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Three Red Lights posted:I have an aversion to 5150's. Maybe its enirely irrational but nah. I've always regretted selling mine. I've owned a bunch of high gain amps over the years but I'd buy back a 5150 in an instant if I needed a modern metal amp. They are not good bedroom practice amps but sound RIDICULOUS at full band volume. Sooo good. Personally, I waffled around with about 10 amps before settling on something that nailed exactly what I had been looking for all along. I got tired of smooth, modern, tight, predictable sounding amps and wanted something vintage, snarly, raspy, and angry sounding instead. I went through a Matamp Roadster 120 that I ended up selling and immediately regretted as well since I only sold it to fund the purchase of a Matamp GTL and then the seller for that backed out days after I sold MY Matamp. It took me a year after that to find one of these for sale. I immediately sold my Mesa/Boogie Mark III head and snatched it up as soon as I saw it. To this day, I will stand by it as being the best musical equipment purchase I've ever made:  With the volume only halfway up, it will literally shift items around in your room. I've had things rattle off of shelves and dressers after playing it for only a few minutes. Some others I know with Electric heads just cut out a big piece of foam to set their heads on on top of their speaker cabinets because they will actually vibrate themselves off of them onto the ground if you aren't careful. Absolutely monstrous amplifiers. Even though they aren't modern sounding, they are the most aggressive amp I've ever heard. Super angry and tons of gain available. The cleans are 'meh' but work. No effects loop, no 2nd channel, no footswitch, etc. Just a simple hand-wired, point-to-point, beefy amp capable of shattering windows. FYI they work great for bass, too. Al Cisneros (Sleep, OM) uses one.  After owning this, I don't know that I could ever go back to Orange or Matamp amps even though some of them can cop a similar sound... Maybe an old early-70s Orange OR120 could fit the bill even though it has nowhere near the gain of an Electric. For high gain tones, I currently use an Engl E530. A little sterile but it works.
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Aug 3, 2010 00:51
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Sirius Sam posted:Jesus christ, I've been looking at these for the last 3 weeks. I want one so loving bad. Did you have one custom built for you or did you buy one used? I've got walls of amps and have tried literally everything but this right here is my dream amp. I want the Master Volume and Power unit but I have no where near the cash for that kind of investment. I could do with a 6x12 too. TELL ME ABOUT THIS AMAZING PIECE OF AUDIO EQUIPMENT EDIT: Read the bottom of this post! Like I said, it took me a year of searching before I found one for sale used. In that amount of time, I could have just ordered a new one for a few hundred more... but whatever. haha. The wait time on a new one is about a year anyway. I've used mine for almost every genre I listen to. Sludge, thrash metal, punk, hardcore, etc. A couple of pedals and some tweak time and it can be used for a lot of different things. The people I've had try it out have been blown away by it even though none of them had ever heard of Electric Amps before. The guys at EA know what they're doing. The components are top notch and put together in a thick, heavy chassis so the whole thing feels like you could just kick it down a flight of stairs and it'd suffer no damage. There are thoughtful tidbits like how the tubes are spaced far apart and aren't sandwiched in between the transformers so they don't build up heat. The chassis is built so that, when taken out of the head shell, it'll stand up balanced on any of its 6 sides so it's easy to work on. The construction inside is masterful as well. Yes yes... I sound like an Electric Amp salesman, I know. I'm just a really happy owner. With my ESP Viper, neck pickup, (especially with my boost pedal), the thing sounds exactly like the Sleep album "Dopesmoker" (or "Jerusalem"). Exactly. If you want that sort of sound, this is THE amp you want. Crappy old vid of me playing part of that album incorrectly here. My Ibanez guitar gives it a looser, bassier, snarlier sound. It puts out pants-flapping low-end.   If mine were stolen tomorrow, I'd have an order in for its replacement the next day. I may still rotate through other 2nd amps around it but never want to get rid of the Electric. It's perfect. EDIT: A dude I've been talking to online for years and a fellow Electric Amp Master Volume amp owner JUST posted today that he's putting his amp up for sale. Looks like he wants about $2k for it. He's over in the "Doom Room II" thread on TheGearPage. Just an FYI since you seemed interested in one. Catastrophe fucked around with this message at 06:23 on Aug 3, 2010 |
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Aug 3, 2010 06:13
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You Ampeg V owners are crazy. I had an early 70s non master volume V4 for a few months and had to get rid of it because it was literally unusable for me. The volume those things put out are beyond belief. I know pretty much all 50+ Watt guitar amps are "loud" but you haven't heard LOUD until you've fired up a V4 and attempted to move the volume control past the halfway point. At this point, I wish I still had it to use as a type of slave for my Electric head but I can't complain too much because I bought it for $200 in non-working condition, discovered it only needed a single $0.05 rectifier diode replaced, got it working great and then sold it a couple months later for $600.
