Tough decision ahead - new guitar, new amp and effects?

kingpheeel · #1 07-09-2003, 06:40 PM

In the next month I should be getting hold of a decent amount of cash which could get me either a decent amp or a new JEM. Believe me I'm very torn.

Currently my line-up is a little slim:

Jem DNA
Marshall ValveState 100
POD 2
Broken Bad Horsie

Now would it be better to get a new amp (possibly a Legacy) and a couple of effects pedals, or a new JEM (probably a 10). And how many of you guys would recommend a Legacy AMP?

My main concerns at the moment are that I only have one guitar so if strings go then I'm a little stuffed, I live in a terraced house which means I have neibours on 3 walls attatched to my house, and I don't feel that I'm getting the full sound of the DNA from the VS100.

I've also considered maybe getting the UV777PBK but I've never really played a 7 string before. Any of you guys have any recommendations?

Any help or comments appreciated

Phil

Given to Fly · #2 07-09-2003, 07:18 PM

I suggest you get a new amp. I have a Legacy and if you want a Vai/Satriani type tone, it's the one to get. The reason I don't suggest you get a new guitar is because you already have a killer one and a better amp would you get the full potential out of your guitar. As for the UV777(P)BK, I just bought one but don't have it yet. But I'm excited. It's one of the two best production 7's out there in my opinion. The other is the EBMM JPM. So I would recommend it for a seven string. But go for an amp first. Oh but the Legacy is loud as heck. So I really doubt you would be able to have one without being killed by the neighbors. I suggest maybe a Line 6 something so that you get the best non - tube tone and still have a headphone jack. Hope that helped.

gkelm · #3 07-09-2003, 08:38 PM

If you really feel the need for a backup guitar, I guess that's your answer. Otherwise I'd upgrade the amp!
Greg

Guitarlos2 · #4 07-09-2003, 10:00 PM

I would definitely go with upgrading the amp first. You have a great guitar and a better amp could light up your music life. If you're not looking to bust the windows and keep the neighbors up, you may wanna check into a 50 watt or lower tube head (not sure if you have a cabinet ot not). If no cabinet, you could pick up a Mesa DC-5 50 watt combo or something similar for a great price on eBay. The amp sounds great, trust me! just a suggestion

Gresh · #5 07-09-2003, 10:42 PM

Main question is do you gig currently. If so, I'd suggest maybe considering dumping the DNA and getting 2 older jems and upgrading the amp at the same time.

If you're not gigging, then get a better amp...you don't need a backup.

Ki swordsman · #6 07-09-2003, 10:47 PM

how much $$$ are we talking about?? it may be possible to score everything you need

....used i mean

kingpheeel · #7 07-10-2003, 09:28 AM

Hey thanks for the replies and help guys - much appreciated

As for dumping the DNA - Hell no, never. That would just never be an option.

I should have between £1500 and £2000 to spend on stuff.

I don't gig yet but I'll be looking to start a band in the near future (I've just moved cross country and started a new job so I've had to put forming a band on the back burner right now).

How loud are we talking with the Legacy and does it have a DI or something for recording or would it need to be mic'd?

As for the Line 6 amp, I've played through a few and been under impressed so far. Addmitedly I've not had the chance to try one with the DNA just yet but I'm a little unsure being as I'm not really 100% happy with the POD tones.

I'm gonna try and get into town today and try some amps out but I think the selection here is pretty poor and mainly low budget range. Unfortunately, there is only one stockist of Legacy amps to my knowledge in the UK and I'm unable to get to them to try out the amp. Although I'm very keen on the amp so far - I love the demo Steve did for it on Carvin's site.

Is there anyone here with a Legacy and a JEM who could record a short demo for me with no effects or mixing, just so I can get an idea of how it sounds raw?

Again thanks guys I really appreciate the help.

bammbamm · #8 07-10-2003, 09:41 AM

Ya know, I would do it THIS way ( I know, I know, another opinion...

)
The valvestate is a strong enough amp and you can get some good tones out of it ( I had a couple myself) I would buy a decent midrange guitar like an RG3120 or something like that, and a solid fx unit like the TC units or maybe a Rocktron and a if you want to save a few dollars, and a nice EQ. You, at this point, haven't maxxed out the potential of your amp and can probably get a LOT more tone out of it than you realize.

Just my opinion and how I would do it.
I'm a Boogie guy now, but my Marshall served me well for 4 years until I got the $$$ together to spring for a Mesa rig.

Bamm

Guitarlos2 · #9 07-10-2003, 03:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kingpheeel

I should have between £1500 and £2000 to spend on stuff.

