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Advantages of a one-channel amp?

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  • #16
    Re: Advantages of a one-channel amp?

    A single channel amp can be trouble if you like or need drastically different tones from song to song, if you play multiple covers from various bands for example. But you can still compensate with the right pedals and have a passable wide variety at your disposal.

    I like it when single channel amps have footswitchable gain boosts. So it's kind of two channels in one, and you can keep your TS9/SD1 at home.

    Other than that, they're generally cheaper, simpler to maintain and they just feel right.
    Last edited by Diego; 05-17-2020, 06:55 AM.
    Epiphone LP Standard PlusTop Pro
    Ibanez SZ320 / A8 DD103 bridge.
    Ibanez RG270 / Screamin' Demon bridge.

    Egnater Tweaker 15 Head / Laney Cub 8 / 2x12 - Celestion V30+K100
    Line 6 M13 and plenty of stompboxes I rarely use!

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    • #17
      Re: Advantages of a one-channel amp?

      I just change the sounds with effects. But if you like a million channels, that's cool. I have a few 2 channel amps, but I never use the gain channel.
      Administrator of the SDUGF

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      • #18
        Re: Advantages of a one-channel amp?

        There are pros and cons to everything. But, IMO...and I say this as a huge fan of two channel amps, and an owner of a Fender Pro Jr.

        It makes you use every other tool in the box to do what you want. Amp controls, guitar controls, and hands. There is a lot to be said for truly mastering a limited set of things.

        Assuming you do that - I think it can be a big win. But if you go straight to pedals, you jump right back to the land of infinite possibility. But it does really depend on your needs.

        I could easily live with one good dirt channel, but I like to play clean stuff too. And I like to set up 2/3/4 channels with dirt/clean/pedals/etc for just what I want.

        My perfect combo is a clean channel, a dirt channel and a louder button. My Stiletto does that.
        Last edited by Aceman; 05-17-2020, 08:20 AM.
        Originally posted by Bad City
        He's got the crowd on his side and the blue jean lights in his eyes...

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        • #19
          Re: Advantages of a one-channel amp?

          My dream amp is still a Fender Princeton.

          (or a 6v6 Mesa boogie... but those cost half of what I earn each year).

          Problem with 1 channel amps, for me- is the need of OD pedal infront- if i need to change from a clean tone, to an overdriven one.

          If somethings important- send a PM. I might be offline for long periods. Rock on!!!

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          • #20
            Re: Advantages of a one-channel amp?

            Originally posted by Empty Pockets View Post
            Simple amps sound better than complex ones.
            Patently false. Good amps sound good. The only guarantee is that a simpler amp is simpler.

            My Pro Jr. is 1 tone knob and 1 gain knob. Almost as simple as it gets. Epic Cheap Trick tone. Total fail at VH1

            My Mesa Stiletto is two channels, 3 modes and a bunch of other stuff. Nails VH1. Can do cheap Trick or Rush, but not my go to.

            My Hughes and Ketner TM18, well...Simple on the surface, but actually more complicated than the Mesa. Nails Rush, not the amp for Cheap Trick or VH1.

            So, my simple amp may be perfect for the one thing it is perfect for, but my more complicated amps sound just as good or better at more things. So much for your point...better has no meaning without context.
            Originally posted by Bad City
            He's got the crowd on his side and the blue jean lights in his eyes...

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            • #21
              Advantages of a one-channel amp?

              Originally posted by Diego View Post
              A single channel amp can be trouble if you like or need drastically different tones from song to song, if you play multiple covers from various bands for example.
              When I have to be ‘a different guitarist’ in a ‘different band’ each song to do covers, I tend to use modeling and the amp becomes just a clean P.A. for whatever the modeler is putting out. It’s usually too drastic a change for any multi channel amp to do the job.

              When I want to be myself, I use a an amp that sounds good to me from clean through saturated on its one channel, set it to edge of breakup, and use the guitar volume or pickup switching and my hand technique, and worst case a boost/drive pedal, to move from clean to singing leads.

