A Rig that works for you?

[PFDarkside]

Re: A Rig that works for you?

PFDarkside, I have had such a love for tube amps that I'm always looking for something cool. "Thank You" regarding my gear! I'm not much of a gear collector (way to much to mention) I use them as tools but this setup really covers a lot of territory, I'm kind of "Old-School" about amps, it's funny my son has heard me play SLO's for over a decade and when he was thinking of awesome amps, that was what he wanted (continuing the tradition) so I had to get that for him.

For a long time I was using a big board (with some Analogman stuff ) two stereo amps (Splawn and Mesa) and a combo of a Les Paul and Charvel style guitars.

Lately its been my Strat and Princeton Reverb with a much more modest pedalboard. I still love the other rig, but this one has a simplicity that allows me to just "play".

 

[Powdered Toast Man]

Re: A Rig that works for you?

My "rig" really depends on the situation I'm in. In rehearsals I'll usually use my low wattage smaller amps. For gigging it depends on the size of the gig and venue. For unmiked or larger stages I'll bring my 59 Bassman or Vibro King. Smaller stages where things are miked I might bring my 5E3 Deluxe. I use the same pedalboard regardless.

 

[Boogie Bill]

Re: A Rig that works for you?

Boogie. I have eight of them for various venues, from my Mark V:25 mini-stack to the 200-watt Mark III half-stack; the Maverick 212 or the DC-3 112 combos; or the Mark III, IV and V combos on top of Thiele cabs. Using Boogies since about 1995, and couldn't be happier.

Bill

 

[DeadandBuried]

Re: A Rig that works for you?

I've predominantly been a half stack user, since acquiring a Marshall JCM2000 in 2010, before that it'd be sharing backline with other bands or 50 watt combo amps provided on the night.

Over the years as I've played in venues across the country I've found that rarely can I turn my amp up and really let it sing. The last gig I played however I got to really crank it. I've seen players with smaller amps who can really turn it up and get a great sound as the amp is really cooking. And I've also considered the digital route too, Kemper, etc. Its usually been a "less-is-more" type rig too, keeping the smallest amount of pedals between the guitar and the amp. I'm not a massive effects user, if anything its just tuners and noise gates really, and an overdrive of some sort. Main guitar has always been a humbucker type one. One main and one back up.

This is all for originals bands, but if I were to be in a functions band I'd probably have to invest in a good quality combo amp that won't annoy soundmen or others in pubs. Wahs' choruses, compressors, delays and tremolos will come into play here I think. Add to that 2 types of guitars (single coil and a humbucker) to cover a range of sounds.

 

[Mincer]

Re: A Rig that works for you?

I like a light setup that requires 1 trip from the car...

A light, balanced guitar
Fractal AX8 direct to the board
In ear monitors

Sounds amazing every time.

 

[mantrasky]

Re: A Rig that works for you?

I like a light setup that requires 1 trip from the car...

A light, balanced guitar
Fractal AX8 direct to the board
In ear monitors

Sounds amazing every time.

That's great! But my amps sound better than my Fractal AxEfx II, in every situation but weight. "Nothing beats True Tube Tone!" When I do sessions, tube amps all the way. The AxEfx is not bad as a simulator, they don't sound as "Real" and when I record or live, the best tone wins. Simulators sound great, here and there but Not the main focus!

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: A Rig that works for you?

Mine is either the white chassis XTC 101B/212 for rock, or the 74 blackfaced Pro Reverb for anything where rock tone isn't the focus.

Over the years, I've tried to hang onto my favorite amps. Some come and go, but not the cream of the crop mint condition classics. I'm too passionate about those.

 

[Matt42]

Re: A Rig that works for you?

I'm getting closer to finding a rig that works for me. For a long time I was using cheap stuff, or borrowing stuff, totally unsure of what I was after. For a while I had a Mesa Lonestar, which was sweet, but too large for my needs at the time. I wish I had kept it, but alas. I had decided I wanted a smaller clean amp to use with OD pedals and ended up with an HRDiii. I ditched that pretty quickly and borrowed amps for about two years.

