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Hey guys. I just checked out the video clip of the Russin Kid that's in the Tips and Clips forum. He was playing through a Hughes and Keetner of some sort. I was TOTALLY digging the tone. Can you guys help direct me towards which model it may have been? Also, can you guys suggest some other High Gain amps of that type. I of course know of Mesa, Soldano, Peavey, some Marshalls and Engl. Any other brands? Thanks for the help!

well, what more do you want

you basically listed the most accessible ones of the bunch.. but you forgot Bogner, Diesel and a couple of others i cannot remember off the top of my head

Randall does some good high gain if you wanna go the solid state route. Dimebag used these almost exclusively until he joined Damageplan and went the Krank route. Krank however have some very questionable business practices from what I understand.. Scott Ian of Anthrax uses Randalls now too. Except he uses the V-Max's.. which have 2 preamps; one tube and one solid state.

I've bought 2 guitars since my last amp purchase. I need a new amp now too. Love my Behringer, but it isnt high gain. I hit it with a distortion pedal as a boost and it turns it into a high gain beast.

high gain...now yer talkin' hehehe

i own a peavey ultra plus now which is the amp that the XXX is based on which is a great low $$$ high gain 120w head but can only be had used. this amp has some great sounds to it from mild to wild.

i also just ordered and engl powerball which should be here fairly soon and then i can give a review on that.

i've played through mesa rectos (single, dual and triple) which are great amps used by many.

i've also played through 5150s which can be good but seem to lack a bit of low end in the high gain channel but not bad.

well, the question here is...what do you want it to sound like? what bands etc?

-Mike

Did you say High-Gain?

You should check out a VHT Pittbull Ultra Lead CLX.
It's 100watts, EL34, on board Graphic EQ, loads of gain, and killer tone.

Thanks for the info guys.

If your looking for solid state and high gain, the Peavey XXL is low buck and sounds great!! When I had one, people were suprised when I told them that it was solid state after they played through it.

laney makes some good stuff if you like brit tones

personally, for high gain, i like dual rectifiers, 5150's on the rythm channel, and xxx's

i wish they made a 6l6 uberschall, I'm not a fan of EL's, at all


Originally Posted by zippy

Krank however have some very questionable business practices from what I understand..

could you elaborate on that a little?

i'm not questioning you, i'm just curious about it

From what I understand, they did some stuff like posting positive reviews of their equipment on HC to drown out any negative reviews. I don't know about anything else.

That said, I really like how the Revolution 100 sounds and I would probably purchase one given the money.

If you go to HC, you won't find a section for Krank amp reviews. Why? They had workers blast the place with killer reviews. I've also heard stories of them spamming their own forums and the like. I've also heard that they lie about their cabinets. IE, they claim it's quot;solid woodquot;, when it's really just plywood. Not that it's a HUGE deal.. but lying about it just isn't cool.

i think they are solid wood

which is why they suck amp; have no sustain

My favorite high gain amp is the Bad Cat, Hot Cat 30R. It doesn't have all the features of, say a Bogner, Diezel, or Mesa, but IMHO it has the coolest tone with the least amount of work. Of course all the amps in the original list are killer in their own right. Try as many as you can, and remember speakers are a huge percentage of the equation. I think the Hot Cat 30R sounds horrible thru greenbacks, ok thru G12t's (the standard for Marshall), and amazing thru A 4x12 loaded with Vintage 30's or G12H30's.

Rivera Knucklehead Reverb amp; Knucklehead 2.
The original non-reverb Knucklehead is a cool amp but not that kind of high gain.


Originally Posted by BluesGuyJHey guys. I just checked out the video clip of the Russin Kid that's in the Tips and Clips forum. He was playing through a Hughes and Keetner of some sort. I was TOTALLY digging the tone. Can you guys help direct me towards which model it may have been? Also, can you guys suggest some other High Gain amps of that type. I of course know of Mesa, Soldano, Peavey, some Marshalls and Engl. Any other brands? Thanks for the help!

Digitech GSP 2101: Ultimate preamp. Solid state, and tube voicings, plus a ton of effects and a noise gate/eqs all over the place. One of my favorites. Gain is super high. Sounds great, and you can get one for 300-400 bucks on ebay. I love mine so much. I always go to GC and play their marshalls, mesas, etc, and always come home to my 2101 very happy.

I love my XXX

I think Digitech succeeded very well at capturing high gain sounds. I've been using my GSP-5 since 1990 and I just haven't found anything that worked better. Maybe I'm stuck in the 80's...

The ultimate high gain amp IMHO is the VHT Ultralead (jimmy knows). It's unbelievably articulate, super high gain and really anything a high gain rocker could ask for. I'd take it over a Bogner Uberschall or Diezel VH-4 any day of the week (and that's a statement).

I had the original Hot Cat and while it was high gain, it was too raw and edgy for my taste. It had a gritty sort of bite to it that couldn't be EQ'd out. In all fairness, I need to give the new R version a shot (especially because I can dial in mids).

Crate, Randall, Behringer, and the new Fender amps all have great distortion/overdrive channels. Dont get me wrong i love tube amps (JCM800) but i just prefer solid state.