AmpTalk.com

[Bluesyguy]

Hi all,

I'm trying to decide on a good tube amp to purchase. I bought FM212R a solid state Fender and I was disappointed...

I've been playing since a long time but I have no idea about technical issues, I'd really appreciate if you could help me.

I like playing hard rock and also 70s classical rock stuff (AC/DC, Deep Purple, Queen, Led Zep etc etc). Today I tried VoxAC15cc, VoxAC30cc, Fender Deluxe Reverb and a Marshall JCM2000 DSL (all combo).

I loved the clean channels of Vox and Fender... The overdrive is good but it's too soft! Whereas for Marshall, the overdrive is amazing (That thing just replicates a Blackmore type sound) but the cleans are not as good.

People have been telling me that using stomp boxes, I can never get the sound of a high-gain tube amp distortion, because these things just immitate that sound. Is this true? In other words, would combining a Boss Keeley DS-1 with a Vox AC30 be insulting the amp?

Should I go with VoxAC30 whose clean channel I loved the most and boost its overdrive with a stomp box or should I rather get a Marshall or some rectifier amp due to its genuine high gain tube overdrive...

Thanks a lot!

[pizza8guy888]

Hmm Some of this is personal preference, but I will give you my opinion. I would go with the Fender or Vox (whichever you enjoy most) I know what mean about the distortion/overdrive on these amps being a little lacking or soft. It is just the nature of these amps and nothign wrong with that. I would use a pedal for your distortion sounds. Again this is only my opinion, but I think if you get a good pedal infront of a tube amp, you should be fine. Just try some out at a store if you can. One final note is I would purchase an overdrive pedal for the tube amp so you can push the tubes a bi and get a nicer distortion. Obviously if you purchased a Metal Distortion pedal or something similar, you would probably not be pleased with the more processed distortion sound instead of the smoother overdrive distortion. Maybe look at t Marshall Blues breaker pedal or I have heard good thigns about the Marshall Guvnor pedal (I think thats the name of it) Good luck, just try out everything in person and follow your ears.

[Exothermia]

I have used a Fender amp with a Marshall Jackhammer pedal for distortion into it, and it worked pretty well actually, I could get Fender cleans and Marshall overdrive both with the same amp. Unfortunately when I ended up recording with it in the studio, the distortion sound just wasn't as good as a real Marshall, the quality recording really let the inferiorities shine through. Because of that I'm currently in the middle of changing my rig as I use distortion with my music more than clean anyway so I figured that should be what sounds better.

So I guess overall I agree with the fact that using a pedal will not be as good as the real thing when it comes to overdrive. It can sound pretty good but if you really want the best it is not it.

[djinn1973]

[johnny]

It sounds like you want a combo amp and not a separate head and cabinet.
If you like the AC-30 then use it with an Ibanez tube screamer, this makes an excellent combination. If you want to do something a little cheaper and maybe have a better tone try looking for a used Fender Stage 100 Dynatouch head or a Marshall VS100 Valvestate head, both of which you can score fairly cheap. Run it through a 2-12 cabinet like a Fender Tonemaster or similar and you will tear up any Rock club. You will need the tube screamer for the Stage 100 but the Marshall will scream just fine on it's own. The cleans will be glass like and shimmering.
Just my suggestion, but it will definitely get the tone.
Johnny

[arclight05]

[Insane Amp Freak]