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Joe Bonamassa Forum → Joe's Guitars, Amps and Gear → Amp help
So Im about to off a bunch of my stuff and get a new amp. Ive been wanting a Fender 65 reissue twin, but now Im looking at Marshall Bluesbreakers. Im mostly playing a strat right now, but will also be using a les paul in the future. Im looking for monster tone with both guitars... Any opinions...
The Twin is really gonna FILL THE ROOM with your clean tone. The Marshall however will give you overdrive up the tousheee.
It's pretty much up to what you want the strengths of you amp, and fulfill the lacking aspects with pedals. Define your priorities.
is a good place to research anything guitar. Just click user reviews
The Twin is really gonna FILL THE ROOM with your clean tone. The Marshall however will give you overdrive up the tousheee.
It's pretty much up to what you want the strengths of you amp, and fulfill the lacking aspects with pedals. Define your priorities.is a good place to research anything guitar. Just click user reviews
true...just stay off the forums. Man, that place is ruthless.
Hello Puppetz232,
The thing to do is sit down and work through the needs. Power being the major one. THen how much clean headroon you need, music style, guitar selection, venue size and variability, and most important budget. I make amps for Joe, and can put all of what you want in one amp, but it will be in the $3000 area code. So there is the list of things to think about. Happy to help you regardless of who you buy from.
Best Regards,
Don RItter
Artist Relations
Category 5 Amplification
That's true man.
Don't get a 100watt head if a 30watt will do. I downsized from a 100watt head because I could never get it past "2" on the Master volume. My 55 watt rivera combo I can now go to "2" or "3" now, but tube amps sound best turned up all the way. IMO
Plus, you can always MIC an amp that's not loud enough.
Right now Im in a house and play in the basement a lot, some bar use, and hopefully within the next year or so some larger venues. My thing is I want my strat to have a nice snarl to it when the distortion is dialed back, but with the les paul I need something thats going to sound good when pushed with some distortion. How are those Jenson speakers in the reissue twin anyway? (just another question for you all) Thanks for the help! And yeah a catagory 5 amp is on my dream list! ;-)
puppetz<
I think a blues breaker style amp will suit you better than a twin reissue for what you just descibed. A strat won't snarl though a twin unless it is on 8 and that is really loud. An it does not have enough natural tube distortion to do the les paul justice either. The BB is a 30-45 watt amp, has a nice clean with a strat, and gets the classic rock tone with a Les Paul when pushed. Unless you have a need for squeaky clean then the BB is the way to go. The amp in our line up that would do this is the Tempest. It is a jtm45 on channel one and a 68 plexi with midboost on channel 2, 50 watts, reverb, powerscaling. A head is $2995 and a 2 x 12 combo about $3500.
Good Luck!!
DonR
Both of those amps are great amps. I have a twin. It sounds good no matter what you put in front of it. Just keep in mind there are differences between a twin and the Marshall. The Twin is going to have that american 6l6 kind of sound. I dont really know how to describe it. The Marshall is going to be tighter. Its going to have more overdrive. The twin is going to have clean headroom thru the roof.
You can put any pedals thru the twin and it will sound fine. I like fulltone thru mine but to each his own.
I would check out VOX AC 30's also. I have a VOX and a twin and they are both amazing. I get that english marshall kind of sound thru the vox. When they are both turned on it is an amazing combination. Plus you are going to pay far less for a vox or fender then you would for the marshall or a Carol Ann.
Hell you could buy both and still spend less than a Carol Ann.
Unless you are playing very large venues you wont ever need something bigger than a Vox.
Good luck.
Basically Ive been playing through a Mesa Boogie Triple Rec for the past two years, which I bought off a friend (now selling it back to him). The amp worked great for the band I was playing in, but now Im getting back into the styles of music that made me play guitar in the first place.
I played through the Fender 65 reissue. Very bright amp and very crisp. The Vox AC30 is a little warmer and closer to what Im going for through a combo. Im a tone junkie just like almost every person in this section of the forum, I just dont have a budget to collect all sorts of these sweet amps. So the hunt will continue. I still have all sorts of stuff to check out like the Budda stuff, Bogner Ecstacy 101B, some marshalls, ect.
When I'm all said and done Id like to only have two amps to get the majority of the tones I like (crisp but not kfc deep fried clean, snarling strat, nice warm les paul, and the full blown rip your head off overdrive). Thanks for the help!
oh man...i've played triple rectifiers - lots of tubes in those things.
I guess I can say this too. the smaller the wattage the easier you'll get it to distort when you turn it up all the way. There's a small 15watt fender tube amp that sounds great just cranked. I think the Budda's are like that too. I guess you could use a pedal depending on what kind of crunch you want.
Going from a high gain triple rec. are big shoes to fill. Again for smaller venues I'd recommend no more than 50 watts.
Theres a Category 5 Tempest on eBay now for $2650 OBO
Of course they're using Joes name in the title!
