Music, Home Studio, Gigs, and Gear. Rockers Unite!

[Mendieta]

Sold off all my vintage point to point wired amps, mostly Fender. Champs Supers Super Champs Bandmaster - many black and silver face monsters are gone. Got tired of keeping em tuned up.

Have 2 Chinese tube amps at the moment. VHT Special 6 head and a Creme custom Vox AC15. Swapped out tubes for quality valves and have a large collection of NOS vintage valves to rotate in for fun.

Both of the amps are absolutely killer. The Celestion Cremeback in the AC15 took forever to break in but breaking it in was fun.......The VHT is point to point based on a Champ circuit....crazy good for the price. Boutique tone for chump change

Jonesin for a Z (probably Carmen Ghia) or a Goodsell 17 tho.....

I'll get some gear pics up once I figure out Pugski photo hosting a bit better....

You know your toys! Nice! I was thinking of the Bugera V22 combo, with this Infium thing that seems to keep the tubs in good shape for quite a bit. Umm ... thoughts, appreciated!

Oh, uploading pics is easiest from a phone.

 

[hrstrat57]

Burgera 22 is stupid loud no good for home use ( unless you live on a ranch)

A lot depends on what sound you like guitars that r u favs style etc

Primarily there are 6v6 (Fender champ, deluxe Reverb, deluxe tweed etc) EL 84 (Vox) and EL 34 (Marshall) power tube amps. 6L6 kinda a mesh of 6v6/el34 imho

Best start is listen to artists u like and find out what gear they used ( example Larry Carlton " King C = es335 and Fender Deluxe Tweed /6v6)

Craigslist is your friend but I'd suggest to start the Super Champ X2 head brand new w warranty is a good start. Pick up a used speaker cab on CL so you can experiment with different speakers. Jensen SD 12 8 ohm prob a good starting point.

Most important tube amp basic? Majority of tone comes from preamp tube in position V1 - usually a 12ax7. Unless buying a boutique amp like a Clark, Goodsell or Z you will need to upgrade this before even plugging in.

I can help u on your quest

Oh and the Yamaha THR 10 lunchbox amps are crazy good. Tho solid state another great starting point to see what glowing bottle pathway you like best. The amp models are fabulous. I like a lot of the Quilter ss stuff too but no modeling there that's a completely different pathway.

I could like go on for days.

I think the Carlton tone displayed in King C is the grail btw which is why I mentioned it

I just finished an AVRI 52 reissue tele / AC15 session. Pretty yum too. Think I'll dig my ol' Gibson ES335 out later you've inspired me see that? Need to dig out my little 6v6 amp and dime it!

Yep all good!

 

[hrstrat57]

 

[hrstrat57]

 

[hrstrat57]

Best guitar forum on www IMHO is TDPRI

Lotta pro players amp builders and techs on there. Priceless free info everywhere lowest noise to info ratio I've found. TheGearPage isn't bad either.

 

[Mendieta]

Thanks for all the info, @hrstrat57 ; I might join a dedicated forum if I start playing more often. I used to jam with friends in HS, then always had a guitar around and some amp, ff to today, my kid is playing drums. Freshman in HS, so I play with him as often as I can. I do live in a ranch! But a CA one, in a semi-rural area. I certainly have neighbors close enough that I don't want to be super loud. But it is detached homes in suburbia, kind of thing.

I thought 22W would be a bit too much, but I do need to be loud enough to play with drums. But is there any downside in having more power than I need? I never had a tube at home. Do you need to really saturate their volume to get good tone?

Guitar players whose sound I like? I really like playing metallica style, and I like fuzz distortion. Love Zappa, and particularly his sound when playing solos with distortion; love Brian May's and Gilmour's sound. And Hendrix, but who doesn't. Stevie Ray Vaughn. So, anywhere between sweet overdrive for 'heavier' or 'denser' blues, all the way to metal, but I am not a metal head if you know what I mean. Now, I heard my heavy metal pedal plugged into a tube amp, and it sounds so much heavier, fuller and better than when feeding a solid state one. So, even for that, I think I would benefit.

