What is the worst amp you’ve ever played?

Penn · September 2023

blobb said:

I can believe that is bad if this is anything to go by

Yorkie · September 2023

Blackstar ID:Core 100. Bought it for the stereo, sold it for everything else.

SquireJapan · September 2023

For me it was the smallest Guerrilla amp they made - that's what I had with my first Yamaha RGX112 guitar (that was ace).

I'm amazed that I kept playing after having to live with that thing. Was very jealous of my friend's Park G10 - that did (and still does) kick arse.

Image: https://images.reverb.com/image/upload/s--PqfJb6oa--/a_0/f_auto,t_large/v1679171827/fge8ztfqd3wdumvqars2.jpg

It wasn't just quiet, it robbed the entire guitar of any life. Even from a noddy player like me.

Penn · September 2023

SquireJapan said:

For me it was the smallest Guerrilla amp they made - that's what I had with my first Yamaha RGX112 guitar (that was ace).

I'm amazed that I kept playing after having to live with that thing. Was very jealous of my friend's Park G10 - that did (and still does) kick arse.

It wasn't just quiet, it robbed the entire guitar of any life. Even from a noddy player like me.

I had a park G10. Rather than thinking it kicked arse … thought it was arse.

ScreamingDave · September 2023

My first ever amp way a Kay monstrosity that was in a plastic cab. It was just nasty. It went back to the shop next day and I got a JHS C15T, 15w of pure transistor mayhem, which was probably shite as well, to be fair, but just wasn’t AS shite as the Kay.

The only reason I call the Kay out is that it was supposed to be a serious amp, but to be frank it was probably quieter than my nylon strung acoustic was , and didn’t sound as good.

But the worst amps are those little battery things, like the Marshall Micro Stack and a mini Fender Twin I had, that was blessed with two 2” speakers. They’re truly bad, but to be fair, they’re toys. Just silly gimicks, so you can’t judge them too harshly, especially as they’re still better than the Kay abomination that I started off with

Yorkie · September 2023

Yorkie said:

Blackstar ID:Core 100. Bought it for the stereo, sold it for everything else.

I’ve just checked the review I wrote here. It reads like an overlong epitaph. And I wrote it right at the start of the honeymoon period

NickB · September 2023

Moe_Zambeek said:

NickB said:

Carlsbro Wasp, a heap of crap from the 1980s, it sounded like a wasp in a biscuit tin. Awful amp.

I had one of those and don’t remember disliking it, probably because it was a massive step up from plugging into the aux-in on the record player. Next up was a Fender M80 which I also strangely don’t have any bad memories of, but I must have disliked it because I was happy to move it on for a ‘proper amp’ in the shape of a Marshall 4010, which was really unreliable (in the days before I knew what an amp tech was…).

Yes I will admit that it was a step up from my Mum and Dads aux in on the their tape deck.... I blew a tweeter on their Hi-Fi.

my next amp was a Fender Super 60. I still have that and used to gig it until 2010. Loud little Mofo!

Keefy · September 2023

NickB said:

Carlsbro Wasp, a heap of crap from the 1980s, it sounded like a wasp in a biscuit tin. Awful amp.

I’ll see your Wasp and raise you a Hornet. It added a mids control and reverb. I discovered how shite it was when I took it on an actual gig.

inewham · September 2023

A 'Super Minstrel', horrible ting.

Image: http://www.iannewham.com/images/guitar.jpg

On the Gorilla theme I still have a Gorilla TC-110 in the box room, some times i wonder if it would sound better with a decent speaker, but the I sober up.

Sassafras · September 2023

Peavey Bravo.
Hugely compressed and lifeless.
Micro Terror - awful, similar over compressed one trick pony.

ICBM · September 2023

Sassafras said:

Peavey Bravo.
Hugely compressed and lifeless.

Terrible amp. The solid state models from the same series were better in every way.

I admit I actually like the Carlsbro Hornet... it’s got a great punk fuzz tone if you turn it right up. Shit, but in a good way

. The Wasp is too small to have the same effect - I’d still take one over a Micro Terror though.

