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Post subject: Re: Solid State amp. Guitar's true sound?
Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2013 8:39 pm
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There is no "true sound" of the guitar and if anything a Solid State amp is more likely to be more flat response than a tube amp, representing the sound that comes from the pickups more accurately. But the pickup sound is generally awful so you don't want it.


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Post subject: Re: Solid State amp. Guitar's true sound?
Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2013 10:34 pm
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The guy was definitely just trying to get his wallet lined a little more. Here's my advice, the Roland Cube amps are great amps, I owned a cube 60 for a few years, I loved the versatility of that amp, it was like having ten amps in one. My son has a little micro cube, even those things will put most practice amps to shame. Now.. Here's my advice, if the amp and guitar together give you the sound you're looking for, then look no further, if its lacking something, then maybe look at other amps, tube and solid state, find the sound you like, not the sound that someone else tells you is "the right sound".
Regardless, hang on to that Cube amp, I kick myself in the butt for selling mine.

Sean


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Post subject: Re: Solid State amp. Guitar's true sound?
Posted: Wed Jan 09, 2013 6:17 am
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Twelvebar wrote:
There is no "true" sound of an Electric guitar.



Well, sorry, I disagree.
Of course you're right to a certain degree. Sound is a summary of several factors.

BUT: what I meant regarding those early modeling amps is, that there were really bad ones!
You could plug in a Strat, a Les Paul, or an Ibanez, they all sounded alike because the signal was processed by digital means, you might only tell differences in output and level of distortion. (not only processed but actually artificially CREATED.

The guitar's "true sound" means its actual characteristics! Every guitar has its own "soul" or "sound". That's why different guitars sound different when played over the same good(!) amp.

Otherwise it wouldn't make sense to change pickups, prefer a certain type of wood or play different strings or different models! The better the amp is, the more it will show all the different nuances between guitars.

Back to what I meant with the modeling amps: when a Fender strat sounds like a les Paul, like an Ibanez or like a Harley Benton 65 bucks plywood log, then the modeling amp is crap and that's exactly what happened very often during the early days of modeling amps. That's when the guitar magazines "invented" the so called "truth factor".

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STRATS ROCK!!! but Teles and Firebirds, too!


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Post subject: Re: Solid State amp. Guitar's true sound?
Posted: Wed Jan 09, 2013 10:36 am
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Yes all guitar signals start as analog.

Solid state = transistors instead of vacuum tubes.
Digital = the signal is converted into 1s and 0s, then converted back to analog before it hits the speaker.

You can have analog solid state amps like the Frontman and digital tube amps like the Super Champ XD. I'm not sure how your Roland works, to be honest. I tried out the smaller Roland though and liked it a lot.

There is a certain logic behind wanted simple circuits without too much digital monkeying involved but I think it is much less important now that ten or twenty years ago. Another factor is for a time SS were the latest thing and built well, then viewed as crappy beginner amps and built poorly, and now they are kind of all over the map.

I have two Fender solid state analog amps and a 5 watt tube amp. Lately the tube amp has been sitting.


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Post subject: Re: Solid State amp. Guitar's true sound?
Posted: Wed Jan 09, 2013 12:33 pm
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Don't most players run their guitars through digital effects stomp boxes or racks? Digital reverb, digital delay, digital chorus, etc? Every amp colors the tone just a bit, whether tube or solid state. Because the electric guitar needs amplification, if there is such a thing as a "pure" instrumental tone, it's not what you hear in the end. I've noticed that many modern guitarists obsessively craft and refine their tones using combinations of instruments, amps, and effects pedals. They swap out pickups, try different guitars, different iterations of the same basic effects boxes, change the order the effects are hooked up... the majority of modern electric guitar playing creates the final tone out of a synthesis of these elements. It's a big pot of gumbo, adjust ingredients to suit taste.

Of course, there are still those who like to keep it simple. Guitar, amp, touch of reverb, overdrive it a bit, and you're there. Final tone is still a blend of ingredients.

