Jump to content

These Go to 11 - The Guitar Amp Thread


dcbc

Recommended Posts

2 hours ago, Rimbo said:

are those... coffee stains?

I'm offering good money that it's beer.  And let's be honest, smoke, beer, and other things emanating from touring musicians which get absorbed into speaker cones are one of the reasons old speakers sound monumentally better than a broken-in new speaker, particularly the smoke.  Because smoke is the common denominator additive in about 95% of the speakers that survived the 20th Century.

  • Hook 'Em 1
  • Like 1
  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

17 hours ago, dcbc said:

I'm offering good money that it's beer.  And let's be honest, smoke, beer, and other things emanating from touring musicians which get absorbed into speaker cones are one of the reasons old speakers sound monumentally better than a broken-in new speaker, particularly the smoke.  Because smoke is the common denominator additive in about 95% of the speakers that survived the 20th Century.

...otherwise known as the "I don't need to clean my grill" theory of speaker cones. 

  • Haha 1
  • Fuck Around and Find Out 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Posted (edited)
1 hour ago, Chad Fuck said:

...otherwise known as the "I don't need to clean my grill" theory of speaker cones. 

Ain't nobody got time for that.  Turn it on.  Warm it up.  Rock.

Edited by dcbc
  • Hook 'Em 1
  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

I love Chris Stapleton's tone, and there are similarities across multiple guitars.  Can someone identify these amps from SNL last night?  I think he's driving both rigs, his rhythm guitarist (off on screen left) was standing in front of a couple of combo amps himself.  I assume those were his.  I see a Matchless head driving two small cabinets and a couple of small Fender combos -- any model info out there?

image.thumb.png.7f67fbdd6a764460a8aa0cda7198f31d.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, jimmyjazz said:

I love Chris Stapleton's tone, and there are similarities across multiple guitars.  Can someone identify these amps from SNL last night?  I think he's driving both rigs, his rhythm guitarist (off on screen left) was standing in front of a couple of combo amps himself.  I assume those were his.  I see a Matchless head driving two small cabinets and a couple of small Fender combos -- any model info out there?

image.thumb.png.7f67fbdd6a764460a8aa0cda7198f31d.png

 
Chris Stapleton '62 Princeton Amp

After years of looking for the right amp, Chris Stapleton came across a ’62 Princeton in a guitar shop. Listen to his story about how his continued search for these amps led to the Chris Stapleton Signature ’62 Princeton.

Posted by Fender on Monday, February 11, 2019

 

  • Hook 'Em 3
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, jimmyjazz said:

I love Chris Stapleton's tone, and there are similarities across multiple guitars.  Can someone identify these amps from SNL last night?  I think he's driving both rigs, his rhythm guitarist (off on screen left) was standing in front of a couple of combo amps himself.  I assume those were his.  I see a Matchless head driving two small cabinets and a couple of small Fender combos -- any model info out there?

image.thumb.png.7f67fbdd6a764460a8aa0cda7198f31d.png

I think the head on the right is the bass player's Thunderman.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 minutes ago, Paul Wesley said:

I think the head on the right is the bass player's Thunderman.  

Oh, OK.  So Stapleton is probably only playing thru the two Fenders.  That makes some sense.  I don't pay attention to bass amps (who would?), LOL.

  • Rage+1 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

17 hours ago, jimmyjazz said:

Oh, OK.  So Stapleton is probably only playing thru the two Fenders.  That makes some sense.  I don't pay attention to bass amps (who would?), LOL.

And see, I see 45 watt Matchless bass amp and wonder what a guitar sounds like through it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My buddy bought one of these at a pawn shop last year, except it was sort of a purple color.  It sounded . . . not good.  Looked cool, like it had been stored in the back of a Chevy shaggin' wagon van circa 1974:

image.png.f893ce4e35a49dbae48027d8d0bfb8ff.png

image.png.1816f275793615f6fb97c9b95b6fdc28.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

42 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

My buddy bought one of these at a pawn shop last year, except it was sort of a purple color.  It sounded . . . not good.  Looked cool, like it had been stored in the back of a Chevy shaggin' wagon van circa 1974:

image.png.f893ce4e35a49dbae48027d8d0bfb8ff.png

image.png.1816f275793615f6fb97c9b95b6fdc28.png

 

I feel like those old Kustom upholstered amps are standard issue at every low-turnover music store in Texas.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm a Vox guy.  I have a couple different Vox-style heads including a Matchless Laurel Canyon and a 65Amps London.  

