Lets look at our guitars thread
Discussion
There is a difference between building a blank with a few pieces and intentionally creating a symmetrical laminated body like the Westone ones. The effort involved would outweigh materials costs which, buying at any reasonable scale, are minimal. The Westone approach is an aesthetic one, not a budgetary one.
While I continue to browse for my next guitar, could you give me some advice around amps?
I usually play through an effects unit (Was Zoom 505, currently Zoom G3x) and then into the clean channel of my old Marshall "valvestate" 30w amp.
While the volume from this amp is fine for my home use, would it be worthwhile upgrading to a higher quality amp? Would something like a true valve driven amp give a much nicer tone from my effects unit, or do the better quality amps only make sense if you want to use them for their natural gain sounds without additional effects?
Worth upgrading the amp, or would better effects make more improvement to my sound?
I usually play through an effects unit (Was Zoom 505, currently Zoom G3x) and then into the clean channel of my old Marshall "valvestate" 30w amp.
While the volume from this amp is fine for my home use, would it be worthwhile upgrading to a higher quality amp? Would something like a true valve driven amp give a much nicer tone from my effects unit, or do the better quality amps only make sense if you want to use them for their natural gain sounds without additional effects?
Worth upgrading the amp, or would better effects make more improvement to my sound?
FreeLitres said:
While I continue to browse for my next guitar, could you give me some advice around amps?
I usually play through an effects unit (Was Zoom 505, currently Zoom G3x) and then into the clean channel of my old Marshall "valvestate" 30w amp.
While the volume from this amp is fine for my home use, would it be worthwhile upgrading to a higher quality amp? Would something like a true valve driven amp give a much nicer tone from my effects unit, or do the better quality amps only make sense if you want to use them for their natural gain sounds without additional effects?
Worth upgrading the amp, or would better effects make more improvement to my sound?
I went from a Marshall Valvestate to a small all valve head - Hayden MoFo in my case, but others are available - and the difference is night and day. I usually play through an effects unit (Was Zoom 505, currently Zoom G3x) and then into the clean channel of my old Marshall "valvestate" 30w amp.
While the volume from this amp is fine for my home use, would it be worthwhile upgrading to a higher quality amp? Would something like a true valve driven amp give a much nicer tone from my effects unit, or do the better quality amps only make sense if you want to use them for their natural gain sounds without additional effects?
Worth upgrading the amp, or would better effects make more improvement to my sound?
I used to spend loads of time twiddling with the setting on the Marshall every time I used it to try and get the sound that I wanted and it was still never quite right. With the Hayden I just plug in and play - it always sounds great.
FreeLitres said:
While I continue to browse for my next guitar, could you give me some advice around amps?
I usually play through an effects unit (Was Zoom 505, currently Zoom G3x) and then into the clean channel of my old Marshall "valvestate" 30w amp.
While the volume from this amp is fine for my home use, would it be worthwhile upgrading to a higher quality amp? Would something like a true valve driven amp give a much nicer tone from my effects unit, or do the better quality amps only make sense if you want to use them for their natural gain sounds without additional effects?
Worth upgrading the amp, or would better effects make more improvement to my sound?
What sort of sound do you want? A good* tube amp is a sound investment - don't believe what you read about them not sounding good at bedroom levels either. I usually play through an effects unit (Was Zoom 505, currently Zoom G3x) and then into the clean channel of my old Marshall "valvestate" 30w amp.
While the volume from this amp is fine for my home use, would it be worthwhile upgrading to a higher quality amp? Would something like a true valve driven amp give a much nicer tone from my effects unit, or do the better quality amps only make sense if you want to use them for their natural gain sounds without additional effects?
Worth upgrading the amp, or would better effects make more improvement to my sound?
- There are plenty of tube amps on the market that sound s
t though, so it's not exactly a case of buying any old tube amp and you'll get a great sound.
Regarding sound, I'm currently trying my hand at shredding so I always seem to need some delay and reverb and a lead/metal distortion of some kind. (all helps to make my efforts sound a little less scrappy!)
I would like a nice rich and clear tone from the amp, at fairly low volumes. I've had some small cheap practice amps in the past and I hated the really small tinny sounds from the little speaker cone. It would also be handy if my new amp is physically quite small though.
So, it sounds like a small mid-range valve amp might fit the bill.
Any recommendations? Should I look for one with an effects-in socket or anything?
I would like a nice rich and clear tone from the amp, at fairly low volumes. I've had some small cheap practice amps in the past and I hated the really small tinny sounds from the little speaker cone. It would also be handy if my new amp is physically quite small though.
So, it sounds like a small mid-range valve amp might fit the bill.
Any recommendations? Should I look for one with an effects-in socket or anything?
Any tube amp worth it's salt will have an effects loop. I'd recommend a 2x12 amp, they just fill a room better than a 1x12 and have a fuller, ballsier sound - a 1x12 is a bit directional.
