I just want to comment to appreciate how Glenn has been working on his weight, his guitar skills, AND his videos for all of us. Thank you for working so hard to not let these other efforts (which you've obviously been putting a lot of work into) affect the AMAZING content you push out. Real fucking amazing work.
@@SpectreSoundStudios Glenn, don't forget you could also work on your bass skills because you really weren't bad at all when you picked up the bass in that older video
Found one for sale with the 12 x 4 cab here in London Ontario. I couldn’t find any useful videos that offered any real insight into this head. It was mostly just poor quality phone-shot videos of 10 seconds of riffing. Finally I saw your video and I cant thank you enough for effort that you put into this. After the video ended, I immediately made the call to the seller and picked it up. After I got it home, I went back and watched you dialling it in and used that as a reference to help find my tone as well. I’m 51, still a beginner, but this ToneBlaster sounds great for my needs. Love your channel and the content. 🤘🏻Thank you!
The Tone Blaster cabs were more of a hidden gem than the heads. Starting out gigging in 2004 I couldn’t afford much so I bought 2 of the Ibanez 4x12 cabs and those were an amazing bang for the buck. I paired them with a JSX and later a 6505+. They held up against every other rig anyone tested them against. 16 years later they still kill.
I remember back in the day when the Thermion came out there was sort of a consensus that it sounded better with the Toneblaster cab than with the more expensive Thermion cab. The Thermion cab came with Vintage 30 speakers but (if I recall correctly) the problem was that the design of the cab made it bass-heavy when the amp itself was already a bit bassy to begin with.
@@SpectreSoundStudios if I wasn’t using mine, I would gladly ship one. They were only $300 each new and had the best mix of high and low end. I’ve since switched to Mesa cabs but I still use the Tone Blasters for rehearsal.
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I still have mine, and it actually sounds really fucking ok
i whole heartedly dissagree with metal is suposed to be messy, metal is some of the most precise music there is to play,, i have been playing guitar and some times even bass,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,( i started typing this 3 hours ago, just saying the B word makes me turn the mouse over and watch the lazer on the bottom , my girl noticed i was quiet for way too long and turned the mouse back over ,, sorry , lol ) for about 45 years , and the very first thing i notice about any band is if their timing is off, and if they are all in tune,,,,, at this point i can even hear if the drums are out of pitch with whatever the rest of the band is tuned to,, if any of that is off , it just sounds BAAAAAAAAD , ( sorry , i was just hit with a lamb ) so i can tell you that "MESSY" is one thing that metal is not,,,, this is not an opinion, it is a fact
@@jakeqwaninne8502 that might be kind of true for genres that do need precision like Prog or Tech, but if you're dealing with Grindy stuff then why not?
I love that you can now physically play the kind of guitar style we are tuning in to learn about recording. You're now good enough that you can tie everything together in a way that wasn't possible before. Well done, Glenn!!
For those looking for an inexpensive "hybrid" guitar amp. Imo, the FENDER ROC PRO 1000 or FENDER PERFORMER 1000 are also some hidden gems. They have a solid state clean channel (a great clean tone that you would expect from Fender) and a single 12AX7 tube Distortion channel with 2 modes. BTW, the Performer 1000 came out first and was replaced by the Roc Pro 1000. They are basically the same amp, they just look a little different.
A decade ago I used to own the *"Ibanez TBX150H Tone Blaster Xtreme"* A solid state beast with 150 Watts that actually sounded absolutely freaking devastating. Kinda sad I sold it.
I had the Tone blaster x 30watt as my first ever amp, sold it to a friend when i upgraded, and had the chance to play on it again the other day after about 10 years... It sounds great!
I totally had the same amp! And I put the speakers from it's cab into a peavey valve king cab and it sounded sick, actually. I gigged with it all the time, I miss that amp so much. Now I want it back, and this video is probably gonna create a spike in demand for it. -_- Awesome, awesome amp. I love the TBX150H. If I recall, it had a bit more clarity and transient attack, compared to the version in this video, right?
@@Coggler101010 yes. It also gave you the option to adjust the mid frequency
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THE ORMSBY GUITAR LOOKS SOOOOOO GOOOOOOOOOOOD I LOVE IT !!! also thanks a lot for making this episode! Most TH-camrs skip cheap and old gear but beginners need this so much so thanks a lot!
I haven't been too much on the Music side of TH-cam the past 2 months, just getting back into guitar again... and all I want to see is I'm impressed with how tight your playing has gotten in such a little amount of time! Gives me hope. Damn near thought I was listening to an Ola will it chug for a second.
Really sick, I have had this same amp and the Ibanez cab to go with it probably for close to 15 years thing shreds. Buddy sold me amp and cab for 200 bucks! Never let it go. Sick to see this 🤘
I gigged with one for a couple of years before switching to tube amps. The gain channel, even with the gain on zero, still had crunch to it. Gain for days! Great metal amp.
Hey Glenn, I just want to say I fucking loved the Mix in this video. I can hear each part separately and cleanly and doesn't sound like a compressed muddy mush puddle like some of my favorite songs from my favorite band.
I remember I used to have a 15W Ibanez ToneBlaster TB15R as a kid and I remember loving the sound of it. It was my 1st amp ever and I regret getting rid of it when I upgraded for a bigger amp. I loved the tone it had when playing low tuned guitar, and I don't know what about it made it sound so good but I can't seem to be able to reproduce it with much more powerful tube amps with cabs with multiple large speakers. Sometimes I wish I could get my hands on one to verify whether it's my memory playing tricks on it or it really does sound like what I cannot achieve on what would be universally considered vastly better amps, and if it does, then how to figure out what about it makes the sound that I liked. It's hard for me to describe and I feel like nobody gets what I'm trying to describe (or rather, they understand the words but associate it with some other aspects of the tone than the ones I'm trying to refer to and there's a miscommunication as a result) but it has this very rumbly, thick grained, moist, rubbly sound, as if trembling when playing tuned to B standard or lower. Sometimes I wonder if this is not what others describe as the undesirable "farting out" by amps/cabs that "can't handle" low tunings, but I could internet thr "farting out" as some other phenomena happening... I'm lost.
Just watched this a few days ago. Walked into my local pawn shop today and they had this head priced at $149. I offered $100 and it's now mine bwahaahaaaaaa
This was my first “big amp”. I got two matching cabinets to make the toneblaster full stack 🤣 but yes, this was exactly what it sounded like and I was soooo happy with it at 16. Sweet nostalgia.
good god we had one of these in our studio for years. we called it the lack of tone blaster because the one we had was nothing but pure garbage. like below line6 spider2 quality..