That said, the sound of the guitar is the basis of everything else. This is where is all starts, so it never hurts to pick a good'un. You won't go wrong with the American Standard strat. As opined by others in this thread, the Roland SS (and other SS) amps are used and endorsed by plenty of folks who know what they're doing, so roll with it. I like the sound of tubes, but I don't care for the expense, weight, and maintenance. I have the Fender Mustang III modeling amp, and it gives a good approximation of 12 different models of tube amps. Makes me happy, and that's all that matters.

Pick what sounds good to you, fits your budget, and have fun with it.


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Post subject: Re: Solid State amp. Guitar's true sound?
Posted: Wed Jan 09, 2013 11:15 pm
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Smokin' Frets wrote:
Well, in fact, the seller is right!
.
.
.

The seller is not right.

Solid state does NOT mean digitally produced. Transistors in an amplifier function as analog devices.

There can be DSP/Modeling components in an guitar amplifier that modify the signal. But this does not, by any stretch of the imagination, mean that all you hear is digitally produced sound.

A generic signal chain is
[Guitar] > [Stage 1 pre-amp] > [DAC] > [DSP] > [ADC] > [Stage 2 pre-amp] > [Power Amp] > [Speaker]

Not all signal chains are exactly like that but that covers the essentials.

Theoretically the whole thing could be made from tubes but an amp with millions of tubes wouldn't be very portable. :mrgreen:

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Post subject: Re: Solid State amp. Guitar's true sound?
Posted: Thu Jan 10, 2013 3:35 am
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mhowell wrote:
Smokin' Frets wrote:
Well, in fact, the seller is right!
.
.
.

The seller is not right (......)



Please read the entire post including the one that followed later to make clear what I actually meant. :roll:

To make it clear again:

I'm no electronics guy and don't really care what all the bits and pieces do in an electronical circuit.
Fact is, whether "created", "falsified", "badly processed" or whatever that modeling amp does, if the result is so bad that you can't tell the difference between several guitars, then the amp is crap (and to me: creates an artificial, non-original sound" (for lack of professional electronics terms in English) and that's exactly what happened with early modeling amps!

That's exactly what guitar center personnell was taught when trained for selling.

That's exactly what guitar magazines wrote in their reviews.

So, IMHO, the seller is basically right, at least with the basic statement.
Whether or not he's right about the Roland Cube is something else. In fact, Roland makes very decent modeling amps. Every seller wants to fill his/her pockets, of course.

I only referred to the basic statement regarding "true tone of a guitar".

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My recordings --> http://www.soundclick.com/bands/page_mu ... dID=564337
STRATS ROCK!!! but Teles and Firebirds, too!


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Post subject: Re: Solid State amp. Guitar's true sound?
Posted: Thu Jan 10, 2013 11:53 am
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a7e7d7 wrote:
My Strat purchase is getting nearer.
One more thing I need to clear up before I take the plunge.
Currently I have a Peavey Strat clone guitar. I'm using a solid state Roland 40XL Cube amp, it's 40 watts with lots of effects built in.
Talking with a sales guy in my local music store this morning, he asked what amp I was using.
He said with a solid state amp, I'm only hearing a digitally produced sound and not the guitar's true tone.
(Okay now, queue the sound of the needle being pushed off the record)
Thought I had this all figured out.
In essence, am I wasting money on buying an American Standard and playing it through a solid state amp?
If I need to buy a tube amp, it might blow my budget higher than I want to go.
Sorry for the lengthy post, but I need some advice.
Thanks again, all. I appreciate your input.



Ok...first off, let me say that I haven't read the other comments in the post so please forgive me if I add anything terribly redundant. Secondly, please remember that these are only my own personal opinions (albeit the opinions of someone who's been playing for over 30 years)...please take them for what you think they are worth.

"Talking with a sales guy in my local music store this morning, he asked what amp I was using.
He said with a solid state amp, I'm only hearing a digitally produced sound and not the guitar's true tone."


