Just a Guitar and an Amp !

[Dave]

I think fuzz boxes started about the same time as solid state amps. Prior to that, we all played low wattage tube amps and cranked them to the sweet spot. One SS ciruitry started, there was no turning back. All kinds off processors became technically possible, especially when IC's hit the scene. Then CPU's came about and the market soared.

 

When we all changed to 100 watt solid state barn burners, they were too clean and the overdrive wasn't the same as tube amps. I remember hearing a group at a street party afew years back. The guitar player had an old tube fender cranked wide open and was creating some of the creamiest blues tones I ever heard. And his guitar stretch cord went straight from the guitar to the amp input.

[layboomo]

I've always been a bit of a tube snob and I still think the best tones I've ever herd are produced with 3 components....guitar,cord and tube amp. Don't get me wrong I have a ton of effects too and they are fun to play with,but they all detract from a pure guitar tone in some way. I have a buddy who is a pro level tour player and he has a ton of gear but often uses just a jc-120 and a marshall on an A/B switch and with that rig all of his sounds are phenomenal.

[lpdeluxe]

I'm a minimalist at heart, but there are times when I need a wah or a tremolo for a specific song.

 

Here are three easy steps:

 

1. Get a guitar that you love the sound of. I mostly play my LP Deluxe with Seymour Duncan mini humbuckers, and it sings, but the same principal applies to the other instruments I play, which are a pair of Precision basses (fretted and fretless), Dobro and harp.

 

2. Get an amplifier that kills. I have had many great amps in my time, including a '63 Sears Silvertone Twin Twelve, a '63 Ampeg B15N, a Carvin oak X amp with a Torres tone kit, a Music Man HD130 Reverb stack, an Ampeg B100R, a modified Pignose G40V harp amp, and a friend's '67 Super Reverb.

 

All but the Silvertone and Piggy have been replaced by a little Hartke rig with one 15, and a Fender Jazzmaster Ultralight. The JM has a superb clean sound and a very good distorted sound, and channels are switchable. I can take either (or both) of those to any gig and be happy. Notice that exactly three amps have been solid state, and two of those were bass amps. Tell you what, that solid state Jazzmaster will kick many a tube amp's butt, and it weighs only 25.6 lb.

 

3. Once you have the King of Tone guitar and amp, add in the necessary effects. I whittled mine down to Floor Pod Plus, because it has a really good sounding and quiet wah, and stuff like tremolo and chorus and so on. I use the wah on a single song, and the tremolo on a single note in a song -- the tune ends with a Cmaj7, and I hit the open B string and simultaneously tap the tremolo. Nice effect, but -- and here is the key -- I avoid overusing it or the wah.

 

I have played with guys who had to have every pedal in the store linked up between the guitar and amp, and you know what? Every damn solo ended up sounding like a helicopter taking off.

 

In the past, I played a little pedal steel, and that's the gold standard, to me: pristine, crying tone.

[SlagJones]

I was at a cookout last weekend and some guys brought their guitars. Just Squiers and 15W SS practice amps. No Gibsons, Fenders, or tubes in sight. Those guys jammed all night long and sounded great. The tone and effects all came from the fingers. It was inspiring.

[charlie brown]

Hey, that setup (Guitar, cord, Amp) worked well for The Beatles, and countless other

bands, back in the day. Hard to argue with the tones they got! I still think the Beatles

tones/sound is one of the best, going. Also, Clapton's Mayall ("Beano" album), and

"Cream" era (Les Paul/SG/335 into 100 watt "cranked" Marshall Stacks) is about as good

as it can ever get! Even now, EC only uses his onboard boost, and a bit of chorus or Rotary

speaker. But, most of his tone is his amazing playing, and his guitar and amp!

 

CB

[charlie brown]

Just listened to a 3-CD BB King set, I got recently, and it's just more good examples, of the

power and tone, of a great guitar, player, and a good amp. (In this case

a "solid state," Gibson L-5 Lab series.)

