Sneaky-Pete
I'm not a guitar players's bum...but I know what I'm hearing,
thanks to spending 40 hours a week in a home studio for the last ten years.
My hobby on the side is hotrodding guitars...taking good ones and making them better.
When I have one that's ready, I take it to a friend's place down the road
and he plugs it into his amp and starts it up.
Until recently , he played through a Peavey Vypyr 60(?) and often the guitar would sound
OK but nothing special, despite new pots/wiring and imported pickups.
Recently, he sold the Peavey and got a VOX vt40+........HALLO HOLLYWOOD!!
The guitars (without exception) sound better in every way...clarity, tone, attack, presence...
Hard to believe that an amp can make some guitars sound completely different.
My ears tell me that the VOX is more musical, delivers more in the lower-mids and is maybe more jangly(?)
But that's just me....what do YOU think?
Are some amps more MUSICAL than others..?
Does it depend on the guitar/amp compatability..?...or lack of it...?
What's YOUR opinion..?
AlanRatcliffe
Oh absolutely! Until you have played through a good amp it's difficult to understand just how much of an influence on your playing and sound an amp can have.
And yeah - certain amps favour certain guitars, although there is a matter of personal preference too.
My faves include:
Les Paul into a Plexi Marshall and Fender Super Reverb
Telecaster into a Vox AC30 and Twin Reverb
Strat into a Twin Reverb, AC30 and a Deluxe Reverb
Rickenbacker into a Vox AC30
vic
Oh yes I can agree with Alan.
The only thing an AC30 is not good at is amplifying an Archtop for jazz tones....for that I would suggest a Fender valve model. Must just add that I've recently heard a Gibson L-5 archtop through a Fender 2x10 Frontman and I was really pleasantly surprised with the tone.
Arno-West
Alan Ratcliffe wrote:
Oh absolutely! Until you have played through a good amp it's difficult to understand just how much of an influence on your playing and sound an amp can have.
And yeah - certain amps favour certain guitars, although there is a matter of personal preference too.
My faves include:
Les Paul into a Plexi Marshall and Fender Super Reverb
Telecaster into a Vox AC30 and Twin Reverb
Strat into a Twin Reverb, AC30 and a Deluxe Reverb
Rickenbacker into a Vox AC30
Ooooo... don't forget a Strat through a Fender Prosonic head into a Marshall 1960 4x 12 Cab. Pure Tone-Heaven.
arjunmenon
My current is amp is not uber-musical, although it does give me a fair amount of punch and good headroom after a valve swap.
Best setup i've had the pleasure of playing is fellow forumite mojo jojoe's CS strat -> 4w matamp -> celestion blue loaded 1x12
and fellow forumite Rikus' Sienna-burst (deluxe iinm) strat into a (GAS alert) Two Rock Studio Pro 1x12 combo
As Alan said, the choice of amp plays a big role in overall musicality.
Keira-WitherKay
Yes the amp makes huge difference : no debate on that .....
And i agree with alan about certain amps sounding better with certain guitars and of course the genre of music makes the world of difference
But don't forget the player ..... I have heard custom shop strats into deluxe reverbs sound aweful in the wrong hands .....
Yet i have also heard a cort played through a 20w roland cube sound mind blowing in the right hands .... So two sides to that coin ....
But yes if you can play well a better guitar or amp will make a difference
ezietsman
I don't believe you get a "musical" amp. You get good-sounding amps and less-good-sounding amps. Most amplifiers that are not entry level falls into the former category. Some sound nicer than others but regardless, none of them are "musical". You can prove this to yourself buy putting the amp in your living room and then listening to it closely. You'll almost certainly find that no sound comes from it ?
The 'musicality' is a function of the guitar player. The gear do not make you more or less musical.
The OP may be referring to what we usually call "Tone" which, of course, is also mostly dependent on the player but for the benefit of discussions we usually assume to be affected by the amplifier most.
StefStoep
Arjun Menon wrote:
Best setup i've had the pleasure of playing is fellow forumite mojo jojoe's CS strat -> 4w matamp -> celestion blue loaded 1x12
and fellow forumite Rikus' Sienna-burst (deluxe iinm) strat into a (GAS alert) Two Rock Studio Pro 1x12 combo
Damn, now you've gone and done it...........GAS!
[deleted]
ez wrote:
I don't believe you get a "musical" amp. You get good-sounding amps and less-good-sounding amps. Most amplifiers that are not entry level falls into the former category. Some sound nicer than others but regardless, none of them are "musical". You can prove this to yourself buy putting the amp in your living room and then listening to it closely. You'll almost certainly find that no sound comes from it ?
