Stuff on amps no one wants

impmann

DrCornelius said:

'GARY GLITTER TOUR'  stencil sprayed on the cabs ?

Genuinely... I used to own Gerry Shephard's Fender Twin *head* that he used with the Glitter Band on all the big tours. It was a magnificent amp - I think it originally was a 68 combo that had been cut down into a head and I think he used it with Marshall cabs. I used it with an old Selmer 2x12 in cab - sounded great. :-)

And I do know someone who plays Gerry's parts in the current incarnation of the Glitter Band - that play the hits minus the nonce. The music is still greatly loved but the nonce is not welcome.

Dopesick

Excess size/weight - I know transformers and what not can weigh a bit, but surely you can fit it all in something smaller than a boat-sized unit. Yes this is technically not ‘on’ an amp but I couldn’t think of anything else.

impmann

Single 10in or smaller drive units on small valve amps.

Cols

clarkefan said:

Cols said:

Parallel FX loops.  Why?

They can sound better in certain situations.

I want to use a Talisman reverb with a high gain sound.  My three choices are, pedal in front of the amp, or in a series fx loop, or in a parallel fx loop.

The best sound I get is with the Talisman on it's own in the parallel fx loop and set 100% wet.

I take onboard what ICBM said about comb-filtering and tone suck, but maybe the Talisman is one of the pedals he talked about that does actually remove all the dry when set 100% wet, that's what it sounds like anyway.

Funnily enough, I’ve got a Talisman in the loop (series) of my amp and it sounds bloody brilliant.  And with the internal switch set to TB, it doubles as an excellent solo boost.  Best reverb pedal I’ve ever used.

fretmeister

Gold knobs where the "dot" is actually just a gold indent in the gold background.

Completely unreadable at any time, never mind stage lights. I got so frustrated with my Mark Bass that I Tippex's the front of the knobs and put black dots on them.

randella

Further to the comments above about 'switchable effects loops', I'd go further and add:

"Amps with effects loops that are switched with a mini toggle, and come with carry-bags that are ever-so-slightly too small so the effects loop is accidentally switched out every time you remove the amp from the bag - something you forget at every gig because you're on edge and which leaves you flapping around for a good ten minutes wondering why your pedalboard only half works."

Niche, I know, but annoying as all hell.

Kebabkid

I've just watched the TPS episode where they're comparing a Fender 65 DRRI to the Deluxe Tonemaster and towards the end, Mick says it 'So much gear is sold on features and benefits' but what do you actually need and use?

pintspiller

When I got my Marshall 8080 in 92(?) it looked that clean that I stubbed ciggies out on it for a night. After a while I thought, "I don't want that on amps."

jpfamps

ICBM said:

monquixote said:

Don't forget it's features which you don't think anyone wants on an amp but they still include.

... sounds like crap and isn't usable ...

Chorus on acoustic amps.

Can't believe I forgot that - or that anyone else hasn't said it!

Nearly every acoustic amp and preamp ever made has it. As well as the brown colour scheme that looks nice and reminds you of an acoustic guitar - said no-one, ever.

Chorus on any amp.

It is truly the effect of the devil himself.

Haych

Cheap auto switching jack sockets.  I doubt that's the right nomenclature but I'm sure most will work out what I mean.

All's great until the breaker contacts get dirty and you end up with a weak and noisy signal.

monquixote

Kebabkid said:

I've just watched the TPS episode where they're comparing a Fender 65 DRRI to the Deluxe Tonemaster and towards the end, Mick says it 'So much gear is sold on features and benefits' but what do you actually need and use?

He should have taken his own advice.

That whole episode was so pointless as he basically discounted every feature it had that a valve amp didn't have and judged it on sounding exactly like the other amp which of course it didn't.

So its:

Louder

Lighter

Can get a consistent great sound to the PA without being miced

Can get into the exact sweet spot at any sized venue included home.

Yeah, but it's not a valve amp...

Grumpyrocker

Very much the view by many here isn't it? 

Lots of stuff in this thread is mere preference rather than features that aren't any use to anyone. 

