What Amp Does Gary Moore Use?
Gary Moore's amp choices tracked the arc of his career — from Marshall-driven hard rock with Thin Lizzy to the smoother, more expressive blues tone of his solo years. Each era's amp choice was matched deliberately to the music he was playing.
Era 1: Marshall Super Lead 100W (Thin Lizzy Years, 1974–1982)
Model: Marshall Super Lead 100W (Plexi and JMP variants)
During his time in Thin Lizzy and the early years of his solo career, Moore used the standard high-volume British rock setup of the era: Marshall Super Lead heads into 4×12 cabinets, both channels jumped for a fuller frequency response. This is the amp behind his aggressive hard-rock playing of the period.
Era 2: Marshall JCM800 2203 + Soldano SLO-100 (Still Got the Blues, 1990)
Models: Marshall JCM800 2203 and Soldano SLO-100, used together
Moore's most celebrated tone — heard on Still Got the Blues and "Parisienne Walkways" — came from running two amps simultaneously. The JCM800 supplied Marshall's articulate midrange attack; the Soldano SLO-100 added a smoother, more compressed sustain on top. Blended together, the combination produced the warm, singing quality that defines this era of his playing. Full dial settings for both amps are in Gary Moore's amp settings guide.
Era 3: Soldano SLO-100 (Clean Channel) + Fender Dual Showman (1990s Blues Albums)
For the purer blues recordings that followed — After Hours (1992) and Blues for Greeny (1995) — Moore simplified his rig, relying more on the Soldano's cleaner channel and a Fender Dual Showman for a warmer, more dynamic and responsive tone suited to blues phrasing rather than rock aggression.
Current Availability
| Amp | Price (used/new) |
|---|---|
| Marshall JCM800 2203 (reissue) | £1,600–1,900 new |
| Soldano SLO-100 | £3,000+ new |
| Marshall DSL100H (budget alternative, similar character) | £849 new |
| Fender '65 Twin Reverb (Dual Showman-adjacent clean tone) | £1,500 new |
Why the Amp Changed With the Music
Moore's amp evolution isn't just gear-collecting — it tracks a genuine shift in what his playing needed. Thin Lizzy's twin-guitar hard rock called for the aggressive, cutting midrange a jumped Marshall Super Lead delivers at volume. Still Got the Blues needed something with more sustain and smoothness for expressive, sung-note blues phrasing — hence blending in the Soldano's compression. By the pure blues years, he'd stripped back further, prioritizing dynamic responsiveness (the Dual Showman's clean headroom) over saturation. Each era's amp choice is a direct response to what the material demanded, not a random change of taste.
Common Mistakes
Trying to recreate "the Gary Moore tone" as one fixed setup. As covered above, there isn't a single Gary Moore amp tone — the Thin Lizzy-era Marshall, the Still Got the Blues dual-amp blend, and the later cleaner blues rig are three genuinely different sounds. Identify which era you're chasing before buying gear.
Assuming the JCM800/Soldano blend requires two full amp rigs. Running two amps simultaneously is how Moore's studio tone was captured, but a single amp with a well-chosen boost pedal (see the FAQ below) gets a home player most of the way there without the expense and complexity of dual rigs.
Overlooking that his Les Paul (with Peter Green's famous out-of-phase wiring on one guitar) is doing real tonal work. The amp is only half the picture — see our Gary Moore guitar guide for how much the specific instrument contributes to his tone, especially the honky, vocal quality on certain recordings.
Ignoring the pedal side of the rig. The amp blend gets the headlines, but his pedalboard (see our full breakdown) shapes the boost and sustain characteristics that connect the guitar to these amps.
ToneStakr's Take
For most players, the Still Got the Blues era is the reference point worth chasing — it's his most-covered and most-recognized tone. A single JCM800-style amp pushed by a Tube Screamer-type boost gets close enough for most purposes without needing a genuine Soldano SLO-100, which remains a serious financial commitment even used.
Frequently Asked Questions
What amp did Gary Moore use on Still Got the Blues?
A Marshall JCM800 2203 and a Soldano SLO-100, run together — his Les Paul fed both amps simultaneously, and the two signals were blended for the album's signature warm, sustaining tone.
What amp did Gary Moore use with Thin Lizzy?
Marshall Super Lead 100W heads (Plexi/JMP era), the standard high-gain British rock setup of the mid-to-late 1970s, run through 4×12 cabinets with both channels jumped.
Can I get Gary Moore's tone without a Soldano?
Yes — a Marshall-style amp with a Tube Screamer boosting the input gets you close. See the budget approximation in Gary Moore's amp settings guide for a full walkthrough.
Did Gary Moore's amp choice change for his pure blues albums?
Yes — for After Hours and Blues for Greeny, he leaned on the Soldano's cleaner channel and a Fender Dual Showman for a warmer, more dynamically responsive tone better suited to blues phrasing than the more saturated Still Got the Blues setup.
Is the Marshall JCM800 alone enough to get his sound?
It covers a meaningful part of it, particularly the midrange attack, but without the Soldano's smoother sustain layered on top, a JCM800-only setup will sound more aggressive and less singing than his signature blended tone.
How much does the specific guitar matter versus the amp?
Considerably — Moore played Peter Green's original 1959 Les Paul (with its accidentally out-of-phase pickup wiring) on much of his most celebrated blues work, and that guitar's specific character is not fully reproducible with the amp settings alone. See our guitar guide for details.
Would a modern boutique amp get closer to the JCM800/Soldano blend than either original amp alone?
Potentially, for players who don't want to run two full amp rigs — some modern boutique designs specifically aim to combine Marshall-style midrange bite with smoother, more compressed sustain in a single channel, which is conceptually close to what Moore achieved by blending two separate amps. It's not an exact substitute, but it's a more practical single-amp starting point than choosing purely a JCM800 clone or purely a Soldano-style amp.