Hi!
Just picked up a Yamaha G100 top and 4x12" cab. It is a much better sounding amp than I expected.
30+ years ago, my dad bought me my first amp - a brand new Yamaha G50-112 - and it served me for many years. But I never liked its sound. My guitar back then was a copy of a Gibson Melody Maker model D, with single-coil pickups, and the combination of the two was just so glassy bright and shrill. The distortion was awful too. I sold that amp when I got my first Vox valve amp, and stayed clear of Yamaha solid states for years.
Then I found this G100 in a garage sale. I checked it out, and was very surprised to find out how good it sounds! I played a lot of classic rock stuff on it with a tele, and it just kept sounding good.Nothing like my memories of the G50-112, though it is the same series of amps. The G100 distortion seems to smoothen the sound, unlike how I remember my old G50-112 distortion, which had a raspy fuzzy sound. It has much richer lows that the G50 too, but that is probably due to the 4x12 cab. (I once ran my G50 through a 4x10 cab, and that sounded a lot better). The G100 has a nice tremolo too. The reverb on this particular head is very weak. Must be some failing components, as I remember the G50 had a loud clean reverb. I wonder if there are design differences between the models in this series that can explain the difference in sound between G50 and G100? It certainly sounds better.
I remember the G100 very well from the catalogue (that I still have), and our bass player used to play the B100 head. It is suppose to have been designed by Paul Rivera, and the ads at the time boasted valve-like frequency response. With the G100 this is almost believable. Another thumbs up to a solid state amp, and the G100 really gives these old Yamahas a bit of vindication in my book.
Frank
Just picked up a Yamaha G100 top and 4x12" cab. It is a much better sounding amp than I expected.
30+ years ago, my dad bought me my first amp - a brand new Yamaha G50-112 - and it served me for many years. But I never liked its sound. My guitar back then was a copy of a Gibson Melody Maker model D, with single-coil pickups, and the combination of the two was just so glassy bright and shrill. The distortion was awful too. I sold that amp when I got my first Vox valve amp, and stayed clear of Yamaha solid states for years.
Then I found this G100 in a garage sale. I checked it out, and was very surprised to find out how good it sounds! I played a lot of classic rock stuff on it with a tele, and it just kept sounding good.Nothing like my memories of the G50-112, though it is the same series of amps. The G100 distortion seems to smoothen the sound, unlike how I remember my old G50-112 distortion, which had a raspy fuzzy sound. It has much richer lows that the G50 too, but that is probably due to the 4x12 cab. (I once ran my G50 through a 4x10 cab, and that sounded a lot better). The G100 has a nice tremolo too. The reverb on this particular head is very weak. Must be some failing components, as I remember the G50 had a loud clean reverb. I wonder if there are design differences between the models in this series that can explain the difference in sound between G50 and G100? It certainly sounds better.
I remember the G100 very well from the catalogue (that I still have), and our bass player used to play the B100 head. It is suppose to have been designed by Paul Rivera, and the ads at the time boasted valve-like frequency response. With the G100 this is almost believable. Another thumbs up to a solid state amp, and the G100 really gives these old Yamahas a bit of vindication in my book.
Frank