What amp are you using right now?

[Gary James Peters]

I have two amps, neither of which I've used live as I haven't been in a band for a couple of years (I wonder why!!??...although I'd love to be, needless to say). I have a pristine Peavey Session 500 which I bought last year for a song. Obviously that would work fine in any band no matter how loud, but as Gerry Hogan joked with me recently, the front wheels of your car are off the road when you put it in the boot. The other amp, which I bought for six string is a Traynor YCV 40, a 40 watt all valve amp. It had a Celestion Vintage 30 G12 in it as standard, and that sounded pretty (no, very) awesome with my Strat and Tele, and even my big bodied jazz guitar. After having read a couple of steel players on the US Steel Forum saying they were using them, I tried my steel through it. It actually sounded really great in the bass and mid-range, but the top end was too harsh and crunchy (perfect for guitar). So I replaced the Celestion with a Warehouse G12 G/S which has got the smoother top end, having read many great reviews of these speakers (and I only paid £80 new for it and sold the Celestion fof £70...so it actually cost me a tenner!). Now it does just the job I need it to, and I tend to prefer it to the Peavey for recording (although it depends on the music I'm recording). They're both great amps, and the Traynor is, in my opinion, superior (and way cheaper) to the Fender Deluxe Reverb that it is sometimes compared with, and far superior to the Blues Junior, which I've used many times. What is more, the Traynor is remarkably cheap second-hand. Mine cost me £250 and I've seen a few go for around that on Ebay, even less sometimes. Anyone interested should read the reviews of the Traynor, which are often promoted way above, for example, the Mesa Boogie. BUT, at 40 watts (albeit a very loud 40 watts) I'm not sure about loud live gigs, hopefully I'll get a chance to try it one day. The other thing is that, while way better for the steel, the Warehouse speaker can't quite match the Celestion for six string guitar, although it's certainly clean, so might suit some players more than me. Up until last year, and for many years, I used a Peavey Nashville 400 and a Fender Blues Junior, neither of could hold a candle to the amps I'm currenty using.