Sleeper Guitar Amps

[lde47]

I'm with you on the Traynor. I bought one off craigslist locally for $340. Looks brand new and factory fresh inside and out. Mine is the nice vintage looking YCV40WR model with Wine Red covering and Wheat grill cloth. Looks beautiful and sounds the same. The best amp purchase I've ever made in price and quality for sure. The best "no money exchange" deal I ever ran across was when I pulled a Kalamazoo Model 1 out of a box on the street awaiting the garbage truck. It still had the factory hang tags on the handle. Yes, I still have it and no I will not sell it, ever. Dave

[Chad_Rushing]

Fishman Loudbox 100. That thing is friggin amazing. I get better sound from it alone than from most PAs I've played through. Can't wait to get my hands on the tower... /drool

[ardenstudios]

My current rig is a Budda Superdrive 30 and a Super drive 45 with 2 2X12 open backs and 2 4X12 closed backs. Not what you would call a value leader but jesus do these amps rip!

[rpwillnealy]

the entire crate palomino series. Great amps at cheap prices. Also from crate the little Powerblock they put out awhile ago and have since discountinued makes a killer backup head for playing out. Won't take up any space in your pack and if your head craps out you can just pop it up on top and plug your cab in.

[scooterlow]

Originally Posted by rpwillnealy

the entire crate palomino series. Great amps at cheap prices. Also from crate the little Powerblock they put out awhile ago and have since discountinued makes a killer backup head for playing out. Won't take up any space in your pack and if your head craps out you can just pop it up on top and plug your cab in.

Hey what years is your melody maker? I had an old 64 back when I was 15 years old. Its been a long time since then. ha ha

[Jamie Garner]

My sleeper is a fender pro jr amp. 1 10" speaker, 15 watts, and it records like a dream. I put an old british celestion in it, and swapped out the 12ax7's for 5751's to give me more clean headroom. The result is a little powerhouse that sounds very much like a vox ac15. Oh yeah, i bought it used for $150.

[CD9266]

I play through an Orange Rockerverb 50 and a Crate 4x12 cab that has Celestion Vintage 30s in it. For an amp that has no master volume, two channels, reverb, and an effects loop the Orange could be a sleeper these days.

Not really easy on the bankbook though. As it's just as expensive, if not more expensive than other high end amps with twice the features.

[Will Chen]

The amp I've been most surprised by is the Fender Cyber Champ. Those amps got no love when they were on the market and can be had second had for less than $200. Sounds great and is loud enough to gig. Here's a demo clip:

Fender Cyber Champ

[garww]

My most interesting preamp was a old Wollensak reel-to-reel from the high school. Ran it through a 60's Twin Reverb.

[scooterlow]

Originally Posted by garww

My most interesting preamp was a old Wollensak reel-to-reel from the high school. Ran it through a 60's Twin Reverb.

Weird as it seems, I used a old akai tape deck as a preamp into my old MArshall 1974 100 watt head into two 4x12 cabs. It had a crazy hendrix sound and damn loud. I was 18 at the time and didn't know any better.