Grail Tones (guitar player thread)
Monday, June 04 2012 @ 05:09 PM CDT

I thought I'd start this thread so we can pick each other's brains on gear choices, tell stories of the ones that got away and the ones that have stayed, revisit the digital v analog battle and so on. Y'know, guitar nerd fun.

I'll open with Vox V15. These aren't reckoned as top of the line Voxes, but pumping this thing HARD with a tone boost and a twin HB guitar gave the most beautiful Brian May type leads I've ever managed, or, to be honest, heard from anyone else. During listenback of a recording I was blown away by the fiddle sound 'til I realised that wasn't the fiddle, that was my guitar. I sold it to a buddy (cheap) I'd be able to borrow it back from, but he's an idiot, and sold it on.

Fender Blues Junior with greenback, good tubes. A marriage made in blues heaven for smaller gigs and the studio. Not up to heavy gigging, but the compliments it's drawn are almost embarrassing. Anyone steals this, they will be hunted down and killed very painfully and slowly.

Marshall Silver Jubilee. Picked this up in 1989, new, for $525 including tax. 1X12. Finally found a speaker it wouldn't munch that sounded good (Carvin). Just an outstanding amp, has never let me down in some heavy gigging situations through the years, has always been loud enough for any stage. The only problem is that, like many Marshalls, the knob labeled volume should actually be labeled tone, as in the higher you turn it, the better it sounds. Now that I don't carry my own gear, I'm thinking of trading it across for a Bluesbreaker, but I'll miss her if I do.

Blackheart Little Giant. With the speaker broken in and on the triode setting, this is simply one of the sweetest amps I've ever played through (full power sound is abrasive, nasty). Not a hope of keeping up with a drummer, but what a great sound. Added bonus; Simon the cat has adopted it as his scratching post, and nobody will ever think to steal it.

Fender Princeton II; stolen by my harp player, this had lovely cleans (the EV12L didn't hurt) with an amazing 'lunge'. The prick also got my EH memory man which I remember as being noticeably better than the re-issues (didn't distort as easily). There are reasons I hate harp players.

Gibson GA 30 Invader and GA17 Scout; a buddy lent me these for a couple of years for the cost of getting the GA30 fixed ($88). Kind of Fendery, with lovely distortion when pushed hard. Light, too. Tough enough for fairly heavy gigging, GREAT reverb.

1962 Fender Bassman. Stolen. What a lovely amp. Listening back after a radio station taping, I couldn't believe how damn pretty it sounded; when I asked the engineer what he'd done, he said 'added reverb'.

Zoom G3; I got this to stick in the feedback loop of my delay, but I have to say it is an amazing box. Is it as good as a good amp with high quality, mostly analog stompboxes? No, there's still something missing, but they're getting frighteningly close. I've already done one gig with this just feeding the PA, and I expect I'll do more. Plus it has a great rhythm trainer (drum pattern player).

So, anyone else in?

Re:Grail Tones (guitar player thread)
Monday, June 04 2012 @ 06:14 PM CDT

O Man .. reading all this I feel so much like a cave man
but I really miss my old Maxim Booster a very little fella
you stick it on the guitar jack and turn the volume lil up
and let the gain ride ..any lead will be as sweet as a juice !

Yes , I spent years and years hardly ever put pedals to gig
with till last two years as it was a new life to me so everything
was like learning to walk again and see and communicate and
find me axes and little toys to make a sound ..

I couldnt find a better Amp than my ol Marshall Haze 40 what a beast
with my vitage Epi EA 255 two burst buckers and ride ...I love it
and I thought it will be the same story with my New les Paul ..
its just shock me this is all new world to deal with a Les Paul

with little tweaks on my Boss SD and things start to fly and the tone
went crazy cool on both Rhythm and lead ..

I m sure there will be too many toys to check out I ll look on
this thread I might see if there will be any suggestions and
stories to help me out of this cave

I sold my old Valvstate 2200 tiny little devil but I was tired to
crank it up every single gig the tone was fabulous but I needed
a louder beast !

till the farm fest in august I ll go check what everybody is trying
with their acoustic guitars as they are playing on a rock band ;-)
thats a total new world to me ...I not gonna add gain or over drive
but hopefully the Marhsall will do it for me to cut through the bass
and drums in such crowd !

Re:Grail Tones (guitar player thread)
Monday, June 04 2012 @ 07:48 PM CDT

I bet that after playing the Haze for a while, you'll be a little bit shocked when you play a valvestate again. A real tube power section is different and addictive.

Make sure when you have to re-tube you get the best you can, and get it biased properly by a good tech.

I was lucky; here in the eighties through '90s you could pick up amps for CHEAP, sell it on for cheap and pick up another really nice amp for cheap. $300 bucks for that Bassman I was talking about, Super Champs changed hands for 250 and less. Everyone thought SS amps were going to do it - this is the era of the Peavey Bandit - but they haven't really come through yet. There's a couple around now that can do the trick, but they're more expensive than getting a decent tube amp anyway.

The only thing about the cheaper tube amps - assuming you got a good one - is that heavy gigging wears them out pretty fast, not just the tubes but the whole machine, input jacks to speakers to cabinets. ALWAYS carry spare tubes (we did that even when we had good tubes).

A little expensive - roam the site and take a look for alternatives;

http://thetubestore.com/sba-marshall-haze-mhz40c.html

With modern manufactured tubes, don't expect the power tubes to last more than 6 months of heavy gigging, if that. Try to get them biased twice; when they're first installed, and then when you have about 20 hrs on the amp.

Also, a better speaker will up the whole flair of the amp - this is where manufacturers cut big corners, and where, after all, the sound comes out. A vintage 30 would probably have you creaming your pants with that thing once it was broken in.

