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If you could only have one amp, cost not an issue but maybe versatility is, which would it be? I know these open ended questions sometimes go nowhere but my son has Children's Wish Foundation gift and I am not sure what to do about this part. So far I am looking at a Marshall stack, the EVH 5150III or the Fender Twin Reverb 65. But there has to be other great contenders and maybe the ones I am looking at are poor choices....

Thanks
Shane

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Canada

I would have something custom made. My first choice would be sweet amplification
Www.sweetamplification.com

Pat will custom design something based on your needs and taste.

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Brian

You never know what you are capable of until you actually try.

https://www.howardguitarsdelaware.com/

Sorry, double post

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Brian

You never know what you are capable of until you actually try.

https://www.howardguitarsdelaware.com/

Hard to beat the one I just recently acquired, a Fender 'Brown' Deluxe. Single 12, 15 watts and tube-bias tremolo.
My other choice would be a tweed Tremolux.

It really sort of depends on what kind of amp/sound someone wants, what kind of music gets played most.

I have a modeller for the 'screwing around with effects' and high gain stuff, but what I really love is the relative simplicity of plugging into a tube amp. And you've got a couple of flavor options there, from the 'classic' single-style amps (Marshall, Fender, Vox, say...British vs American if you're over-simplifying) to the more complex. The semi-boutique company I really like is Rivera. Paul Rivera is a talented amp designer. I have an early 80's rack stereo tube amp (TBR), and it's a beast. Can pretty much do Fender to Marshall styles with an extra boost where desired, but it is a bit of a bear to dial in the tone you want because the controls interact pretty strongly with each other. The classic amps with fewer knobs where almost all settings sound great have their appeal as well...

Specific musical genre? or versatile all rounder? give us something to aim for.

If you really need versatility,
and pro quality, and cost is no issue,
buy Fractal Audio Ax-Fx2 pre amp/processor:

http://fractalaudio.com/p-axe-fx-ii-pre ... cessor.php

with quality power amp and cabinet you´re golden.

So, a little more information then. My son is 10 years old. He had a liver transplant when he was 16 months old. That is where the "wish" came from. We were going to hold off on this wish until he was really old enough (late teens) to be committed strongly to something so he could decide what he wanted. A few weeks ago we found a small floating lump near one of his shoulders. It appears to be "nothing" but it really got us thinking that one never knows what can happen and he is at higher risk for other issues in the future, largely because we still are not fully aware of what caused his original liver failure and because the on growing drugs he takes leave him at higher risk for cancer. We will take him, and his brother of course, on the various vacation destinations that are traditional to these "wishes" but I wanted this to be something that could stay with him for his entire life and also something that retained it's value just in case he did decide to have a different "wish" down the road. He has been in classical guitar lessons for about three years and he likes them but like most you boys likes the idea of rocking out one day and has been called upon to play electric guitar on occasion in school band. I have an old Ibanez Les Paul copy (nothing really original about it anymore so not the cool collectors item) and a Gibson ES 335 from the early 70's. I have a Beringer acoustic amp, a Roland Cube 40 and am just about to complete the cabinet work for a really cool "boutique" tube amp built by our own James Orr. So there is lots of kit here for my son to play with but a really nice Gibson Les Paul and a high end amp will hold their value just because of name recognition and still remain versatile enough to play at any level. If he decides to get more into music and start playing in bands, like his 12 year old brother is, then he will have the equipment to get started. Guitar players are like woodworkers and tend to be collectors, one amp and one guitar will not be enough. So I wanted these to be at the top end so that he didn't have an option to "trade up" and he could rather just add to them as he got older and more interested. Anyway, that is my thought line. Value retention is important (shallow but practical) just because of his age, but I don't want these to be signed collectors editions either but rather real "working class" gear that would see him through any gig he found himself in.

Thanks
Shane

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Canada

Shane, I'd take him into a guitar store and let him play around a little. It's hard to go wrong with Marshall, but maybe he'd prefer a Mesa Boogie or something.

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David Morris

i have to say right now, please throw away the Roland cube and Behringer stuff, as it is pure, 100% rubbish. now as far as "The Ultimate" electric guitar amp, well, there isn't one. what i can say is, the 100 watt stacks (or combos) that are so famous, were famous for this reason: your average club/hall in the year 1968 did not have their own sound system.....
some great and common platforms today are the marshall 1987x, orange rockerverb, or fender deluxe reverb. as previously mentioned, the 18 watt marshall is excellent, but it can be overwhelmed by a drum kit/other guitars/basses in a rehearsal situation. so: shoot for between 30 and 50 watts RMS, and all tube circuitry. the deluxe reverb is also tad underpowered (22watts) for band rehearsal situations, and the twin reverb is a touch too massive...the 80-150 watt amps are just too heavy and too impractical to saturate(ie crank) for today's needs. my personal choice would be an orange, although i feel they are overpriced.
anything with digital effects is going to be a pile of garbage and won't be worth anything in 10 years. i grew up playing only transistor(solid state) amps and i assure you i will never go back. sometimes i go to guitar center and plug into the latest SS stuff and i amazed at how horrible it sounds compared to tube gear. one of the best deals to be had is the epiphone valve junior- they are a simple, pure tube circuit and they sound amazing....but, they are only 5 watts, and they are single- ended design, which modern('70s-'80s) rockers tend not to appreciate.
mesa boogies are way over rated and really do not sound that great...they are so gainy it feels like a compressor pedal is on full time, even when clean- great for leads, but guitar playing is not all about single note soloing, all the time.
ideally, as someone else suggested, you'd get a kit and assemble your own.
my long 2 cents....cheers

Shane,

if traditional style tube amp is your goal,
then I would take a serious look at 65 Amps,
maybe starting with listening a couple of "Lunch with Dan Boul"
sessions from Youtube.