Now I've got a Super Sonic Twin (would rather have my Lonestar back), and a hand built 20 watt combo that breaks up so sweetly. It's a nice mixture, the Twin is a great big clean amp, and I use it mostly for Pedal Steel at this point. The 41st Bayonet (the hand built amp) is just amazing, it's exactly what I've always wanted in an amp, tbh.

I'm still working on my pedal setup, getting it all ironed out with the new amp (I just got the 41st a few weeks ago). I've got two pedals that wont be going anywhere (Carbon Copy and a Mooer Trem), but my ODs and my Phaser will be changing before the end of the year.

My guitars are a Telecaster FMT HH, a Squier VM HSS, and an MIM Strat. I want to add an Epi Dot and probably another more traditional Tele at some point, but the FMT Telecaster honestly does pretty much everything I want.

I'd post a family photo, but the Twin is getting surgery.

 

[chadd]

Re: A Rig that works for you?

Mesa Road King into a 2x12 with greenbacks. There's nothing I want to do that the amp doesn't do incredibly well.

 

[That90'sGuy]

Re: A Rig that works for you?

I've been through way more gear than I'd care to admit. I'm also not afraid to admit I've gone in circles on some things.

Guitars are a pretty simple thing these days. I like bigger guitars and I like the tonality of hollow body and semi-hollow guitars with Filtertrons or DynaSonics. There's a vibe that I get from Gretsch that I haven't found in any PRS, Gibson or Fender I've owned (and I've owned a lot including some good custom shop pieces). I've been through a few acoustics, but my Collings OM is a game changer and that's probably the guitar I'll be buried with.

Amps has been one wild rollercoaster. I was passed down a Vibrolux Reverb when I was only playing for a year or so, but it needed work (cap and resistor changes) to get sounding good which I didn't understand until I became much more experienced with gear and electronics. For years I was into heavier music and tried every pedal under the sun at that time to make the amp work, but it didn't so it got shelved. I needed more versatility.

I tried a few channel switchers like a Bad Cat Hot Cat 30, Crate V32 Palomino, Fargen Epic 30 DC, Hughes & Kettner Duotone and Triamps and several Bogner Shivas because I hated doing the pedal thing. After a while, I kept revisiting my tone and when I'd compared the Shiva (which was the best out of the list above) to the shelved Vibrolux and realized the Vibrolux was more organic sounding and responded much better. I had an epiphany, "THAT'S why people use single channel amps and push them with pedals".

After selling the last Shiva, I went back to using amps with pedals. I had my head set on Vox because I wanted more of a semi-dirty thing and was pretty successful using a Vox AC15H1TV for a little while, but missed the Fender thing so I fixed up the Vibrolux and was so happy with it I ended up buying more Fender-ish things with the intent of a backup, namely a vintage Super Reverb and a Swart AST Pro. I found a few pedals that actually sound good for dirt and these made me happy for a while, but I still missed having a channel switcher around because even the best pedals just don't sound as good as an amp with a dedicated distortion channel (at least from my experiences). The Super Reverb just didn't compare to the others so it got sold with no regrets.

I opened up my mind to revisiting Mesa and the things I didn't care about before (the stiffness, the uncompromising reaction to your pick attack) didn't discourage me anymore (probably due to my confidence as a player and the way I dig into the instrument) and I picked up a Mesa Royal Atlantic. That's probably the amp I use the most these days with the Swart. They both have their own thing and I appreciate each one for what it does. If I'm gigging, I'm picking the Mesa though.... it's just so darn versatile and has such a wide range of volume in which you can dial it in exactly how you need it thanks to the MultiWatt circuitry. They're both really inspiring and due to the AST and Vibrolux covering so much of the same territory, I'll likely be selling the Vibrolux.

 

[JeffB]

Re: A Rig that works for you?

What works for me and what is practical, are two different things.

 

[Lake Placid Blues]

Re: A Rig that works for you?