              Most multi channel amps I’ve owned, I tended to gravitate to the best channel it had and used the guitar and my hands it get variety out of it. Sometimes switching guitars if I need something dramatically different. Most channel switchers I’ve owned sounded too much like changing the radio station in the middle of the song. I got smoother transitions using my hands or the guitar controls. So in the end, I’ve never found a practical use for multiple channels.

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              • #22
                Re: Advantages of a one-channel amp?

                ^^ My "Blackstar" has a "loudness" sounding clean channel- that goes from clean to "SRV driven"-

                And the OD channel goes from "clean, but with a "telephone eq"- mids, no bass and highs- to extreme gain settings.

                If somethings important- send a PM. I might be offline for long periods. Rock on!!!

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                • #23
                  Re: Advantages of a one-channel amp?

                  Originally posted by Aceman View Post
                  Good amps sound good. The only guarantee is that a simpler amp is simpler.
                  My Pro Jr. is 1 tone knob and 1 gain knob. Almost as simple as it gets. Epic Cheap Trick tone. Total fail at VH1
                  My Mesa Stiletto is two channels, 3 modes and a bunch of other stuff. Nails VH1. Can do cheap Trick or Rush, but not my go to
                  My Hughes and Ketner TM18, well...Simple on the surface, but actually more complicated than the Mesa. Nails Rush, not the amp for Cheap Trick or VH1.
                  So, my simple amp may be perfect for the one thing it is perfect for, but my more complicated amps sound just as good or better at more things. So much for your point...better has no meaning without context.
                  I'd have to agree with this on principle.... the question really comes down to -how many sounds do you want/need and can you get them with a single channel amp, or a single channel amp and pedals/fx, or do you need a multi channel amp or multi channel with pedals/fx to get the sounds you want.

                  For me, I have only 6-8 base tones I use -all accomplished with the pickup switch and pedals upstream of a great sounding single channel amp -but that's not going to be enough for many people -ESPECIALLY if you are dialing in a wide swath of classic guitar tones all of the map.
                  “For me, when everything goes wrong – that’s when adventure starts.” Yvonne Chouinard

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                  • #24
                    Re: Advantages of a one-channel amp?

                    I've owned several BF and SF Fenders, Marshalls, my SUNN...but never really found the tone I was looking for until I bought my Mesa Mark III. When I ran into financial troubles 23 years ago, I sold the vintage amps but hung on to the two Mesas I had. I've bought several since.

                    The clean tone was as good as any BF Fender, including the vintage Deluxe Reverb I had. Deep crunch out of the R2 channel, and the lead channel soared like no other.

                    A big part of it for me is that I don't like pedal distortion. NONE of them actually sound like a distorted tube amplifier. Some of them can give you a singing violin effect, but most don't do very well trying to emulate an amp on the verge of breakup. And they're hash-y and noisy. The bands I've been in have required pristine cleans, occasional crunch, and ripping leads.

                    I get that from the Boogies, and I ain't going back.

                    Bill
                    When you've had budget guitars for a number of years, you may find that your old instrument is holding you back. A quality guitar can inspire you to write great songs, improve your understanding of the Gdim chord while in the Lydian Mode, cure the heartbreak of cystic acne--and help you find true love in the process.

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                    • #25
                      Re: Advantages of a one-channel amp?

                      Originally posted by Boogie Bill View Post
                      I've owned several BF and SF Fenders, Marshalls, my SUNN...but never really found the tone I was looking for until I bought my Mesa Mark III. When I ran into financial troubles 23 years ago, I sold the vintage amps but hung on to the two Mesas I had. I've bought several since.

                      The clean tone was as good as any BF Fender, including the vintage Deluxe Reverb I had. Deep crunch out of the R2 channel, and the lead channel soared like no other.

                      A big part of it for me is that I don't like pedal distortion. NONE of them actually sound like a distorted tube amplifier. Some of them can give you a singing violin effect, but most don't do very well trying to emulate an amp on the verge of breakup. And they're hash-y and noisy. The bands I've been in have required pristine cleans, occasional crunch, and ripping leads.

                      I get that from the Boogies, and I ain't going back.

