Lots of good amps on the market.

[Darin]

Because I suffer from indecision, disillusion, and discontentment at time. I've been amp shopping. Have you noticed how amps sound different in different rooms? And they sound different on different days? And the sound different depending on the last amp you plugged into? What I've noticed is. There are a lot of amps with usable tone for the avarage guitarist. Unless you are really striving to make a name for yourself with you own tone, there are a whole bunch of good choices. I recently played through a $99 crate with 8 inch spkr. Although it wasn't killer tone. I could have gigged it and no one I the audience would know or care. But in the sub $1000 market. There is an endless list of usable amps. Especially when you include used amps. Guys my age will remember when there wasn't all these choices.

With all that said. Just be happy with what you have.


I had my FSS out ad mic'd. I was so diggin the heck out of it. Something about it translates very well through a PA.

[CosmicDebris]

The main choices I see and hear are in the names on the amps. Like anything in life you do get what you pay for. Tone comes from the person mostly with gear playing a minor part. I sound more or less the same no matter what I play on cause it is me playing.

If I want to change my tone to where I notice I change what kind of pick I use. Diff plastics give diff sounds/tones. I really notice the difference between my Tortex and my regular plastic Ibanez or Fender pics. All are same gauge (1mm) but the Tortex gives a brighter twang than the Ibz or Fender pics. I do use 2mm thick Tortex which gives a warmer tone. I like the Ibz and Fenders mostly cause they are middle of the road.

Darin, what you hear also depends on how much you had to drink

[Darin]

How much do I have to drink before I start sounding good?

I notice a difference in picks tone as well. Funny how a $.75 pick can make as much difference in tone as spending much more.

Strings too. HATE fender strings. Can live with Blue Steel. But prefer GHS Boomers.

I'm not an EJ though. I can't tell what brand of Vvolt is in my pedal. Which brings me to... Do you get less noise/hiss/buzz when using battery power than pedal board power? It would seem so. But I haven't tested it. I just know anything plugged into my 100+ year old house is noisy.

[JayRobIBZ]

surfpick.com - sounds like a gimick but I find every claim they make on thier website to be true.

[microdmitry]

Ouch, $15 for a pick. I think I'll continue using my Ultex Jazz III's, thank you.

[JayRobIBZ]

they arent something you want to loose or run through the wash.

[ibanezking]

Hey Darin

The old saying you get what you pay for rules here

On 3bay USA you can pick up a Boogie F50 for about $700-$800

Got the UK's Guitarist Mag Gold Award for 5/5 in every category - very rarely given out

Supposedly great for ANY style music...... i have the F30

I use Blue Sharkfins on the serated edge - gives a"bigger" sound.

Max

[Lifeofsobriety]

Darin,

I know what you mean, there are just so many amps out there and each time I try one it's different, even if it's the same amp. In the last year or so I've had like 4 amps and am still selling my current one to go for the next thing in my sight. I wish I could just settle on something, but at the same time I really enjoy getting new ones haha. Thank god for **** so I can buy/sell for about the same price

[scotte_za]

Originally Posted by ibanezking

Hey Darin

The old saying you get what you pay for rules here

On 3bay USA you can pick up a Boogie F50 for about $700-$800

Got the UK's Guitarist Mag Gold Award for 5/5 in every category - very rarely given out

Supposedly great for ANY style music...... i have the F30

I use Blue Sharkfins on the serated edge - gives a"bigger" sound.

Max

The F-series has been discontinued right?

[microdmitry]

Originally Posted by Darin

Because I suffer from indecision, disillusion, and discontentment at time. I've been amp shopping. Have you noticed how amps sound different in different rooms? And they sound different on different days? And the sound different depending on the last amp you plugged into? What I've noticed is. There are a lot of amps with usable tone for the avarage guitarist. Unless you are really striving to make a name for yourself with you own tone, there are a whole bunch of good choices. I recently played through a $99 crate with 8 inch spkr. Although it wasn't killer tone. I could have gigged it and no one I the audience would know or care. But in the sub $1000 market. There is an endless list of usable amps. Especially when you include used amps. Guys my age will remember when there wasn't all these choices.

With all that said. Just be happy with what you have.


I had my FSS out ad mic'd. I was so diggin the heck out of it. Something about it translates very well through a PA.

Darin, here's my advice to fix your GAS issues on the cheap. Get an Egnater TOL 100, hook it up to an open back cab with Vintage 30's (or closed back with Warehouse British Leads - sounds very similar), set the gain on channel 4 to 3 o'clock, density at noon, presence and other controls to taste, set it to the highest gain voicing. This works best with a Les Paul style guitar with Seymour Duncan JB in the bridge. Second best choice is Tone Zone in basswood bodied guitar. No pedals, no nothing, just plug straight in. It took me years, a few thousand dollars and a lot of experimentation to get to this setup. You can try it right away, for less than $1K (assuming the TOL shows up on the evil bay, 'cause I'm not sellin' mine ). Sounds great at bedroom volumes, too, and only gets better as you crank it.

[Drew]

Originally Posted by scotte_za

The F-series has been discontinued right?

Yeah. Pity, I vastly prefer the F-series to the Express series that replaced it.

Even when I first started playing maybe 10-12 years ago, you could really buy rather a lot for cheap. I still have my first amp, a Crate G-15R or whatever the hell it's called, that I got as a "combo" package with my first electric guitar, a Yamaha Pacifica 112, from a local music shop. I plugged into the thing a couple months back just for kicks (I'd forgotten about it, and found it in a closet at my parents' place), and while obviously it's no threat to my Mesas, when you consider it's a sub-$100 amp it's really pretty amazing. 20-30 years ago, you'd be hard pressed to get that sort of gain or tone from anything even five times that price.

[scotte_za]

I always tell people to look at the Kettner Edition 20th if theyr're on a budget. It's a seriously sweet little amp, and hellishly loud for a 20 watter

[Pablo]

After having my Legacy for two years I'm still happy with the tones it produces. I can't recommend them enough, even for the non Vai fans it's great

I'll check out the 3 channel one if it comes out but in all honesty the one I have suits me.

When I was younger Solid state was all the rage. Marshall 9000 anyone ? Although I ended up buying a Mesa Studio preamp and an ADA Mp-1 and they are still great units to this day.

P