That is some cool stuff!

Tough question, Shane!
Kids usually like effects, distortion and such.
So, taking him to a store to try them is good advice.
Some amps have built in effects
My favorite amp was a '65 princeton non reverb.
Loud enough for small clubs,
light weight,
GREAT tone! (for my ears)
I sold it for more than I paid for it.
Drawback,
reliability and repairs.
I like the idea of building a kit!

I would have Paul Reed Smith build a custom amp. I have a friend that did make a wish and Paul came to meet with him and designed a guitar just for him that had his name inlayed on the 12th fret. Great company for this kind of thing.

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I wanted something very dense, something that would sustain long and more pieces of wood that would be soft, sweet, for more of a mellow sound.

~ Les Paul

Thanks for all of the input guys. Some great suggestions. A kit is definitely in the future and like I said I a great little boutique amp that I will show in a once I get the cabinets finished, that James Orr made for me. But for this particular situation "off the rack" well know and traditional will probably hold the best value. I will let you all know what transpires once he has his wish fulfilled.

Thanks again!

Shane

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Canada

I'm playing mainly Bluegrass lately, but I've had one or two of just about everything available in a tube amp. I have had a Mesa DC-10 since 1998 its the best Fender twin style amp I've ever had, two foot switchable channels, reverb, and graphic eq, the master volume will let you play at bedroom levels and it will blow you out of the room if needed. If I were to grab one more I'm looking hard at the Handwired Marshall series.

Mesa/Boogie Mark V with a hardwood cab

Shane: How about a Fender Concert 112. Nice size, not too many pieces to carry (1), and enough power for clubs, school dances, you name it. It does Rock, Blues, Jazz, C&W equally well and it's easy to get tubes for and repaired since there are about a million around. You can't get a better amp, but you could spend a lot more.

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"Building guitars looks hard, but it's actually much harder than it looks." Tom Buck

money no object; I'd get a Dumble. never had one but that brings us back to the first part- Money.

Shane, first off, I want to wish you all the best with your son. My wife and I had some concerns with our first son, and I think I can imagine the journey you've gone through.

Regarding amps, here's my extremely subjective opinion:

-Roland: good amps, probably the best of the SS / digital modeling amps I'm aware of, and I have owned 4 or 5. Probably not something that will hold any sort of value, though, as a general rule. Not from what I've seen, anyway.
-Marshall: I've never heard one I liked the tone of, but that's just my opinion. They also seem really overpriced, but again, JMHO.
-Mesa Boogie: I have one right now that I am really enjoying. Not all are the same, though, so shop around for the model that suits you best. Over priced? Maybe, so look for a used one.
-Peavey: the old solid state ones were built like tanks, and weighed only slightly less. I have one now that I'm trying to sell, just because I have to make some room. Can't comment on the newer ones, or the tube models.
-Fender tube amps: My favourite, right after my Mesa. Just don't get the Hot Rod DeVille- when I worked at a music store, that one had more problems than any other Fender model, and I've heard that elsewhere more than once since then.

It seems to me that tube amps are the only ones that keep their value to any extent.

Just picked up a Fender Supersonic combo off of Craigslist. Like it a lot!

Worth looking at, IMO.

Kevin Looker

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I'm not a luthier.
I'm just a guy who builds guitars in his basement.
It's better than playing golf.

Hate to say it but for versatility there isn't anything comparable to a rack mount or floor amp modeler going into a PA. That gives you every tone imaginable.

I also have a Vox Valvetronics AD120VT, a couple of Fenders, a Gallien Kruger, and a Tech 21. ...but as a stand alone amp that Vox is a great amp. It's also a modeling amp, modeling various Vox amps of the past. The AD120VT is their biggest, loudest one. They make two smaller versions of that.

Truly though. I fire up those amps rarely and use the rack mount system pretty much exclusively.

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I read Emerson on the can. A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds...true...but a consistent reading of Emerson has its uses nevertheless.

StuMusic

I prefer the simplicity of a good tube amp, but when I want flexibility I plug into the Pod HD500. Couple that with a Bogner tube amp and you may just have the best of both worlds.

i made for myself, and have sold to a few customers, an 18 watt marshal variant that has 2 channels (one "normal" channel that goes from plexi clean to vintage dirty and a more modern TMB channel with a master volume. while it is admittedly not one of those amps with 300 switches it covers a tremendous amount of territory and every time i think of building or buying something else, i turn it on and an hour later have forgotten about building or buying anything else.

Feel free to email me or PM me for more details - not sure if you were looking to build one yourself or buy.

Cheers,

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Gauge Guitars
www.gaugeguitars.com

So now, whatcha gonna do Shane?
Don't even start on what microphone to get!!!!
Wishing your son the best of luck!

Yep...perfect. That Pod HD500 goes SO far beyond ANY reasonably affordable set of pedals...you put that together with a little Fender Princeton or Deluxe Reverb there's no way to beat it on versatility. Frankly though...the stereo effects are far less dramatic without two amps...thus I recommend a small PA system...or a pair of powered monitors is all you'd really need.

For the money you spend on a little Fender Deluxe Reverb you could have a new Pod HD500 and a very NICE set of KRK Rokit 8's which are loud enough to damage your hearing in your living room. For live performance a pair of Mackie Thump TH 12A will destroy your whole head and leave a big gloppy mess. The point is...with a single amp and guitar there is one basic range of sounds available. With a Pod and some powered speakers....there's an entire WORLD of sounds which includes the modeling of the most popular amplifiers out there.....all for the same money as a little amp.

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I read Emerson on the can. A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds...true...but a consistent reading of Emerson has its uses nevertheless.

StuMusic