 

CB

[bluesstringer]

I've always been a bit of a tube snob and I still think the best tones I've ever herd are produced with 3 components....guitar' date='cord and tube amp. Don't get me wrong I have a ton of effects too and they are fun to play with,but they all detract from a pure guitar tone in some way. I have a buddy who is a pro level tour player and he has a ton of gear but often uses just a jc-120 and a marshall on an A/B switch and with that rig all of his sounds are phenomenal.[/quote']

 

I'm certainly with you all the way with the guitar, cord and tube amp sound, LB ! to me, it doesn't get any better. I appreciate most effects but I'm still convinced you can't get any sweeter tones than out of a guitar through a tube amp, my personal favorite is a Strat or Les Paul through a Deluxe Reverb.

[bluesstringer]

Just listened to a 3-CD BB King set' date=' I got recently, and it's just more good examples, of the

power and tone, of a great guitar, player, and a good amp. (In this case

a "solid state," Gibson L-5 Lab series.)

 

CB[/quote']

 

I'll camp onto your short list here Charlie, If I chime in and start one, I wouldn't even know where to start but I listen to alot of different stuff but twice as much blues and alot of it relatively obscure and the tones for that basic guitar/cable /amp combo are soaked throughout.

 

I just grew up listening to artists that had few choices, like you, from those you mentioned obviously, the Beatles being one of the predominant, EC, Mayall, early Beck, BB and the other Kings, et.al. I think that alot of people would be surprised how much of Hendrix's works were actually the same combo. I remember part of a old Guitar Player Clapton article where he was describing seeing Jimi in a club in the UK in the late 60's and describing exactly that. Sitting in this small club watching every move Jimi made trying to figure out how he got those sounds out of just a guitar and an amp. !

[charlie brown]

Hey, I'm with you, John...It's an overprocessed world...and not just musically. LOL!

But, there are some pedals I like/use, sparingly. But, they tend to be the same ones

I have always used. Back in the '60's it was a "Fuzz Face," or Vox "Tone Bender"

and a Vox Wah-Wah! Now, it's a Boss Blues Drive, Vox Wah-Wah, Compressor/Sustainer

(for the "Byrds" sound, on the Ricky 12-string), and a Boss rotary speaker simulator, once in awhile. But, easily 85-90 percent of the time, it's just me, the guitar and amp! As to "Deluxe Reverb amps?" Awesome! Played my

Casino through one, and it gave me "chills!"

 

Cheers,

CB

[Svet]

I've always erred on the side of the less is more camp. We don't need all of those fancy effects! This is not to say I don't own any stomp boxes but I rarely use them. Several of my amps (Bassman,Vibroverb) don't have a gain channel so I need the Ibanez TS's for a little gain. They are both far too loud to create that drive naturally! In the case of the Bassman I also like add an Electro Harmonix Holy Grail for a little taste of reverb. The Bassman sounds wonderful clean and with the aforementioned pedals she can really wail. I just get lazy sometimes and I don't feel like running all of the cables and power supplies. So I find myself using the Fender Twin and the Epiphone Blues custom 30 more often as they both have nice gain channels along with their one channel and footswitches to boot. The Epiphone rocks in the 15 watt mode and I can crank it all the way up in the clean channel for some nice natural overdrive. Everyone really ought to give this amp a look as its low price just makes it such a bargain.

[The_Sentry]

I don't know what will happen to this or how long it will stay alive in the current climate but what happened to the time (some of you here will remember) when we played guitars - epiphone guitars ! - the way we got them and had to make our own sound with just the guitar and an amp ?

 

Do we have too many choices these days ? Do all the effects/electronics' date=' etc available make lesser players sound better faster, can they produce good sound with just a guitar and an amp ? I'm not dissing anyone that uses this stuff as I occasionally do myself, but I do miss the simplicity and what it produced also, of less tech and more playing.........

 

Anyone else ?[/quote']

 

WHADDYA MEAN???

 

I still do that!!!

 

(OK, well not quite. But for most "show up and jam" sessions? Yes...)

 

I'd like to get a Morley pedal. Maybe a distortion box. All I'm using right now are some Boss pedals to switch channels on my Roland. That's it. (And yeah, I do use a wah once in a while...but eh, I don't know. It's great and all...but unless I have a specific song.....I just sort of move on w/o it.)

 

Eh, I don't know. I just want to make noise, ya know? As long as you're not too dirty with your crunch, it will sound just fine plugging straight into the amp.