When I'm all said and done Id like to only have two amps to get the majority of the tones I like (crisp but not kfc deep fried clean, snarling strat, nice warm les paul, and the full blown rip your head off overdrive). Thanks for the help!
A Budda Superdrive should get you there. 18 watt for earlier breakup and less clean headroom (but still plenty loud), 30 watt (same as 18 but more headroom), 45 watt for more bottom end and little more "in your face" tone or 80 watt 6L6 for stadiums. Plenty of gain on tap in all models and nice clean side, no reverb.
As always, play before you pay if possible, everyone's ears are different.
Both of those amps are great amps. I have a twin. It sounds good no matter what you put in front of it. Just keep in mind there are differences between a twin and the Marshall. The Twin is going to have that american 6l6 kind of sound. I dont really know how to describe it. The Marshall is going to be tighter. Its going to have more overdrive. The twin is going to have clean headroom thru the roof.
You can put any pedals thru the twin and it will sound fine. I like fulltone thru mine but to each his own.
I would check out VOX AC 30's also. I have a VOX and a twin and they are both amazing. I get that english marshall kind of sound thru the vox. When they are both turned on it is an amazing combination. Plus you are going to pay far less for a vox or fender then you would for the marshall or a Carol Ann.
Hell you could buy both and still spend less than a Carol Ann.
Unless you are playing very large venues you wont ever need something bigger than a Vox.
Good luck.
I interupt this program with an informercial brought to you by Carol-Ann Custom Amplifiers, LLC
In order to get clean and OD you would need both amps, unless you compromised and used pedals. THe OD-2 is a true 2 channel with seperate eq and masters and tube buffered efx loop. You have less gear to move with the CA set up to and they are all completely hand built and gig tested by me !!
Vox AC30H2L - $2699.00
Fender Twin Reissue - $1499.00
= $4198.00
Carol Ann OD-2 = $3500.00
Carol-Ann 2x12 Cab loaded with EVM-12Ls - $600
= $4100.00
or maybe
CA Tucana 3 channel 1x12 Combo with EVM12L - $3900
See, it's not that painful 
Or if you do want something really special how about one of the new Joe Bonamassa 'Signature' JB-100's. There will be 10 made in total over the next 18 months. Each one will be gigged by Joe himself and come signed with documentation. If you are anywhere near any of the shows he will play your amp at I will buy you a pair of tickets to see him play your very amp. Now hows that for redefining the most overused term in amplifier speak...'signature' ?
The price is $5500 for a JB-100 100W 2 channel 100W EL34 with the same circuit as Joes No.1 and No.2. Please contact one of our dealers listed on www.carolannamps.com
Regards, Alan Phillips.
....End of infomercial........
Lol signature indeed 
good marketing there I wonder just how much someone would pay to have something Joes played :x
Lol signature indeed
Interesting question. It wasn't about getting as much as possible, it was just about venturing in a project no-one had done that was pretty cool. The price is obviously higher than a standard model, but comparitively speaking with other similar amps out there, it's not insane. There's a fair amount of extra logistics and time involved in a project like this, plus the JB-100 isn't a standard model I make every day. We thought that price was fair.
BTW, John, Noticed you were from Lancs ! I'm originally from Ulverston in Cumbria !
Cool im from fleetwood you can just about see it from barrow in furness :x across morecambe bay, I worked on site for a few months at a hospital in ulverston when I was younger too 
have to say that area has some of the nicest scenery in England... specially a bit further up at windermere :x
I dont doubt the price is fair, its a professional tool after all its just like buying a £2000+ guitar you expect it to help pay for its self by being reliable and lasting / sounding good -> helping you get more gigs etc etc etc. Just wish I could justify that sort of gear 
maybe one day when I get paid more for gigs
The Twin is a killer! And the Marshalls seem to be great, until they blow up their transformers. My friend's Marshall has been in the shop for more time than it has been at his house, this year. And he just got it in November.
The Buddas are a real killer. So are the Peavey Classic series. LOTS of choices! TopHat, Dr. Z, Heritage, CA, Cat5, etc. Mesa.
So, do you have an idea of power ratings? I'm thinking between 15 and 30 watts would be the ticket. I play an 18 watt Twinmaster at some Bars. Plenty of volume, and a great Club amp. And it gets all the good tones, too!
For almost all gigs I'm playing a little Fender Champ XD 15w now, Ive had to drag out a Blues deluxe every now and then for bigger venues/outdoors tbh 15w goes a long way and will cover most small gigs well and if your using a PA it will further extend it specially considering that you can get that nice creamy drive from a small amp 100w just seems really excessive these days atleast to me and peeps I play / talk with. I think alot of peeps see a stack as like an icon of status and buy them simply for that not really thinking about if they need it or not :x (excluding artists playing to big venues / stadiums).
Saying that though I was really suprised and tbh a bit shocked when I saw how well Joe controlled the volume on his amps I thought I'd be leaving with ringing ears . A lesson I wish other performers would take notice of...
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