What's Your Favorite Practice Amps
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BFT Gibson
Ambassador of Originality
My practice usually has 2 amps on. Always have 4 songs in the looper being developed. Have a notebook where the songs ideas are written down or a few words or chorus. I dont overdo the looper capture, a basic verse & chorus idea as foundation.
Get those 4 songs then matched as I drum to them, then when tempo, chord changes are worked out. Into Reaper we go for tracking.
So practice amps are any of the 2 amps in play at the time.
Lately it is Valco & Supro , Valco & SL100,
The consistency comes maybe from my volume always being the same, for the band or recording. The amps in their designed volume range of their intent. It still feels like the very first jam many years ago every day those amps get fired up ! Good stuff
Get those 4 songs then matched as I drum to them, then when tempo, chord changes are worked out. Into Reaper we go for tracking.
So practice amps are any of the 2 amps in play at the time.
Lately it is Valco & Supro , Valco & SL100,
The consistency comes maybe from my volume always being the same, for the band or recording. The amps in their designed volume range of their intent. It still feels like the very first jam many years ago every day those amps get fired up ! Good stuff
Purpleplexi
Well-Known Member
Laney supergroup 60watt 1x12 combo. Solid state 60 watts switchable to 1 watt. Sounds far better than you'd think.
Far Rider
Ambassador Of The Cataverse
Ampeq
Well-Known Member
You have some awesome amps my friend, I would love to try some out. Did DST go out of business? I can’t find much on them.
Geeze
Well-Known Member
My small amps - just like my big/bigger amps all benefit from volume. This is a 1/2 watt Dark Gene which shouldn't be so much fun to play.
Marshall SL-5 - what led me to this was Slash [obviously] and most importantly it is a closed back with a V30. OK at lower volumes but at 90+dB sounds very good with the usually low lack.
Speaking of volume have any of you compared inside volume to outside with a meter? I see about 25-30dB cut out side when running 100dB inside within 3-6 feet of the wall. I plan to walk a hundred yards to the road and see what's cooking down there.
Russ
Marshall SL-5 - what led me to this was Slash [obviously] and most importantly it is a closed back with a V30. OK at lower volumes but at 90+dB sounds very good with the usually low lack.
Speaking of volume have any of you compared inside volume to outside with a meter? I see about 25-30dB cut out side when running 100dB inside within 3-6 feet of the wall. I plan to walk a hundred yards to the road and see what's cooking down there.
Russ
paul-e-mann
Well-Known Member
Tonex Pedal is my number 1. For practice and gig. Otherwise my Marshall 2204.
Ampeq
Well-Known Member
Very nice stuff Geeze, I love the Dark Gene amp. Is the face black walnut? Nice piece of wood and layout.My small amps - just like my big/bigger amps all benefit from volume. This is a 1/2 watt Dark Gene which shouldn't be so much fun to play.
Marshall SL-5 - what led me to this was Slash [obviously] and most importantly it is a closed back with a V30. OK at lower volumes but at 90+dB sounds very good with the usually low lack.
Speaking of volume have any of you compared inside volume to outside with a meter? I see about 25-30dB cut out side when running 100dB inside within 3-6 feet of the wall. I plan to walk a hundred yards to the road and see what's cooking down there.
Russ
Geeze
Well-Known Member
At this point for me, practicing is about getting ready to lay a track, so I just use whatever amp I'm planning on tracking with, plus a reactive load box and an IR that fits, and run it through monitoring. I might track the same setup, or switch to a real cab and microphone using the same amp.
Ampeq
Well-Known Member
That’s a beautiful case, Mesa’s got nothing on that baby! I have some black walnut squirreled away for some furniture I may make someday. Very nice.Yes the whole case is walnut except the maple piping.
Russ
SG John
Ambassador of Cool Guitars and Amps.
Thank you. Bob Detorre (the "D" in DST) retired from amp building several years ago when his grandchild was born. He had other stuff going on too, and DST was a part time job for him. He lives a few blocks from me. He just recently retired from his real job, and has been threatening to do amp work again, but more on a custom build basis. He doesn't want to get bogged down repairing stuff, but still wants to have fun playing with amplifiers.
I have five of his amps, and started a fan page on the book of face. My favorites are his Vox inspired amps and his Hiwatt mashups.
My AC-15 (DST-15) has an EF86 preamp tube and an Ampeg reverb. My AC-30 (DST-30) is pretty much a clone of Rory Gallagher's early sixties AC-30 with an EF-86 pre-amp tube and the loudest 30 watt amp I've ever heard.
My two Hiwatt mashups (each 50 watts) are a Hiwatt-Marshall front end with a Hiwatt power section (U34-CL) and a Hiwatt-Soldano front end with a Hiwatt power section (Solera 50). I use those mostly on the Hiwatt side. You can do some blending on the U34-CL because it's not foot-switchable. It's either/or with the Solera because you can switch on the fly. The Hiwatt-Soldano was a good idea at the time, but compared to the wide open sound of a Hiwatt, the Soldano compresses too much when switching between the two. It works well if you use the Soldano side for a chunky rhythm sound, then switch to the monstrous headroom of the Hiwatt side for solos.
Here are the new amp day threads for the U34, Solera, and DST-15.
New old amp day. Another DST find.
Not that I needed another, but....
And yet, another new old amp day. More DST content.
Yes the whole case is walnut except the maple piping.
Russ
Damn! That is gorgeous!
You guys got me dustin’ off the old Fender Greta tonight…
Ampeq
Well-Known Member
Man he does some nice work, I like the router work he did and made the tolex fit perfect. I would love to try that Soldano one. Very nice, I love to see stuff like that.
Geeze
Well-Known Member
My mantra for living is based on something a 3 time national champion & world record holder [Benchrest rifle] said to me in the 90's - Always have a good looking rifle, no matter how you shoot you still got something good.'
With ADHD on board the gear has to look good cuz the playing...
Russ
SG John
Ambassador of Cool Guitars and Amps.
The cabinets for the DST amps were made by his partner Jeff Swanson. DST stands for Detorre Swanson Thermionics. Jeff still does custom cabinet work. He is about a mile from me. After Bob retired, I was still able to get matching cabinets from Jeff for amps that Bob put up for sale.
Jeff didn't do my Trainwreck cabinet. That was made by Mike Cauley at Faith Amps in Pennsylvania.
Ampeq
Well-Known Member
Really nice stuff man, you’re very lucky to have great talent that close. I’d be broke if they lived next door to me. You have great taste. Congratulations.