OT: finally found a guitar sound/amp

[mikebuzz]

Ok so OT here but I have been using a Line 6 Ax212 for about 6 yrs now I got tired of the sound ( fine for live gigs tho ) so I built an 18w Marshall clone with 2-12's in it NICE tone good sound but a one trick pony.

Today I tested then bought a Fender Hot Rod Deville 4x10 60w
OMFG it KILLS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! great clean tone really nice semi breakup on the first overdrive ch , and KILLER heavy sound with max OD sustain for DAYS

What the hell was I thinking all this time and I never tried this amp ?????

Anyhow we started an albumn 3 weeks ago now I have to relay my guitar tracks )*&%$)*%&_

Later
Buzz

Just had to get it off my shoulders and tell SOMEONE :D :D :D :D :D :D

BTW I play both a Paul and Strat and they both sound great though this thing

[UpTilDawn]

Why not just play your recorded tracks back through the amp?

DanT

I should look into that amp myself. I'm always looking for equipment that is versatile and great sounding at the same time... and I'm pretty tired of my aging amps.

[mghtx]

It's not the first time I've heard positive things about that amp. Please post some sound clips if you can. I use a carvin belair 2X12 that can do fender clean up to marshall blast. I use a '57 strat.

[Pedro Itriago]

Did you compared it against say... a vox ac30 or a marshall tsl602?

[R Newlin]

Mike,
Was the 18 watt hard to build? I've got a friend that has one and swears by it. I've played marshalls (mostly) fenders, boogies. I just switched to a peavey classic 30. Decent amp easy to carry around.
Rex

[jeromee]

hey mike
congrats on getting a deville! i love mine!! i really can't play through anything else. i bought mine in 1997 and the only alterations i made were sovtek's and the fender tilt back legs. be careful because the rubber handle will snap after a couple of years:( mine only let me down once at a gig about 2 years ago, opening for junior brown, it just shut down:confused: turns out it was a circuit problem. back to fender it went and $150 got it going back strong:) here is a shot showing the tilt back legs. the main reason for those is to be courteous to the sound man and people in the audience. a 52 reissue tele through the 4x10 deville can cause ear bleeding:D hope you really enjoy it!!!!
J
http://www.pbase.com/jeromee/image/61990501/medium.jpg

[mikebuzz]

Thanks guys I;m just getting used to the settings , the 18watt was pretty easy to build in kit form , I got mine from Webber and put a BLue dog and silver bell 30w speakers in it then upgrades to a 36watt ( not much difference in level !!)
But the noise is a problem go with the DC tube heater circuit. Webber had a hard time getting cabs at that time so be careful.

Later
Buzz

I;ll post some clips later

[Tim Miskimon]

Did you compared it against say... a vox ac30 or a marshall tsl602?
I use both of those Pedro. They both have their own sounds - both killer & very usable.
but... for a Fender sound - nothing can take the place of a real Fender - and vis-versa.

[Bill Park]

I have to say that I have been a dyed in the wool 'vintage amps ONLY!" guy, since the manufacturers started messing around with the great designs to try to make them cheaper. Fender did it starting in the CBS era, and Marshall started fooling around in the early 1970s. Then the amps weren't 'vintage', we just knew that we liked the sound of the older amps over the newer ones, even though the newer ones had cool things like master volumes, effect loops, or stackable input sections.

So for many years I had the Wall 'O Amps, filled with vintage Marshalls, Voxes Ampegs, Fenders, etc. I even had a huge Danelectro/Silvertone collection, including the venerable Twin Twelve and the matching single 15 bass amp. I still have a mid 1940s Silvertone, and I just sold a 1952 Fender Champion 600 last week. I loved the sound of vintage amps.

But a couple of years ago some guys turned me on to the boutique amp world, and it is a whole 'nother ballgame. Most of these guys love the vintage sound as much as I do, but have taken those sounds and improved upon them, rather than junked them up.

I've only purchased in the lower end of this spectrum, but I have played and been amazed by amps from companies like Divided By 13, (Areosmith is using them now...); Dr Z, and many others. I bought a THD UniValve, and I now have EXACTLY the sound that I want. It totally smoked all of my vintage amps. Then I wanted a small combo to carry to jams, so I found a Reverend Goblin. Though not as stunning in sound as the THD, it is far more versitile, and comes with a chart showing how to set the controls to mimic your favorite vintage amps. Owning the vintage amps, I was able to check. Yup. Not only that, but I was able to duplicate and clone the sounds of some of my favorite recordings. All in a 22 pound package with switchable 5/15 watt output.

I sold off most of my vintage amps.

In terms of how they sound against the modern choices from 'regular' amp manufacturers, there is just no comparision. If you play any quality guitar straight through the amp (skipping any cheap effects that blur the differences...) you'll be amazed. I was.

Of course, this leads directly into a discussion about boutique effects, which I needed to get to replace my cheap effects and multieffect modules, which then made the guitar sound like crap. And let us not forget the then obvious difference between my vintage and more modern guitars, with the better shignal chain showing clearly the differences among guitars. Oh, and I finally know what guitarists mean whent hey talk about an amp being sensitive to 'touch'. It was all BS to me before I experinced it.

And that leads us to the mics/preamps, converters, and monitoring system... quality sound...ain't it a bitch?!

Bill

[prosodio]

I own an engl thunder amp with 4x12 celestion v60. I´m very happy with it, it´s a german all-tube amp not very known, but I would like a small class A for recording. is univalve suited for 4x12 cabinet? It sounds good in Bill´s words.

Greetings

[Bill Park]

I own an engl thunder amp with 4x12 celestion v60. I´m very happy with it, it´s a german all-tube amp not very known, but I would like a small class A for recording. is univalve suited for 4x12 cabinet? It sounds good in Bill´s words.