I know you ain't talking about the Randall rg100 es from the 1980s because George Lynch was the one who really did helped build this also the Century, rackmount and the tube head rackmount version of the rg100es which Dimebag used also Kirk Weinstein of Kingdom of Sorrow/Crowbar/Down. Fortin, helped with the newer Randall's when Ola Englund Randall Satan came out. Good Randall's with Mike Fortin design came out 2010 and later. I owned a Randall Rg100H black tolex cover ( there's a red cover, white cover, camouflage white & camo and a cool snake skin tolex cover these where limited edition where sold by either MusiciansFriend or American Musical Supply) from around early 2000 ish this was when Michael Batio-Dimebag was endorsed by Randall which these ones sucked. I saw Batio in person at a Guitar Clinic by Niles Ohio which both Dimebag & Vinnie Paul was supposed to be there too but Dime & Vinnie has other plans couldn't make it this in 1999 a few months before my daughter was born. There's a Tone King video interview of George Lynch at Namm talked about how he helped Don Randall when he design the rg100es in the 1980s and later Don Randall Smith sold the name and he went on to work for Mesa Boogie. He's been there ever since.
@@misanthropeimmortel Nope didnt say that. Randy Smith was founder of MEsa. Guy behind Randall amps kinda went help mesa for short time when Randall amps was bought another company which is the one who owns washburn. Guy behind Randall amps did retire but was asked to help with a redesign amp based on rg100es which is the Dime100 a newer version. Do agree Rg series would be cool with Fortin's help but I think that's where the randall diavlo or diablo series came about which may have replaced the RG. Newer Randall's are much better nowdays but they all have their own distinct sound though.
I just found one of these and had my buddy pick it up, We got the head AND the matching 4x12 slant cab, the entire halfstack was filthy but it cleaned up great, the guy was selling the entire half stack for 100 bucks, I offered him 75 and he took it, said it didn't power on at all, those of you who have owned a solid state head / half stack probably already know what an easy fix that is, we fixed it literally 5 minutes after we got it home and it sounds killer, those 4x12 cabs they made for those heads are hidden gems also, dark tone for days!
True. The Cleans are the best part, in my opinion. It's clear, shimmery and pretty distinct to my ears. I've never really found a better clean tone outside of a Fender amp. The distortion channel isn't bad though. It doesn't have the dynamics a tube amp might, but it is still pretty awesome. For those interested, keep in mine that Glenn is playing a 7-string and has the boost engaged pretty much the entire time he plays the distortion channel, which colors the tone significantly. The standard distorted tone has a vintage quality about it, and changes color with EQ very well. You can go from an AC/DC mid-rangey sound to a more Metallica chug with a flip of the pull-switch, which Glenn keeps scooped in this video. It's a fun amp, and I'm glad I've kept mine over the years. It's kinda fun to compare it with other amps.
@@Stefan- well probably you're right. I quess i was referring more to its price since here in eu u can find it for 100-200euros. And for that price range idk what would sound better for metal tones atleast
@@vytautasjak6299 Sure i agree, if i were looking for a Marshall for Metal on the cheap i would definately be looking at the 8100, i think they are probably still quite cheap here in Sweden, like in the pricerange you mentioned. Its more for the "Bang for the buck" video than "Hidden gem" video though in my opinion.
GLLEEENNNNNN!!!! Another great and affordable amp that is definitely a "hidden gem" is the Peavey VK100 "Valve King" head. I've grabbed them on the road as back up amps for my 5150 for as little as $225 on one occasion. You should do a video with one. I call it the "poor man's 5150". FYI- The trick to revealing what an absolute beast that amp can be is the "Texture" control on the back.
The lesson learned is to never underestimate solid-state. In my own case, I have an Orange Crush Pro 120H. While it is NOT a metal amp, not even close, it is amazeballs for blues/rock. Some years ago, I was in what I can only describe as a "Dad rock" band, and I used the Crush with a Tube Screamer in front. It worked perfectly for that genre. Of course, if you do plan to use the distortion channel, YOU ABSOLUTELY NEED a noise gate.
Just had one for the last year and a half, it was great! Tone was insane. Only problem it would like to cut out live due to a transistor that’s hard to find and replace. Learned in the hunt to figure it out, that everyone with the XXL has basically experienced this. Unfortunate cause the amp sounded so good. Just sold it and trying to find another gem
Really cool!...Try out the Marshall MG100HDFX Head if you're looking for another hidden gem...the older version with the traditional gold/brass plating, not the newer MG series amps. The 4x12 it came with isn't too bad ("Celestion Voiced"), but with better speakers the head RIPS. Pretty sure Dave Simpson has a video showing it as well. Fantastic amp for cleans, rock, and some more classic metal!
Hey Glenn, thanks a ton for reviewing!15W Combo version was my 1st amp and it was terrible. Guess what: the speaker was crap. And still is. Preamp sounds really great! Also, don't play this amp with single coil pickups. All my youth I thought my guitar was crap. It really was ok, but the pickups just dont work together with this amp's overdrive channel. Just recently extracted the amp section, re-covered the top and added a cab cable jack to the power amp output. Now it works as a 15W head to produce the tone of my dreams! :D
Dude, if we're talking about hidden gems, I used to have a Roland Cube 80Xl solid state amp back in around 2014 that was pretty killer and at least as good as a boss Katana (which I have now). Being kinda broke at the time I got it possibly 3rd or 4th hand from a friend of a friend who owned a guitar store. Might not be something you wanna put on a record but for a bedroom / practice / small gig machine it was perfect. Pretty good tones, loud enough to annoy my neighbours and took pedals really well. Ended up "donating" it to a buddy who runs an independent music school, and apparently in guitar class his students still fight over who gets to use the Cube! These amps are discontinued (I assume replaced by the Katana as Boss and Roland are owned by the same parent company iirc) but you can get these pretty cheap 2nd hand. Might just be my nostalgia messing with my memory but I remember it as on par with the Katana and better than most SS/modeler practice amps I've ever tried.
This was actually the first head I ever owned when I was 15. I had it going into a Peavey 4x12 with Warehouse Green Berets. I played quite a few metal shows with it!
I had the Toneblaster 25R 1x10 combo when I was in college (early 2000's). I really liked it so, as an experiment, I ditched the terrible 10" speaker, installed an output jack on the back of the chassis, and plugged it into a 1x12 cab loaded with an Eminence Swamp Thang. It went from great little combo to crushing!
I bought a Ibanez TB150 and I'm running it through a Fender 4x12 cabinet and find it a very good value with no issues and plenty of power. The foot pedal wasn't hard to find on EBay.
I'm so glad to see you demoing this amp! I saw one in a Guitar Center a few years ago for 100 usd and had no clue that Ibanez made amps. After bringing it home and jaming a bit I thought it was a hidden jem for sure. Maybe if possible you could get the tone blaster extreme on the show and do a comparison if you can find one, I haven't had any luck myself.
This sends me down nostalgia lane.. Used to play a full stack of those way back. Monster live tone, good cleans, bulletproof. Was an awesome live rig. Was endorsed by Dino Cezares / Fear Factory.
