Unless you’re in a Sonic Youth tribute band, or maybe you’ve finally realized your dream of starting an avant-garde tribute to Neil Diamond, you might have a bit of noise in your signal chain you would want to eliminate. These 10 options aim to slam the door on extraneous buzz and hum, and at high-gain settings, they will keep your rhythm chugs tight.
Boss NS-1X Noise Suppressor
Centered around the company’s MDP technology, this gate aims to eliminate noise without sacrificing feel or response. It also includes an effects loop and a mute mode.
$199 street
boss.info
GUPTech MWAC Noise Gate
Precise and high performance even at lower signal, it excels in all situations—from high-gain havoc to gentler terrain. Available in four colors: red, orange, purple or army green. It's affordable enough for everyone to clean up their act.
$127 street
guptech.ca
Revv G8 Noise Gate
A pedal-sized version of the noise gate in the Generator 120, this stomp offers hold, release, and threshold controls, and a full effects loop.
$199 street
revv.com
MXR M135 Smart Gate
The single-knob design allows for on-the-fly tweaking, but the included extended trigger range and three different noise bands allow for a highly versatile setup.
$149 street
jimdunlop.com
ISP Technologies Decimator II
One of the most popular noise gates, this pedal uses Time Vector Processing to help craft a smoother level of noise reduction. You can also link multiple units for maximum signal tracking.
$143 street
Isptechnologies.com
TC Electronic Iron Curtain
Housed in a rock-solid enclosure, this gate features decay and threshold dials, a switchable mute control, and an entirely analog circuit.
$49 street
tcelectronic.com
Darkglass NSG
With a push of the big knob, you can move between soft and hard gain reduction, which can be adjusted from -65 dBV to +5 dBV.
$199 street
darkglass.com
Electro-Harmonix Silencer
With three different controls (threshold, decay, and release), you’re able to dial in and customize the exact level of gain reduction. It also features an effects loop to help with any noisy pedals.
$80 street
ehx.com
Ibanez Pentatone Gate
Nabbed from the Pentatone preamp, this standalone version offers a dead-simple setup with a single threshold knob and a switch to move between high and low modes.
$99 street
ibanez.com
Pigtronix Gatekeeper 2
A studio-quality gate created around a JFET circuit and a release control that dials in the speed of the gate.
$119 street
pigtronix.com
- State of the Stomp: In Defense of Noise ›
- MXR Noise Clamp Pedal Review ›
- Tools for the Task: Noise Gate Pedals ›
Follow some super-hip players and studios on the cutting edge and you’ll find a host of meticulously crafted boutique amps. And for the various flavors of road-dogs, there’s also the emerging force of modeling units that emulate everything under the sun.
Then there are the players who have to go to the source and are doing the tone-gods’ work by keeping vintage amps in the game. (There are a lot of us, and we take our work seriously.) At the highest level of stage and studio, you’ll find the elite vintage models—the tweeds, black-panels, plexis, and all their pals. Those amps command their fair share of literal and digital ink. Then there are the oddball selections that some new player will bring to everyone’s attention.
But there’s a less-hyped flavor of vintage amp that actually shows up much more often than those rare gems. These are the everlasting classics you’ve seen about a million or so times played by bands in every size of stage and lining the walls of your favorite studio. They’re the perennial workhorses whose reputations thrive because of some formula of tone, consistency, reliability, and—maybe the most important variable—price.
Brooklyn-based amp-repair guru Pat Kauffman operates Patrick Kauffman Electronics out of Main Drag Music, where he also teaches amp-building workshops.
Here are six of these vintage models, all priced to fit in a gigging budget, coming in right around $1,000 or less as of this writing. With a trio of experts on hand, here’s an idea of what makes each of these amps tick all these years after they were first introduced.
Silver-Panel Fender Bassman
A drip-edge era Fender Bassman head.
Photo by Pat Kauffman
The Fender Bassman is, of course, one of the most classic amplifiers. The tweed Bassman circuit is one of the most copied and modified circuits of all, serving as a platform for so many designs to follow, most notably Marshalls, as well as a couple more on this list. By the time the silver-panel era began, first with the drip-edge years starting in 1967, the Bassman circuit had evolved from those early days through the also highly coveted black-panel era.
