My Dm blues(rock)

[Al.C]

Re: My Dm blues(rock)

Thanks guys. Not surprising that I could sound a little like early Santana since I think I wore out my buddy's Abraxas album when I was a kid . And "Open Invitation" is one of my favorite rock tunes.
Well I have been e-mailing my brother who built the amp and he reminded me that the basic AC-30 design we used is not a high gain amp and driving the pre-amp all the way open doesn't give it's best tone. He did tell me we have 1/2 of a pre-amp tube unused and can easily add an extra stage to make it a true high gain amp. Sound like a plan-a high gain AC-30. Await new clips when it is done. As you cn tell I am not a prolific recorder so don't hold your breath waiting though.
Al

[Alvin Lee Fan]

Re: My Dm blues(rock)

Hey Al! Don't know why I didn't see this before. Sounded great, I loved the tone. I go for a fairly raunchy sound myself most of the time. I've always like to dial in more raunch than you need, then back down the guitar volume a bit to get your tone. You get a really nice touch sensitive setup that way, when you dig in the amp is there and ready to punch. Nice set, the phrasing and melody is there.

You're adding the extra gain stage to the amp? Any way to make it switchable so you can keep this setup as well? I love that amp

[Al.C]

Re: My Dm blues(rock)

Hey Al! Don't know why I didn't see this before. Sounded great, I loved the tone. I go for a fairly raunchy sound myself most of the time. I've always like to dial in more raunch than you need, then back down the guitar volume a bit to get your tone. You get a really nice touch sensitive setup that way, when you dig in the amp is there and ready to punch. Nice set, the phrasing and melody is there.

You're adding the extra gain stage to the amp? Any way to make it switchable so you can keep this setup as well? I love that amp

Thanks ALF. As far as switching in the extra gain stage that is exactly what the plan would be. I still want the ability to get the classic AC-30. I would just be able to switch in the extra gain stage to achieve a higher gain setting for a more sustaining, smoother overdrive.
Like you, I love to be able to dig in and get some punch, especially with double stops. I love double stops, probably use them too much. The way Santana uses them on the solo of "Open Invitation" is music to my ears. I tend not to use much bridge pu when playing at home but really have liked the way it cuts through in the recordings. Perhaps going for more of the neck pu, especially on a tune like this would have been a better fit. The intro section was played with both pu's and has a bit of a smoother tone (as would be expected).