The other guitarist in my old high-school band had the 212 combo version of this and it sounded terrible, but he also just scooped his mids, cranked the treble and turned up too loud to compensate for it not cutting through the mix 🤷♂️🙄 actually sounds pretty good through a legitimate cab and proper eq settings!
My first non-combo amp was a 2001 Crate GX1200H (120W SS head that came with a Crate 4x12). I've always wanted a tube amp, so when I had the means I bought one but I never sold the Crate. After touring with the tube amp for several years, the power tubes went blue and right at a time when I needed an amp and didn't have time to have it repaired, so I took the old Crate out of "retirement" and started using it again. Right off the bat it sounded much better than I remembered and also much better than the tube amp. It's smaller, lighter (almost half the size and weight of the tube head) and my pedalboard works much better on the FX loop. I don't think I'm going to spend any money on the tube amp anymore. : )
I had the 25watt combo and a ibanez grg guitar as my first guitar setup years ago. I loved it for metal tones as a beginner and even the 25watt combo was powerfull enough to be heard with a drumset in the room. Playing it extra loud and with a lot of palm muting after some years made the speaker gone bad in a strangely nice way sometimes. Sadly someone broke in my rehearsing room and stole it and i was using my ibanez soundwave 35 bass amp with a korg ax3000g multieffect (that amp i still have, i dont love it for bass cause it lacks of low end (i like the mids a lot), but it is awesome for clean electric guitar and acoustic instruments, it also works as a good subkick mic for drums)
I have 2 tone blaster combo amps that are my main amps. My show amp is a 100R 2x12 100 watt, and my home practice amp is a 50R 1x12 50 watt. I love both!
A guitarist of mine had one of those and it was indeed an excellent amp for what it was. Another SS hidden gem honestly is a crate gt120. I’m sure one could be found pretty cheap. Cheers!
@@ripley7t429 yeah the one I had, had a blue line on it. I think the head is actually the gt1200 not the 120. It’s been a while lol. The limited videos out there are all cellphone or tablet recordings and they sound like poo.
This amp was my very first head. still got it to this day, mostly been playing around on my Engl Savage via Synergy running into the Egnater tweakers power section which has kt88s. haven't played it in years but thanks to this video just might crank it up just to live out those old memories when I was younger. Great Vid Glenn
This video made my day because I am still jamming on a Ibanez Toneblaster 65R that I found in a pawnshop many years ago. It’s probably better than my skill level!
Hey Gleen! You should try to hook the line out or FX loop send into the return of one of your tube amp for power tube tube saturation. I did this a few times an it gave me an interesting tone from SS pedal preamp. FU from Quebec and keep the vids comming!
Glenn- Idea for a rare amp hidden gem that REALLY took me by surprise being I had the solid state version and thought it was average beginner mediocre tones and a bitch to learn how to use, but a dude had one I went to go trade some guitars with and he popped it on and I was blown away at the difference between his and mine. He had the rare tube specific 2x12 mother that IMO sounds PHENOMENAL especially on a few specific settings. Its the Peavey Vypyr 2x12 hard to find tube version that has a few diff amp models than the standard solid state version and also isnt like the solid state as in they tried to voice the solid state to be able to use as an acoustic amp AND bass amp. The tube version doesnt play games with trying to voice bass and acoustic, its a straight metal machine for guitar only and has a few diff voicings for amp models than the solid. The 2x12 is the rare beast, you can find the 1x12 way easier but theres something apparently with the 2x12 that adds grunt or something to it and it I think was only made 1 or 2 yrs and dropped from being made. Im sure due to the stigma the solid states have so people want to write em off immediately thinking they have to be garbage. It is a built in multi fx amp in the way a Line 6 spider is kinda, BUT it has 2 diff types of lists of fx, one large set is all analog and those sound amazing,well most do,for a multi fx amp anyways,lol. the digital side is ok on about half of em, but theres some on both sides that are just trash of course, and I rarely use most the fx,tho with the Sanpera 2 double expression pedal hooked up to this and able to save 12 patches and I believe way more in the Sanpera, and download off the internet updates possibly still and pre made patches (I never hook this up to download shit to it, cuz i use then "JSX" tone, the "rectifier" a bit, the "XXX" in this sounds better than a real XXX, the 6505 is cool, "deizel", and "K Stein" are good too. ) The JSX and the XXX win the show tho on this. they are AMAZING. Has built in overdrive in the analog circuit, booster, pitch shift, pog, delay,phaser, flange, compressor, etc. and more. most of which I dont use, but also mimics Fender twin, Bad Cat and more. Surprised there isnt a gate on it. Also does that weird backwards looping shit with a tap tempo for delays etc. which the delay "works" but needs some updating or improvement as alot of these fx do,and this amp is a BITCH when it comes to being friendly with pedals. Oddly enough I havent tried the tube screamer in front of it but plan on it,even tho Ive had this over 2 yrs,never used a overdrive as the sound is just crisp pure and raw on the JSX and XXX, maybe they nailed those cuz Peavey actually makes those amps,lol. anyways, but it took me hrs to get it to allow my old fav from HS distortion pedal, the ZOOM DRIVER 5000, BEST UNKNOWN DISTORTION PEDAL EVER MADE HANDS DOWN, the amp did not want to play nice and it took me eons to get it to work with the pedal so I have variety outside of just the amp sounds distortion wise. Otherwise I swear by this amps tone on JSX AND XXX. It also doesnt have a FX loop Im guessing cuz they didnt expect you to run FX through an..FX amp..lol anyways, check it out if you can,the 1x12 MIGHT do it justice, IDK. All I know is this is the GEM of the bunch and by far hardest to find in the 2x12.
The ibanez tbx150h is an amazing head for the money, ive had mine for 9 years and its still going strong,the high gain channel kicks fucking ass and the clean is solid if you can find the foot pedal forget about it, thing turns into a versatile machine. Definitely the best purchase i made as a a teenager who couldnt afford a tube amp.
Some other "hiden gems" of amps you might be interested in getting for an episode sometime later: -Crate Blue Voodoo -Some Bugera Models turn out pretty great, like the 1990 or their rectifier and 5150 clones. -Mesa Boogie F50 that sometimes you can get a very decent sounding 1x12 combo for really cheap
Loved this video, Glenn. I did a session a while back with my Peavey Transformer 112, an early solid-state modeling amp and the engineer got an amazing sound out of it combining an SM57 and u67. Crazy thought that the microphones were worth about 35 times what I paid for the amp.
I have a buddy with a Behringer VT100H and it sounds amazing. Sounds like a Marshall solid state amp from the 90's with a tube power amp, or maybe a tube in the preamp circuit, even though there are no tubes anywhere in the thing. It just has a convincing tube emulation circuit.
