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Post subject: Jeff Beck's set-up for the Les Paul Tribute
Posted: Mon Dec 20, 2010 9:04 am
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Did anyone else catch the Jeff Beck Tribute to Les Paul on PBS. I noticed he was using what looked to be a couple of tweed Champs to drive a stack? Or was I seeing things. :lol:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAUAAn46ji0


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Post subject: Re: Jeff Beck's set-up for the Les Paul Tribute
Posted: Tue Dec 21, 2010 7:38 am
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He uses Pro Juniors...

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Post subject: Re: Jeff Beck's set-up for the Les Paul Tribute
Posted: Tue Dec 21, 2010 9:21 am
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He uses a lot of amps and endorses Fender equipment. He does use old 50's Fender Tweeds according to his interview in GP on his new CD. Don't be too sure about what he's actually using because I've seen amps behind the amps you see at recorded events. Especially if the performer endorses equipment. I'm not saying he wasn't using them, I'm just a little more skeptical. They are Pro Jrs sitting there. He may have been, I really wasn't liking the tone on "How High The Moon". It seemed a lot more boxy and muddy than usual. Just my opinion no offense meant on either Jeff or his choice of gear.

I've been to the Iridium Jazz Club and saw Les Paul a couple of times even got a chance to photograph him. Very Cool and still a great performer at 94. I took these a few months before he passed. Guitar player magazine used a few of my shots for the online tribute.

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Post subject: Re: Jeff Beck's set-up for the Les Paul Tribute
Posted: Tue Dec 21, 2010 10:39 am
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This may be off topic but I think that I'll forever get a twinge of sadness when I see a picture of Les Paul-everyone who has ever picked up a guitar-especially an electric-should say his name with reverence.

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Post subject: Re: Jeff Beck's set-up for the Les Paul Tribute
Posted: Tue Dec 21, 2010 10:46 am
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guitslinger wrote:
This may be off topic but I think that I'll forever get a twinge of sadness when I see a picture of Les Paul-everyone who has ever picked up a guitar-especially an electric-should say his name with reverence.


I agree guitslinger. He was an incredible inventor and performer that the whole music industry owns a debt. Though he did tell me he hated high impedance pickups. :wink:

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Post subject: Re: Jeff Beck's set-up for the Les Paul Tribute
Posted: Tue Dec 21, 2010 12:00 pm
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Pro Jrs. was my second guess. I sure the size of the venue certainly has impact on the choice of amp.

I also figure.... even if the amps are Fenders .... they been modded to get the particular sound Mr. Beck wants. Meaning they aren't anything like you or I will pick-up at your local shop. :wink: Well at least me....... I'm sure Arjay, 63, and Miami Mike know their way around to make mods. :D


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Post subject: Re: Jeff Beck's set-up for the Les Paul Tribute
Posted: Tue Dec 21, 2010 12:17 pm
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phansford wrote:
Pro Jrs. was my second guess. I sure the size of the venue certainly has impact on the choice of amp.

I also figure.... even if the amps are Fenders .... they been modded to get the particular sound Mr. Beck wants. Meaning they aren't anything like you or I will pick-up at your local shop. :wink: Well at least me....... I'm sure Arjay, 63, and Miami Mike know their way around to make mods. :D


The Iridium is a tiny place. Like I said, I've been there a few times. I say it seats maybe 130-140 people tops. It's pretty close quarters. Foods expensive so's the drinks. When you go you sometimes share tables with others and it makes for a lot of great conversation. If you notice in the video Fenders name is prominently displayed on the left.

Personally, I don't like modding amps. If I can't get what I want with a tube or maybe a speaker change, I dump the amp. Seems like a huge waste of time. I've seen people spend more on mods than what the amps worth. The funniest one is spending a fortune on the Champion 600's and the Epiphone Valve Jr. You can find either for $99. I have pedals that cost more than that LOL. I guess it's cool if you want to learn, but I think if you want to learn, build a clone kit.

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Post subject: Re: Jeff Beck's set-up for the Les Paul Tribute
Posted: Tue Dec 21, 2010 1:01 pm
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63supro wrote:
Personally, I don't like modding amps. If I can't get what I want with a tube or maybe a speaker change, I dump the amp. Seems like a huge waste of time. I've seen people spend more on mods than what the amps worth. The funniest one is spending a fortune on the Champion 600's and the Epiphone Valve Jr. You can find either for $99. I have pedals that cost more than that LOL. I guess it's cool if you want to learn, but I think if you want to learn, build a clone kit.


+1

Whenever you think about all the great-sounding classic songs of the rock era, consider that most of them were played through box-stock gear. Some artist would merely tell his manager, "Hey, go to the store and pick me up a Super Reverb". Or a Marshall Plexi stack. Or a Sunn Sceptre. Or whatever. The manager would oblige and the rest would be, as they say, history.

And while it's a given that many individual components may produce a superior tone, the amp designers "back in the day" got it (mostly) right the first time. It's rare that I'll deviate from any factory spec except in the case of safety and/or reliability issues. And in the case of vintage Fenders, they're quite adept at the sonic "heavy lifting" without much need for modding IMO.