Re:Grail Tones (guitar player thread)
Monday, June 04 2012 @ 08:12 PM CDT

Quote by: Moonwolf_Project I bet that after playing the Haze for a while, you'll be a little bit shocked when you play a valvestate again. A real tube power section is different and addictive. Make sure when you have to re-tube you get the best you can, and get it biased properly by a good tech. I was lucky; here in the eighties through '90s you could pick up amps for CHEAP, sell it on for cheap and pick up another really nice amp for cheap. $300 bucks for that Bassman I was talking about, Super Champs changed hands for 250 and less. Everyone thought SS amps were going to do it - this is the era of the Peavey Bandit - but they haven't really come through yet. There's a couple around now that can do the trick, but they're more expensive than getting a decent tube amp anyway. The only thing about the cheaper tube amps - assuming you got a good one - is that heavy gigging wears them out pretty fast, not just the tubes but the whole machine, input jacks to speakers to cabinets. ALWAYS carry spare tubes (we did that even when we had good tubes). A little expensive - roam the site and take a look for alternatives; http://thetubestore.com/sba-marshall-haze-mhz40c.html With modern manufactured tubes, don't expect the power tubes to last more than 6 months of heavy gigging, if that. Try to get them biased twice; when they're first installed, and then when you have about 20 hrs on the amp. Also, a better speaker will up the whole flair of the amp - this is where manufacturers cut big corners, and where, after all, the sound comes out. A vintage 30 would probably have you creaming your pants with that thing once it was broken in.

So far everybody is happy with this Marshall let see how it will
response on open stages this summer !?!
my next step will be JVM combo but until then will see .

Thanks a lot Sir , for the tips and link !

Re:Grail Tones (guitar player thread)
Monday, June 04 2012 @ 08:30 PM CDT

I've played the same Peavy classic 30 for a long time maybe up 15 years. I only know that I love everyone else's amps, but when it's time to try something new I buy a guitar.

Now my favorite tone out of a guitar straight to amp is Feist's live tone, I guess she plays into two split Vox practice amps.

Hope you don't mind a link..........

Re:Grail Tones (guitar player thread)
Tuesday, June 05 2012 @ 09:25 AM CDT

Quote by: Moonwolf_Project ...Gibson GA 30 Invader and GA17 Scout; a buddy lent me these for a couple of years for the cost of getting the GA30 fixed ($88). Kind of Fendery, with lovely distortion when pushed hard. Light, too. Tough enough for fairly heavy gigging, GREAT reverb...

The (Tweed) Invader was one of the first amps I owned and it was *S-W-E-E-T*. The 8" and 12" speakers produced a creamy, mellow sound in the mid and bottom range. When you cranked up the volume it sang so sweetly, with lovely sustain and natural distortion. Something went awry with mine eventually, constantly blowing fuses and burning out the transformer. I finally had to let her go. It was a very sad day... she served me very well.

Re:Grail Tones (guitar player thread)
Tuesday, June 05 2012 @ 11:04 AM CDT

Quote by: Feter I sold my old Valvstate 2200 tiny little devil but I was tired to crank it up every single gig the tone was fabulous but I needed a louder beast

My Valvestate 2000 will be the last one to go (knock wood). I like it cranked and miked

Re:Grail Tones (guitar player thread)
Tuesday, June 05 2012 @ 03:23 PM CDT

Quote by: snowdragon Quote by: Feter I sold my old Valvstate 2200 tiny little devil but I was tired to crank it up every single gig the tone was fabulous but I needed a louder beast My Valvestate 2000 will be the last one to go (knock wood). I like it cranked and miked

Miked is the secret ,cos we dont mic any at pubs I couldnt cut through
enough ..ehhh and I wanted to have a Les Paul ..so?

btw I was thinking to have valvstate 60 or 100 I read too many
negative comments about them this is why I picked the Haze !

Re:Grail Tones (guitar player thread)
Tuesday, June 05 2012 @ 11:46 PM CDT

personal faves I have owned over the years (aka: to all the girls i've loved):

supro 2x12 - had an accordion input. you would plug into the guitar input, then run a cable over to the other input and it would scream. miss this amp more than the others. supposedly Jimmy Page played this one with a Tele on Zeppelin 1. not much bottom end when played with a Tele, but who needs that?

musicman 4x12 - not even sure what model it was. I always thought it sounded like a Fender Super. loud, and really ballsy. great for everything.

fender twin silverface (from the 70's) - this was the one I toured with forever. took a beating without ever complaining. such a big warm clean sound, and worked great with fuzz/distortion pedals. actually maybe this was my fave amp.

hiwatt 100 watt head form the late 70's - played this in a lot of bands through a 4x12 cab. what a sound. I always felt like Pete Townshend when I plugged into this one. no fizz to it at all, just big hard sound. it was like being punched in the back of the neck.

sears silvertone amp (1x10) - what a tremolo this thing had. and a super grungey sound that only got better as the tubes got hotter. in my mind, I can still smell that amp when it got hot. a lot of bottom end on this one.

Re:Grail Tones (guitar player thread)
Wednesday, June 06 2012 @ 06:10 AM CDT

I was blown away by the improvement in guitar tone I got moving from a cheap second hand Fender JAM to a Vox AC15 with those pretty blue speakers.

Moving on to fx, just moved recently from a Boss GT-8 floor FX to a Line 6 Pod HD600. The jury's still out on whether it was a smart move or not. Some days yes, some days no. The line6 seems to suck out all the tone, despite being very clever in terms of fx and amp modelling. And I find adding a Fryer treble booster just adds that extra something to the mix and is a worthwhile investment. Rory Gallagher and Brian May knew what they were doing. Now if only I can find a cheap kay fuzz wah...