Is this pursuit of my perfect amp pointless?

[the jayce]

But mine DOES.

 

I can't think of anything I want to play that it doesn't do very, very well. High gain-check. Classic rock-check. Jazz-check. Early rock and Rockabilly-check.

 

Where this amp falls down and, this is where most people are hung up with it, is it doesn't look the part and there aren't any tubes... so... no mojo: that intangible value that really has nothing to do with the sound... but with how the user imagines it sounding.

I have a couple of amps through the years that where good at most applications but not great at all. what i found to work best and most proffessional recording players is use a good amp that comes close and then build up your effects chain to achieve the final results. I just havnt seen any amp that can go from marshall metal to the natorious chimy cleans of a fender twin. to the creamy solo lead of a good tube driven peavy. But with the right pedal most can be achieved with the right amp. As bad as i hate software driven sounds the latest release of protools covers a million different amps and effects perfectly! I will eventually take this step but im reluctant to move away from the old way----->guitar,cable,amp. But i have tried this new technology and was completely shocked by what i heard. all from a few clicks of a mouse. The sounds and effects sounded as good or bettr than the actall amps or pedals. and better yet you can tweak to no end and then hit enter and your off and running.

 

it will still take me awhile to convert but it's gonna happen, why fight technology when it's so much more superior and convenient and ten times cheaper. Like endless recording studio with endles choices of amps and effects for about 400.00.... A win win i suppose.

[barrymclark]

I have a couple of amps through the years that where good at most applications but not great at all. what i found to work best and most proffessional recording players is use a good amp that comes close and then build up your effects chain to achieve the final results. I just havnt seen any amp that can go from marshall metal to the natorious chimy cleans of a fender twin. to the creamy solo lead of a good tube driven peavy. But with the right pedal most can be achieved with the right amp. As bad as i hate software driven sounds the latest release of protools covers a million different amps and effects perfectly! I will eventually take this step but im reluctant to move away from the old way----->guitar,cable,amp. But i have tried this new technology and was completely shocked by what i heard. all from a few clicks of a mouse. The sounds and effects sounded as good or bettr than the actall amps or pedals. and better yet you can tweak to no end and then hit enter and your off and running.

 

it will still take me awhile to convert but it's gonna happen, why fight technology when it's so much more superior and convenient and ten times cheaper. Like endless recording studio with endles choices of amps and effects for about 400.00.... A win win i suppose.

I totally understand. I still fight that.

 

The AxeFX thing is kinda what it sounds like you are looking for. Not cheap, but it is killer!

 

For $300, my amp simply can't be beat in value... now... in terms of just WOW... yeah, the AxeFX is the pinnacle. What really does good for me with the Cube is it does what I ever require of an amp. Really only a couple of a tones that I use with any consitency at all: the clean and the gain. For those, I use the JC and 5150 settings. Done.

 

Hell... if i could get just those two in a Cube I'd still swear it does everything I need it to do! haha.

 

There are a number of software amp sims out there that are just REDICULOUS sounding. Overloud's TH2 is amazing sounding. So is Peavey's Revalver. The convolution software they use for the cab modeling just... I mean... damn. You'd swear you are hearing actual cabs and not just sofware sims.

 

One day... I hope to own an AxeFx/Atomic Amps rig. We shall see though. It would be just awesome to have that kinda variety. This is where my Cube really isn't nearly as powerful. The Cube is a VERY poor man's AxeFx. haha.

 

This is why I had HIGH hopes for the DT50 from Line6. I still haven't decided if that amp is crap or not as the one I tried was clearly having problems with its tubes which I found is common for these. Reseating or replacing the tubes at Line6's cost tends to fix the problem just fine. But.. I have never cared for their amps so... I wouldn't buy one without trying it. Not saying they can't get a good sound.. I am just saying my ears don't like what my hands do with it.

[smurph1]

I drive the guys in my band crazy..i'm so changeable..when I traded my Taylor T-5 for My ASAT..I thought the other guitarist was going to throttle me..but now that they've gotten used to it..they LOVE that G&L..The Active pickups on the T-5 just weren't cutting it for me..So really, after 40 years of playing, I'm still searching..But one thing has stayed the same for quite a while now..i still have my Heritage..

[blackjack]

The normal observer reaction has to be "really?" or "show me". For us to get the full impact of what you've decided, we would **ideally** want you to use your amp side by side with lot's of other amps, preferably in the same session, and decide that your amp is more alive, has more thump, more high end detail, more chimey upper mids, better drive, etc. I for one would not be surprised if it still wins your vote for most well-rounded.

 

But, that leads one to ask, are you instead actually saying that your finger-technique, and possibly reliance on a denser composition, just naturally leads you to be happy with what you've got, and not so reliant on the amp generating complex harmonics and touch sensitivity? (I could have just asked, "Hey, are you on a natural high, and where can I buy that?")

[smurph1]

Perfect amp? Perfect guitar? Perfect tone? Don't care. Heck, I'd much rather spend my time just trying to improve or perfect my playing or technique.

+1..I get too caught up in gizmos and don't spend enough time actually playing..hmm..Do I smell a New Years Resolution?

[barrymclark]

The normal observer reaction has to be "really?" or "show me". For us to get the full impact of what you've decided, we would **ideally** want you to use your amp side by side with lot's of other amps, preferably in the same session, and decide that your amp is more alive, has more thump, more high end detail, more chimey upper mids, better drive, etc. I for one would not be surprised if it still wins your vote for most well-rounded.