“The silver-panel is not that different from the black-panel,” notes Brooklyn amp-repair guru Pat Kauffman, “and you can easily modify them to black-panel specs—they’re the same transformers.” Both eras kick out 50 watts—though there are quite a few variations, such as Bassman 100, 135, and more than a few others, we’re simply talking about the “Bassman”—and host a tube set that includes a pair of 6L6 power tubes, a trio of 12AX7s, and an ECC81.
“I think the right person can get their own signature tone from these, and it’s not gonna be one that will come from a Fender, it’s not gonna come from a Marshall.” —Jeff Bober on the Ampeg Gemini
This era of Fender Bassmans deliver plenty of headroom, but unlike the Fender “reverb” amps, Kauffman points out there’s an extra gain stage, which he says “gives it a little more grit that makes them kind of unique.”
Jeff Bober, former PGamp columnist and cofounder of Budda Amplification, adds that the silver-panel Bassmans “compress earlier, which might be a little opposite of what they were going for, so you can push the front end a little easier.”
Even better, Kauffman points out that they’re “easily serviceable. That’s key number one—all the parts are available.”
Ampeg Gemini
This Ampeg Gemini II combo includes a 15" speaker.
Photo by Pat Kauffman
If you feel like you’ve seen an Ampeg combo in most studios you’ve ever entered, you probably wouldn’t be exaggerating. And there’s a good chance that a lot of those were an Ampeg Gemini or Gemini II, offered starting in the mid ’60s, with a few variations over its life, from 22 to 30 watts, with speaker offerings ranging from a single 12" to a 15", and in later eras with more watts and more speaker configurations.
Because of their size, these are less common on stage than they are in studio, but Bober—who is a proud native of Ampeg’s hometown of Linden, New Jersey—says of the Geminis as well as the smaller, and also very cool, 12-watt Ampeg Jet, “They have their own unique sound, they’re not all that loud to start with so if you’re in a situation where you can crank an amp a little bit, these are really good to do it.”
Jeff Bober founded Budda and EAST Amplification and was the author of PG’s Ask Amp Man column.
These full-featured combos have onboard reverb and tremolo, and they use a set of 7591 power tubes. Bober points out these are “more of a hi-fi-sounding, very full-bodied tube” that he describes as “somewhere between a 6V6 and a 6L6 power-wise, but with a different tonality.” He adds, “I think the right person can get their own signature tone from these, and it’s not gonna be one that will come from a Fender, it’s not gonna come from a Marshall.”
While these amps are known for their reliability as well as well as their unique sound, Kauffman points out that the phase-inverter tube, a 7199, has gotten expensive in the modern market: “A lot of times, they’ve been changed out to different tubes, or they have a little converter adapter in, so that’s something to look out for.”
Traynor YBA-1 Bass Master
With two inputs per channel, it’s easy to “jump” channels with a patch cable to extend the voice of the Traynor YBA-1.
Photo by Thunder Road on Reverb
Beloved by both guitarists and bassists, the 45-watt Traynor YBA-1 circuit was the company’s first offering in 1963, when it was called the Dyna-Bass. By the next year, it was retitled the Bass-Master and the title stuck. While the company didn’t have the name recognition of a Fender or Ampeg, they developed an underground reputation that is still going strong. In 1969, Traynor provided the backline to 1969’s Toronto Rock ’N’ Roll Revival concert, where the Plastic Ono Band recorded their Live Peace in Toronto 1969 live album, and which was later celebrated in the 2022 documentary REVIVAL69: The Concert That Rocked the World.
The YBA-1’s simple 3-band EQ control set and 2-knob “range expander” make for easy tone-sculpting, and jumping the channels with a small patch cable opens its voice even wider. Kauffman calls the amp a “Bassman on steroids.” He points out that some models use 7027 power tubes—“basically a beefier 6L6”—and others use 6CA7s, plus a pair of 12AX7s and an ECC83. These amps are easily modified to replicate a JTM45 circuit, which is a popular change for some, but many players prefer to keep them unchanged.
