Why do I like so many amps and more???

[aldog1330]

Re: Why do I like so many amps and more???

John, it's simple...you are just a freak!! All kidding aside, all that matters is that you are happy with it, and if you are playing through a bunch of different stuff, then consider yourself lucky! Many of us dump a ton of money into trying to find the tone in our head, but most of us never do find that tone.

[DonP]

Re: Why do I like so many amps and more???

[ QUOTE ]
maybe you are tone deaf and everything sounds good to your ears or what are left of them ???? [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

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I must be too because everything sounds pretty good to me as well. Granted, most of my axes are Gibson or Jackson, but I like my old hacked up Aria's as well.

Amps - here's tone deaf for you. I just dime all of the controls on my Marshalls. Recently I've been backing off the bass every once in a while.

I wasted much of my guitar years tweaking axes, hacking and building amps, but I never spent enough time playing. Now, I just say fuck it and play. Tone is mostly in your hands, right?

I feel most sorry for the Angus brothers - how many years have they been playing the same old tone? Sure, AC/DC is instantly recognizable, but dang, I couldn't do that (be faithful to one sound). There are so many different tones out there that inspire me.

[DCZX]

Re: Why do I like so many amps and more???

I have to agree. There are many good sounds to be found on any setup. That said, I have to admit I'm always tweaking my setup... changing a pedal here and there, etc. Now, I have a Carvin SX200D and it's definitely not a Bogner. That doesn't mean it doesn't have a good sound I can play on though, and have been playing on for years.

I think part of the problem is we always feel gear-conscious about whatever we own and always have to have what the next person has. I always see a cool piece of gear in Guitar Player magazine or somewhere else and think I need it so much, only to realize I'm fine with what I have.

Remember, notes are free! Make lots of them. okay, that's all.

[Shawn Lutz]

Re: Why do I like so many amps and more???

Seriously I think people put too much emphasis on gear. I also agree that most of your sould comes from you, they way you play, the way you attack the strings, your vibrato, your style....your sound. I think every player should be able make even the shitiest amps sound alright. Maybe you can achive your sound and adapt to whatever you use and that isn't a bad thing at all in my opinion. I know players who rely on gear as a crutch and can't play on anything else which is stupid imho.

I think I'm a lot like you jg I like a lot of different amps if I can find a usable tone out of them. I'm not overly paranoid and over analyze my sound, I just play . If I feel my sound is happening sure I relax more and let flow but I'm not nearly as anal as I used to be. The big cure for that is just gig man, play live, feel it. That is something that you've done so maybe that is part of the reason. I do agree, I wasted too much time tweaking, all the minute tweaking has very little affect on my overall sound, which really came from my heart and hands not what amp I was using.

[thebisch]

Re: Why do I like so many amps and more???

I have the oposite problem with amps. I think 98% of the amps out there, regardless of price, are total crap. YMMV.

[horns666]

Re: Why do I like so many amps and more???

C-John and I are from the same school..like many of you. We are from The classic Van Halen / Black Sabbath / early Savatage school...I guess those three "tones"..pretty much set the standards for us..in a nutshell.

John has always concentrated on covers , because he does them well. He has a knack to sound like whatever he is covering..playing / tone wise. He has a good "ear" for that and the devotion to sit down an cop the arrangements and solos of all those who inspired him..

I'm a tad different in my approach to music..we share alot of the same influences..But I don't have the want , need , desire , or patience to sit down with an albulm and learn anything note for note..instead I take what I like from whatever band/ guitarist I really like and try to cop their style / tone and vibe and make it my own.

I'm strictly a original metal guitarist that needs very little versatilty in an amp..since I'm ALWAYS on ten..don't get me wrong ..I love dynamics ..but I get by using one main sound. Since all my dedication was always focused strictly on my owns chops , riffs and arrangements..I have a "knack" to write a pretty good "original" metal song with not much effort..since its all I do.

As a Bassist that's a different story ..there isn't a bassline that exist that I can't learn and nail..no matter how complex it may be.

Being a cover guitarist and as anal as John is ..he requires much more versatility from a Rig to nail whatever he is doing..to make it "true to form" as best as possible...He'll set programs to duplicate certain parts of songs ..going from a crunchy rythms tones to a clean , "pretty" chorus sounds if the songs requires it..such bands as Savatage , Queensryche , King Diamond , Dio era Sabbath and etc..and NAIL it..that also requires lots of patience that I'm not willing to commit to. [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

Thre is always the same element that John and I always look for when demoing a amp..it must throw back everything we like to throw at it.

I REQUIRE an amp to produce a Van Halen -ish Tone ..Certain amps can do that just fine and certain amps just don't.

I can plug into a SLO , VHT , BOGNER , older Marshalls , JMP-1 , 5150s , and even some of the newer Line 6 stuff I have tried and it will do that quite nicely..without effort..and get close to the tone I'm always looking for.

I can't plug into a DSL/TSL or a Recto and play the Intro to "Ain't talkin' bout love" without it sounding like farty ass..therefore it is the wrong amp for me..but some great players such as my man Jeff Loomis does just fine with them..so there ya go.

whatever amp works for you is the right amp. An amp is a tool that should make you play YOUR best..and inspire you to play..we look for the best amps to do that job..which seems like a never ending quest ...especially now with all these new high end and decent quality tube amps coming out of the woodwork..these amps wern't around 20 years ago..back then it was a Marshall and a stomp or two that got you by and that was pretty much it if you were a Metal guitarist.

