My (main) Amps
The wish to own at one point in my life all the amps which were modeled in the digitech GNX3000 turned into a crusade...I am still on that trip!
Amprack #1
Larry Wrecky 35
Mr. Grohmann - a German ampdesigner produces a small number of very fine amps and so this is a true replica of a Trainwreck amp by legendary ampbuilder Ken Fischer.
Marshall Bernie Marsden 1959
A replica of Bernies late 70s Superlead he used in Whitesnake..of course with white snake skin (disclaimer: no real snakes where harmed or killed to produce that Tolex)
Bogner XTC
Since Bogner has some very cryptic ways to produce serial numbers I guess this is a 90s XTC. But 90s or millenium - wtf...it matters how it sounds and this is my first call for soloing. Channel 2 all the way!
When Reinhold was still living in Germany I actually bought a 50W 70s JMP from him - which I do not own anymore. But I remember the amp was great, a screaming demon, but also had some serious hissing issues. That must have been in the late 80s I believe. He improved a bit since then right?
Mesa Boogie Rectifier
Nothing special here, but for a studio job I needed that chugging sound, so I traded a Randall Satan against the Rectifier. With that said, try to hear the riff in manuelmeint "Lockdown" I played with it - almost impossible to hear! All that action for a riff you cannot hear - well I guess I am not the only studio guy who has that problem. Thankfully this amp was heavily used on a production I did for Hans Schmitt titled "45 years".
Soldano SLO100
I believe from late 80s or early 90s with sexy snakeskin again...no snakes were harmed....it is Tolex damnit...smile. This is a great sounding SLO. I heard a few others over the years and I am happy to own this one. It hisses a bit which is why I often replace it with a JetCity amp tuned by Frank Ziegler out of Heidelberg (Brick amplification). But when I have the chance to play loud this amp is superior.
Fender Super Amp
I believe this is a brownface from 1962. This amp features that famous harmonic tremolo and 2x10 brownback speakers. One of the best Fender clean sounds -ever imho.
Amprack #2
Fender Showman
A Blackface era Fender Showman from 1965 I believe. It is a 8Ohm 80Watt version which makes it ideal for me to incorparate it into my amprig which is run by a ampete Studio 88 - shoutout to Peter Arends.
I used the sound of this amp mostly paired with some EV12L or late 70s Blackback speakers to produce the more dirty SRV-style tone. I do not get to use this tone too often but it is for sure a lot of fun to play and know it is there in this Showman.
Metropoulos Metro Plex
One of my main amps. I do own a "real" Plexi from that famous 12xxx serial number era, but if I use a screaming Plexi sound it is this amp. Brownsound at its best! You can hear this amp all over "My Life Above the 12th Fret", literally every other rhythm sound is this amp at least on one side of the rhythm tracks. George Metropoulos is someone I admire for his dedication and hard work producing amps like this for us.
Marshall JTM THW
A nice handwired JTM with Tremolo. I think this is still from the good Marshall days. Early 90s Marshall produced a few replicas of Plexis and JTMs which are very good. I guess the handwired aspect makes the difference.
Marshall JMP 2204
This is a Mastervolume 50W 2204 from 1979. I own this amp because when I started playing in bands this was THE amp everybody dreamed of....the sound is Judas Priest, Saxon and all those bands from "the new wave of British Heavy Metal" as they called it back then.
Marshall Plexi Superbass
Unfortunately that amp is under a cover on this picture but it is a Superbass all original from 1968. I had a few Superleads from early 70s but it was until I heard a real Plexi to know the real deal and why there is so much fuzz about these amps. One of my most treasured amps. If you hear softer crunchy rhythms on my recordings it is this amp or the Metro
Marshall Silver Jubilee
This is the 50W original version from 1987 I bought from the first owner who I like to thank here and now again "Cheers Hanno". A great amp for soloing and more. Proud to own that one.
Amprack #3
Selmer Treble&Bass
There is nothing better than an original 70s on-the-edge clean sound. The Selmer does that sound and is a fantastic platform especially for Fuzz pedals. It is "only" 50W but plenty of loudness here....from 1969 or 1970 I believe. Still the original Mullards in there.
Orange OR120
Another amp from early 70s I believe from 71 as it is a picture only version. This amp has more gain than the Selmer and can function just like a 70s JMP MV for heavy rock rhythms. At the same time if you dial back the gain it produces the sweetest warmest clean tones...still with a hint of crunch.
Brick/TAD Tweed Deluxe
I bought a Tweed Deluxe kit from TAD and had Frank Ziegler built and twist it for me. An original is unaffordable and almost impossible to get in a good or ok condition. So I went this route and I am not disappointed.
Bludotone
One of the best Dumble clones I know, hm maybe besides the VanWeelden Twinkle I also own.
Fender Bassman 50
Another Blackface era amp with a special twist. When I bought it, it did not really work so I brought it to Frank Ziegler (again that guy) to restore it. For some reason the first channel had an issue which could not be repaired so we stuck a Fender Tweed Bassman circuit in there, and now I have a 66 original BF era Bassman in the second channel, plus that Tweed Bassman sound in the first. Win-win I guess.
