Dream amplifier?

[MartinCliffe]

What features would you want in your dream amplifier?

For me, that's simple. I want 4 channels - a good clean that takes a mild overdrive well but has plenty of headroom on its own, and sounds good with pedals; a medium gain crunch channel with a usable active EQ like the crunch channel on the Peavey JSX (which was based on the Classic 50); a higher gain "metal" crunch channel that scoops well without sounding hollow (the crunch channel on the Peavey Triple XXX); and a smooth, searing lead sound such as a Mesa Mark IIc, Carvin Legacy or similar (actually, the lead channel on the JSX is pretty good for this).

It'd have a built in noise gate like the ISP Decimator. It would have to be switchable via the RG-16, of course - I don't want to be messing with MIDI on the amp itself as the digital circuitry and nice analogue tubes should be kept apart IMO. I want it to be stereo - a footswitchable, mono send, stereo return series effects loop with send and return controls. It doesn't have to be very high wattage - 15 or 20 watts per side (so a pair of EL84s perhaps) would be fine. I'd also want speaker simulating DI outs (again stereo) - a pair of Hughes & Kettner Redboxes or Palmer PDI-09s - on ground-liftable XLRs to avoid having to mic the cabs.

If all that would fit in a 4U or 5U rackmount, that'd be cool, although a standalone head design is fine I know I could probably do this with separate preamp and power amp components, but I like the integration of a single head - it seems to "breathe" better IMO.

So, over to you. What's your dream amp?

 

[rjmmusic]

I could get by with "only" three channels in my dream amp:

Ch1: Fender
Ch2: Marshall
Ch3: Bogner/Soldano/Elmwood/Engl/blahblahblah - some kinda high gain...

Each channel would have two masters and two gains, and channels 1 and 2 would have an additional gain stage that kicked in with the second master/gain pair. Most importantly, the Marshall channel needs to have Plexi and higher gain modes. MIDI built-in of course, external bias, and easily moddable if the urge strikes me (as it so often does).

This amp is sitting next to my workbench, partially completed. I work on it every now and again when I have a moment. No, I'm not getting into the amp business. No thanks! But what good is an electronics degree if you don't use it to build your own freakin' dream amp?

 

[qtcustom]

I have a D-Style clone from a certain NoCal kit seller/amp builder who shall remain nameless because of incredibly lame customer service...wanted to build it myself (I've put a few simple amps and pedals from kits together) but I punted 'cause it's a beast and the purchase experience did not inspire confidence in the tech support. So I threw more money at the project :? and my tech should be done with it any day now. 88 watts, 2 channels plus preamp bypass, serial loop, internal trimmers for the overdrive channel, etc, voiced like Blue Line-era Robben Ford (one of my favorite tones.) The kit itself cost as much as many brand new boutique amps, and the parts quality is admittedly stellar. So I have high hopes that despite the bad business juju the amp will be a major heavyweight tone monster...and will need a Mini Amp Gizmo to switch the channels!