I've been using an Ibanez TBX150R Toneblaster Extreme 2x12 combo which is the newer version of the Toneblaster for about 5 years now. Now admittedly, I'm an Ibanez fanboy, but the Toneblaster really does sound great for the money.
been beating the drum on this one for a while, I picked this up but a 2x12 combo for 125 bucks , the rhythm player in my band has been using it , we have gigged it a ton of times and it has held up nice and fits right in with our sound. Have had far more expensive amps that I didn't like the tone of as much as I do the little Ibanez
+1 to this all day. Check out the Ampeg VH140C, Crate GX130C, or maybe some of the Randall offerings. Recently got a Randall RH200SC and it does metal very well!
I bought my Peavey Windsor because of one of your older “hidden gem“ videos. I think I got it for like 249 USD. I love these kinds of deals. It’s the best time in history for guitar/home studio as far as quality versus price.
The gibson/mesa JP-2C has functions that can only be accessed through the footswitch/midi - but that thing is probably the exception rather than the rule.
Had one of these from 2005ish till 2014ish with matching 4x12. Speakers were no better than a fender champion 12. But the head was reliable, had some grind to it, but I never really played metal on it. Gave it to a kid learning guitar. Last I saw him a few weeks back he’s still gigging weekly. It’s a bland amp. Let’s call it neutral. It kinda was a Jack of all trades, master of taking a beating. Good jams Glenn. I just snagged a 2005 peavey XXL head for $150. Great metal amp. Ultra gain setting is ass. But the high gain setting takes a boost and is seriously THUNDEROUS through my Harley Benton 2x12 v30 cab. Another sleeper amp for great chunky but bright metal are the late 1990’s Carvin heads. I forget models and all that but the black head with the chorus in it. You find them all day for $120. Not high gain. But a great base for shaping into a gain monster or doom amp.
I would love to see you do a hidden gem video on Ampeg vl series amps and VH series amps. I truly feel these are hidden gems and deserve some much needed attention
I'm not sure the Ampeg VH is all that 'hidden'. Guys on UG and sevenstring and similar sites have been on to them for over a decade. They often sell for prices that usually only used tube amps go for.
This was my very first half stack amp. Some of my older videos were done with it. Actually mine was the TBX150H. Had a built in boost and was 150 watt.
I've recorded with a Fender Mustang GT40 and got some great tones with just a pair of Shure Beta58s. Its such a tiny, unassuming amp that its cool to hear how it reacts in the context of a mix. Get the volume up around halfway and its cookin'.
I know I’m late to the show here but I inherited one of these and didn’t think a hole lot about it being a solid state. So it sat on the shelf for a while then I decided to use the preamp into a tube power and holly crap this thing rips.
I had bought a combo version of this in 2005 and it lasted 4 years. I blew the speaker and just gave it away to someone who wanted to fix it. It had a great sound for playing mudvayne back in the day.
Thing about hidden gem stuff of the used market variety is that one can get some mean hardware fairly cheap. Just a few weeks back, a whole Randall Diavlo (100 Watt) tube amp with a complimentary Randall XL412 cabinet went for around £350.
I love watching you dial in an amp rather than u just showing the final tone hope you keep this format!
Noted!!
Agreed
I agree wholeheartedly
@@SpectreSoundStudios i totally agree!
Yeah!! Teach us how to dial in those tonez
I just want to comment to appreciate how Glenn has been working on his weight, his guitar skills, AND his videos for all of us. Thank you for working so hard to not let these other efforts (which you've obviously been putting a lot of work into) affect the AMAZING content you push out. Real fucking amazing work.
The channel seems to be his main job at this point so it would make sense to work on it
Thanks very much! There is ALWAYS room to improve!
I was thinking his playing is pretty solid now.
I saw this on the new SpectreVC
Congrats!
@@SpectreSoundStudios Glenn, don't forget you could also work on your bass skills because you really weren't bad at all when you picked up the bass in that older video
Found one for sale with the 12 x 4 cab here in London Ontario. I couldn’t find any useful videos that offered any real insight into this head. It was mostly just poor quality phone-shot videos of 10 seconds of riffing. Finally I saw your video and I cant thank you enough for effort that you put into this. After the video ended, I immediately made the call to the seller and picked it up. After I got it home, I went back and watched you dialling it in and used that as a reference to help find my tone as well. I’m 51, still a beginner, but this ToneBlaster sounds great for my needs. Love your channel and the content. 🤘🏻Thank you!
The Tone Blaster cabs were more of a hidden gem than the heads. Starting out gigging in 2004 I couldn’t afford much so I bought 2 of the Ibanez 4x12 cabs and those were an amazing bang for the buck. I paired them with a JSX and later a 6505+. They held up against every other rig anyone tested them against. 16 years later they still kill.
The heaviest cab I've ever owned.
I’d like to find one and mic it up at some point!
I remember back in the day when the Thermion came out there was sort of a consensus that it sounded better with the Toneblaster cab than with the more expensive Thermion cab.
The Thermion cab came with Vintage 30 speakers but (if I recall correctly) the problem was that the design of the cab made it bass-heavy when the amp itself was already a bit bassy to begin with.
@@SpectreSoundStudios if I wasn’t using mine, I would gladly ship one. They were only $300 each new and had the best mix of high and low end. I’ve since switched to Mesa cabs but I still use the Tone Blasters for rehearsal.
I still have mine, and it actually sounds really fucking ok
like i said, it sounds messy in a way that it's actually appropriate for a genre that is supposed to be messy
It sounds like it could be very good for 90s death metal like obituary.
throw in a 2x12 vertical harley benton v30s and you're in for some rockin'
Agreed! Very impressed with it!
i whole heartedly dissagree with metal is suposed to be messy, metal is some of the most precise music there is to play,, i have been playing guitar and some times even bass,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,( i started typing this 3 hours ago, just saying the B word makes me turn the mouse over and watch the lazer on the bottom , my girl noticed i was quiet for way too long and turned the mouse back over ,, sorry , lol ) for about 45 years , and the very first thing i notice about any band is if their timing is off, and if they are all in tune,,,,, at this point i can even hear if the drums are out of pitch with whatever the rest of the band is tuned to,, if any of that is off , it just sounds BAAAAAAAAD , ( sorry , i was just hit with a lamb ) so i can tell you that "MESSY" is one thing that metal is not,,,, this is not an opinion, it is a fact
@@jakeqwaninne8502 that might be kind of true for genres that do need precision like Prog or Tech, but if you're dealing with Grindy stuff then why not?
I love that you can now physically play the kind of guitar style we are tuning in to learn about recording. You're now good enough that you can tie everything together in a way that wasn't possible before. Well done, Glenn!!
Thanks, Dan!!
Well it was a deal until this video got posted! *checks Reverb for the inevitable sudden popularity price jump LOL!
That’s what happened with the Peavey Windsor :(
@@SpectreSoundStudios yeah, priced doubled on those. But still only $400 when I got mine and totally worth it
I have one for sale but only local, not shipping.
