Thundergod Posted April 26, 2009 Share Posted April 26, 2009 I love the way some amps sound for clean tones... I love the way some amps sound for crunch and I love how some of them sound for metal distortion. There are some pedals that work best with some amps, there are some amps that just won't take any pedals no matter what... I'm begining to think there's no perfect amp that will do everything... I love how my main amp sounds for clean tones, but when the clean tone is perfect I cant get a perfect crunch and distortion (don't get me wrong, i like the dist and crunch I get but its not perfect), when I change 1 setting on the amp the distortion gets to be perfect, unbelievable tone... but then the clean tone loses something and is still nice but not perfect... I'd love to be able to have perfect tones for everything with just one guitar and one amp (I get less and less time to play with each passing day, so unless I'm gigging or touring again, I keep my guitars in their cases in the storeage room, and keep only one amp ready to use). I'm currently playing mostly clean stuff and classic rock, my amp does great for that, but every once in a while I just wanna go back to the metal days and start struming power chords and shredding, and that setup just wont deliver... I know, "plug to a different amp"... but then the feeling's gone :- and I get tired of shred stuff after 5 minutes, so taking 10 to take out other amp and setting it up its nonsense... Maybe I'm just nuts, but is it possible that there is no such thing as a perfect all around setup consisting on one guitar and one amp (ad pedals to taste)? Most pros you see playing use more than one amp, most even use different guitars for different songs, so maybe I'm asking too much... (if being able to afford and ask for any amp possible, they can't do with just one amp, why should we mere mortals?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaHooomie Posted April 26, 2009 Share Posted April 26, 2009 My, answer: No, there isn't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vagabond Posted April 26, 2009 Share Posted April 26, 2009 You obviously have too much gear. You should send some of it my way. :- :-({|= In all seriousness, I believe in a minimalist approach. Once you start caring so much about how your gear sounds that you start having to use separate amps for individual songs I think you've lost some of the original magic of playing guitar. I mean, I suppose if you're recording you want everything to be perfect, but I've heard and been to so many amazing shows where all the guitar player was using was a 65 Twin Reverb and only switched guitars for different tunings. Kind of a wabi-sabi kind of thing, where you accept the slight imperfections as part of the beauty of the whole. And yeah, the pros might use multiple amps and guitars for live shows, but I think the 40k setup is a little unrealistic (amps, guitars, cabling, pedals, mics, cabinets) for anyone but someone like Pete Townshend, Jeff Beck, or Eric Clapton, and even then I think some of the intricate and miniscule differences in tone are lost in a live environment, especially in front of a huge arena audience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichCI Posted April 26, 2009 Share Posted April 26, 2009 I think that there is such a thing as a perfect setup for some guitar players and not for others. A guy like BB King who has a signature tone needs only his Lucille guitar and a Lab amp and he's set; having a solid state amp like he does probably affords him the luxury of getting his tone at lower levels yet allows him to play bigger rooms. Other players, like you and I, use several different tone and variations of overdrive and play in different sized rooms where one amp would blow the doors off and another would be drowned out just to get a tone we like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ignotum-Per-Ignocious Posted April 26, 2009 Share Posted April 26, 2009 For me all I need is a good tube amp with a great clean sound and a lot of headroom. I then add pedals for distortion and other effects. While certain guitars specialize in certain things, I've had little to no trouble getting all i need out of one guitar. I don't have the money or space for very much equipment and I like the minimalist approach so this works for me. Hey Thunder, how many amps, guitars and pedals you up to now? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thundergod Posted April 26, 2009 Author Share Posted April 26, 2009 For me all I need is a good tube amp with a great clean sound and a lot of headroom. I then add pedals for distortion and other effects. While certain guitars specialize in certain things' date=' I've had little to no trouble getting all i need out of one guitar. I don't have the money or space for very much equipment and I like the minimalist approach so this works for me. Hey Thunder, how many amps, guitars and pedals you up to now?[/quote'] Actually I'm down to 6 guitars 7 amps (tho I consider only 4 of them to be "real amps") and lots of stomp boxes, I'm using only 6 right now (including the tuner). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thundergod Posted April 26, 2009 Author Share Posted April 26, 2009 I think that ... Right as always,our problem is we dont play with just our signature tone... (can't say I have a signature tone yet...) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichCI Posted April 26, 2009 Share Posted April 26, 2009 Right as always' date='our problem is we dont play with just our signature tone... (can't say I have a signature tone yet...)[/quote'] Is that bad though? Think about what Jimmy Page's signature tone... He doesn't have one. That guy used more amps, guitars and studio tricks to create tons of tones. He definitely has his own style and you know it's him when you hear him play but he has no signature tone per se. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elantric Posted April 26, 2009 Share Posted April 26, 2009 Get a new Roland Cube 80 - add pedals to taste Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Californiaman Posted April 26, 2009 Share Posted April 26, 2009 You know there's been a few posts of Phil X, the guy who demos a lot of the FrettedAmerican guitars. He really has one of the coolest jobs in the world. But my point is he always says something like, "I'm just playing this '59 Les Paul through a Fender Champ," or "This '59 Byrdland is plugged straight into... and I'm getting all these different tones by altering my volume and tone controls." There are many musicians who just use one amp with one guitar and it rocks for them. I like that idea because it's just you, your guitar and your amplifier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slogold Posted April 26, 2009 Share Posted April 26, 2009 Mark V anyone? