Amp Tone Philosophy

[pegleg32]

I know a lot of folks want a certain "color" from their amps, and thus shop accordingly. I was reading an amp review today that encapsulated my philosophy:

 

"It proves that if you start with the best clean tone you can find, add drive from quality pedals and play dynamically, you'll be rewarded with everything you've ever wanted from an amp. What you put in is what comes out, but somehow better than you've heard it before! "

 

I have always tried to start with the best clean I could find which lead me to the Carr Rambler and then to the Two Rock. Now I'm wondering how you guys feel about it. Do you want an amp that naturally gives you the tone you want, or do you look for an amp that sounds good clean and than alter the tone to get what you want? (shades of fractal some might say).

[Kuz]

I want a GREAT sounding clean tone, period.

 

Then if it has a gain control, then I want a VERY GOOD on the edge break up (if no gain control I will use some OD pedal that I know sound GREAT).

 

If the on the edge break up is VERY GOOD then I hit it with a very slight amount of different OD pedals (althought I never do more than one at a time).

 

 

The above is the general reciept I have read and talked to well respected guitar techs about. I never ONLY let the amp do the distortion (got to hit it slightly with an OD), unless it is just going to be a very tiny tiny hint of break-up but is essentially clean.

 

Think about this.... most people choose an electric guitar (or at least they should) by playing it acousticly first and then plugging it into an amp. Terry McInturff says "the pickups are microphones and different pups sound different just like different mics do. If the pups are mic'ing the acoustic tone, the acoustic tone of the electric guitar better be great, otherwise no mic (pickup) is going to make it great."

 

I think the same for the amp. It has to sound GREAT in it's simplist element. (This is how I set up my Axe-Fx too. Get a great clean tone: the right amp, the right cab, the right speakers, the right mic...... then I turn up the gain (if I want a crunch tone) and then add effects).

[Steiner]

I look for the sound I want from the amp. I have some pedals but don't use them often. I prefer to have it straight from guitar to amp. Most amps I own don't have a pleasant clean sound but they make up for it crunch, dynamics and overdrive.

[barrymclark]

I guess I'd say that. for clean, my favorite is the JC120. Very good with pedals.

[glaister]

I want a GREAT sounding clean tone, period.

 

Then if it has a gain control, then I want a VERY GOOD on the edge break up (if no gain control I will use some OD pedal that I know sound GREAT).

 

If the on the edge break up is VERY GOOD then I hit it with a very slight amount of different OD pedals (althought I never do more than one at a time).

 

 

The above is the general reciept I have read and talked to well respected guitar techs about. I never ONLY let the amp do the distortion (got to hit it slightly with an OD), unless it is just going to be a very tiny tiny hint of break-up but is essentially clean.

 

Think about this.... most people choose an electric guitar (or at least they should) by playing it acousticly first and then plugging it into an amp. Terry McInturff says "the pickups are microphones and different pups sound different just like different mics do. If the pups are mic'ing the acoustic tone, the acoustic tone of the electric guitar better be great, otherwise no mic (pickup) is going to make it great."

 

I think the same for the amp. It has to sound GREAT in it's simplist element. (This is how I set up my Axe-Fx too. Get a great clean tone: the right amp, the right cab, the right speakers, the right mic...... then I turn up the gain (if I want a crunch tone) and then add effects).

 

Don`t think you can put it better than that ! +1.

[barrymclark]

...and I totally agree with Kuz. That is exactly how I get the tone I want. You'd be surprised what amps sound incredible once you set up your clean and then start adding gain and what not. Lots of folks, and I was once guilty, it setting the gain first and then trying to get tone in. That is a pain in the neck and mixed results-y. I have probably overlooked WONDERFUL high gain amps in my day just because I set the gain before i even turned it on.

[bolero]

twin reverb + pedals = great combination

 

pretty sure that's what David Gilmour used on much of Dark Side of the Moon, and that album is full of killer guitar

[glaister]

...and I totally agree with Kuz. That is exactly how I get the tone I want. You'd be surprised what amps sound incredible once you set up your clean and then start adding gain and what not. Lots of folks, and I was once guilty, it setting the gain first and then trying to get tone in. That is a pain in the neck and mixed results-y. I have probably overlooked WONDERFUL high gain amps in my day just because I set the gain before i even turned it on.

 

The older you get,the more you realise that a lot of the time less IS more ! I used to have everything up on 10,now I hardly ever do !

