Guitar Amps

Read and learn more about vintage fender guitar amp. For more, visit the Guitar Amp website GuitarAmpUniverse.com

Q: I have a question about a Fender Princeton Reverb electric guitar amp?
I was just wondering what this amp would be worth if i were to sell it. Everything on it is completely vintage except for one of the 7 tubes in the back. Yes, that is right, it is a vintage Fender tube amp with the original tubes, and i believe it is a ‘62 or ‘63. It sounds amazing. Buy, yeah. I was just wondering if anyone had any idea what it would be worth. So, thanks for your help!

A: I’ve heard of them going for anywhere between $80 and $800, depending on the shape of the original components and the year it was made.

Fender Princeton’s go back to the 40s, but the Princeton Reverb models only go back to 64. The early models of Princeton Reverb were blackface and they later introduced the silverface version in the early 70s.

The blackface models are more desirable. If yours is a blackface model and in great shape with all the original parts, it could go for close to $1,000 to a buyer who really likes vintage Fender stuff.

At a local music store, I don’t think they would put any higher than $800 on the tag.

Q: What amp should i get for my 1965 vox vintage guitar?
I want something fuzzed out psychedelic sound. I only want to spend around $500.. how many watts? i was thinking a VOX or a fender reverb.

A: 1000 watt marshal stack just get a valve state amp then get some speakers/box as you can or if money is left over.

Q: I will build an amp using this schematic
I will build an amp using this schematic.

http://sound.westhost.com/project27.htm

I came across a circuit. Which have Marshall and fender vintage amp simulator.

Details are here.
http://home3.netcarrier.com/~lxh2/marsh.html(With cabinet)
http://home3.netcarrier.com/~lxh2/marshprb.gif( without cabinet)
http://hem.passagen.se/amps

http://home3.netcarrier.com/~lxh2/

So i need merge them. With above schematic of Amp.

So i how can add it. Well its look like preamp. So should use it as an external preamp or just like stomp box. And secondly what must voltage in second circuit because it is not mentioned anywhere.
Any other advice will be appreciated.

Also suggest any Software designing for pcbs and circuit simulation for guitar amp. I currently use livewire and pcb wizard but few thing like power transistor and IC their library lacks.

Sorry for my bad English.

A: Those simulators should be used as separate pre-amps. If you use them in-line in an effects loop, or as a stpmp box, then they *might* get over-driven and defeat the purpose. It may be possible to use them as a stomp box IF they are the first ones in line right after the guitar pickup.

Unfortunately, the voltage to the op-amps must be bi-polar since that is the way the circuits are designed. Both circuits (marshall and Fender) are the same in that regard. A single 9V battery will not do. A minimum of +/- 9V is needed. It would be better to use +/- 12V or even +/- 15 volts. If two 9V batteries are used and the results sound OK to you, then you can use two 9V batteries. But, I suspect there will be a difference in the sound if you increase the supply voltage higer than +/- 9V, but that is only an educated guess.

As for circuit design software — what you have sounds adequate. For DIP IC packages you can probably draw your own with the available line and box tools in PCB wizard.

Good luck on your project. I have a new type of direct-box that I am working on right now.

.

Q: What kind of guitar amp should I get for playing psychedelic rock?
I’m looking for a guitar amp that has great reverb and vintage sounds from the 60’s. Any ideas. I’ve been thinking about getting a Fender Twin Reverb.

A: Look into line 6 they have pre loaded sounds on there that might have bands from the 60s. i’m no expert i just know that line 6 has a lot of amps like that, my father had 2.
Check out their website

Q: vintage v100 guitar problems?
I have just bought a vintage v100 guitar and there is something not quite right with it there is a strange buzzing from the strings when playing like the strings are hitting something. The sound quality is also very poor I don’t know if it is the guitar or the amp (fender frontman 15g) that is the problem.

could someone please give me some advice
thank you very much

A: Sounds like a classic string buzzing issue – quite common. It usually just takes a proper adjustment of the neck truss rod to alleviate the problem.
Take the guitar to a dealer or repairer and have them take a look at it. Usually very easy to fix (if the truss rod is the culprit) by someone who does these sort of things on a regular basis.
The beck some times gets a back bow, which makes the strings end up closer to the frets, giving you the buzzing you hear.

