The Best Amp I’ve Ever Used? Suhr Badger 18
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- čas přidán 30. 10. 2020
- What's YOUR favorite amp? What do you think of the Badger 18?
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Over the last 15 years, I’ve owned close to 40 of all the most popular boutique, high end, and vintage “must have” amps. If you made a top 40 list, I’ve been through em. The Badger 18 is the one my heart kept coming back to time and time again, out of any amp, at any price point. John Suhr just builds an exceptional amplifier and the little Badger 18 just does something no other amps I’ve played manages to do and has a “feel” to it that you can’t really explain. It’s even unique amongst the Badger lineup. Great video! Rock on.
Thanks man! Yeah, completely agree that it’s a unique amp. Being tube rectified it really has its own thing compared to the other amps in the lineup. One of favorites for single coil guitars!
Thanks for this. I’ve just bought one recently for 1200 and it is one of the best amps I’ve owned. It has a mojo and it is a loud 18 watts. The tone settings are very expansive as well. Another world by itself. I jam to phish with it at low volumes. The clean sound sustains for days. Reminds me of Jeff BECK s clean sounds on Jan Hammer live scatterbrain.Thanks for affirming my impressions and purchase
Glad it helped! I agree, amazing amp for sure. I’m working on Profiling it with my Kemper and it’s great on that platform too, which says a lot about how great the amp is!
I have the 18 Combo. Sounds amazing! I love the power scaling. Had it about 10 years now.
Agreed! Love the Badger. Still my favorite amp.
Great review. Thanks for cleans tones ;) Subscribed!
Thanks so much man! More to come!
I have an 18 myself. I snagged it used from a local shop here in Toronto Canada. It really is a Swiss army knife and can handle many styles. In particular, anytime I use a treble boost or a FuzzFace/Tone Bender its classic rock for days. Modern high gain can be a bit of a challenge, but thats not really what the badgers meant for. Overall, it truly is the best amp I've ever owned.
Totally agree. It’s such a versatile amp that I’m honestly shocked more people aren’t hip to it. Takes fuzzes like a champ!
this amps been with me for the better part of 10 years, I knew I had to get one the first time I heard it and it wasn't easy scoring one here in India but I did, it will always be THE best amp I will ever play, and I own quite a few but the badger will always be numero uno for me. It is so underrated, but stick the right pedals in front of it and you can get pretty much any sound you want. Almost All the tones on my channel were recorded through the badger
Love that! I agree- the Badger just works for everything. I want to get the 30w version as well, but I’d be happy with this as my only amp if it had to be.
I jumped early with this amp, managing to snag one of the 25 prototypes built for NAMM before full production began. If you take the time to get used to how the Power, Drive and Gain controls interact, you can get quite a wide range of great sounds out of this amp. Build quality is also superb. Some of my favourite sounds are those in the low to mid gain range. Gorgeous full sounding cleans and edge of breakup sounds, somewhere between Fender, Vox and Marshall.
That’s amazing! Truly an incredible amp. Not a bad sound in it!
Still love my Badger 18 dearly after some 10 years. Awesome breakup, cleans and power scaling. Pedals just sound sweet with it. Sold my Kemper & Rockerverb 50 and just use this one with my Orange PPC212 cab. Simple, sweet and straight to the point.
P.S. You might wanna dial that bass knob down when playing with a band imo. This amp has a real big bottom! I usually dial it to about 8-9 o'clock with my beefy 2x12 with V30s. I have plenty of vids recorded with this amp on my channel if you're interested. Anyhoo, great tones you got there dude, cheers!
Thanks man! Agree, really love the Badger.
Ian Thornley is one of my favorite musicians and he gets some amazing tones out of these amps. Great video 🤟😎
Thanks man! Appreciate it 🤘🏻
Great demo. I'm wondering if I Need the 35 though for that edge of breakup headroom live ?
Homie is just a solid player. Love this guy
Thanks man 🤘🏻
I've trying to get the Badger 30. Its such an amazing amp!
Agreed! It’s a great amp. Eventually I’ll get a 30 or 35 to go with this one.
Great tones man. I've had my eye on this model for years. Maybe one day... For now it's a Helix for all my church gig needs ha. Do you still have the fiesta red Suhr?