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Post subject: Re: Jeff Beck's set-up for the Les Paul Tribute
Posted: Tue Dec 21, 2010 1:28 pm
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I'll tell you what, I never had a new amp DOA like you see from time to time now. I think half the problem is the tubes nowadays. I don't buy amps mail order anyway and open them up on the floor and try them out, but it seems they ship them, the tubes get rattled around, you get an amp with a shorted power tube and bam, blown fuse right out of the box. If you're lucky it won't take another one of the cheesy Taiwanese components with it. :shock:

It boils down to you basically get what you pay for. $285 for a Vibrolux Reverb in 64 was a lot of coin. It was somewhere around $1950.00 today. A HRDlx in 1964 would run about ninety bucks.

The difference is the 64 Vibrolux would still be around and the HRDlx would be landfill. I'm not even sure if any of the the reissues will be around in 30 or 40 years either. Back then, you got what you paid for most of the time.

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Post subject: Re: Jeff Beck's set-up for the Les Paul Tribute
Posted: Tue Dec 21, 2010 1:34 pm
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63supro wrote:
I'm not even sure if any of the the reissues will be around in 30 or 40 years either. Back then, you got what you paid for most of the time.


The re-issues (at least the older editions) seem to be built pretty well. Both of mine -- TRRI, DRRI -- are now some fifteen years old and have to date exhibited none of the syndromes associated with some other lines of Fender amps. Of course I'm a little more consciencious about how I treat my gear so that may be a factor.

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Post subject: Re: Jeff Beck's set-up for the Les Paul Tribute
Posted: Tue Dec 21, 2010 1:41 pm
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Yeah, A friend of mine has a Bassman reissue. He's pretty rough volume wise on an amp. It's been serviced a couple of times. Nothing major though. He has a hand wired 18 watt Marshall Combo that can't keep output trannies. He's been through three in two years and he's pretty pissed because he paid a good bit for the amp and extension cab.

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Post subject: Re: Jeff Beck's set-up for the Les Paul Tribute
Posted: Tue Dec 21, 2010 1:50 pm
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63supro wrote:
Personally, I don't like modding amps. If I can't get what I want with a tube or maybe a speaker change, I dump the amp. .....................The funniest one is spending a fortune on the Champion 600's and the Epiphone Valve Jr.


:lol: Yeah - I don't get modding a Champion 600. :lol:

I was thinking more that these artists might be working with the Fender Custom Shop. I think I read somewhere that Beck didn't like the sound he was getting out of one of his Fender Amps. The designers finally decided to find some aged pine for the cabinet and that resolved the issue.

Speaking of the Champion 600 - I have tried that thing on several occasions and have never been happy with it. It surprises me anyone even buys them.


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Post subject: Re: Jeff Beck's set-up for the Les Paul Tribute
Posted: Tue Dec 21, 2010 2:12 pm
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phansford wrote:
63supro wrote:
Personally, I don't like modding amps. If I can't get what I want with a tube or maybe a speaker change, I dump the amp. .....................The funniest one is spending a fortune on the Champion 600's and the Epiphone Valve Jr.


:lol: Yeah - I don't get modding a Champion 600. :lol:

I was thinking more that these artists might be working with the Fender Custom Shop. I think I read somewhere that Beck didn't like the sound he was getting out of one of his Fender Amps. The designers finally decided to find some aged pine for the cabinet and that resolved the issue.

Speaking of the Champion 600 - I have tried that thing on several occasions and have never been happy with it. It surprises me anyone even buys them.


Don't get me wrong, I have little amps. I have a 74 SF Champ that sounds great, but the 600 reminds me of my Pignose but with tubes. I've run the Pignose through a 112 cab and it sounds pretty decent. But modding these 600's and Epi things is just funny. The only thing I would do is use an extension cab. I know it looks for 4 ohm as a minimum, but running 8 or 16 ohms kills the tone and volume. Amps always sound better at their rated impedance. Weber has a box that matches the amps impedance to speaker. It's called a Z-Matcher. I'm thinking about getting one for my Champ so I can run it with whatever cab I want.

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Post subject: Re: Jeff Beck's set-up for the Les Paul Tribute
Posted: Tue Dec 21, 2010 3:45 pm
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If you remember (which is okay if you don't :lol: ).... I'm a small amp only guy- (I don't gig). I have a 1956 Harvard, 1966 BF Champ, a 1970 drip edge Princeton, and a new Vibro Champ XD (which will probably get sold shortly). I have wanted to like the Champion 600, but its just seems anemic - at least the ones I've tried. My 5 watt Champs blow that thing away.

And I agree whole-hearted.... why buy a $149 amp and sink another $150 into mods, when you could get a SF Champ or Princeton and be done with it. :? Speaking of which - there was sf Vibro Champ on CL over the weekend for $230 and I didn't pull the trigger.... but I have something fun on the way and it seems redundant to have the vibro champ and the princeton.


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Post subject: Re: Jeff Beck's set-up for the Les Paul Tribute
Posted: Tue Dec 21, 2010 4:28 pm
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Sounds like you have a nice collection, phansford.

(serious applause)

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