Stuff on amps no one wants

monquixote

I've been pondering what I'm calling a "midlife crisis" rock amp and it's interesting to see how many amps have a set of features which users and reviewers consistently say they don't want.

A few which spring to mind:

• Insane levels of gain on the drive channel - Rabea mentioned 2 is more gain than he can use on an EVH
• Scoop switches - Every YT review of a DSL hits the tone shift says "oh that's horrible" and turns it off
• 2 channel amps with sparkle clean and mega gain channels and not much between
• Non switchable emulated line outputs - Thanks, but now I can't use my own IRs!
• 8" speakers on small valve amps - They always make amps sound shit even if they would sound good with a 12" or even a 10"
  

One which might just be just me is switchable FX loops. I've never really seen the point of this as pedals have switches. I suppose if you want to stick your delay on top of your amp and just have the amp foot switch on top of the amp.

Any more?

Grumpyrocker

There are forms of metal that do want all the gain. Especially in the colder forests of northern Europe.

monquixote

Grumpyrocker said:

There are forms of metal that do want all the gain. Especially in the colder forests of northern Europe.

I dunno. 

Some of these amps just go into smushy oversaturated mush and not even in a good sweedish chainsaw kind of a way.

octatonic

The rectifier switching on a Mesa Dual Rec or Fender Prosonic.

dazzajl

For me, everything after volume and tone. 

ICBM

Crap speakers.

Why? OK, I know, it's to save money. But why do so many companies cripple a perfectly decent amp for the sake of a few pounds more for something that doesn't sound weedy and flat - especially when it may be compared in a shop to other companies' amps which may well have a much better one, even if it's the overused and not always appropriate V30. Brand A's amp with a V30 will wipe the floor with Brand B's equivalent with a Seventy/80 or some OEM piece of junk, even if Brand B's amp actually sounds better when they're both put through the same cabinet.


More technically...

Valve monitoring and auto-biasing systems. Completely unnecessary - valve amps have worked just fine for the best part of a hundred years without lumbering them with solid-state circuitry based on tiny components which instantly self-destruct if a valve happens to short in a particular way and feed hundreds of volts into it - often making the amp very difficult to repair (even if you just want to bypass all this crap, sometimes), and in some cases making even quite large and relatively expensive amps an economic write-off.

By all means fit external bias indicator LEDs and trimmers, these do genuinely make biasing your amp a piece of cake even for people who have no technical skills and are an aid to servicing and reliability, but beyond that the curve goes rapidly in the opposite direction and adding more complexity does more harm than good.

monquixote

ICBM said:

Crap speakers.

Why? OK, I know, it's to save money. But why do so many companies cripple a perfectly decent amp for the sake of a few pounds more for something that doesn't sound weedy and flat - especially when it may be compared in a shop to other companies' amps which may well have a much better one, even if it's the overused and not always appropriate V30. Brand A's amp with a V30 will wipe the floor with Brand B's equivalent with a Seventy/80 or some OEM piece of junk, even if Brand B's amp actually sounds better when they're both put through the same cabinet.
more complexity does more harm than good.

Yep, totally agree on this and nearly included it on my list.

One of the reasons I ruled out the DSL 20 was the 70/80 which meant the 40 with the decent V type worked out about the same price once you had factored in the speaker change required.

Daiganzen

ICBM said:

Crap speakers.

Why? OK, I know, it's to save money. But why do so many companies cripple a perfectly decent amp for the sake of a few pounds more for something that doesn't sound weedy and flat - especially when it may be compared in a shop to other companies' amps which may well have a much better one, even if it's the overused and not always appropriate V30. Brand A's amp with a V30 will wipe the floor with Brand B's equivalent with a Seventy/80 or some OEM piece of junk, even if Brand B's amp actually sounds better when they're both put through the same cabinet.


More technically...

Valve monitoring and auto-biasing systems. Completely unnecessary - valve amps have worked just fine for the best part of a hundred years without lumbering them with solid-state circuitry based on tiny components which instantly self-destruct if a valve happens to short in a particular way and feed hundreds of volts into it - often making the amp very difficult to repair (even if you just want to bypass all this crap, sometimes), and in some cases making even quite large and relatively expensive amps an economic write-off.

By all means fit external bias indicator LEDs and trimmers, these do genuinely make biasing your amp a piece of cake even for people who have no technical skills and are an aid to servicing and reliability, but beyond that the curve goes rapidly in the opposite direction and adding more complexity does more harm than good.

I cannot agree more that a good speaker/ a well matched speaker is the way to go. The origin 20 Combo suffers from this.

Sassafras

Closed backs. They smother all the nice stuff.

ICBM

Daiganzen said:

I cannot agree more that a good speaker/ a well matched speaker is the way to go. The origin 20 Combo suffers from this.

I really can't understand why they did that - the 10" V-Type isn't absolutely dreadful, but it's not at all great... the amp as supplied is weak-sounding and boxy, despite being easily large and already heavy enough to justify a 12" speaker. It's almost as if they deliberately intended it to be underwhelming. Just why? *Any* 12" - probably even including the awful Rocket 50 - would have been better.

McToot

Interesting. I picked up the Origin vertical 2x12 that was for sale on the forum recently at what I thought was a very nice price to pair with my O20H. I knew it had 70/80s in it and was already thinking of emptying the G12H-30 out of my MJW 1x12 and buying another of the same or maybe a greenback to go with it. But actually I was pleasantly surprised. 

Now: I haven't run the amp at anything above loud TV volumes and that will likely change my opinion. And I don;t have a sophisticated/discerning ear. 

Anyway, just thought I'd mention that. As you were...

 

Greatape

There's a special place in hell for the 70/80..

DrJazzTap

The Rivera I used to own, had a "ninja boost" foot switch function which was a clean boost for solos. Except you couldn't dial the exact level in.

I'm generally not a fan of dip switches and overly complicated options- partly due to option paralysis on my part.

monquixote

DrJazzTap said:

The Rivera I used to own, had a "ninja boost" foot switch function which was a clean boost for solos. Except you couldn't dial the exact level in.

I'm generally not a fan of dip switches and overly complicated options- partly due to option paralysis on my part.

Yeah it applies to pedals and amps. Fixed million decibel boosts that are totally unusable.

Kalimna

Not really important, sonically, but carry handles positioned aesthetically rather than for practical/weight distribution reasons.

digitalkettle

Pint glasses!

spirit7

Clean and mega gain can work if the clean takes OD pedals nicely!

Lebarque

A badge saying 'Katana'.

Lebarque

Standby switches.

Lebarque

Bright cap in Fender amps.

StefB

Reverb that isn’t foot-switchable. 

Every Fender Hot Rod range ever, I’m looking at you.