For those looking for an inexpensive "hybrid" guitar amp. Imo, the FENDER ROC PRO 1000 or FENDER PERFORMER 1000 are also some hidden gems. They have a solid state clean channel (a great clean tone that you would expect from Fender) and a single 12AX7 tube Distortion channel with 2 modes. BTW, the Performer 1000 came out first and was replaced by the Roc Pro 1000. They are basically the same amp, they just look a little different.
Cool! Ty for the suggestion!
@@SpectreSoundStudios My pleasure and thank you for your gear reviews! Btw, Glenn, Fuck you! 😁
I bought this when I was 16 years old. I'm now 33 years old, and the amp is literally right beside me. It's awesome.
We have a tbx 150h here in our studio paid 130 dollars same deal but with a few extra things like a hue knob and two mid knobs it dials in well
A decade ago I used to own the *"Ibanez TBX150H Tone Blaster Xtreme"* A solid state beast with 150 Watts that actually sounded absolutely freaking devastating. Kinda sad I sold it.
I own that exact amp! Still love the clean tone today!
I had the Tone blaster x 30watt as my first ever amp, sold it to a friend when i upgraded, and had the chance to play on it again the other day after about 10 years... It sounds great!
this is my daily driver amp, and i see no reason to change it. it get's me a killer tone through the stock amp, and i couldn't be happier with it!
I totally had the same amp! And I put the speakers from it's cab into a peavey valve king cab and it sounded sick, actually. I gigged with it all the time, I miss that amp so much. Now I want it back, and this video is probably gonna create a spike in demand for it. -_-
Awesome, awesome amp. I love the TBX150H. If I recall, it had a bit more clarity and transient attack, compared to the version in this video, right?
@@Coggler101010 yes. It also gave you the option to adjust the mid frequency
THE ORMSBY GUITAR LOOKS SOOOOOO GOOOOOOOOOOOD I LOVE IT !!! also thanks a lot for making this episode! Most TH-camrs skip cheap and old gear but beginners need this so much so thanks a lot!
I haven't been too much on the Music side of TH-cam the past 2 months, just getting back into guitar again... and all I want to see is I'm impressed with how tight your playing has gotten in such a little amount of time! Gives me hope. Damn near thought I was listening to an Ola will it chug for a second.
I appreciate that Steve vais guitars arent the only gems from ibanez
What about the Tube screamer. Most famous distortion ever
@@kevinr.3542 could run that into the front of this amp for some more bite.
Really sick, I have had this same amp and the Ibanez cab to go with it probably for close to 15 years thing shreds. Buddy sold me amp and cab for 200 bucks! Never let it go. Sick to see this 🤘
Watching you fret power chords so fluidly 6:00 was so satisfying. I never get to see other people's hands in metal
This sounds very diffrent, grindy, and fucking awesome! On my wishlist for sure!
My first “nice” amp was the 212 combo of this amp. Pure nostalgia right here. I’d looove to have one again for the giggles.
Please!! Make a review for a Randall RGsolid state series amp! 🙏🏼🙏🏼
I agree.mt rg100 is fuking amazing
I gigged with one for a couple of years before switching to tube amps. The gain channel, even with the gain on zero, still had crunch to it. Gain for days! Great metal amp.
Hey Glenn, I just want to say I fucking loved the Mix in this video. I can hear each part separately and cleanly and doesn't sound like a compressed muddy mush puddle like some of my favorite songs from my favorite band.
I remember I used to have a 15W Ibanez ToneBlaster TB15R as a kid and I remember loving the sound of it. It was my 1st amp ever and I regret getting rid of it when I upgraded for a bigger amp. I loved the tone it had when playing low tuned guitar, and I don't know what about it made it sound so good but I can't seem to be able to reproduce it with much more powerful tube amps with cabs with multiple large speakers. Sometimes I wish I could get my hands on one to verify whether it's my memory playing tricks on it or it really does sound like what I cannot achieve on what would be universally considered vastly better amps, and if it does, then how to figure out what about it makes the sound that I liked. It's hard for me to describe and I feel like nobody gets what I'm trying to describe (or rather, they understand the words but associate it with some other aspects of the tone than the ones I'm trying to refer to and there's a miscommunication as a result) but it has this very rumbly, thick grained, moist, rubbly sound, as if trembling when playing tuned to B standard or lower. Sometimes I wonder if this is not what others describe as the undesirable "farting out" by amps/cabs that "can't handle" low tunings, but I could internet thr "farting out" as some other phenomena happening... I'm lost.
I love when you find older gear,the world has forgotten,and give us a honest review.
Really dig the videos you do on "sleeper" gear. Keep it up!
Just watched this a few days ago. Walked into my local pawn shop today and they had this head priced at $149. I offered $100 and it's now mine bwahaahaaaaaa
Now that's dope!
My first half stack! Been hoping to get one of these on the low one of these days. Kinda Wish I’d never sold it!
Only one i can find is on reverb for $189
I just found one at my local pawn shop for $149. offered $100. it's now mine.
This was my first “big amp”. I got two matching cabinets to make the toneblaster full stack 🤣 but yes, this was exactly what it sounded like and I was soooo happy with it at 16. Sweet nostalgia.
good god we had one of these in our studio for years. we called it the lack of tone blaster because the one we had was nothing but pure garbage. like below line6 spider2 quality..
I've found that it does sound rather bad when the user sucks at adjusting the tone
Randall RG Series would be cool, the ones that Mike Fortin helped to design
I know you ain't talking about the Randall rg100 es from the 1980s because George Lynch was the one who really did helped build this also the Century, rackmount and the tube head rackmount version of the rg100es which Dimebag used also Kirk Weinstein of Kingdom of Sorrow/Crowbar/Down.
Fortin, helped with the newer Randall's when Ola Englund Randall Satan came out.
Good Randall's with Mike Fortin design came out 2010 and later.
I owned a Randall Rg100H black tolex cover ( there's a red cover, white cover, camouflage white & camo and a cool snake skin tolex cover these where limited edition where sold by either MusiciansFriend or American Musical Supply) from around early 2000 ish this was when Michael Batio-Dimebag was endorsed by Randall which these ones sucked.
I saw Batio in person at a Guitar Clinic by Niles Ohio which both Dimebag & Vinnie Paul was supposed to be there too but Dime & Vinnie has other plans couldn't make it this in 1999 a few months before my daughter was born.
There's a Tone King video interview of George Lynch at Namm talked about how he helped Don Randall when he design the rg100es in the 1980s and later Don Randall Smith sold the name and he went on to work for Mesa Boogie. He's been there ever since.
@@daleweber2579 do you mean that Randall Smith isn't the founder of Mesa Boogie, but instead, he joined them along the line ?
