Previous amps?

I wonder what amps did you guys use before the grandmeister .Did your grand made you sell or stop playing with your other amps?I will start first.
1)fender hot rod deluxe modded (caps and other components has been changed,eminence tonker for speaker) has been used with pedals and multieffects processors
2)kemper kpa .
The kemper went away after one year of use ,not satisfied .
My deluxe's clean channel in conjunction with my strats is pure heaven.Can't be replaced from the kettner .But for an all in one amp ,so far the grand wins since it has better distorted sounds(after the tube swap, the stock were a disaster)!To be honest i wanted a jvm js but the weight made me change my mind!

fun question.

I had been a Carvin Legacy guy for several years prior to the GM. I had three of the original Legacy amps (at different times), then lastly a Legacy III. The III has a stunningly great clean sound, and the crunch channel left nothing to be desired. The lead channel was good, but not perfect. In general the amp was very smooth sounding and very, very pleasant. The only issue I had with it was that it`s a one trick pony. It`s very good at what it does, but flexibility is not it`s strong point. It was a wonderful amp but VERY loud (Carvin claims it`s the loudest amp they`ve ever made) even at 25 watts (had 100/50/25 settings). Hard to record an amp that loud.

I also ran a full rack rig for a long time. An old Digitech 2101 with the Marshall stereo tube power amp. Obviously any tone I could ever dream up. A tad complicated, but not horrible. Good tone at any volume, up to a point. Rack rigs are notorious for losing their nuts once they`re loud. All top of the line gear, but still had it`s shortcomings. For one, if a single item in it failed the show was over. It looked very impressive with it`s flashing lights and so forth but holy christmas it was heavy. Direct recording also sounded great (for the era). Age got the best of that setup.

Had a Marshall. Hated it.

I really wanted to give both Kemper and AxeFX some credit, but I just can`t. Not on the level their price beckons. I played a huge gig with a guy that has inspired or influenced an entire generation of players, and the opening act guitarist had his AxeFX fail. His idea of "simpler is better", and plans to just plug into the PA left him ass out. Kemper is neat in that it allows one to sound EXACTLY like someone else, but that`s my problem with it. You lose all the subtlety that gives your tone a soul. I played one for a long while at NAMM this year and it just never really pulled the music out of me the way a real amp can.

I played a Bogner Ecstasy for a while, and it`s the only amp I ever regretted getting rid of. I was short on cash and not really playing it much so I got rid of it, thinking I`d be able to pick up another one at a decent price later on. Well, that`s right about when Bogner amps` popularity was taking off and the prices shot up. I haven`t had $3600 for another one. I would probably trade my GM`s for a fully loaded Ecstasy even though it would set me back two weeks in setup and recording progress to get it set up again.

@VoodooJeff - a good friend of mine still uses the 2120 with Marshall rack EL84, in fact he has two - one for home and one for practice/gig. He's been on many forums for the 21xx series, maybe you guys have crossed paths... It does have good tones, but the editor is very clunky/dated.

I used to model with Digitech stuff for years, then got in a 2 guitar band with a guy with a MB 5-25, and modeling against a good tube amp doesn't cut it. Well, maybe with a Axe FXII...

So I tried the Carvin V3m, meh. Really setup for 90s pop metal, couldn't get good 70s tones out of it. Used it with 4CM with a Line6 HD500x Still wanted a lunchbox, I tried a bunch of stuff at GC/Wildwood/Guitars Etc until I stumbled on the TM18 at GC. Two minutes with the TM18 and I went home and submitted a purchase req to the CFO. I bought the TM36 did the 4cm thing with the HD, loved it, then found the GM36 online - with MIDI CONTROL!!! Immediately swapped the TM for the GM, simplified my cabling to not use 4cm and just use the built-in GM effects, and LOVE IT!!!

So really my story doesn't help much because I never had that killer plexi or fender deluxe or soldano. But now I have a useful facsimile of all those 3 (with a reasonable JCM800 thrown in), rolled into a 17lb package with carrying case. No biasing, tube protection, bla bla bla.

My previous amps are all still current, an Egnater renegade 65w is the preferred tool for blues and tele's. I have three different Tubemeister heads, Vox AC30, AC10 which is the grab and go. A couple of Marshall amps, I don't really part with anything as I usually buy because I want the item. Different horses for different courses. If I could only have one it would be the Grandmeister because it gets close enough to most other amps with a little patient tweaking.

Most of the last 25 years it's been one or two rigs, still got them both

Boogie Mark iii (green stripe) simul-class combo, hardwood cab, whicker grill, plus stomp boxes chorus, delay, compression. Marshall 1912 extension cab

Rack. Marshall JMP-1, Marshall 20/20 power amp, Boss VF-1 effects, Nady 201 wireless. All midi controlled. Stereo into two Marshall 1912 cabs

Can't see me gigging the boogie again, too damn heavy, but can't bring myself to sell it.

Marshall rig is just absolutely fantastic and the GM was bought as a back up...but that might change!

Interesting idea for a thread as we've all been around long enough to have some very different progressions.

I started with a Selmer Little Giant 4W combo with 6" speaker when I was about 13.  I never really knew what it sounded like as my first electric guitar was dire and totally devoid of any tone at all, but "Satisfaction" sounded great!!!  I played my first couple of gigs on that!  I was just in the right place at the right time and it progressed fairly cheaply to a Selmer Zodiac Twin Thirty which was much better.

Then came the big step.  1970 saw me pick up the second hand Marshall Super Lead 100 and 4x12.  That did me for many many years and is still under my stairwell now.