Out in the world Katanas sell like hot cakes. Here they're the work of the devil. 

Kebabkid

monquixote said:

Kebabkid said:

I've just watched the TPS episode where they're comparing a Fender 65 DRRI to the Deluxe Tonemaster and towards the end, Mick says it 'So much gear is sold on features and benefits' but what do you actually need and use?

He should have taken his own advice.

That whole episode was so pointless as he basically discounted every feature it had that a valve amp didn't have and judged it on sounding exactly like the other amp which of course it didn't.

So its:

Louder

Lighter

Can get a consistent great sound to the PA without being miced

Can get into the exact sweet spot at any sized venue included home.

Yeah, but it's not a valve amp...

Well, I didn't get exactly that from it, and he did say it can be 'sculpted' and it's more about preference and if you need those things but for me personally, I've had all-singing amps with some of those features and didn't use them - the simplest amp I had, a Divided by 13, was a single channel clean amp and didn't even have reverb but along with my pedals, I preferred it and that's what suits me.

monquixote

Kebabkid said:

Well, I didn't get exactly that from it, and he did say it can be 'sculpted' and it's more about preference and if you need those things but for me personally, I've had all-singing amps with some of those features and didn't use them - the simplest amp I had, a Divided by 13, was a single channel clean amp and didn't even have reverb but along with my pedals, I preferred it and that's what suits me.

I think I was just annoyed by that episode because it was so obvious they were never going to buy a Tone Master it made the whole pretence of the episode a wash out.

I was happiest with a Puretone which has pretty much zero features (you can even turn the EQ off), but sounds great.

Kebabkid

monquixote said:

Kebabkid said:

Well, I didn't get exactly that from it, and he did say it can be 'sculpted' and it's more about preference and if you need those things but for me personally, I've had all-singing amps with some of those features and didn't use them - the simplest amp I had, a Divided by 13, was a single channel clean amp and didn't even have reverb but along with my pedals, I preferred it and that's what suits me.

I think I was just annoyed by that episode because it was so obvious they were never going to buy a Tone Master it made the whole pretence of the episode a wash out.

I was happiest with a Puretone which has pretty much zero features (you can even turn the EQ off), but sounds great.

monquixote said:

Kebabkid said:

Well, I didn't get exactly that from it, and he did say it can be 'sculpted' and it's more about preference and if you need those things but for me personally, I've had all-singing amps with some of those features and didn't use them - the simplest amp I had, a Divided by 13, was a single channel clean amp and didn't even have reverb but along with my pedals, I preferred it and that's what suits me.

I think I was just annoyed by that episode because it was so obvious they were never going to buy a Tone Master it made the whole pretence of the episode a wash out.

I was happiest with a Puretone which has pretty much zero features (you can even turn the EQ off), but sounds great.

Get you on that and neodymium speakers, which MT hates, but it was interesting all the same. The proof is in the pudding and trying them for ourselves.

The H&K Puretone was a bit of an unsung hero. So much amp, and good tones, for very little on the used market, but loud.

Cacofonix

.

stonevibe

Chromed control panels with bloody white writing on them and amp knobs with no pointers or those black knobs with hardly any markings on them. Especially, when you are playing on a dark stage.

AndyJP

I've just retracted that comment! Don't want to upset anyone lol

ICBM

stonevibe said:

Chromed control panels with bloody white writing on them and amp knobs with no pointers or those black knobs with hardly any markings on them. Especially, when you are playing on a dark stage.

I don't mind chrome and white, as long as the knobs are chickenheads. In my opinion Fender really spoiled the Hotrods when they changed them to black panels, it makes the whole thing look cheap.

monquixote

OK, so I'm going to admit that I was wrong on one of these.

I put switchable FX loops on my original list based on my experience of the Marshall Origin where the loop is switchable and you have to have the foot switch connected to use FX in the loop which is completely stupid.

The DSL I've just got remembers the FX loop on off status for each of the 4 channels so you can have your delay switch on when you engage your solo channel without tap dancing. That's actually super useful so in that instance I'll admit it's a good feature.