I also have a China-made AC30 - the 1-speaker version - that has just been gathering dust for the past decade.  So I just sold it online, and before the guy came to pick it up, I plugged it in the other night and ran through it just to make sure it was fully functional.  

It sounded better than I remembered.  

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 minutes ago, Paul Wesley said:

I also have a China-made AC30 - the 1-speaker version - that has just been gathering dust for the past decade.  So I just sold it online, and before the guy came to pick it up, I plugged it in the other night and ran through it just to make sure it was fully functional.  

It sounded better than I remembered.  

. . . and then, depression set in.

image.png.a68702bb2b9444018bf52e1f0559970e.png

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

If you ordered directly from Matchless I'm certain they would do whatever you want. I think the whole operation is just Phil Jamison back there wiring up military grade amplifiers and then a couple of support and office folks.

 

I can't find the picture right now but there's some monstrosity floating around that's like... two Matchless amps that were custom built into one cabinet. Super awesome, completely useless form factor that weighs 150 pounds.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 hours ago, G650 said:

I've been eyeballing these for a hot minute

I really like it.  To my ears, it sounds like a *slightly* more modern-sounding Vox... i.e. a little more saturation as it breaks up more and more.  It breaks up in a way that doesn't feel genre-specific to me.  Depending on the settings, I think it could be perfectly at home in an alt-country band (Stapleton/Isbell/etc) or as a heavy Brian May thing.  

 If I had one complaint with it, it's that the EQ often feels a bit light on low mids, although that could also be an accurate reflection of the guitars that I'm using.  I haven't recorded with it much, but it occurs to me that the same low mids that I want to bump up with an EQ pedal might be exactly what's carved out by the mix engineer.  

I could get down to three amps for the rest of my days on earth and be perfectly content:  A Laurel Canyon, a Two Rock Studio Pro 35 (which is the ultimate Swiss army amp, IMO), and a Marshall flavor (either a 65Amps Empire or one of those Marshall 20-watt Plexi-voiced heads).  

 

  • Fuck Around and Find Out 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don’t have a picture but I watched an old pro the other night play a few hour set of the whole catalogue of country, blues, classic rock, bar band, etc etc. All he had was some sort of a dimed 5e3 and a volume knob on a beat up Strat. His very wide range of tone was perfect for every song. Dude was a master player and a master of the volume knob. Just fantastic.

/csb

  • Hook 'Em 1
  • Drool 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Forgot add, I talked to him for a bit.

Sounds great, what kinda pickups in that strat. I don’t know man, whatever came with it.

What are those pedals on the board? Buncha dumb stuff I never even turn on.

Loved this guy.

  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm an advocate of owning as many amps as possible, but I only own two.  I'm struck by the range of tones one of the guitarists in my daughter's band gets with a Fender combo and a Boss DS-1.  With the latter in, it's saturated distortion heaven.  With it out (and a delay in) it's a liquid slightly fuzzy ethereal goo.  Most things in between seem possible, too.  I'm sticking with my pair and I'm gonna try to get better on my end.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Posted (edited)
On 4/16/2024 at 9:31 PM, tbone_ said:

Ok so if someone wanted to shop for a 5e3, what would the surly guitar mafia recommend?

If you can find one, get a Magic.  He stopped building a while back, but they live up to their name.

 

Apart from that, I'm a huge fan of Jim at Lil Dawg.  He's comparably reasonable on price and an absolute joy to deal with.  He'll spec it out however you like, all original, with mods, whatever. 

 

Then there's Clark and Speed Shop.  Both very well thought of and priced accordingly.

 

The Magic 5e3 (Mike Moody, the builder, on guitar)

 

 

Jim at Lil Dawg Built my Harvard 1x12.  One of his 5e3s is on Reverb used for $1,300ish.

 

https://www.littledawgamps.com/

 

Speed Shop: http://www.tweeddeluxe.com/

 

I think Clark may just be building spec amps and putting them on Reverb.  My 5f4 Super is a Clark and built like an absolute tank.

Edited by dcbc
  • Hook 'Em 1
  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.



×
×
  • Create New...