Thundersteel Posted July 3, 2010 Share Posted July 3, 2010 For those that haven't read it yet, please read this thread first. AMP CHOICES 1. Swart Space Tone----Positives: Nice price, simple controls, P2P wiring. Negatives: Little flexibility. 2. Carr Mercury----Positives: Much tonal flexibility, lifetime warranty on workmanship/3 years on materials, P2P wiring. Negatives: Pricey, 1/10 watt setting mostly useless except in the bedroom. 3. Mesa 5:25 Express----Positives: Least expensive; a lot of tonal flexibility, 5-year transferable warranty. Negatives: Too many controls, head only (no speaker), circuit boards used in construction. OK, what are your recommendations? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tulk1 Posted July 3, 2010 Share Posted July 3, 2010 They're a Z dealer. You don't mention any of those amps. The Carmen Ghia is a great amp, paired with a Z-brake it can do it all. Of the the three mentioned, I've played thru them all in the past year or so. My recollection is the SST kicked and had great tone right out of the box. The Carr Merc took me a long time to find "my" tone. The Mesa 5:25 left me unimpressed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fxdx99 Posted July 3, 2010 Share Posted July 3, 2010 I voted Swart, which admittedly is the only one I haven't played thru. The AST that you eliminated has been on my short list for some time. Yeh, the controls in the back seem odd although I've a 50s amp with that layout and am used to it. As well, the lush tremelo effect is something that I'd use - use the PRRI one all the time when with that amp... sometimes a subtle little bit, sometimes 'right there'. But, certainly get the one that keeps coming back to your mind as the one that would best fit your style/needs long term. Fun trip report - like to read of experiences with different gear. Thanks, TSteel! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
212Mavguy Posted July 3, 2010 Share Posted July 3, 2010 Dang! Don't be in such a friggin' HURRY! Take your time on this amp thang...The circuit board objection for the Mesa is not to worry about, Randall Smith designs 'em well. Of the ones you have selected for the vote, I voted Carr Mercury, not even close. Why? Well it's a boutique amp, and that means it is easy to tweak the circuit. That is the main advantage to point to point turret board wiring over a PCB, there is not much of a tone advantage over pcb if any. Secondly, it's a single ended circuit, sweet sounding class A power section, and that amp was made to experiment with different preamp and power tubes. New production tubes don't do it justice, at all. If you stuck vintage Siemens el34 or vintage Tung Sol 5881, and Amperex, Mullard, Raytheon blackplate, or Siemens 12ax7/ecc83 preamp tubes in some combination, you'd need some depends...the Carr will reward it's owner like few can when it is pimped out in the tube sockets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thundersteel Posted July 3, 2010 Author Share Posted July 3, 2010 They're a Z dealer. You don't mention any of those amps. Actually, I did, in my original post. I can't remember which models they had in stock, but they only had a couple of combos, and they didn't have reverb, so I eliminated them from my list. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pegleg32 Posted July 3, 2010 Share Posted July 3, 2010 TS, I didn't vote since I have not played any of the amps and didn't want to confuse the situation. I can tell you I am extremely pleased with my Carr Rambler and I think Carr is way above average for the integrity of their build. Great quality. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thundersteel Posted July 6, 2010 Author Share Posted July 6, 2010 Don't be in such a friggin' HURRY! Take your time on this amp thang... You are correct. I'm at the beginning of my amp search, and I didn't know there were so MANY amps out there! From the research I've done, I realize I need to take much longer than anticipated. So far, these amps pique my interest (not in any particular order): 1. Mesa 5:25 Express 2. Mesa Lonestar Special 3. Tone King Metropolitan 4. Valvetrain Lexington 5. Dr. Z Maz 18 Jr. 6. Genz-Benz Black Pearl 7. Peavey Classic 30 8. Carvin Vintage 16 9. Swart Space Tone Reverb 10. Carr Mercury I'm sure my list will change/grow as my research continues... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pegleg32 Posted July 6, 2010 Share Posted July 6, 2010 You are correct. I'm at the beginning of my amp search, and I didn't know there were so MANY amps out there I'm sure my list will change/grow as my research continues... Ain't it great!!!!!!! So many amps, so little time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
conorb Posted July 6, 2010 Share Posted July 6, 2010 I totally love my Space Tone Reverb. Highly recommended. Conorb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mtpatty Posted July 6, 2010 Share Posted July 6, 2010 you may want to visit Fractal Audio's website- I bought the Axe Fx Std...you may be surprised by it...b/c i looked at all those as well before buying the Axe Fx...and just so I can have something around the house, I bought a BlackHeart Little Giant...check it out- Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