 

(I'm also the opposite of my friend I jam with. As far as he goes? He'll sit there and just screw around with settings and emulators for hours.....me? If I have a fascimile of what I want...then that's about all I'll use. The best tone comes from my fingers...)

[antwhi2001]

When I was starting out I had to buy old junk tube amps and they were always blowing tubes, and I couldn't afford to get them fixed properly. Consequently I decided tube = unreliable and stuck to solid state. But, with cheap solid state you can't get the tone....so in come lots of pedals, and still none of them quite right. Now I'm older and I can afford a good tube amp I hardly use pedals.

 

When you think about it, I spent years trying to get the same sounds as rock guitarists from the late 60s and early 70s using completely different guitars, amps and pedals. There was an easier way; use what they used....tube amp, guitar with alnico 2 pups, cord.

[Suicidehummer]

Hey, to all those who like effects, I'd just like to introduce you to Mr. Angus Young!

 

 

He doesn't even use the vibrola! Now that's dedication! And he doesn't use gain either, he said he uses volume knobs for everything.

[charlie brown]

Speaking of guitars and amps...do any of you here, have the new Fender Super Champ?

Seems to be getting great reviews, tone and volume, and is really reasonable on price.

Might be another small bar/club alternative?

 

CB

[geetar playr]

I think that as for guitar fx...yeah, there is too much going on for lots of folks...compression, noise gates, delay, reverb, chorus, etc, etc. But then again, for some folks, you need all that to obtain your sound.

But for me....I used to use too many fx...always stompin on the wah....gotta put some chorus here and there...oh yeah, gotta punch some delay on the solo, etc.

Well, for the past few years I totally got away from that. Been hanging in my buddy's basement while's he's out of town..and getting re-acquainted with my Fender Reverb Deluxe, and just how good its sounds w/o pedals!

Touch of reverb, put it on 4, and let the natural break-up of the tubes do the work....work the tone nobs and volume controls, and do you really need a pedal? However, playing the Epi Firebird through my old Tube Screamer really got me stoked! Just added enough crunch and grit on lower volume to give me some sweet tones.

I got some Diamrzios plugged into an Ibanez ARX 320 (basically an old 80's Artist series styled guitar)....now lots of guys who use these... a Tone Zone in bridge, and a Air Norton in neck....have these things going into massive rigs, digital whatnots, amp modeling whatits, etc to get that Satriania, Vai, high gain metal sound. Well, more power to them!

But I wanted to hear how these pickups really sounded. Just plugged directly into the Fender and turned it up. Got a real good sense of what these pups sound like. But then again, I am a vintage guy....so all I want to hear is wood, tubes, and the crunch and cry of old school sounds. Like, how about Clapton's Bluesbreakers tone? Jimmy Page, when he played live (esp. TSRTS re-master)? Kossoff in Free? SRV? These sounds, in my opinion, are what guitar tone is all about. But then again, I know that there are the EVH/Satch/Vai fans who love those tones too! No offense to those fans!

As for after-market hardware....well, on that issue I say go for it, really. I mean, didn't Jeff Beck have Seymour create the JB for him? (or did I read that wrong somewhere?). If I had $30,000+ to get a '59 LP, yeah, sure, I might do it. But wouldn't it just be better to get a set of Seymour '59's and plug 'em in to my Epi LP Custom? I'm convinced that pickup swapping is a great idea and a good investment if you're on a budget and want a good tone. Again, though, I also think having a very, very good amp is the best investment. A $1000 amp can make a $300 guitar sound good, I think. The stock pups in my Epi Firebird sounded very good pushed through the Fender with the Tube Screamer-really, good actually. Sure, not as clear and clear as the Duncans, but for a $400 guitar, it sounded great.

Alright, long rambling post....all I'm saying is yeah, I think guitar sounds have become super-processed, and you should just plug into an amp and use volume/tone controls for a while to see how it feels...you know, get back to THE ROOTS!

And...I think that pup replacement is worthwhile trying to get your tone, cause you can still just plug into an amp and play!

Cheers!

[bluesstringer]

Speaking of guitars and amps...do any of you here' date=' have the new Fender Super Champ?

Seems to be getting great reviews, tone and volume, and is really reasonable on price.