Ok...I don't know where you shop or who you spoke with but generally speaking these days, most of the "people" (kids) that work at your average sizable guitar shop such as Guitar Center, Sam Ash, etc., have their head's so far up their butts that they really would not know "good tone" if it bit them in the arse! I dunno...at least half of them seem to be the weekend wankers that sit there shredding in the store (because they can't find a -real- band) and they are there so often, they end up getting jobs there or something.

To justify that last comment let me make something clear: while ALL digital modeling amps are solid state (in one form or another) not all solid states are "digital". Solid state amps, many of which are very good amps and have been played by professionals for years (such as the Lab Series from Gibson or the Roland JC's), have been around for a VERY long time...digital modeling on the other hand is a comparatively recent development. Yes, your Roland Cube likely has digital effects. That said, Roland has been making guitar amps for a LONG time and there's a damn good reason why the JC-120's are sooooooooooo legendary. Bottom line, if you like the sound you're getting out of the amp, then don't sweat it...chances are your sales person is just tryin' to tack on a few extra bucks to his commission more than anything else.

Now on the whole tube vs. ss issue, if you take a moment and look thru these forums (or any guitar forum really) you'll see that this is a LONG running debate. The simple truth here is that neither one is "better" than the other...it's just that a lot of folks get really anal about gear. There are soooooooooo many other factors that go into this debate...the instrument, the pedals, chords and even the room you're playing in...all this affects your "sound". Let's consider live sound for just a moment... Again I've been playing guitar for over 30 years now and have been gigging on and off for most of those years. Not even considering the gear for a moment, I will tell you for a fact that no 2 bars/clubs/venues sound exactly the same!!! Hell...even the same club can "sound different" from one night to another depending on the size of the crowd! And recording...oye!!! There' is no such thing as a "true" recording of something like a guitar! By the time it's been mixed and mastered, compressed, eq'd, pushed, pulled and shoved into that tiny little corner of the sonic spectrum to make room for the keys, singer and bass, chances are it don't sound ANYTHING like the signal that went into the board. It's about -the mix-, NOT the guitar player's ego! FACT: if that amp was mic'd during the session...use a different mic or even just move the position of the mic and it sounds completely different! Even if you run it straight into the board, the board is STILL going to color that sound, Ok? Understand this: there is no such thing as a true reproduction of your guitar's actual sound beyond what we may or may not hear in our own heads!!!

"In essence, am I wasting money on buying an American Standard and playing it through a solid state amp?"

Yes and no. Ok...ok...this is a HIGHLY subjective personal opinion but quite frankly I think that American Strats are simply a waste of money to begin with...regardless of the amp! Now this is just me personally but I have yet to find a guitar, Fender, American or otherwise that I'm actually happy with "off the rack". In my mind a guitar player's sound is a very personal thing...and I don't want to sound just like the 10,000 other yo-yo's out there who also bought that exact same instrument! If someone were to give me a brand new American Strat, I can pretty much guarantee that the pickups and bridge would be changed out before I ever took it out for a gig!!! To me, I'd rather get a decent MIM or even a Squire and put the money I saved on the American into building up the instrument the way -I- want...and again this is all regardless of the amp.

As far as the amp portion of that comment goes...again there have been a great many pro players over the years that use solid state. BB King for example is notorious for his use of Lab L5's and such (I have one...-AWESOME- f'n amp!!!). In my current arsenal of amps, I have a '73 Bandmaster (with homemade 2x12 cab), Kustom Lead III head, Lab L5, a couple of Peavey's, etc.. Right now I'm playing lead guitar in a working Southern Rock band and the two amps I've been using are a Bugera V22 and a Fender Princeton 112 Plus. I do actually prefer the sound of the Bugera, but those factory tubes are getting a bit weak now (clean channel's starting to break up a bit at high volumes) so I've been using the Fender...either one does the job nicely :-)

