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I've been playing guitar for decades. I started taking jazz lessons several years ago, then stopped to join a band. My education didn't stop, just my approach. Lately, I've been taking Cello lessons from a classically trained teacher. I find the approaches between classical, jazz, blues and rock to be very interesting. I appreciate the command of your instrument required of classical, the inventiveness of jazz, the soulfulness of blues (and R&B) and the energy of rock. I could not pick a favorite.
I have more guitars than any one person should own, with at least two for each genre. I've collected amps and keep bouncing between solid state and tubes. Love the sound of tubes, hate the maintenance and weight. Newer modeling solid state amps get more use from me than anything else these days. They're lighter, more dependable and don't need new tunes - ever. Love 12" and 15' speakers, don't care for anything smaller. Haven't tried an Evans, but would love to.
My fave jazz guitarists include John McLaughlin, Al DiMeola, Wes Montgomery, Tal Farlow, Kenny Burrell, Grant Green, and Harvey Mandell. If you know the last one, you are an instant friend. OK, Harvey is more fo a blues guitarist...
Look forward to hearing other's opinions and learning some stuff.
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08-05-2012 08:28 PM
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I have enough combos and extra bottoms already, don't need another. So I'm looking at the Evans' AH200 and wondering about it. I've seen raves everywhere about Evans amps. Is it worth the $$ to get one of these heads? Does anyone here havve any experience with it?
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wow! i have a little extra time this morning and read the whole post...all 14 pages of it! let's see if we can bring it back.
a couple vox mentions, but only the modeling crap (pardon my french). anyway, not a single mention of the Vox AC15C1. this is a beauty. dark, punchy, clean, versatile, loves pedals...etc...i've gigged with mine in a four piece (percussion, kit, electric bass, electric guitar) for over 3 years and it almost always has sufficient clean headroom...almost. but on those occasions there is usually a house pa and sound guy! hooray.
But when there's not, i pull out the lightweight ninja Tech 21 Trademark 60 1 12". (which has been mentioned). not the best, but hard to beat, considering weight, price, headroom, pedal love and versatility.
however, lately i've been GASing pretty hard for a USED Fender DRRI. i'd like to use my startouch ABY to play Vox & Fender in S T E R E O!
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I’ve used a Polytone Mini Brute II for about thirty years.It sounds good and has been reasonably dependable. It’s very small, so it works well for large group situations where space is limited. (Big Band, Pit Orchestras, etc.) I also occasionally use an old black-face Fender DeluxeReverb for a change of pace.
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I just don't think you can do much better than an AI head and a Redstone cabinet.
It works for bass, solid body, archtop, microphone, whatever -- it's clean, clear. Has some decent FX (if that's your thing). It's dead-ass silent.
What's not to like?!?
FWIW, I have quite an inventory, but the AI setup stays plugged in most!
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What about one of the new Fender Hot Rod George Benson amps?
Anyone tried one ?
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I like a wooly early Kenny Burrell sound. I can get that with a Princeton Reverb. I would love to explore some old tweeds, though.
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I am a huge Standel fan, but if I had to choose 1 amp, it'd be one of the Tweed Gibson RVTs. These are the ones from '61-'62. I have a couple of GA19RVTs, and a larger Maestro with a single 15". These amps cover a lot of ground, and a lot of classic tones, and the larger one has enough headroom to function well, and enough grit when I need it, without being uselessly loud.
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Did anyone ever tried a Fender Princeton Reverb II for a nice clean jazz tone? I'm gonna check one out tomorrow and was just curious if there is someone out there with an opinion...
Last edited by JorisFun; 12-23-2012 at 02:08 AM.
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+ 1 for the jc120
Originally Posted by Gareth
I play a gibson L-5 CES directly in it:
every setting you choose is great.
I come from a fender twin reverb, and find the sweet spot with it has always been an hard experience.
with the jc120 it is, to me, a simple plug and play.
I like a very flat tone, a tone which makes you hear the guitar nuances.
I found the fender too boomy to me, for my guitar. and when I lowered the basses it became too thinny...
strange, I read someone in this forum who wrote:"be aware to the jc120 with gibson archtop".
the exact opposite to me
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Well I hate the JC-120s
I've seen plenty of people say the same, i've even seen people put on technical riders "never a jc-120"...
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oh, it is you jorge... Originally Posted by jorgemg1984
Well I hate the JC-120s I've seen plenty of people say the same, i've even seen people put on technical riders "never a jc-120"...
well, I've always been curious to ask you why you told that.
a polytone or a twin, have their own personality. I believe they make every guitar seem the same when plugged in them.
maybe I'm wrong, but I found the jc to be respectful of guitar intrinsic tone: I found more woody tone out of my L-5 CES through the jc than the twin; and absolutely much more than my minibrute II.
...just a personal experience...
merry christmas
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Well it's taste Gianlunca, No one is right or wrong on this things... Bireli Lagrene (which I am not even a big fan) takes great sounds out of it. Pat Martino and Abercrombie also... But to me (and plenty I know) it's just unusable. I've seen Scofiled say exactly the same (and some other top player I can't recall right now).
But what really matters is it works for you! (and actually it's probably the most mentioned amp in this thread if I recall correctly).
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You just have to hear and try a bunch of amps preferably with your guitar. Then whatever you get is your ultimate amp. Main thing is you need to learn your amp and amps in general so you can dial in your sound. Many times you not using your own amp at, jams, gigs, school, etc so you need to know amps enough to dial in a sound.
For me the ultimate amp is whatever I have.
