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Midtown owners, what amp?


Midtown Blues

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Hello Gibson midtown owners! I got my Midtown standard about a month ago and I love it. The Midtown is unlike any other guitar, and I really like it's unique capabilities.

I'm playing mine through a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe. I'm not totally crazy about it, it's also 10 years old so I'm looking into a new amp. What are you playing your Midtown through and how do you like it?

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Congrats on your recent Midtown acquisition! I purchased one of the first run (2011) Midtown Customs when I stumbled across it one day. I was actually trying to decide between two Les Pauls and the Midtown Custom solved that dilemma that day.

 

My Custom has a Burstbucker 2 in the bridge and 3 in the neck position. It sounds great through either my main rig which is a Mesa 5:50 with a Mesa 2x12 open back cab with V30s, or my other "toy" amp which is an Orange Micro-Terror with Orange PPC112 cab (also v30 loaded).

 

I would think you should be able to get some good tones from your Standard through your Hot Rod Deluxe. Those I have played through in the past offered good cleans and dirt as well.

 

Asking a question of what amp you should get is dangerous on this forum as everyone here will be happy to help you spend your money [biggrin]. I guess I would start by asking what kind of stuff are you playing, what you want to accomplish and what sound are you after.

 

Chasing tone can be difficult at times. I have gone from loving my tone to hating it to loving it again a few times, and that's using the same gear. I have found myself adding more bass, then treble and mids to the point my tone just started sounding mushy. I realized what I had done while jamming with my friends and comparing what I liked about their tone. One of them was playing through a similar Mesa Head and when I saw his EQ controls were all around the 10 to 11:00 position and mine had slowly been tweaked to around the 2:00 position, backing them all down brought back the tone I was missing.

 

So, my advise is tweak that Hot Rod and maybe check out some YouTube video reviews of your amp to see what others are getting from them. Maybe you'll find that tone you used to like from it before swapping out of it.

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Thanks for the replies! I actually get a great sound out of the HRD but the highs are so ear splitting, shrill ice picks once I go beyond the 14th fret. I was thinking of a new amp but now I'm thinking new speaker. The Fender amp has the stock speaker. I was always able to tame those highs with my other guitars because they were all hollow bodies with very thick woody tone. The Midtown is much brighter than anything I've ever owned. I'm into B B King's tone and am looking to tame and smooth out the highs and really beef up low mids with warm definition. Any speaker recommendations for this kind of tone?

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Not sure what pickups you have, but you have one volume and one tone knob, correct? Does backing down the tone knob help?

 

I've been really happy with my V30s, but there are some amp experts on here that should be able to help with speaker selection.

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Just a wildcard suggestion for the good of mankind....ignore at will... [biggrin]

 

I do not have a Midtown but have admired the design and philosophy

 

I do have hollow and semi archtops including an ES330 and ES137... [thumbup]

 

And find, like many others, that the Roland Cubes punch well above their weight

 

Being much less 'glassy' than many solid state amps and with some character

 

V

 

:-({|=

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Thanks for the replies! I actually get a great sound out of the HRD but the highs are so ear splitting, shrill ice picks once I go beyond the 14th fret. I was thinking of a new amp but now I'm thinking new speaker. The Fender amp has the stock speaker. I was always able to tame those highs with my other guitars because they were all hollow bodies with very thick woody tone. The Midtown is much brighter than anything I've ever owned. I'm into B B King's tone and am looking to tame and smooth out the highs and really beef up low mids with warm definition. Any speaker recommendations for this kind of tone?

 

What are your HRD's EQ settings? Try turning down the treble, a bit, and adjust the bass and Mid's accordingly.

And/OR, turn down the tone knob(s), on the guitar. BB used both the Varitone 1-3, and his tone and volume knobs

pretty liberally. He used the middle (both pickups on) position, quite a lot, as well. His amps of choice were

a Gibson Lab Series (Solid State), or the Fender Twin Reverb, most often. No distortion pedals...just clean tube

overdrive!

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0mAQdTsVp0

 

As to a speaker replacement. I've had good experiences with Celestion Vintage 30's. But, that's just Me!

Other's will, no doubt, have their own preferences.

 

Good Luck,

 

CB

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  • 2 weeks later...

I purchased a Midtown Standard a few months ago and, based on playing through several amps, I bet you can get a great sound by adjusting the amp, brighter/darker strings, changing the tone cap, etc.

 

Most often I use a Mesa Boogie Recto-verb 25 when playing my Midtown. Keep in mind I use heavy flatwound strings. The amp settings are almost all near 12:00, although I keep the gain around 11:00 and master at 1:00, treble at 1:00, bass at 11:00, mids at 11:00. It's a darker tone but not at all muddy, as I keep the presence between 11-12 depending on the circumstances.

 

Over the years I've tried various hollow body guitars and semi-hollows only to sell each and every one. The feel, tone, etc, weren't what I was seeking in a jazz box. Then I tried the Midtown on a whim, after seeing it at a local shop. I was really blown away. It felt SOOO comfortable, no feedback issues whatsoever, and had the sound in my head. Great guitar!!!

 

Honestly, I could get buy with any quality amp by tweaking the amp settings and/or tweaking my guitars wiring, tone cap, pot, etc.

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Thanks everyone for your input. What I wound up doing was replacing the tubes with the Max Headroom kit from Eurotubes (JJ tubes) and replacing the stock speaker with WGS G12c/s and I've got such a smooth creamy sound. The clean is warm and all those harsh highs are gone. There was a ratty brashness to the stock speaker I didn't like either and the WGS has smoothed all that away and left me with a great tone for this Midtown to shine!

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I have a Marshall DSL40/20C (Cel. 70/80) and TSL100 head and 1960A cab (Cel. GT75's) and both my Midtowns sound great on them, although my custom has a little bit of a darker sound and shines a little more with the rhythm pick up....but have to dial down the treble a little compared to my Les Pauls....but with an EQ in the EF it's pretty easy to do on the fly....I love the "airy" sounds that Midtown's produce....

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  • 1 month later...

Hello Gibson midtown owners! I got my Midtown standard about a month ago and I love it. The Midtown is unlike any other guitar, and I really like it's unique capabilities.

I'm playing mine through a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe. I'm not totally crazy about it, it's also 10 years old so I'm looking into a new amp. What are you playing your Midtown through and how do you like it?

 

I play mine through a fender blues junior along with my pedal board that consists of my Morley wah and a variety of 5 different distortion pedals.

Love the sounds I get through the combo of the blues junior and my grunge or screaming blues, coupled with using my wah as a tone control.....I get bluesy tones as well as raunchy rock tones, perfect for what I play..Allman brothers, Clapton, Stevie Ray, Skynyrd, Buddy Guy and so on.

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