Guest HRB853370 Posted December 14, 2012 Posted December 14, 2012 I love Reverb. It's the one effect I treasure above all others... If somebody at your gig yells "free bird", your reply should be, "more reverb"?
DetroitBlues Posted December 14, 2012 Author Posted December 14, 2012 If somebody at your gig yells "free bird", your reply should be, "more reverb"? They already did and the harmonica player thinks Southern Rock is too close to country and refuses to play it.
Blunote Posted December 14, 2012 Posted December 14, 2012 They already did and the harmonica player thinks Southern Rock is too close to country and refuses to play it. A blues snob, eh?
pushover Posted December 14, 2012 Posted December 14, 2012 I finally caught up with this thread and I must admit I find it hilarious, but unfortunately for all of the wrong reasons. If I've learned anything in my 50 years its that there is no perfect tone, there is only a tone "you" like. O.K. Maybe you also have the tone that a respected party likes, but your typical audience is largely tone deaf and can't tell. Oh. And of course it will also depend on what type of music you're playing. I've got my monster Music Man HD120 (120 Watts) that I usually play at 1/2 power, my 25 W Peavey Bravo, and an el cheapo solid state Fender Frontman 25R (25W). I've got a 1x15 cab, a 2x12 cab, and a 1x12 cab. I don't have a 4x12 cab, but somehow I've never missed one. Perhaps this just goes to show what I don't know, and perhaps you can just tune me out at this point! On top of that, I have the various guitars listed below in my sig, and you know what... they all sound different through the various combinations mentioned above. Depending on what I'm trying to play, each amp has it's own unique set of settings to get a tone I'm looking for, for that song. If I'm playing the same song with a different guitar, each amp has a different set of settings. DUH! I've also played my POD though some PA speakers with a digitech pedal, and even my iRiG though some computer speakers and in each case have had people tell me how good it sounded (o.k. they're idiots but they meant well..). Of my options, the Fender 25R is clearly the weak link, though it sounds a lot better through a better speaker. But I'll swear that in a specific circumstance, with some effort I can dial it in and get close to a decent sound with pretty much any of these combinations. I don't play out much, but but I'm amazed that my Bravo can be pretty darn loud (it's what I usually use), but at the same time I'm totally impressed that the one time I played a large concert hall I went from a volume level of 3 on the Music Man during our sound check to about 6-7 when the hall was filled with people, and spent the whole time messing with the bass and treble knobs based on signals from our sound dweeb out in the crowd! It's amazing how different frequencies are absorbed by people! I could go on, but I won't. My bottom line is that your amp is only part of your sound equation, and in most cases depending on the song you're playing you're looking for a specific sound. So the important thing is to be able to find it given the equipment you have. Be it a different guitar, different speakers, or different dial positions on your amp given the playing situation, its the resulting sound that matters more than the specific amp you're using. Playing in my basement is NOT the same as playing out. I look for two main things in my main amp: versatiile (i.e. lots of tones), and reliable. For me that's my Bravo. The rest I do with effects, or a different guitar, or a different speaker cab! So for all of you amp snobs out there who think you'll find the one perfect amp that does it all.. All I can say is good luck to ya.... Oh yeh.. BTW. I'm sure most of you can probably sound better than I do anyway.. But it's not your equipment that is the difference, its that you're better players and can get more out of a guitar than I can!
barrymclark Posted December 14, 2012 Posted December 14, 2012 Pushover, I am in total agreement. If anything, my choice in amplifiers really screams that I don't spend time sniffing corks. It is all very, very personal. The one thing I will hand some aspects of older gear is they tend to be built of higher grade components and can be more easily repaired. If my Cube ever dies, it will probably become an ugly footstool. haha. If my JC120 ever dies... wait. That will never happen. In the end, I don't really care how an amp sounds like it does, just so long as it does. I know that I am very partial to the cleans of JC120's and Twins, the slightly gritty cleans of a Vox AC30 and the balls to the wall overdrive of a Marshall JCM2000 DSL100. The JC's seem to always be respected but rejected. The Twins have a definite following. The Vox AC30...say no more. The JCM200 DSL is another respected but rejected model. Wait a minute... why the hell do I like the sound of heavy ass amps so much?!
barrymclark Posted December 14, 2012 Posted December 14, 2012 What I really give 'boutique' amps and classics is just how long they will likely be operational especially due to ease of repair. Vox's these days are problematic and so are Marshalls. JC's are still pretty solid. No idea on Fender Twins.
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