Lets Talk About Boutique Amps 

My son heard and then HAD to purchase a used Hamstead Artist 20. Now I have to have one someday. The Blues Jr, Vox's, Mesa, Marshalls, other production Fender amps I've owned just won't cut it. Even the Tone King Imperial Mkii I bought a few weeks ago thinking thinking it would be close to the Hamstead in terms of pure tonal nirvana was unsuccessful. So, I replaced it's speaker with the G12M65 CreamBack in the Hamstead...and while it improved the tone to my taste....I still need my own Hamstead. I can feel it....and it inspires me...weird at 61 years old playing since I was 9.

Nice vid Mike. That Hamstead sure is sweet! From my experience w boutique amps, the difference is in the details. Top to bottom the build quality is usually first class... often handmade and hand wired (obviously there’s great boutique amps w PCBs... Tone King, Mesa, etc). I find most boutique amps really draw from the vintage stuff both sonically and structurally. The quality of the components used in boutique amps (NOS tubes & trannies, Mercury Magnetics trannies, etc) far surpasses the internals being used by mass produced amps overseas and in Mexico. In a nut shell they usually sound superior and are made better. BUT, that’s not to say a mass produced amp with a PCB can’t or won’t sound good. So much of “tone” is taste and preference. I like a glass of wine but I can’t tell the difference between a $20 or $100 bottle. My palette isn’t refined enough. I think physically hearing tone and sound is on par w that. It takes time to appreciate the nuanced splendor that a great boutique Tube Amp can give us. MOST IMPORTANTLY, boutique builders IMHO have surpassed what the big 3 (Fender, Marshall, Vox) make today. We can’t all run out and buy vintage Voxes, Fenders & Marshall’s in pristine condition, but I can buy a Morgan, Friedman, Victoria, Swart, 65, Divided By 13, Hamstead, Audio Kitchen, Two-Rock, etc. The most important thing is being inspired to play music. I personally find boutique amps help in that endeavor. YMMV. Cheers, Mike, and sorry for the ramble 🤙🏻😄

That RS720B through the Hamstead is pure tone nirvana 👌

Thumbs up for the Yamaha

I bought a Roadstar 18 from MJW. I'm a beginner. Am I getting the most out of it? Nope. But I'll never need an upgrade, buying it was a great experience, it's got everything I want and I love looking at it and hearing it. Job done.

good notion of tone and playing I love it man

I have a Two-Rock and a Dr Z, and I love them both, probably the best decision I made. And I’m NOT rich at all, far from it, I just saved money for quite a long time to get them. Sure, I could instead buy 4 or 5 cheap amps, or buy and resell many others instead and keep chasing tones, but instead I decided to save money and get what I wanted and I’m in no chase in those tones, I have everything I want for those amps and tones. I’m still lurking at a Diezel to cover the high-gain tones and I’m in the process to save money to get the Diezel… It’s all about having priorities in mind and being patient to get what we really want… I saved a lot of money by not falling for the next new hype thing, and I didn’t lost tone of money in the endless buy/resale game…

Hey mike great video as always. Fair dinkum Mike you could make a tree trunk sound good keep up the great work your channel is gold 👍🍺🍺👍

good video, as always!

Sounds insane! What pickups are those ?

Great video as always! You should definitely consider doing a Lets Talk About series

I love how you teach, I love your skills on the guitar, but as a general comment, you just crack me up mate! Never change and keep posting your awesome videos 🍻🍻🍻🍻🍻🍻

One thing I've noticed with boutique amps is the difference in the noise floor (if that's the right term). When I play through my Supro or Mesa Boogie, I can throw a whole bunch of pedals at it and they just stay quiet, whereas if I throw the same pedals in front of a Deluxe Reverb Reissue, it's almost unusable! But you're definitely right about the fingers comment, it doesn't really make a difference to a great player what they play through in terms of the tone that's getting put through the front of house, but they'll definitely notice a difference in feel. Awesome video, Mike!

Okay, I love that guitar!!!!!!!

The rig you just demonstrated seems pretty intelligent. The amp is fantastic, the guitar is less expensive but how cleaver is that. The amp is worth the money because it's fantastic. The guitar is a brilliant example of an inexpensive guitar that is also brilliant.

woah at 17:48 it kills!

Good vid! I’m a firm believer of ‘charge what you think it’s worth’ and the market will decide... That said, one of my early 1980’s Peavey Bandit 65’s was doing the business today in front of a couple of 100 people.... they all seemed quite happy😏

i think you did a great job on this video Mike. it's hard to do videos like this without coming off as a jerk. Every point you made was valid. To add to your case i think its important that people consider/understand that for some people music is their profession. it's their tool to being successful for creating music and continuing their livelihood. mechanics spend thousands of dollars on tools as do many other trades. Musicians are an interesting bunch where 'expensive' is a completely relative term. to some, 400$ is expensive. to others $4000 is expensive. the great news is that there are manufacturers making gear at every price tag. boutique,, vintage, hand made gear has its place and there will always be people willing to pay for it, and there will always be people who scoff at it. it's nice to own nice things.