Thanks man! It’s a killer amp- I have a Kemper I use regularly as well, but it’s nice to have an amp around.
I actually sold the red Suhr to fund the gold one you see in the thumbnail of this video- which is a video in the works 😉
Been looking at this one. Thinking of picking up either mk1 or mkII. We shall see. Maybe this weekend? 😶😆😆🤫
They’re so good! I’ll probably get the 30 or 35w version at some point, maybe the mkii just to have one of each!
For me personally, there's nothng that can beat my very old JMP Marshall head. Pure magic. Thanks Jim forever.
Those old JMP’s are sweet! Definitely a classic!
I’ve had mine for almost 10 years now along with the matching 1x12 (wgs retro 30 speaker) I even mic up with Cascade FatHead 2 haha. Sounds great with a 57, 421 or i5 as well. I think the Badger 18 is one of the best amps ever. Sparkling harmonically rich clean , dynamic edge of breakup to mid gain - saggy fat and mean- takes pedals better than any other. Once I got it I had to get a Rufus and a Koko boost- tons of Suhr pickups as well as an OG Reactive Load.
It’s so good - I really love it with singlecoils. Fattens up a strat in a magical way!
I own one, it’s great, used it in the studio for my bands latest EP only downside for me is that when I’ve used it live I can’t give my solos a decent db boost.
I’m using the MXR Line boost in the loop with a TC Electronic Alter Ego delay and it still doesn’t give me a decent lift over the band.
Other than that it’s great! Gain on 6, get the mids up add the J Rocket Archer overdrive and all is well 👍🏻
Yeah, if you aren’t mic’ing it up live I can see why it could be compressing too much to get any louder. Sounds like you need the 30 or 35w version!
@@RiggsTaylor on the hunt for a 30w one at the moment 😊👍🏻
@@mattstewart2969 Love it! I want either a 30 or 35 at some point too The 18 records so well, but I’d love to have another with the Suhr cab. Happy hunting!
@@RiggsTaylor on that note, I’ve just brought a Badger 30 🙄😂🤘🏻
Heck yeah! The new version or the black/gold mki like my 18?
This sounds amazing, I am using a Marshall 1987x trem head clone and love it, but pedals don't work well with it. This, the Victory Sheriff 22, and a Khan Pak Amp are on my short list.
I just made a deal for this amp, V2, in a head. Will be pairing it with an Avatar Forte clone 1x12 w/ a Neo Creamback. Have been gigging with a spectacular D13 combo but at 64 years old moving it around is has become challenging. Plus, we're moving towards mic'ing everything w/ in-ears for our gigs and reducing the stage volume, which lends itself well to 18 watts. Owned the original once and sold it during a time when I was unable to hold gear for more than 60-90 days due to gear addiction issues coupled with foolishness. :(
Heard that! Glad you’ve got another - still one of my favorite amps!
I have the badger 35 and love it, had the 18 first and it was amazing.
That’s awesome! I need to get a 30 or 35.
How come you switched? No clean headroom?
Hey dude what's the song you play at 5:00? Beautiful sound. Is that your original?
Thanks man! Yeah, just noodling around!
Do you think through a 2x12 or 4x12 it’d be loud enough un mic’d for a band?
I think so. I’ve used it in a 200-ish person room unmic’d with a band through that 1x12.
Hi I'm looking at the 18 also but would be reliant on the power scaling to work well as it would be home use only. I'm after a bright slightly breaking up sound and was wondering if i can get this at lower volumes without losing its presence. I owned an imperial mkii with an attenuator but as you increase the attenuator i felt the presence and sparkle get lost.
I think the Badger can do that well! The tone controls offer a lot of range, and using the power/drive/gain knobs, you can definitely get it quiet enough.
@@RiggsTaylor Great, thanks for your opinion
@@RiggsTaylor it would be great if you could do a video showing the power scaling working
@@stratsmyboy7169 I just might! Subscribe and you’ll see if I do- have another video featuring the Badger coming up soon.
@@RiggsTaylor done
Subscribed ✌️
My man! Thanks so much!
Is the bottom end tight or is it loose?
Nice and tight, especially with a closed back cab. I use an open back most of the time, and it’s still punchy.
