Any Guitar Gearheads?

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Yeah, I was told that the perceived volume is not proportional to the wattage at all...when I described solid-state as being the same tonally with increased volume, I meant that they don't have 'sweet spots' that valve amps do as you turn them up. I've not had the chance to run any amp to the point where it gives speaker breakup, but a solid-state amp's behaviour seems pretty steady and the tone doesn't get any more or less compressed as I turn the volume control. Valve amps seem to behave differently...the controls feel more interactive.

There's a lot of work that I could do to my Marshall DSL to improve it...getting a more practical cooling fan is one. The earlier ones were plagued with reliability issues (a fact I didn't realise at the time - I quickly learned to ask around before buying after that) and it could do with a revalve and a general service. The speaker is a goldback Celestion and sounds muddy and boxy, which doesn't help. After getting those issues sorted I'm sure it'll be a really nice-sounding rock/blues amp but TBH my tastes and playing style have changed so it might not be worth the hassle.

I'm intrigued by the question of whether HT-5s are genuinely 'all valve' though...I'm not disputing the statements earlier in the thread (I'm cynical about promotional spiel at the best of times!); I'm just curious about how the things actually work and whether the manufacturers are being less-than-honest about it. I've certainly heard about Marshalls using diodes in the preamp stage - the 900 series were notorious for it iirc - perhaps that's why the 2000 series doesn't sound as 'natural'. They seem to be trying to pack more switches and controls into the circuit to increase 'versatility' at the expense of simply sounding nice. 'The sinpler the curcuit, the purer the sound' indeed.

In case I'm coming across as some know-it-all a***, I''ve really enjoyed the discussions here. I like to know *how stuff works*, especially if it's something I use regularly. I wouldn't poke around the innards of an amp - the voltages involved scare me too much - but I like to be able to fix minor things like knobs and switches on my guitars so I'm not running to a tech every time something clicks or crackles. FX building is another kettle of fish - if I had a bit more free time I'd like to try something simple like a Fuzzface or clean booster to get a grasp of how they're put together.

The only goldback Celestion that I know of is the hideously expensive High Power AlNiCo speaker that is essentially the Blue Back AlNiCo reissue with a higher temp Voice Coil. Is this a speaker a retrofit?

No, it's the stock speaker - rated at 100 watts at 16 ohms. It has 'goldback' printed on the back but the small print says it's a G12T-100, which Celestion call their 'Hot 100'.

I'm not sure if that means much to you or not...FWIW quite a few people think that these are nice little amps (albeit with plenty of horror stories about overheating and poor build quality...which match my own experiences with it) but I suppose it just doesn't suit my playing style any more.

What is your playing style? What sounds are you going for / how fast do you play? Maybe we can help steer you towards some ideal amps for you.

If you're in the UK, here's some suggestions that will get you classic guitar sounds relatively cheaply, though you may not be able to get one right off.:

Selmer T&B The one in the auction appears to be from the late 60's, early 70's. Syd Barret used them on all the early Pink Floyd stuff.

Marshall Artiste Somewhat more expensive that the previous, If you're you're not familiar with these, they don't do the classic Marshall crunch very well, but have superb clean tones.

Park 75
These are the same as a Marshall but loaded with KT88 instead of EL34, 1971 was a great year for Marshall, and these are super rare.

Carlsbro 100 watt head from the 60's These are good, and are loaded with Dagnalls transformers like Marshalls. They Predate the Carlsbro "TOP" series.

Traynor YBA-1A I wasn't aware that these were imported to the UK, but apparently so. It's a Canadian copy of the Fender Tweed Bassman, and utilises the same circuit as vintage Marshalls. Early versions used tube/valve rectification and 7027 output tubes, later versions used diode rectification and EL34 outputs.

I've heard good things about Traynors in terms of value for money, but that is often from Canadian owners...I've never actually seen one on sale anywhere in the UK!

My style now is closer to the ambient/experimental vein than the classic rock and blues - hence why I don't use the Marshall any more (I'm still a fan of Pearl Jam and the Smashing Pumpkins though). Trying to sound the same as someone else is the last thing I want to do, but Explosions in the Sky, Mono, Mogwai and early (pre-1995) Verve are in the general ballpark. I tend to run my guitar through a couple of distortions, a few reverbs and delays straight into the amp's clean channel without using effects loops and amp distortion at all.

Hi all, I'm new here and I play bass.

The Traynor amps are quite good for guitar, I've heard. I don't know if Egnater is available in the UK, but they sound great, they're very versatile, and some, such as the Rebel head can be had for a little over $400 USD. That one has some pretty neat features such as tube blend between 6V6 and EL84, plus variable wattage and voltage. Most of their amps also accommodate tube swaps quite easily if you're into that, and Bruce Egnater includes all the information and specs you need to bias and modify it yourself, right in the manual.

For bass, I'm using one of the newer Peavey Tour TNT combos with the one fifteen inch speaker, sitting on an Acoustic B410. I know blending speakers isn't supposed to be a good idea, but it's working fine for me. John Paul Jones is my bass hero, and it gives me that sound, plus any others I may need. My main bass is a fender P copy, white and orange with a replacement neck, Fender American vintage bridge, tuning keys, and a Dimarzio Model P. I also have a nice sunburst Fender jazz too, similar to JPJ's, but I just can't seem to warm up to the jazz bass.