Coming back home (or coming full circle)

[metropolis_4]

Have you ever come full circle and returned to your gear roots?

I used to be all about Tele -> Vox. I gigged for so many years with a Tele and a Vox (or Vox style) amp. But when I switched to digital I had to find something else because I hated the way digital Vox amps sounded.

Over the years my tone tastes shifted. I got burned out on the Tele sound and shifted to other guitars. My amp tastes shifted away from mid range heavy jangle and towards more mellow and rounded tones with less mid focus.

Ultimately, I’ve found myself preferring Les Paul’s into either a Princeton or a Plexi.

My LP wiring went bad the day before a final rehearsal this week and I had to shift. There’s a solo in one song that sounds like Brian May, so I decided to pull up an AC30 model and just go with it.

I haven’t used an AC30 (amp or model) at a gig in about 8 years.

At the rehearsal I switched over to “Tele” mode on my Theatercaster and… there it was.

All night I just kept thinking “this tone sits perfectly in this mix”. By the end of rehearsal I had pulled out a lot of low end and brought down the cut and had a much brighter more jangly sound than I had started out with. In the context of a 16 piece orchestra that tone just sat perfectly where I wanted the guitar to sit.

It was a bit of a revelation to me. After spending 8 years moving away from that tone I found myself back there this week and absolutely in love with it.

 

[metropolis_4]

Oh, one more thing. As much as I love AC30s I’ve actually never done the non-top boost with a treble booster in front thing. Mostly because I’ve never owned a non-top boost AC30 or a treble booster.

I pulled up the model in Fractal and threw the range master in front and it is pure magic

Where has that sound been all my life?

 

[newpedals]

The Vox in a Box is a classic sound, as we all know. Teles are beautiful.

People are still making pedals to emulate it:

 

[bikescene]

Oh, one more thing. As much as I love AC30s I’ve actually never done the non-top boost with a treble booster in front thing. Mostly because I’ve never owned a non-top boost AC30 or a treble booster.

I pulled up the model in Fractal and threw the range master in front and it is pure magic

Where has that sound been all my life?

I’m a big fan of a treble boosted Normal channel. With a Strat bridge single coil, that is the sound of early Rory Gallagher.

 

[Jarick]

I mean if I really wanted to return to my roots I'd need to get a Marshall Valvestate! Which I kinda want to do actually...

Which modeler are you using now?

 

[SillyOctpuss]

Yup. I'm back to basically the same rig that I was using back in the early 2000s. I've got a les paul into a Marshall with a budda Wah, boost and a delay pedal.

I had a jcm900 in the early 2000s which I loved but sold in 2006. No idea why I did that. I then spent the next 15 years trying a load of different amps to end up back with a Marshall again.

Basically a les paul or a tele into a Marshall is my happy place. The big addition these days is fuzz.

 

[metropolis_4]

I mean if I really wanted to return to my roots I'd need to get a Marshall Valvestate! Which I kinda want to do actually...

Which modeler are you using now?

Fractal fm3. The Vox models in it aren’t my ideal Vox, but they’re not too bad. Better than most digital Vox models.

What was the first “really good” amp you remember using?

 

[metropolis_4]

Yup. I'm back to basically the same rig that I was using back in the early 2000s. I've got a les paul into a Marshall with a budda Wah, boost and a delay pedal.

I had a jcm900 in the early 2000s which I loved but sold in 2006. No idea why I did that. I then spent the next 15 years trying a load of different amps to end up back with a Marshall again.

Basically a les paul or a tele into a Marshall is my happy place. The big addition these days is fuzz.

Not a bad place to be!

Tele + fuzz =

 

[Jarick]

Fractal fm3. The Vox models in it aren’t my ideal Vox, but they’re not too bad. Better than most digital Vox models.

What was the first “really good” amp you remember using?

I didn't have many good amps the first many years I played. Probably the best two amps I had were a Fender Hot Rod Deville 4x10 for cleans and a Marshall DSL100 half stack for dirty tones. That was back when my hearing wasn't horribly damaged and I could handle decent volumes. Since then I keep the volume low and that makes it a lot trickier to get good tones.

 

[la szum]

I'd argue maybe only a Tele and a Vox could conceivably cut through
that dense of a mix.




I used to be far more precious about a singular sound or magic tone.
Now I don't think they exist. Magic is contextual. When I took my
preferred tones and tried to ram them down other artist's throats,
playing their music, and supporting them, I quickly found out that
the most precious thing was to find the ideal tone for that artist,
even for that song, or that ensemble. What works in a Power Trio is
not going to work in a dense ensemble with 3 piece Brass.

And what is ideal for a twin guitar band is not ideal for a band that
has guitar and synth/keys.

The denser the mix/ensemble is the more pokey our tone better
be, or we'll get buried in the mix, and phase cancelled, or worse yet,
we end up being additive and making a mucky mess out of the low
end and an indistinct wash out of the top end.

