Quality amps

[Pilgrim]

What's your definition of ovular?  Or doesn't oval sound important enough?

Perhaps it has a certain ovularity about it?   

[dadagoboi]

Perhaps it has a certain ovularity about it?   

Only if it will be sprouting leaves sometime.

[Granny Gremlin]

I suppose there isn't much distinction made (even here) between the noun and adjective forms of the word any more, but there was when I was at school (we get a slightly archaic, due to geopolitical disconnect I suppose,  English English up here not American English). It's also Zed not Zee by the way  ). Habits from school that stuck.

[Dave W]

That's not what ovular means. The grille doesn't have an ovum.

Agree that there's no problem with lead-free solder.

Anyway, what about the current Traynor amps?

[Granny Gremlin]

Well then I fall back on the ESL excuse... and have a bone to pick with quite a few teachers.

Anyway, as for Traynor, I haven't used the new stuff much.  All I remember is one head ( solid state jobby with what seemed like way too many knobs at the time, into a mismatched 4x10, a config I m generally not a fan of) at a backline-provided indoor punk frestival show.  It had promise but did not jump out at me tone-wise (I'd need more time with it and a familiar cab to be sure).  Definitely no idea regarding longevity, though the old stuff (same company/ownership) was rock solid (rumours about the testing methods, such as tossing tubeless heads off the factory roof , loading them up again and powering up to play through, abounded).  The new guitar line is very well regarded (heard em, not played em personally), not that that helps much.

[chromium]

The grille doesn't have an ovum.

Now that surely complies with the RoHS directive! 

[slinkp]

I would probably be looking for between 300-400 watts.

There's also the big questions of how much you can / want to pay, and what you need it to sound like.

I'd second the GK recommendation for a lot of situations, I had a 400RB for years, though I think they're a bit under-powered for a lot of gigs... I was always pushing mine to its limits. (Although, I didn't really have good enough speakers back then, so that was definitely a factor.)

I briefly owned a (used) Thunderfunk amp several years ago. They have become crazy expensive.  That thing was pretty awesome for what it was. To me it seemed kind of like if a GK was made by hand with an obsessive attention to detail - cleaner, less noise. It sounded really nice, and wasn't super heavy at all, but it was too clean for my taste though.

It was even cleaner than an Eden, which was another amp I owned for a while and sold as not gritty enough for my taste.  Those struck me as really solid too, though I know the founder has moved on and I don't know if they're still any good these days.  They are still made though.

Personally I wanted more of an overdriven sound, and I was also moving toward ultra-light amps - a combination that I couldn't find in one amp for a long time, but I eventually settled on a Genz Benz Shuttle 6.0.  Which may well die spectacularly some day, but for my current level of gigging (twice a year if that), it's heaven.

[rahock]

I am a huge fan of my Genz Benz Shuttle 6.0. I have a an older GK Backline series head that is an excellent bang for the buck head and I'm a big fan of most of anything that says GK on it. The only thing I don't like from GK is their new light weight combos. The price is right , the weight is right, but I felt they were very anemic and not up to GK standards. I like the sound of the Markbass stuff too, but I know they do get some knocks for durability. I don't own one so I'm talking through my hat here. A lot of the newer Fender stuff is pretty good sounding , but the bang for the buck thing just isn't there.
Rolands smaller amps are great sounding and pretty bullet proof, but I have no idea what their heavier artillery is like. After playing nothing but Ampeg stuff for half my life, I have no idea what their newer stuff is like .
Rick

[amptech]

I do not use new gear for bass, but if nobody uses new gear, they will have no reason to make other amps than those who are inexpensive, break down and can be replaced only by new cheap gear

I must say that Peavey stuff is reliable, but I never liked it because it´s not the tone I´m after.
I owned a solid state Peavey head with Peavey 410 + 115 cabs, never got a sound out of it.
Used a TKO and a TNT as a kid, but got rid of them fast. I even liked my 60w Carlsbro 112 combo better back then.

The Carlsbro broke down after a year or so, but the Peaveys are still around and working I suppose.

Recently, though, I have had some new inexpensive Peavey tube amps (guitar) coming to my shop for repair.
I´m amazed how new some of them are, melted tubes, loose components, strange sounding.
Maybe they are becoming sloppy too? I guess you get what you pay for, but Peavey does have a history of
making good solid amps, even for the cheapest, smallest amps.

[chromium]

I bought one of the GK lightweight combos about six months ago.  500W (so they say...), 2x12.  Got it cheap because it was scratch and dent - the corners on the enclosure seem to bust up pretty easily.  I notice that MF has a bunch of scratch and dents now - one for $450(!)

I agree with Rick that the sound was a little meh.. maybe a bit cold?  Just IMO... but I'm coming from an Orange AD200 and SVT cab.  I've been gigging the GK with a wee bit of FMR RNLA ("really nice leveling amplifier") in front of it.  I'd describe that as a very colorizing compressor, with a big "gushy" sound.  It seems to warm it up a bit, and I get a really meaty growl out of that setup with the old Mockingbird bass I've been playing lately.  Not bad at all for a 38lbs rig.

The way I see it is that if it ever craps out, then I have an excuse to go try a Genz  

[Pilgrim]

I bought one of the GK lightweight combos about six months ago.  500W (so they say...), 2x12.  Got it cheap because it was scratch and dent - the corners on the enclosure seem to bust up pretty easily.  I notice that MF has a bunch of scratch and dents now - one for $450(!)

Pretty easy to pick up replacement corner protectors from a general parts supply place. 

[rahock]

I'm surprised they don't add $100 and label it as the road worn edition .
Rick

[Dave W]

I'm surprised they don't add $100 and label it as the road worn edition .
Rick

Nah. No one would ever fall for that. Can you imagine some company doing that with guitars? It would never work! 

[chromium]

I was gonna say- it's surprising they don't make reliced amps, but then I remember seeing some Fender stuff with fake beer bottle rings in the top, cigarette burns, etc...    Funny.

The problem with the GKs isn't the metal corners themselves, but more the coating that they use in place of tolex.  It's some sort of spray on, hard shell - like a giant M&M.  When there's an impact, that stuff starts to fracture and crack away.  No biggie to me (you should see my SVT cab  ), but I can understand how stores might end up with some "blems" because of this.

[Granny Gremlin]

A few brands have used spray on finished but they really do vary in nature.  Sounds like the GK use a harder, brittler sort, I've seen that on a few things, can't remember brands.  Peaveys and EAs used a softer more rubberised sort that took shocks and bangs better.  Kinda like spray on truck bed liner.  Personally, I really like that stuff for ease of application/touch up and durability.