Finally there's one last part of this grand equation that often get's over-looked...-you-. To be perfectly frank, if you're nothing more than a weekend wanker at your local GC, chances are your tone's gonna suck no matter what you're playing thru! Again I'm going to use my infamous golf analogy here: I could use Tiger Wood's custom made $5000 golf clubs and I can promise you that it's not going to do a damn thing for my slice! Why? Because I CAN'T PLAY GOLF! LOL!!! Tiger on the other hand could likely use my $70 clubs from K-Mart and still play a decent game, at least comparatively speaking. Think about it...someone like Eric Clapton SOUNDS like Eric Clapton because he -IS- Eric Clapton. He could be playing thru a $200 Squier Standard and your Roland Cube and he's -STILL- going to sound like Eric Clapton! I'm sorry if this offends anyone's sensibilities but the simple truth of the matter is that 9/10's of your tone comes not from your guitar, amp or pedals, it comes from -you-...your fingers and your heart are what creates that sound.

So that said and at the risk of being perfectly blunt, if you really don't know what GOOD tone is and you don't know how to obtain it...to the point that you're relying on some idiot saleman's opinion or the comments of anonymous folks like myself on a guitar forum...then you're probably NOT ready to buy that new Strat (American or otherwise). On the other hand, if you're happy with the sound and feel you get from your rig...regardless of the brand/model of the guitar and amp...then no one else's opinion (including mine) really matters, does it?

Just a few things to think about...
Jim

"Sorry for the lengthy post, but I need some advice."

Dude...you haven't seen lengthy! LOL!!! If you can't say what you mean, you can NEVER mean what you say...


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Post subject: Re: Solid State amp. Guitar's true sound?
Posted: Thu Jan 10, 2013 12:38 pm
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lomitus it pretty much on time on all points.

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Post subject: Re: Solid State amp. Guitar's true sound?
Posted: Thu Jan 10, 2013 3:31 pm
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Hi!
Just read briefly through this thread . And my bottom-line would also be : Go ahead and buy that strat !
The Roland Cube XL40 is an excellent SS-amp. I've got one , and also a couple of tube-amps, which I love.
One nice thing with the SS's is just switch it to on - and play ! No need for pre heating , and that means my Roland is most used for sudden inspirational moments . As it also has got a built in looper , it is very convenient for trying out new ideas.
The XL40 is also divided into two sections : One is a JC -based part , with NO modeling features. It is pure clean , and sounds absolutely sweet! In fact , I feel it really is getting the soul and spirit out of both my strats and teles. It has a good 10'' speaker which sounds more like 12"
The other part is a modeling section , and , I admit , I like it a lot.
Both sections can be connected to the built-in effects
This amp is placed in my living room , while the tube amps are in the music room , or used at rehearsals/gigs . This cube has not been tried for such occasions yet - I guess it's a bit too weak- IMO. Hmmm - I might just test it out ... 8)

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Post subject: Re: Solid State amp. Guitar's true sound?
Posted: Thu Jan 10, 2013 8:32 pm
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lomitus wrote:
a7e7d7 wrote:
My Strat purchase is getting nearer.
One more thing I need to clear up before I take the plunge.
Currently I have a Peavey Strat clone guitar. I'm using a solid state Roland 40XL Cube amp, it's 40 watts with lots of effects built in.
Talking with a sales guy in my local music store this morning, he asked what amp I was using.
He said with a solid state amp, I'm only hearing a digitally produced sound and not the guitar's true tone.
(Okay now, queue the sound of the needle being pushed off the record)
Thought I had this all figured out.
In essence, am I wasting money on buying an American Standard and playing it through a solid state amp?
If I need to buy a tube amp, it might blow my budget higher than I want to go.
Sorry for the lengthy post, but I need some advice.
Thanks again, all. I appreciate your input.



Ok...first off, let me say that I haven't read the other comments in the post so please forgive me if I add anything terribly redundant. Secondly, please remember that these are only my own personal opinions (albeit the opinions of someone who's been playing for over 30 years)...please take them for what you think they are worth.

"Talking with a sales guy in my local music store this morning, he asked what amp I was using.
He said with a solid state amp, I'm only hearing a digitally produced sound and not the guitar's true tone."