What works is where the magic is for me, and that magic changes in
different settings. Ideally.... unless we are obstinate dullards.

Sounds like you are having a ton of fun, Met!

 

[laxu]

Fractal fm3. The Vox models in it aren’t my ideal Vox, but they’re not too bad. Better than most digital Vox models.

Try the Morgan AC-20 Deluxe models. The AC20 12AX7 Treble model sounds near identical to the Victory VC35 I had, which is still my favorite Vox-based amp I've ever tried.

Any Dyna-Cab with Alnico Blues or IRs with Golds will work well.

 

[AFKAEjay(retired)]

I mean if I really wanted to return to my roots I'd need to get a Marshall Valvestate! Which I kinda want to do actually...

Which modeler are you using now?

I’d be looking at either fender m80 or Roland jazzchorus…I’ll eat my shoe if I ever fancy those again

 

[metropolis_4]

I'd argue maybe only a Tele and a Vox could conceivably cut through
that dense of a mix.




I used to be far more precious about a singular sound or magic tone.
Now I don't think they exist. Magic is contextual. When I took my
preferred tones and tried to ram them down other artist's throats,
playing their music, and supporting them, I quickly found out that
the most precious thing was to find the ideal tone for that artist,
even for that song, or that ensemble. What works in a Power Trio is
not going to work in a dense ensemble with 3 piece Brass.

And what is ideal for a twin guitar band is not ideal for a band that
has guitar and synth/keys.

The denser the mix/ensemble is the more pokey our tone better
be, or we'll get buried in the mix, and phase cancelled, or worse yet,
we end up being additive and making a mucky mess out of the low
end and an indistinct wash out of the top end.

What works is where the magic is for me, and that magic changes in
different settings. Ideally.... unless we are obstinate dullards.

Sounds like you are having a ton of fun, Met!

100% agree with you. A couple things I’ll add:

Every guitar and amp is capable of a broad range of tones. A Tele + AC30 doesn’t just equal one single sound.

Back in the day I didn’t have the luxury of owning a range of amps I could choose from based on the gig. I had one amp and a backup and I had to be resourceful and find a way to pull the tones I needed out of that for whatever gig came my way.

This show I’m playing now is a mix of big band swing, ‘90s Disney pop ballad sort of stuff, and pop-rock.

 

[AutomationBias]

Try the Morgan AC-20 Deluxe models

The AC20 model in the Axe FX makes me want an AC20.

 

[norminal]

My first “real” amp was a JCM800. I went through a myriad of amps including Mesa Boogies. These days, I’m strictly a modeler user, but always seem to gravitate towards the Marshall models. I guess I’m a Marshall guy, and thank God the Fractal ecosystem has plenty of them to choose from.

 

[Stone]

@metropolis_4, you are a consummate pro so its totally normal to try different things that speak to you for any given situation
You know exactly what you want and need, no matter what it is

 

[[Nathan]]

SG 61 Reissue and TSL100 in early 00's was my rig across a few bands. Eventually traded the TSL for a 6505+ and kept the SG.
10 years later I picked up the TSL100 again for peanuts... lasted 6 months, seeya .
The JVM410H is a wicked upgrade and is a keeper. I'd have to be gassing some other modded marshall and then comparing them before it ever went anywhere.

Still love the SG, one of my main guitars

 

[dk_ace]

My first amp was a fender, my second was a mesa rectifier. Then I moved to vox which lead to Marshall and I’ve stayed in Brit tone land for years. In the last 2 years I’ve started coming back to that fender tone. Played the last few gigs entirely in that space and loved it.

I’m still missing that Mesa 412. I’d like to come back home to that. I’ve come close a few times, it still might happen…

D

 

[Jarick]

I’d be looking at either fender m80 or Roland jazzchorus…I’ll eat my shoe if I ever fancy those again

I was so excited when I picked up the Roland JC-22 last year but the hiss and noise was awful! I'd really like to try one of the Fender Princeton Chorus models, with the 2x10. I've heard it's pretty similar but lower noise. For some odd reason I just really like solid state amps.

 

[AFKAEjay(retired)]

I was so excited when I picked up the Roland JC-22 last year but the hiss and noise was awful! I'd really like to try one of the Fender Princeton Chorus models, with the 2x10. I've heard it's pretty similar but lower noise. For some odd reason I just really like solid state amps.

Tbh..I got the JC120, and I think also a 40, cause I thought that’s what one should get when you wanna build your “I’m jazz” image . Never got along with them. Clean was okish, but overdrive pedals sounded like a can of bees..well at least mine, or with me at the helm.

The Princeton chorus…from memory…a lot more midscooped then the JC. For me reason one to stay away from them, that’s just me being middy. Reason 2, by now they are at an age that caps go down (my assumption)…and not really worth it to redo those economicly.