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I've churned through enough gear to know that there's no ultimate anything. You get a guitar and amp that sound good to your ears and work with them. If you play a lot of different kinds of music in a lot of different live situations, you probably need two or three guitars and two or three amps. Each will be better in some situations than in others, and other guitars and amps will always call out to you.
In my view, there's more potential in picking good equipment and sticking with it than in constantly seeking the Holy Grail. In the end, it's the music you play and the sound you create that matters.
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TRRI = Fender '65 Twin Reverb Reissue
DRRI = Fender '65 Deluxe Reverb Reissue
PRRI = Princeton '65 Reverb Reissue
PRRI for me. My first amp was a vintage '65 Princeton, which I bought for $150 in '84. I wasn't loud enough for the rock and pop I was playing at the time so I sold it and went on a big quest for more volume, etc. Fast forward to 2008 (or whenever the reissue came out) and more amps than I can count later, and here I am full circle, PRRI. The PRRI sounds just like my original 65 and is loud enough for most of my needs. I figure if I'm playing with a band and it's too loud for the PRRI, I'm in the wrong band I am going to put in a Red Fang to boost the available volume just a smidge though.
My 2nd fav amp is the '59 Bassman RI with a solid state rectifier and a NOS Mullard 12AT7 in the phase inverter slot (all of which helps control the bottom end boominess.) I owned one of the first ones, but it was too heavy to haul to rehearsals all the time and really way too loud for the band I was playing with, so I sold it. I've often toyed with the idea of buying a used one and having a custom 2-10 cab built for it.
Finally, for the rare occasions when I need more volume than sense, I have a TRRI. It's a fine sound, not as good for my needs as the PRRI, but if I need to get that loud I'm more concerned with volume than perfect tone anyway. I've put a pair of neo speakers in it (Lil' Texas and Tonker Lite) to lighten the load, so now it's at least moveable without too much risk of back injury.
I never could bond with any of the DRRI's I've owned. Just too bright in the reverb channel and too dull in the normal channel for me. OTOH, the other guitarist in my main band gets a fabulous sound out the one I sold to him using an Anderson Metro /w Kent Armstrong floater, so go figger.Last edited by D.G.; 12-23-2012 at 03:25 PM.
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Hi Guys what do you think about the Ibanez Tsa15 amp? I´m really tempted!
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I've owned a few Pearce's since the 80's. Tried many, many amps in-between and for certain applications, but for all-around-cover-all-situations-and-styles I keep using the Pearce. BUT, I've been gassing for the new DV Mark Combo.
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the amp is not bad. i own one, but you have to change the tubes to get the right impression. so i swaped the tubes and it has no noise and cleans all the way up and good tubes can provide this upgrade. i bought the head version and it wasn't planed, since i was just about to get new strings, when i saw, that they were going to sell it for 100 euro less, because of a dirty spot on the tolex. so i could invest 120 euro in new tubes and now i have a real good sounding little amp. at least for the price of 199euro + 120 euro for new tubes = 319 euro. Originally Posted by Arnesto
Hi Guys what do you think about the Ibanez Tsa15 amp? I´m really tempted!
but otherwise i don't know if i would have bought it, without this discount.
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If a small tube amp floats your boat, I'd like to recommend a latecomer.
A couple years ago Bogner introduced its "International" line of small amps. They come in various flavors, tagged with various worldwide names (hence the "International" moniker), for various tastes.
The Bogner amp that might be of interest to jazzers is the New Yorker. This is a low-power amp with a choice of four different Fender Tweed to Blackface sounds using a voicing ("schizo", as Bogner calls it) selector switch.
The New Yorker is a very simple amp. It has, in addition to the aforementioned schizo switch, a volume knob, a tone knob and a single off/standby/on switch.
A tolex-covered solid-pine cabinet helps keep the weight of the 1x12 combo down to a "comfortable" 33 pounds despite the most massive transformers I've ever seen in a twelve-watt amplifier.
The big iron no doubt helps with the amp's solid low-end performance. I compared the New Yorker side-by-side with a Fender Princeton Reverb Reissue; no amount of EQ juggling could make the Princeton Reverb sound as full and robust as the New Yorker.
Despite its low power, the New Yorker's headroom is not a problem for me. If you really need a Twin Reverb then nothing else will do, I suppose. But the New Yorker has more than enough headroom to push my semi-hollow into feedback while still playing clean... I image the amp will provide way more volume than one can reasonably use with a full-hollow jazz box.
In keeping with the simplicity of its design, the New Yorker does not have reverb. If reverb is part of "your sound", you'll need to carry a pedal.
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Picking up my VOX ac15 today. Looking forward to it
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Yeah, those Bogner looks good but here (argentina) we have issues over the Imported goods (we have a crappy goverment) and the prices are very hot right now
the prices here are (dollars)
Vox ac15c1 $755
Ibanez tsa15 $538
kustom defender v15 $565
Fender superchamp xd $538
As you can see the prices are quite high.
saludos!
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Got no use for anything beyond what I have. They sound great and have all levels of portability and volume potential.
Roland JC120, Roland Cube 80x and Roland MicroCube.
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so i recently, 3 weeks ago, purchased a VHT Special 12/20 for 425 US at GC. so far...it's pretty ultimate. i put some JJ 6V6s and replaced the 12ax7s with a 12at7 in V1 and gold pin 12ax7s in V2 & V3. after some initial break in time, this thing is commendable. it's fairly compact and lightweight too. i'm definitely in honeymoon stage...so time will tell. just wanted to let you all know.
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Got a Roland JC120, Roland Cube 80x and a Roland MicroCube. I am very happy. If these are the last amps I own, I'm good.
I am very intrigued by the Evans amps though. Would love to try one out one day.
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