Might be another small bar/club alternative?

 

CB [/quote']

 

I played through one tonight Charlie. Man thais is one really nice sounding little amp. I had rehersal tonight at my Church Priase team music leader's house and her husband is an engineer by trade, plays in a Tower of Power band and is an amp tech in his spare time. After rehersal, he and I fooled around with some blues and I started out on his vibroverb with my Sherry and him on a Clarence White tele through a Super Champ XD. I ran my 03 USa Strat through the Champ and it sounded every bit as good as the vibro or his twin he just finished recapping and putting the original blue label jensens back in. Suffice it to say this WILL BE my next amp. Nice sweet spot at a whole lot less volume than the verb.

[thunderstruck507]

I love the way my marshall sounds hot, just have to get the volume at 2 or higher (which is pretty loud in a small room) to make it sound good, any lower and I need a compressor to get any sustain and bite from it.

[charlie brown]

 

I played through one tonight Charlie. Man thais is one really nice sounding little amp. I had rehersal tonight at my Church Priase team music leader's house and her husband is an engineer by trade' date=' plays in a Tower of Power band and is an amp tech in his spare time. After rehersal, he and I fooled around with some blues and I started out on his vibroverb with my Sherry and him on a Clarence White tele through a Super Champ XD. I ran my 03 USa Strat through the Champ and it sounded every bit as good as the vibro or his twin he just finished recapping and putting the original blue label jensens back in. Suffice it to say this WILL BE my next amp. Nice sweet spot at a whole lot less volume than the verb.[/quote']

 

Good for you, John...glad to hear you got to try one out. I'm really interested in one, myself. I've only heard

the sound bites on Fender's website, though. They were great, but you know it's hard to judge those, really.

So, this is good to hear...that you've actually played through one. All the reviews I've seen, have been VERY

Positive! So...I'm certain there will be one in my future, too. Just have to see what my Gretsch Country Gent,

restoration will end up costing me. "Arm and a leg," no doubt. LOL!

 

CB

[charlie brown]

I love the way my marshall sounds hot' date=' just have to get the volume at 2 or higher (which is pretty loud in a small room) to make it sound good, any lower and I need a compressor to get any sustain and bite from it.[/quote']

 

Well, Marshalls are awesome! Especially with Les Pauls or other humburcker equipped guitars.

But, they do need to be "pushed!" I used a little AVT-20, to practice on, and sometimes gig with, in small

bars, etc. Pretty cool little amp, for what it does. When I was a kid, I had a Marshall Major (AKA "The Pig")

Full Stack. LOL! It was so friggin' loud, but what a sound/tone!! Used a Gibson 1968 Les Paul Custom,

through it, which was also "new" at the time. ;>b Unfortunately, I don't have either one, anymore! Damn!

But, who knew...what those things would be worth, now?! Certainly not me! Had a ball with them, while I

did have 'em! Guess that's all that really counts?! LOL!

 

 

CB

[frpax]

I use several guitars (Les Pauls/Strats/Sheraton) and a Twin Reverb Reissue. For effects, I use Chorus & Delay (99% of the time) and a couple of Overdrive pedals for some crunch. Occasionally some Tremolo. I'll use varying degrees of Reverb depending on the song.

 

My Sheraton w/ no Overdrive is tone heaven for me.

[Suicidehummer]

 

Well' date=' Marshalls are awesome! Especially with Les Pauls or other humburcker equipped guitars.

But, they do need to be "pushed!" I used a little AVT-20, to practice on, and sometimes gig with, in small

bars, etc. Pretty cool little amp, for what it does. When I was a kid, I had a Marshall Major (AKA "The Pig")

Full Stack. LOL! It was so friggin' loud, but what a sound/tone!! Used a Gibson 1968 Les Paul Custom,

through it, which was also "new" at the time. ;>b Unfortunately, I don't have either one, anymore! Damn!

But, who knew...what those things would be worth, now?! Certainly not me! Had a ball with them, while I

did have 'em! Guess that's all that really counts?! LOL!

 

 

CB[/quote']

 

No, what counts is keeping them perfectly clean and unscratched, and selling them for ridiculous prices!

 

Kidding, of course.