Guitar Amp Advice
I like guitar amp threads. Mmm, ampy. Anyway, the other guitarist in my band is looking for a new guitar amp as his Peavey Valveking either doesn't wake up, do what it's told to, or explodes at the wrong time. (A bit like Wayne Rooney in an England shirt. BANTS) Advice on amp heads appreciated.
Looking for a head (valve massively preferred) around 50W. No digital modelling nonsense. Currently thinking of a Laney or a second hand Marshall.
I play a modded jazzmaster through an Orange Rockerverb 50, which is quite a warm sound, he has an epi les paul, I'm thinking something with a more 'modern' voicing would work well? He borrowed a Blackstar on tour which sounded much better than the valveking.
Anyway, we sound like this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=8NsGqtH_0tc
People in bands with 2 or more guitars- do you try altering your setups so that your guitar sounds complement each other?
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I play through a Mesa solo rectifier and cannot recommend it enough.
Expensive bit of kit but I'd say it's worth every penny.
http://www.mesaboogie.com/Product_Info/Out_of%20_Production/The_Single_Rectifiers/The_Solo_50_Head/the_solo_50_head.html
I'm actually thinking of selling mine. It'll be a very reluctant sale but the head and my cabinet are just taking up too much space. If you're guitarist is interested then give me a PM. I'll definitely be replacing with a mesa combo.
Also, come across a few folk who've used some of the smaller orange amps like the Tiny Terror and absolutely swear by them.
http://www.orangeamps.com/tiny-terror-series/
Actually just came across mini rectifiers on the Mesa site
Looks like a lot of amp manufacturers are doing more compact amps these days. Could be worth a shout.
http://www.mesaboogie.com/Product_Info/Rectifier_Series/Mini_Rectifier_25/miniRectifier25.html
Aah, Mesas!
Never used to be a fan, til I actually heard someone use one in a good band. Sounded massive, very tight sounding as well.
Think they're probably out of his price range though.
I used an Orange Dual terror for a year actually, really liked it, but our drummer is a loud bastard, and I had to crank it to keep up with the rest of the band. Usually 30w is fine, but maybe struggled a bit for definition at some points when needing a slightly cleaner sound. The rockerverb has a bit more headroom and sounds a lot 'bigger' in comparison.
Same mate
I was really put off by seeing them in the background of Hoobastank, Nickelback and pretty much every other Nu Metal music video ever made.
Had always had my heart set on a Fender Twin but a guy at work was selling this rig I own just now and convinced me to give it a try, was pretty much hooked from the moment I heard it. Absolutely love it. The clean tone is just untouchable in my opinion.
Hi TSOB!
Cool video! :)
My band has three guitarists and we spend quite a lot of time making sure the sounds work together. It's tricky to balance going from a wall of lovely thick, fuzzy sound to a sound where all three separate parts can be picked out.
We find effects pedals and EQ help this more than amps though. But then, I still play through my Blues Jr.
Yo! Long time no speak!
I've heard about your new band from Mark actually!
EQ pedals eh.. this may be the future. Do you generally have like a set 'range' you tend to work in?
I'm trying to write stuff with less busy parts- more single notes rather than chords which helps a bit.
We're not very good at sticking to ranges
By generally, I'm the wider background sound (Muff with a pinch of chorus & reverb), Gaz is the bottom end (more defined to 'anchor' what I do) and Josh is the sparkle (thinner sound, more scratchy in places, lots of effects).
Playing more single note stuff definately helps with impact and definition in multiple guitar parts - then you can jump to big chords for nice muddy sections :)
IT'S SADPUNK!!!!
Around 50 Watts, you say? Alright, well, I did play guitar in a band with one other guitarist and I used a Traynor YBA-1 for the most part. It's 45 watts but it puts out a very loud 45 watts and I couldn't recommend it enough. Also, I never altered my set-up in that band, if it wasn't working... we would just keep tweaking our amps til we found a tone that worked for the both of us. The Valveking isn't really the best representation of what Peavey has to offer. He should see if he can get his hands on a VTM-60. I wouldn't recommend it over the Traynor but it's a great little amp and like all old Peaveys, it was built to survive an apocalypse. Peavey really don't deserve the bad rep they have, if you're a pedal guy like me... quite a few of them are the perfect platform.
Just googled the Traynor, looks pretty interesting!
Guitar/bass amps are quite interesting, a mate's got a Fender Bassman which sounds really nice when it works! Takes pedals really well too.
I think he went for the valveking due to price mostly! It's a shame that the good models always seem to be the old ones which go for a bit on ebay.
budget?
Dr Z
Matchless
Buddha
Get a Selmer Treble n Bass
there is one for sale in a Colchester antique shop for £300 inc. amazingly cool cab
this is the amp i want to get eventually!
in my 2 guitarist band i'm in I use a Fender "evil" Twin from the late 80s, and I fucking love it, loads of tonal options for tweaking plus you can combine the clean and gain channels. I don't think I've ever turned it up past 4 as it's so loud. I think it's around 100 watts, but it has a switch on it which can take it down to 50 i think (it might be 30, one of the two). Regardless it's great.
Also have spent a long time previous to having the Fender using a 100watt Hi Watt stack. It's an immensley transparant sounding amp, very very clean yet takes pedals very well too. I have a piece of shit guitar though (a jap jazzmaster which desperately needs new pickups, bridge, general setting up...) so it probably didn't cover that up as well as the fender now does.
The last tour I did I used a voxAC15 (both me and the other guitarist used them). They sound great and you can get a nice warm crunch out of them. The best thing about them though is they are light but loud, so it saves on van space yet you can comfortably play decent sized venues (king tuts, cockpit, koko) with them and they cut through fine. I think i had them at 5 or 6 volume wise most of the tour, was good.
and yeah I've recorded with that Selmer amp before, i guess they're similar to Hi-watts sonically but much much cheaper and cooler looking in my opinon. Sound City amps are similar too.
Oh and in terms of how myself and the other guitarist blend our sound is generally he goes for a lower mids/bassier sound why i like the upper mids/treble sound from a guitar, but this works pretty well as he tends to do rhythm stuff and i do lead lines, though occasionally the switches but in general it sounds good.
Treble n Bass heads are great for a nice vintage tone.
But you need to push them really loud to get the best out of them. Really good value for money at £300 though.
I'm currently looking to sell this...
...Genz Benz El Diablo 60 TS & 2x12 cab.
http://i40.tinypic.com/ruu0ow.jpg
Switchable between 60/30 watts, can do modern and vintage sounds, would certainly fit the sound of the track you posted. The head and cab are both for sale, but I could happily sell just the head.
PM me...
It's MAD loud too.