Tube Amp Help(Newbie)

[j3yps]

Hi i'm gonna order a customized/personalized tube amp soon, the maker is asking me what type of amp do i want to "COPY" and i said i don't know anything about tube amps but i want a clean sounding amp for versatility(he recommends the Fender twin). Now after reading some forums, some say that it's impossible to get a sorta like Vai's tone if you're getting all of your distortion on pedals...Is this true? cause that's what i'm planning to do(Get me a clean tube amp,get all of my effects on my pedal board)...Pls help...

[Lifeofsobriety]

I personally enjoy the distortion out of a good tube amp more than that of a pedal... usually. I like using pedals just as boosts or to add a different tone than my amp can't produce. Not all people agree, some like using a bunch of pedals over clean. I'd recommend finding out which type of distortion you like and find an amp that can do both a good clean and gain, and tell him to clone that. That way you can still have a great clean to use pedals over, but have a nice solid gain you know you can rely on. I am personally a huge V.H.T. fan but it is a unique tone that some people see as too dry, but check them out.

[Tank]

I agree with Lifeofsobriety completely.
While the Twin is an extremely nice sounding clean amp, much of his tone comes from the special speakers though.

To custom build an amp without knowing much is kinda lacking. Even Vai uses the gain channel on his Legacy quite a bit and boosts it with pedals. If you want to copy Vai, a custom amp is not the way to go. Steve has 10.000 bucks worth of effects in his chain, so just a custom amp with a distortion pedal will get you nowhere...

Try some standard tube amps and checkout what you like first!

[j3yps]

Ok here's the deal sirs, here in our country(Philippines) custom made amps are way cheaper than "buy and play" amps(Marshall, Mesa ETC...), and we don't really have a wide selection of tube amps either so i can't really try lots of amps that's why i'm asking you guys if you have any suggestions cause really i'm clueless when it comes to tube amps...

So far im after a clean amp so that it will be versatile (cause a friend of mine told me that the most versatile amps are the clean ones because I can play a high-gain piece by getting all of your distortion on your stomp boxes and also have fun with my clean tone)

As i've mentioned above i read some threads that i really can't get Vai's tone relying on stompboxes, is this true? if it ain't, how can i get vai's tone out of my peds? should i use like two distortion.overdrive peds?

[Lifeofsobriety]

I would say no you arn't going to get Vai's tone out of a few pedals. As Tank said, he has a ton of money invested in effects as well as his other equipment. Maybe you could try to get a Carvin Legacy? It is Vai's amp. If you can't get one for a reasonable price you could try and clone it. I haven't played one, but most people say it has an amazing clean, but still has a nice smooth lead channel.

[j3yps]

Originally Posted by Lifeofsobriety

I would say no you arn't going to get Vai's tone out of a few pedals. As Tank said, he has a ton of money invested in effects as well as his other equipment. Maybe you could try to get a Carvin Legacy? It is Vai's amp. If you can't get one for a reasonable price you could try and clone it. I haven't played one, but most people say it has an amazing clean, but still has a nice smooth lead channel.

So how about this suggest a amp that i can clone on my clean channel and one for my lead channel...

[rastachild]

obviously you won't get vai's tone with just an amp a distortion/od pedal, but maybe you want to know the foundation of vai's tone? if that's what you are going for, then have him clone the carvin legacy. be aware, as tank said, vai's tone is heavily effected and that this would only be a starting point. but honestly, a good tube amp is definitely the place to start and i've heard a lot of good things about the legacy (although i've never played one).

[Dantesstudio]

So i assume your going to have two channels.

For your distorted lead you could try to clone a Mesa Mark IV or the Legacy.

For the clean how bout a Mesa Stiletto (stage II). If you could make the two channles have seperate watt levels. Maybe have the lead or distorted at like 50 and the clean at 100. A lower watt level on the distorted channel will allow it to distort faster. A higher watt level on the clean channel will give you more overhead.

Try to grab a Keeley "Seeing Eye" modded DS1 off Ebei. That should give you something sorta close to Vai's tone. I would also suggest a tech 21 reverb pedal.

[rvai]

make it a 4 channel amp, fender twin clean, marshall brit classic rock tone, mesa boogie very distorted and a legacy lead channel, that wouls be pretty versatile

[sleepyone]

A own a tube amp made here in my country which is a copy of a Soldano SLO100, i would REALLY recommend you to order a copy of this amp. Amazing sounds, both clean and distortion, and with a nice od/dist pedal to drive a bit the front end you can get cool vaish tones

[j3yps]

Originally Posted by Dantesstudio

So i assume your going to have two channels.

For your distorted lead you could try to clone a Mesa Mark IV or the Legacy.

For the clean how bout a Mesa Stiletto (stage II). If you could make the two channles have seperate watt levels. Maybe have the lead or distorted at like 50 and the clean at 100. A lower watt level on the distorted channel will allow it to distort faster. A higher watt level on the clean channel will give you more overhead.

Try to grab a Keeley "Seeing Eye" modded DS1 off Ebei. That should give you something sorta close to Vai's tone. I would also suggest a tech 21 reverb pedal.

Actually sir i have a DS-1 Keeley SEM/Ultra Mod and OD-3 Monte MOD : )

[Tank]

I think with your pedals, you would still need a real gain channel too.

So for your copy job I would suggest a 2 channel amp, plus your nice pedals you already have.

For Clean: Go with the Fender Twin. If you boost it with the pedals it will give you nice crunch to medium gain sounds.

For Gain Channel: I would go with a high gain classic, like a Mesa Dual Rectifier High Gain Channel copy. You can then get already high gain from this channel with excellent characteristics and can use your pedals to further compress and tighten the sound on parts or solos where it is needed.

I think these 2 channel will give you a wide selection of sounds in combination with your pedals. Of course depending how well the custom job is done.

I hope this helps you and keep rockin'!