HEEEEEEELLLP, Suhr, Bogner, Mesa, Friedman or Splawn

xJonnysixstring

OK, My regular gig is sadly no more which was very much a reading affair covering everything from rock to funk to jazz to pop to well everything. Since that is gone I am now pushing my rock tribute band, so far about 30 gigs in the book for this year and more coming in, I want a rig that is more rock orientated, Going for low watt hot rodded marshall vibe. 

I initially wanted a Pink Taco, Then was tempted by a Badger (please no bestiality puns) Then I saw a Bogner Atma and everything went wrong, Now I have seen a Splawn Street Rod which seems to do what I need! Am also tempted by the Mesa Mark V 25 but have never had a great relationship with Mesa's. I like the idea of one channel and pushing it over the edge with pedals but am also used to lots more flexibility, If anyone has had experience of the above amps would be much appreciated, Particularly the Splawn.

xJonnysixstring

This is the band, Although that is my dep @chriscox on guitar as I was on management duties this day:

digitalscream

Just to throw another one in the mix...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Soldano-Astroverb-All-Valve-Guitar-Combo-/151520860607?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item234758d9bf

xJonnysixstring

Have also seen that one, Unfortunately the demos on youtube don't do them any favours and apologies if its yours but I have seen this for sale for a loooonnnngggg time, which puts me off for resale if I don't get on with it, would need to be uber cheap!

RaymondLin

Get the Atma, it does the Pink Taco and then some and then twice on Sundays.

xJonnysixstring

I think that and the spawn are front runners really.

digitalscream

Jonnysixstring said:

Have also seen that one, Unfortunately the demos on youtube don't do them any favours and apologies if its yours but I have seen this for sale for a loooonnnngggg time, which puts me off for resale if I don't get on with it, would need to be uber cheap!

Nah, it's not mine. They do sound awesome, though. £600 is ridiculously cheap for an Astroverb, but I get your point

xJonnysixstring

Have just checked, no FX loop on the astroverb so out for me.

RaymondLin

GuitarGuitar actually have the Atma in stock these days, you should go try one out.

*Remember the footswitch is a little back to front.

drwiddly

Get a Kemper, you can have them all!! Mwahahahahaha!

drwiddly

Get a Kemper, you can have them all!! Mwahahahahaha!

hubobulous

I have the Badger 30, and use it with the Koko Boost primarily. I set it up with a slight bit of dirt that can be removed with the guitar's volume knob for good cleans.

My base tone is great for bluesy SRV type levels of dirt, (think Reef - Place Your Hands), and then the clean boost on the Koko gives a great solo tone. Add the mid boost and it covers a bucket load more. I use the Shiba Drive, Velvet Fuzz or Riot for the more distorted requirements, sometimes with the Koko too.

The amp sounds huge through the 1x12, and immense through the 2x12. They really voiced these cabs for the Badger perfectly.

Anyone who reads my posts here will know that I love Suhr gear, but I'm not a blinkered fanboy. If Suhr put out something that doesn't resonate with me, I wouldn't just blindly buy it and sing its praises. I'm quite picky with my gear, as many people are, but I'm yet to be disappointed with their products and customer service.

I only write this to give you an insight not only into my experience of the Badger at gig volumes, but also why I enjoy Suhr's product line. I'm not trying to convince you that Suhr is the best thing ever. It might just not be what you're after. All I can say is that if you try a Badger and then buy something else that you prefer, its probably going to be an awesome piece of kit. :-)

It might be worth people in this thread who have these amps, or experience of them, letting you know the context of their usage. I only mention this since you're clearly looking for feedback on how the amp is for a gigging situation, which is a different requirement than that of home usage.

Nerine

Fargen are worth checking out.
Suhr Badger
Some of the lower watt Bogner offerings.
Dirty Shirley
Soldano Hot Rod 25


If you're after Marshall style gain, avoid Boogie. I had a full blown Mark V and Marshall it definitely isn't.

xJonnysixstring

Thanks guys, got a kemper, great in the studio useless live! Badger tone wise hits the mark perfectly just worried about not having a dedicated clean channel, Mesa I have kid of fallen out of live with after having maybe 5 in past 4 years

hubobulous

If it helps, every amp or FX unit that I've had in the past has followed the paradigm of multi-channel. I've created clean patches, used clean channels, changed to dirtier channels/patches and found it easy. I've always been wary of those who say that 'riding' the volume knob is a cool way to manipulate the sound, but the Badger has allowed me to try this.

If you want to set it up for cleans and then add dirt through pedals, obviously that's possible and it sounds very good with a vast array of OD, Distortion and Fuzz boxes in my experience.

However, by setting it on the edge of breakup, I've found it very easy to adapt. I came at it from the perspective that there are very few songs that we play that require both cleans and huge amounts of gain, and for those, I'd use a pedal to assist. Blur's Song2 is a good example of this for us.

But for something rock/blues oriented that needs low crunch for rhythm, I'd never really need super high gain for solos. So what I'm getting at is that within any given song, I never need to go between such extremes that using the volume knob and the Koko doesn't work for me.

Cleans - back off the volume slightly on the guitar

Slight crunch - standard amp setting with guitar volume on full(ish)

More crunch - add Koko clean boost

Solo crunch - Koko mid boost

Higher gain rock rhythm - Velvet, Riot or Shiba on top of standard amp setting

Higher gain rock solo - add the Koko

No real silly level of tap dancing within a song - just getting it set up correctly at the start of a song and given that we tend to structure our set list with similar 'styles' grouped together, this works well for us.

The only thing that doesn't work well with this set-up so far for me is using the Suhr Rufus Fuzz. It really doesn't like any amount of gain on the amp with settings that I've tried so far, but loves working with a clean Badger. I'm not giving up on this, and have it in mind that it could be a great combination for rock slide playing.

thisisguitar

^I think we should put you in for the new years honours list…

Arise Suhr Hubobulous!

They do make some great gear though :-)

hubobulous

thisisguitar said:

^I think we should put you in for the new years honours list…

Arise Suhr Hubobulous!

They do make some great gear though :-)

Suhrly they do....

thomasross20

Jonny I think I remember you from bath guitar festival etc? What are you playing and doing these days? @ me so I can see your reply

dunstanmus

Soldano HR25 or 65Amps Whiskey. We play same similar tunes and these are my goto's. Keep with the big iron and tubes.

Cheers Rich

xJonnysixstring

@thomasross20 not me I'm afraid dude, bath is one of the few places in the UK I haven't played in the last 15 years:) think I need to try me a Badger, God knows I have enough pedals to try it with

xJonnysixstring

For info I am playing a selection of Eternal guitars beauties and the odd Huber or Anderson