I remember that when I bought my Epiphone Riviera this May that in the store I noticed that I actually played a lot better than usual (even though I was pretty nervous, because I'm not used to playing in front of people I don't know) and it might have been the amps. They were simple Fender and Marshall valve amps, but of course they sounded a lot better than my Boss Katana at home. I love that amp by the way, don't get me wrong, but it really felt differently when I got back from the store and plugged it in. I still loved the guitar of course and it still sounded great, but if there's a similar difference between a regular and a boutique valve amp aswell, I can totally understand the justification of buying a boutique amp, certainly if you have the money. Now let's read back and see if this comment makes sense Oh well, good enough Nice vid Mike!

Yeah I had an obsession with hand-wired tube amps especially ef86 amps. It's obvious I was obsessed I have a box with hundreds of tubes in it lol. I found a guy. A one-man operation he makes Boutique amps. His name is Winfield Thomas a great guy will talk to you for hours. His amps are relatively inexpensive. But I'm over it now. My dream amp is a solid-state amp that sounds good with one knob LOL. I haven't talked to him in years. if anyone wants to Google it's Winfield Thomas amplifiers

An amp video, but actually thanx for the demo of the RS720B guitar. The Yami RS series is quite nice for the price.

I'd love a Morgan amp, seen them on andertons and they sound great.

Not a lot of people know this but i invented the Marshall amp. i was a DJ at the Brown Hatter club in Scunthorpe and was using 6 Fender Bassmans as my power amps. When we put the prototypes together it was a coin toss whether it said Marshall or Dufort. Jim wanted them to be leopard print after my loin cloth and he wanted the speakers to be gramophone horns. Luckily i won the coin toss or things woulda been very different.

I have a PRS MT-15 I personally think it is about as good a amp as your going to buy regardless of cost, I use it with a 440live 2x12 vertical cab with 2 eminence speakers. A man-o-war and a swamp thang 12" speakers It is very loud for a so called 15 watts, to be honest it is louder than my peavey 100 watt solid state 4x12..quality of sound is very high even at very low volumes..

In my view you Will pay less for most boutique amplifiers then you will pay for the vintage marshals and fenders that are point point hand wired, that to have better transformers, tube rectifiers, and all of the things that made those amps special, With out the lack of reliability, That you are bound to get with an amp that is 50 or 60 years old. So now you might be paying twice as much or even three times as much for a boutique new valve ampWhen compared to a mass produced modern valve amp. The benefit is that you are probably paying less than a vintage, unless you’re talking about a Dumble, And getting all the things that make a vintage amp great. The reason vintage amps were great is because there were no shortcuts and substitutions with inferior parts that are all in the tone Chain. In modern mass produced amps, You get inferior parts, Such as cheap circuit boards, solid-state rectifiers, crappy transformers, and decent preamp and Power amp tubes With a Celestion speaker. Basically the tea wood would otherwise be a crappy solid-state amp, And make the power and preamp section tube driven, but a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. While this cliché is not entirely true With modern valve amps, that contain lots of cheap digital parts manufactured in sweatshops And often assembled in countries known for assembling a surplus of products through efficient assembly line type labor, You are not getting the quality construction as far as the durability, you are not getting a simple elegance hand wired ampWith an immaculate interior that is easy to service, and you’re not getting the rectifier the transformers that have a lot to do with the tone. I really don’t know that much about amps as far as how to work on an amp and I’m not a guitar tech either. I’m a guy Who is played guitar for 35 years. During that time I have probably owned over 100 guitars and at least 50 amps. I can tell you without a doubt that Vintage ampsAnd quality boutique amps, sound is far superior two new amps by big-name amp manufactures like Marshall, Fender and Vox. When you play an original Marshall plexi super lead, and original Fender Twin, Bassman, an original AC30, Sound light years ahead of reissued and new offerings from these companies. The vintage amps will probably run you upwards of $10,000. Why not pay two to $3000 for a boutique amp That gives you as much and in some cases more magic than vintage amps, Then settle for a new offering or a re-issue that sounds good but doesn’t inspire you to play anywhere near the way he vintage or a boutique amp inspires you. Just watch the demos even on the phone and hear the sound of a Dumble, a Dr.Z , a Fuchs, a Suhr, a Badcat, a two rock, a Friedman compared to a new Marshall or new Fender or new Vox. Like the host mentions, these are good amps but it is really hit or miss depending on the venue and they need to be dialed in most of the time. I play a Dr Z with a volume and a tone control And With a reverb, delay and good overdrive pedal, you have a simple and flawless rig assuming you have a good guitar to go with it. The nice thing about it is that if you are a gigging musician You are much better off with a $800 guitar, and a $3000 and then you are with a $3000 guitar and an $800 amp. Guitar that stays in tune, is easy to play, And it’s set up with proper intonation Is going to perform fine with a great rig. An $8000 Les Paul Play threw up an $800 amp it’s going to be OK and if you’re a good player it will sound pretty kick ass. But it’s not the same as if you had a studio Les Paul properly set up and you were playing it through a killer boutique amp with a few great pedals. When you are playing a cranked valve amp That is given all the tender loving care and pride and workmanship of one or two guys who make their living one Amp at a time, There is no contest and how much better your gonna sound and how much more inspiring your tone will be Meaning you will play at your best. If you have the means, always go for the higher end amp and if you have really good means go high end on everything. That doesn’t mean spend money on finishes and binding. The difference between a $2500 Gibson with burst buckers or 59’s, Is not gonna be much different Sounding than one that’s four times as expensive. With an amp however it’s gonna be a night and day