Cheers!

 

[hrstrat57]

Fender Super Champ X2 head all those tones are in there 100% with effects. Some are cheesy but the delay, modulation and Reverb are pretty good. Plus you can tweak your sounds with software patch.

2 6v6 power tubes you can crank straight if you like to get that creamy smoky bar deluxe Reverb tone. Change V1 to a Tung Sol R/I 12ax7 immediately no need to change anything else. Remember V1 is where your guitar signal slams into the amp. Has to be quality. You can experiment with Nos tubes in that position / I like Amperex Bugle Boy 12ax7 but getting hard to find and pricey - the new RI TungSol are real good so skip that craziness for now.

If your jamming with a heavy handed drummer the SC head will easily overdrive a Marshall 4x12 cabinet so pick up one of those and a 1x12 cab too for portability.

More Marshall cabs on Craigslist than u can shake a stick at.

You will love love the SC x2 head! Perfect place to start your glowing bottle quest and find "your" sound and unique voice!

As always just like with incredible free ski instruction YouTube is your friend.

Here's one review

 

[hrstrat57]

Shane's reviews are nearly always bang on - a must subscribe

You want the head tho!!

 

[rpk4dotcom]

Inspired by crgildart to finish the move into my new room. Tonight I start the set up, but for now, just a quick shot of this month's players..

 

[crgildart]

Diggin that rich bitch.. I'd like a BCR bass one of these days..

 

[hrstrat57]

Inspired by crgildart to finish the move into my new room. Tonight I start the set up, but for now, just a quick shot of this month's players..

View attachment 24430

Nice collection. Looks like a pre lawsuit ibanez LP ?

 

[Tominator]

I like the Martin in the photo. Is it the D28 model? When I drive out Blue Mt. in PA I can pass the Martin factory when on highway 33 you can see the big sign.

Sorry, I missed this. It's a 1976 000-28 that I bought new 40 years ago.

 

[rpk4dotcom]

Nice collection. Looks like a pre lawsuit ibanez LP ?

Great catch, 1974 or 1975 Ibanez 2350CH! When I decided to buy a series of Gibson copies I thought that it was only right to begin with the only real lawsuit model. Have knocked off a few but still looking for the right Greco, Burny and a late 90's Japanese issue Epiphone LPC80.

 

[hrstrat57]

Great catch, 1974 or 1975 Ibanez 2350CH! When I decided to buy a series of Gibson copies I thought that it was only right to begin with the only real lawsuit model. Have knocked off a few but still looking for the right Greco, Burny and a late 90's Japanese issue Epiphone LPC80.

There's a sweet Burny on my local CL right now.

I had a black ibanez Artist w creme binding another one that sadly got away in a fit of unnecessary G A S

Go get it I'm out

http://providence.craigslist.org/msg/6121563349.html

 

[rpk4dotcom]

Thanks for the listing it is a very nice looking guitar and the price seems to be right, only I am holding out for customs rather than standards. I took 5 guitar lessons in my youth and the teacher had an Artist. It's definitely on my wish list along with all the others. Here's to suffering from G A S!

 

[hrstrat57]

A Noll guitar setup is huge. All the pro player here use Noll. I imagine that burny right there is spectacular.

I traded the below 73 LP Deluxe to a local pro for the 2001 Nashville ES335

+10# couldn't do it anymore - the 335 is sublime!!

I only have this 1979 Vantage Ghost left to cover my Gibson solid body thing.... its amazing. Left of my 80's Tokai pink dog.

Staying at 6 no GAS for me!

 

[Tricia]

@Marcel @Bobalooski and a few others here are Rockers....

 

[rpk4dotcom]

 

[Bobalooski]

@Marcel @Bobalooski and a few others here are Rockers....

@Marcel also builds a fine guitar. A man of many talents, indeed!
My son and I both occasionally hang out with musicians. Some people refer to this as being known as "the drummer."
Anyway, his kit...

And mine...

 

[crgildart]

One up and two down.. Back to basics is definitely back in style. Old school, vintage looking hardware too. Sweet!