RE: On The Down Low - Solid State Amps and the Men Who Love Them
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RE: On The Down Low - Solid State Amps and the Men Who ... - 9/11/2007 11:05:34 AM
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drnick
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Oh I discovered rock guitar in 1981 (Kiss, the Dynasty album), so that should give you some idea where I'm coming from!
I currently use a Boss GT-3 for more or less the same thing as a POD XT can do (which I understand is a Vetta II in-a-box). I debated the POD, but decided I was just trading one emulator for another, and I'm quite happy with the sound I get from the GT-3. However, there's always room for improvement, and after years with the thing I basically use:
-a clean, quite heavily chorused sound, with a bit of a boost to a soft bluesy crunch
-a kind of jangly mindly overdriven sound
-a 1959 maxed out marshall sim + lead boost
-something I wrote to approximate to a Santana-ish sound + boost
And that's it. So perhaps I'd be better off getting the real thing, and using the GT-3 in the effects loop just for choruses, delays, compression, and maybe the EQ.
I tried out a JCM800 yesterday (the 2203 I think) and it had a nice sound, but it was TOO LOUD and I have to admit didn't have enough drive for me - I like to be able to get those pinched harminics and work them, and it wasn't up to it. I understand now why people like John Sykes get their amps modded, or else add a tube screamer to push things a little more.
Might look at a TSL-60 or one of the "Vintage/modern" line.
Or an ENGL.
Or a......
< Message edited by drnick -- 9/12/2007 6:17:11 PM >
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RE: On The Down Low - Solid State Amps and the Men Who ... - 9/17/2007 4:00:04 PM
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Bro_Shane
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I noticed the same thing with the JCM800 and pinch harmonics. It just didn't seem to have enough "oomph" to get them out.
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RE: On The Down Low - Solid State Amps and the Men Who ... - 9/19/2007 9:04:43 AM
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gtrdave
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I turned back to using a tube amp in church a short while ago.
I was using a Line 6 Spider II 112 for a couple years and when combined with the FBV Express controller, the versatility was unbeatable.
Unfortunately, the sound was and after fighting with it for years, trying to make a modeling amp something that it's not, I picked up an Epiphone Valve Standard amp: 12" speaker, 15 Class A watts, all tube with a built-in and very useless DSP effects section...I leave that off.
I picked it up for $150 used.
Seemed like a deal.
I have two other tube amps. A Peavey Delta Blues 210 and a Peavey Classic 20. Both are great little amps but the DB210 is way too loud for church and the C20 is only happy when cranked and overdriven and/or when run with the C115 cabinet.
So the Epi does what neither Peavey will do, imho.
I also dusted off my old pedalboard, made a few changes to it including losing a few of the old Boss noisemakers and installing a Digitech Bad Monkey, Bixonic Expandora II and Visual Sound H2O, and am now using it with the Epi and I can honsetly say that for the first time in many, many years, the sound coming out of my amp is exactly what I want to hear. It's not a compromise due to cost or convenience, even though it's a fairly inexpensive rig, but it is just what I want.
Finally.
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RE: On The Down Low - Solid State Amps and the Men Who ... - 9/19/2007 9:15:27 AM
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DaveW
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A question for all you electric guitar "heros" out there.
There was a sound popular in the 70's, used by a lot of artists (Steely Dan, BJ Thomas among others) that imitated a sitar sound on an electric. It was a studio effect.
Does anyone know of a pedal that can make that sound?
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RE: On The Down Low - Solid State Amps and the Men Who ... - 9/19/2007 1:04:20 PM
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DaveW
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No - it was definately an effect. I read about it once upon a time (late 70s) in some mag like Guitar Player. If you listen closely to the solo on "I Can't Help This Feeling" by BJ Thomas you can hear when the guitarist changes from a wound string to a plain string (probably D to G) which is much brighter and the effect is more pronounced.
It did not sound like the real thing, just an effect mimicking it.
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Avatar is Saphira 5 months and Louvena at 23 months!