Not these days..with all these companys focusing on making high gain amps...Just look at all these Options now..Herberts / Ubers / 5150 / Recto / VHT / Avengers / Fireball-Powerballs / now we got new shit coming out Krank / JSX / Vettas / XXX / Hughes and Ketners / ..Carvin , Ibanez , Peavy just put out all new high gain amps..it never ends.

I was exactly like John G at one time. I bought any cool new tube amp that came out ..sold and traded them all the time and always ran 4-5 different tube half stacks at one time in any combination..John remebers that..at one time I ran a JCM 800 2210 / 5150 / MrkIII / Soldano HR 100 / Ampeg Lee Jackson VL 100 / all at once..sounded pretty cool at the time..

but the 5150 and 2210 was my fave of them all..I ditched MANY brand spankin' new amps I purchased that didn't cut or just paled in comparison to the stacks next to it..at the time .

So all this amp stuff is all kind of been there done that for me..

I have it narrowed down to a couple rigs that work well for me..I don't spend all my time "tweaking" and "searching" anymore...I plug in , Play and enjoy..and became a better player because of that. I do the best on what I got..and what I got came from years of research of what works best for ME..Not john..Not Loomis..not John G...ME!

Me is all that matters. [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

and that same rule should apply to all of YOU [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/toast.gif[/img]

If and when I come by an amp that can replace one of my rigs..I'll buy it..without the approval of ANYONE here as long as it works for ..ME

Our hands is half our tone anyway..Everyone I know sounds pretty damn close no matter what the hell they are playing through half the time ..you will always sound like YOU.. [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

Bill

[Endrik]

Re: Why do I like so many amps and more???

great points there Bill, I like to get my OWN tone aswell not some other player's, there are only a few amps that really fit with my style and I need versality because I play many different types of music.

[Cleveland Metal]

Re: Why do I like so many amps and more???

When it comes down to it, after all my tone anguish, every thing I play ends up sounding like the guy who is playing it listened to a lot of Vanhalen, Savatage, Slayer, Yngwie, Iced Earth and Black Sabbath anyways...

I took all that and made my F-ed up style, haha...

[Endrik]

Re: Why do I like so many amps and more???

John, don't forget New Kids On The Block, I hear a lot of that in your playing

[jgcable]

Re: Why do I like so many amps and more???

[ QUOTE ]
When it comes down to it, after all my tone anguish, every thing I play ends up sounding like the guy who is playing it listened to a lot of Vanhalen, Savatage, Slayer, Yngwie, Iced Earth and Black Sabbath anyways...



I took all that and made my F-ed up style, haha...

[/ QUOTE ]

I still don't know what my style is. I think its a cross between Lynch, Frehely, Nugent, Rhoads, Schenker, Macalpine, Malmsteen, SRV, EVH, Tipton and Downing, Page, Iommi, Perry and about 50 more players I can't think of.
[img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[mogar]

Re: Why do I like so many amps and more???

Booya instated for Bill.

[Firebird V]

Re: Why do I like so many amps and more???

The tone is most likely in your style....Your playing.... Your hands. You can make it sound good.

[Twisteramps]

Re: Why do I like so many amps and more???

I think my playing style changes slightly depending on the gear, but we're lucky as hell with all the great gear choices available. I really have a hard time thinking of amps that I owned that I just didn't like at all. Just about every amp I've owned did at least something that made me smile. I loved the dual rectifiers I owned for solos, but didn't like them much for rhythm. I liked the rhythms more than the leads on my Egnater TOL.

Oh, I sold the Vetta... enjoyed it for 2 years, but have been using my Pod XTL for recording and home use. The JSX is currently turnin' my crank. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Pete

[horns666]

Re: Why do I like so many amps and more???

Oh .. PLEASE , PLEASE , PLEASE don't take what I said out of context..

Yes my personal tone and amps is all about "me"..BUT!

I truly appreciate guys like Pete and John G and others here on this forum who test drive these amps I'm very curious about or seen in a magazine , but never had the oppurtunity to get my hands or ears on them..

So these comparison tests are very cool with me...I used to do that all the time. That is how I how I got to know what worked and didn't work for me.

So , Thank You.. [img]/images/graemlins/toast.gif[/img]

Pete has me wanting to check into a Avenger very badly based on his merits as a player and ear for tone..because It seems to be along the lines of my personal liking.

If it wasn't for THIS board ..and John bringing me to it..I wouldn't have my precious Uberschall today...I'd probaly would just have another 5150 ..which is OK..had many..But I like this much better!!!! [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

BTW ..the popular consensus is that Krank amps suck..this is what I know without even having to try one..I haven't heard ONE good thing about them..from people who are "in the know"..that's what I mean..

and WE all know that 5150s and BBE422s go together like Peanut butter and Jelly! [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

Stay heavy and informative!!! [img]/images/graemlins/headbang.gif[/img]

Bill Z

[Rupe]

Re: Why do I like so many amps and more???

[ QUOTE ]
An amp is a tool that should make you play YOUR best..and inspire you to play

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Pretty much says it all right there [img]/images/graemlins/toast.gif[/img]