Breaking the "always buy the same amps" cycle

[TubeStack]

Yup. We like what we like. It's not a bad thing.

I'll never want to have multiple Vox style amps, and Tweed amps are a take it or leave it affair
for me. I gravitate towards 3 spots.... Marshall, Mesa, and Fender cleans. Outside of that I have
zero need for anything.

Even my favourite non-Marshall amps are just Marshalls in disguise. Talking to you Bogner.

Yes, I'm in the "like what you like" camp, too. Nothing to worry about or break out of. Main thing is to get sounds that inspire you, and if those are from a common family of amps, then so be it. This is the way.

 

[la szum]

Kinda of OT but reading this just reminded me of the Tone Talk I watched last night; someone asked Friedman and Soldano if they’d be interested in making their own presets for the AxeFX, utilizing the deeper parameters and of course, Dave had to go on his “it’s not toooobs” 15 minute rant again, but what cracked me up was he was saying “They’re missing all the aggressiveness, the harshness, the in your face aspect that a tube amp gives you” and I’m thinking the whole time, “Daaaaaammmmn, LA Szum would light you up right now for the same thing about your amps!”

Haha! He would probably win that fight.

There is some irony there, though, because I think it is literally true that his amps
compared to what they are based on miss those exact things, too.

 

[DrewJD82]

Haha! He would probably win that fight.

There is some irony there, though, because I think it is literally true that his amps
compared to what they are based on miss those exact things, too.

I know, that’s exactly why I said it!

 

[sleewell]

i have bought 2 different fuchs amps over the years that were both amazing and outside of the normal for me. really beautiful cleans and great edge of breakup tones. each time i sold it, regretted it, bought it again, sold it again and now wish i still had either one of them. the 50w one was especially great compared to the 100w, it really made me play in a different way that i still remember and would love to get back to.

 

[itchyfingers]

Nah, my problem is I buy a bunch of different amps and then dial them in so I sound the same through all of them.

 

[TSJMajesty]

Nah, my problem is I buy a bunch of different amps and then dial them in so I sound the same through all of them.

Nobody does that now, do they?

#failtoseetheproblem2

 

[la szum]

I know, that’s exactly why I said it!

I'm a bit slow. You probably already know that.

 

[Elric]

There are SOOOOOOO many amps I wanted to try. Framus Cobra, H&K Warp T, Engl Fireball. So. Much. Gains. I'll never have any of them lol

That Fortin HiWatt 50 sounds DUMB as well. The Steve Stevens V2. UGH!

The urge to collect past the point of utility is real. I always want a thousand options at my fingertips and then anything I get my hands on I try to make it sound exactly the same as my other amps. It's like I want I want a thousand amps but I'm shooting for like maybe four or five tones.

My current strategy is that for variety I am using modelers and the Synergy rig. Then a few actual amps I consider top shelf. But it is just hard for me not to want to collect stuff I like in general.

 

[bgh]

I think certain amps (manufacturers) just have a gravity about them that’s hard to escape once you find one that works. ...

Your comment made me wonder why I gravitate to Mesa amps.. In trying to quantify the "why" of it, I came up with a few things. I wonder if they match other peoples experiences with the amps they gravitate to.

• I like the layout of their amps. If I was to design the control panel layout of an amp, it would come very close to what Mesa has done.
• I like how the EQs work on the Mesas I have, even the interactive ones. At first, I wasn't nuts about it. But once it sank in as to how it worked, I started liking it more and more.
• I like the base tones I get out of them. The Mark tone is one of my favorites. But even on the TA-30's tale pf Marshall tones, I like Mesa's twist on it.

The Mesas I have mostly cover the itch for them. I would love to play though a Kingsnake, but I have never even seen one live and in person. Same for the Lonestar.

 

[Elric]

Your comment made me wonder why I gravitate to Mesa amps.. In trying to quantify the "why" of it, I came up with a few things. I wonder if they match other peoples experiences with the amps they gravitate to.

• I like the layout of their amps. If I was to design the control panel layout of an amp, it would come very close to what Mesa has done.
• I like how the EQs work on the Mesas I have, even the interactive ones. At first, I wasn't nuts about it. But once it sank in as to how it worked, I started liking it more and more.
• I like the base tones I get out of them. The Mark tone is one of my favorites. But even on the TA-30's tale pf Marshall tones, I like Mesa's twist on it.

The Mesas I have mostly cover the itch for them. I would love to play though a Kingsnake, but I have never even seen one live and in person. Same for the Lonestar.

I think it is just as simple as one good experience being enough for most people to form a brand loyalty, TBH.

 

[metropolis_4]

I did that back when I was using tube amps before digital.

For many many many years every amp was either a Vox or some boutique Vox variant.

But digital has sort of changed me. I shop around a lot more now and sample from lots of different platters. I think it all started because digital Vox amps never sound or respond right to me, so I had to learn to look in other places.

I have sort of been stuck in a Marshall loop for the past few years (ever since I first tried a Fractal)

 

[bgh]

I think it is just as simple as one good experience being enough for most people to form a brand loyalty, TBH.

That does kind of sum it up. Perhaps I was overthinking it a bit.

 

[laxu]

I like pretty much three things: modded Marshalls, high-ish powered Fenders and Vox AC30 type amps. Modern versions of each.

