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Looking to up my sound


Hamish

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Hello , i have an epi VAlve Jr i really like it and all i love the ac/dc sound it gives me i jump all over the place and do the duckwalk while playing :-

 

But im looking for something very versatile now that i get a good rock sound out of , i saw the Peavey Windsor head which looked pretty cool http://www.thomann.de/gb/peavey_windsor.htm and the blackhearts little giant http://www.thomann.de/gb/blackheart_little_giant_bh5h.htm which apparently is a rock amp :)

 

Im not jumping into conclusions of course im going to go to a store and test these amps probably but i was wondering if anybody knew of a nice cheap rock amp give me a give me shout.

 

Btw if i bought the blackheart little giant head and plug it into my Epiphone valve jr cabinet would it affect the sound ? :)

 

(oh and i use stacks i dont trust combo amps anymore :D)

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First off.. I'd say get the vj modded.

There's no reason for the amp to be a johnny one note.

and no reason it couldn't be better than the blackheart for less money than buying a new one.

 

the blackheart is the same amp as the vj, designed by the same guy, with a couple of changes.

and some of the same problems!

 

you can plug the blackheart into your vj cabinet no problem whatsoever.

 

The peavey windsor seems to be a nice amp. and would be more versatile than either the vj or bh.

anything under 30 watts with tubes will probably be pretty good.. with a couple of exceptions.

 

I understand de thoman has the valve senior?

 

tWANG

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What's the goal of having more versatility? In other words, are you looking for something from beatles to metallica and all between? If so, modeling is probably the way to go.

 

You need to identify how much power you're looking for, also. Your Vjr is 5 watts. That Windsor is 100. Quite a stark difference. FWIW, I highly doubt you'd ever come close to needing 100w. My biggest amp is 50, and I hardly ever use it. About 20 watts or so from a tube amp will cover nearly every venue you play in, assuming you have a decent monitor system if the need arises.

 

As for versatility, don't overlook what can be accomplished with a single channel tube amp, a guitar volume knob, and a simple booster on the floor. My amps all run hot, and I can get everything from "clean" to fat crunch with a twist of the guitar volume, and screaming, soaring solo tone by stepping on a boost. You'd be amazed at how many different tones you can get out of a rig that simple, if you try.

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Well looking at posts .. i just noticed i didnt ask the right question :D

 

What i really want is something i can gig with , and there comes the question could my ValveJr do that? :D

 

Mayby with a boost pedal i could get all the sounds i need:

 

-AC/DC (got it :D)

-Black sabbath (just a bit only like iron man)

-Led zeppelin

 

etc... thats on approx of the sounds im trying to achieve AC/DC and the led zeppelin are ok but the overdrive for black sabbath too much :D and also thats not all just a sound genre i mean im learning"Carry on my wayward son" from kansas "black betty" loads of little bits but mostly rock

 

Could this do for a pedal ? http://www.thomann.de/gb/boss_sd1_super_overdrive.htm

 

I was gonna buy it before but changed my mind for whatsoever reason.

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I sub out mostly so because of that I end up playing with a lot of different folks along with vast genre. Sooo I need a lot of versatility out of my rigs.

 

What's worked for me for many years as far as versatility has been amps with clean headroom. Amps that stay clean all the way up....... I have not found the dirt and clean I like in one box yet. So I get the clean I like out of an amp and rely on pedals for the rest. I prefer Fender Blackface tube amps. But tubes or not, if it sounds good and works for me it will do.

 

FWIW...the above is in reference to amps I use to play out with because I see you mention gigging out with yours. I don't need nor use tube amps at home. I have a small Marshall SS practice amp that I plug straight into when I'm at home.

 

Not all amps are created equal, especially tube amps . Some tube amps breakup rather fast and some not at all....depending on the amp and wattage. Need to do the amp gauntlet I'm afraid.

 

As far as the SD-1 I do like mine, but I find it to be on the boxy side. It sits some where in a closet with the rest I don't use.

 

That's another thing I'm afraid you'll have to do some leg work with. You'll get just as many different opinions on which pedal to get as they have out there. Even some of the more popular ones might not be what will work for you. A perfect example is the good old TS-9. I've found quite a bit of folks that cannot stand that pedal, but it's my OD of choice and one I'd recomend. Not that it's better or worse, just what I'm use to. Familiarity with your gear is a big percentage of getting the sound you are happy with....or making it work for you.

 

Anyways just my 2 cents worth. Good luck with your hunting.

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What i really want is something i can gig with , and there comes the question could my ValveJr do that?

No, especially if it's stock. I gig with a 7 watt EL34 octal build Vjr in small clubs, but the stock amp is way too mushy and dark to gig with, imo.