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RE: On The Down Low - Solid State Amps and the Men Who ... - 9/20/2007 3:26:44 AM
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iluvatar
Posts: 1938
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quote:
ORIGINAL: DaveW
No - it was definately an effect. I read about it once upon a time (late 70s) in some mag like Guitar Player. If you listen closely to the solo on "I Can't Help This Feeling" by BJ Thomas you can hear when the guitarist changes from a wound string to a plain string (probably D to G) which is much brighter and the effect is more pronounced.
It did not sound like the real thing, just an effect mimicking it.
Danelectro makes a pedal called the Sitar Swammy that, IIRC, is supposed to do something like that.
But the other guys are right - it's an electric sitar. If you come across one, pick it up - that sound will be instantly recognizable, though they are a bit trickier to play well than one might expect.
-Dan.
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Well, I've been to one world fair, a picnic, and a rodeo, and that's the stupidest thing I ever heard come over a set of earphones.
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RE: On The Down Low - Solid State Amps and the Men Who ... - 9/20/2007 2:12:50 PM
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Bro_Shane
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I have used a phaser to come close to a sitar-like sound, but it isn't realistic.
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RE: On The Down Low - Solid State Amps and the Men Who ... - 9/20/2007 5:26:32 PM
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Bro_Shane
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It only works so-so, and for playing certain phrasing that you have to kind of sync to the speed of the wave. Like I said, it can be sitar-like (and I forgot what I used in conjuction with the phase) but it would never pass for the real thing. It was neat working to try to find it, but I never used it as it was kind of cheesy.
I still work with delay and reverb to try to come up with neat sounds, some even sound like moans and screams (which come in handy during Haloween). They are really of no practical use, but they're fun.
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RE: On The Down Low - Solid State Amps and the Men Who ... - 9/20/2007 10:38:57 PM
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iluvatar
Posts: 1938
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quote:
ORIGINAL: gtrdave
quote:
ORIGINAL: iluvatar
quote:
ORIGINAL: DaveW
No - it was definately an effect. I read about it once upon a time (late 70s) in some mag like Guitar Player. If you listen closely to the solo on "I Can't Help This Feeling" by BJ Thomas you can hear when the guitarist changes from a wound string to a plain string (probably D to G) which is much brighter and the effect is more pronounced.
It did not sound like the real thing, just an effect mimicking it.
Danelectro makes a pedal called the Sitar Swammy that, IIRC, is supposed to do something like that.
But the other guys are right - it's an electric sitar. If you come across one, pick it up - that sound will be instantly recognizable, though they are a bit trickier to play well than one might expect.
-Dan.
They can be difficult to master due to the drone and sympathetic strings (if so equipped) but the Coral and Jerry Jones reissue both have standard 6 string boards that mimic the playability of a standard 6 string guitar which is why so many decent guitarists can pick one up and play it with relative ease.
Sort of like the way that Jimmy Page played the banjo...allegedly he tuned it similarly to a 6 string guitar.
Also, Dean sells a 6 string banjo that can be tuned to standard concert-type tuning so that a guitar player can hop on it and not embarrass themselves. 
I don't recall the brand of the one I played, but it did have a standard 6-string "guitar" neck/fretboard. What I found deceptively tricky was how sensitive it was to slight variations in pick attack. You really had to do it just right in order to get "that sound."
Granted, I only tried it for about an hour or so.
-Dan.
_____________________________
Well, I've been to one world fair, a picnic, and a rodeo, and that's the stupidest thing I ever heard come over a set of earphones.
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RE: On The Down Low - Solid State Amps and the Men Who ... - 9/21/2007 6:48:35 AM
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DaveW
Posts: 4073
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quote:
ORIGINAL: gtrdave
I can see a phaser emulating a rotating speaker...a Leslie... Yeah, that was what the phase shifters were supposed to do. The first ones I saw were in a Lafayette Radio Electronics catalog and their ad said you no longer had to haul those heavey Leslie speakers around any more.
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Avatar is Saphira 5 months and Louvena at 23 months!
We are now grandparents TWICE!!
====================================
Our CD is now available here:
http://cdbaby.com/cd/dswaggoner
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RE: On The Down Low - Solid State Amps and the Men Who ... - 9/21/2007 5:20:40 PM
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Bro_Shane
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I thought I was going to fall out of my chair when the Iron Man riff came up. Whoever did this had to take the time to figure it out, then dub it right.
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