From: sarisky@a.chem.upenn.edu (Mark J. Sarisky)
Newsgroups: alt.guitar
Subject: Re: BLUES AMPS
Date: 9 Sep 92 18:37:48 GMT
Organization: University of Pennsylvania


In article <RYANR.92Sep9050822@beethoven.CS.ColoState.EDU> ryanr@beethoven.CS.ColoState.EDU (richard ryan) writes:
>
>     Just to put in my two cents worth, remember that most of your
>tone resides in your hands: how you fret, how hard you pick, your
>vibrato, etc.  I just saw Albert King play.  He used a Roland JC120
>(solid state) and sounded great.  B.B. King uses whatever amp the club
>provides.  He only travels with his guitar.  Have you ever heard him
>sounding like anyone but B.B.?  Be confidant that your
>hands/brain/personality/soul will always make you sound like you no
>matter what rig you are blowing out of, or what guitar you are
>playing.  When you go to different jam sessions, you may want to try
>playing out of whatever amp is there.  This is good practice for
>learning that a specific amp sound is not that important.  What notes
>you play, how you play them, and getting them across with confidence
>and emotion is important.

Actually, BB favors older twins and Lab Series amps (L5 systems, I think)
and gets a bit miffed if one or the other  aren't availible.  With the
number of twins out there, he is rarely without.  The rest of the above 
comments are very refreshing for this group where equipment sometimes rules
over technique.  It really is in the hands, something that has taken me 14
years of playing to get to.  I feel that I am at last getting cloes to a unique
sound and damn if it isn't from my hands not my amps.  I find that my general
sound is similar if it come from my '59 champ, my late 80's Boogie or any other
amp that does lay around.  A good rig is like excellent dressing for a salad.
If the veggies are rotten, it ain't gonna cover it up.

>     I saw another response which recommended Mesa/Boogie amps.  Good
>choice.  I have an old 60 watt blonde model from 1980 or so.  The
>clean channel is good and you can also get a kind of fatter clean
>sound by playing the lead channel on low volume.  (this gives you a
>kind of big body guitar sound) Like all amps though, Boogie's are
>inconsistent.  Some are pretty fuzzed out on the lead channel no
>matter what you do.  You may also want to check out Musicman amps.
>(another company which started out "hot rodding" fenders)

The MKIII Boogie I have does a great Fender imitation playing lead through
the clean channel--I use a Boss EQ pedal to goose the frequencies to get
a touch of the grunge.  Also, for Blues I find that using the Boogie in 
Class A (15W) mode adds a bit of power amp distortion.  The channel switching
of the MkIII also allows for a fat lead sound  for blues in the lead channel
if you keep the lead gain down below 2 1/2.  Musicman amps almost all had a 
solid state preamp and some people don't like this for blues, but I've gotten
a good tone out of a friends 130RD.  Nice amp, needs a stomp box for real
grunge.

>
>     I've heard good things about the Bassman re-issue, although I
>haven't actually played one.  I wasn't sure which "The Twin" you
>meant.  The new one (light grey with tiny red knobs) is pretty awful.
>It throws out a lot of sound pressure but little tone.  It's not very
>beefy sounding either.

The Bassman reissue kicks as do the other Fender reissues I've toyed with in
the local music stores.  I love the '65 Twin reissue--I have to wait for the
wife to get a new couch first.  The Vibroverb is also sweet, but not as fun as
the Bassman.  The Peavey Classic amps are very, very similar to the Fender 
Bassman reissue and much cheaper!  I hate to say it but Peavey has a real 
winner here.  Actually, I a very impressed  with others of the Peavey line of
late.  Way to go Harley.

>
>     In sum: Remember, your hands, brain, and spirit are 90% of your
>tone.  So don't stress too much about your amp.  



I might even up that to 99% but that would be splitting hairs.

Mark
sarisky@a.chem.upenn.edu