The 'musicality' is a function of the guitar player. The gear do not make you more or less musical.
The OP may be referring to what we usually call "Tone" which, of course, is also mostly dependent on the player but for the benefit of discussions we usually assume to be affected by the amplifier most.
+1. In my mind, musicality is a human attribution. You get good cello bows and bad cello bows, but not musical cello bows. Only musical cellists ?
That being said, some amps definitely have better tone than others, and I think that can make a huge difference to a guitarist's playing. I've seen/heard this myself with ez's graduation to his 18 watt, to name just one example...
warrenpridgeon
I am digging my setup lately and my fellow electric guitar players say my tone is sounding better than ever...
Epi Les Paul (With 81 and 85 EMG) -> ToneBone Trimode -> Marshall DSL 401
AlanRatcliffe
Arjun Menon wrote:
and fellow forumite Rikus' Sienna-burst (deluxe iinm) strat into a (GAS alert) Two Rock Studio Pro 1x12 combo
My Strat with the Two-Rock Jet 35 was an awesome experience too. Very nearly as good a clean as my Twin (different tho) and an excellent drive tone too.
On the "musicality" side: yes, strictly speaking, the musician is the real musical part of the whole affair. But I know what the OP means. An electric guitar amp is part of the instrument and a good instrument or amp inspires you to play better and more musically. So if you are more musical with one amp than with another, you
can describe the one as being more musical than the other.
[deleted]
There are some that resonate with people and some that dont.
Some people like amps that I just dont get along with.
I love a VOX AC15HW, I love a Matcheless DC30, I love a Dr Z Jaz 40
But none sing more than a Swart ?
My opinion is biased (see signature)
=
singemonkey
Greg V makes all amps sound awesome ?
ezietsman
singemonkey wrote:
Greg V makes all amps sound awesome ?
+1
sharonzaz
an amp by itself is nothing of course, but is an extension of the musician
it is a part of the chain that makes up the dude's sound, therefor can be talked about as musical.
I for one need the marshall tone to get MY sound, even though fender is also
a great amp, it does not translate to the same level of musicality and my tone and feel get compromised, quite a lot.
so one can say that your amp along with all your other gear and of course your hands, your mood, your soul, makes one big musical instrument.
change one, and everything changes.
rikus
i
Arjun Menon wrote:
...fellow forumite Rikus' Sienna-burst (deluxe iinm) strat into a (GAS alert) Two Rock Studio Pro 1x12 combo
THAT was a fun day. I still dream of that Two-Rock... We should do that again sometime...
bottledtone
In my opinion, an amp is musical when it has a recognisable tone. So you play something that instantly makes you lean to a piece of music. A song of old for eg. Why pedals are good, because they open the door to your ear hearing a tone that leans you to a song you havn't played.
Or I'm just high on some solder fumes, in which case ignore this post.
Tokai-SA
When I sit with my good friend and guitar tech, Grant Fouche, and he's playing a guitar whilst setting it up, he sounds incredibly musical through his lil Roland Cube he uses in his workshop.
Meanwhile outside the workshop in the store some guy is playing an expensive guitar through a boutique tube amp and sounds like a cat on heat. ?
Play badly and a boutique tube amp will quickly sound unmusical...I know, I've been doing it for years. ?
Bob-Dubery
One episode of Elvis Costello's "Spectacle" includes amongst it's guests Nick Lowe and Levon Helm.
Lowe tells a story from the early 70s. He was then playing with Brinsley Schwartz, and the Brinslies were living communally in a big house that also provided their rehearsal space. Meanwhile The Band are hitting the UK to play a big show at Wembley. They want to rehearse and ask their management to find a rehearsal space and equipment for them.
A deal is done with the Brinslies. The Band arrive to rehearse. And, Lowe says, the Brinslies couldn't understand how the same equipment they'd been using suddenly sounded so much better.
arjunmenon
StefStoep wrote:
Arjun Menon wrote:
Best setup i've had the pleasure of playing is fellow forumite mojo jojoe's CS strat -> 4w matamp -> celestion blue loaded 1x12
and fellow forumite Rikus' Sienna-burst (deluxe iinm) strat into a (GAS alert) Two Rock Studio Pro 1x12 combo
Damn, now you've gone and done it...........GAS!
You're welcome ?
Rikus wrote:
i
Arjun Menon wrote:
...fellow forumite Rikus' Sienna-burst (deluxe iinm) strat into a (GAS alert) Two Rock Studio Pro 1x12 combo
THAT was a fun day. I still dream of that Two-Rock... We should do that again sometime...
Indeed we must. Let me know what your schedule's like
Apologies for the hijack :-[