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocketman Posted April 26, 2009 Share Posted April 26, 2009 Mark V anyone? Now we're talking. s a demo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dc3c46 Posted April 26, 2009 Share Posted April 26, 2009 Hughes & Kettner Switchblade. Check out Thomas Blug demonstration it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tuckomf Posted April 26, 2009 Share Posted April 26, 2009 For a while I was using an SG Standard through a Vox Cambridge. The vox has a tube preamp and SS power stage, and there really isn't much it can't do except play a bigger venue without P.A. support. I've been thinking about getting a tube power amp for bigger gigs. Anyway, that's as close as I've ever been to being happy with one amp. I think the most important lesson I've learned since I started playing is to ignore the headstocks and badges and just plug stuff in until it sounds good. Although I've also learned that's easier said than done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thundergod Posted April 26, 2009 Author Share Posted April 26, 2009 Is that bad though? Think about what Jimmy Page's signature tone... He doesn't have one. That guy used more amps' date=' guitars and studio tricks to create tons of tones. He definitely has his own style and you know it's him when you hear him play but he has no signature tone per se. [/quote'] True Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pippy Posted April 26, 2009 Share Posted April 26, 2009 True To Rich; +100 To Tg +100 too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thundergod Posted April 26, 2009 Author Share Posted April 26, 2009 Don't get me wrong... I have achieved the perfect tone that has been in my head for years (I achieved it just a year and a half ago), the thing is (and I know I will be flamed for this) I would love to be able to have the perfect clean tone, the perfect crunch and the perfect metal distortion with just the click of a footswitch. Right now if I want the best clean I play my tele into the ac30 or the princeton (even the jc120 gets played for cleans... but the AC30 is my favorite all around amp right now). If I want crunch and/or some clean with more bottom and body I play the p90 tele throug the ac30 with the preamp at half and the power amp at half. When I want more gain, I play the LP standard faded through the AC30 with the guv'nor plus (it can go from mild boost to big crunch). And for metal I play the EMG 81/85 loaded epi through the guv'nor or the modified metal zone into the jc120 (the strat and the studio almost never leave their cases, and the other amps are practice amps, I got one at home but no guitar there tho) Right now I'm playing in what remains of my studio so I can crank those tubes if I want to (not that my ears would welcome it:-")... not with a band, no stages, no money involved... so having to A-B through so much stuff is a pain in the ***. The stuff I'm using more is the standard through the guv'nor and regenerator pedals into the AC30 with the echohead delay in the loop, thats the setup that is giving me more lattitude right now, ever since moding the lester to peter green specs I find it sounds really good for clean with the midle position (almost like a tele's midle position). But I'm thinking more and more about getting a Tonelab, even if it's the ST version which is very small. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dem00n Posted April 26, 2009 Share Posted April 26, 2009 Now we're talking. s a demo. Wow...nice! :- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pippy Posted April 26, 2009 Share Posted April 26, 2009 I've found my perfect Axe'n'Amp duo. It wouldn't work for someone like 'the Mick' because he really would need the wider parameters offered by both SS and Valve combo's (I've been fascinated by that thread) and I really do understand the needs of a 'Pro' are very different from the 'week-end half-arsed-amateurs' such as myself - but I have a 2x12 Musicman combo which, with the LP, can do everything from clean Country to 'Bluesbreakers' and 'Kossoff' with no pedal in the chain. Clapton was using them from about '77 on so they can't be that bad. Can they? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thundergod Posted April 26, 2009 Author Share Posted April 26, 2009 Mark V anyone? That Mark V thing looks like something... :- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin Nahum Posted April 26, 2009 Share Posted April 26, 2009 Most jazz players I know manage just fine with one amp (usually solid state) and one guitar. Most acoustic players get by with even less. I think I could manage okay with my ES345 or Charliecaster and '74 Pro Reverb. RN Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djroge1 Posted April 26, 2009 Share Posted April 26, 2009 This is exactly what Joe Bonamassa was saying in a recent Guitar Player mag interview. For him no one amp provided the perfect tone and he gigs with 4 (i think 4) different amps and the only one that is on all of the time was a Marshall - the others were based off of Dumble's designs. I like what RichCi said, for some there is a perfect tone - it's their signiture sound. While for others it is using multilpe amps & guitars. This is a great thread for me because I'm seaching for "the tone" in my head and I think it may be found via dumble type tones and also train wreck express tones which in their pure form are modified Fender and Vox designs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Californiaman Posted April 26, 2009 Share Posted April 26, 2009 My buddy has the Silver Jubilee and a Line 6. He runs both of them at the same time. Although I know he prefers the Marshall Silver Jubilee. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FirstMeasure Posted April 26, 2009 Share Posted April 26, 2009 I haven't found any one amp that can do it all, but then I've never really lock myself into a "Tone" either. I've always felt that Tube was better for clean and Solid State better for Overdrive. As long as it's good solid state I like the natural compression and I have more control over feed back and harmonics, but that's just preference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KSG_Standard Posted April 26, 2009 Share Posted April 26, 2009 I'm a pretty simple guy...I found a couple of tones I really dig with my Blue Angel and my Marshall JTM...I could live with what I can get out of either one of them...I only use one pedal...less to go wrong and less to fool around with...I wouldn't say that I have a "signature" tone, but I find a way to sound like me no matter what...I played with some other guys yesterday, and I let one of them play my LP through my Blue Angel and he got a completely different tone than I do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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