RH would be cool af
@@misanthropeimmortel Nope didnt say that. Randy Smith was founder of MEsa. Guy behind Randall amps kinda went help mesa for short time when Randall amps was bought another company which is the one who owns washburn. Guy behind Randall amps did retire but was asked to help with a redesign amp based on rg100es which is the Dime100 a newer version. Do agree Rg series would be cool with Fortin's help but I think that's where the randall diavlo or diablo series came about which may have replaced the RG. Newer Randall's are much better nowdays but they all have their own distinct sound though.
I just found one of these and had my buddy pick it up, We got the head AND the matching 4x12 slant cab, the entire halfstack was filthy but it cleaned up great, the guy was selling the entire half stack for 100 bucks, I offered him 75 and he took it, said it didn't power on at all, those of you who have owned a solid state head / half stack probably already know what an easy fix that is, we fixed it literally 5 minutes after we got it home and it sounds killer, those 4x12 cabs they made for those heads are hidden gems also, dark tone for days!
This was my first amp(though I had the 50 watt combo) I didn’t realize how good it was until 15 years later
One HUGE item overlooked here is that it definitely has its own unique tone.
Indeed!
True. The Cleans are the best part, in my opinion. It's clear, shimmery and pretty distinct to my ears. I've never really found a better clean tone outside of a Fender amp. The distortion channel isn't bad though. It doesn't have the dynamics a tube amp might, but it is still pretty awesome. For those interested, keep in mine that Glenn is playing a 7-string and has the boost engaged pretty much the entire time he plays the distortion channel, which colors the tone significantly. The standard distorted tone has a vintage quality about it, and changes color with EQ very well. You can go from an AC/DC mid-rangey sound to a more Metallica chug with a flip of the pull-switch, which Glenn keeps scooped in this video.
It's a fun amp, and I'm glad I've kept mine over the years. It's kinda fun to compare it with other amps.
We used to sell these in my old music store. Was definitely a hidden gem that I’ve been wanting to pick up.
This is some old-school Glenn content, THANK YOU GOD!
Marshall Valvestate 8100/8200 deserves spot in these series IMHO.
Good call. Chuck Schuldiner used a Valvestate. It certainly worked for him!
I dont know how much of a hidden gem it is anymore though since its quite well known these days.
@@Stefan- well probably you're right. I quess i was referring more to its price since here in eu u can find it for 100-200euros. And for that price range idk what would sound better for metal tones atleast
@@vytautasjak6299 Sure i agree, if i were looking for a Marshall for Metal on the cheap i would definately be looking at the 8100, i think they are probably still quite cheap here in Sweden, like in the pricerange you mentioned. Its more for the "Bang for the buck" video than "Hidden gem" video though in my opinion.
I believe he did a review on one. I had one, but I liked their AVT 2000 hybrid series more. Wasn't as fizzy as the 8100
GLLEEENNNNNN!!!! Another great and affordable amp that is definitely a "hidden gem" is the Peavey VK100 "Valve King" head. I've grabbed them on the road as back up amps for my 5150 for as little as $225 on one occasion. You should do a video with one. I call it the "poor man's 5150". FYI- The trick to revealing what an absolute beast that amp can be is the "Texture" control on the back.
The lesson learned is to never underestimate solid-state. In my own case, I have an Orange Crush Pro 120H. While it is NOT a metal amp, not even close, it is amazeballs for blues/rock. Some years ago, I was in what I can only describe as a "Dad rock" band, and I used the Crush with a Tube Screamer in front. It worked perfectly for that genre. Of course, if you do plan to use the distortion channel, YOU ABSOLUTELY NEED a noise gate.
Sounds perfect for late 80's early 90's heavy technical thrash.
The Peavey XXL used to get some love for being a hidden gem. I’d be curious for that amp to be revisited some time...if you can find one.
Just had one for the last year and a half, it was great! Tone was insane. Only problem it would like to cut out live due to a transistor that’s hard to find and replace. Learned in the hunt to figure it out, that everyone with the XXL has basically experienced this. Unfortunate cause the amp sounded so good. Just sold it and trying to find another gem
The Crate Stealth is a hidden gem. 100 watt tube amp, dirt cheap. And it was designed by Lee Jackson.
Thanks for the tip, Rick! Will see if I can dig one up!
@@SpectreSoundStudios I know I saw one not too long ago on Reverb for like $200.
Really cool!...Try out the Marshall MG100HDFX Head if you're looking for another hidden gem...the older version with the traditional gold/brass plating, not the newer MG series amps. The 4x12 it came with isn't too bad ("Celestion Voiced"), but with better speakers the head RIPS.
Pretty sure Dave Simpson has a video showing it as well. Fantastic amp for cleans, rock, and some more classic metal!
Love the tone of the ibanez tb25r, purchased a tb100r online at guitar center, awesome,great review thanks keeprocking ,cheers Tony Lopez Band 😀
I remember screwing around with these when I was a teenager at Guitar Center. These things were a lot of fun and had a nice chunky sound.
Hey Glenn, thanks a ton for reviewing!15W Combo version was my 1st amp and it was terrible. Guess what: the speaker was crap. And still is. Preamp sounds really great! Also, don't play this amp with single coil pickups. All my youth I thought my guitar was crap. It really was ok, but the pickups just dont work together with this amp's overdrive channel.
Just recently extracted the amp section, re-covered the top and added a cab cable jack to the power amp output. Now it works as a 15W head to produce the tone of my dreams! :D
Dude, if we're talking about hidden gems, I used to have a Roland Cube 80Xl solid state amp back in around 2014 that was pretty killer and at least as good as a boss Katana (which I have now). Being kinda broke at the time I got it possibly 3rd or 4th hand from a friend of a friend who owned a guitar store. Might not be something you wanna put on a record but for a bedroom / practice / small gig machine it was perfect. Pretty good tones, loud enough to annoy my neighbours and took pedals really well. Ended up "donating" it to a buddy who runs an independent music school, and apparently in guitar class his students still fight over who gets to use the Cube! These amps are discontinued (I assume replaced by the Katana as Boss and Roland are owned by the same parent company iirc) but you can get these pretty cheap 2nd hand. Might just be my nostalgia messing with my memory but I remember it as on par with the Katana and better than most SS/modeler practice amps I've ever tried.
The tone shift works best if you crank the mids all the way up when it's engaged.
This was actually the first head I ever owned when I was 15. I had it going into a Peavey 4x12 with Warehouse Green Berets. I played quite a few metal shows with it!
I had the Toneblaster 25R 1x10 combo when I was in college (early 2000's). I really liked it so, as an experiment, I ditched the terrible 10" speaker, installed an output jack on the back of the chassis, and plugged it into a 1x12 cab loaded with an Eminence Swamp Thang. It went from great little combo to crushing!
I bought a Ibanez TB150 and I'm running it through a Fender 4x12 cabinet and find it a very good value with no issues and plenty of power. The foot pedal wasn't hard to find on EBay.
