# The "My First Amp Story" Thread



## ripper

They say you never forget the first time.  I have a similiar question. What amp did you first start out with?! There's always a long story behind that question, and it should be fun sharing it with each other! 

I remember saving up for months to buy my first amp which was a 10 watt piece of junk made by Hondo. I think I was 12. I remember how proud I was of the little baby. It's a funny story actually. My first guitar was also an unbranded piece of junk and for two years I played on that amp with this annoying buzzing sound that used to sweeten my music at pretty much every setting. I kept thinking it was my guitar's fault. Turns out the guitar wasn't as bad as the amp. When I finally switched to a Marshall I realized what I'd been missing. The sound was clean as a whistle. While my second amp wasn't a million dollar baby (that's a whole other story!), it was my first taste of a real amplifier. 

Having said that, I still have the Hondo lying around. I use it as a mic speaker when having improptu jamm sessions in my basement. I also let me nephew mess around with it when he's over. However big of a piece of crap it might be, I aint letting my first amp go!


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## Alex

My very first amp was a Fender but can't remember the model. Then it was the Line 6 Spider II which was alright. Then I got the Marshall Micro Stack and thought it was a good small amp I could use in my bedroom.

These days the only amps I use the most are my DSL50 and 2555SL, both at 50 watts. I've been reading good things about the new Vintage Modern and I'm gonna go to my local GC one day to try it out.


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## GuitarGal

Curious question - do you have photo of your first amp?

Unfortunately, I never own guitar or amp but I do like the Les Pauls because they are beautiful instruments, and I have a few friends that play them~


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## Alex

No but it looks like this one in the pic:






Notice how small it is compared to my regular half-stack shown below:


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## ripper

Aah I remember almost going with the micro stack. When I bought my first Marshall I knew absolutely nothing about amps and made my choice based on hearsay, and more importantly, my budget. 

For some reason I was told the micro stack was a portable, mini amp that I would have little use for and that couldn't tick off the parents even at full volume. I decided it was more important to tick off the parents then go for reverb (which seemed like the only difference between the micro stack and MG10CD at the time).


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## ripper

Alex said:


>



Oh and I'm loving your guitars Alex!


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## MrSticky

My first amp was a 9v powered speaker built in just under the tone controls of the Silvertone s style guitar I had. After that I got a Fender Champ in '74. I needed more power so when the weekend rolled around I'd go to the local shop and for 25 bucks of my car wash earnings I rented a Fender Twin. Man, that thing was loud. My parents never once asked me to turn it down, something I'll always be grateful for. Now of course, my kids ask me to turn it down.


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## GuitarGal

Alex said:


> No but it looks like this one in the pic:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Notice how small it is compared to my regular half-stack shown below:



Beautiful amps Alex~


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## GuitarGal

MrSticky said:


> My parents never once asked me to turn it down, something I'll always be grateful for. Now of course, my kids ask me to turn it down.



Maybe your parents wore their ear plugs~ J/K


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## fiftycalibre

My first amp was a 15 watt Peavey. Nothing fancy.
It was stolen along with my first electric in a house break in.
Oh well.

.50


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## lpaholic59Don

My first amp I got from my second guitar teacher, Pete Kennedy( of the Kennedy's- NOT Dead Kennedy's) had just gotten my Les Paul I busted my butt all summer for and wanted a decent amp, preferbly tubes , Asked Pete if he knew anyone selling an affordable tube amp, and he told me he'd sell my his 64' Deluxe Reverb , I was like Ah Man that thing is prolly worth as much as my Les Paul ! and he said no reverb pan, non orginal speaker ( this was 74) Said he'd sell it for $150 to me, I went and practically begged my mom for it, told her what it was worth , ect, She just said" I'll talk to Pete" Welp that amp was under or infront of, Our Christmas Tree and I had it for 29 Years, Speaker was replaced twice, only went to two service techs in that time it was strangly much louder than any other Deluxe I put it next to , Pete had bought it second hand in 65, along with his Strat I miss that amp incredibly lived over 24 of its years with me, without a reverb pan, just sounded THAT good


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## Adwex

My first amp was a (crappy) solid state 30 watt Marshall "Master Lead Combo" 1x12. It was a Marshall, but I never liked the way it sounded. The only possible "story" associated with it is that John Petrucci once borrowed it for a jam. He grew up in my hometown, and he jammed with a drummer friend of mine back in high school, 25 years ago or so.

He sounded alot better through it than I did LOL.


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## coldsteal2

My first amp was a 67 Fender Bassman Blackface
guess i was lucky in the amp department. (bought brand new yes im old)
Before that i had to borrow amps from freinds,
the first amp i used on stage was a Vox Essex.


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## Rocketman_85

*I was lucky enough for my first amp to have actually been a Marshall.











September of 2000 was when I got my first electric guitar, and as a result, my first amp. It was a birthday gift from my grandmother, the Marshall G10 Mk.II. Not the greatest thing in the world, but to a 15 year old just starting out, it was hot shit for me. A few months later, I had my dad get me the MG80RCD for Christmas as a step-up.

And this little amp really is what sold me once and for all on Marshall. On Thanksgiving of 2003, I was in a car wreck. Wet slippery curve had me sliding sideways into a telephone pole at 40 MPH. Had the seatbelt on of course, so it was nothing to worry about, but my poor little amp was totally unrestrained in the back seat. It became the pin ball when my car hit the pole. 

The car was gone, snapped the frame entirely on the passenger side, so when I pull my amp out of the car, I figured it was toast. After talking with the cop that showed up on scene, having the car towed off, then returning home and eating Thanksgiving dinner, I plugged it it to see how it would do, if anything.

Nothing wrong with it. It sounded the same as it did before it had gone in the car, and the little rip in the covering was the only sign that it had been slapped around at all. At that point, I was pretty much sold on Marshalls.*


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## coldsteal2

Awwwww hes cute!!................did he ever grow up into
a big Marshall?


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## Rocketman_85

coldsteal2 said:


> Awwwww hes cute!!................did he ever grow up into
> a big Marshall?



*Naw, poor guy suffers from stunted growth! But he's got some big bothers though, check out my posts in the "Show us your Marshall" thread. 

http://www.marshallforum.com/marshall-amps/6-show-us-your-marshall-4.html*


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## thomaslattamiller

My first amp was a Kustom 10w with only a gain and volume switch with an overdrive button, when i gotit 7 years ago it was alright for a first amp clean sound but the overdrive was the nastiest sound i have ever heard somethin only EVH could love, if he hadnt already made the Brownsound, this is what i would have classed as a brown sound


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## poeman33

Now it's time to cringe when I see what they go for on eBay...
My first amp was a 70's something Fender Twin. Everyone had them in those days so they were cheap used. I think I paid $600.00 for it in 77. I rarely had the chance to turn it up loud enough to make it sound good, so I traded it in on a new Gibson L5. (and got ripped off I'm sure) Another rare gem that goes for a fortune on eBay now. It sounded okay, but wasn't quite what I wanted. I was into high gain then and traded that in...for practically nothing...and got a Hi-Watt 50 head and a 4x12. That was a great sounding amp. I added a Marshall JCM 800 a little while later. Those were the days of spending all my money on equipment. Sadly I had to sell of of it later on.


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## ECwomantoneman

A Marshall MG15DFX. In all fairness it was absolute pants, but it did the job that was required of it at the time


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## codyfarmer

Mine was a Fender Roc Pro 700. It was a tube amp Fender with a very good gain...it has since been discontinued. I'd like to find one again for simply sentimental value.