It's worth getting something a good tube distortion but I wouldn't necessarily look for something built for super-high gain, tight sounds like an ENGL as they can sound harsh and tiring on the ears when playing leads. Maybe an EVH 5150 III would be a good shout, for leads I wouldn't use the highest gain channel (red channel / channel 3) I'd use the blue / channel 2 with the gain turned up, it's got enough bite for good harmonics and the 5150s have great note separation. The best you could do is take your main guitar or guitars to a store during quiet hours and try as many amps as you can. What sounds great on YouTube can sound crap in person and you might find you click with something you weren't expecting.
If you don't have a load of money, buy used and budget £150 for a full retube and bias from a tech, which it may not even need for a long time after you buy. Then get an MXR 5150 OD, it's the blue channel from the EVH 5150 III in a box, run that into the clean channel on your amp and use the amp's reverb or run a reverb in the effects loop and you'll sound amazing. If you want to use the gain channel of your amp, you'll probably want a OD pedal that can do clean(ish) boost to help saturate the gain stage without turning the volume up to "complaint to the council" level. Something like a Maxon OD9 or Maxon TS808 would be ideal.
My setup is a Carvin Legacy 1 2x12 combo, for my lead tones with my Strandberg I run into the amps drive channel with an OD9. That is too noisy for single coils, so for my Richie Kotzen Strat I run into a Tech21 OMG on the clean channel. For full shred tones I use an MXR 5150 OD as the built-in noisegate is handy for controlling noise at higher gain levels and it has classic rich, nicely compressed early 90s Eddie tone - think of the F.U.C.K album and you're there. I also use the 5150 on different settings with my Jim Root Tele in C standard, does a great nu metal tone with loads of balls and grunt with the mids rolled down, turn it up and it's instant tech death with great note separation. If I could only have one drive / distortion pedal it would be the 5150. I was looking at having a punt on a Mesa Boogie Dual Rec Roadster but it was a 1x12 so I wasn't convinced, it would need a thorough test drive before I was ready to put the money down on it.
Another tip if you want increased note defintion, boosting the mids is the obvious choice and very handy for shred but can be harsh on the ears and tiring to listen to, so sit off-axis from your amp. I don't like practicing directly in front of my amp as it just feels like it's blasting at me, it's nicer to sit away, off-axis of the speakers and fill the room with sound and then listen to that.
One last thing, I know I'm going on now, but don't be tempted by super-high output pickups, I much, much prefer mid output for shred as high output tends to get trebly and harsh on the higher strings and you end up compromising your EQ to compensate for that. You're instantly on the back foot and everything you do from there is to try and rectify that. A mid-output pickup tends to give a much broader, more balanced sound which lets you be more flexible with the EQ on the amp.
It's worth getting something a good tube distortion but I wouldn't necessarily look for something built for super-high gain, tight sounds like an ENGL as they can sound harsh and tiring on the ears when playing leads. Maybe an EVH 5150 III would be a good shout, for leads I wouldn't use the highest gain channel (red channel / channel 3) I'd use the blue / channel 2 with the gain turned up, it's got enough bite for good harmonics and the 5150s have great note separation. The best you could do is take your main guitar or guitars to a store during quiet hours and try as many amps as you can. What sounds great on YouTube can sound crap in person and you might find you click with something you weren't expecting.
If you don't have a load of money, buy used and budget £150 for a full retube and bias from a tech, which it may not even need for a long time after you buy. Then get an MXR 5150 OD, it's the blue channel from the EVH 5150 III in a box, run that into the clean channel on your amp and use the amp's reverb or run a reverb in the effects loop and you'll sound amazing. If you want to use the gain channel of your amp, you'll probably want a OD pedal that can do clean(ish) boost to help saturate the gain stage without turning the volume up to "complaint to the council" level. Something like a Maxon OD9 or Maxon TS808 would be ideal.
My setup is a Carvin Legacy 1 2x12 combo, for my lead tones with my Strandberg I run into the amps drive channel with an OD9. That is too noisy for single coils, so for my Richie Kotzen Strat I run into a Tech21 OMG on the clean channel. For full shred tones I use an MXR 5150 OD as the built-in noisegate is handy for controlling noise at higher gain levels and it has classic rich, nicely compressed early 90s Eddie tone - think of the F.U.C.K album and you're there. I also use the 5150 on different settings with my Jim Root Tele in C standard, does a great nu metal tone with loads of balls and grunt with the mids rolled down, turn it up and it's instant tech death with great note separation. If I could only have one drive / distortion pedal it would be the 5150. I was looking at having a punt on a Mesa Boogie Dual Rec Roadster but it was a 1x12 so I wasn't convinced, it would need a thorough test drive before I was ready to put the money down on it.