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Aug 13, 2010 19:02
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Sirius Sam posted:I play in doom bands or hardcore bands and I use the loudest amps and rigs and highest gain I can get... I require more info. Please tell me about your loud, high gain amps used for doom and hardcore.
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Sep 28, 2010 05:11
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Sirius Sam posted:
Sweet. A Recto is one high gain amp I haven't tried yet that I'd really like to. I think it'd mix really well with my  Electric Amp head (ala Abominable Iron Sloth... Dual Recto + Matamp GTO).
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Sep 30, 2010 06:22
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answersyouseek posted:V-4's aren't great live amps for guitar because they aren't that loud. I........ what??? As a previous V-4 owner, I can tell you that it was easily the loudest guitar amp I've ever owned (and I currently have an Electric Amp head that has actually remotely knocked things off of shelves and furniture in my apartment with its volume). It was like it was from another world. If you tried out a V-4 that wasn't very loud, it was broken. They are beasts. Catastrophe fucked around with this message at 05:15 on Jan 30, 2011 |
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Jan 30, 2011 05:12
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Matamp makes some of the most unique and weird sounding amps out there but I still really want to put in an order for one someday (and I already own a similar sounding Electric Amp). Here is a Matamp GTL doing what it does.. belting out a foggy, fuzzy bellow. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ppy0ruq1oBQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ppy0ruq1oBQ
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Jun 5, 2011 03:16
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mr_package posted:
I ended up in the same spot. My Electric head has never disappointed. I've never regretted buying it. I went through a Marshall TSL, Peavey 5150, Ampeg V-4, THD Univalve, Mesa/Boogie Mark III, and even a Matamp Roadster and probably some others I'm not remembering right now before I settled on the Electric. I have the EL34 version and it's still a beast. I've vibrated things off shelves and furniture with the crazy volume it puts out. It doesn't like playing clean and always wants to break up a bit but I didn't buy it for clean tone. My Engl E530 fills in for that. Anyway, what I'm getting at is: DO IT.
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Jul 10, 2012 22:11
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the Bunt posted:Thanks, noted. You have any particular recommendations for a better head? I might just end up getting another 6505 but I'd like to play the field a bit because all I ever hear about metal guys playing with it 5150s or 6505s I have an unusual recommendation regarding this situation. I'd typically tell anyone wanting to play metal to please just go out and pick up a 5150/6505 since they are fantastic pieces of equipment. But, since you're already playing against another one of those, you may want to check out the Engl E530 preamp + a power amp of your choice like a Mosvalve 962 or something similar. Insane, insane amount of available gain while staying tighter and drier than any amp I've ever played before. Offers great voicing options and "4" channels to play with. It has a built in 2x 1.5W stereo amp for low volume playing and stereo outputs as well. I own a $2500 Electric Amp head that I adore and will shamelessly admit that my Engl E530 easily gets as much play as it. Examples: http://soundcloud.com/juan-carlos-50/e530-boost-test http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbP10QczUyY http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXAIse11DJs If I remember correctly, I paid $550 for mine.
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Sep 4, 2012 05:15
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Regarding cheap, good guitars: http://www.rondomusic.com/electricguitar-ss9.html and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_Ru9mPqWZo I was SO CLOSE to picking up an AL-2000 with P90s. I hear nothing but good things about Agile guitars for the price they are. If I ever drop my ESP, one of these will probably replace it.