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## Pearse

My first amp was a 15w MG15RCD with a strat copy i got as a christmas present when i was about 9. i played it then left it for a while but when i was 10 i had another stab at it i got a "how to play lead guitar" book cus i wanted to be like Scott Gorham from Thin lizzy or Brian Robertson when they were touring. jump 6 or 7 years. i now use an epiphone les paul and sometimes a strat depends on what im playin. Recently i got a 100w JMP from ebay and an old marshall cab for 300 euro found the speakers were from 1956 so i think i made a bargin of some sort, sounds great never imagined it to sound the way it did, real crunchy like nothin i played before even some tubed stuff, blew me away. im now 17 and still have all my old gear looking at my strat copy there is nearly no fret wire left and the fret board is startin to show up still plays, thow is quite painfull..... wouldnt sell it for the world.


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## RiverRatt

My first amp was one of those cheap late 60's or early 70's made of fiberboard. One knob. I got it from my next door neighbor when I was 11. I bough a Tiesco Del Rey guitar from him and he threw the amp in. My folks were against buying an electric guitar to start with, but that's what I wanted. My dad already had an old J-45 acoustic so I already knew that wasn't for me. I remember walking to the drugstore to buy Black Diamond strings for the thing. Kept them on until I broke one. After they saw that I was serious about learning to play, they took me to the local music store and bought me a Kustom Lead 1 amp. I really thought I was big time then.


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## RachelMorgan

I started with a Peavey Rage 258. It was part of my starter set. I have nothing left from it except a souvenier of my first pedal that's in a box -- a Danelectro Mini Black Coffee, which some day I'm going to take apart and figure out if there is a way of making it into something useable with a clean amp. I had it for 6 weeks and a friend of mine talked me into buying her Fender Deville. From there I went to a Marshall Vintage Modern, but found it wasn't suited to my style (higher gain type with channel switching) and swapped it for a JVM which I've got and I'm quite happy with.


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## bosrocker51

lpaholic59Don said:


> My first amp I got from my second guitar teacher, Pete Kennedy( of the Kennedy's- NOT Dead Kennedy's) had just gotten my Les Paul I busted my butt all summer for and wanted a decent amp, preferbly tubes , Asked Pete if he knew anyone selling an affordable tube amp, and he told me he'd sell my his 64' Deluxe Reverb , I was like Ah Man that thing is prolly worth as much as my Les Paul ! and he said no reverb pan, non orginal speaker ( this was 74) Said he'd sell it for $150 to me, I went and practically begged my mom for it, told her what it was worth , ect, She just said" I'll talk to Pete" Welp that amp was under or infront of, Our Christmas Tree and I had it for 29 Years, Speaker was replaced twice, only went to two service techs in that time it was strangly much louder than any other Deluxe I put it next to , Pete had bought it second hand in 65, along with his Strat I miss that amp incredibly lived over 24 of its years with me, without a reverb pan, just sounded THAT good



wow - what a great story. thanks for posting it...

My first amp was a solid stater that sounded really nice into a hand made lightweight cab w 2-12's. That was followed by a Silvertone with 6-10" Jensens. Tons of punch, a great sound, but the worst reverb in the world...


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## poeman33

The first amp I played were my older brothers, as he had the guitar, but never really played much. Some really cheap no name thing with about 1 watt I think...so quite. The first amp I owned was a Fender Twin. I was 16 and had my parents co-sign for a loan to buy it mint used for $600.00. It sounded great when I tried it out because the guy had it cranked. I never got the chance to play it that loud again and it was just too clean played quiet. I could never turn it up at home. (no wonder I moved out when I was 17) And even when I started playing in later on, I could rarely play it loud enough to get a good sound out of it, so I sold it for even less. I can't believe what they get for them now, and I wish I still had it, just for the clean sounds..and I would have a power brake now.


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## mike sicowitz

Dude,
We all made mistakes, I traded a 72 thinline for a Gibson L6. Check out what a 72 thinline is worth today--it's a healthy down payment on a house. As for the twins, we had the same problems in my early bands. Ya, they sounded great in the hands of some guy who knew pedals and put a drain on the head. Around here that meant getting an Eros 4x15 cab, they were made by a guy in Waukesha, just down the road about 10 miles, if that sounds familiar it's because Les Paul grew up there, and we are all proud of that guy. Back to your story, we had the same problems with the early Marshalls. My best friend, still is, went with a 100 watt Marshall head and two 60 cabs, a real stack. It was the best they made, my friend was 14 yrs old, had the stack and a 58 Les Paul, his dad was a doctor with bread, and it sounded bad. So what do you do when you have the very best and it sounds really bad? Well, we all went smaller so we could load our heads. Same cabs, smaller heads, and it worked. I came into some bread myself a few years ago and started to collect the old stuff. I passed on the twin because I have nowhere to play that loud. I did score a Musicman 2x12 HD 130--even more clean than the twin. But I did it for memories of seeing that thing on stage everynight in the late 70s. Look at it this way, at least we were lucky enough to have good stuff which helped a lot to become better musicians. But sometimes it hurts real bad when we think of the stuff we traded or sold. In the end, we are much smarter at buying things and people should listen to our advise. Great question I think about often. Those old amps were great and we had fun. Thanks for the memories. Mike Sicowitz


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## lerxst88

my first amp was a Crate 15 watter. and i was only 10 at the time and i had been playing through my dads old music man 65. i remember the first thing i thought about it was that "it warms up really fast" since i used to plug into the music man and strum open strings till the tubes came to life. i also loved the distortion on the crate since the music man was basically a fender and didnt have any crunchy distortion. i actually used to use a wah pedal in the treble position to get distortion out of the music man. anyone else ever done something like that?


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## guitarweasel

My first amp a a Sears Piggyback, the one where the head stored in the cabinet.......But, my first GOOD amp was a Sunn Sceptre with a 6x12 cab. That thing was a killer!


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## ashleypier

these are some great stories, keep em coming


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## maxime1122

My first amp was a Marshall Valvestate 15 watts... No so bad for new guitar player ...


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## Urthman

My "first" was a Peavey Backstage 110. I loved it and thought it was the greatest thing ever (when I was 13) and then I realized how wimpy it sounded compared to my friend's Marshall. So...I bought a 4x12 cabinet and powered the cabinet with the Peavey! Looking back now I realize how dumb it was, but it worked and I didn't have enough cash for a head too. I actually ran that setup for about a year before moving up in the world to a Crate half stack...can't remember the model #...CH something...

A few years later I moved on to my Silver Jubilee and haven't looked back since!


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## songlian

Adwex said:


> My first amp was a (crappy) solid state 30 watt Marshall "Master Lead Combo" 1x12. It was a Marshall, but I never liked the way it sounded.



Same here. I was in highschool. At first I was really impressed with it. Ater I got the chance to play on other amps, I realized what it was lacking. New technology just can't quite match the quality of old school tubes. Maybe one day?


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## pinto79

My first amp was Gretch Broadcaster. Had to beat it with a shoe to keep it working.

After that I got a Fender 1x12 combo with reverb and a 2 footswitchable channels. In time I ended up driving a Peavey 1x18 cabinet with it and driving it with a MIJ DS-1. I used that thing to death. I made the mistacke of loaning it to a school mate and it was never the same again after. The channel switching was rendered non-functioning.

I still have it around. The plan is to mod the chassis and use it to drive a small bass speaker for a set of basspedals and I'm going to possibly use the cabinet with a better speaker in it as a monitor, but nothig is set in stone yet.

My first REAL amp was a graduation present from my parents, a 1978 Marshall JMP 2204. I should have never sold that one...


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## The Joker

Nothing special really, just a 15 watt CRATE along with a Morgan strat-copy. But hey, I'm glad. Too bad I havn't got a story behind it though.