                      Bill
                      If your like me, and like power tube break up and speaker distortion -pedals with some preamp headroom are a better fit -but to your point if your tone sculpting primarily with overdriving the tube pres -then a multi channel makes a tone of sense.
                      “For me, when everything goes wrong – that’s when adventure starts.” Yvonne Chouinard

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                      • #26
                        Re: Advantages of a one-channel amp?

                        Originally posted by NegativeEase View Post
                        If your like me, and like power tube break up and speaker distortion -pedals with some preamp headroom are a better fit -but to your point if your tone sculpting primarily with overdriving the tube pres -then a multi channel makes a tone of sense.
                        I like power tube break up too, but it doesn't work if you also need pristine cleans. And running even a Deluxe Reverb on 7-8-9 is probably going to get you fired from a lot of clubs.

                        The other issue is if I'm running delay, I want the delay AFTER the distortion. Most of the popular vintage single channel amps don't have effect loops.... And delay doesn't work well in the front end of a wide open amp. So now you need distortion into a delay into a clean amp.

                        There are many ways of getting things done; everybody has their own system. A Boogie works for me.

                        Bill
                        When you've had budget guitars for a number of years, you may find that your old instrument is holding you back. A quality guitar can inspire you to write great songs, improve your understanding of the Gdim chord while in the Lydian Mode, cure the heartbreak of cystic acne--and help you find true love in the process.

                        Comment


                        • #27
                          Re: Advantages of a one-channel amp?

                          Originally posted by Boogie Bill View Post
                          I like power tube break up too, but it doesn't work if you also need pristine cleans. And running even a Deluxe Reverb on 7-8-9 is probably going to get you fired from a lot of clubs.

                          The other issue is if I'm running delay, I want the delay AFTER the distortion. Most of the popular vintage single channel amps don't have effect loops.... And delay doesn't work well in the front end of a wide open amp. So now you need distortion into a delay into a clean amp.

                          There are many ways of getting things done; everybody has their own system. A Boogie works for me.

                          Bill
                          totally, power tube distortion is all about sizing you amp for the situation -which usually means you have to own a lot of amps -or a power brake etc
                          “For me, when everything goes wrong – that’s when adventure starts.” Yvonne Chouinard

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                          • #28
                            Re: Advantages of a one-channel amp?

                            I've heard many 'simple amps' that sound terrible to me, as well as channel-switching monsters that sound amazing. But I can get by with most any amp with a good clean channel and reverb, and I'm good. My playing/sound is less dependent on the amp, I guess, although it helps to have a good one.
                            Administrator of the SDUGF

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                            • #29
                              Re: Advantages of a one-channel amp?

                              My Spidervalve has 128 different pre-sets. It sounds killer. My Randall has a clean channel and two drive options. I tend to use just the clean channel and get dirt from pedals with it. My Picovale is one channel, class A I think, though I could be wrong. I can get a pure clean sound from it, but it won't be very loud. I tend to set it cleanish and then hit it with pedals. Plus I can swap tubes in it very easily if I want to change the overall character. It sounds killer. Especially since I decided to use the Randall as my death metal amp and let it be more my hot "Marshall" type amp.

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                              • #30
                                Re: Advantages of a one-channel amp?

                                A multi channel amp based on, say, a Princeton (Boogie Mark series) will sound and feel completely different from one based on a Plexi (Friedman BE100 for example). If designed well, you can expect a tonal lineage from cleans to high gain in that respective series. I.e.: Princeton clean, Princeton drive and then something that takes that tone to the nTh factor. Same with Friedman (plexi, plexi modded, high gain plexi, as shown/explained in the Jose Arredondo video from Pete Thorn).

                                Those are the 'simple' multichannel amps. There are a few that are much, much more complicated. For example, the Hughes and Kettner Triamp mk3 features 6 channels with each an individual boost plus three (!) individual power sections that take any tube you like, so you can have 6l6 for your cleans and high gain leads, EL34's for rhythm and Marshally tones and have it all. However, it sounded a lot worse than my Revv generator 120.

                                About the generator 120. I tried that next to my beloved JCM800 2203 and the Revv blew the Marshall out of the water without hesitation. Not just with the amount of gain but also the power, the clarity, the crunch, the attack. It's one of the few amps I have ever tried that I feel that does the multi-sound thing in 1 head amazingly well. Highly recommended.

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