 

-AC/DC (got it :D)

-Black sabbath (just a bit only like iron man)

-Led zeppelin

For AC/DC and Zeppelin, you need some pretty big headroom, and a stock Vjr ain't got it. It's not voiced properly to cop a plexi Marshall tone either, and you won't get a single EL84 to sound like 4 x KT66 or EL34s anyway. Properly modded, you can still cop a fair approximation with a single el84, as long as you don't need much volume from it.

 

Sabbath tones were mostly fuzz, so yeah, you can cop that with a fuzz pedal into almost any amp, although I believe Iommi was into Hiwatt, which had massive headroom. Fuzzes tend to sound better, to my ears, into amps with some headroom, which again would rule out your Vjr. Although, if you were to crank that stock Vjr, you'd be very much into dark, mushy Sabbath fuzz world. Wouldn't be much good for gigging like that, but the stock amp actually can somewhat cop that tone on its own.

 

You can do worse than that one, but it's an overdrive, not a distortion of a fuzz. They work great as a mild to medium distortion or as a solo boost, but won't get you to Sabbath land.

 

 

There are really two general schools of thought with regard to guitar tones of varying shades of dirt. One school, like Rafael's, says to start with a clean amp with headroom, and use various dirt boxes for your distortions. I have a buddy that does this, and gets some fantastic tones. He's got killer amps that sound killer cranked, but he runs them clean or just to the point of breaking up, and relies upon some excellent pedals for his various levels of dirt.

 

The other school is where I live, and it involves running a simple, single channel tube amp hot enough that when you crank your guitar, you have your Zeppelin & AC/DC tones in spades without any pedal. When you want something heavier, you hit something like a fat booster, which will add some dirt but mostly drives the snot out of the front of the amp, to give you serious more gain. This turns my "zeppelin" tone into "sabbath" with my guitar volume as low as 2 or 3.

 

Neither school is perfect for every player, which is why there are so many different kinds of amps and pedals. Everybody needs to do their own experimenting in their quest for THEIR tone. Neither I nor anyone else can dictate what's right for YOU. Only YOU will know that, and only have YOU'VE tried different options.

 

If you're going down the clean headroom and various pedals-for-dirt path, you'll probably want a 40 watt amp or so. If you're going down the dirty school path, you'll want around 20 or so.

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"The other school is where I live, and it involves running a simple, single channel tube amp hot enough that when you crank your guitar, you have your Zeppelin & AC/DC tones in spades without any pedal. When you want something heavier, you hit something like a fat booster, which will add some dirt but mostly drives the snot out of the front of the amp, to give you serious more gain. This turns my "zeppelin" tone into "sabbath" with my guitar volume as low as 2 or 3. "

 

For that school the marshall silver/gold mods for the Valve JR will nail the AC/DC tone with C-3 lifted out of the circuit and a bypass cap on r-6 for a little high/mid bump in gain! Works like a charm.

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stop talking about your el34 or I'm gonna have to build one.

OK. I'm gonna build one.

In the faq at sewatt?

 

gotta go to the hospital for a week on monday, and am building an amp for another guy when I come back.. so I think I'll put the Baby Will on hold and do an el34.

I just gotta hear that amp.

 

TWANG

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Check the FAQ for the Beast files in the Fender Champ mod section. Mostly, it's just a matter of an octal socket, and tying pin 1 to ground (or the cathode as I usually do it cuz it's easier to do a short jumper from pin 1 to pin 8). If you've already installed a 240r/5w on the bias, it's good to go unless you want to tweak rail resistors to get the most out of it.

 

Gil...

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enablers. I'm surrounded by them.

.. soon as I get back..

building a 6V6 for a guy and gonna do the beast, too.

 

I need to do a different tube I'm tired of el84s all the time...

thanks!

oh hey.. will the weber what is it.. ws15? ot work for that.. I think there was a spec page... maybe I'll check webers site.

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beg pardon.

guy wants a vj with 6V6..

was wondering if the EL34 would do him better.

He plays at home.. he doesn't need loud.. and only used the dist. occaisionally compared to most of us.

He wants good lower volume cleans.. wants to record a bit... and I havent' heard the el34 to compare..

I did recommend the 6V6 over the el84 for his wants.

I get the impression the el34 is a bit fatter, a bit warmer than the el84, regarded as bright, or thin even, by some.

So. I hope that's a better question..

TWANG

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EL34 w/Marshall mods is very much plexi Marshall. Big, fat, thick, juicy, plenty of gain, tons of sustain, great "bloom." The difference between Marshall mods w/el84 and el34 is stark and astounding.

 

6v6 w/the Marshall mods would still be voiced like plexi, but would likely be "softer," "squishier," not as much bottom end, not as pronounced mids.

 

One of these days, I'll finally get off my duff and record some clips...maybe tomorrow. I've been meaning to do that for over a year now.

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