AmpTalk.com

[Mitch Wise]

Hey all. I was browsing around online at work a couple days ago and I stumbled across this site. The group here seems pretty decent, so I think I'll be perching here for a while.

Anywho, the reason why I'm posting is because I've just recently bought a new, higher-end guitar (American Vintage 1962 Fender Stratocaster Reissue), and I want to start picking up some quality gear to go with it. I'm starting with amps, naturally, but I've been at a loss with which would be best for me.

Just so you have a clearer idea of what I'm aiming for here, I'm trying to get close to a John Frusciante sound. It doesn't matter if it's spot on or anything. I'd still like to have my own "voice" when it comes to playing and not have people go "He’s a John Frusciante clone" or anything. (Otherwise I'd go with Frusciante's exact set-up.) What I want to do is to get two combos, one for my "clean" tones and another for my "crunch". I'd daisy chain the two together and switch between them with an A/B pedal. And them I'd be running various (quite a few) effects pedals through them.

For my clean sound, I'm heavily leaning towards a Fender Twin Reverb. (I played one when I tried my guitar out in the store I frequent. I'm a fan.) And I was thinking of some sort of Marshall combo for my crunch tones. Honestly though, I've been unable to find any decent Marshall valve combos in the reviews I've read online. (For the record, I know that the best way to decide on an amp is to actually go in and play through them. Which is what I intend to do before I buy. But I want to go in with a couple amps specifically in mind so I'm not just drifting willy nilly from amp to amp.) I'd preferably like to stick with Fender and Marshall, even though I realize that there are many other fantastic amp manufacturers out there. But price is absolutely no object to me. Playing music is becoming the one thing that I splurge on when I have some extra cash. And I'd prefer getting better quality gear the first time when I buy it.

I'm eventually going to be picking up a Fender Telecaster 1952 reissue, a 1959 Les Paul reissue, a Gretsch White Falcon 1955 reissue, and a 1957 Fender Strat reissue (A back-up to my main guitar, the '62 Strat). As you can see, I prefer the vintage sound, but I'd like my gear to be new. (I have this thing where I'd like my gear to age, improve, and build its character with me. I'm weird that way.) So I'd like the amps to sound decent with those guitars as well.

Another thing is that I eventually want to buy two full-stacks, as there's a lot of potentially for amateur bands to play in fairly sizeable venues where I live. So if you guys have any suggestions for a good Fender full-stack, (The selection of which appears to be rather sparse from what I've seen….But maybe I'm not looking in the right places.) or a Marshall with the kind of clean tone I want, that would be appreciated as well. For my crunchy sound when it comes to full-stacks, I'm leaning towards one of the Marshall JCM 800 variants. The store I go to has some unused ones sitting about. However, if anyone has any suggestions for something better-suited for me that I haven't thought of, for this or anything else I've mentioned, please pass it on. I'm very open to anything, and I'd like to do as much research as I can before committing to something, as this represents a rather large investment in time, effort, and money for me.

I apologize for the long-winded post. I'm not concise when it comes to things like this. And I appreciate any help that comes my way. As you can tell, I'm pretty new when it comes to buying amps and whatnot. I've been playing guitar for a couple years now on equipment that was given to me (A guitar that was very uncomfortable for me to play and a little piddly solid-state practice amp.), but I've just started having the funds to go out and get stuff that's more suited to me. Most people would probably tell me that I should improve skill-wise a bit before investing this heavily into it, but I know that I have the dedication to stick with it. And a great amp and what have you will point out the deficiencies in my playing all the more, which would make me want to improve a whole lot quicker. (It’s not the gear that makes the musician. But it can certainly give one incentive to get better.) I'm starting professional lessons shortly so I can work out any bad habits I've developed, and my practice time will be more structured and better spent.

Thanks all! Cheers, and have a good day.