Ok...I don't know where you shop or who you spoke with but generally speaking these days, most of the "people" (kids) that work at your average sizable guitar shop such as Guitar Center, Sam Ash, etc., have their head's so far up their butts that they really would not know "good tone" if it bit them in the arse! I dunno...at least half of them seem to be the weekend wankers that sit there shredding in the store (because they can't find a -real- band) and they are there so often, they end up getting jobs there or something.

To justify that last comment let me make something clear: while ALL digital modeling amps are solid state (in one form or another) not all solid states are "digital". Solid state amps, many of which are very good amps and have been played by professionals for years (such as the Lab Series from Gibson or the Roland JC's), have been around for a VERY long time...digital modeling on the other hand is a comparatively recent development. Yes, your Roland Cube likely has digital effects. That said, Roland has been making guitar amps for a LONG time and there's a damn good reason why the JC-120's are sooooooooooo legendary. Bottom line, if you like the sound you're getting out of the amp, then don't sweat it...chances are your sales person is just tryin' to tack on a few extra bucks to his commission more than anything else.

Now on the whole tube vs. ss issue, if you take a moment and look thru these forums (or any guitar forum really) you'll see that this is a LONG running debate. The simple truth here is that neither one is "better" than the other...it's just that a lot of folks get really anal about gear. There are soooooooooo many other factors that go into this debate...the instrument, the pedals, chords and even the room you're playing in...all this affects your "sound". Let's consider live sound for just a moment... Again I've been playing guitar for over 30 years now and have been gigging on and off for most of those years. Not even considering the gear for a moment, I will tell you for a fact that no 2 bars/clubs/venues sound exactly the same!!! Hell...even the same club can "sound different" from one night to another depending on the size of the crowd! And recording...oye!!! There' is no such thing as a "true" recording of something like a guitar! By the time it's been mixed and mastered, compressed, eq'd, pushed, pulled and shoved into that tiny little corner of the sonic spectrum to make room for the keys, singer and bass, chances are it don't sound ANYTHING like the signal that went into the board. It's about -the mix-, NOT the guitar player's ego! FACT: if that amp was mic'd during the session...use a different mic or even just move the position of the mic and it sounds completely different! Even if you run it straight into the board, the board is STILL going to color that sound, Ok? Understand this: there is no such thing as a true reproduction of your guitar's actual sound beyond what we may or may not hear in our own heads!!!

"In essence, am I wasting money on buying an American Standard and playing it through a solid state amp?"

Yes and no. Ok...ok...this is a HIGHLY subjective personal opinion but quite frankly I think that American Strats are simply a waste of money to begin with...regardless of the amp! Now this is just me personally but I have yet to find a guitar, Fender, American or otherwise that I'm actually happy with "off the rack". In my mind a guitar player's sound is a very personal thing...and I don't want to sound just like the 10,000 other yo-yo's out there who also bought that exact same instrument! If someone were to give me a brand new American Strat, I can pretty much guarantee that the pickups and bridge would be changed out before I ever took it out for a gig!!! To me, I'd rather get a decent MIM or even a Squire and put the money I saved on the American into building up the instrument the way -I- want...and again this is all regardless of the amp.

As far as the amp portion of that comment goes...again there have been a great many pro players over the years that use solid state. BB King for example is notorious for his use of Lab L5's and such (I have one...-AWESOME- f'n amp!!!). In my current arsenal of amps, I have a '73 Bandmaster (with homemade 2x12 cab), Kustom Lead III head, Lab L5, a couple of Peavey's, etc.. Right now I'm playing lead guitar in a working Southern Rock band and the two amps I've been using are a Bugera V22 and a Fender Princeton 112 Plus. I do actually prefer the sound of the Bugera, but those factory tubes are getting a bit weak now (clean channel's starting to break up a bit at high volumes) so I've been using the Fender...either one does the job nicely :-)