A move to the Vox valvetronix AD120VT 120W modelling amp came next.  I can't speak highly enough about this amp and its little AD60VT brother.  I met it when auditioning Fender valve amps with a friend.  He went through them all and we were very disappointed with everything so started to look at the range of modellers the shop had.  They were of course worse, all dismal, until the guy finally produced a Vox AD60VT which had just come in.  Compared to all of the others including the valve jobs it was a stunner.  It took a while for me to justify the money and a great deal from a French online shop to finally make me jump but I did and I've never looked back.  They have the same quality as the GM, they don't sound exactly the same as any amp they're modelling but they get very close and they sound and feel great in their own right.  Later Silverface models never lived up to the sound of those first Blueface ones.  Their control functionality was totally innovative too and, in fact, it has never occurred to me before how much they were a precursor to the H&K GM range but with more flexibility.  It's almost as if the GM was in some way based on the Vox VT!

Then I took the plunge and went back into valves with a TM36.  That was after buying my little LP Jnr Special DC which I auditioned at the owner's house on his GM36 setup.  In my head I had bought the guitar in the first five minutes, the rest of the two hours I was there was spent secretly auditioning the amp.  As money was tight after the LP Jnr buy I had to buy my TM36 which I still have, and of course that led to the GM36 a short while later.

At my age I think I have found my final resting place.  I'm not like a lot of guitarists who will take on an amp, spend a little time appraising it and then ditch it if it has flaws.  As an engineer I want to understand the flaws and see if they can be sensibly worked around.  Life is cheaper and happier that way!  After our fiddling here on this forum, the GM now does everything I want in an amp.  I don't think even H&K would tempt me away to a newer model.  British state pensions don't allow that sort of luxury.

Wow, from the start when I was a teenager running around with local NY bands, a stroll down memory lane we go...

1970s: Stage 25 (bought at Sam Goody's in Queens) my first amp bought with my first copy les paul then Peavey practice amp, cannot recall the model but it was tweaked by a cousin and original speaker replaced with 12" Celestion
1980s: at this time I was hanging and jamming with friends and bands so I moved into a little heavier hardware with the Peavey Renown 400 (2x12" Scorpions) then the Gallien Krueger 250ML (2x5" Pyle) the original "Lunchbox" amp used as a head with two 1x12" carpet covered Community PA speakers
1990s: Marshall 8008 Valvestate rack paired with two preamp racks; an ART DST4 preamp then with a Digitech GSP1101 Preamp used with two 1x12" cabinets; EVH 5150 III with Celestion Heritage 16Ohms white & Blackstar HT Venue with Celestion Seventy80 16Ohms (both purchased within last 4-6 years)
2015: Fender Mustang I v2 8" combo white (my practice amp)
2015: Blackstar ID60TVP Head with same two speaker cabinets listed above
2016: Hughes & Kettner Grandmeister 36 with same speaker two cabinets listed above (thanks to the Palmer PCABM cabinet duplicator as we all know this amp has just one speaker output)

That's everything, hope no one here wants me to list the stomb boxes, pedal boards, or rack mounted FX I've used along the years, there many not be enough space on the server hosting this site!

stargazer747 wrote:Wow, from the start when I was a teenager running around with local NY bands, a stroll down memory lane we go...

; EVH 5150 III with Celestion Heritage 16Ohms white & Blackstar HT Venue with Celestion Seventy80 16Ohms (both purchased within last 4-6 years.!

can you tell us your opinion between those two amps and the grandmeister toneweise?

Well, this is my first tube amp so I cannot really convey fully the impact its made on me of the overall sound of the guitar compared to all solid state amps I've had. I have a USA Jackson RR, Gibson Les Paul Special, EVH Wolfgang, and a Laguna Stat all of which have a distinctive sound which becomes more apparent and natural thru a tube amp. I've wanted to move to a tube amp for years now but was always comfortable with solid state amps and the features they came with. But I felt in a way I was not getting the most out of the tone from my guitars and of course wanted to be taken a bit more seriously by other guitarist that live and die for tube amps. I am not frowning on solid state amps here, I have had great success with the ones I used not to mention they were all inexpensive and definitely some were gigging material.

I also tried the Orange Dark Terror and Marshall DSL 15 recently both great but the H&K GM 36 won for obvious reasons of overall tone, looks especially that it lights up, and most important the FX which I rely heavily on and not a fan of pedalboards and stomp boxes or fx loops. Not to mention that it can be controlled by software which I use with windows computer. But to answer the question posted, I noticed an immediate tone difference in clarity note for note, accurate picking response, and a more natural tone. I am using my 2 1x12" Celestion cabs so I know that quality at the end point is there.

Pros and Cons...

Tube Amp
Pros:
- more natural tone
- typically more rugged design to house tubes and transformers and due to their heavier parts
- respect from other players for using preferred equipment
- usually much louder volume capacity
Cons:
- worry now about health of tubes and possible blow outs requiring spare tubes handy
- usually much more expensive than solid state amps
- typically heavier and larger (maybe not this one)
- some may lack ability to be controlled by software or lack of FX built in (again, except this one)

Solid State Amps
Pros:
- more feature rich, usually includes built in FX, maybe a tuner as well, software driven control, downloadable programs and patches
- some offer more tonal options broadening the range of sound and style of music they can be applied to
- reliable electronics not prone to things that can go on with valves
- lighter weight easier to handle, some very compact in size
- less expensive
Cons:
- tonal expression can be less natural and more synthetic, over saturation of signal reproduction rather than true sound of note played from guitar to speaker
- their application are typically for practice or home recordings and not live performance
- less loud (unless you have the one I had last, the Blackstar ID60TVP Head that features the True Valve Power, an emulation of the many power tube variations
- less recognized in the industry for serious players

There is no doubt that solid state amps have progressed in design over the years and tube amps as well if you consider what the Grandmeister 36 offers. These are my observations, some right from experience and a few I don't totally agree with, but I wanted to note that was the perception I got out there when I was researching what I wanted.