These Knobs Are Made For Turning, And That's Just What They Do, One Of These Days

[GuitarDoc]

Re: These Knobs Are Made For Turning, And That's Just What They Do, One Of These Days

I think you all have really valid points. I totally get what Jolly and Gearjoneser are saying.

I truly believe that the number one ingredient in your tone is your amp. I've played some very el-cheapo guitars (less than $50) through a great amp and sounded very good. Perfect? No, but basically very good. I've also played some truly great guitars ($2000 - $5000 Gibsons and Fenders) through a cheap SS amp and no amount of dialing and knob twisting could make it sound even mediocre.

If you're starting with a reasonably good guitar and a great amp, you will (if you use the knobs) get some amazing sounds. Changing pups, magnets, strings, tubes, etc is for fine tuning. For me...I've got a really good sounding amp (Bogner) and a couple dozen guitars, almost all of them have aftermarket pups in them, and almost all of those pups have been though many mag swaps. Not because they didn't sound great through my amp to begin with, but because I'm a "fine tuner" (that's a polite way of saying that I'm an addict ... to tone tweaking). Always searching for that illussive perfection. My wife thinks I'm crazy. She says that my tone years ago sounded as good as it gets and she can't tell that it's any better today after all my spending and tweaking. So I guess it's just me.

[Rich_T]

Re: These Knobs Are Made For Turning, And That's Just What They Do, One Of These Days

Couldn't agree more. A decent valve head with a bit of volume is going to sound awesome, with very little effort.

[JOLLY]

Re: These Knobs Are Made For Turning, And That's Just What They Do, One Of These Days

I totally know what Jolly's talking about. I remember a thread by a guy who was going through pickups like crazy, complaining that no pickup sounded right. Everyone was telling him to do magnet swaps, tube swaps, speaker swaps etc.
By chance, someone asked him what his amp and EQ settings were, and he had his mids on 1 or something.

A good sounding amp, a good playing guitar, and a good player means more than all the other details.

Exactly!! You totally know where I was coming from.

[voggin]

Re: These Knobs Are Made For Turning, And That's Just What They Do, One Of These Days

I think that's why teles are such an aquired taste, usually later in a player's life. Most people start with mediocre guitar/cheap amp. They then get a better guitar, and still play it through the crummy amp. Whereas something with humbuckers or even a strat can sound alright through a practise amp, a tele really needs a tube amp to get rid of the brittleness.

If people started by upgrading the amp first, there would be more newbie tele players (and more soapbar players, too.)

[Surgeon]

Re: These Knobs Are Made For Turning, And That's Just What They Do, One Of These Days

Go to an opthamologist and get your damn ears cleaned out!

Sorry, but that's the funniest thing I've read today!

[Mr 9finger]

Re: These Knobs Are Made For Turning, And That's Just What They Do, One Of These Days

I probably saved a lot of money on amps and other gear by buying that original white chassic Bogner XTC. I'm less picky about guitars and pickups because everything sounds good through it. After dialing it in with great tubes and biasing, it would make anything from a $150 - $4000 guitar sound just fine. Just change a few settings, and it'll match itself to any pickups or wood.

I hope to have mine by the end of the year if nothing goes to terribly wrong. A little Christmas present to myself for the holidays! It's gotten to the point now, that I'm running out of room quickly, but I'll make room for an XTC and matching cab! I can always double stack heads and share cabinets!