“People who are Traynor fans are Traynor fans. They’ve either owned one and sold it and regret it, or they own three of them.” —Blair White on the Traynor YBA-1
Bober says that the YBA-1 is “built as good as any Fender or eyelet-board kind of design. They have probably the biggest transformers for their power rating of amps being built at that time. They’re very clean circuits, great pedal platforms, and they sound great.”
Blair White, owner of Nashville’s Eastside Music Supply, has witnessed the cult of Traynor firsthand and says, “People who are Traynor fans are Traynor fans. They’ve either owned one and sold it and regret it, or they own three of them.” Despite their reputation as well-made, reliable amps with a great tone, White notes that they’re still easy to get a hold of: “I don’t know if it’s just because it was not Fender or Marshall, but for whatever reason, you can still find those for $600 or $700.”
Sovtek MIG
This Sovtek Mig 100h is the high-gain member of the Mig family.
Photo by Brent’s Gear Depot on Reverb
Built in Russia by New Sensor starting in 1991, this head, which came in 50-, 60-, and 100-watt models, is another spin on the same tweed Bassman formula that begat the JTM45 and the Traynor YBA-1. Running a pair of 5881 power tubes and a pair of 12AX7s, the MIGs featured a solid-state rectifier and a slightly slimmed-down control set from the Bass-Master, with two independent volume controls (non-jumper-able), a 3-band EQ, and a presence knob.
In an A/B comparison with the modern EHX MIG 50, where both sound identical (or close to it), JHS Pedals’ head honcho Josh Scott has gone on the record and called the MIG 50 his “favorite amp in the history of the world.” The modern ones tend to come in a little less expensive than the vintage models, which Bober points out have an “iffy” build quality thanks to their Eastern Block components.
“They have a cascading input, so there is an extra gain stage like the JCM800s.” —Pat Kauffman on the Sovtek MIG
Kauffman agrees, “They’re a little awkward to service. A lot of the hardware is kind of cheap, so you’ll often find the jacks busting and the pots busting.” You might want to look out for a deal if you’re considering a vintage model, which could be well worth your time. Kauffman adds that the MIGs have their own cult and calls them “fantastic-sounding amps. They have a cascading input, so there is an extra gain stage like the JCM800s, so they kind of have this Marshall sound but a little more rounded.” If Scott’s comparison tells us anything, the modern version is also worth checking out.
Music Man HD-130
The powerful Music Man HD-130 in its oddball 2x10 form—that’s a lot of power to push through two little speakers!
Photo by Main Drag on Reverb
When Music Man amps hit the scene in the mid ’70s, they were unlike anything Leo Fender had set out to do with his previous designs. Gone was the simple, efficient circuitry of his earlier work. Instead, Music Man amps featured a hybrid solid-state preamp and tube power amp, with the clear target of maximum headroom.
The HD-130 was the most extreme of Music Man’s offerings, delivering a sizzling 130 watts via four 6CA7 power tubes and available in both head and combo form. (If that sounds too extreme, you could get it shrunk down to a small 2x10 combo… but with no less wattage!) The master-volume control set features two channels each with a 3-band EQ and a bright switch, plus combo models and some heads included reverb and tremolo.
Blair White, co-owner of Nashville’s Eastside Music Supply, is so passionate that he spoke to PGwhile movers were loading the store’s gear into their new location!
“Those amps are punishing!” says White. “They’re probably the most bang for your buck that you’ll get as far as power and wattage. Their unique formula certainly got the attention of some major players, and Mark Knopfler, Robbie Robertson, and Johnny Winter all counted on them at some point.”
These days, Kauffman says they remain quite reliable, but issues can arise with modern tubes. “They use high plate voltages, which tends to eat new tubes,” he explains. “If you get the electrolytic caps replaced and have the tubes biased correctly, they really should be reliable. But if you’re having a problem, it’s usually cooking power tubes because they’re a new set.” He adds that, while tube supply changes, he currently finds JJ EL34s to hold up well against the HD-130’s high voltage.
