sweet, sweet guitar tones wanted :D

[nothing101]

Originally Posted by Dave_M

hi all, i'm learning to play electric guitar and i need some distortion. My marshall amp can be overdriven, but play 2-3 notes at once with it and it makes a terrible NASTY noise! yuck! It is not useable at all.

thats called distortion.. i dont think u can get rid of that unless u play clean

well anyways, class a valve amps are really what you need for sweet tones. also ones with british tubes like the el34 will sound sweeter than the american ones even if they arent as powerful or dont have as much bass. try out a vox amp or an orange amp.

[Hermitt]

Ever wonder how Neil Young gets his unique and sometimes outrageous sounds?
Neil Young's Amps

[trose49]

I will let you in on a not so widely know tweak!

Snakeoil Strings!

http://www.sobstrings.net/

This is NO JOKE!

Vintage Formula:

Introduced back in 1989, these are still the only strings that accurately reproduce the original bell-like tone and warm respinse of the pure nickel roundwound strings of the 1950's and 60's. While retaining a contemporary feel, our "Original Nickel" sets are the ultimate experience for players favoring vintage instruments. Being particularly effective for any single-coil instrument, they are useful for the modern player who wants a warmer tone from any guitar.


He also makes a Rock Formula:

Our "Rock" Formula string sets are designed for the modern quitarist who wants maximum output, harmonic response, and ultimate flexibility! These string sets work well on any single-coil or humbucking equipped instrument. Our specially designed nickel-iron alloy combines several other components for extra long life, durability, and low fret-wear.

There is Bass also but have never tried them.

I personally prefer the Vintage which works GREAT on a STRAT. My EJ Strat has never sounded better and I would put this up against any string in the commercial arena.

Sustain is truely unbelievable.

Try these you will not regret it! Best know secret I have ever tried. I found it on a Fender forum and people were raving about them so I tried them and have put no other strings on my guitar since.

[nothing101]

i recently bought the vox ac15cc just out of my own impressions on it.

i havent found any magazine reviews on it or heard anyone elses opinions about it. has anyone here got any experience with it and if so whats your opinion.

[infinitesymphony]

Originally Posted by nothing101

i recently bought the vox ac15cc just out of my own impressions on it.

i havent found any magazine reviews on it or heard anyone elses opinions about it. has anyone here got any experience with it and if so whats your opinion.

Vox's AC series valve amps have always been popular for their super sparkley, jangly clean tone, so the slightly less-expensive Custom Classic versions of them probably sound similar. Vox AC is basically the "British Clean" tone.

The reliability of their tube amps has been a little questionable, so you may want to be careful when transporting the amp.

[Dave_M]

I always thought the best strings were elixir nanoweb electric. Plain steel covered some sort of ultra thin polymer so protect them from corrosion.



I got my Fulltone OCD today

I was looking for a better pedal than TS-808. After all, that's an old, discontinued pedal that doesn't even have true bypass. There must be somthing better out there by now I thought.

The OCD is excelent. Feels sturdy and well made. All the controls have a very good range (perfect in fact). And both the drive and tone have a really nice quality as well. The best thing about it that sets it apart is the ability to control the amount of distortion depending on how hard you pluck the strings - it's going to give me good practice, learning to control how hard I pluck instead of bashing all the notes out.

I was trying to find out what the HP/LP control actually did. I prefer LP, it makes the pedal more dynamic and behave like I just described. On HP, the noise floor is raised slighty, and the sound is more compressed and less dynamic. I think you should use HP to give you better sustained distortion.

The pedal is great but not perfect. My only minor gripes with it are... The power socket is in the wrong place, it also uses the non standard center as negative. The LED is a little too bright. And the pedal isn't quite good enough to use as a clean boost. There is a little distortion with the drive turned all the way down. But overall as an overdrive pedal (not distortion pedal), it is excelent and very highly recomended by me.

[pne]

I absolutely love the fender blues series. Their clean tone is sweet and intoxicating. When shopping for a tube amp, I originally ordered the blues deluxe. Unfortunately arriving at my door, one of the tubes was smashed open. I returned it and bought a crate vfx 50watt tube amp, a move I've come to regret deeply.

If you're shopping for a tube amp for practice/playing in your bedroom, look for something with low low wattage. 1-5 watts would be perfect. This lets you drive the tubes and get that sweet overdriven sound you will never get with a higher wattage tube amp. That is, unless you turn the big tube amp up and bring the house down.

[Hermitt]

I put a set of 10-46 elixur nanowebs onmy strat and really like them. Thay have great tone and last a lot longer than the d'addarios that came on it. I recently put a set of DR Strings Xtra-life coated Red Devils 10-46 on my Ibanez Arondite, only because the red strings look pretty sweet on a jet black guitar On my Colonel and my Black Falcon, I use Dean Markley Blue Steel Cryo treated 11-52s because i love the fuller tone on the hollow bodies.

[nothing101]

Originally Posted by Dave_M

I always thought the best strings were elixir nanoweb electric. Plain steel covered some sort of ultra thin polymer so protect them from corrosion.



I got my Fulltone OCD today

I was looking for a better pedal than TS-808. After all, that's an old, discontinued pedal that doesn't even have true bypass. There must be somthing better out there by now I thought.

The OCD is excelent. Feels sturdy and well made. All the controls have a very good range (perfect in fact). And both the drive and tone have a really nice quality as well. The best thing about it that sets it apart is the ability to control the amount of distortion depending on how hard you pluck the strings - it's going to give me good practice, learning to control how hard I pluck instead of bashing all the notes out.

I was trying to find out what the HP/LP control actually did. I prefer LP, it makes the pedal more dynamic and behave like I just described. On HP, the noise floor is raised slighty, and the sound is more compressed and less dynamic. I think you should use HP to give you better sustained distortion.

The pedal is great but not perfect. My only minor gripes with it are... The power socket is in the wrong place, it also uses the non standard center as negative. The LED is a little too bright. And the pedal isn't quite good enough to use as a clean boost. There is a little distortion with the drive turned all the way down. But overall as an overdrive pedal (not distortion pedal), it is excelent and very highly recomended by me.

Im unsure about the ocd. is it a distortion or an overdrive pedal??

Also, i just realised by using my guitar amp's distortion channel that my boss distortion pedal is actually making my amp sound really tinny. What pedal has a rich, thick distortion? My ac15 doesnt have much gain so i am in the market for a distortion pedal that will produce rich tones to compliment it. I am looking for distortion not overdrive.

[infinitesymphony]

Apparently pro-audio manufacturer Mackie is releasing their own guitar amplifier, the Hotwire VT-12. It has some interesting features, like selectable wattage.