what was your game changer?

[panoramic]

the marshall jcm 800 (50 watt) i owned in the 90's and the blackface bassman I used to practice with in 1993-1994. After those two amps I knew that the bigger louder sound was right for me in a live setting. Smaller amp affinity came much much later.

[Vinkie]

Switching from vintage low watt combo's (Gibson GA20T, Gibson GA40 LP model) to less raw and mid focused black panel amps. I found out that as much as I liked the Gibson amps, their sweet spot volumes for slight drive were often still too loud for the smaller gigs I tend to play. And being forced to turn them down below the sweet spot made them sound somewhat anemic.

I went for another approach with a Fender Tremolux (30W head, 2x10" closed cab) and an always-on overdrive to add just the amount of slight overdrive and compression I like. Another advantage for me is the black panel sound works much better with my Ric 12 string. Increased headroom if needed, more focused low end, easier to dial in, works both at low and higher volumes.

Because I can't drive a car (I am an epileptic) I tried to find a similar but easier to carry Fender amp. I found a vintage non-reverb '65 Deluxe Amp, fitted a Neo Creamback speaker for lower weight and this is by far the best amp for me. I can transport it by train if necessary. For smaller gigs I got a CS Chris Stapleton Princeton Amp. I love it, it offers some of the drive and mid focus I loved from the Gibsons but in a much more controllable way. And really lightweight, with another Neo speaker fitted (Jensen N12K) it weighs about the same as a VibroChamp.

[Kinx]

Switching to in-ear setup with my band. I'm a singer-guitarist in a loud rock band, I'm running two amps (Marshall JCM 800 2204 and Mesa/Boogie Mark I) on stage at the same time feeding them same signal from AB Box. Both amps are master volume, so they can be turned down to an extend without losing the gain I need. I didn't wanna rely on the microphone signal from my amps, because it tends to be a bit harsh and the random mike placement makes it also pretty inconsistent. I solved this by running Mooer Radar from the DI out of the Marshall into my in ear monitor route and it works like a charm! I tweaked the eq on the radar in a pretty radical fashion so it perfectly suits my earbuds (I'm using some lower-mid tier Shure ones) and I just love the sound. Hearing myself so well made huge impact on my playing: I'm using less distortion, play more dynamicly, I even started to incorporate more fingerstyle picking into my routines. I started to use the in ears because of my singing, but I love it even more for the guitar.

The sound of this setup is so consistent, that it efectively bypasses room factor from the equasion. I was playing in 10 000 seat arena one night (a bizzare guest appearance) and then small club for 50 people the other night and it sounded just the same.

[øøøøøøø]

My Crate practice amp broke when I was 12 and the shop loaned me a silver panel champ while it was being fixed

Quite a different experience

At first I was disappointed that it didn’t have a distortion channel, reverb or chorus built in like my Crate, ha

[Jaguar018]

I have played a good number of amps and somehow I still seem to sound like "me" buuuuut I will always miss the modded silverface master volume Super Reverb that had Eminence PA speakers. [I had some amp tech do it, and I had no idea that I had bought the 'wrong' speakers].

Probably the only piece of gear I regret giving away.

[46346]

so many games, so many changes!

'90s:
ditching contemporary amps, and going vintage tube - Ampeg SVT, 13 tubes, baby, and 8x10 cab! ...and NOS tubes for my $600 Brownface Fenders with Harmonic Vibrato!

'00s:
Ampeg Reverberocket, bringing back tube/spring reverb for extra dark Surfing.

'10s:
Bi-amping combo amps: Blackface Fenders for clean and deep, along with Vox AC15 handwired for grit, chime, and mids. moderate boost from a pedal to kick them to eternity!

'20s:
Twin Reverb, deeper and cleaner than ever, along with a Leslie 18 (big daddy Fender vibratone) ...i'm now playing Wurlitzer electric piano and Mellotron D as well as my usual FX heavy guitar... ALL into the Twin, it's the 'everything platform'. and the Leslie sidecar throws the modulation and delay into OUTER SPACE

'30's:
my first ever 100W tube guitar amp? class M amplification? going acoustic?

[MayTheFuzzBeWithYou]

Fender Tube Amps and the combination of 12“ and 15“ speakers with the whole fx load (mostly Fuzz into Reverb into amp with the occasional use of Echo or Trem)

making use of the fx-loop as a switchable volume control/boost/minus-boost and using an AY7 instead of the AX7 (that’s the Supersonic 60) - But I‘m also an input 2 jack user (on the Bassman, Bandmaster and Princeton Reverb…mostly due to the need of living room levels…but it also does something to the sound).

I once had a TAD silencer once but it seriously took away headroom and dynamics (at least the way I used it)

I‘m curious and anxious about in-ear-monitoring but this will probably be the next step.

[hulakatt]

5e3 tweed Deluxe clone - I built one of these years ago just to haul to gigs because it was really light as far as tube amps go. It was cleaner than I expected but it was the first (and still might be the best) amp where you play the amp as much as the guitar. It really taught me how much the amp was really the 2nd half of the instrument of an electric guitar.

Fender Bassman head (various years, have owned too many!) - I owned too many off and on again and loving one and not the next until I realized that it's the speakers, stupid! I love the Bassman through British speakers but find them pretty boring through American voiced speakers. Right speaker for the right amp matters. Also, I prefer closed back cabs to open backed cabs.

Fender Twin Reverb (various) and Hiwatt dr504 - I don't play through them because I "need" power for bigger venues or loud bands, I play them for that range, fidelity and authority you get from bigger iron, even when the amp isn't cranked.

JTM45/1960a - A 4x12 cab really sounds so much bigger than a 2x12 without being louder or taking up any more stage space.

[distressed]

SHO clone at the end of a chain.

[Jonesie]

SHO clone at the end of a chain.

I just started doing that, and yep. That certainly does the trick.

[hulakatt]

SHO clone at the end of a chain.

I just started doing that, and yep. That certainly does the trick.

I always thing of doing this just to run both outs to 2 different amps but then I never get around to trying it.

[tqi]

-

[CS]

After years of playing bass and acoustic I got back into playing electric in 97. I couldn't afford decent amps so used semi decent ones which broke down. I saved up and bought a Cornell romany plus conveniently forgot that most of my previous amps were el84s. I played around with speaker and tube swaps until zhivago persuaded a mutual friend to get a matchless. He then got one.

I couldn't afford a matchless but found a 2002 bad cat black cat combo in coda, beat up and cheap. For two years I struggled with the thought that I wanted a matchless. I saw a used lightning head in guitar experience and after a very stressful morning thought stuff it and bought it. I then traded in a vox ac4 for a Morgan combo.

The game changer for me a is reliable vox type amp. Any vox type amp. I can make it work with or without pedals.

[DaddyDom]

For me it was working out I could piggy-back the channels on my AC30 using a patch-cable.
Plug into the Normal channel, then turn up the Brilliant until she sparkled!

[Dok]

Silverface Princeton non-reverb. I put a nice and efficient Weber speaker in there and have never reall desired another amp. Okay well maybe an AC4 but I don't NEED one. But I certainly don't need anything louder or bigger than that.