[FredZepp]

I look for the sound I want from the amp. I have some pedals but don't use them often. I prefer to have it straight from guitar to amp. Most amps I own don't have a pleasant clean sound but they make up for it crunch, dynamics and overdrive.

I'm the same way about pedals. And crunch, dynamics and overdrive are a must.

But with the quality of amps that you have , I'd bet some nice cleans could be dialed in, that's just not the sound you're chasing.

 

I like to feel my amps generally will do a wide range of tones, allowing me to dial in the one that I like... and be able to clean up to a good degree with the guitar volume knob.

[Kuz]

twin reverb + pedals = great combination

 

pretty sure that's what David Gilmour used on much of Dark Side of the Moon, and that album is full of killer guitar

 

I could be wrong, but wasn't he using Hiwatt amps back then??? Either way DG is definitely "get the crunch from the pedal to a clean amp" camp!!!

[bolero]

he used Hiwatts on tour & in the studio ( which are also known for huge clean tones ) but there is footage of them recording that album & he's using a SF twin reverb, with a fuzz

 

back on topic...I've gone thru a LOT of amps in the past few years, and concluded it really doesn't matter that much. I think all this tone searching I read about on guitar forums is a waste of time

 

 

...if it's a halfway decent amp I can get some good sounds out of it.

 

bah humbug

[barrymclark]

he used Hiwatts on tour & in the studio ( which are also known for huge clean tones ) but there is footage of them recording that album & he's using a SF twin reverb, with a fuzz

 

back on topic...I've gone thru a LOT of amps in the past few years, and concluded it really doesn't matter that much. I think all this tone searching I read about on guitar forums is a waste of time

 

 

...if it's a halfway decent amp I can get some good sounds out of it.

 

bah humbug

+1!

 

What I am looking for in the Axe-Fx isn't tonal improvement of any sort. Not at all. I love my Cube and will be looking to imitate the tones I get with the Axe-Fx. It is function I am after.

[SouthpawGuy]

Personally clean comes first, then add a pedal for dirt. There is no "clean" pedal for a dirty amp. Some amps don't need any help, the Laney TT for example. I've never been into Marshall amps, not because I don't like their dirty tones, but because the cleans always seemed to be a compromise or lack lustre. And also because the best Marshall tones don't really start to happen unless the volume is cranked.

 

When I gigged, back in the stone age, I used a Marshall Anniversary combo, early '90s model, it sounded good at gig levels but totally lifeless at normal volume levels and I traded it for an electric piano. Still have the piano, haven't played it in years. Should have kept the Marshall

[Guest HRB853370]

Give me an amp that sounds clean cranked at 0-4, then starts to naturally overdrive at beyond 4, then just add a dirty channel or if the amp doesn't have that, add an OD box and I am all set for life.

[Wolfi]

If I use overdrive pedals, I only use them with the clean channel. I mostly need clean sounds. The 2nd channel of my HOOK is great for crunch, the 3rd channel is the lead channel. Now I can dial in whatever I want. If I want a AC 30 sound I use the clean channel and dial in the xotic AC.

If I want a more Marshally sound, I have two ways to do it: first, I use channel one, dial in the MI Audio crunch box or the BB preamp or second, I use channel 2, which has a more or less Marshally attitude. If I need lead sounds in the way of Gary Moore (R:I:P:) I use channel 3.

The advantage to use channel 2 and three without any overdrive pedals is, that you can dial in your delay or reverb pedals and have no other signals in the chain between guitar and amp (I'm talking about my system with the HOOK and the gigrig control system).

With the RIVERA it's another story. Here I use the clean channel with or without an overdrive pedal and dial in the delay pedal or the chorus pedal through the fx loop and that's it.

[tulk1]

twin reverb + pedals = great combination

 

pretty sure that's what David Gilmour used on much of Dark Side of the Moon, and that album is full of killer guitar

Thought it was HiWatt. Had to actually look it up, tho'. Altho' I agree with the Twin Reverb for absolute clean tone. Thats why it's been such a fav in country music. And when you turn it up, man does that amp start to shine! In fact, that what was used in the backline for the Showcase Artists at the convention I was just at.

[tsp17]

good thread

[big bob]

Thought it was HiWatt. Had to actually look it up, tho'. Altho' I agree with the Twin Reverb for absolute clean tone. Thats why it's been such a fav in country music. And when you turn it up, man does that amp start to shine! In fact, that what was used in the backline for the Showcase Artists at the convention I was just at.