Another tip if you want increased note defintion, boosting the mids is the obvious choice and very handy for shred but can be harsh on the ears and tiring to listen to, so sit off-axis from your amp. I don't like practicing directly in front of my amp as it just feels like it's blasting at me, it's nicer to sit away, off-axis of the speakers and fill the room with sound and then listen to that.
One last thing, I know I'm going on now, but don't be tempted by super-high output pickups, I much, much prefer mid output for shred as high output tends to get trebly and harsh on the higher strings and you end up compromising your EQ to compensate for that. You're instantly on the back foot and everything you do from there is to try and rectify that. A mid-output pickup tends to give a much broader, more balanced sound which lets you be more flexible with the EQ on the amp.
Mastodon2 said:
FreeLitres said:
While I continue to browse for my next guitar, could you give me some advice around amps?
I usually play through an effects unit (Was Zoom 505, currently Zoom G3x) and then into the clean channel of my old Marshall "valvestate" 30w amp.
While the volume from this amp is fine for my home use, would it be worthwhile upgrading to a higher quality amp? Would something like a true valve driven amp give a much nicer tone from my effects unit, or do the better quality amps only make sense if you want to use them for their natural gain sounds without additional effects?
Worth upgrading the amp, or would better effects make more improvement to my sound?
Get a good valve amp and you'll not want most of the effects - for a lot of very complicated reasons a valve amp loads more apparent loudness for each watt of power so the dynamic range available just by hitting the strings harder or softer is much bigger, even when the amp is quite driven. I usually play through an effects unit (Was Zoom 505, currently Zoom G3x) and then into the clean channel of my old Marshall "valvestate" 30w amp.
While the volume from this amp is fine for my home use, would it be worthwhile upgrading to a higher quality amp? Would something like a true valve driven amp give a much nicer tone from my effects unit, or do the better quality amps only make sense if you want to use them for their natural gain sounds without additional effects?
Worth upgrading the amp, or would better effects make more improvement to my sound?
In a way it's almost like learning a new instrument, but it's definitely worth it.
Interesting about possibly not needing the effects with a decent amp. I hadn't thought that was an option as my old Marshall just sounds crap without external effects.
I love this tone for example. So clean and clear without too much distortion masking the notes:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z459T6C7rxw
From the description, it sounds like he is mainly using the amp plus a delay pedal.
I love this tone for example. So clean and clear without too much distortion masking the notes:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z459T6C7rxw
From the description, it sounds like he is mainly using the amp plus a delay pedal.
Yeah but he is using a speaker simulator and recording DI, which is why it sounds so processed and compressed. It's a good sound, akin to a studio recording, but it's very different to having an actual speaker in the room. You can mimic that sound a bit by running a good compressor with the level high-ish.
The Yamaha THR10 has a great range of sounds at lower volumes.
If you're thinking 'shred' it doesn't matter too much about tube vs solid state for practice, you just need a tone you're happy with and not too much gain (you can hide a lot in distortion)
Set the guitar neck up, have decent pickups, get an amp you like the sound of. I like Marshall and Peavey, but will drive the amp a little on its gain and give it a slightly dirty signal as well
If you're thinking 'shred' it doesn't matter too much about tube vs solid state for practice, you just need a tone you're happy with and not too much gain (you can hide a lot in distortion)
Set the guitar neck up, have decent pickups, get an amp you like the sound of. I like Marshall and Peavey, but will drive the amp a little on its gain and give it a slightly dirty signal as well
Just had news my custom order luxxtone tele is ready to ship, love luxxtone guitars, have a few of them now,and been waiting 7 months for this one to be made
Yes I know , lets not go into the aged blah blah debate again, I know its not for everyone, but I like it and its my guitar so that's that
Lovely neck on this ,and seem to have a fetish now for reversed headstocks and as always Floyd rose's
hopefully will be shipped to me soon
Yes I know , lets not go into the aged blah blah debate again, I know its not for everyone, but I like it and its my guitar so that's that
Lovely neck on this ,and seem to have a fetish now for reversed headstocks and as always Floyd rose's
hopefully will be shipped to me soon
My thirteen year old daughter had to complete a 'hanging storage' project for her textiles lessons at school, which showed pleating and quilting. She decided to base her work on my favourite guitar and make something I could hang in my home office and use to store a few guitar related bits.
I think the end result is really cool, so thought I'd share it
chemistry
I think the end result is really cool, so thought I'd share it
chemistry
chemistry said:
My thirteen year old daughter had to complete a 'hanging storage' project for her textiles lessons at school, which showed pleating and quilting. She decided to base her work on my favourite guitar and make something I could hang in my home office and use to store a few guitar related bits.
I think the end result is really cool, so thought I'd share it
chemistry
Top marks! I think the end result is really cool, so thought I'd share it
chemistry
Can't beat a Blue Fade PRS :-)
Did you purchase yours from World Guitars?
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