What is the worst amp you ever bought?

[Robert]

Tell us about the bad amp you bought and couldn't wait to get rid of?

I traded a guitar for a Peavey Deuce which I later found out was broken. It would blow a few fuse every 30 minutes...

 

[marnold]

Well, I've only purchased three amps in my life: my old Peavey Basic 50, my Peavey Blazer, and the AD30VT. I love the AD30VT. The Basic 50 fit my needs very nicely. The Blazer . . . not so much. I've never been thrilled with any tone I got out of it and then all of the sudden any clean tone would sound slightly overdriven. Very annoying.

So why did I get it then? Well, it was after I brought my Model 7 home after buying it on vacation (yes, this was the summer of spending wisely *cough*). I decided I needed an amp RIGHT AWAY. I was going to get a Marshall 30W SS combo. There was only one store open and the only amp they had worthwhile was the Blazer, so I bought it for more than I should have.

Subsequently I have heard that a speaker replacement will do wonders for those amps. Maybe someday. For now it gathers dust in my basement until I start teaching my son to play.

 

[Jimi75]

I had so far good luck with my amps.
would say that the Line6 Flextone III kinda sucks.

But, what I did was, I perusaded a friend to buy a Crate Blue Voodoo Head, because he was a huge Marty Friedman fan and Marty played that amp at the time. This guy took a small credit at the bank to buy the amp and it sounded so baaaaaaad you won't believe it. He sold it later and still likes me

 

[Iago]

I dont think I ever got a bad amp, at least for the money, like my solid state. But I had some bad experiences: a solid state 1x12 solid state Crate amp, Marshall MG (1x12 I think) and a friend's of mine practice amp I can't remember.. terrible!

 

[R_of_G]

My first amp was a borrowed Roland piece of crap from the 80's. It was beat to hell, and getting a good sound out of it required laying on its back with the speaker facing straight up. otherwise the sound could kill you. my next amp after that is the VOX that I still play and love. If I ever upgrade it will be to another VOX.

 

[Tone2TheBone]

Hmm I've owned a Crate, Ampeg, Fender, Marshalls, Vox and Peavey. They were all pretty good.

 

[duhvoodooman]

I got a cheapo Fender "Hot" SS amp thrown in with my Strat Plus when I bought it. That sucked out loud....

 

[Spudman]

Danelectro Nifty Fifty.
Probably good for some folks, but not for me.

 

[Jimi75]

Danelectro Nifty Fifty.
Probably good for some folks, but not for me.

Heard so many good things about that little creamy box.....

 

[guitartist]

I had some bad experiences: a solid state 1x12 solid state Crate amp, Marshall MG (1x12 I think) and a friend's of mine practice amp I can't remember.. terrible!

The worst amp I ever had was a dinky little solid state Crate from the eighties, it was probably a 1x10, I think.
Not only did it sound just sound so-so, it only lasted about about 7 or 8 years before giving out.

I had a couple of other 20 year old dinky little SS amps which I just recently sold in a garage sale: a Peavey Rage and a Park G10. They weren't all that bad, but I just didn't need them anymore, and they were taking up space. The person that bought them was happy to get them and now my closet isn't quite so cramped.

I've got a Marshall MG amp and have a real love/hate relationship with it. It sounds great at very low volumes, but in the overdrive mode if you turn most of the knobs past about 2:00 it gets a terribly loud buzz. Like I said it sounds really good turned down low...but playing even at a moderate volume is out of the question with this amp, the noise factor is so ridiculously bad!

I really wanted a low wattage ss Marshall so I recently got a Lead 12 combo off of ebay...these were made in England back in the eighties. Unfortunately its distortion is not as saturated as the MG's but at least it doesn't get that annoying loud buzz when you turn it up. Its a keeper.

 

[DaveO]

Funny thing Guitarist, I think I had that same Crate POS. Now laying in pieces in the garage. I think I will use the cabinet for something though.
Dave

 

[TS808]

Crate must be the hands down winner so far. I would agree that the worst amp I ever owned was a Crate with the Flexwave distortion. It must have been the late 80's or early 90's when I owned it. The cleans sounded like I was playing through a cardboard box, and the distortion setting was that paper-thin, raspy sound.

Crate really redeemed themselves though with the Palomino amps. Even some of their solid states sound pretty decent now.

 

[Bloozcat]

The worst amp I ever had was a Heathkit 120 watt solid state head that I bought many moons ago. At the time, I owned a Strat that was made in January 1966, but didn't have enough sense (or knowledge) to get a good tube amp to go along with it. Solid state was the new "modern" format. Tubes were a thing of the 40's and 50's. I couldn't understand why this state-of-the art, solid state amp sounded so bad compared to the Fender amps some of my friends had ...duh!