Peavey Mace
The 160-watt Peavey Mace promises extreme volume with high clean headroom plus onboard distortion and phaser.
Photo by Free Lunch on Reverb
No list of great-value amps is complete without a Peavey. Of course, their broad range of models over the years made it hard to decide which to include. At a whopping 160 watts, the Peavey Mace made the cut, if only for sheer power. It’s another hybrid amp, combining a whopping sextet of 6L6s in the power section with a solid-state preamp in both head and 2x12 combo form. Their clean headroom puts them in a class with the HD-130 and also put them onstage with Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Gary Rossington.
The Mace is less common than most of the others on this list, but late-’70s models are fairly easy to track down. Bober says, “If you want loud and clean, those are great amps.” But he notes that the Mace is “not the most accurate pedal platform. Drive or overdrive pedals tend to try and push the front end to get more juice, but things that have IC chips in the front end don’t respond the same way, they don’t agree to being pushed to their limits, and they don’t generate the same harmonics as a tube does.” The Mace has both a normal and effects channel, which includes distortion and reverb, as well as an onboard phaser.
Kauffman reports from his work bench that the Mace is “great and reliable.” He explains that these amps were built on a printed circuit board, and he tends to see bad solder joints when they come in for service. That’s nothing to be afraid of though. “If you have one,” he says, “you could get it cleaned up, change the electrolytic caps, and have it resoldered, and you should be fine.”
At 160 watts, you’ll want to make sure you have your earplugs handy.
On her new record with her trio, Molly Miller executes a live-feeling work of structural harmony that mirrors her busy life.
Miller has a lot on her plate. In addition to gigs leading the Molly Miller Trio, she also plays guitar in Jason Mraz’s band, and teaches at her alma mater, the University of Southern California (USC), where, after a nine-year stint, she earned her bachelor’s, master’s, and doctorate in music. In 2022, she became a professor of studio guitar at USC. Prior to that, she was the chair of the guitar department at the Los Angeles College of Music.
Molly Miller's Gear
Miller plays a fair bit of jazz, but considers herself simply a guitarist first: “Why do I love the guitar? Because I discovered Jimi Hendrix.”
Photo by Anna Azarov
Guitars
- 1978 Gibson ES-335
- Fender 1952 Telecaster reissue with a different neck and a bad relic job (purchased from Craigslist)
- Gibson Les Paul goldtop with P-90s
Amps
- Benson Nathan Junior
- Benson Monarch
- Fender Princeton Reverb Reissue (modified to “widen sound”)
Effects
- Chase Bliss Audio Dark World
- Chase Bliss Audio Warped Vinyl
- EarthQuaker Devices Dispatch Master
- EarthQuaker Devices Dunes
- EarthQuaker Devices Special Cranker
- JAM Pedals Wahcko
- JAM Pedals Ripply Fall
- Strymon Flint
- Fulltone Clyde Wah
- Line 6 Helix (for touring)
Strings & Picks
- Ernie Ball .011s for ES-335 and Les Paul
- Ernie Ball .0105s for Telecaster
- Fender Celluloid Confetti 351 Heavy Picks
To get things done, Miller has had to rely on a laser-focused approach to time management. “I’ve always kind of been juggling different aspects of my career. I was in grad school, getting a doctorate, TA-ing full time—so, teaching probably 20 hours a week, and then also doing probably four or five gigs a week, and getting a degree,” explains Miller. “I had to figure out how to create habits of, ‘I really want to play a lot of guitar, and gig a lot, but I also need to finish my degree and make extra money teaching, and I also want to practice.’ There’s a certain level of organization and thinking ahead that I always feel like I have to be doing.”
“The concept of the Molly Miller Trio—and also a part of my playing—is we are playing songs, we are bringing back the instrumental, we are thinking about the arrangement.”
The Molly Miller Trio’s latest release, The Battle of Hotspur, had its origins during the pandemic. Miller and bassist Jennifer Condos started writing the songs in March 2020, sending files back and forth to each other. They finally finished writing the album’s last song, “Head Out,” in December 2021, and four months later, recorded the album in just two days. The 12-song collection is subtle and cool, meandering like a warm, sparkling country river through a backwoods county. The arrangements feel spacious and distinctly Western—Miller’s guitar lines are clean and clear and dripped with just the right level of reverb, trem, and chorus, while Jay Bellerose’s brush-led percussion trots alongside like a trusty steed.