Just curious, why would someone need an amp with effects (a head) when they have plenty of pedals that attain the sound/tone that they're looking for? Wouldn't you just need a cab only or a completely dry amp and then have your pedals for the effects/wetness? I'm an amateur by the way. Just learning! Thank you!
So a head/cab setup is the same as a “combo” amp. The head is the actual amplifier, the cab is just a speaker!
@@RiggsTaylor Im just having a hard time understanding the reason to go all out on a head or combo amp that has great effects when the pedals are already all you need for effects. Or not?
@@Claybraham91 I see what you mean. Most amps only have tremolo/reverb at most as far as effects go. This doesn’t have any “effects” built in. It will overdrive like most amps, but that’s not really an “effect” as much as it is what amps do when pushed hard
@@RiggsTaylor pushed hard as in blasting the volume?
@@Claybraham91 yes- amps get louder and overdrive more as you turn up the volume. That’s a generalization, but true of almost all tube amps.
Love these amps. l have to say the clips sound bloated. I know this amp can cut better.
That’s the blend of the ribbon mic for sure. With just a 57 it cuts, which I like for live use, but enjoy having the option of both in the studio depending on need. Also didn’t EQ in post at all.
Just ordered a slightly used version of the new model as I found a good deal at $1,195. Can't wait to make it scream. Literally, I will make it scream...
Hahaha it’s a killer amp! You’ll love it. I want to get one of the new 30w or 35w versions at some point to have a second, but there’s other gear in the list before that. Let me know how you like the Badger!
@@RiggsTaylor It got delivered today and I just plugged it in to test it. After playing it for about 30 minutes at pretty much conversation volume I am convinced that it is the best amp I have ever played. Thick and syrupy are words that come to mind. Even at such low levels the tone is FAT! Holy moly I can't wait till I can crank this baby....
There is about as much difference between this amp and any other tube amp I have played as between a solid state amp and a regular tube amp - tone and feel wise. Let me put it this way - to my ear this amp sounds like there must be about 25 tubes in there.
@@jayceburns8246 LOVE that. They’re so dynamic, and the response is so satisfying. You got the new version of the 18 right?
@@RiggsTaylor That's right. The black one with the mosfet boost.
👍
Thanks!
Local guy is selling one with the matching 112 cab for around $4-4.5K.AUD
I wish I had $4-4.5K.
Under a grand for the head?
Not in Australia. We get absolutely caned on gear prices over here.
Cool video. Subbed :)
Dude that’s BONKERS. You can get a head/cab over here for $2k US used all day. Thanks for the sub!
If you think that lil 18 watter is loud, you should try a real Plexi.
Oh, I have! However, the biggest difference it’s amount of speakers/air movement as opposed to wattage. How we perceive audio is logarithmic and not linear, so the difference between a 50w and 100w amp (where other factors are the same) is only ~3db. But this amp going through a 4x12 would hit different than it does through this open 1x12.
That said, I love a Plexi!
Which speaker is in your bad cat?
It’s the Bad Cat Celestion! Pretty sure it’s a vintage 30 with mild tweaks.
@@RiggsTaylor thanks. Thinking about a badger because it is more versatile than my fender princeton.
@@markush.573 As I said, I’ve owned a lot of amps (including Princeton’s) and this is by far the most versatile. The EQ is very powerful, the effects loop is the best I’ve used, and they aren’t expensive if you shop around. Really can’t recommend it enough!
@@RiggsTaylor thanks👍
@@markush.573 Anytime- glad to help!
play the amp damnit
I did (and do) a lot
anyone who owns the suhr 18 miss a second channel??
I don’t personally, but I’m not a big channel switching guy. I run the amp where it sounds good and use volume knob and pedals to get wherever else I need to go.
4:00 minutes and I haven’t heard the amp. Give us a taste then chat it up…..
Fair point! Still finding the best balance, but I agree.
@@RiggsTaylor great tone btw!!
@@carlossalazar4508 Thanks man! It’s an awesome amp - might do a video of my favorite tones from my main gear as an update.
3min in nothing yet
Keep watching then!
lmfao this like if a 5th grader made a rhett shull style video.
Thanks for the laugh!
You talk too much!!!!!
Feel free to fast forward 😎