Ah, yes... the Grasshopper...had much to learn...

 

[Sblack]

My worst amp was the Behringer V-Ampire 112 combo I bought about four years ago. It sounded like a toneless amp with a blanket thrown over it. No matter how many hours I sat twiddling knobs, I could not get a decent tone out of it. I returned it within the 30 return policy.

 

[Lev]

OK, I know this will be controversial but I'm gonna say my Vox AD50vt. I know Robert, Vood and other can create magic with these amps but they just don't do it for me:

Reasons:
- Lack of their own distinctive voice
- Extremely noisy fan system
- No FX loop (okay I knew this when I bought)
- Really doesn't like modeling FX in front of it. I really was disappointed with this - with a choice of clean models I thought it would work sweetly with a POD or my Zoom up front (an FX loop may help)
- Seems like you need to do plenty of DIY (speaker swaps etc.) to get a good tone.

It made me appreciate how good my Fender HR DLx really is. Sorry Vox fans

 

[R_of_G]

OK, I know this will be controversial but I'm gonna say my Vox AD50vt. I know Robert, Vood and other can create magic with these amps but they just don't do it for me:

As a Vox user I promise not to take your post negatively. It is curious though as one of the things I love about Vox amps is, what to my ears, is a distinct Vox sound. For example, my Gibson ES-135 straight in with all effects bypassed has a great round tone to it. Then again, hearing is subjective, and no two of us will ever hear the same thing the same way.

 

[Tone2TheBone]

I think it's the distinctiveness that Lev mentioned is the reason for his comment. The AD series amps model very well and I enjoyed mine while I had it. I just was looking for a small amp that sounded like....a good small amp...and not like other amps. I traded mine in for the Peavey Classic 30.

 

[Sblack]

OK, I know this will be controversial but I'm gonna say my Vox AD50vt. I know Robert, Vood and other can create magic with these amps but they just don't do it for me:

Reasons:
- Lack of their own distinctive voice
- Extremely noisy fan system
- No FX loop (okay I knew this when I bought)
- Really doesn't like modeling FX in front of it. I really was disappointed with this - with a choice of clean models I thought it would work sweetly with a POD or my Zoom up front (an FX loop may help)
- Seems like you need to do plenty of DIY (speaker swaps etc.) to get a good tone.

It made me appreciate how good my Fender HR DLx really is. Sorry Vox fans

Although it was not my worst amp, I agree that the Vox AD**VT left me scratching my head as well. I could not get a decent medium (forget high) gain tone form either the 50 or 30. I owned both for several weeks until I had to bail on them. The only things I really liked about the AD**VT were the clean Vox settings and the built in attentuator. Everything else for me had an irritating brittle fuzziness mixed into the tone.

As per his posted videos, Robert was able to get some incredible tones out of his VOX AD50VT. This led me to a lot of head scratching and knob twiddling. But the tones I was after were more high gain, which to my ears the Vox did terribly.

 

[Lev]

I think it's the distinctiveness that Lev mentioned is the reason for his comment. The AD series amps model very well and I enjoyed mine while I had it. I just was looking for a small amp that sounded like....a good small amp...and not like other amps. I traded mine in for the Peavey Classic 30.

Thanks Tone - that's what I was trying to say. My opinion was somewhat coloured also by the fact that I've always used Fender amps and 'my style' if I have such a thing was developed using fender cleans as my base. Then if I need crunch I can use modelling FX and pedals but still always have a distinctive clean to go back to. That's what I miss on the Vox - I have no distinctive starting points to go back to. Don't get me wrong I would never discourage anyone from buying this amp and I do love many Vox products. It just didn't Wow me.

 

[jasongins]

... The only things I really liked about the AD**VT were the clean Vox settings and the built in attentuator. Everything else for me had an irritating brittle fuzziness mixed into the tone..

"brittle fuzziness" are exactly the words I was searching for to describe my AD30VT. I like it it for the attenuator and the variety of features and effects built in, so it is still my first choice for evening practicing when my family is sleeping or just does not want to hear me. Otherwise, I much prefer my Valve JR & matching cabinet.

 

[Mark]

It was horrible but very cool as it was my first. My dad bought me was some radio shack/drug store POS. It was round with the speaker pointing up so as to be "omnidirectional" very goofy lookin. But I was a teenybooper and I had an electic guitar and amp so it was cool. A few years later Dad co-signed for my first loan to buy a 1972 White Strat it was a big deal too 650.00 brand new (I was making 1.85 per/hour) out the door at N Miami Music, right by Criteria studios where at the time Layla was being recorded. Saw one just like it at GC the other day 6900.00 too bad it got stolen in 82