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## marantz1300

My first amp was A Mesa Boogie Studio Pre 50/50 head.I bought them at a Boot Sale for £100. I didn't play guitar at the time, just want ed the power amp to try with my hi fi. About six months later I became curious to try a guitar through them. That got me hooked. Since then I have added my 74 Hiwatt to it.Another boot sale buy.£65.I still have both.I'm on here to learn about Marshalls.I might trade/sell one day.


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## liamlw

My first amp is my JCM800 4010 1x12 Combo version of a 2204, comes with a G12-65 Rola Celestion and is open back. It was given to me by a good family friend. He bought it back brand new sometime in 1983


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## Dopefish76

Well, I could say I had 2 first amps. When I was 14 I wanted to learn guitar, so I went and bought myself a Hohner classical. My brother, not to be outdone by me, comes home from Guitar Center with a Jackson jam pack of some kind. Had a Fender Frontman 10 watt. So of course he wasn't really serious, I was, so his Jackson AND his amp started sleeping in my room. After a while I was becoming curious about amps and things and a friend turned me on to a Line 6 Spider I. He had the 112, I figured it would be louder with 210's. These days I'm more discerning when it comes to amps and tone, but I have to admit, that little modeling amp paved the way for my tone addiction. It was from the Recto channel that my quest for a tube amp was born. I still have both the Fender and the Line 6.


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## Tommy Boy

My first amp (Christmas, '76) was little Rickenbacker 10- or 15-watt practice amp (does Rickenbacker even make amps anymore)? I traded up for a Peavey Standard (100-watt head with a 2x12 cab) that I hung onto for about 10 years. I used to brag that with my DOD distortion and 6-band MXR EQ I could make the Peavey sound "just like a Marshall." NOT! When I started gigging again seriously in '02 I bought the first version of the Fender CyberTwin, which (IMHO) is a really nice, versatile amp with some great Marshall-esque tones. I then finally came to my senses and upgraded to the TSL100 in 2005 and have been hooked since! So I took a circuitous path to find the right amp, and I'm thrilled with the TSL.


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## ttercero

My first and actual amp is a 30 watt marshall...its kinda crappy but im 14 years old and marshalls are very very expensive here,i was expecting to have like a behringer 10 watt or something like that but we found this 30 watt marshall for 125 dollars and its real price is around 340...so i was like very happy cause it was a marshall and i simply love it...i use it with a stratocaster copy that i bought for 50 dollars and it sounds better than a squier and i thought it sucked...the truth is that i see you all with all your stacks and heads and valve amps and i would like to have one of those but im very grateful for the little and cheap things i have...its a marshall and it was the first so that makes me happy....


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## 00jett

my first amp was a marshall valvestate 8240 stereo chorus amp that 1st belonged to my dad. he let me use it cause i played guitar more than him. i had it out at a gig and someone else it while i wasn't looking. they for some odd reason managed to poke something through one of the speakers and ripped it. my father told me that if i paid to get it fixed then i could have the amp. thats it i got it fixed and it became my 1st amp. iv played marshalls ever since


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## riffdrive

My first amp was a Gorilla solid state, don't remember the wattage, but it sounded like ass. It had great reverb, or so I thought, at the time. My older brother, constantly annoyed by my incessant squeaking on the Gorilla, demanded that I use the headphone jack on the back of the amp for practicing. Well of course that didn't sound as good so I would always go back to the amp's speaker. It came to blows many times.

Then when I was around 12 years old my dad took me to a guitar/gear expo thingy to look for a different amp. What we wound up buying was a 1966 Fender Dual Showman, complete with the original 2x15 cabinet, 85 watts all tube, for $400. I still have that amp today, and I'll never sell it. I didn't know anything about the amp when I picked it out, all I knew was it was almost as tall as I was and it had this huge speaker cabinet and that was cool. 

My brother was NOT happy with the increase in volume that the Showman afforded me, and now that I think about it, my parents must have taken some kind of sadistic pleasure in watching us fight about it, knowing full well that would be the outcome if they bought me this amp. I'll have to remember to thank them for that.


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## tim warner

I had one of those silvertone head/stashed in 2-12 cabinet amps, i think it was #2,,,,in more wars than one!
My first amp was a 70's Hohner solid state 30 watt.
my first real Big Amp was a sound city 120,I hate to say it , but I think the silvertone sounded better. The sound city was too clean, especially for a tube amp.


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## carlo2373

My first amp was a Marshall Studio 15. Great sounding amp, I still have it.


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## Turtle

Mine like guitarweasel & Tim Warner was the sears amp in speaker storage Silvertone, sounded pretty good too. With an Italian copy of a fender strat made by Solo. Everything was cool until 1st my buddy plugged it into 220 volt(I lived in Italy) got that fixed 6 months later then my sister ran a magnet down the strings (she saw me running a bar down them to make neat noises) and sucked out the pickups on low e to g! That was that: Later I bought a Marshall 1992 with 2- 412s and a 72 Gibson EB3 bass which I still have!


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## MartyStrat54

My first amp was a Kalamazoo with a 12-inch speaker. I played a Japanese copy of a Gibson 335. This was 1967. No stomp boxes, no FX of any kind, except for reverb (yeah, I got the deluxe model).


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## Jesstaa

My first one was a little laney, wasn't too bad, I didn't even know how to play guitar at the time, but I asked mum for a guitar and amp.

I was impressed. A few months after beginning playing the guitar, mums new boyfriend brought his guitar, and eventually his valvestate 8100 halfstack over, I was in fucking heaven xD

Then I got my JCM 900 =)


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## thrawn86

Got a Crate DFX (or something like that) 20 watt combo. It worked pretty well; all solid state. Played a lousy Squire standard strat through it.....(shivers).....Then I got a Crate 5112 all tube amp after that. Still not enough! Finally got to go Marshall in 2005.


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## Lucifuge

My first amp was a Gorilla. Played it for a couple of years until it caught fire on me while I was playing overseas with a transformer (still lived in the States back then). Made for a great show!:cool2:
Bought a Fender Princeton Stereo Chorus after that. *Great* cleans. Still have it...
My main amp is the TSL100 now


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## drybone

Any one remember Univox? 1972, no distortion, 15" speaker with reverb.


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## Grandturk

First first amp was one of the Marshall mini or micro stacks - the little ones, that you can clip to your belt. My first real (ish) amp was a Marshall Valvestate 8020 - still got it. Its been semi-retired to our house upstate where it awaits summer weekend floggings.


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## carnada

Marshall MG30 DFX I thought it was a beast, around 2 years ago, I just wanted distortioN!!!!!! so I used to crank all the knobs, except the volume one. I still have my first guitar, ibanez RG321. AWESOME GUITAR! I love it, it fits me perfectly. I still have both of them, and the MG30 isnt that terrible for apartment use


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## TheShadowNinja

a terrible squier (yes, SQUIER- not even a fender piece of crap) from a starter pack quite a few years ago. The funny thing is it was loud as hell, so it got used as a mic amp at band practises.

Sometimes I still use it when I visit my parents house and with a distortion pedal through it, its not even half bad!

Well, maybe its not that good.


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## bro blue

My first amp was a 10 watt solid state Gorilla. It was covered in gray fuzz and had green knobs. I played the crap out of it and one day it died - surprise, huh? I then got a 70s reissue Bassman 10. That was an awesome amp.


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## cooljuk

My first amp was a 35 watt Radio Shack PA amp hooked up to one of my Mom's home stereo speakers. The speaker came with a cheapo Sears brand all-in-one stereo and had a 4 1/2" driver. Later, I "upgraded" to a home built 4X8 open back plywood cabinet that I made in middleschool woodshop class and fitted with Radio Shack speakers. 