Q: Fender Tube amp or Marshall Solid-State amp?
So this is a valentines day gift for my girlfriend. She plays a Vintage Gibson Les Paul and is in desperate need for a new practice amp.
The ones I’m looking at are:
http://www.guitarcenter.com/Marshall-MG4-Series-MG30FX-30W-1×10-Guitar-Combo-Amp-105182109-i1435559.gc
or

http://www.guitarcenter.com/Fender-Vibro-Champ-XD-120V-Guitar-Combo-104494265-i1371396.gc

I had my heart set on the Marshall MG30FX because it comes in that red-orange color and girls are suckers for looks over functionality. Plus, its a Marshall. Theyve built up their reputation quite well. So first impressions of the gift would be a thumbs up.

But when I walked into Guitar Center, the employee told me she should be playing on a tube amp and showed me the 5watt Fender Vibro-champ. Now, my girlfriend used to play on a Fender amp that looked almost identical to this one, so when it comes to looks, first impressions aren’t going to win her over.

Any suggestions?
P.S. : I also hate the “Voice” knob on the Fender to get the right sound. I mean, it adds more diversity, but when I want distortion, I want to click the distortion or overdrive button and play, not to fiddle with the knobs until I get the right sound. But then again, this isn’t for me, its for my girlfriend. And she’s been playing much longer then I have.

A: I like how a salesman in a chain music store TOLD you what someone who wasn’t even there, should be playing. Also, how you hate a feature of a certain amp when it doesn’t matter what your opinion is.

You’re absolutely right, this isn’t for you, any real musician doesn’t want a “surprise” piece of equipment. Yeah it’ll be nice to get a gift, but the reality is they would always prefer to choose something themselves.

So here’s what you SHOULD do, take her to Guitar Center on valentines day, have her bring her guitar, make her play through both amps and find out which one she likes. THEN you surprise her by telling her you’re buying one of them for her.

Q: Vintage Fender Sound sought?
I purchased a used Super Reverb around 1971. I owned various other amps for different gigs but the Super was my pride and joy. the Super was stolen around 1986. I dont play much but would like to purchase a guitar amp around 50W-100W with a real good 12″ speaker. I DONT want to spend much. I know there are all kinds of knock-offs of Vintage Fender, Mesa Boogie, etc. Be it new or ebay I want something HOT but cheap…. any legit recommendations?

A: I owned two Super Reberbs back around 76′ and a Twin and duo showman.. Loved those amps.. How about one of the Fender Blues amps.. Not sure what they run these days.. under 400? Stick with what you like… I bought a Line 6 for my son, I’ve had every amp under the sun and still prefer the Fenders.. Twin is probably my fav. I’ll have to read your post for other responses.. Good luck..

Q: !!Is My Guitar Amp Broken?
I have a Laney LX12 (I know its a shit amp) and when I first got it I think I put it a bit loud but now even if I turn my volume up to halfway on my clean channel it sounds distorted. So I want to know if it’s my amp or my guitar (Its not my cable, I brought I fender vintage voltage the other day and it still has the same problem) Thnx.

A: Hey. That Laney LX is a good little practice amp. Your ears probably got used to the sound which accounts for the reason why it seems less loud. If you want cleanness out of that amp, push the Master volume to 10 and lower the Gain to 4. Tht will cproduce the cleanest sound ever. Bear in mind that it is only 10 watts. So don’t push it.

Q: What do you think of the new Fender Squier Vintage Modified Fat Strat guitar? I got one for Christmas from my
wife. I’ve been playing for 15 years, however, I sold my electrics a few years ago to pay off some debt. Let me tell you, this guitar rips. On the bridge it has a nice Duncan Designed humbucker pick-up. I play through my Marshall 30 watt MG 30DFX amp, and I have a Dunlop Cry Baby pedal as well. I use Ernie Ball super slinkies 9’s. This guitar is really good for the money. It’s listed on the Fender Squire website for $499, but my wife got it new for $330, got a good deal on it. It’s color is gun-metal grey. Tell me what you think of it? The links are below.

http://www.squierguitars.com/products/search.php?partno=0301210574

http://www.fender.com/resources/pricelists/pdf/summer2007/SquierWinter2007.pdf

A: THAT IS A NICE GUITAR!! my friends dad just got one for around $400 somthing like that! it is a nice color!!! u r lucky i have been playing guitar since i was like 7 so around 9 years!!!

Q: Which guitar amp should I get?
Ok, I’m having trouble deciding between an amp for my guitar. I’m in a band, I can’t afford something like a half stack, so I’m just looking at something good for practice now. Normally I just use my brothers Fender 15G amp which is 15W, but then we argue and it causes problems. But back to the question. I’m either going to buy a Marshall MG15 or Fender Frontman 25R (by the way the guitar I’m getting is an Epiphone SG, either the vintage g-400 or goth g-400) The thing I’m stuck on is, I know the 25W will be louder, but the Marshall is alot better quality, and better for metal than the Frontman <>R Series (they’re more for blues). But the problem is, I don’t know if I’ll be able to hear it over my drummer. I can hear the Fender 15W one over my drummer acceptably, but I’d prefer a little louder. I’m honestly leaning towards the Marshall, but, what do you guys think?