The Battle of Hotspur has a live feel, and that aspect was 100-percent deliberate. Miller says, “That’s the exact intention of our records—we want to create a record that we can play live. Jason Wormer, the recording and mixing engineer that did our record, came to a show of ours and was like, ‘This is incredible.’ He’s recorded so many records and was like, ‘This is the first time I’ve ever recorded a record that sounds the same live.’ And that was our exact intention. Because I feel like [the goal of] the trio itself was to be full. It’s not supposed to be like, ‘Oh, let’s put saxophone and let’s put keys and other guitars on it.’ The concept of the record is a full trio like the way Booker T. & the M.G.’s were. It’s not, ‘Wouldn’t it be cool if you added another instrument?’ No, we’re an instrumental trio.”
Musicality is what separates Miller from the rest of the pack. She has prodigious chops but uses them appropriately, when it makes musical sense, and her ability to honor a song’s written melody and bring it to life is one of her strong suits. “That’s a huge part of what we do,” she says. “The concept of the Molly Miller Trio—and also a part of my playing—is we are playing songs, we are bringing back the instrumental, we are thinking about the arrangement. The solo is a vehicle to further the story, to further the song, not just for me to shred. So often, you play a song, and you could be playing the solo over any song. There’s not enough time spent talking about how to play a melody convincingly, and then play a solo that’s connected to the melody.... Whether it’s a pop song, an original, or a standard, how you’re playing it is everything, and not just how you’re shredding over it.”
Miller still gets pigeonholed by expectations in the music industry, including the assumption that she’s a singer-songwriter: “I don’t sing. I’m a fucking guitar player.”
Photo by Anna Azarov
Miller’s strong sense of melody can be traced to her diverse palette of influences. Even though she’s a “jazzer” by definition, she’ll cover pop songs like the Everly Brothers’ “All I Have to Do is Dream” and the Rolling Stones’ “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction.” Miller says, “I spent nine years in jazz school. I practice ‘Giant Steps’ still for fun because I think it’s good for my guitar playing. But it was a release to be like, ‘I am not just a jazz guitar player at all!’ Why do I love the guitar? Because I discovered Jimi Hendrix, right? What made me feel things in high school? Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, and No Doubt. It’s like, Grant Green’s not why I play the guitar.
“I play jazz guitar, but I’m a guitar player that loves jazz. What do I put on my playlist? It’s not like I just listen to Wes Montgomery. I go from Wes Montgomery to the Beach Boys to freakin’ Big Thief to Bob Dylan to Dave Brubeck. The musicians I love are people who tell stories and have something to say—Brian Wilson, Cat Stevens.... They’re amazing songwriters.”
“Whether it’s a pop song, an original, or a standard, how you’re playing it is everything, and not just how you’re shredding over it.”
Despite a successful career, Miller continually faces sexism in the industry. “I went to a guitar hang two days ago. It was a big company, and they invited me to come and check out guitars. And I’m playing—I clearly know how to play the instrument—and this photographer there is like, ‘Oh, so are you a singer?’ And I’m just like, ‘No, I don’t sing. Fuck you,’” recalls Miller. “It’s such an internal struggle because of the interactions I have with the world. This kind of gets this thing in me where I feel like I need to prove to people, like, I am a guitar player. And at this point, I know I’m established enough. I play the guitar, and I know how to play it. I’m good, whatever. There still is this ego portion that I’m constantly fighting, and it comes from random people walking up to me and asking about me playing acoustic guitar and my singer-songwriter career or whatever. And I’m like, ‘I don’t sing. I’m a fucking guitar player.’”
YouTube It
Molly Miller gets to both tour with and open up for Jason Mraz’s band. Here’s a taste of Miller leading into Mraz’s set with some adeptly and intuitively performed riffs from a show in July 2022.