The amp only played clean sounds, but one day I discovered I could plug into the phono input on the PA and get some preamp distortion. Then a year later or so I figured out how to make a "distortion pedal" out of a walkman (wired a guitar jack where the tape head was connected to the circuit and used the headphone output to the amp). The headphone volume became a "gain" controll. 

haha!  What a ghetto setup. Hey, my Mom was single and broke. I made good with the few resources I had. I was happy just to have an electric guitar, even if that was a crappy no-name brand. I ended up modding about 3 or 4 of my friend's walkmans to become "distortion boxes" after that. I guess there was some success to that desperate idea after all. 

First real amp was wither a Crate 1X8 combo or a Fender 1X8 combo. I'm not sure which, I had both at the same time and made a little stack from them. Once I started playing in bands my Mom bought me a used Peavey 120 watt 2X12 combo, then latter an all tube Peavey half stack. We were a little better off financially at that point, but not much. I got a decent Washburn solid body around that time too. 

I sure do appreciate having nice equipment and the job to afford it now! Life's lessons can be tough as the poor kid when your friends have nice toys, but I'm sure I value the nice gear I have now far more because of it. It probably helped spark my interest in electronics too, having to make my own.


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## solarburn

I had a Harmony amp but can't remember what model or year. I got it in the early 80's. Also with that I had a cheap SG copy that was that red wine color. That amp made sound but it was really bad. A perfect match for my playing hehe. It got me started though and I appreciate it for that.


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## bro blue

Grandturk said:


>




That Strat makes me feel all tingly inside. Sweet, indeed.

I'm glad to see I'm not the only one that wrestled the Gorilla.

Cooljuk - ghetto rigs can be the best ones, bro. Kudos to you for figuring that stuff out.


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## rockinr0ll

Black Squire with maple neck. Randall 5-10 watt.

Still use the Randall.


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## vintage player

I'm new to the forum & had seen that Mike Sicowitz had mentioned a/b fender twins, & also Eros equipment. I've had an Eros Bassmaster 160 amp back in the 70's & bought it for $50 not running & they repaired it for me for nothing--it was a great amp while I had it. I'm in touch w/a person @ music go round who's got a Bassmaster 290 he might sell. I'm restoring a Fender Vibratone leslie I bought that needs restoring. I'm going thru my twin as far as getting the old fender tubes tested out. Got ahold of a pair of JBL E120 12" spkrs for $20 that were rebuilt by JBL a decade ago, & am going to put them in the twin, in place of the crappy Utah's it came with. One of these days I"ll add a Marshall to my collection.

My guitar is a 79 Gibson "61 reissue" SG left handed w/PAF gold plated humbucking pu's. For pedals, I got a Vox Tonelab SE, which is more complicated to use than my computer! Oh well, another thing to study to learn how to use. I also practice bass(self taught). Got ahold of a left handed Rogue beatle bass, & have an Peavey TNT bass amp to practice & tinker around on in my spare time.


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## clintonb

In the mid-'80s I bought a Peavey Backstage Plus for $85. It's a 35-watt solid state 1x12 combo. I thought it sounded OK, but I used to get frustrated that it wouldn't stay clean at band volumes. 

Back then, I never heard of tube amps. No store in town sold them. But one day I took a road trip to Milwaukee checking out amps listed in the paper. One guy had this old amp with black tolex, silver face plate, and silver and orange grillcloth. I thought it looked really ugly, but it sounded waaaaaay better than the Peavey Backstage and had way more headroom. It was a '70s Fender Twin Reverb. Picked it up for $350. Still have it. I still think it's ugly.


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## yearling

My first amp is a Marshall MS-2(micro amp) and my first guitar is a Stratocaster Copy which I acquired way back when I was in High school Sophomore year..both worked really well...I'm a big fan of Marshall amps ever since because my guitar heroes uses them...Later I bought this Marshall MG100DFX..
I've always love the Od of Marshall amps...


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## HOT TUBES 70

My first amp was a Peavey Rage with a 10 in. speaker then onto a Fender M80 chorus 212 !! !!


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## Cardiac Tom

My first amp was a Quantum Practice amp...Don't remember the model or any other details...Had one speaker and had a gray fuzzy exterior...I don't know what ever happened to it...

My next amp was a Marshall Microstack...That thing was cool...I ended up trading it for some floor monitors...I still regret that...

I had a Kustom combo for awhile which I used with a Sonic 4x10 cab...At this point I was pretty active in my first band, so I got what I am playing out of today...

Marshall JCM900 4100 Half Stack...Bought another cab a few years ago...

For the house, I have a Marshall MG15CD...does the job for just goofing around at home...


----------



## DinOR

drybone said:


> Any one remember Univox? 1972, no distortion, 15" speaker with reverb.




Sure do! I had a LOT of friends that played thru them and they all seemed pretty satisfied. They certainly were more accessible for younger players that were moving up in the ranks than much of the "name brand" stuff that already had to pay dearly for endorsers.

Wouldn't mind having one today? They actually made some decent guitars too.


----------



## DinOR

Now... was thread about your "first amp" ( or the first one you blew up? ) In all the excitement, I kind of lost track myself!

Right, Fender Twin, had it (1) summer and sent it into meltdown. It was 1974 and I figured it would never be worth anything anyway, right? Also played thru ( and don't try this at home folks! ) a phonograph arm on mom & dad's "home entertainment system". ( You just solder a female jack into the two leads normally... used for the needle! )

Gutted ( yet another ) home entertainment system and used the amp for this huge cabinet that ( top this! ) 1 15" speaker surrounded by tweeters "found" at a local Drive-In movie theater! Tuh-wang!

Got talked into a Guild ( all transistor ) amp that did next to nothing, and then a JTM 45. Beat the livin' tar out of that too! Then.., I grew up. Got a Fender Super 60 in Biloxi, MS in 1989 and used it as my primary up until very recently when I went back to Marshall. Currently an 8100 Series VS w/ a 4X12 Marshall cab. God, it's amazing how much of your life centers around the amps that you've owned? Still, being a DIY Guy, I'll probably build a clone.


----------



## zfmusic

When I started playing guitar 6-7 years ago I had one of those 15w kustom combos with a Slammer Fender ripoff. I played on that guitar and amp for probably 3-4 years till I was big enough to play on a "real" guitar lol. Then I slowly worked into my AVT50 that I still have and then my dad got a steal on a Epi Flying V for like $200.


----------



## Jammers5

My first amp was this little Traynor single speaker solid state with a single speaker. Can't remember the model # but it was a cool little amp clean but had no overdrive - I used to put a Boss Heavy Metal Pedal in front of it! then in 1986 I sprung for a Peavey Bandit 65 watt-er!


----------



## wylde1

my grampa gave me my first guitar, a strat that he bought new in the early 70's. But the neck had warped and such so it has a peavy patriot neck on it. (he did alot of wood work and cabinets so he made that sucker fit like it was meant to be there.) and I've been modifying it myself since then. Anyway, I played that guitar without an amp at all for 6 months or so until my parents thought I might be serious haha. we went to a pawn shop and I got a Peavey Rage for like 40 bucks. I was so happy it was rediculous. Few years after that, saved up enough money and picked up the Line 6 Flextone II XL. I like alot of different types of stuff, and wanted something versitile. I don't care what people say about line 6, at that time they really built nice stuff. Now it's mostly all cheap garbage. but this one's built like a tank and sounds great. I still have it at home for a practice amp.

then mabye 7-8 months ago now I stumbled on a deal for a JCM900 and I friggin love this thing! It lives at the jam space though, so I don't have to dishonour it by playing it quietly at home haha


----------



## Tommy Boy

I also acquired a Westbury 1 x 15 combo amp somewhere along the long, strange road of my musical career. About 10 years ago I tried to trade it in for anything I could get (strings, picks, whatever) and they just said "get that thing out of here!" Anyone heard of Westbury? Anyone want one - I'll trade you for a set of strings, picks, whatever...