Even with every amp ever pretty much at my fingertips on my Axe-Fx 3, the ones I use most are the Cornford MK50 (modded Marshall), Mesa Lonestar (high powered Fender) and Morgan AC20 Deluxe (Vox AC30 style).

My only remaining real amp is the BluGuitar Amp 1 ME and guess what it is? That's right, high powered Fender clean and various Marshall-based overdrive channels. Though I mostly the Vintage one...which is based on Thomas Blug's modded "Black Flag" Marshall.

 

[PBGas]

Sometimes it takes a few times to find the exact one that works for you.

I've had a few Friedman's over the years (BE-50, JJ JR, Mini Dirty Shirley) until I found the one that I enjoy most which is the SSv2.

Same with Boogie....I've had quite a few of them! JP-2C was very nice and if they change out the resistive load to a reactive, I may just have to get another one.

However, the Badlander 50 that I have is one of those Mesa's that I really love and will be staying, That amp kicked my Revv to the door as I just sold it. Truth being told, I had a couple of issues with the Revv for reliability and had it shipped back and forth for warranty twice now. They took care of it but I really don't need more than 2 amps these days. The tones I get from what I have are what I use are what I like the most. I did want to try a few amps along the way and those that I have had and sold have helped me figure out what I liked most.

 

[Mongillo19]

, That amp kicked my Revv to the door as I just sold it

What Revv did you have? I had a generator mkii and was not a fan

 

[PBGas]

What Revv did you have? I had a generator mkii and was not a fan

I had the 120 MKIII. It is a very nice amp and sounds great. No complaints on that dept.

 

[FAKA!]

Nah, my problem is I buy a bunch of different amps and then dial them in so I sound the same through all of them.

Dude thats me 100%. Once I picked up my ampete amp switcher I was finally able to really compare amps for the styles I play. Results were I sold my EVH 5153 cause it sounded so cold and sterile when A/B's to my Butterslax and sold my Pink Taco cause the Butterslax ch1 could pretty much dial in the same tones...

 

[TSJMajesty]

Along those lines of staying with tones, or amps, that you like, I just did something that I found kind of interesting...

I'm still not 100% happy with the presets I use, which are mainly Mesa high gain-based. So every now and again I go back and look through other amps.

In my head, I hear a really "creamy" high-gain lead tone, with no harsh overtones that can sometimes happen in licks where you play 2 notes in quick succession. A good example is the very first lick in the Mr. Crowley solo. When you bend the 1st note on the G string, then do the downstroke to catch the B & E on the 10th fret, with certain high gain tones, those 2 notes on the 10th fret ring together and sound harsh. Yet on others, they sound fine.

So I find myself on the Brit 800 model in the Axe, and after tweaking it to hell and back, I have a nice lead tone, that sounds pretty close to what I'm used to with the Mesas, but to my pleasant surprise, it doesn't have those harsh overtones. It's almost as if I don't have to be quite as accurate when switching strings, which is nice.

So to have a certain sound you gravitate to, yet you can get in various ways, I think it's a good thing, because in my case, I found something I like about it a bit more, even if it sounds pretty much the same.

I haven't yet A/B'd it to my go-to preset, so it may not be getting me closer to that "ideal tone in my head," but either way, it got saved!

 

[andergtr]

i owned a ton of high-gain channel switchers, and they were all amazing and wonderful. and hardly that different once you got down and played them in a mix.

the first time this was readily apparent was when james lugo did that huge shootout a long time ago. nearly every amp sounded similar because they had the same group of players, and of course they all seemed to dial in the amps very similarly.

that's also super evident with that guy rocknchippy on groomed noodlers. he has a bunch of high gain channel switchers, as well, and same thing. it's not just them. i had an SLO, uberschall twin jet, an ecstasy 100A, an ecstasy 20th anniversary, a shiva, custom audio OD50, a suhr-modded JCM800, two friedman modded marshalls (one with his angry hippie mod, and one with his BE/HBE/C45 mod), DSL100, egnater modular head, two splawns, and god knows what else was in there. and i owned nearly all of this at the same time. in fact, here is a pic of my old amp room in my recording studio in soho at the time.

and i recorded a bunch of clips, and they all are pretty similar in a mix.

 

[Whizzinby]

i owned a ton of high-gain channel switchers, and they were all amazing and wonderful. and hardly that different once you got down and played them in a mix.

the first time this was readily apparent was when james lugo did that huge shootout a long time ago. nearly every amp sounded similar because they had the same group of players, and of course they all seemed to dial in the amps very similarly.

that's also super evident with that guy rocknchippy on groomed noodlers. he has a bunch of high gain channel switchers, as well, and same thing. it's not just them. i had an SLO, uberschall twin jet, an ecstasy 100A, an ecstasy 20th anniversary, a shiva, custom audio OD50, a suhr-modded JCM800, two friedman modded marshalls (one with his angry hippie mod, and one with his BE/HBE/C45 mod), DSL100, egnater modular head, two splawns, and god knows what else was in there. and i owned nearly all of this at the same time. in fact, here is a pic of my old amp room in my recording studio in soho at the time.

and i recorded a bunch of clips, and they all are pretty similar in a mix.


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Jeebus. I like…

Great collection.