NickB · September 2023

Keefy said:

NickB said:

Carlsbro Wasp, a heap of crap from the 1980s, it sounded like a wasp in a biscuit tin. Awful amp.

I’ll see your Wasp and raise you a Hornet. It added a mids control and reverb. I discovered how shite it was when I took it on an actual gig.

I used mine on a gig and it was so wimpy I couldn’t hear myself above the drums

Keefy · September 2023

ICBM said:

I admit I actually like the Carlsbro Hornet... it’s got a great punk fuzz tone if you turn it right up. Shit, but in a good way . The Wasp is too small to have the same effect - I’d still take one over a Micro Terror though.

Not much good on a country gig though…

NickB said:

Keefy said:

NickB said:

Carlsbro Wasp, a heap of crap from the 1980s, it sounded like a wasp in a biscuit tin. Awful amp.

I’ll see your Wasp and raise you a Hornet. It added a mids control and reverb. I discovered how shite it was when I took it on an actual gig.

I used mine on a gig and it was so wimpy I couldn’t hear myself above the drums

That was my problem too.

ICBM · September 2023

Keefy said:

Not much good on a country gig though…

lol… no

. Not a very loud clean 45 (? I think) watts. The Stingray - 100W - would be what you need

.

Schnozz · September 2023

Marshall MG15 CDR - My first amp (and like a hornets nest).

Supportact · September 2023

Keefy said:

NickB said:

Carlsbro Wasp, a heap of crap from the 1980s, it sounded like a wasp in a biscuit tin. Awful amp.

I’ll see your Wasp and raise you a Hornet. It added a mids control and reverb. I discovered how shite it was when I took it on an actual gig.

I'll see your Hornet and raise you a Scorpion! (actually I don't know what the differences are between the models, but a scorpion is bigger than a hornet). It replaced the awful Sound City combo and (maybe for that reason) I actually liked it, and did a lot of gigs with it. I remember the joy of finding out the noise the spring reverb made when you wobbled the amp.

BillDL · September 2023

I'm posting from work so I can't look it up, but one of the "worst" amps I had was in the mid to late 80s when I bought a 2nd-hand 30 watt 1x12 combo that was covered with fuzzy grey carpet. Hughes & Kettner? I remember the panel and/or buttons lit up in a blue or green and it was all pretty fancy, but it just sounded far too "processed" and clinical for what I wanted at the time. I think it had a single valve in the preamp circuit and even though you could get some really saturated and fairly smooth lead sounds, I recall that I didn't like the clean or crunch sounds much. I traded it in against one of the many Peavey amps I went through around that time. I preferred their "roughness". Perhaps if I had to try one again after all these years I might actually like the sounds.

Yorkie · September 2023

Schnozz said:

Marshall MG15 CDR - My first amp (and like a hornets nest).

I had the CD version of that one for years. I thought it was OK, but it was only my second amp after the ‘noisy dissuader’ I started with.

Jon

OilCityPickups · September 2023

Pretty much any Blackstar I've ever played has been horrible.
Any nasty 70s tranny amp with Marshall on it.

Image: https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/7ysAAOSw2Oxks6r4/s-l1600.jpg

These were real stinkers

Image: https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/MNAAAOSwX~tlAkED/s-l1600.jpg

BillDL · September 2023

I completely forgot about this one, possibly because I deliberately tried to void it. Randall RG-25RGX. 25 transistor watts of nasal catarrh through a 1 x 8". Absolutely dreadful and impossible to get usable settings.

ICBM · September 2023

OilCityPickups said:

Any nasty 70s tranny amp with Marshall on it.

Those are great. They have absolutely period-correct knobs, switch, logo, handle and corner protectors - perfect for restoring 70s valve Marshalls

… the reissue parts aren’t close enough.

In fact, looking at that one on a bigger screen, it's already had the knobs replaced with reissues and the handle ends nicked

.

(They do actually sound OK working too, but that usually doesn’t last very long!)