That's what I'm shooting for with the sound city and new tweed cab. Hope it works.

[bolero]

Thought it was HiWatt. Had to actually look it up, tho'. Altho' I agree with the Twin Reverb for absolute clean tone. Thats why it's been such a fav in country music. And when you turn it up, man does that amp start to shine! In fact, that what was used in the backline for the Showcase Artists at the convention I was just at.

 

yup that page lists the twin reverb as well as the hiwatt on the sessions...I remember being surprised the first time I saw the footage, but it does make sense when you think about it. the dallas arbiter fuzz is on there too

 

Waters played his Bass parts thru a Hiwatt head too, you can see his bass in the back leaning up against it

[GuitArtMan]

Yep - clean tone always comes first for me. I've got - gulp - 8 amps right now and only two of them are channel switchers. I have them becauase they have both an excellent clean channel and and excellent overdrive channel and they both take pedals well. One of them, the Fryette Memphis 30, you could do gig on the clean channel alone riding your volume knob and never miss the od channel.

[smurph1]

I want a GREAT sounding clean tone, period.

 

Then if it has a gain control, then I want a VERY GOOD on the edge break up (if no gain control I will use some OD pedal that I know sound GREAT).

 

If the on the edge break up is VERY GOOD then I hit it with a very slight amount of different OD pedals (althought I never do more than one at a time).

 

 

The above is the general reciept I have read and talked to well respected guitar techs about. I never ONLY let the amp do the distortion (got to hit it slightly with an OD), unless it is just going to be a very tiny tiny hint of break-up but is essentially clean.

 

Think about this.... most people choose an electric guitar (or at least they should) by playing it acousticly first and then plugging it into an amp. Terry McInturff says "the pickups are microphones and different pups sound different just like different mics do. If the pups are mic'ing the acoustic tone, the acoustic tone of the electric guitar better be great, otherwise no mic (pickup) is going to make it great."

 

I think the same for the amp. It has to sound GREAT in it's simplist element. (This is how I set up my Axe-Fx too. Get a great clean tone: the right amp, the right cab, the right speakers, the right mic...... then I turn up the gain (if I want a crunch tone) and then add effects).

I agree with this and for me add I really like a nice "Chime" My clean tone has to have sustain..that's why my KBP amp is modelled after a Vox AC-30, or Trainwreck amp..they are known for that "Beatle-esque" or REM type chime..Or perhaps think about mid 60's Byrds.. Once I've got that "Holy Grail" type tone..then I can use my pedals to have some fun!! LOL This Hillbilly is excited!! Should have her soon!! Brian says a week or so!!

[jjkrause84]

Clean with mids is my choice. JTM45.

[sonar]

I like vintage sounds on the "primitive" side, so love my Victoria 5112, which is a Champ SF1 circuit in a tweed deluxe 1X12" cab.

 

It gets "clean" only in a relative sense at way low volumes, then quickly starts adding some "hair" as the volume comes up. It can get surprizing loud for what is basically 5 watts, though single-ended class "A" is like that.

 

It has a nice spongey midrange and takes a lot of the glassy "ping" off the high end because well, basically it just can't reproduce highs as well as it does midrange.

 

If I need Hi-Fi sophisticated type sounds I can add a Sonic Stomp to contour the midrange and keep it from dominating so much, turn it down, and mic it.

 

For screaming R&R duties I just use a solidbody with humbuckers and add a distortion pedal that really kicks it into a very loud place (but beautiful and touch sensitive).

 

Other amps come and go, but this one's a keeper. If it doesn't sound good it's likely the guitar's fault. But it makes almost anything sound good at the right level for the particular room it's in.

[DetroitBlues]

I prefer an amp that has great clean tones, but the ability to keep them fat so the bottom end isn't soggy and the top end doesn't make your ears bleed.... But any amp that needs a multi-band equalizer is out of the question for me. Fortunately, I've haven't needed one of those in any of the past three amps I've had.

[DetroitBlues]

I agree with this and for me add I really like a nice "Chime" My clean tone has to have sustain..that's why my KBP amp is modelled after a Vox AC-30, or Trainwreck amp..they are known for that "Beatle-esque" or REM type chime..Or perhaps think about mid 60's Byrds.. Once I've got that "Holy Grail" type tone..then I can use my pedals to have some fun!! LOL This Hillbilly is excited!! Should have her soon!! Brian says a week or so!!

 

It has to pass my QA tests first....