I kinda have this love hate thing with Hiwatts. On one hand they are pretty good at doing a handful of tones really well, but compared to stuff like Fender and Vox and even Marshall I think their clean tone is kinda thin. They do the mid-low gain thing really well but other than that I don't care for em.


Me and 90% of the Ibanez community seem to think that most of the designs they put out now including the japanese stuff is pretty weak. If you go browse a catalog from like 93' you will see that they had a lot of cooler stuff going on back then.

anyone wanna buy my Marshall 1960A cab for $400? haha

List it on craigslist. You'll probably get $350.

yea, i know, i wanna see if any of my friends/people i know would wanna buy it, 'cause someone is selling the same cab but with vintage 30's in them, on craigslist. so if i can get someone interested in buying my cab, i wanna hop on that V30's one

Any reason you want a marshall over an avatar?

i like my marshall 1960av better than my avatar with v30s.

no, not really, ha

ok, I need a high gain head to replace my 6100. I don't need 100 watts and it squeels too much on stage, so that is why I am planning to throw it out the door. I prefer a head that is only 1 channel but with multiple inputs. I will accept any recommendations. go.

Sounds like you need a Splawn.

don't you already have 3 amps in that glowing blue orb? And what amount of gain do you need that the blue hughes can't give you already?

I'm selling both my H&K amps. I am getting a 212 dual el84 combo (like a dr z or top hat) and a more vintage gainy head to replace them. I want something more that's like a vintage marshall where it sounds like ejaculation when you dime it... but in a 50w package.

How much for the H&Ks? I try and crank my AC30 but i dont dig it much. I wish it sounded more compressed and it sounds kinda brittle to me. I want a dimed plexi and something else with even more gain--more modern.

2k for the triamp mkii and keal case. i'm not sure about the duotone combo. probably 1.5k, but I am willing to budge

edit: 1.1k for the '92 6100 if anyone wants that.

You're EQing it wrong.

well yeah, the AC30 won't sound compressed. an AC30 should sound a dark though, you might be EQing it wrong, but it could also be that the newer chinese produced ones don't push well. I have never pushed a chinese ac30 though.

The trick is to bring back the treble and use the cut knob for your highs.

Madison Divinity head (the one i have)


if you see one in a store, try it out, it's working for me pretty nicely

He wants a single channel.

i don't want a metal amp. all metal amps are just straight preamp business. Kind of like most german high gain amps. I like british amps, from my experience they drive the power section the best.

And I bet you're like me and are tired of 6L6's.

I like 6L6's for certain tones, but I have always preferred EL34 amps.

So I stumbled across the orange OR50 reissue today. I am going to call around tomorrow and see if any places have one I can try out. although the amp only has 1 input, it looks like it might be what I am looking for.

why exactly do you want only one channel?

Yeah, i don't mess with the ac30 too much. I kinda hate messing with knobs, i don't have patience. Anyway, i like the clean sounds. I haven't replaced the tubes and i'm assuming the dude who owned it before me didn't either.
I plan on doing that later, along with putting Blue speakers in it and maybe replacing the output tranny.
I really just want an additional amp.

On my XXX im gonna replace the metal grill with a laser cut
piece of perspex and shit and get a cool logo goin on it and get some
LED's in it sorta H&K style, it just looks so cool.

But...
I heard that the amount of cubic space in teh amp
or something along those lines can change sound but
its just un back of my mind can any of you clear it up

Btw monty can you show us a pic of your rig

He's probably tired of amps that have one good channel and two mediocre ones.


Don't put alcino blues in there. They are WAY overrated. They are the kind of speaker that does one specific sound very well and everything else they are just meh. The price is robbery IMO. Do yourself a favor and get a combo of an Eminence Red Fang and a Private Jack. They will be sex in that amp. Pure sex.


The amount of cubic space in an amp chassis has little to nothing to do with the sound.

through working with circuits, you will find that the simpler, the better. This is why the duotone sounds completely different than the identical channels on the triamp (1A and 3A). the more you add to the circuit, the more it will effect the existing circtuit. So when people build these multi channel amps, they have to go through and touch up each channel's circuit since the addition of anything to the amp circuit will in turn affect the tone of each channel. the amp designer has to correct what ever the addition took away, but this correction can never match the sound of the original circuit because the way current works.

Think of it this way, you are running your output signal through a THD hotplate in order to attenuate you output volume, but by doing this you are sacrificing your tone. In order to replace what you are missing, the hotplate has a bright and depth switch, but by applying these it only fixes your lack of highs and lows. Now your signal sounds good again, but it doesn't sound anywhere close to your original output signal.

It's really hard to explain, let me know if you're not following it.


don't do the alnico blues. I would recommend replacing the stock speakers with G12H30 if you sort of like the sound of the current speakers. This is because the stock speakers are vox's rip off of the celestion G12H30's, but vox used cheaper materials to build the speaker with. I really love the sound of AC30's running through greenbacks for vintage 30's. The vintage 30's really hold the overdrive together and keep the amp from getting muddy. But they still help the amp produce that awesome vintage drive that it does.

Have you ever thought about putting a good drive pedal in front? When I used to have an AC15 I ran a Fulltone OCD in front and that pedal sounded very natural. By doing a pedal you can set the clean how you want it and then use the tone control of the pedal to decide you dark or bright you want your drive to be. I used this pedal when I still had the stock speaker in my ac15.