OilCityPickups said:

These were real stinkers

Those are the ones I meant - that’s a Stingray I think, the Hornet’s biggest brother. Fantastic punk amp if you turn them up loud with the fuzz on. Not great for much else though, it has to be said… although they’re bombproof and take pedals well.

Teetonetal · September 2023

I've had quite a few cheaper bad amps, especially when I was a teen - so I'm going to only talk about amps that should have been good.

The worst sound. Fargen Townhouse 20. The most sterile sounding and boring amp I've ever played. Sounded horrible on it's own, sounded horrible with pedals.

The most annoying: Fender Supersonic 22 - I loved the sound of this amp, but it was made from damp cardboard. Broke, broke and broke again, hissed like crazy and reacted to the notion of electrical interference...

Lewy · September 2023

I've played a fair few cheap and crappy amps, but they were ok for what they were - i.e. cheap, small, light etc. The worst-for-what-it-is amp I've played was a Mesa Lonestar Special. Brittle, harsh, never "just right". One of those amps that feels harder to play through.

thecolourbox · September 2023

I forgot to mention the Mooer Little Monster BM. One of the most difficult amps to play through, very spiky and revealing and almost no drive to be had whatsoever. I can only assume BM actually stood for Bowell Movement rather than Bassman, as the marketing copy suggests.

It took a 12 band eq before it to make it sound anywhere near nice

OilCityPickups · September 2023

My first ever amp when I was about 13 was one of these
It came from Freeman's Catalogue and was so unbelievably awful It almost put me off playing guitar for good.

Image: https://jedistar.com/images/Mar2020/FAL_Merlin.jpg

GoFish · September 2023

Wasn't George Harrison some sort of investor in Future Aids Limited? Good on him to try and support British

entrepreneurship but that wasn't his finest hour.

I think there's a Youtube video of some "Amp Expert" literally weeping (with joy!) after playing a Calsboro Stingray, likening it to a pre CBS Twin or something.

BillDL · September 2023

So THAT'S what "FAL" was an acronym for. I had a FAL Linnet Five practice amp when I was starting out. No better or worse than would be expected for a week's net wages, so I'm not going to slag that off as "the worst". It worked and did the job to let me hear myself until I could afford something bigger and better.

Barquentine · September 2023

I've played plenty of terrible amps but, of those I've actually owned, the Peavey Bravo stands out as a particularly bad memory - an utterly dull, lifeless clean channel and an over-compressed weedy lead channel with not an ounce of bite to it. But the top of my list would be the Katana. It was like a library of the worst guitar tones ever created. What was even more amazing was the amount of people who claimed it was one of the greatest amps ever and better than their Marshalls, Deluxe Reverbs, AC30's etc. On the other hand there are people who think Mrs Brown's Boys is a great comedy show.

Penn · September 2023

Barquentine said:

I've played plenty of terrible amps but, of those I've actually owned, the Peavey Bravo stands out as a particularly bad memory - an utterly dull, lifeless clean channel and an over-compressed weedy lead channel with not an ounce of bite to it. But the top of my list would be the Katana. It was like a library of the worst guitar tones ever created. What was even more amazing was the amount of people who claimed it was one of the greatest amps ever and better than their Marshalls, Deluxe Reverbs, AC30's etc. On the other hand there are people who think Mrs Brown's Boys is a great comedy show.

I am so glad to hear someone else doesn’t like Mrs Browns Boys. Just do not get it.

Funny how a few people have said about the katana when some people seem to think they are the best thing ever.

I had a micro terror. It wasn’t amazing and only did the orange sound but as a little toy amp it wasn’t the worst thing ever.

impmann · September 2023

Bird amps... they show you first hand that not all vintage valve amps sound good.

Peavey Valve King - all the worst sounds of a transistor amp but its valve

BB Blaster - just no.

Danelectro HoneyTone - wtf were they thinking

Carlsboro Hornet and Wasp - the sound of disappointment

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What is the worst amp you’ve ever played?

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