----------



## equilibrium78

The first amp that i ever had was called a ''T-POWER'' 15watt. I had for about 1yr then i took it apart to see how it worked inside. That's when i started to get into electronics. It was a cool amp.


----------



## LesPaulopolis

Crate GX-15!!! 15 watt SS combo w/an 8" speaker. Served me well 'til I 'upgraded to a Crate GXT-210. 2 10" speakers and 2 preamp tubes! That amp actually sounded pretty good w/my Epi. LP. I even gigged with it for a couple years. Ahhh, 90's Crates. Who didn't have one? I remember stealing my sister's Crate G?-65 after the 210 became 'boring'. It has built in effects and 3 channels! So many pedals came and went thru those amps in those days. They were pretty good clean platforms for dirst pedals. Never used the gain channels.


----------



## javier pintos

don´t know how i missed this thread before

My first amp was a pioneer 25 watt home receiver with some fisher speakers, using my headphones tru my tape deck microphone input as PUP with the most horrid acoustic guitar you could have ever seen, however i could manage to get some distortion out of the tape deck and had a 10 band eq on my stereo set, so it wass good enough


----------



## Tanner

My first amp was some Randall amp, but it belonged to my dad...

Well, my first amp that was mine was a Marshall MG10CD






I got it back in 5th grade or so, about 3-4 years back. Back then, I thought I was hot shit with this, and thought it was loud (LOL). My 2nd amp was a Line 6 Spider III, 3rd one was a Vox VT50, 4th and current one is the Vox AC30CC2, aka my baby.


----------



## rjohns1

HOT TUBES 70 said:


> My first amp was a Peavey Rage with a 10 in. speaker then onto a Fender M80 chorus 212 !! !!



Mine too! But mine had the 8 inch speaker. After that, it was a Crate TD-70. It was actually a cool amp. Had a 12ax7 in the pre amp.


----------



## cudamax2343

My first amp was a Sunn350L ( I think) with a Sunn 6x10 cab that would blow the windows out of a Basement. I got it in 1977 I thing and wish I never got rid of it in the mid 80's. That thing was hand wired and had Huge Trannies.

It didn't have that much Gain on its own but with the front end boosted with a old BigMuff and old Univox Fuzz I had at the time, it sounded Great.


----------



## MM54

Many moons ago when I got my first electric guitar (Cheap) and amp (Cheaper)...

It was a 15W Crate amp, I want to say it had something like "Flex" in its name. It sucked. After a couple months I turned it on one day and it did nothing but roar (not buzz or hiss, a painfully loud [for a 15W amp] tearing roar) came out, nothing else. I took it to the store I got it and they looked at it and said they've had a lot of trouble with it. They gave me a Fender 15W amp (I want to say it was something like 'Frontman 15G' or something) which was much better (ie. the overdrive channel actually worked).


----------



## bloosman1

1968, I got a amp and "Les Paul" copy from Thrifty Drug and discount store. No brand name! My dad gave it to me for my 10th B-Day.


----------



## Riffraff

My first one was a 10w solid state POS that I won't even count. 2 & 3 were also solid state but a little better but only marginally....mid 70's solid state was pretty bad. One was a Guild with 2 x 10" speakers and the other was a Super Reverb copy with 4 x 10" speakers that I can't remember the brand name. My first tube amp was going to be a 50w JMP. I was 15 and I put money down on the used 50w Marshall head but the music store sold it out from under me the day before I went to pick it up. It was on consignment in the back of the store and was going for $200 which was a steal even 30 years ago. I was so excited about getting it and couldn't wait to try it in a band setting. When I got to the store with a hand full of cash it was nowhere in site. I immediately got a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach but tried to tell myself they put it aside for me because I left a deposit. Nobody would make eye contact with me but I finally cornered someone and asked where it was. The guy told me someone mistakenly sold it to another customer the day before. The guy at the store saw how bummed I was and knocked $100 off a Sound City L120 head that was also on consignment. I REALLY didn't want the SC but I wasn't leaving without a tube amp so I took it. I picked up a matching Sound City 4X12 cabinet for it a few weeks later. It was a very clean, loud amp that worked well with pedals but it wasn't a Marshall. It was capable of some good overdriven tone but only at extreme volume. I would turn all the controls up to about six and turn the speaker cabinet around so it was facing the wall. By adjusting the angle the cab was turned to the wall, I could adjust my volume with the rest of my group. This amp would otherwise be way too loud and drown out everyone else. I kept it for more than thirty years but sold it last year.


----------



## USSR

ripper said:


> They say you never forget the first time.  I have a similiar question. What amp did you first start out with?! There's always a long story behind that question, and it should be fun sharing it with each other!
> 
> I remember saving up for months to buy my first amp which was a 10 watt piece of junk made by Hondo. I think I was 12. I remember how proud I was of the little baby. It's a funny story actually. My first guitar was also an unbranded piece of junk and for two years I played on that amp with this annoying buzzing sound that used to sweeten my music at pretty much every setting. I kept thinking it was my guitar's fault. Turns out the guitar wasn't as bad as the amp. When I finally switched to a Marshall I realized what I'd been missing. The sound was clean as a whistle. While my second amp wasn't a million dollar baby (that's a whole other story!), it was my first taste of a real amplifier.
> 
> Having said that, I still have the Hondo lying around. I use it as a mic speaker when having improptu jamm sessions in my basement. I also let me nephew mess around with it when he's over. However big of a piece of crap it might be, I aint letting my first amp go!



First amp, my parents did buy it Roland Cube 40. Around 1982. Second rebuild valve radio, old sucker, great tone. 

p


----------



## 7daysofhell

I got my first Guitar amp out of my sisters catalogue. It was a Tranny 2x12 vertically aranged. Supposedly 30 watts! 
Here is a blurry picture from the seventies I actually have a perspex bass plugged into it there.
NB Heavily edited for bad hair content.


----------



## Bieling3

Marshall Valvestate vs265 2x12 combo from The Great House of Guitars in Rochester, NY. Paid $190 after trading in a couple of footpedals. There's one on Ebay buy it now for $50 less than the original price on the tag. I seem to remember it had a pretty decent clean channel for my needs at the time, but I was always pissed that no matter how much you turned up the bass it seemed like nothing happened.

Traded it for a Line 6 Spider III 150 watt 2x12 and was cursed with the exact opposite, all bass and mud.

Sold that on Ebay and kicked in some cash on a brand spanking new Peavey Valveking VK 100. Beautiful cleans, shitty gain. Went to another extreme opposite with a Peavey 6505, then on to an Egnator T.O.L. 50. 

Now I'm at my JCM 800 4104 and, finally, _this is it_. Search over.


----------



## tonefreak

I started out with a Fender Blues Junior. Great amp. still have it. still love it. (just not as much as the marshall) still play it.
Then I got my DSL 100. 

My buddy started out with a fender Frontman... must have been about 15 watts, 8 inch speaker (maybe). but it sounded decent. we made fun of him for that amp though, it was weird. instead of getting warm, it actually got cold the longer it was on. so we called it the air conditioner. I think he still has it lol. then he got a 65 watt Kustom. so we still make fun of him. he says it was the only amp bigger than ours (at the time) that he could buy for $300. (which he claims, still, 4 years later, that he found under his bed) I had a blues junior, my other buddy had a Crate somthing or another, and our other freind has a peavey modeling amp thingy... but he's a good enough guitarist to earn our respect in other ways...