I'm so glad to see you demoing this amp! I saw one in a Guitar Center a few years ago for 100 usd and had no clue that Ibanez made amps. After bringing it home and jaming a bit I thought it was a hidden jem for sure. Maybe if possible you could get the tone blaster extreme on the show and do a comparison if you can find one, I haven't had any luck myself.
Just scored half stack Toneblaster set, with floorswitch for 100€. This thing is a killer with my old MIJ RG7421 Ibanez
This sends me down nostalgia lane.. Used to play a full stack of those way back. Monster live tone, good cleans, bulletproof. Was an awesome live rig. Was endorsed by Dino Cezares / Fear Factory.
Glenn, your like the cool uncle we all always wanted in the family!!! What's that sexy guitar your playing??? Thanks again for all you do!!! Cheers
The other guitarist in my old high-school band had the 212 combo version of this and it sounded terrible, but he also just scooped his mids, cranked the treble and turned up too loud to compensate for it not cutting through the mix 🤷♂️🙄 actually sounds pretty good through a legitimate cab and proper eq settings!
I had the 2x12 combo of this amp and absolutely loved it. Played it til it died and that took a long time. Great video Glenn.
I had a Marshall Valvestate combo back in the day that I thought sounded KILLED. It was one of my first "real" amps.
(not anymore )Hidden jems: 80s Marshall Solid State amps: Mosfet 100, Master Lead etc
I have a mosfet 100 I’d happily loan for a review.
The Sovtek Migs are up there, too
Lulz, I just posted the VS 100, Lead 12, etc. Peavey XXL. Another SS amp that can cover just about anything.
The MOSFET 100 is such a great amp!
My first non-combo amp was a 2001 Crate GX1200H (120W SS head that came with a Crate 4x12). I've always wanted a tube amp, so when I had the means I bought one but I never sold the Crate. After touring with the tube amp for several years, the power tubes went blue and right at a time when I needed an amp and didn't have time to have it repaired, so I took the old Crate out of "retirement" and started using it again. Right off the bat it sounded much better than I remembered and also much better than the tube amp. It's smaller, lighter (almost half the size and weight of the tube head) and my pedalboard works much better on the FX loop. I don't think I'm going to spend any money on the tube amp anymore. : )
I had the 25watt combo and a ibanez grg guitar as my first guitar setup years ago. I loved it for metal tones as a beginner and even the 25watt combo was powerfull enough to be heard with a drumset in the room. Playing it extra loud and with a lot of palm muting after some years made the speaker gone bad in a strangely nice way sometimes. Sadly someone broke in my rehearsing room and stole it and i was using my ibanez soundwave 35 bass amp with a korg ax3000g multieffect (that amp i still have, i dont love it for bass cause it lacks of low end (i like the mids a lot), but it is awesome for clean electric guitar and acoustic instruments, it also works as a good subkick mic for drums)
I have 2 tone blaster combo amps that are my main amps. My show amp is a 100R 2x12 100 watt, and my home practice amp is a 50R 1x12 50 watt. I love both!
A guitarist of mine had one of those and it was indeed an excellent amp for what it was. Another SS hidden gem honestly is a crate gt120. I’m sure one could be found pretty cheap. Cheers!
Another great Crate hidden gem is a GX130C amp head. Thing is a beast of an amp!
Many of those red line Crates with the Celestions had some good tones.
@@ripley7t429 yeah the one I had, had a blue line on it. I think the head is actually the gt1200 not the 120. It’s been a while lol. The limited videos out there are all cellphone or tablet recordings and they sound like poo.
Thanks for driving up the price on the solid state I was planning to pick up.
You've been practicing and it shows my dude! You're shredding ur ass off!! That amp sounds great too, btw.
Just picked up a Mint Tone blaster with matching 4x12 stereo cab for $200! Footswitch, original cable and manual and all!
This amp was my very first head. still got it to this day, mostly been playing around on my Engl Savage via Synergy running into the Egnater tweakers power section which has kt88s. haven't played it in years but thanks to this video just might crank it up just to live out those old memories when I was younger. Great Vid Glenn
Not bad at all I almost picked one up years ago for a cheap backup head. If I ever come across one I think I might grab it. Great demo 👍🤘
Ty!
Props for the Bad News t shirt!
This video made my day because I am still jamming on a Ibanez Toneblaster 65R that I found in a pawnshop many years ago. It’s probably better than my skill level!
I used to have one of those, I loved it. Not big on the reverb but as far as the clean and OD channels I dig it for the price.
Hey Gleen! You should try to hook the line out or FX loop send into the return of one of your tube amp for power tube tube saturation. I did this a few times an it gave me an interesting tone from SS pedal preamp. FU from Quebec and keep the vids comming!
Glenn- Idea for a rare amp hidden gem that REALLY took me by surprise being I had the solid state version and thought it was average beginner mediocre tones and a bitch to learn how to use, but a dude had one I went to go trade some guitars with and he popped it on and I was blown away at the difference between his and mine. He had the rare tube specific 2x12 mother that IMO sounds PHENOMENAL especially on a few specific settings. Its the Peavey Vypyr 2x12 hard to find tube version that has a few diff amp models than the standard solid state version and also isnt like the solid state as in they tried to voice the solid state to be able to use as an acoustic amp AND bass amp. The tube version doesnt play games with trying to voice bass and acoustic, its a straight metal machine for guitar only and has a few diff voicings for amp models than the solid. The 2x12 is the rare beast, you can find the 1x12 way easier but theres something apparently with the 2x12 that adds grunt or something to it and it I think was only made 1 or 2 yrs and dropped from being made. Im sure due to the stigma the solid states have so people want to write em off immediately thinking they have to be garbage. It is a built in multi fx amp in the way a Line 6 spider is kinda, BUT it has 2 diff types of lists of fx, one large set is all analog and those sound amazing,well most do,for a multi fx amp anyways,lol. the digital side is ok on about half of em, but theres some on both sides that are just trash of course, and I rarely use most the fx,tho with the Sanpera 2 double expression pedal hooked up to this and able to save 12 patches and I believe way more in the Sanpera, and download off the internet updates possibly still and pre made patches (I never hook this up to download shit to it, cuz i use then "JSX" tone, the "rectifier" a bit, the "XXX" in this sounds better than a real XXX, the 6505 is cool, "deizel", and "K Stein" are good too. ) The JSX and the XXX win the show tho on this. they are AMAZING. Has built in overdrive in the analog circuit, booster, pitch shift, pog, delay,phaser, flange, compressor, etc. and more. most of which I dont use, but also mimics Fender twin, Bad Cat and more. Surprised there isnt a gate on it. Also does that weird backwards looping shit with a tap tempo for delays etc. which the delay "works" but needs some updating or improvement as alot of these fx do,and this amp is a BITCH when it comes to being friendly with pedals. Oddly enough I havent tried the tube screamer in front of it but plan on it,even tho Ive had this over 2 yrs,never used a overdrive as the sound is just crisp pure and raw on the JSX and XXX, maybe they nailed those cuz Peavey actually makes those amps,lol. anyways, but it took me hrs to get it to allow my old fav from HS distortion pedal, the ZOOM DRIVER 5000, BEST UNKNOWN DISTORTION PEDAL EVER MADE HANDS DOWN, the amp did not want to play nice and it took me eons to get it to work with the pedal so I have variety outside of just the amp sounds distortion wise. Otherwise I swear by this amps tone on JSX AND XXX. It also doesnt have a FX loop Im guessing cuz they didnt expect you to run FX through an..FX amp..lol anyways, check it out if you can,the 1x12 MIGHT do it justice, IDK. All I know is this is the GEM of the bunch and by far hardest to find in the 2x12.