Matchless HC30
I guess as a studio musician you need to have a modern Vox amp of some sort in your array. Now I own a Divided by 13 RSA23 - because of Tim Pierce (and it is truely a fantastic amp) but if it has to be Vox(ier) you cannot avoid a Matchless or the real deal. I got the matching 2x12 cab for that amp but mainly use it into a 62 Vox 2x12 cab with original Blue Bulldogs.
Amprack #4
Morgan Abbey 15
A replica of a Vox AC15 I believe. Great minimalistic amplifier. The problem with vintage Vox amps is that they need a lot of TLC - they blow up all the time. With the Morgan I never had a single issue since I own that amp and it sounds amazingly original. Also again a great pedal platform.
Two Rock 10th Anniversary
With this amp I am always torn if I like the clean channel more or the dirty channel. Since I would not use this amp live - in the studio I can tweak it for whatever sound I need from it. So the switches and controls you have to share between the clean and dirty channel are not a problem. Yes this amp could do the "Dumble" thing, but I prefer to use it a bit differently. If there is a lead tone with not so much gain on it, it is this amp. It just sings!
Randall EOD88
Why 88? I do not know. EOD stands for "Element of Doom". I seem to recall that it was co-designed by Fortin and besides that special look - it simply sounds great and very unique , not only but also because of that built-in Fuzz circuit. I demoed Randall for some time and this is the only amp I kept because it is special. Some mixture between a Rectifier and a 2203 Marshall with a lot of gain if you need it. Listen to Calmly Angered - this is the rhythm guitar sound! Also the lead in the verses is that amp with the Tyler.
Skipping the 3P
Fender Bassman 50
Yet another Blackface era Bassman from 66 I believe. All orginal besides the transformer which is scaled for 230V - the original transformer is still in there. I do have two more Bassmans one from the 70s a SF 100W and a 78 SF with 135W.
Jet City "Brick"
This is a very affordable China-made Jet City which has the Soldano mod by Frank Ziegler. His shop or brand is called "Brick". Without Frank in my backyard I probably had 3 amps maximum. Tube amps need attention all the time. I dont think that there was a single week in the past years when I had not called or visited Frank for advice, help, repair....
Amp Rack #5
Fender Dual Showman
This is a Twin Reverb in a headshell basically. Since it is way more complicated for me to record a combo amp, I bought that 72 Showman. Great clean sound and ungodly loud.
Fender Bassman 100
1970 or 1971 I honestly cannot remember. This amp I bought because I had a project: I wanted a Steel String Singer Dumble used to make and read somewhere that the base of that amp is the silverface era 100W BM. It didnt take long after this popped up. It is an attic find but sharksound.de did a great job to restoring it. I have not fulfilled my plan as it sounds so good - I did not dare to touch it - yet....
VanWeelden Twinkle Land
A very special amp to me. It is Ser No 0012 and I believe the very same Amp Joe B. is using/was using before he got his Dumbles. I once had a "real" Dumble ODS100 but to my ears this amp is as good if not better...a bit more on the Rocker-side-of-things. It gives you that bridge, the connection between you and your amptone, that is instant feedbacking in a good way and just a huge tone....hard to describe really. Got the matching 2x12 cab and the Twinklelator with it.
Hiwatt DR103
I use this amp mainly as a poweramp. Although I use the low input for different preamps such as the VanWeelden Gainland or the Bogner Fish, it has a huge headroom. I believe this amp is from 1970 and came from a guy nicknamed Fancy who worked as a roadie for Birthcontrol.
Divided by 13 RSA23
What a name for a guitar amplifier! I bought this amp because one of my idols is playing it all the time. Although Tim Pierce changes his amps a lot but sounds great through any amp he uses (which is his job) the RSA23 is a very unique amp for 2 reasons: 1. you cannot get a bad tone out of it 2. for some reason legato playing on this amp is easier than on any other amp I own. It sounds like a Vox AC30 married a Marshall JTM and this is the offspring.
Palmer
On to two very unique amps. First the Palmer. When I sat in that music shop in Mannheim, noodling away the owner Gaggy was in the band of Herbert Groenemeyer and prepared his live rig for large venues next to the shop. He was amazingly loud, using this amp and just 2 Mesa 1x12 cabs. Since these days I always wanted to own one of these amps and sure enough one came my way. The ampbuilder is a german guy from the Frankfurt/Main area who liked Palmbräu a beerbrand and so he named his amp Palmer....this is a story I have been told by someone who wants to be unnamed. True or not - still funny but plausible for Germans and their humor. This is a two channel amp in a Mesa/Fender/Dumble style, it has its own voice and because it is driven by KT88 Tubes - merciless loud. I played this amp in cover bands for years.
Digitech TH-150
Tube Head 150. When I was working for harman (digitech) they bought a brazilian company - Electronica. That company also built Tubeamps but at that point for the Brazilian market only. Mr Augsburger (at the time CEO of harman) tried to make the most out of the situation and gave the tubeamp production into the hands of the digitech team. They gutted and rebuild the circuit. I believe there are only 2 or 3 of these heads in existence. It is basically a Soldano SLO but with KT88 tubes. I demoed this amp at the NAMM show also at the Frankfurt Musik Messe and travelled all over Europe with it. There are a few videos from Sofia Bulgaria where I play this amp in a club called Backstage...check it out!
Some more amps - please do not judge!