----------



## Rockin_Lisa

The first amp I got was a hand me down Fender Princeton.


----------



## Kunnz

My first tube amp was an Orange 100W in 1981
It kept blowing fuses every now and then so I sold it and bought a Marshall super bass. That amp served me loyally until a roadie accidently dropped it down a flight of concrete stairs one day.


----------



## paul-e-mann

My first amp was a solid state Fender Champ with a 10" speaker, cost $99. It was way to bluesy for me and didnt distort much so it went back to the store a couple days later and traded it in with an additional $41 for a Peavey Backstage. Now I could get lots of gain! That was back in 1982 when I was a teenager and I still have it today. I loved that amp, not so much today, I moved on to bigger and better things. Marshall MG100, Vox AC15, Marshall Plexi clone (Ceriatone).


----------



## Gtarzan81

Peavey Decade.

Bought it from a friend for $50 in say '96 or so. It sounded like hell, but it was loud enough to annoy my folks and next door neighbors. 
I believe it's still in my parents garage somewhere. I haven't bothered looking for it when I visit


----------



## VintageGuy

Crate GX65

I bought it when i was 11 years old. Has a very good clean channel but the distortion and the overdrive channel were awful!They sounded very "digital". It was very loud and had an fx loop(which by the time,I didn't know what it was  ) In other words,it was a nice amp for starters.


----------



## Unknown3

In my days everyone seemed to start out with cheap strat copies (Squier or something similar) and these no-name black grey boring 10W amps or whatnot, and I decided I wanted something a tad more hefty. So I bought a black Epiphone LP Special-II along with a Marshall MG15CD. That amp evolved into a JCM 800 combo after a year or so - because I wanted to jam with my friend who is a drummer.

Man, I want a tube Marshall again...


----------



## LPMarshall hack

Fender Bronco. God that thing sounded like shit.


----------



## musicman

1970.
Dallas 2x12 combo my Dad removed from "The Ace of Clubs" nightclub/casino in town when he was working on a refurb there.
It had a very strange curved speaker grill.
He built a head box and separate cab for it for me.
The "tolex" was red glitter... well it was the Glam Rock era.


----------



## kebek

my first was a cassette deck recorder with a stereo system... taking about vintage...


----------



## dsmmrm

My first amp wasn't even a guitar amp. It was an old 25(?) watt Sherwood stereo receiver plugged into a home made single 15 cabinet. Not only did it sound like ass, it didn't even sound like a guitar. At least it had tubes. 

My first real amp was an Acoustic 150 with a fender 2x12 cabinet. It actually sounded pretty good.

In an ironic twist, a year or so ago I dug that old sherwood out of a box in the basement while attempting to clean out some old crap and noticed that the 12ax7 preamp tubes were stamped "Sherwood by Mullard". So, now it lives on in my DSL.


----------



## dodgethis

My first amp was a Vox VT15. It was good for it did and the price. Then, a few months later, I discovered the wonders of Marshall amps and got a JVM410H.


----------



## AxlOz

great thread!
My first guitar was a nylon string acoustic loaner from my school when I was 14.. I wanted an electric so bad that i rigged up a dodgy set of headphones to go through the sound hole, held in place with duct tape, then plugged them into the mic socket on a little boombox stereo i had. If I cranked it up enough and played hard, i got distortion 

Not too long after I got a Trace Elliot Super tramp twin. 2x12 80W SS british made amp, loaded with vintage 30's. Best sounding SS amp I've ever played!


----------



## dugger

My very first amp was a piece of crap I bought with paper route money from a pawn shop when I was around 13 or 14 years old.
Don't remember even what it was. Premier maybe?
I remember trying to hook up an old console stereo speaker to it because I thought the speaker in the amp was so little (maybe 6'') lol


----------



## NewReligion

I believe it was a 1974ish 200 Watt Kasino "Little Joe". By KUSTOM Amplification, Head and 412 Cab. Fucker was loud! It had a Purple Light Cover and a push pull knob for distortion with on board spring reverb. That amp had the most gain I ever heard until I played through a (New at the time) Peavey Musician Head, lol. Wow, those were the days! I played it to death as I do most things. I have only seen one other in person in 38 years. I still remember my dad gettin' on my ass & telling me to play clean damn it! Tone is in the hands. Of course he was right. But sustain, ooooh what I could do with that. 

David


----------



## clutch71

15 W Gorilla. 

Amp evolution...Gorilla>Fender 65w Sidekick (still have)>Crate 2x12 (can't remember the model bought around 96...sold)>5150 Combo (never should have sold)>Rectoverb Combo (what prompted me to learn more about tube amps due to bad power tubes...sold)> 2ch Dual Rec (Sold)> Marshall DSL50 (Main/favorite of all I've played or owned)> Two Peavey VTM's 120(stock) and 60 (modded with EL34's and set to get a new OT)...

Amps I will own...Peavey Bravo, JCM 800 2204, JCM 2205, 1959 SLP maybe a 6534+


----------



## Wildriff

My fist amp I got when I was 12. My friends and I decided to start a band. I guy was a drummer another one was on guitar and I was supposed to be the bassist. Anyways my mom took me to Sears and the saleswoman talked us into the fact that for the same money as a bass guitar I could get a Silvertone electric 6 string and an amp too boot. I think the whole thing came to 70 bucks. I know the guys were like WTF you were supposed to get a bass but I was happier then hell with my semi hollow body Silvertone and amp. I never looked back, I've been a a 6 string slinger from that day forward lol.


----------



## Hillcountry

My first amp was a 1972 Super reverb. I bought it from my school for $35 in 1994. They were selling it because it "didn't have distortion." Heh-I guess no one turned it up loud!

I have subsequently had it "blackfaced" and I replaced the CTS AlNiCos with Eminence Copperheads and Blue Frame AlNiCos. I kept the CTS, but they were getting farty at loud volumes. 

I thought that was a pretty good score.
-Hillcountry


----------



## Jimvermaport

Sound City 120. Very loud, enough presence to cut you in two. I bought it because it had 20 watts more than the Carlsbro in the shop and it was cheaper too. In those days, speakers were not too reliable. All I had were Fane 25 watters built into two 2x12 cabs (with horns). I kept blowing and replacing them. I ended up with a 1x18" bass cab that could handle the power.


----------



## jensbrix

A 25w Randall SS I got with my first electic guitar. Can't believe I actually played it for 1½ years, but apparently, back then tone didn't matter that much


----------



## Michael1987xl

My first was a Univox 1221 50W head and 1005 2x12 cabinet. Got it, along with a Univox Les Paul copy, as a Christmas/Kick-Ass Report Card Gift:






And yes, I've still got all three pieces. The cabinet has since been re-loaded with Celestion G12H-30's, turned on its side and now serves as half of my 1987x rig (the stock Eminence speakers, although excellent for their time, succumbed to the ravages of being stored in my parents' humid basement eons ago). It's still the best sounding and best built cabinet I've ever come across, bar none. How many 2x12 cabs can you name that are 3/4 birch ply, including the baffle, measure 30x23x14 _and_ have a central sound post? Exactly. The Avatar Custom 2x12 I use with it is a really nice piece, but in all honesty, it can't match this 39 year old box on a bet.