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Oct 3, 2012 21:15
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Sirius Sam posted:One thing that's always been annoying for me as a guitarist and gearhead is that the music I play is completely unlike anything anyone plays in those sample videos. I go between playing super loud "wall of sound" fuzzed out stoner/doom metal (think Electric Wizard/old Boris/Weedeater) to super grindy HM-2 type distortion in Drop A (think Trap Them/Black Breath/Magrudergrind etc etc) and I can never ever find samples of speakers, pickups or even amps used in a way like that on the internet. I'm sure I'm not the majority but it still bums me out that I have to find ways to try them all out in person which is basically impossible I'm pretty much in the same boat as you. I went through a bunch of amps, hoping to eventually find the sound I was looking for. Marshall TSL, Peavey 5150 (which was QUITE good and shouldn't have been sold), THD Univalve, an old flip-top Ampeg, Ampeg V-4, Matamp Roadster, Engl 530, Mesa-Boogie Mark III. I one day saw an Electric Amps master-volume head on Ebay. I had been a fan of the clips I had heard so I sold the Mark III I had at the time and purchased it. 5 years later and I'm still loving that thing. It has really deep voicing so it can get a bit loose but that's a trait that makes it great for Electric Wizard style playing. With the voicing/FAC knob turned to the least-deep setting, you lose some gain but it gets a lot tighter since it's not producing all of those low tones. A boost pedal can bring the gain back up past what you get on the deeper settings anyway. With just a boost pedal, the voicing options on it, and picking between the 4 pickup options I have on my 2 guitars, I've been able to play pretty much anything I want with it. If you can deal with having a single channel and want instant wall-of-sound, dizzying gain, I can't recommend them enough. The only problems with them is that they're built by a single guy so there's a wait and they're quite pricey. But hey, it beats spending even more years buying and selling gear while chasing that sound. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDKb-X26UYQ
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Aug 6, 2013 21:57
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Xabi posted:What did you think about it? It's the only other amp I've owned that I've always regretted selling. It had limited uses but sounded beautiful in its comfort zone. My problem was that I owned it during a time when I almost exclusively played thrash metal so it didn't fit my needs at the time. Being a low-wattage NMV amp, it didn't have much headroom for cleans (which I didn't really mind). The fact that it has a built in attentuator and can be played without a cabinet being attached is phenomenal. My grandpa used to repair old radios and amps and thus had a basement full of various NOS tubes which I used to my advantage. I stocked up on piles of old preamp and power tubes which gave me a lot of voicing and gain options along with the amp's voltage and voicing controls. I still occasionally check local Craigslist postings to see if anyone has one for sale. No luck, yet.
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Aug 7, 2013 05:25
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Well, I'm finally considering doing something I figured I'd never do. I think I may put my Electric Amp 120W master volume head up for sale. It's amazing and I spent years trying a bunch of different amps until I found the one that sounded exactly like this but I just have no use for it anymore. It hasn't been played in a couple of years, at this point. It's just sitting there collecting dust. I live in an apartment with walls so thin that I can hear what my neighbors are talking about on the phone. A 120W guitar amp connected to a 4x12 cabinet isn't really usable in here. I'm 34 now and will never join another band. It's a sad thing to consider but it certainly doesn't seem unreasonable. The fact I'll likely never find a replacement if I want one back bothers me, though. Argh.
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Jan 25, 2014 20:58
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Just curious what the go-to amp or company is these days for gritty, downtuned doom/sludge. I've been out of the loop for years now. It used to be things like a Matamp GTL/GT1 or an Ampeg V-4 with a sick fuzz pedal but I know that's not the case anymore. I got a used Electric Amp USA head a few years before Hovercraft appeared. I'm within walking distance of Hovercraft's shop here in Portland but have never tried one out. So what's everyone snagging for that, these days?
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Jun 22, 2017 00:01
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jwh posted:I'm also not sure what's up with Nial. He got rid of all his staff and brought Hovercraft back to a one man operation. Sometimes, weird or crazy people make decent products. Electric Amps uploaded this a few days ago.  Seriously what https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2fm_q94_5s
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Jun 22, 2017 18:00
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 I was looking to purchase one of these about 15 years ago just because I had heard that Social Distortion relied on them for their sound. I had no idea the old "blackface" Bassman could sound like that, though. Christ.