Got mine used for 450 NOK, about 45 US dollars some years ago. Great pedal platform.
At the beginning I’m totally having an Ola will it chug moment ;-)
First thing I thought too!
The ibanez tbx150h is an amazing head for the money, ive had mine for 9 years and its still going strong,the high gain channel kicks fucking ass and the clean is solid if you can find the foot pedal forget about it, thing turns into a versatile machine. Definitely the best purchase i made as a a teenager who couldnt afford a tube amp.
I had one of these for years. was never my main amp, but it was nice to have around.
I bought it for around $100 US
Some other "hiden gems" of amps you might be interested in getting for an episode sometime later:
-Crate Blue Voodoo
-Some Bugera Models turn out pretty great, like the 1990 or their rectifier and 5150 clones.
-Mesa Boogie F50 that sometimes you can get a very decent sounding 1x12 combo for really cheap
Badass riffing man! Amp sounds sick too :D
Loved this video, Glenn. I did a session a while back with my Peavey Transformer 112, an early solid-state modeling amp and the engineer got an amazing sound out of it combining an SM57 and u67. Crazy thought that the microphones were worth about 35 times what I paid for the amp.
I have a buddy with a Behringer VT100H and it sounds amazing. Sounds like a Marshall solid state amp from the 90's with a tube power amp, or maybe a tube in the preamp circuit, even though there are no tubes anywhere in the thing. It just has a convincing tube emulation circuit.
I absolutely enjoy the classic Glenn riffs. Also demoing cheap gear. 😎
sounds great. Love that the gear snobs will hate this. :)
yes, they will!
I've been using an Ibanez TBX150R Toneblaster Extreme 2x12 combo which is the newer version of the Toneblaster for about 5 years now. Now admittedly, I'm an Ibanez fanboy, but the Toneblaster really does sound great for the money.
been beating the drum on this one for a while, I picked this up but a 2x12 combo for 125 bucks , the rhythm player in my band has been using it , we have gigged it a ton of times and it has held up nice and fits right in with our sound. Have had far more expensive amps that I didn't like the tone of as much as I do the little Ibanez
I'd love if you did more with Solid State I believe they are really underrated depending.
I’ve got several.... I’ll get on it!
they probs get a bad rep coz being combo amps with subpar speakers, my two cents
Orange Crush Pro 120 is a KILLER solid state amp. Takes pedals REALLY well and then dirty channel has the orange tone.
+1 to this all day. Check out the Ampeg VH140C, Crate GX130C, or maybe some of the Randall offerings. Recently got a Randall RH200SC and it does metal very well!
I bought my Peavey Windsor because of one of your older “hidden gem“ videos. I think I got it for like 249 USD. I love these kinds of deals. It’s the best time in history for guitar/home studio as far as quality versus price.
I've noticed boost on a drive channel is a volume boost (after preamp) and on a clean channel it is overdrive (like screamer in the front)
I bought one for $175 used and gigged with it for 2 years. I used pedals for most of my tone but the amp held up and did what i needed it to do.
The gibson/mesa JP-2C has functions that can only be accessed through the footswitch/midi - but that thing is probably the exception rather than the rule.
Had one of these from 2005ish till 2014ish with matching 4x12.
Speakers were no better than a fender champion 12. But the head was reliable, had some grind to it, but I never really played metal on it.
Gave it to a kid learning guitar. Last I saw him a few weeks back he’s still gigging weekly.
It’s a bland amp. Let’s call it neutral. It kinda was a Jack of all trades, master of taking a beating.
Good jams Glenn.
I just snagged a 2005 peavey XXL head for $150. Great metal amp. Ultra gain setting is ass. But the high gain setting takes a boost and is seriously THUNDEROUS through my Harley Benton 2x12 v30 cab.
Another sleeper amp for great chunky but bright metal are the late 1990’s Carvin heads. I forget models and all that but the black head with the chorus in it. You find them all day for $120. Not high gain. But a great base for shaping into a gain monster or doom amp.
Might pick one of these up very soon, found one in my area, my first actual amp head I'm not borrowing from family
Thank you, glenn. In indonesia, we have this amp in local-legend venue called Rossi Fatmawati for years. And it never dissapointed us as a player!
Can you do a video on the Kustom KG100HFX ? That's a hidden gem everyone seem to overlook
I would love to see you do a hidden gem video on Ampeg vl series amps and VH series amps. I truly feel these are hidden gems and deserve some much needed attention
I'm not sure the Ampeg VH is all that 'hidden'. Guys on UG and sevenstring and similar sites have been on to them for over a decade. They often sell for prices that usually only used tube amps go for.
This was my very first half stack amp. Some of my older videos were done with it. Actually mine was the TBX150H. Had a built in boost and was 150 watt.
I've recorded with a Fender Mustang GT40 and got some great tones with just a pair of Shure Beta58s. Its such a tiny, unassuming amp that its cool to hear how it reacts in the context of a mix. Get the volume up around halfway and its cookin'.
Almost got one. But I got a Fender Super Champ and put the Tube Screamer in the line. Works great.
I know I’m late to the show here but I inherited one of these and didn’t think a hole lot about it being a solid state. So it sat on the shelf for a while then I decided to use the preamp into a tube power and holly crap this thing rips.
I had bought a combo version of this in 2005 and it lasted 4 years. I blew the speaker and just gave it away to someone who wanted to fix it. It had a great sound for playing mudvayne back in the day.
Thing about hidden gem stuff of the used market variety is that one can get some mean hardware fairly cheap. Just a few weeks back, a whole Randall Diavlo (100 Watt) tube amp with a complimentary Randall XL412 cabinet went for around £350.
I have a RD5C, unbelievable Lynch tone out of the gate.
Oh Great Kahuna, when will be shown the light and the way of the majestic bass tone created on the Like A Foojin cover? Also, Fuh-Q Glenn
Eventually, yes!!
Yeah gd morning everyone, wish everyone well