fdesalvo
Well-known member
When do we decide when to stop modding and tweaking our amps once we start?
Are you the guy who just wants something a little more of your amp and finds yourself searching for that perfect set of tubes? Or are you the guy sitting before your amp’s opened chassis with a smoldering iron in one hand and a fistful of resistors and caps in the other?
I have found myself in both of these circumstances before- even going so far as to design and build my own guitar amps. Growing up in New Orleans and playing the blues conditioned me to pay more attention to the subtle, undeniably nearly inaudible components of my tone (and you all know what I am talking about)! By and large, the most miserable time in my musical life was back when I was swapping resistors, caps, re-wiring phase inverters, adding gain stages, and etc. as I searched for that elusive and ever-escaping tone that I could only hear in my dreams.
Ah, the excitement of firing up the amp with the new mods in place was great, but knowing that there were dozens of other areas that could potentially benefit from my attention proved to be an unyielding burden on my mind. Honestly, it consumed so much of my time and energy that I found myself to be playing my instrument less and less.
So I decided to put the iron down and take a few steps back to assess my situation. I wanted to reclaim the joy of playing my instrument, so I decided to stop trying to make my amp sound like something it was never meant to be. I was the sort of guy who obsessed over minutia and could never stop tweaking if I had the resources! God, I couldn't have handled a MKIV!
Having said that, let me open up this can of worms: I’ve noticed that many players on this board are unwittingly trying to turn their Mesa/Boogies into Marshalls and Fenders! Some will say, “Oh, the distortion is too harsh on my DR!” or, “I can’t attain the chiminess of my vox through my LS.” Just for balance, this mentality can be found on any given instrument board on the net. Guys, if you don’t like the way your Boogie sounds, maybe you should buy a Marshall! How do I explain this?
I am a lover of all things analog; give me tubes or give me death! When I was recording in Miami last October, I played through a 50w Marshall JCM 800 model 2204. Before I even plugged in, I immediately had a negative bias regarding this amp- and this company in particular! Having played through a JCM 2000 for the past 2 years really soured my view of Marshall as a viable amp in today’s market.
Anyway, as soon as I plugged in and took the **** thing off standby, I was floored at the tone of the lead channel- absolutely! This was one of those tones that I heard in my mind when I thought of rock and I could find it in no other amp. In fact, I never thought it existed because I relegated it to some slick recording/production trick. I learned a big lesson that day: never judge a product line based off one or two lousy models.
Moreover, I found the lead sound I was trying to mod and tweak my way to so long ago. I reckon if I opened my mind a bit more to include the impossible, then the impossible tone I searched for would become a reality. Haha, later on I realized the limitations of the amp itself and found myself trying to get a decent clean tone out of it and was disappointed all over again! Can’t a guy ever get a solid pair of tones out of an amp without having to compromise?!
...and then along came Boogie. I found my DC10 head on eBay and snatched it up as fast as I could! Thrown atop my Marshall 1960 cab, I get Fenderesque clean tones and an absolutely beautiful and crushing lead tone- one that the JCM 800 could only approach on tape-after having been doubled and run through several EQs and compressors! This is my dream amp and now that I have it, I am never letting it go.
But! If you like the JCM tone, then by all means go for it! Stop spending sleepless nights pondering why your DR doesn't allow you to sound like the guitar heros you grew up adoring! Don't be ashamed, we will still love you! All that matters is you find the tone that's right for you. Dudes, your dreams are your dreams uniquely and nothing should stand between you all and your appointments with destiny!
Haha, I've forgotten why I started writing this. And who took my coffee?? :mrgreen:
~F
Are you the guy who just wants something a little more of your amp and finds yourself searching for that perfect set of tubes? Or are you the guy sitting before your amp’s opened chassis with a smoldering iron in one hand and a fistful of resistors and caps in the other?
I have found myself in both of these circumstances before- even going so far as to design and build my own guitar amps. Growing up in New Orleans and playing the blues conditioned me to pay more attention to the subtle, undeniably nearly inaudible components of my tone (and you all know what I am talking about)! By and large, the most miserable time in my musical life was back when I was swapping resistors, caps, re-wiring phase inverters, adding gain stages, and etc. as I searched for that elusive and ever-escaping tone that I could only hear in my dreams.
Ah, the excitement of firing up the amp with the new mods in place was great, but knowing that there were dozens of other areas that could potentially benefit from my attention proved to be an unyielding burden on my mind. Honestly, it consumed so much of my time and energy that I found myself to be playing my instrument less and less.
So I decided to put the iron down and take a few steps back to assess my situation. I wanted to reclaim the joy of playing my instrument, so I decided to stop trying to make my amp sound like something it was never meant to be. I was the sort of guy who obsessed over minutia and could never stop tweaking if I had the resources! God, I couldn't have handled a MKIV!
Having said that, let me open up this can of worms: I’ve noticed that many players on this board are unwittingly trying to turn their Mesa/Boogies into Marshalls and Fenders! Some will say, “Oh, the distortion is too harsh on my DR!” or, “I can’t attain the chiminess of my vox through my LS.” Just for balance, this mentality can be found on any given instrument board on the net. Guys, if you don’t like the way your Boogie sounds, maybe you should buy a Marshall! How do I explain this?
I am a lover of all things analog; give me tubes or give me death! When I was recording in Miami last October, I played through a 50w Marshall JCM 800 model 2204. Before I even plugged in, I immediately had a negative bias regarding this amp- and this company in particular! Having played through a JCM 2000 for the past 2 years really soured my view of Marshall as a viable amp in today’s market.
Anyway, as soon as I plugged in and took the **** thing off standby, I was floored at the tone of the lead channel- absolutely! This was one of those tones that I heard in my mind when I thought of rock and I could find it in no other amp. In fact, I never thought it existed because I relegated it to some slick recording/production trick. I learned a big lesson that day: never judge a product line based off one or two lousy models.
Moreover, I found the lead sound I was trying to mod and tweak my way to so long ago. I reckon if I opened my mind a bit more to include the impossible, then the impossible tone I searched for would become a reality. Haha, later on I realized the limitations of the amp itself and found myself trying to get a decent clean tone out of it and was disappointed all over again! Can’t a guy ever get a solid pair of tones out of an amp without having to compromise?!
...and then along came Boogie. I found my DC10 head on eBay and snatched it up as fast as I could! Thrown atop my Marshall 1960 cab, I get Fenderesque clean tones and an absolutely beautiful and crushing lead tone- one that the JCM 800 could only approach on tape-after having been doubled and run through several EQs and compressors! This is my dream amp and now that I have it, I am never letting it go.
But! If you like the JCM tone, then by all means go for it! Stop spending sleepless nights pondering why your DR doesn't allow you to sound like the guitar heros you grew up adoring! Don't be ashamed, we will still love you! All that matters is you find the tone that's right for you. Dudes, your dreams are your dreams uniquely and nothing should stand between you all and your appointments with destiny!
Haha, I've forgotten why I started writing this. And who took my coffee?? :mrgreen:
~F