From my experience, I think it's simply finding the right amp for you and having the features it needs. Some people could rock a Fender Deluxe Reverb and find everything they need in it or a Vox AC30. Typically, those type of players either use the amp for their complete tone or run pedals through it. For me, I need a fat clean channel and a great high-gain distortion channel. Usually you only get one or the other. I've used the Orange Rockerverb 100 MKI for years, but I found it had far too much mid-range and not enough bottom for me. The clean channel I was sad to see go. I played a Diamond Spitfire and that sucker was loud, rockin' and very boutique, but the cleans were a little shrill for me. I then finally played the EVH and it was everything I was looking for. I have a feeling I'd love a Friedman as well, but the problem here in America is VERY FEW shops ever have boutique amps. I actually think boutique amps are a little overrated. I also think they are more geared towards blues type players who play one sound all night. When it comes to channel switching, I don't think anyone ever has to go past say a Bogner to get amazing tone. But certainly start with EVH, they are extremely well-made and the tone is absolutely killer. I scoffed at first figuring they'd be cheap iterations of whatever Eddie was playing, but he plays the exact models right off the rack, no enhancements.

An amp I used to love playing through was a Burman Pro Series ( unfortunately mine went missing ) and to be fair when I got it I was looking for something ( I could afford! ) that sounded a bit different from a Marshal or Fender valve amp, much like my guitar a Yamaha SG2000, was something just a little bit outside of the Fender/Gibson sounds. I was never going t be a great guitar player and going that route kept me a step further away from feeling like being a bad imitation of other players, I was just a bad imitation of myself but seeing as no-one knew me I could pull that off better ;-) Certainly not an amp I'd recommend as a cover all amp but I'd definitely recommend trying one if you ever get the chance ( for a bit longer that a normal trial as, the dirty channel has a cascading gain arrangement with triple gain controls )

I think that the future lies with quality amp profilers like Kemper and Fractal Axe FX. Lower cost amp modelers like Line 6 will fill in the void at lower price point. That said, I still would love to have me a Bogner, Friedman, or Diezel hand wired amp. Find the high end boutique amps that are not profiled.

Boutique amps make you look cooler and more hip just like driving an Aston Martin makes you look cooler and more successful.

The controls work better on boutique amps.

What are your favorite amps to run in dual mono ABY? Is 6L6 with EL34 a popular combo that works well with strat and LP? Have a great Fender 6L6 30 watt thing and was thinking about a Hamstead to go with it.

I never question cost of nice gear. Having built guitars for over 20 years I never think oh that’s over priced. But I had an epiphany on amps about 4 years ago. I played nothing but tube amps for over 20 years. I played a lot of nice Boogies, Fenders, almost all the Rivera stuff. The. Someone said try this Fender Mustang. I was like yeah right. I’ve now owned that amp for almost 5 years. Never owned another amp that long. Does it sound as good as the other amps at their best? Absolutely not. It does sound better 90 % of the time though, because in a gig situation it can be dialed in quick and I never have a hard time finding that sweet spot. It’s a cheap modeling amp that I can dial bias and sag and everything that I ever loved about the response of a tube amp.

Hopefully the feeling you get when playing it is good because your tone is not particularly good. It is ok if anything.

I think a lot of people exaggerate how special the production of boutique amps really is. A lot of mumbo jumbo opinions here. On top of that boutique amp builders don't have the history, engineering and experience of say Fender or Marshall - 60-70 years. A and worst of all you are comparing boutique amps to mass produced amps - compare it to a hand-wired Fender 64 or a Marshall hand-wired. Then sit your ass down!

How I see it if fender only made one amp every year you would see them at the same price as dumble amps and other amps

Brother Mike B, I hope you're doing even better than always.

You have to spend at least a 1,000 dollars to get a good sounding fender amp so you might as well look at the boutique amps and get the best sounding amp for your money.

Magnatone or tone king sky king fine sir

Mike, check out Bray Amps - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Lt_NC1xSDGg.html IMO the best sounding Van Halen plexi heads

hello mike

My brother-in-law is friends with the founder of Dr. Z Amps. Wonder if he can swing me a deal?

I listened to this twice, and I hear a lot of mumbo jumbo really.

If only one person is working on an amp, aren't they more likely to make mistakes? Yeah, no one knows the design as the creator, but after creating so many by hand, having a tunnel vision, they might miss out on something. I guess there's testing as well. Speaking of awesome Boutique amps, check out Puromojo on youtube, AMAZING amps!