# The "high powered guitar amps" thread



## Budda (May 29, 2007)

You know what, that Garnet got me thinking. We haven't compiled a list of all the 150W+ monsters of the world, rare or otherwise. Pics are welcome but not required.

Here's what I can think of so far:


Mesa Boogie Coliseum (300W)
Marshall Major (200W)
Orange Thunderverb (200W)
Mesa Triple Rectifier (150W)
I think there's a super-high powered Twin but I'll leave that to the experts.

If people want, I can use this post as a master list.


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## KapnKrunch (Jul 13, 2016)

Haha. Soon as I saw the title, I knew you were inspired by the Garnet 600 to post this.

What a monster, eh, bud?


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## JC103 (Oct 6, 2007)

Traynor Custom Special YBA-3 (150w) and Traynor Super Custom Special YBA-3A (300w)


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## keto (May 23, 2006)

HiWatt DR201 & 405

edit, corrected the model #'s


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## Granny Gremlin (Jun 3, 2016)

Sunn 1000s/1200s - 120W advertised (but same UL 4xKT88/6550 power section as a Marshall Major so easily closer to 200W -which is likely rounded up from about 180)

Sunn 2000s - Same as above but bass version (diff preamp - no trem/verb; bass boost vs mid boost and diff EQ points; guitarists used em too)

Hiwatt DR405 - claims 400 W (I don't see how they're getting much more than 300 - 6 KT88s and not even UL)

Thunderfunk - TF100LS - claims 100 W but runs a quad of 6550s so at least 140-150)


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## Frenchy99 (Oct 15, 2016)

Dynacord Gigant PA/instrument head used to amplify the entire band. 

Runs at over 700Volts with 4 EL34 in the power section rated at 150 Watts.


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## Frenchy99 (Oct 15, 2016)

Univox U1561 Bass Head running 4 6550 Power tubes, rated at 150 Watts.


For Guitar:
Univox U1511 Guitar Head running 4 6550 Power tubes, rated at 150 Watts.


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## Sneaky (Feb 14, 2006)

My first Fender amp was a Super Twin Reverb. 6x6L6's, 180 watts. 

Biggest piece of crap I have ever owned, but hey, Ted Nugent used to use them.


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## Frenchy99 (Oct 15, 2016)

Garnet Pro 600 Super with 6 EL34 in the power section rated at 225 Watts.


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## Frenchy99 (Oct 15, 2016)

Garnet BTO 400 running 4 EL34`s in the power section, rated at 155 Watts.


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## gtrguy (Jul 6, 2006)

Fender 400PS- about 475+W from 6 x 6550... although Fender rated it at 435W RMS.


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## keto (May 23, 2006)

To be fair, a lot of the models in this thread so far were intended primarily for bass, though OF COURSE they can be used for guitar.


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## Granny Gremlin (Jun 3, 2016)

gtrguy said:


> Fender 400PS- about 475+W from 6 x 6550... although Fender rated it at 435W RMS.


Can't believe I forgot about that guy. To be fair it's more like 3 amps (each pair of power tubes has it's own dedicated output - that's why there's 3 cabs behind it in the pic). They rated each output at 145W @ 4Ohms

Also even if UL (it's not), that thing can't be pushing anywhere close to 475W. I'm even skeptical of 145 per output.


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## cboutilier (Jan 12, 2016)

gtrguy said:


> Fender 400PS- about 475+W from 6 x 6550... although Fender rated it at 435W RMS.


I've wanted one of those since i first discovered it.

Didn't Vox build some 200W heads for the Beatles back in the day.


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## butterknucket (Feb 5, 2006)

I can't remember the model off hand, but Traynor made a 400+ watt tube bass head in the late 60's into the early 70's.

There was always a rumor that Dan Armstrong smuggled one across the border and the SVT showed up shortly after.

Edit:

The amp was the YBA-3A Super Custom Special. It was 250 Watts but could be in excess of 400 Watts when it was dimed. Here's what Tales From the Tone Lounge has to say:

You want power, little boy? Try out the YBA-3A ‘Super Custom Special’ (Pete had a problem with modesty). Why use plain old 6L6’s when you can use four 6KG6 TV horizontal output tubes and crank out 250 watts RMS before clipping. It was not unheard of to find a YBA-3A that scoped out at 400 watts with all controls ‘dimed’. The YBA-3A was sold with two 8X10″ speaker cabinets. The rumor is that Dan Armstrong smuggled one over to Ampeg, who quickly produced the SVT shortly thereafter. Coincidence? Maybe. Maybe not.


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## butterknucket (Feb 5, 2006)




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## oheare (Jun 18, 2012)

butterknucket said:


> I can't remember the model off hand, but Traynor made a 400+ watt tube bass head in the late 60's into the early 70's.
> 
> There was always a rumor that Dan Armstrong smuggled one across the border and the SVT showed up shortly after.


Congrats on sneaking the Ampeg SVT into the thread on guitar amps (%h(*&), though Keith Richards did play through them for a bit.

And how could we not mention Acoustic? The Model 270, 340 W RMS @ 1.2 Ohm (yikes! 6 8-ohm speakers in parallel), or the Model 330, 300 W RMS @ 2 Ohm.