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Jun 24, 2017 05:57
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Old vs new. The Electric Amp is way, way too loud to play in my current apartment with paper-thin walls. I picked up a 1W Marshall DSL1 combo to use for now instead. And I run it in 0.1W mode most of the time. Lemme tell you, that Marshall DSL is actually pretty awesome. I had a Marshall TSL previously that I sold to pick up a 5150 instead (best choice ever) because I really didn't get along with that TSL. This amp is genuinely not bad, though. And, of course, the Electric is an absolute tone monster worthy of worship and praise...
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Oct 16, 2020 21:17
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Dang It Bhabhi! posted:Those John McNeese-built Electric amps are about the best poo poo you can get I've genuinely rattled objects off of shelves onto the floor in my apartment from that Electric Amp bellowing. It seems incredibly simple inside but it will viciously strip the paint from your walls if turned up. 
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Oct 17, 2020 02:59
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Dang It Bhabhi! posted:Yes because of Mesa’s product development approach of including everything imaginable, usually from previous versions of the same line, inside one amp. Complex switching and countless interconnected circuit boards are all sandwiched tightly together making fault-finding brutal. I think it'd be pretty easy to spot what went wrong inside of my amp 
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Mar 17, 2021 06:15
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I'm pretty sure I'm finally going to sell my Electric Amp head. I swore I would drag this thing with me to the grave but I genuinely need the money now.  You want to sound like the Sleep - Dopesmoker album? This thing has your back.
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Oct 5, 2021 04:48
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Pokey Araya posted:How much you asking for? I have no idea on specifics since this is just an idea that hasn't solidified into an actual ad yet. It'll likely go up for ~$2,000.
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Oct 5, 2021 05:00
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Kvlt! posted:This thing is awesome af, i wish I could afford it. What's the fuzz knob do? Is it a built in transistor fuzz circuit or an extra tube gain stage or a clipping circuit or some combo? "Fuzz" on this amp is simply the gain knob. They just put a cheeky label on it. e: I know the sound of these things is 100% definitely not for everyone but, if you want that sound of a 60s amp pushed to its knees way beyond its limits, it's tough to find out there https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oeoj8HGatYk Catastrophe fucked around with this message at 05:10 on Oct 5, 2021 |
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Oct 5, 2021 05:03
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I now actively want to sell my Electric Amp MV120 head because I've been out of work for over a year and need the rent money but I'm so burned out on insultingly pushy low-ballers on anything I've tried to sell over the past few years. "I know you said $2000 firm but would you take $450?" type poo poo. Absolutely sick and tired of it.
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Apr 11, 2022 01:00
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The number was just an example
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Apr 11, 2022 05:42
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curried lamb of God posted:The amp price increases have been crazy - I bought my DSL40CR for $675 a year ago (retailing for $750), and now they're retailing for $1050. I have a little DSL 1. The Marshall DSL series is genuinely good stuff. I had a Marshall TSL previously that I just couldn't agree with but the DSLs are *chefskiss* EDIT: This well known goofy dude agrees. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvMaSIOePZs e: My choice for live high-gain guitar is still my Engl e530, though. The thing is so dry it's incredible. It's like playing with sound that's like a light switch. On/off/on/off/on/off so unbelievably fast if you're playing fast metal. The 530 is insanely quick. You may not notice it if hearing it but playing it will definitely show off any mistake you make in playing in immediate glory. Catastrophe fucked around with this message at 05:40 on Apr 12, 2022 |
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Apr 12, 2022 05:23
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syntaxfunction posted:Also gonna go on record to say even within the JCM2000 range the DSL series is generally considered far superior to the TSL series, and the new DSL range is based on the 2000 DSL range. Yeah, that's how I ended up with amps like my Electric where it just has a few knobs and then GO! This is my old TSL combo. I didn't like that it sounded too good. Does that make sense? Like I wanted something that wasn't so smooth and had more snarl. Soooooo.... I ended up with an early Peavey 5150. I want to go on record right away to state that I should be punched in the face for how I eventually sold that amp. 
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Apr 12, 2022 07:11
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I randomly just remembered the time my old 5150 started sounding really funky. I took the preamp tube cover off the back and immediately spotted the problem. Dat ain't right. That 12AX7 must have sprung a leak and got some air into it or something but purple glow = bad.
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Jul 14, 2023 16:20
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