The 1221 head still works and works well. Although these were advertised as 100W amps (mine still has the 100 WATT sticker on the back to prove it), they really only put out 50w, but you got everyone of 'em. Considering the abuse I've heaped on this puppy since I got it in 1971 (_What do you mean I can't use a guitar cord to connect it to the cabinet?_), that's saying something. She's been re-tubed a few times, had a transformer replaced once only a few years back and just had a filter cap job 2 weeks ago, but, man, she just keeps on truckin'. The reverb and tremolo all work by foot switch and when you jump the two channels, its really something. I use it mostly through an 8x10 cabinet now, and even against my 1987x she's pretty damn loud, too, and she stays clean nearly all the way to the tippy, tippy top. I have any number of pieces of gear I'd sell off or even give away before I'd consider getting rid of this one at any price.


----------



## aryasridhar

My First Amp was a Shitty, Made in India (Local Brand) Amp called "Stranger". 20 watts RMS, It was really not a good one and I had made this choice out of No Experience of playing guitar, back in 2007.......I then got a Vox valvetronix 15 watter, which was much much better than the "Stranger", I sold the Vox, and Now I own a Laney Cub 10, Which by no means should be underrated. It is my first All tube amp and I must say, that I am Impressed, even though I had played loads of amps, I decided on this one and I must say, Its a monster for the price...


----------



## Jack92CH

My first amp was an Eleca or something like that. I destroyed it with an axe after it blew.


----------



## Heavy Metal

My first Marshall was a 2098 JMP Lead, 100W head with (2) 2x12 cabinets. I played it for about a year sold it to a buddy who still has it btw, then purchased my first 2203 JMP Master Volume Lead, 100W head with the 1960A and 1960B 4 x 12 cabinets.


----------



## Ken

My first real amp was an Epiphone from about 1965. It had four 8" speakers, was about 30 watts and had the best reverb I ever heard. 2 channels, no master volume of course. I paid $50 for it off a friend. I thought of it like a half stack! I saw one like it on eBay recently and the seller wanted $550 for it. Pass! 

Ken


----------



## chuckharmonjr

I started out on a little Fender Champ. Cheesy lil thing with an 8" speaker. When I thought I had learned some stuff, I went downtown and bought a Peavey Mace and a ported 4x12 cab.GAWD what a BRUTE!. I loved that amp to death and played it from 1974 when I bought it new till I lost it in a house fire in '03. Had a few MArshalls along the way, but I always had that Mace in the mix. Tone from hell (think early Gary Rossington) and ear bleeding loud.


----------



## Moose Lewis

I was an 'acoustic' musician for years before giving in to the temptations of the daemon electrical geetar. I joined a band as the singer to see if I could make it on my voice (I played guitar, banjo, mandolin, flute, harmonica & piano - so I started to think that was the only reason I was passing auditions - and maybe I wasn't so good at any of it).

The guitarists were having issues with Statesboro Blues - so I learned the riffs on my acoustic and showed them in the next practice. Next thing I knew, the drummer had set me up with a guitar & amp, and I was the new lead guitarist.

The amp was a Fender Bassman (I think I was running through 10's - but I can't seem to find a reference for the cabinet I think I remember... geezin').




I jacked the channel 1 #2 input out to the channel 2 input jack... and everything was run on 10. This was 1971, btw.
The guitar was a Les Paul Jr., with no pickguard; the body routed out to hold a humbucker with the covers removed (out of a stock SG, I believe); and the fretboard had been scalloped. Actually, it was a smokin' little guitar. Another of those I should'a kept. 




Price for both? The drummer let me have them for around $150 on the easy installment plan (he managed the band, so I never saw the money anyway).


----------



## carnada

moose lewis said:


> i was an 'acoustic' musician for years before giving in to the temptations of the daemon electrical geetar. I joined a band as the singer to see if i could make it on my voice (i played guitar, banjo, mandolin, flute, harmonica & piano - so i started to think that was the only reason i was passing auditions - and maybe i wasn't so good at any of it).
> 
> The guitarists were having issues with statesboro blues - so i learned the riffs on my acoustic and showed them in the next practice. Next thing i knew, the drummer had set me up with a guitar & amp, and i was the new lead guitarist.
> 
> The amp was a fender bassman (i think i was running through 10's - but i can't seem to find a reference for the cabinet i think i remember... Geezin').
> 
> 
> 
> 
> i jacked the channel 1 #2 input out to the channel 2 input jack... And everything was run on 10. This was 1971, btw.
> The guitar was a les paul jr., with no pickguard; the body routed out to hold a humbucker with the covers removed (out of a stock sg, i believe); and the fretboard had been scalloped. Actually, it was a smokin' little guitar. Another of those i should'a kept.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> price for both? The drummer let me have them for around $150 on the easy installment plan (he managed the band, so i never saw the money anyway). :d



did hear scalloped??? :d


----------



## Moose Lewis

Yup. Scalloped. Folks been doing it a loonnnng time. I wanted to do it to the SG I replaced the LP Jr. with - but a tech at the local music store insisted it would make the neck warp or break over time.

I think that's pure BS. Scalloped fretboards rock! Ya just can't squeeze too hard, lol.
Cheers


----------



## astrocreep

My very first amp was a 1978 Bassman head. The cab was a do it yourself 4x10. This guy I jammed with back in the late 80's-early 90's had the rig just sitting around and I'd always hook up to it because I only had a guitar at the time. 

We were getting high one night and I convinced him to sell the rig to me. I ended up giving him 50 bucks and a bag of weed for everything including the original Rat pedal that I used to slam the front of it with. I had a late 80's Fender Tele and played the hell out of that amp. 

I then acquired other amps...Peavy, Crate, Mesa and eventually Marshall. I quickly forgot about the Fender. I still miss that Rat pedal though.


----------



## MeekeeChunky

My first amp was an AC30. I would've been about 10 at the time and it arrived one Christmas with a Shaftesbury copy of a Ricky something-or-other. Hard times hit and the '30 went (still don't know the full reasons why to this day but parents and volume were involved) and it got replaced with a no-name 5watt practice amp that made a funny squelchy noise when it was powered off.

Mum used to sing in local clubs so, when I'd grown up a bit, I ended up using her 100W H/H PA with a Guv'Nor in front of it.

Went from that to a 30W Master Lead 2x12 that was, as has been said before, not the best of efforts, but it only cost me £40 so what the hell ...

Now the proud owner of a 6101 Anniversary. Spotted it in Hessys in Liverpool (RIP Colin Benn), that brass nameplate got my attention and the Back To The Future moment in the shop sold it to me! Love it to bits, it's just getting a bit temperamental at the moment.

Used it in the past with a '91 Tele Ultra, Peavey Adrien Vandenberg signature (in a '60s soul band!) and (at home) '57 re-issue Strat. Current on-stage axe is a Variax 700 with an X3Live for FX and MIDI switching


----------



## thinlizzy96

My first amp was a 15 watt crate that i saved up for months to get, at that point i had been playing on a crappy 50 dollar acoustic that my parents had started me on. my mom took me to guitar center and let me pay for it, and then when we got home my dad gave her shit for letting me buy an electric guitar and amp.

anyway... i kept upgrading year by year.. and now i have a 1959slp coming by mail.


----------



## doguitar

VOX Berkley III transistor POS new back in 1969. It was pretty but sounded terrible compared to my bud's Wilder 2 + 2.


----------



## sccloser

In 1987 I bought a Guitar Man "Distrotion" amp...yeah, disTROtion not distortion...lol! It was a little s/s 15 or so watt amp with multi colored knobs and a 10 or 12 inch speaker that I found in a shop in Korea while I was overseas serving in the US Navy. Cost me $42 US ( I forget how many thousand Wan that was...lol!) Used it for a while to practice with on the ship. A dealer gave me $40 for it back in San Diego in '88 because of the novelty...he would be the only one in SD with a genuine DISTROTION amp!


