if that makes sense. It was Mesa's effort towards a "simple" amp with less knobs. 

It doesn't have a great master volume and gets comically loud VERY fast. It reaches "live rock band" volume level at about 8 o'clock on the dial  . In 90W mode with the 4x12, I never have it above 9:30 and that's with a loud drummer in a big room. The knob is kind of hair-trigger sensitive and you have to move it in tiny increments when using it at home or when making adjustments live. It's honestly about as loud as a 100W Marshall set to 12-2 o'clock, when it's at 9-10 o'clock. This is with V30s and closed back cabs, with an open back 2x12 or the combo you have a bit more leeway.


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## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

Dredging my memory but can't seem to remember a guitar amp bigger than 50 watts. Lots of bass amps though. My current "big" amp is a simple Traynor YCV40 combo with a 1x12 extension cab. Pretty small compared to lots of you folks, but tons of power for my need, and killer reverb. I've hardly plugged it in since buying the Laney Cub10.


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## cboutilier (Jan 12, 2016)

I rock a 100W Twin Reverb, and pair it with a 45W Super Reverb when I want more firepower.


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## Johnnyko5 (Feb 25, 2021)

TubeStack said:


> It's part of Mesa's British-influenced line. The crunch mode is like a Marshall JTM preamp with a Mark V power amp, it's where I live 90% of the time, and the lead mode is like a Mesa-modded version of that, with a bit more gain. Both dirty channels have a great, spongy feel. Clean mode is really nice and is their take on a Blackface clean (as most Mesa cleans are, but the E Dyne's is really fantastic).
> 
> All the modes take pedals really well, especially boosts/ODs in crunch mode. Everything has a vintage vibe and none of the dirty channels are super high gain, more like JCM800 levels of gain, but it's not like an 800, sound-wise, more like a JTM/JMP/Mark hybrid.
> 
> ...


Yep. My experience almost to a T. 

In typical mesa fashion they tried to make a simple amp in the most complicated way.

Personal opinion, its too loud too quick and I like loud amps. Want an amp with similarish tones and a good master volume with separate eq??? Get a bogner shiva! That shared eq and 0-crazy loud master volume ruined that amp.


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## allthumbs56 (Jul 24, 2006)

Mooh said:


> Dredging my memory but can't seem to remember a guitar amp bigger than 50 watts. Lots of bass amps though. My current "big" amp is a simple Traynor YCV40 combo with a 1x12 extension cab. Pretty small compared to lots of you folks, but tons of power for my need, and killer reverb. I've hardly plugged it in since buying the Laney Cub10.


I think we're both in the wrong room


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## JDaniels (May 18, 2021)

1981 JMP 2203

2013 Splawn Quickrod

Quad of Greenbacks


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## danielSunn0))) (Dec 28, 2015)

JDaniels said:


> 1981 JMP 2203
> 
> 2013 Splawn Quickrod
> 
> ...



I've always wanted a Splawn head; maybe one day I can grab up a Quickrod or 6550 loaded Super Sport. I used to own a Splawn 2x12 loaded with Creambacks that was awesome!


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## Frenchy99 (Oct 15, 2016)

I might have a few things to post on here!


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## JDaniels (May 18, 2021)

danielSunn0))) said:


> I've always wanted a Splawn head; maybe one day I can grab up a Quickrod or 6550 loaded Super Sport. I used to own a Splawn 2x12 loaded with Creambacks that was awesome!


The Quickrod is a great amp. Some of the most useful gig features, great tone, and for the money, there’s nothing better. I actually just sold it though because I’ve had it almost a year and it only made it out of the house once. I wanted to put the funds toward another guitar which would make it out of the house more, nothing against the amp though.


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## egordon (Feb 8, 2021)

Steve_F said:


> A model T and an Orange OR80 are my big amps. They were both bucket list amps for me and happily they both delivered.


If you ever wanna get rid of one of those let me know! Or trade for a Hiwatt Sa112 lol


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## egordon (Feb 8, 2021)

danielSunn0))) said:


> I too am still a fan of big, loud, back breaking amps! My go to's right now are my Morris Custom XSIII, Morris Class A 65, and Mesa Studio Preamp running through a 160watt poweramp with KT88's.
> As far as some of your mentions, I've owned 4 Blackhawk Amps (mostly other brands modded by Brooks), and 2 Dean Costello Amp's which you didn't mention, but I'm sure you've heard about.. Even though I ended up selling them due to the ever-demanding GAS I still think they're great builders making great amps. I sold a modded Blackhawk Amp to a friend which I almost immediately regretted, so I made a deal where if he ever plans to sell I get first dibs.
> View attachment 366628
> View attachment 366629
> ...





danielSunn0))) said:


> I too am still a fan of big, loud, back breaking amps! My go to's right now are my Morris Custom XSIII, Morris Class A 65, and Mesa Studio Preamp running through a 160watt poweramp with KT88's.
> As far as some of your mentions, I've owned 4 Blackhawk Amps (mostly other brands modded by Brooks), and 2 Dean Costello Amp's which you didn't mention, but I'm sure you've heard about.. Even though I ended up selling them due to the ever-demanding GAS I still think they're great builders making great amps. I sold a modded Blackhawk Amp to a friend which I almost immediately regretted, so I made a deal where if he ever plans to sell I get first dibs.
> View attachment 366628
> View attachment 366629
> ...


Damn those pics are gorgous! What band are you in? holy fuck I can't wait to gig again


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## no.mop (Dec 21, 2009)

I only have amps that are totally disproportionate to my current living situation - my Suhr RL has been a lifesaver.


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## JDaniels (May 18, 2021)

no.mop said:


> I only have amps that are totally disproportionate to my current living situation - my Suhr RL has been a lifesaver.


That Suhr is a great unit.


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## danielSunn0))) (Dec 28, 2015)

egordon said:


> Damn those pics are gorgous! What band are you in? holy fuck I can't wait to gig again


I have a couple projects but the most active one (that I don't do only vocals in) is this one:








Not Worth Fighting For, by Strange Limbs


7 track album




strangelimbs.bandcamp.com





This EP is two years old now & we have a new 7 song album we're sitting on until shows get going again. I can't wait to release it; definitely a positive transformation from this EP!


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## Frenchy99 (Oct 15, 2016)

For heavy Doom style, love this head.


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## BMW-KTM (Apr 7, 2015)

Biggest tube amp I ever owned was a MESA Road King. I was no longer playing in that loud raucous band so I had no more use for it so I sold it. I still have no use for an amp that big but that doesn't mean I don't miss it from time to time. It was an amazing piece of gear. I especially liked the cabinet. Half closed back, half open. Best of both worlds with a unique character to it.


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## zdogma (Mar 21, 2006)

100 watt Two Rock Bloomfield Drive. The master is quite good, which has saved my hearing.


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## Frenchy99 (Oct 15, 2016)

When you need to play in front of 400-800 people ...










Garnet Pro 600 Super


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## PBGas (Jan 14, 2017)

An absolute beast of an amp! With many of the different amps I bought and sold over the past 6 or 7 years, I don't know how I missed this one! 

It's a keeper and sounds amazing! So much versatility and great tone. 
I am running it through the HK 212 which is an awesome 212 as well.


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