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Best metal amp head/ best high gain amp


WolfmanpacoIIII

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What's up! First time posting here. My JCM 2000 has been acting weird recently I have the reverb to 0 but its till giving me a ton of reverb....That being said im looking for another amp head one that maybe has a better sound for some metal/grunge. Any recommedations you could guve would be awesome. I already have an MT15 also I know alot of people love that head, but for me the gain when maxed is all feedback. Thanks :) 

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What's your budget? What kind of sound are you going for? JCM 2000s are ok, I wouldn't want one as my main head but wouldn't complain about it as a backup. Personally I love my Fryette Pittbull 100CL and don't feel any urge to go out looking for a different flavor. Sometimes they come up for reasonable prices on Reverb. There are so many other great brands out there, though. If I had to buy a head on a bit more of a budget I'd start by looking at used Peaveys, always found them to be very usable. Also, modeling has come a long way, I'm not a huge fan but I can't turn my nose up at it like I used to.

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I picked up a Laney Ironheard 60w head and 2x12 cab for around £600 ($800 - $850 US) and I was blown away! It has three channels with the usual clean, rythm, lead setup but also has a pre-gain stage on top of the actual gain, and a bunch of knobs and doodads to create some unique tones. There's a watt dial too so if you're playing at home you can dial down the wattage but boost the volume (I don't fully understand how it works). It can be a bit tinny, but I've paired it with a cheap tube screamer and it sounds incredible!

Might sound like I'm endorsed by Laney (I wish) but it's a pretty diverse amp, if it's within your price range I'd definitely recommend it.

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I have a Dual Rec and Diezel Herbert that taunt me daily. Because I can hardly ever get in a room where they can be cranked. Only used for recording into an isolation cab. Ridiculously over powered but I can't bring myself to sell them as I'd lose a fortune...although probably make someone very happy. 

If I had my time over I'd give one of the micro amps a go. Diezel just released a VH4 mini which has the VH4 channel 3 circuit with a solid state power stage. My day-to-day jam and demo recording set up is a Victory Kraken pre amp into a power amp/cab sim pedal (Two Notes Torpedo CAB). However, I understand that Victory now do a Kraken pedal with a solid state power amp built in.  Something like that might be pretty cool.

As above (tube screamer guy) I'd also recommend trying out a few booster pedals as the first thing you plug into from the guitar. Back in the day Iommi and the like had to use these to boost the signal and help the tubes break up, before high gain amps existed. I got a pedal based on the modded Rangemaster that Iommi used and, even into a high gain amp, it adds some extra secret sauce. Laney make a pedal based on this: TI Boost, but there are many boosts out there.

 

 

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I don't like relying on a dirt pedal for part of my basic guitar tone because it's extra tap dancing if I want to switch to clean. It's not much of an issue right now because I have no idea when I'll play guitar live again, and honestly I've always gotten better results without the extra boost at rehearsal/show volumes anyway. Having said that... There are some fantastic sounds to be had with that extra gain stage, especially if you're using an older model like a jcm800, or for recording at lower volumes. If you want a boost without the grit, try an EQ pedal - that's also a great way to add some bite or other character to lackluster pickups. I have a couple of guitars and a bass that run through an always-on EQ pedal first thing.

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