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

KapnKrunch said:


> Haha. Soon as I saw the title, I knew you were inspired by the Garnet 600 to post this.
> 
> What a monster, eh, bud?


I neeeed to hear it.



keto said:


> To be fair, a lot of the models in this thread so far were intended primarily for bass, though OF COURSE they can be used for guitar.


Thats why I put guitar amp in the title, trying to avoid the bass amp side of the discussion.

Really its just a GAS list


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## Granny Gremlin (Jun 3, 2016)

Acoustics were all Solid State, no?


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## cdntac (Oct 11, 2017)

Sneaky said:


> My first Fender amp was a Super Twin Reverb. 6x6L6's, 180 watts.
> 
> Biggest piece of crap I have ever owned, but hey, Ted Nugent used to use them.


One of his old sound guys from decades ago told me it was "DNA rearranging" loud with 4-6 of them all dimed.


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## Frenchy99 (Oct 15, 2016)

Granny Gremlin said:


> Acoustics were all Solid State, no?


Yep !!!


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## Frenchy99 (Oct 15, 2016)

Budda said:


> Thats why I put guitar amp in the title, trying to avoid the bass amp side of the discussion.



Pete Traynor made the YBA-3 for both guitar and bass use !!! 

The Garnet Pro 600 Super is also for Guitar and Bass... 

Fender Bassman are for Bass !!!!!!!!  Will you look at that !!! %h(*&


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## _Azrael (Nov 27, 2017)

Since we're posting bass amps... 8x KT88. 

Mesa rates it at 465w. People thought they were inflating their numbers, turns out they were being conservative. BGM measured it at around 500w continuous (@7.5% THD) with around 650w transients.

I really want to run my guitar through it, but I don't have enough guitar cab to take that kind of power.


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## ga20t (Jul 22, 2010)

Frenchy99 said:


> Garnet Pro 600 Super with 6 EL34 in the power section rated at 225 Watts.


Is this yours? Did you buy it? Saw this for sale locally recently. Had no idea about that beast until I saw the ad.


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

180watts


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

300watts SS


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## Hamstrung (Sep 21, 2007)

Budda said:


> I neeeed to hear it.


I'm sure if you listen carefully once he gets it going you'll be able to hear it from wherever he plays it! Man that beast will be loud!


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## oheare (Jun 18, 2012)

Granny Gremlin said:


> Acoustics were all Solid State, no?


Surprisingly, no! Mostly they were solid-state, but there were a few in the early '80s (I think) that used glow-FETs; I think it was the Model 160 series. (Yep, per this Reverb listing: Acoustic Model 164 Tube Combo 1980 the short-lived 164 and 165 had tubes. There was also a 160 head.)

Apparently Mr. Randall Smith of Mesa Boogie thought the Model 16x's were awful close to his Mark II (I think), and Acoustic Control changed things. Means those amps are uncommon.


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## jb welder (Sep 14, 2010)

oheare said:


> Congrats on sneaking the Ampeg SVT into the thread on guitar amps


The ampeg V9 was the guitar version of the SVT. 
Seeing as PA and bass amps have both been dragged into the thread, Mesa 400+ and Traynor YBA300 each sport a dozen 6L6's.


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## Frenchy99 (Oct 15, 2016)

ga20t said:


> Is this yours? Did you buy it? Saw this for sale locally recently. Had no idea about that beast until I saw the ad.



Yep I bought it! Have a look here :

https://www.guitarscanada.com/index.php?threads/nad-in-transit-i-m-hypped.190001/


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

There's the Peavey roadmaster (I think) which is 6x 6L6 IIRC. A band we play with in RI has one and it's awesome.


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## Kerry Brown (Mar 31, 2014)

I believe Skynyrd played Peavey Mace VTs with six 6L6’s. They were amazingly loud.


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## Granny Gremlin (Jun 3, 2016)

jb welder said:


> The ampeg V9 was the guitar version of the SVT.
> Seeing as PA and bass amps have both been dragged into the thread, Mesa 400+ and Traynor YBA300 each sport a dozen 6L6's.


400+ reminds me (even though it is integrated vs just a power amp):

Peavey 120/120 (240W in bridged mode)

Been low level GASing for something from that series for a bit (mostly cuz the Mesa equivalents are not so affordable and rarer on the used market).

So back to the power spec thing. The 400+ claims 500 watts from 6 pairs of 6L6s; the Traynor claims 300 from the same config (sure diff circuit). The most you can reasonably get from each pair of 6L6s is 50 W (and I have been skeptical of even that in some amps, but lets play ball: 50 x 6 = 300, so that's where that number comes from), but 500/6 = 83W each pair, which I am just gonna go right ahead ahead and call dreamin.


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## bolero (Oct 11, 2006)

Ampeg SVT was designed as an all around amplifier, not just for bass

keyboards, guitar, bass etc.....accordian?

"super valve technology" 

as a response to the solid state amps that were coming out & getting popular at the time

they sound great with guitar!! I used to own one & used it s lot

apparently the Dumble "steel string singer" was inspired by the SVT as well


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## cboutilier (Jan 12, 2016)

bolero said:


> Ampeg SVT was designed as an all around amplifier, not just for bass
> 
> keyboards, guitar, bass etc.....accordian?
> 
> ...


