best tone I wish I'd never got rid of

[texshred777]

I'm sure there's tons of threads like this, but I was thinking a bit ago about the best tone I've found, and what it is I really want. I would have to say the best rig as of yet has been an:
Ibanez rg prestige 3120(all stock) w/ my Rivera TBR-1SL.
the only effects I used was a 535q wah.
backup axe-rg570 w/ tone zone in bridge.

I've heard that Riveras are picky about which cab you pair it with, and this leads me to believe this amp for me was the holy grail of tone(for me), as I had it going into a beat to hell 5150 cab. With a marshall or rivera cab w/ better speakers I imagine it would have been even more amazing than it was.
For some reason I got myself thinking I needed more varieties of tone, so I sold it and ended up going with a rack rig(ada mp-2 w/ carvin tube poweramp). HUUUUUUUGGGGGGEEEEE mistake. The ada was good, but let's face it I always end up going for something similar to what I had. The Rivera was sooo much more harmonic and responsive than the MP-2. Nothing against the mp-2, it did metal sounds where as the Rivera definately did not, but I only used sounds like that once in a blue moon anyway. Sooo, as soon as I have disposable cash and can actually locate another tbr-1sl I'm going to stop searching and looking for/at different amps when I already had the f'ing holy grail.

[velocity]

i had a tbr-2sl and i feel exactly the same way...

[Drew]

Well, I just switched rigs (first time in years, I'd been faithful for my Nomad for so long that I figured this was "the one") so I guess I'm not in a position to say because I'm still in that euphoric new rig mode. That said...

I bought my first Mesa my sophomore year in college- it was a Rocket-44, basically a super-stripped down Mark-IV style amp, with a clean channel, a lead channel, and a switchable "contour" mode for that Mark-IV mid scoop sound. It was a great amp, but then one day I did a gig with a friend's Marshall DSL40 simply because we couldn't fit both of our amps on the small stage we were playing on, and dug how while I didn't care for the amp on its own, it seemed to hit all the frequencies just right to sound good in a mix. I'd always had toruble with rhythm/lead differentiation on the Rocket-44, too, so it sort of put the bug in my head, and eventually I sold it for a Marshall TSL-100 head.

That lasted about a year, with me digging the rhythm tones, but never being 100% happy wiith the lead sounds, until out of boredom I went down to a GC to check out some Rectifiers, since I knew a guy who was interested in trading a Triple for a TSL (probably plus cash, I forget). I didn't get on with the Recto, but just for kicks I plugged into a Nomad combo they had sitting in a corner, and just almost immediately fell in love. Straight out of the box, Channel 3 Vintage was the sort of lead tone I'd been trying to get from the Marshall ever since I bought it. I traded the TSL in two weeks later, and took that Nomad home.

I think I'm about to sell the Nomad since I'm digging the hell out of the Rectifier I just bought now that I know how to dial them in and have a Hot Plate so I can saturate the power amp, but while I'll probably continue to go from Mesa to Mesa for the rest of my playing career and maybe will grab something else every once in a while on the side, I've kind of come to realize that I'm just a huge fan of the Mesa "lead" sound, and that there's not much else there that sounds or feels the same way. It only took me four years to realize that.

[racerevlon]

All this "hot plate" power soaking to get tone. Just buy a Hughes & Kettner already...

[Drew]

A budy of mine owns a TriAmp, dude. I've played it. I didn't like it. I'll keep my setup, you keep yours.

A Hot Plate simply allows an amp to be played at the volume it was designed to be heard at, without killing any dogs/cats/small children that happen to come within a 200-yard radius.

[screamndemon69]

JC RG1608




Jackson USA SLS



Charvel Pro A+ with Koa Top



G&L Climax XL ( I miss this one dearly!)



The one I MOST regret letting loose of was a USA Wolfgang Standard (Jimosity now has it ).



The USA Hamer Special FM in the stand is one I'll NEVER let go of as I know I will regret it for the rest of my days - guitars like that aren't made anymore and Gibsons don't even come close in quality IMHO.

[Drew]

Originally Posted by screamndemon69

Charvel Pro A+ with Koa Top

Dude, I played one of those in a music shop back where I grew up once - not sure how it got there, but even unplugged it was a SERIOUSLY resonant guitar. I didn't have a chance to plug it in, but if it was a seven it'd have followed me home. They had it marked (new I think) at $1400, which may or may not be a good price, but if it sounded as good amped up as it did unplugged, it'd be worth it.

[screamndemon69]

I bought that one NOS for $800 shipped with a new case. They were expensive (especially for having the so-so trem) but I miss it and only see the maple topped active versions anymore

[JiMoSiTY]

Originally Posted by screamndemon69

The one I MOST regret letting loose of was a USA Wolfgang Standard (Jimosity now has it ).

Just so you know, she's been my main guitar since I've gotten it and I love it more everytime I play it. Ibanezes come and go to me, but that Wolfgang will be buried with me.

I've even bought a few other Wolfgangs just like it and that one is just better somehow.

If I could only find another one just like it...

My Egnater M4 rig is the be-all-end-all of tone and crushes everything else I've ever owned; which is saying quite a bit...but I do sometimes miss the Engl Powerball / Mesa Road King dual head setup that I had a couple years ago....

[Dee]

Originally Posted by racerevlon

All this "hot plate" power soaking to get tone. Just buy a Hughes & Kettner already...

No probs. When do you wanna PayPal me the money?

Seriously, though. My holy-grail-tone-that-I-should-have-never-gotten-rid-of came from a Marshall JCM 800 model 2210 head (100w) and 2 x Celestion loaded cabs. Straight into the amp, no effects -- boom, there it was. The guitars were a 1987 RG550 and a 1990 RG750.

I sold that amp for £225 back in 1999. I saw the same head selling for around £1000 a couple of years later and instantly knew I'd made an awful mistake, but debts were a problem I had no choice but to sort them out at the time. Thinking back, I should have just stood on the corner in a pencil skirt or something and kept the 2210.

[screamndemon69]

Originally Posted by JiMoSiTY

Just so you know, she's been my main guitar since I've gotten it and I love it more everytime I play it. Ibanezes come and go to me, but that Wolfgang will be buried with me.

I've even bought a few other Wolfgangs just like it and that one is just better somehow.

If I could only find another one just like it...

I know you love it and I'm glad to hear she is getting lots of play.

I have a buddy that is selling me his goldtop (only solid color that has a maple cap) USA with a hard tail ($600 ). I'd like to get a BLK standard version with the trem at some point. Sweet guitars and in fact the new version (HP's) are actually amazing too.