Finally there's one last part of this grand equation that often get's over-looked...-you-. To be perfectly frank, if you're nothing more than a weekend wanker at your local GC, chances are your tone's gonna suck no matter what you're playing thru! Again I'm going to use my infamous golf analogy here: I could use Tiger Wood's custom made $5000 golf clubs and I can promise you that it's not going to do a damn thing for my slice! Why? Because I CAN'T PLAY GOLF! LOL!!! Tiger on the other hand could likely use my $70 clubs from K-Mart and still play a decent game, at least comparatively speaking. Think about it...someone like Eric Clapton SOUNDS like Eric Clapton because he -IS- Eric Clapton. He could be playing thru a $200 Squier Standard and your Roland Cube and he's -STILL- going to sound like Eric Clapton! I'm sorry if this offends anyone's sensibilities but the simple truth of the matter is that 9/10's of your tone comes not from your guitar, amp or pedals, it comes from -you-...your fingers and your heart are what creates that sound.

So that said and at the risk of being perfectly blunt, if you really don't know what GOOD tone is and you don't know how to obtain it...to the point that you're relying on some idiot saleman's opinion or the comments of anonymous folks like myself on a guitar forum...then you're probably NOT ready to buy that new Strat (American or otherwise). On the other hand, if you're happy with the sound and feel you get from your rig...regardless of the brand/model of the guitar and amp...then no one else's opinion (including mine) really matters, does it?

Just a few things to think about...
Jim

"Sorry for the lengthy post, but I need some advice."

Dude...you haven't seen lengthy! LOL!!! If you can't say what you mean, you can NEVER mean what you say...


I'm 54 years old and started playing about a year ago. Off and on at first, setbacks occuring when I truly learned how much there was to learn, how hard it is to play a Bar chord, beleiving that learning to read music is just as hard as learning quantum physics, wishing I could have picked up on playing when I was 15, not 54.

I can get around fairly well with the 12 bar blues, don't really know any turnarounds yet. I can play something that resembles "Who'll Stop the Rain" and I'm proud of it.
Come to think of it, maybe the Peavey Predator my brother in law gave me is all I really need. The tech who set it up for me said it sounded great and would sound even better with just a new set of pickups. Maybe that's what I'll do. To me it's the only tone I've ever really known and maybe it's best it stays that way.
Me? Headbanging at Guitar Center on any given Saturday? LOL. Not a chance.


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Post subject: Re: Solid State amp. Guitar's true sound?
Posted: Sat Jan 12, 2013 6:11 pm
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For myself I prefer tube amps but there is nothing wrong with a good solid state amp. Your guitar will sound like your guitar. The digital modelling MIGHT have a small (minimal) impact on overall "tone" but nothing to really fret about. I'm with most of the other guys who think maybe he was trying to sell you.

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Post subject: Re: Solid State amp. Guitar's true sound?
Posted: Sat Jan 12, 2013 7:15 pm
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Dimebag Darrell used a solid state Randal. So did Albert King.

BB King, Alex Lifeson, Meshuggah's guitarists.....

Tube amps are beautiful, but don't kid yourself. There's no substitute for talent, and there's no path to talent like practice.

Jimi/Eddie/Eric would sound better than all of us with solid state amps - and the "feel" of a beautiful strat in your hands....inspires.

Enjoy that strat.

I'm mediocre at guitar and I love my American Strat through my Line6. It's one of my favorite things to do in life - buy the strat and don't look back.

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Post subject: Re: Solid State amp. Guitar's true sound?
Posted: Sat Jan 12, 2013 9:48 pm
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Ok...just a couple of personal comments...please take them with a grain of salt...

Quote:
I'm 54 years old and started playing about a year ago. Off and on at first, setbacks occuring when I truly learned how much there was to learn, how hard it is to play a Bar chord


Ok...I'm not trying to be rude at all here but after 30 years as a musician, comments such as this still mystify me. Let me ask a question here; If you had to have open heart surgery, would you want a doctor who just picked a scalpel one day because he thought he was going to be good at it...or would you want a doctor who spent YEARS studying, learning and practicing? Would you honestly ever get into an airplane with a pilot who's sole credentials were "talent"? Would you not want him to have spent hundreds of hours in simulators and practice so he actually KNOWS how to fly the freakin' plane?

