Humbuckers/SingleCoils = specific amps?

[edward]

OK, so maybe this is a lame "discovery," but I've never really owned multiple amps at the same time. Sure I've gone through lots of gear in the past, but always managed to own one amp at a time. So now I have two boogs and a Fender (loving it, BTW!) and a thought jumped into my head: maybe I should think of the amp and guitar as a "pairing."

Observations:
My DC5 is flat-out the most versatile amp I've ever owned, and sounds absolutely gorgeous with my Thiele and the tube changes I made. She makes my SC-loaded Strats/Teles sing, and my bucker-loaded LPs and others scream. Amazing amp, and almost like a swiss-army knife.

My MKIII GS, though still learning her ways, is loud, rude, and aggressive ...in all the best ways! But the SC guitars just don't sound as tight as the bucker ones. Clean is great for either, really, but once you hit R2 or get into Lead territory, humbuckers really get the smooth, creamy saturation that is so signature boogie. I don't think I can play my SC's in my III and be truly happy.

My Fender PRII somewhat opposite of the MKIII: this thing loves SC pups! Buckers sound good when clean, but only ok when getting some bluesy hair. The Strat/Tele, however, are stunningly beautiful on this amp ...at practically any setting. Converse to the MKIII, this amp will only see SC guitars.

It may sound ridiculous, but I feel like I just "discovered" some tone magic here! Yet it seems so elementary when I think about it that I can't believe I didn't do this years ago. Anyone else here find what I found? Do any of you pair certain guitars with specific amps? I'm especially interested in what guitars you find work especially well with specific boogies.

Edward

 

[Mesa Boooogie]

I've come across the concept your stumbling upon numerous times. With certain amps I agree and with certain other more "magical" designs I don't. There are certain amps that definitely convey the mojo of a strat or tele better than others. But there are also a number of designs which can allow the fuller, fatter and more rounded character of a humbucker to prove quite useful.

I think the more "versatile," single channel amps of yesteryear tend to be a bit more open to different guitars and pickups than do more modern amps--at least those voiced with a considerable amount of gain.

To my ears and maybe more my mind sometimes, it doesn't make sense to not try and find the amp that does a guitar the most justice. I think there are a variety of amps that excel with one type of pickup and can still do a great job with another kind, but at the end of the day, its not very inspiring to play through something that sounds "okay" when you know of something that sounds more magical.

I love my new Mark III but I don't really consider it an amp I'd gravitiate towards if it weren't for its killer, high gain sounds. It's certainly not a "plug n' play" type of amp that you could shoots several different guitars through and just feed off of.

 

[ToneAddictJon]

I think the problem lots of people run into, especially when they think expensive amps don't sound right, is that it brings out the true tonalities of everything in the chain. Mesa Boogie and many of it's counter parts, will make a cheaply made instrument sound even cheaper, where as lower end crates, line 6's, behringers, whatever else make everything that plug into them sound the same. It's like wearing one expensive and comfortable shoe on your right foot, and trying to figure out why your left doesn't feel as good wearing a $10 payless shoe on it. I think matching the right amp and the right guitar (and fx, cables, pups, blah blah blah) is what gets you that perfect tone, not buying one really nice piece of gear and expecting everything to sound magical. Also, the nicer the gear, the more it's gonna show how good or bad your technique really is, everyone I know that's gone from line 6 to my amp, thinks it sounds like crap, because they can hear every little thing they screw up on and blame the amp not their own playing.

 

[6L6C]

I think the problem lots of people run into, especially when they think expensive amps don't sound right, is that it brings out the true tonalities of everything in the chain. Mesa Boogie and many of it's counter parts, will make a cheaply made instrument sound even cheaper, where as lower end crates, line 6's, behringers, whatever else make everything that plug into them sound the same. It's like wearing one expensive and comfortable shoe on your right foot, and trying to figure out why your left doesn't feel as good wearing a $10 payless shoe on it. I think matching the right amp and the right guitar (and fx, cables, pups, blah blah blah) is what gets you that perfect tone, not buying one really nice piece of gear and expecting everything to sound magical. Also, the nicer the gear, the more it's gonna show how good or bad your technique really is, everyone I know that's gone from line 6 to my amp, thinks it sounds like crap, because they can hear every little thing they screw up on and blame the amp not their own playing.

ToneAddiction
You are so on target! I use to teach a bit and have seen the above scenario many times.

 

[edward]

Excellent feedback, all! True about "lesser" gear masking one's "lesser" technique. Bun in truth, I haven't played on a "lesser" amp in over a decade ...I hope that doesn't sound snobbish or elitist, it's just that I'm older now and won't compromise on certain things. Good tone via quality gear AND practice is a must at my age.

My epiphany, simple as it is, centers on the simple fact that some amp/guitar combinations simply sound superb; alter that combination and you feel like you're trying too hard to get the right tone. And it makes sense, I suppose, given SC's and humbuckers' inherent traits and differences, not to mention a given amp's sensitivity to input and inherent dynamics. Bottom line is with my modest little cadre of three amps, I am sticking with specific pairings whenever possible ...because that's where the magic is.

Edward

 

[phyrexia]

I feel my Mark III is very transparent in that regard. Different guitars react very differently to the amp.

 

[Mesa Boooogie]

Excellent feedback, all! True about "lesser" gear masking one's "lesser" technique. Bun in truth, I haven't played on a "lesser" amp in over a decade ...I hope that doesn't sound snobbish or elitist, it's just that I'm older now and won't compromise on certain things. Good tone via quality gear AND practice is a must at my age.

My epiphany, simple as it is, centers on the simple fact that some amp/guitar combinations simply sound superb; alter that combination and you feel like you're trying too hard to get the right tone. And it makes sense, I suppose, given SC's and humbuckers' inherent traits and differences, not to mention a given amp's sensitivity to input and inherent dynamics. Bottom line is with my modest little cadre of three amps, I am sticking with specific pairings whenever possible ...because that's where the magic is.

Edward

I think thats the best route to ultimately being happy and inspired by your equipment. I keep recalling a Dr Z amp I had not long ago and how absolutely perfect it made my Strat/Tele sound. I'm consistently blown away by Paisley's playing and tone. It was a terrific sounding amp with any guitar like many low-gain amps are, but the sounds that help to garner such respect for Z's amps are really from guys playing Fender-style quitars. I'm sure there are some exceptions (Walsh I believe), but certainly Tele guys are happiest.

I think its more likely to have a low gain amp please everybody and create usable sounds with everything that's plugged into it than it is to have some modern, screamer designed around humbuckers happen to behave nicely with single coils. That just doesn't happen too much. At the end of the day a clean sound can be adjusted to single coils or humbuckers and a little gain certainly thrown on top. But there is definitely a spot at which an amp is built and EQ'd a certain way as to sound best at a more "extreme" sound.


On the note of people becoming "better players" with high end tube gear there's definitely a history of that proving to be largely true--and any player playing a tube amp will gladly boast to that effect. We all do, because it is true, but I've found that a more necessary statement coming from guys who play vintage amps without the saturation found in high-gain designs.