Replacing the transformer will only add a more vintage vibe to the amp. So if that is what you want, then go for it. Tell me exactly what kind of tone you are looking for and I can help you find it.


well the problem is... half of my rig is in new york, and half of it is in texas. All my bass stuff is in new york along with my 800, SG std., mesa cab, and avatar cabs. In texas i have my marshall cab, 6100, duotone, LP std, G&L, and martin. My triamp is in consignment at a local shop right now. I can take a picture of what I have in texas though.


edit: I found an orange or50 to try out today. shit is gonna go down.

i get what you're saying for the most part, i understand the basic concept of what more channels/additions do and what not, but just not the high tech circuit-current stuff, haha

Finally got the technique for sweeping pretty down. Just got to work on my left hand a bit and I think i'll have it fairly legit. Anybody got some good scales that would be good for a beginner to practice sweeping?

Think of it like water. (an electrical circuit is very similar in character to water flow anyway)

The signal path in an amp is like a river of water. Now let's say that every time that signal passes through a pot or a resistor or a cap...etc, that you are basically putting a filter in the way of that water flow. For every one of these "filters" that the water passes through it loses a bit of its original flavor.

Sometimes this is a good thing. If you like the refined, processed sound of amps like the Triple Rectifier or maybe an ENGl, that's because the signal path in those amps includes a great deal of "stuff" that the signal runs through to make that sound.

But if you take a fairly simple amp like a Fender Deluxe or a Marshall JTM45, the signal paths in those amps have a lot less going on. Your guitar sound doesn't pass through very many "filters" at all and what results is an end sound that is very pure and organic.

ah, ok, i get it


and i second tyler's request

Sweep picking is overrated.

A Perfect Circle - The Hollow

Deceptively easy sounding sweep picking but good for a beginner.

yeah james explained it much better. I am going for that super organic sounding drive.

I run my ac30 thru my marshall bv cab. I don't really like the wharfdales. I love metal, though, so i think it'd be better if i had a seperate amp head for dirty stuff and my ac30 for the cleans.

An AC30 is possibly the worst metal amp in the world, pedal or not.

Yeah, i'm aware that it's not a metal amp. I bought it for clean sounds and because i found it for $500.
I remember reading a post on some forum by some guy asking why he couldn't get John Petrucci tones out of the ac30 he had just bought .

Yeah don't get me wrong. It happens to be one of my favorite amps of all time.

Does anyone know what type of lights these are in the amp.
http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?...mageID=19225815

Either LED or neon. probably LED.

So I just got back from an orange dealer, and they let me lock myself in the back and just play every orange head. The OR50 really pissed me off. I was hoping it would be the one, but it had this mid scoop that I just couldn't get rid of. I guess it would be a good amp for that classic strat sound shit... whatever. While I was there I played: AD30, Rocker 30, Rockerverb 50, and the thunderverb 50 as well. I was digging the thunderverb 50 until I switched over to channel B. Channel B on the thunderverb had to be the most useless channel I have ever heard in my life. The rockerverb 50 was pretty gnarly too, but the clean channel sucked a huge black dick and the reverb was just ridiculous. I love amp reverb, but I had to have it dialed at like 8:00 o'clock in order for it to be tolerable. It felt more like a reverb pedal than an amp verb unit. The guy told me to try the ad140 and the rockerverb 100. I called him a faggot. From there I tried both the AD30 and Rocker 30. dayum. I am just tempted to buy both. Both of them gave me that honk and balls I was looking for. I did notice that oranges sound notched at low volumes, but once you get the power section warm that will start to honk (except the OR50...). These amps seem like they would compliment each other too well. The rocker was a great rhythm amp and the ad was voiced well for lead. I remember playing the orange line back in the day and being not that impressed, but that was when I was into the brutal chugga chugga tone. I figured buying both would set me back about $3k. That is money that I can spare since I am planning on making about $5k from selling my triamp, duotone, 6100, and recto pre. from there I have to pay back about $1k in insurance deductibles. That leaves me about $1k to spend on a new G&L or find $500 more and get me a dr. z or top hat as well. dayum.

They're actually small flourescent tubes, which is why so many of them are broken.

EDIT: To James and Milo, obviously

I have had epic gas for an AD30 for quite some time now.

You aren't helping lol.

doesn't really, really wanting things and knowing you have to wait a little bit suck?


anyways. i'm gonna try out that Marshall 1960 cab with V30's tomorrow, i already know that i like what vintage 30's bring to the table, and i already know what they sound like with my amp (and am very happy with it)

so what should i be looking for when i try out this cab? like, to make sure it's working properly and what not, i feel like it would be hard to mess up a cab and for it to not be painfully noticeable

i hate the input design on teles--it looks like a thimble. Anyway, the nut came off and it's the biggest pain in the ass to put back on.

there's not much you would know to listen for since you haven't been playing through vintage 30's for the past few years of your life. The only thing he could have done is damage the speaker. well... he could have accidentally loosened the cabinet's hold of a speaker which would cause a rattling noise every time a low frequency passes through.


yeah the input on fender tele's suck a fat dick. you can't use an angled cable with it. on the other hand, G&L inputs rock my world.

FUCKIN CATS.. just knocked my Les paul over and broke my headstock.. not alll the way through though.. Super glue or proper repair?

1.play it
2.remove the grill and make sure the speakers look okay
3.Check the structure of the wood.


Proper repair. For any other guitar I would tell you to go to projectguitar.com because they have a great DIY neck fix guide. But Les Pauls have a very specific angle they like to be at and only a good tech can fix them right. Just make sure you find a good tech.

If you really wanna do it yourself though, the DIY guide I referred to is the way to go.

oh james, i forgot to mention that i found a used '72 deluxe tele in the shop I was in yesterday when I was trying out the oranges. They were asking 6 or 7 hundred for it though, so fuck that. I also saw they had one of those natural burst SG standards used. I should check the price on that. If I put some gibson P-94s in it, then I bet it would be one killer guitar. Well, i do have to check if it is a lemon first though...

Yeah $600 for a deluxe...meh.

I'm not a fan of SG's but if the price is right, get on it.