# 10 Classic Guitar Amps & The Songs That Made Them Famous



## zontar (Oct 25, 2007)

Cool article-

10 Classic Guitar Amps & The Songs That Made Them Famous

he's not saying these are the best or most influential--just saying here's 10 and he's open to additions---so if he left your favorite off the list--this is just what he came up with--no big deal.

And certainly add your own if you wish...


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## Shark (Jun 10, 2010)

Interesting list. A few that he left out that come to mind for me:

Hendrix - Strat through a Marshall Plexi. E.g., Purple Haze
Brian May - Red Special through Vox AC30. E.g., Bohemian Rhapsody
Santana - Gibson SG through a Fender Twin. E.g., Oye Como Va 
The Young Brothers - Gibson SG/Gretch Jet Firebird through Marshall Super Lead and Superbass amps. E.g., You Shook Me All Night Long
David Gilmour - Strat through Hiwat amp. E.g., Shine On You Crazy Diamond
Mark Knopfler - Strat through a Fender Vibrolux. E.g., Sultans of Swing
Gary Moore - Les Paul through Marshall Super Lead. E.g., Still Got the Blues

Or something like that.

EDIT: Just realised I didn't read the premise of the blog post properly. Ah, well. It was late; I was tired.


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## Robert1950 (Jan 21, 2006)

I hope that top ten isn't in order, because, if so, the Marshall JTM45 combo by Clapton on the Beano album should be first.


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## GuitarsCanada (Dec 30, 2005)

Anything from Boston (Tom Scholz - LP Gold Top) and the SR&D Rockman line, after the debut album that is


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## zontar (Oct 25, 2007)

Robert1950 said:


> I hope that top ten isn't in order, because, if so, the Marshall JTM45 combo by Clapton on the Beano album should be first.


I don't think there's any order to it.


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## ezcomes (Jul 28, 2008)

Mark P said:


> Interesting list. A few that he left out that come to mind for me:
> 
> Hendrix - Strat through a Marshall Plexi. E.g., Purple Haze
> Brian May - Red Special through Vox AC30. E.g., Bohemian Rhapsody
> ...


this list is interesting...but most people (at least online) swear that Purple Haze is a Tele into an Orange...i hadn't heard the Orange part...i heard it and a few others were cranked showman's


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## Shark (Jun 10, 2010)

ezcomes said:


> this list is interesting...but most people (at least online) swear that Purple Haze is a Tele into an Orange...i hadn't heard the Orange part...i heard it and a few others were cranked showman's


It could well be. I've read that Jimi sometimes used different guitars and amps in-studio compared to what he toured with. Live it was mostly Strat and Marshall--at least in the later years--and certainly quite a few of his best-known songs were recorded that way, too. My favourite tone of his was in Little Wing, though I couldn't tell you for sure what amp he recorded it with. I'm a terrible historian! Lol!


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## itf? (May 27, 2009)

*Hiwatt DR504*

David Gilmour - every album Pink Floyd has made since Syd's departure was made using HIWATT amps. Sure Gilmour is an effect pedal junky but at the heart of it all is that distinctive HIWATT snarl.


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## Roryfan (Apr 19, 2010)

+1 for the HIWATT & P-90s a la Tommy-era Pete Townshend.

How about Koss & the 18W Marshall?

Didn't Buchanan use a BF Vibrolux not a DR as cited in the article?


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## Roryfan (Apr 19, 2010)

Robert1950 said:


> I hope that top ten isn't in order, because, if so, the Marshall JTM45 combo by Clapton on the Beano album should be first.


Whether the list is about "good" or "influential" the answer is YES.


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## washburned (Oct 13, 2006)

Roryfan said:


> +1 for the HIWATT & P-90s a la Tommy-era Pete Townshend.
> 
> How about Koss & the 18W Marshall?
> 
> Didn't Buchanan use a BF Vibrolux not a DR as cited in the article?


I think he used a lot of Fenders, but always wide open.


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## Diablo (Dec 20, 2007)

Meh...the only ones on that list that have any meaning to me are Setzers, the edge, and EVH especiallyy....probably a hundred thousand amps have been sold to punters trying to get Eddies tone.


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## hummingway (Aug 4, 2011)

I'm surprised the '59 Bassman didn't make the list but it was a decent attempt at an impossible task. I like the suggestions folks have added.

I took a workshop with the fellow who produced Dick Dale's Unknown Territory, Scott Mathews maybe? He mentioned that Dale always played the Showman with the volume at 10. I've got a '65 Showman and it is a wonderful amp but at 10 it knocks walls down. 

I saw Buchanan in '74 or '75 and he was playing a Twin that night but it was on an outdoor stage - somewhere near Peterborough - so maybe he wanted something with more power. When I lived in California I became friends with a drummer who toured with Roy. He told me the same story about him facing the amp towards the wall. He also said the most amazing sounds would come out of his amp. Again, when I saw him the amp was facing forward. He was great. The sight and sound of him playing Sweet Dreams is burned into my brain cells. That was a good weekend; we also caught Ronny Hawkins with King Biscuit Boy playing harp in a hockey rink like bar - the Pine's maybe?


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## Cary (May 11, 2011)

maybe too modern to be considered with the rest of these, but it was Derek Trucks playing his SG through a (sometimes 2) Blackface Super Reverb that influenced me to have a clone made. He gets a tone I would argue noone else can get.


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