 

But, that leads one to ask, are you instead actually saying that your finger-technique, and possibly reliance on a denser composition, just naturally leads you to be happy with what you've got, and not so reliant on the amp generating complex harmonics and touch sensitivity? (I could have just asked, "Hey, are you on a natural high, and where can I buy that?")

That for me or Smurph1?

[Hfan]

+1..I get too caught up in gizmos and don't spend enough time actually playing..hmm..Do I smell a New Years Resolution?

+1 and guitar geek forums can also intrude on playing time..

[barrymclark]

Perfect amp? Perfect guitar? Perfect tone? Don't care. Heck, I'd much rather spend my time just trying to improve or perfect my playing or technique.

Agreed... but there is another way of looking at it. We all have our ideas of what perfection of playing or technique is. Some guitars/amps, in our ears, really let the way we want to sound ring true. Kept in reasonable check, the gear search shouldn't impede your time in getting your technique down. In fact, it could speed it up. I think... to truly get your playing down..... you need to spend a LOT of time on one guitar and one amp. Then... you really learn to make the way that guitar and amp REALLY sing.

+1..I get too caught up in gizmos and don't spend enough time actually playing..hmm..Do I smell a New Years Resolution?

Never spend too little time playing!

[barrymclark]

+1 and guitar geek forums can also intrude on playing time..

Save for this one. This place is really cool.

[RhoadsScholar]

I made a recent discovery and thought it was appropriate for this thread. I picked up a Roland ac 60 ACOUSTIC amp. I plugged my G & L Legacy into it and with a little chorus, had the most amazing fender clean sound and I have had several blackface/silverface amps. I am currently a great supporter of Brian's efforts (KPB810) as he built me the most incredible Deluxe Reverb Clone. I love it with my Humbucking HRW equip guitars. I agree that we can distracted at times in the quest for the ultimate tone. There are many suprises to be had as one aquires (or has them pass through) amps/guitars in ones lifetime. Now I make sure I try different guitars through different amp combinations before I let one go.

 

Brian won't let you down with your Starlight. He does amazing work and I am glad he is part of the fold (Shameful plug for KPB810 amplification) soon to add one of his 5E3 amps to the fold.

[Dick Seacup]

Sometimes I wonder if the eternal quest for the perfect {insert_gear_of_choice_here} isn't a subconscious way of letting ourselves off the hook for not having achieved some (conscious or otherwise) goal. There's always the "next big thing" that will "make all the difference" and finally we'll "be able to get things done."

 

That's usually when I take the advice of someone I respect very much and just pick up the guitar and play the f*Ck1ng thing. About an hour later, realizing I'm not quite there, I put down the f*Ck1ng thing and the quest for the perfect {insert_gear_of_choice_here} begins again.

 

Other times I think about the equipment used to make my favorite tracks and how it's a lot like the camera equipment used to make some of the most impressive art (of the photographic type) I've ever seen. Usually that equipment isn't considered 'professional' by today's standards, and most of the dilettantes, much like myself, turn up their noses at the thought of even attempting to make {insert_art_form_of_choice_here} with that. The fact that those tracks and that art exists, and is nearly universally regarded as art, seems to belie the necessity of the endless pursuit of the perfect {insert_gear_of_choice_here}.

 

Then again, maybe the journey is more important than the destination. I think someone else mentioned that earlier. Something to consider.

[TalismanRich]

Other times I think about the equipment used to make my favorite tracks and how it's a lot like the camera equipment used to make some of the most impressive art (of the photographic type) I've ever seen. Usually that equipment isn't considered 'professional' by today's standards, and most of the dilettantes, much like myself, turn up their noses at the thought of even attempting to make {insert_art_form_of_choice_here} with that. The fact that those tracks and that art exists, and is nearly universally regarded as art, seems to belie the necessity of the endless pursuit of the perfect {insert_gear_of_choice_here}.

 

 

Good point, Dixie! Anyone who thinks otherwise should pick up the Birds camera sometime, and start taking pictures. 10 to 1 says they'll stick out like a sore thumb compared the HFB's compositions!

[JeffB]

Sometimes I wonder if the eternal quest for the perfect {insert_gear_of_choice_here} isn't a subconscious way of letting ourselves off the hook for not having achieved some (conscious or otherwise) goal. There's always the "next big thing" that will "make all the difference" and finally we'll "be able to get things done."

 

That's usually when I take the advice of someone I respect very much and just pick up the guitar and play the f*Ck1ng thing. About an hour later, realizing I'm not quite there, I put down the f*Ck1ng thing and the quest for the perfect {insert_gear_of_choice_here} begins again.

 

Other times I think about the equipment used to make my favorite tracks and how it's a lot like the camera equipment used to make some of the most impressive art (of the photographic type) I've ever seen. Usually that equipment isn't considered 'professional' by today's standards, and most of the dilettantes, much like myself, turn up their noses at the thought of even attempting to make {insert_art_form_of_choice_here} with that. The fact that those tracks and that art exists, and is nearly universally regarded as art, seems to belie the necessity of the endless pursuit of the perfect {insert_gear_of_choice_here}.

 

Then again, maybe the journey is more important than the destination. I think someone else mentioned that earlier. Something to consider.

When I check out some of my favourite players tour or gig amps always happy to see a couple of DSL100's or Fender Twins and some Marshall 1960 cabs in the hired backline. Quite often see a group of Boss stomps on the floor.

Just about always the performance is 1st rate as are the guitar sounds. Whether the guitarist is enjoying his amp and sound is another thing i guess.

You are who you is.

[bolero]

this guy does pretty well with some crap gear:

 

I think it's a 2x4 with a coffee can on it

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMf-em-56Mc

 

you gotta love the "mississippi drum machine" lol

[nicknickhall]

I found mine.