Greetings

People definitely use the UniValve with 4x cabs. Though I had a bunch of cabinets, I looked at options to enhance the new amp at the same time that I ordered the amp. I considered the inexpensive Avatar brand before I decided to do the 'right thing' and buy the THD cabinet to go with the amp. The intersting thing about some of the newer cabinet designs is that they are hybrids... sort of a cross between open and cloised back designs. So you get some of the open sound of the open backed babs, but you still get some of the 'thunk' that comes from the closed back cabinets. Pretty cool. Both THD and Avatar have cabinets like this. Oh, and had I but known.... the THD comes in an optional white and purple paisley tolex, by request. Wish that I had ordered that finish....

Bill

[mikebuzz]

White and Purple AHHHHHHHHHHHHH !! , Hey Bill I have been using a Line 6 AX212 for years and really like the variability in tones/sounds I can get from it for stage I play both a Strat and Paul so I needed an amp that works good with both .
The Deville is not the total package but VERY close for my needs and it has a nice tone with great sustain.
I will post a clip here today using the Line 6 , Deville , and My 18watter

LAter
Buzz

[Bill Park]

White and Purple AHHHHHHHHHHHHH !! , ...I have been using a Line 6 AX212 for years and really like the variability in tones/sounds I can get from it ....
LAter
Buzz

I don't doubt or challenge anything that you say re:the suitability and/or conveniece of any multieffects device/amp comb. After all, that is what I used for years playing out, myself. What I am saying is that there is an even more impressive sound, one that I only recently found/tried for myself, and it will simply make any multieffects device sound as if it is putting a veil of mud over the sound in comparison.

I bought a bunch of pedals from Fulltone, Reverend, Radial, etc to make my rig complete, and I mounted them to a custom made pedal board. Not as light as the multieffects unit, but wow, what a sound. Keley, analogman, and lots of others offer just amazing pedals.



Bill

[mghtx]

Wow, I was just about to ask about the UniValve on another forum and came here first. I've been giving some thought about the amp for some time because I like to tinker with tubes and such. Never heard about that particular Reverend amp so I'll look into that. The others I knew of.

[Bill Park]

Wow, I was just about to ask about the UniValve on another forum and came here first. I've been giving some thought about the amp for some time because I like to tinker with tubes and such. Never heard about that particular Reverend amp so I'll look into that. The others I knew of.

I consulted Miles of the Groove Tubes Special Applications Group about the sound that I wanted and he suggested a couple of combinations. Messing around with the choices, I found what I was looking for. But the selection is so wide that I would not have wanted to approach the project without some advice. You might go over to the MusicPlayer.com guitar player forum, of which Miles is a moderator, and ask him directly.

He has mentioned to me that some guys are even using the UniValve as a preamp for more powerful amps to get that 18 watt sound in a 100 watt environment. Personally, I've found that 18 is plenty for any club stage that I might hit.... you can do the SPL calculations to see what I mean, but 50 watts is not actually that much louder than 18 watts, and many people use 30 to 50 watt amps today, and few of them are playing at over 50%.

Bill

[mikebuzz]

http://machineband.com/superdownclip.mp3

Heres a clip of the guitars
the lead is a 18watt Webber Marshall clone with 2 Jenson MOD speakers going thru a Dime Bag Daryl Wah Wah pedal
The rhythms are the Deville using a 77 Paul and a MG Um70 mic and N72 pre (one on front PU the other on mid Pu )
the picking gtr is the Line 6

Later
Buzz

PS: this is NOT mixed just a quick rough

[Tim Miskimon]

I bought some of the Fulltone & Analogman pedals a few years ago and love them!
The Analogman compressor & chorus pedals are great and the Fulltone distortion boxes are great as well.
The Boss pedals found their way to Ebay & local guitar players real quick...:)

[Bruce Callaway]

I used to own a lot of vintage amps including 2 x 60s AC30s, Fender Showman, Ampeg VT40 and a Fender Vibrolux that I used for 20 years. Unfortunately I sold them all over the years. I am now about to buy a Valvetech 2 x 10 providing I get the cash from my latest studio job:mad: They get very good raps as a hand built point to point amp.

[mghtx]

using the UniValve as a preamp for more powerful amps

Very cool. Hadn't heard of that one. Class A tube amps ARE loud even with low wattage. I get a kick out of hearing kids at guitar stores talk about getting 100w Marshalls. :eek: Reminds me of myself at 14. :D

[olzzon]

My all time favorite is my 50watt marshall from 1970 through an old 2x12 open cabinet with greenback from late 60.
I have owned many different amp, but this one was the one i kept when i started using my money in studio gear.
I would love to have a blackface fender princeton reverb too. It´s a perfect studio/small gig amp.
I also have a new marshall 4x12 when i need a tighter/deeper sound.

[Bruce Callaway]

Class A tube amps ARE loud even with low wattage. My best AC30 used to hold its own with Marshall stacks, it certainly cut through....:)

[Tim Miskimon]

My best AC30 used to hold its own with Marshall stacks, it certainly cut through....:)

My 65 Vox ac 30 kicks my 60 watt Marshall's ass...:D

[johndale]

I'll stick with my 18 watt Boogies and Soldanos. 35 years of giggin' has taught me those amps don't let you down with proper maintance. My tone is always there and what good tone I must say. My Amps and my 33 year old SM57s handle any venue.
John

[mghtx]

33 year old SM57s

:eek: :)

[Tim Miskimon]

:eek: :)
...and when they finally do stop working you can use them for a hammer. Gotta love those 57s...:D