A Humbling Experience w/ Amps

[Pink Unicorn Horsey]

Re: A Humbling Experience w/ Amps

UPDATE: Three weeks later...

So yesterday I went back to the same guitar shop and tried out both the Victoria 20112 and the Blues Jr. relic for an extended period of time. Here's what I found:

• Each amp provides a good amount of grit for what I'm looking to play, but the Blues Jr. can get dirtier if I want it to.
• Each amp cleans up nicely when rolling back the guitar's volume knob.
• Each amp is responsive to changes in playing dynamics, although the Vic does a slightly better job of this.
• The Vic allows more of the guitar's natural tone to come through.
• The Vic sounds more open and atmospheric, while the the sound coming from the Blues Jr. didn't seem to spread out as much.

Here's something else that happened: The fuse on the Blues Jr. I played last time must've gone buh-bye, because I couldn't get any power out of it. No volume, no power light, no warming tubes...nuttin'. Luckily, the guy had another one for me to try out. I took this as a testament to the Blues Jr.'s roadworthiness.

All that being said, I can see now why the Vic fetches a price nearly triple that of the Blues Jr. The last three points in the bulleted list are enough for me to feel the difference is huge. It's not meant to be a distortion generator; for that I can always go with a cranked Vox with a boost in front.

The Blues Jr. is still a hell of an amp, but when you sit in front of the two for a while, learning all of its nuances, you begin to see the difference. I can see myself growing more deeply in love with the Vic over time (awwww) while the Blues Jr. wouldn't satisfy and I'd be constantly looking to pedal it up.

:dance:

- Keith

 

[Skarekrough]

Re: A Humbling Experience w/ Amps

The fuse on the Blues Jr. I played last time must've gone buh-bye, because I couldn't get any power out of it. No volume, no power light, no warming tubes...nuttin'. Luckily, the guy had another one for me to try out. I took this as a testament to the Blues Jr.'s roadworthiness.

You shouldn't.

I own two Blues Jr's and they're rock solid. Never needed to replace the fuse on them....and I've beaten one of them pretty savagely.

 

[Pink Unicorn Horsey]

Re: A Humbling Experience w/ Amps

You shouldn't.

I own two Blues Jr's and they're rock solid. Never needed to replace the fuse on them....and I've beaten one of them pretty savagely.

Perhaps then it's more of a testament to the hacks that go into that store and treat the equipment like the gorilla in those classic Samsonite luggage commercials.

What's your rig with the Blues Jr. like? What have you found works or doesn't work well with it?

- Keith

 

[Sludgenutz]

Re: A Humbling Experience w/ Amps

UPDATE: Three weeks later...

So yesterday I went back to the same guitar shop and tried out both the Victoria 20112 and the Blues Jr. relic for an extended period of time. Here's what I found:

• Each amp provides a good amount of grit for what I'm looking to play, but the Blues Jr. can get dirtier if I want it to.
• Each amp cleans up nicely when rolling back the guitar's volume knob.
• Each amp is responsive to changes in playing dynamics, although the Vic does a slightly better job of this.
• The Vic allows more of the guitar's natural tone to come through.
• The Vic sounds more open and atmospheric, while the the sound coming from the Blues Jr. didn't seem to spread out as much.

Here's something else that happened: The fuse on the Blues Jr. I played last time must've gone buh-bye, because I couldn't get any power out of it. No volume, no power light, no warming tubes...nuttin'. Luckily, the guy had another one for me to try out. I took this as a testament to the Blues Jr.'s roadworthiness.

All that being said, I can see now why the Vic fetches a price nearly triple that of the Blues Jr. The last three points in the bulleted list are enough for me to feel the difference is huge. It's not meant to be a distortion generator; for that I can always go with a cranked Vox with a boost in front.

The Blues Jr. is still a hell of an amp, but when you sit in front of the two for a while, learning all of its nuances, you begin to see the difference. I can see myself growing more deeply in love with the Vic over time (awwww) while the Blues Jr. wouldn't satisfy and I'd be constantly looking to pedal it up.

:dance:

- Keith

KG, I'm glad that you retested those amps a few weeks later. It takes me two weeks with the gear in front of me to "soak into my bones".

In an automotive arena, much the same thing can happen when trying to locate a noisy valve rockers among 8 or more tipping/tapping rockers. You see them, you hear them, but it is a mystery as to which rocker is the offending part. The best thing one can do is shut the engine down, walk away, and try it again...even ten minutes later. Sure enough, that rocker noise that was impossible to locate, becomes as easy to identify as the nose on one's face.

Amp shopping is a bitch. I think it is at least 4 times harder to find suitable amp, than a suitable guitar. Like many things in life, it takes 3x the money to get that extra 10% return. But that 10% extra can make all the difference in the world.

edit: Worthless trivial consumerist factoid: It was not Samsonite that ran the crazed gorilla commercials. It was American Tourister.:13:

 

[Pink Unicorn Horsey]

Re: A Humbling Experience w/ Amps

Amp shopping is a bitch. I think it is at least 4 times harder to find suitable amp, than a suitable guitar.

And having a good-sounding amp is agruably at least four times as important as having a good-sounding guitar. (This is fodder for another thread, no doubt.)

Thanks for sharing in my frustration, bro.

edit: Worthless trivial consumerist factoid: It was not Samsonite that ran the crazed gorilla commercials. It was American Tourister.:13:

:smack: A great commercial, too. How ironic that, great as it was, I could remember everything about the commercial except the brand of the product.