Thanks in advanced

A: Don’t just buy a guitar amp (or a guitar, or almost anything music-related) because you “think” it will be best for you. Go to your local guitar shop and try out the high-end amps (even though you can’t afford them) with your guitar (yes, you can usually plug in your own guitar, they won’t mind) and find one that gives you the perfect tone you’re looking for. Talk to the sales reps and ask their opinions and tell them your price range. They will usually head you into the right direction. But watch out for Guitar Center or SamAsh (or any major chain), as the sales reps will usually point you in the wrong direction to get more sales and commission.

Once that’s done, find a lower-priced amp that gives you a tone you want. The tone won’t be as good as the high-end amps, but you won’t be able to tell the difference in tone between the lower-priced amps unless you know what a good tone sounds like (which is partly why you should look at the higher-end amps first). find the amp you want, then buy it.

Pawn shops are another good idea, they sometimes have very good, cheap amps (they’re cheap because they’re USED), but make sure to test out all the knobs and test it out and such before you buy it.

As for the Marshall MG15 and the Fender Frontman 25R… you might as well save up your money and buy something a little bit better. Mgs and Frontmans really suck bad.I would recommend for under $100 a Roland Cube 15X: http://www.guitarcenter.com/Roland-Cube-15X-Amp-104087572-i1169242.gc It’s great for metal and it’s possibly the best practice amp you could get for under $200 (and it’s only $100)

The difference between a 15watt amp and a 25watt amp is nominal. To be twice as loud as a 15 watt amp you would need a 150watt amp, so there’s really no difference between a 15 and a 25. Dont fall for useless gimmicks such as “dood, dis iz so aw3sum, it haz all theez efects nd stuffs”, they’re pretty useless *coughspiderline6cough*

Thats about it, get a roland cube and your set, bu don’t just take my word for it, go test it out and see if you like it.

Q: I’m a high school jazz band guitarist looking for a tube amp. How much power/watts do I need?
Guitar: American Vintage ‘52 Reissue
Current Amp: Fender Princeton ‘65 Made in Mexico

Looking for a tube amp with fat jazzy sound that can pierce through a high school band. Budget around $600~800.

A: Don’t listen to Rad’s answer, turning up the gain and volume and flicking on an overdrive switch on a GUITAR amp will make you sound like Metallica, not fatten up your sound like it does for bass. Tube amps aren’t necessarily a great choice for jazz because at higher volumes the tubes start to saturate with power and distort. They do have a nice warm sound to them and offer a “springy” dynamic feel, but to get one suitable to play a CLEAN sound at high volumes you’re going to need a high wattge tube amp…lik around 100 watts or up. And those are typically very expensive for a good quality amp. Solid state amps are very suitable for jazz because they give you loads of clean headroom (don’t distort) at high volumes and are also a cheaper alternative to the ever so coveted 100 watt tube amp. Try the Roland JC-120 it’s made for jazz nad is solid state. If you really want a tube amp buy a Mesa Boogie or Hughes & Kettner.

Q: Best Guitar Valve amp?
Whats the best Guitar valve amp new or vintage for around £500, keep in mind of sound Byrds,Beatles,Beach boys P90’s pickups and Fender jaguar pickups

A: 500 pounds is about $1000 USD right now

Some Amps in that price area worth checking out are

Vox AC30 Re-Issue ,,,

That’s the “THE Beatles” sound…they used old AC30 TopBoost amps a Bunch.

It’s a Different Circuit from most other amps ,hence different tone & response from most anything else.

BYRDS???
Good Luck…..they wen’t gearheads at all,,,especially as far as Amps.

Many Recordings are Direct In to console,,,No Amp.

They did use some small Epiphone Amps occasionally.
Which ones??Who knows…?Not me for sure.

Old Gibson L-series solid state amps,,,and Roland chorus amps will probably come as close as anything to replicating Birds sound.

The 12String Ric’s were a LARGE part of the sound,,and a few Gretch’s they sometimes used.

Mostly,,,it’s ‘Studio magic”—-the Byrds sound was in the recording/production.

