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Post subject: Re: New To Amps
Posted: Fri Apr 13, 2012 10:23 am
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Joined: Wed May 25, 2011 12:45 pm
Posts: 1169
mortalengines wrote:
You may want to start with asking yourself "what does my favorite guitar player use?". Now, that doesn't mean that you need to spend 3,000 dollars on your first amp but, it is something to aim for. Do you plan on playing with a band? I imagine so. You want to find a fairly loud amp if you play blues or blues rock. You want a VERY loud amp if you plan on playing any kind of metal variant. Solid State amps are VERY reasonably priced for a loud amp and VERY reliable. Tube amps are VERY expensive sometimes...especially considering the wattage output but offer undeniably better tone and presence even for a lower wattage output. For example, I would put up my 40 watt tube combo up against a 100 watt solid state amplifier any day and feel fine about it. My amp would probably sound better too...however I spent easily twice as much as the guy with the 100 watt solid state amp. My amp is a 2 channel amp and I really don't even use the lead channel. I get all of my gain out of a stomp box (either a Fulltone OCD or a Plimsoul) and I leave my amp on the clean channel and honestly don't really even do much as far as switching...I use the volume control on my guitar to control the amount of gain I use. That works for me....not sure how well I would or wouldn't work for you. I am on the fence and off the fence as far as amp modelers like Zooms or Pods or whatever goes....I've used em....loved em...hated em...sold em....bought em again...etc...They have a place. Right now I don't use one. I might pick one up again in the future. Just go to a store during the week (NOT THE WEEKEND!) and take a while to play around with a few different amps and figure out what sounds good to your ears. Budget for it and don't settle for less or you will be kicking yourself over it within six months. It that happens, just remember...there's always Craigslist for buying and selling gear! :)


You might find this hard to believe but I've been using a Mustang I when playing at my church. It's a small ~400 seat auditorium. What I do is place the amp on a tilt back stand and point it directly at me. I then mike it with an e609. I didn't even have to buy a mike stand. The flat e609 just hangs over the top of the amp and rest directly in front of the speaker.

Besides the drummer, we also have another guitarist, bassist, piano, electronic keyboard, four lead singers, and sometimes a choir and brass section. It's a very busy stage but I have no trouble hearing myself - and I don't even crank the little mustang. It also makes the house mix much cleaner when there are no big amps blasting directly out.

The disadvantage is I have to trust the sound man. :) I also have to compromise on my guitar tone preferences. But the M1 ain't a bad compromise; it works. Besides that, my opinion on tone is constantly changing anyway and no one in the congregation is much concerned about the nuances of the lead guitars tone. So I just play and they clap their hands - sometimes on the up beat.

This type of setup may not be everyone's first choice but I would recommend trying it. Or maybe, at 51, I'm just getting to lazy to lug around a heavy tube combo. :)

_________________
In my opinion Leo Fender had essentially perfected the guitar amplifier by 1964.


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Post subject: Re: New To Amps
Posted: Fri Apr 13, 2012 3:41 pm
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Joined: Mon Feb 01, 2010 2:26 pm
Posts: 69
I personally don't have a need for two channels. I do what alot of players do and use a single channel amp set on clean and use an overdrive pedal to control my gain. I use a 15w Blues Junior and a Hardwire CM-2 overdrive. I've owned solid state amps in the past and to my ears, tube amps are unquestionably superior in tone.


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