----------



## sccloser

My first Marshall was a 1989 JCM 800 2205. Cost me $325 used in 1990. I was da man.


----------



## Jethro Rocker

My first amp was a 1978 20 Watt Univox Stage 65, a crappy amp with no real distortion control. My guitar was an excellent Goya copy of a Gbson L6-S, all maple, great neck, still love it. Went to a Traynor TS200 with the 9x8" cab, then on to Marshall tube ('83 JCM800 100 watt) never to look back.


----------



## diesect20022000

peavey banditt 112 "scorpion equipped".bought it used.


----------



## carnada

Moose Lewis said:


> Yup. Scalloped. Folks been doing it a loonnnng time. I wanted to do it to the SG I replaced the LP Jr. with - but a tech at the local music store insisted it would make the neck warp or break over time.
> 
> I think that's pure BS. Scalloped fretboards rock! Ya just can't squeeze too hard, lol.
> Cheers



I scalloped one of my guitars myself, it turned out great


----------



## pushtree

It was so long ago, but my first amp was a Univox bass amp, head and cab, which I bought second hand. I don't remember how it sounded but my fuzz box and wah worked and it was LOUD... which is about all I cared about at the time!!


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## paul-e-mann

Cool old thread! I bought a small Fender combo in 1981, I dont remember what it was exactly other than a solid state silver face, I kept it for about a day or so, I couldnt get any tones I liked out of it so I returned it and took home a Peavey Backstage instead that I still have today.


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## fitz

OK, I was not in the forum when this thread was going around, so I'll throw my first amp story in.
I had a little no-name for a few months that was a complete piece of junk.
It came with the piece of junk guitar that I got in trade for a bb gun.
So, like an idiot teenager, I bought the biggest amp I could find at the little local guitar shop, the Lab Series L7 4x10 combo. (not my photo)






A truly kick ass amp upgrade, but not exactly a grab n' go...
After hauling this beast around for a few years in college, I traded it for a little Crate and a couple of pedals.


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## adew1

I was the owner of a state of the art HH Studio 30 combo, emblazoned with MOS-FET logo, declaring my proud adoption of modern technology and disdain for those « valve » things that were old-fashioned, unreliable, noisy and horrible. That’s what the salesman said, and I believed him. 

But in those days, we didn’t care about gear, only what we could afford.

After a couple of year’s use, I managed to part-ex it for a Carlsbro... Yes, my learning curve was long and slow.


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## FTMF

.


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## Paul Petraitis

First amp story? Luckily my Dad has a Ham radio operator and our basement was full of tubes and speakers. When I started playing in 1964 I had to borrow my neighbors homemade amp buy soon my Dad and I had cobbled together a 75 watt Zenith power amp (brought home from work...he worked at Motorola later HP) We used a Radio Shack phono preamp as a pre and it was loud but dull then I bought an Ampeg B15N so I could gig on bass and guitar. I had a 62 Jazz Bass and a borowed 54 Gold Top. You shoulda heard that preamped Ampeg with the Les Paul! It was loud dirty and fed back. They started saying "nice Clapton tone" ...I thought I was Jeff Beck actually! Sadly I had to return the gold top but I kept the B15. I bought a 335 and a Bosstone treble booster. I was set! The year was 1968!


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## jmp45

My first amp was dad's 40s reel to reel deck. 2nd amp was a black face princeton hacked to a head bought from a close friend to this day with hippie paisley grill into a portable sylvania record player speaker. It was all downhill have that.


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## Edgar Frog

My 1st amp was an old 70's-early 80's wood cased Kenwood Hi-Fi receiver with an 80's Rocktek DIR-01 distortion pedal plugged into the microphone input on the front to make it a 2 channel. It was ran thru a set of fisher home tower speakers with tweeters and mid ranges and 8 inch car subwoofers in place of the original blown ones. Used that for a few years before I got my 1st real amp which was a Crate GX120C. The receiver and tower speakers and subs were all found in the trash BTW. The receiver just needed a good cleaning inside and out and new fuses. I was poor but very handy and resourceful even at a young age.


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## saxon68

Played into a distortion pedal / stereo system for a month or so then bought a Fender Sidekick Reverb 35.


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## AlvisX

fitz288 said:


> OK, I was not in the forum when this thread was going around, so I'll throw my first amp story in.
> I had a little no-name for a few months that was a complete piece of junk.
> It came with the piece of junk guitar that I got in trade for a bb gun.
> So, like an idiot teenager, I bought the biggest amp I could find at the little local guitar shop, the Lab Series L7 4x10 combo. (not my photo)
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> A truly kick ass amp upgrade, but not exactly a grab n' go...
> After hauling this beast around for a few years in college, I traded it for a little Crate and a couple of pedals.




I was on the road opening for BB King n '03 . He was STILL using a LAB Series . I bet he had a stash


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## Iron1

My first amp was a Peavey Butcher. 






I was so excited to get it, bought it off a shop that made me a smoking deal on it. Took it to band practice and got this amazing tone from it pretty quickly. Left practice so stoked at how great it sounded over the crappy combo I was borrowing. 

Came back the next day and fired it up and... it sounded like hot garbage. Knob fiddled for the entire practice and never got a good tone. Left practice totally discouraged. 

Came back the next day, fired it up and >boom< it sounded great again. Wrote the day before off as an aberration and about half way through practice, it changed to the garbage tone mid-song. 

It was so bad, we went into the studio to do our first demo and I would go in ahead of time, see what the amp sounded like and if it sounded good, call the other guys to hurry over so we could record before the tone changed... 

Fought this battle with it for a month or so, then took it down to Chuck Levin's outside DC and traded it for JCM900 and never looked back. 





Years later, someone suggested the Butcher had a bad tube, hence the tone changing all the time, and maybe it did, but I'll never buy another one so I'll never know.


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## shooto

My first amp was my Radio Shack Realistic Clarinette-102


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## AlvisX

I started playin bass through my dad's Sherwood receiver and Harmon Kardon speakers around age 14 
I blew a Tweeter, meanwhile the ol' man got some Panasonic "THRUSTERS" .He gave me the HK's ,which I fixed and are my stereo speakers today .
So in woodworking class , early part of 10th grade I built a 1x12 cabinet and used a Radio Shack PA head ....which my dad called some "Mickey Mouse sh*T"
My Grandma had died in the early part of the year . By Xmas ,I think my parents thought I really need a morale boost ,so they took me to Hanich's Music and got me a Peavey TKO 80


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## PAPADON

Back in the late sixties I was in the Navy stationed in Puerto Rico. A group of us sailors formed a band and played the military clubs around the island for a couple of years. I can't say that the Band Master we were using was mine since all of the members chipped in and the gear was owned by the band in general. 

Fort Allen Naval Station Enlisted Mens Club, Ponce Puerto Rico - 1969.





So I guess I have to say that my first amp was this Peavey VT Classic that I played in a Chicken Fried Rock band during the 80's. It did a pretty good job in small clubs for Skynyrd and such.


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## Nkyrental

My first amp was a twin reverb with master volume. A local guy we knew played in some small time bands in KY, and had this with a pretty much gone front cover and one speaker had a small dent in it. I was 13. He got arrested for growing pot, this was 1977, and was heading to jail for a bit. His brother sold it to me for $150. I put on new silver tolex and we put a patch on the speaker. Used it for 6 years then sold it when I went to college because it was so dang heavy.
Still searching for one, it was a 1974 I believe.


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## Vinsanitizer

Sears solid state.
When this is your first amp, any amp you play through after that is no less than 100 steps up.


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