There was a 200W version of the SSS iirc.


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## VanillaTrice (Feb 24, 2016)

I'm surprised no one has mentioned the Crate Blue Voodoo yet.....


















300W on the cheap! I've never played one of these, but I do own the older, much smaller, USA built 50w version. Dirt channel is not the greatest, but the clean is pretty darn good! (not really what these were marketed for) I wonder how these high power beasts compare. Might be a bit hard to get past the gimmicky lights though......


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## Lull (Aug 30, 2017)

Here's a 150W Sunn Model-T I've owned a for a few years... I loved the look of this amp so much... This thing was LOUD!!! 

Sorry for the crappy picture, it was taken with one of the first generation of digital camera...


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## LowWatt (Jun 27, 2007)

Oh man this is my dream thread of heads.


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## Granny Gremlin (Jun 3, 2016)

Lull said:


> Here's a 150W Sunn Model-T I've owned a for a few years... I loved the look of this amp so much... This thing was LOUD!!!
> 
> Sorry for the crappy picture, it was taken with one of the first generation of digital camera...
> 
> View attachment 163161


Geez; how'd I forget the T.


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## Frenchy99 (Oct 15, 2016)

LowWatt said:


> Oh man this is my dream thread of heads.



Yep !!! Love me some Head Porn also !!!


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

LowWatt said:


> Oh man this is my dream thread of heads.


I figured a few others would appreciate it.


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

VanillaTrice said:


> I'm surprised no one has mentioned the Crate Blue Voodoo yet....


I own one of these, the bv150h. They're great amps for high gain!!


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

Just picked up this head last night. Mid-70's Sound City SMF Tour Series. 8 el34 power tubes, 6 powering 150watts and 2 utilized in the phase inverter. "SMF" literally stands for "Some Mother Fucker".


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

I havent seen a sound city in person. 8...


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## Granny Gremlin (Jun 3, 2016)

danielSunn0))) said:


> Just picked up this head last night. Mid-70's Sound City SMF Tour Series. 8 el34 power tubes, 6 powering 150watts and 2 utilized in the phase inverter. "SMF" literally stands for "Some Mother Fucker".
> View attachment 163321
> 
> View attachment 163329


Where da fuk do you find all this cool shit? Like you're not that far from TO and I never see this stuff around locally.


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## Frenchy99 (Oct 15, 2016)

Granny Gremlin said:


> Where da fuk do you find all this cool shit? Like you're not that far from TO and I never see this stuff around locally.



He looks in the French sections of the for sales adds !!! 



danielSunn0))) said:


> Just picked up this head last night. Mid-70's Sound City SMF Tour Series. 8 el34 power tubes, 6 powering 150watts and 2 utilized in the phase inverter. "SMF" literally stands for "Some Mother Fucker"



Nice !!!


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

Granny Gremlin said:


> Where da fuk do you find all this cool shit? Like you're not that far from TO and I never see this stuff around locally.


Right?!


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## Granny Gremlin (Jun 3, 2016)

Frenchy99 said:


> He looks in the French sections of the for sales adds !!!


So do I. Younger bro lives in Montreal, so I have him grab things for me there, but it's getting slimmer and slimmer pickings (and prices starting to get higher than here due to proximity to the States - they sell over the boarder).... There's a bunch of cool stuff in the Gatineaus, but those guys are mostly dreamers (pricing).


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## Frenchy99 (Oct 15, 2016)

Granny Gremlin said:


> So do I. Younger bro lives in Montreal, so I have him grab things for me there, but it's getting slimmer and slimmer pickings (and prices starting to get higher than here due to proximity to the States - they sell over the boarder)



I know ! 

Tell me about it... I`ve meet several new ( Professional Resellers ) since started getting back into my music hobby in the last year... All they do is look for deals to put on Reverb... Its a business ... Every time I see a deal and I call 30 seconds later, so and so already called ahead of me... always the same names... 

Getting to be a Bi...*#*( being a collecting musician...

I just want to find nice toys at a decent price ! MJF$#


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## Were We Brave? (Oct 29, 2009)

Verellen Meatsmoke. 2 channels, 6x 6550, 300W. Also available in a 200W (and 100W) version.

Both Mike Sullivan (guitar) and Brian Cook (bass) from Russian Circles are using it.


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

Verellen will make whatever you want so I left them out.


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

Granny Gremlin said:


> Where da fuk do you find all this cool shit? Like you're not that far from TO and I never see this stuff around locally.


Honestly, I'm just on kijiji and stuff a lot. I stumbled across this number on Craigslist, which was the only place it was posted. I also don't mind travelling. I once drove to Providence to do a guitar trade....


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

danielSunn0))) said:


> Honestly, I'm just on kijiji and stuff a lot. I stumbled across this number on Craigslist, which was the only place it was posted. I also don't mind travelling. I once drove to Providence to do a guitar trade....


Must have been one hell of a deal.

I dont scour classifieds because i cant rotate gear haha. I see your posts in ABI as well.


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