…………………..
Beachboys = Fender

Some Current Fender Models around your price range(at least in USA mkt)

Bassman Reissue-has NOTHING for features.Plain Amp

SuperReverb Re-Issue–has Reverb & tremolo

Blues Deville 4-10
HotRod Deville 4-10
These have more “MODERN FEATURES”

Any of those would nail surf music,,do fine for Byrds,,,and can fake Beatles Tone well enough

…………….
Actually…AMP-wise Byrds,Beatles,BeachBoys are 3 entirely different amp-sounds

Birds>Electronic processed
Beatles>Class A
BeachBoys>Class A-B

If you’re around a place that has one of the Vox Valvetronic modelling amps—-Check them out.
Vox Valvetronix AD100VT 100W 2×12’s
Vox Valvetronix AD50VT 50W 1×12
They got 30w and 15w versions also.

They’re “cheapish” priced,,and offer a wide variety of tones.
Most of any soundclips you can find online showcase a lot of hi-gain or overdrive tones

These things clean up pretty well ,,,and offer the Compression/Chorus processed type of BYRDS tone.

Beatles,,,It’s a VOX and does a pretty good old VOX AC30TB impersonation.

Also has enough Beachboys-type Fender + Delay/Reverb/Echo Surf Music tone to make you wary of sharks

I’m not a fan of Silicon Chip sound,,,much prefer valves myself.

But the VOX Valvetronics Might appeal to you.

All ya can do is Take a Listen and see how it goes.

Hope that helps.

Q: My guitar amp is making weird crackling noises, what’s the problem?
I have a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe, a Vintage Modified, and I’ve had it for about 5/6 months. I was jamming earlier today, not turning it up too loud, just playing through my guitar and TS-9 pedal. I stopped playing for about 30 minute and left the amp on standby to have some supper. When I’d finished eating, I turned the amp back on and it started making weird crackling noises, almost like high gain guitar sounds, or when a radio loses its station. This happens on any setting, clean or overdriven, with all controls on zero, and no guitar plugged in. The volume of the noise is not affected by the controls. I haven’t used the amp in a while, but I wasn’t playing that loud. I’m confused as to why it’s making these sounds. Do I need to replace a tube, or is it a bigger problem?

A: Hello! Try lightly tapping each tube (use a nonmetallic object) to see if any have gone microphonic (see http://www.ehow.com/how_2043383_-locate-microphonic-tube-amplifier.html for more details). You may find all that is needed is to re-seat the tube in the socket; on the other hand, one may need to be replaced to restore the proper amplifier operation. Best regards, Dana

Q: Can I use a guitar amplifier for my keyboard vs. a keyboard amplifier?
I have a Roland RD 600 keyboard. I am in the market for a new amplifier. I primarily use the rhodes patches when gigging on this thing. I have read that back in the day when musicians were using real fender rhodes electric pianos, they preferred a guitar amp (fender twin reverb amp 65′). I am trying to get an authentic, vintage rhodes sound out of a modern keyboard. Would an older style tube amp for guitar be my best bet?

A: Not really… With the quality of samples that were probably used to re-create the Rhodes piano sound, your best bet would probably be to still use a keyboard amp (such as the Roland KC series of amps). You’re not really looking to add color to your sound like a guitar player does with the amp selection. Keyboards need clean, neutral sound from the amp to best re-create the variety of sounds they produce. You’re not going to only be using the Rhodes sound, will you? If that were the case, then sell your keyboard and buy a Rhodes and a Fender amp.

Q: Guitar Problems!!??
1) There is a show coming up next Monday, and I was hoping to be able to play “Canon Rock” by then, I’m an intermediate guitar player and I’m up to the challenge to learn it by then, so I was wondering on getting your help by giving me tabs to learn it? Do you think I’ll be able to play it by next Monday or is Canon Rock really that hard?

2) I play some metal, to nu metal, to hard-rock to punk-rock/Pop-rock with a Epiphone sg400 w/ a Boss ml-2 metal core w/ a Fender Vintage (literately!) Tube Amp, what other pedals and amps should i look into if i want to get a better tone for these genres of music?

3) Is this pedal:
BOSS MT-2 Metal Zone
(http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Boss-MT2-Metal-Zone-Effects-Pedal?sku=151328)
and these amps:
(http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Ibanez-TBX30R-Guitar-Combo-Amp?sku=480943)
(http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Line-6-Spider-III-30-Guitar-Combo-Amplifier?sku=482275)

good for performing on stage (supposing i mic it up)!?

A: http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/tabs/j/jerryc/canon_rock_tab.
this is the actual tab for this song.Good luck in learning this song.Hope you do it.