For some reason when it comes to things like music and art, many people associate these SKILLS with some ethereal thing called "talent". As both a musician and as an artist, I honestly do NOT believe in talent...there's simply no such thing. I believe in passion, I believe in practice, I believe in dedication...but talent? People say I'm a talented musician...I tell them -no-...I practice upwards of at least 2 to 3 hours a day (at least when I can). The day I can walk away from a guitar for 5 years and pick it up again without having to spend a few weeks (months) "getting my chops up", then I'll consider whether I'm talented or not...otherwise, every last one of us who plays has to work at it!

Yes, those finger muscles HURT and yes, you have to -EARN- those damn calluses...just like a doctor has to spend A LOT of time as an intern before he/she is EVER allowed to "practice"! It's the passion and the desire that carries you thru the pain and the frustration my friend. To quote Ted Nudgent, "Practice, practice, practice...practice till you see blood coming out of your finger tips, then you'll know you're on to something!".


Quote:
...believing that learning to read music is just as hard as learning quantum physics


Ok...this is a bit of a personal opinion but I spent many years as a child learning to read sheet music (as a guitarist, cellist and singer). When I came back to guitar in my late teens and started playing rock music...dude I haven't read a lick of sheet music since.

Here's the thing...if you're intent is to learn classical music such as Beethhoven, Motzart, etc..heck...even some jazz, then yes, learning sheet music is a MUST. That said your comments about a 12 bar blues and "Who'll Stop the Rain" suggest this isn't the case. I'm sure there are folks on these boards who are gonna have their hearts jump into their throats when they read this, but the simple truth of the matter is that if you're looking to play blues and rock, TAB and even tut vids on Youtube will carry you a lot further, a lot faster than sheet music ever will.


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wishing I could have picked up on playing when I was 15, not 54.



You're -NEVER- to old to pick up a guitar and start jamming :-)


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Come to think of it, maybe the Peavey Predator my brother in law gave me is all I really need. The tech who set it up for me said it sounded great and would sound even better with just a new set of pickups.


I've never had a problem with Peavey. I don't actually own any of their guitars...I've just become a real die hard Strat junkie over the years because that's what I like to play...that's what feels good to me. That said, I have 3 Peavey amps and I still use them. In fact I -have- gigged with my little Peavey Backstage and it's often my amp of choice for practices or jams because it's VERY light and portable and LOUD! LOL!!! No, she's not a tone monster but for what she is, that little sucker will peel the paint off the walls! And my TKO 65 is the -ONLY- bass amp I've ever owned (although admittedly, I wouldn't mind a nice little Ampeg BA115).

Now that said, the only thing I would add is that if you do decide to go with a new set of pickups, while you can never go wrong with Duncans, I'd suggest you check out EMG's...they're a tad pricey, but I think you'll be pleasantly surprised :-)

Again just my own opinions to give you something to think about...
Jim


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Post subject: Re: Solid State amp. Guitar's true sound?
Posted: Sun Jan 13, 2013 1:02 pm
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Posts: 169
regardless of the amp you use being solid state or tube, they all will affect the sound somehow. I doubt there is an amp out there that is truely transparent and will produce the true sound of your guitar.

But that's part of what makes everyone sound different. Different amps will respond differently to the same guitar. Don't worry about what the salesman said - if you like the sound of the strat through the cube, that's all that matters.

If you don't like it, save up some cash and buy another amp. Lots of us here prefer tube amps, but it's all a matter of personal preference. The Roland Jazz Chorus JC-120 is known for having one of the best clean tones out there - it solid state. It's not everyone's cup of tea, but just to make the point, there are great solid state amps out there. Tubes are my preference, but if I could afford it and had a use for an amp that loud, I'd love to get my hands on a Roland Jazz Chorus.


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