212Mavguy Posted July 6, 2010 Share Posted July 6, 2010 You are correct. I'm at the beginning of my amp search, and I didn't know there were so MANY amps out there! From the research I've done, I realize I need to take much longer than anticipated. So far, these amps pique my interest (not in any particular order): 1. Mesa 5:25 Express 2. Mesa Lonestar Special 3. Tone King Metropolitan 4. Valvetrain Lexington 5. Dr. Z Maz 18 Jr. 6. Genz-Benz Black Pearl 7. Peavey Classic 30 8. Carvin Vintage 16 9. Swart Space Tone Reverb 10. Carr Mercury I'm sure my list will change/grow as my research continues... Yep...and you know how many of us have more than one Heritage guitar? Well, the amp is an instrument too! So don't be surprised if you find yourself over time accumulating several! Randall Aiken has published some very cool amp and tube theory papers online. They helped me to learn lots! Also, Randall Smith of Mesa Engineering has done up some really good stuff in his owner's manuals for his Mesa Boogies. The amp owner's manuals for both current and obsolete models are available from the Mesa website. (Hint) Pentodes and Irishmen is a great read of his found in the F30 manual...hilarious and brilliant!. Also, and please forgive me if I sound like I'm bong-preaching, but most guitar amps are push pull designs, they use pairs, quads arranged in two pairs, or in rare cases, a sextet arranged in three pairs of power tubes. A small minority of guitar amps, mainly the low powered ones, use a single power tube, they are called single ended. Not all single ended amps use a single power tube, however, notable the THD Bivalve and Emery sound stagebaby, if I remember correctly. There is a difference in the basic tone of a single ended amp compared to a push pull amp. The same amp circuit can sound VERY different through different cabs. When you buy a combo amp, you have less flexibility in your tonal palette than when you get a head unless you decide to use that combo as a head or drive additional cabs with it...and in the case of medium to high powered combo amps (>10 watts) the speakers' vibrations are detrimental to tube life, as well as tone over time... There is a reason why Jim Marshall started out designing many of his amps as heads...and modern production tubes tend to not be as well constructed or long lived as the vintage stuff no longer made. When you search amps in eBay, do a search once you get into the guitar amps under "point to point," "hand wired," that will give you the boutique amps in many instances. Another interesting search criteria is "Class A." Gotta stop, trying to help but getting long winded here... Peace. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rude Dog Posted July 6, 2010 Share Posted July 6, 2010 I didn't vote, as I've never played through any of them. I'm gonna guess that those 3 sound and feel quit different. Good for you for taking your time. I had a Z Carmen Ghia for a couple years and sold it - killer amp. Sounds way better w/ Single Coil guitars than humbuckers in my opinion. I don't like the Maz Junior much. A couple friends have them and they're not my cup of tea at all. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thundersteel Posted July 6, 2010 Author Share Posted July 6, 2010 Thanks for the replies. I've decided on one, so I'll call tomorrow and get it. I'll let you know when it comes in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
212Mavguy Posted July 7, 2010 Share Posted July 7, 2010 Thanks for the replies. I've decided on one, so I'll call tomorrow and get it. I'll let you know when it comes in. Awwwwwesome! you have a NAD soon, I have a Heritage NGD tomorrow! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jazzpunk Posted July 11, 2010 Share Posted July 11, 2010 So what did you get?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thundersteel Posted July 11, 2010 Author Share Posted July 11, 2010 So what did you get?! Here's a hint... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thundersteel Posted July 13, 2010 Author Share Posted July 13, 2010 INCOMING! Here's another hint: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolfi Posted July 13, 2010 Share Posted July 13, 2010 Go for a RIVERA R 55 or a Fandango!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thundersteel Posted July 13, 2010 Author Share Posted July 13, 2010 It's here! But once again, I'm stuck at work! Oh well, I'll have to wait until tomorrow to CRANK IT! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spectrum13 Posted July 14, 2010 Share Posted July 14, 2010 It's here! But once again, I'm stuck at work! Oh well, I'll have to wait until tomorrow to CRANK IT! Steel Ring Ball Tone? Get a spare 12ax7 for the V1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fxdx99 Posted July 14, 2010 Share Posted July 14, 2010 Excellent choice, TSteel ! Very much looking forward to your review. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thundersteel Posted July 14, 2010 Author Share Posted July 14, 2010 THIS IS WHAT I GOT: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thundersteel Posted July 14, 2010 Author Share Posted July 14, 2010 Naw, I keed, I keed! I actually got this: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fxdx99 Posted July 14, 2010 Share Posted July 14, 2010 Yeh BABY!. That's some GOOD looking hardware - Congrats! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spectrum13 Posted July 14, 2010 Share Posted July 14, 2010 Naw, I keed, I keed! I actually got this: Hey.... That's my amp! It's a lot of fun in a little box! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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