Anybody else just not that into amps?

[jgcable]

Thats like loving cars but not caring about the motor that drives them.

[straycat]

+1

[Scooter]

I plug in, and if I don't like it, I unplug from it, and try something else.
I will say there is a difference between SS and tubes, and other kinds of tubes (a la 6L6 and EL34.) It depends on your situation I guess.

[Chief_CrazyTalk]

I think amps are every bit as much of a musical instrument as a guitar is, but I'm not into modding or building. Although I built a couple of crude Marshall clones years ago.

I only need and want one sound...that classic Marshall sound. I couldn't give a rat's ass about anything else. I have a good amp and am totally satisfied with that...so much so that I've neglected an input jack repair job and bias for months now. I'm a technician and have all of the tools and equipment I need to do the work at home, and at work, but am simply too busy playing on my off time to bother, LOL.

[jgcable]

Usually, the players who don't care about amps are the ones who don't play in bands. In the bedroom an amp either sounds really good at low volume or really bad.
You can't appreciate most good amps until you see how they respond and sound live.
Same thing as cars and car engines.

[ulijdavid]

I can see where jgcable is coming from. I am a bedroom player and I could see where I would probably be more critical of my amp sound if I was being paid to entertain and deliver the best sound. I would also think that trying to get a consistent sound night after night from small club to mid-size venue would be like trying to find twin snowflakes in a blizzard. I would think that there would be so many variables that you don't have control over, that you might not know what your sound is going to be - club PA, club sound guy (also tends bar, and does the dishes at close), stage size, etc. Even with a sound check, the sound is going to be different depending on how many people show up. Once I again I will state that I am a bedroom player whose stage days are long over, but I would think that those of you that play out must get very frustrated many nights when the sound is not great - even with THE amp. Maybe my ears are screwy, but I find my bedroom amp to sound different every day. But I can't be bothered trying to tweak to make it sound like I THINK it did yesterday.

All in all, I do agree that bedroom players and guys that play out probably have different opinions on this matter. Oh...I don't really care about the car or the engine - it's just a tool to get me from point A to point B. When I can afford a high end $250,000 sports car, then I will appreciate the complexity of an engine that requires high maintenance.

[zeegler]

Usually, the players who don't care about amps are the ones who don't play in bands. In the bedroom an amp either sounds really good at low volume or really bad.
You can't appreciate most good amps until you see how they respond and sound live.
Same thing as cars and car engines.

Well said John. I really don't understand how a person can be into guitars and not amplifiers. Tone is a VERY important element to my own playing and defines my style as much as my technique does. That certainly doesn't mean I am going to limit myself to one sound. That's like limiting yourself to one guitar, one pickup, and never trying anything else. Sounds fucking boring to me. A good guitar player can hit all the notes, but a great guitar player is one who is willing to explore all the tools available.

[wilkinsi]

I've always stuck with multi-fx and speaker modelling, whilst monitoring with headphones via a DAW machine. I don't wish to be concerned with what angle or height my amp is sitting, how far away my mic is sitting from the amp's speaker, etc. Putting an amp in my room, and having it on a huge stand so I can hear what's really going on, is not practical. I just don't have the space.

[BallooTheBear]

Usually, the players who don't care about amps are the ones who don't play in bands. In the bedroom an amp either sounds really good at low volume or really bad.
You can't appreciate most good amps until you see how they respond and sound live.
Same thing as cars and car engines.

Completely agree.My Mesa Solo 50 Head sounds ok in the bedroom but at the practice spot or show when I can juice it up in a more open space it brings the amp to life.I use a shitty little line 6 I paid 100 bucks for in the bedroom.I've never considered modding any of my amps besides simple tube swaps,unless you consider spilling miller high life in your head a mod,a very sticky mod.

[6string40]

I couldn't agree more with Zeegs and JG either...but I think GT's point has been somewhat missed.

Looking at guitar porn and looking at amp porn are two completely different things. Guitar porn is meant to be viewed, while amp porn is meant to be listened to.

I can stare all day at guitars and the mods that were done to them, but staring at an amp and its guts doesn't do anything for me. All I need to know is whatever those guts consist of makes it sound good. Play me a clip of your stock amp or your modded amp and that will make me happy...looking at it will not.

[BenoA]

Interesting thread... In my case I'm more interested in guitars... May be as the guitars I own have been easier on my wallet, may be not? The amps I'd like to own are so expensive! I don't know.

One thing I know, it has been said above, if I don't like the sound coming out of the amp/speakers, I will be uninspired. But the other way around can be true, give me a guitar that doesn't suit me and I won't be playing my guts out.

One thing I noticed over the years, to an extent, I always sound the same whatever gear I use. Ever noticed that?

[roodyrocker]

I can certainly appreciate a well built amp. I don't pretend to know all the ins and outs of electronics but I do look at gut shots if posted just to see things like how well wires are routed. I like to see how an amp is finished on the inside as well as how nice it looks on the outside. Amps like Bogners, Solodanos, etc... are fantastically well built! Yes, I have amp GAS in addition to guitar GAS This has led me to buying several amps and I've kept them all just like I keep all my guitars. Of course how well the amp sounds is the ultimate deciding factor. But its fun to try and see how guys like Reinhold Bogner, Mike Soldano, or Bruce Egnater build that stuff. They are really talented and knowledgeable guys. I wish I knew my stuff like that!
I do play out in a band so maybe you guys are right about that aspect of it. But I think I would still be into amp porn even if I didn't play out. Of course I'm also the guy who does care about the engine and not just the car. I build my own performance engines

[Chief_CrazyTalk]

I should've said I'm a strictly at-home player. My very well-paying job wouldn't allow for much time for playing out, and I'm not interested in being a starving artist. But I love hearing about all the other guitars and amps out there even though I'm perfectly happy with my two modest guitars and my Marshall amp.

I'm an EE technician so I grasp and appreciate a lot of what amp builders and techs are saying and doing. Good stuff. That said I really don't have any interest in changing what I'm using. And it's not that I don't appreciate my amp...it's the result of years and years of searching, buying, selling and trading. It's a little much for home use but I'm lucky in that I can crank it here, LOL.

[MakeAJazzNoiseHere]

I couldn't agree more with Zeegs and JG either...but I think GT's point has been somewhat missed.

Yeah, I think some people get the impression that if you aren't into "amp porn" then you don't care about tone. These two things have nothing to do with each other. You can ooh and aaah over your collection of vintage amplifiers with Bumble Bee capacitors and NOS Twinkle Tubes, plug your guitar into 10 different amps and adjust them and talk about the supple rotundity of the 6L6 versus the EL34 and all that stuff until you're blue in the face, and you can still sound just as crappy as the kid plugged into the Line 6.

[Hellbat]

So much of my tone comes from my hands. I sound like me playing through just about any amp, it's just the character of the tone changes depending on the amp. Thats why I'm a modelling guy for the most part at home. It lets me play around with chasing tones when I feel like it, or I can just go to one of my 5 main presets and play. I do keep my 50 watt tube combo at the jam space for jamming with my buds though so I can definitely see the attractiveness of having an amp that's just plug n' go. It's not a boutique amp but I love the tone I get with it and so do the guys I play with.

I'm not much for cork sniffers in any field though, be it cars, planes, guns, or computer components. I'm in the "If it sounds good, it is good" class. That said I do definitely appreciate things built with art and passion.