How loud are we talking with the Legacy and does it have a DI or something for recording or would it need to be mic'd?

I'm gonna try and get into town today and try some amps out but I think the selection here is pretty poor and mainly low budget range. Unfortunately, there is only one stockist of Legacy amps to my knowledge in the UK and I'm unable to get to them to try out the amp. Although I'm very keen on the amp so far - I love the demo Steve did for it on Carvin's site.

Is there anyone here with a Legacy and a JEM who could record a short demo for me with no effects or mixing, just so I can get an idea of how it sounds raw?

It seems like you may be limiting yourself to a Legacy in this case. A great amp don't get me wrong, but certainly not your only option!! Try some stuff out and play around a bit. Give Boogie a shot, Marshall, Laney, Soldano (if theres any available out there) or others etc etc. Ive also been turned Boogie fan over the years. I've owned a DC-5 head for years and I swear by it. One can get some great tones out of Mesa amps......well most anyway.

Just suggesting that you don't limit yourself to one thing, stress trying to find it, just to satisfy a current urge. You may find something youd like better!

kingpheeel · #10 07-11-2003, 03:09 PM

Well I've been doing some research on amps over the last day and I've probably been most impressed with the Boogie F50 and the Line6 Vetta. I haven't been able to find either of them just yet and they are about equally priced.

I'm still considering getting the UV777PBK because I'm curious as to what sort of new ideas and styles a 7 string would bring. Also if I get the UV I could probably afford to get a POD XT aswell and run that through the VS100's speaker for gigs.

Drew · #11 07-11-2003, 05:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kingpheeel

Is there anyone here with a Legacy and a JEM who could record a short demo for me with no effects or mixing, just so I can get an idea of how it sounds raw?

Yeah, this guy I know and have a few CD's by recorded a demo that's up on the net somewhere... Pretty solid player. Perhaps you've heard of him, his name is Steve Vai.

http://www.carvin.com/vai/vaidemo.mp3

As for your situation.... I'd REALLY consider dumping the DNA. Yeah, it's a gorgeous guitar... But you're not going to want to gig on it. Trust me here... Sure, you've heard stories about guys here gigging with their DNA's, and even seen a few pictures. Vaijem777 definately springs to mind. So, you CAN gig with the thing. But ask VJ777 how many times he's done so- last I heard, just once. It's an extravagently expensive, highly collectable guitar, and granted the "Vibe factor" definately influences your playing, but if you want to see what two years of moderate gigging can do to a guitar, drop me an e-mail (address in profile) and I'll show you what the 7620 I got in '01 looks like now. For the last year I've been doing a weekly gig about 5 months out of the year, when I'm in town, and the last 6 months I've been playing pretty often at school, but this is NOT an unusually heavily gigged guitar, and one look and when you think of your DNA looking like this, you'll cringe.

For the price of the DNA, you can probably grab yourself a UV777, two JEM7V's (why not white AND sparkle blue?)and have a decent chunk of cash left over after that.

Regardless, my money would go towards a good amp. Especially at the levels you're going to be playing at with a band, a solid-state amp (which, despite the single tube in the preamp, the VS series effectively is- the distortion channel gets significant transistor assistance- with a single tube, even if it was dedicated solely to the distortion channel, you're just not going to be getting the kind of distortion the VS puts out from the tubes alone, as you could only do a dual cascading gain stage) isn't going to perform nearly as well as a good tube amp. I'd personally recommend something with fairly low wattage- I play a TSL-100 which is COMPLETE overkill for every venue I've ever played in... even in the VPR 25-watt mode, and I've played some fairly large clubs. Check out the legacy if that's your thing, but you might also want to look into a Mesa Nomad-45 head and cab or combo. It's a really impressive amp, for the wattage and price (check out Gresh's thread on it).

And, if you're in great britian, as I think i recall you being, there's always Cornford...

-D

Knightmeir · #12 07-13-2003, 05:19 AM

Is that a universe he's playing in the demo? It sounds like it... either or... that sounds pretty sweet. I'm looking into getting a new amp myself... All I have is a Fender Princeton 112 Plus and sometimes I run a digitech processor through it, but I'm not entirely happy with it. I only want to spend around $1,000 or so if I can help it, and the legacy combo is looking pretty sweet. I live in a one bedroom apartment and don't want to kill the neighbors (ok, I do want to kill the neighbors but that's beside the point). The fender amp is too twangy for me : P

Given to Fly · #13 07-13-2003, 12:51 PM

Knightmeir, A new Legacy Combo is $999.99 including the tax. So you can get the whole thing for a penny less than a grand.