There are a lot of things that can work for me, but I now have a pretty good idea of what does not work well for me:

Lots of Pedals and pedal boards-I have never been satisfied chasing pedals into a clean amp platform. It just has not worked for me. This approach can get very expensive too. It adds up quickly.

Combo amps. I'm done with combo amps. Small 1x12s just don't have a big enough sound, and 2x12 combos are too big and heavy.

I'm also done with 4x12s, though, at least for most gigging. Nothing sounds like em but the practicality aspect requires that it stays at home or in a studio. Plus my drummer really likes open back cabs with our limited monitors and PA gear.

I have gone mainly to separate heads and relatively light weight 2x12 cabs or over sized 1x12s, with out the amp chassis being combined. I can mix and match speakers and heads for most situations this way and it's lighter than combo amps.

I like channel switching amps but usually only one channel at a time. My favorite high gain amp is the Marshall Silver Jubilee's high gain channel. My favorite clean amp/ smokey overdrive is a Bassman (with nos 5881s) or a JTM45 (with EL34s or 6CA7s). But recently I am really liking the Silver Jubilee's clean set up for clean, plus it has a loop so I can put a tasteful splash of reverb on it if I need. I'm toying with idea of adding a separate input gain for the clean channel so I don't need two amps and an A/B switch.

With Lew's new found enthusiasm for the Fender Mustang I'm looking at a modelling option more seriously now too. I didn't even know the Marshall JMD existed before, but I want to check that out now.

 

[Mincer]

Re: A Rig that works for you?

That's great! But my amps sound better than my Fractal AxEfx II, in every situation but weight. "Nothing beats True Tube Tone!" When I do sessions, tube amps all the way. The AxEfx is not bad as a simulator, they don't sound as "Real" and when I record or live, the best tone wins. Simulators sound great, here and there but Not the main focus!

Yeah, I don't know if my amps sound better, just different, and I grew up playing amps. I am just not into traveling or recording with them anymore. But I don't generally go for typical guitar sounds either.

 

[mantrasky]

Re: A Rig that works for you?

Yeah, I don't know if my amps sound better, just different, and I grew up playing amps. I am just not into traveling or recording with them anymore. But I don't generally go for typical guitar sounds either.

I really think the Modelers sound incredible! I thought my Fractal AxEfx II sounded great, next to each other it's pretty obvious the Tube amps are superior. In the home studio there perfect. Guitarists like Vai, John Petrucci, Alex Lifeson use the AxEfx on the road but more for "Effects" and not much as tone modifiers. They really Love their Tube Amps as the "Main-Guitar-Tone".

 

[mantrasky]

Re: A Rig that works for you?

Gearjoneser, that's some nice gear! I have a few that I like also, but I have so much gear now it take to long to list, if that makes sense? I'm really not a gear collector, but I have some.












Way to many more

 

[aleclee]

Re: A Rig that works for you?

For about the past 10 years, volume has been an issue for me. That ultimately led me down the digital path. Now I have two main rigs: one built around an AxeFx and a smaller/lighter one based around an Atomic Amplifire. If I can't run direct to FOH, I have a few options in terms of powered monitors. That pretty well covers all my practice / recording / performance requirements.

 

[mantrasky]

Re: A Rig that works for you?

For about the past 10 years, volume has been an issue for me. That ultimately led me down the digital path. Now I have two main rigs: one built around an AxeFx and a smaller/lighter one based around an Atomic Amplifire. If I can't run direct to FOH, I have a few options in terms of powered monitors. That pretty well covers all my practice / recording / performance requirements.

Very Cool \../

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: A Rig that works for you?

I never get tired of looking at rig pics and killer guitars!

 

[Phantasmagoria]

Re: A Rig that works for you?

I started out with a thrash pedal plugged into my Sanyo 2-in-1 stereo cassette recorder and have'nt had that much by way of gear since lol, though I've tried/played through a ton of stuff over the years..especially Marshall's, Mesa's & Peavey's....

My H&K Switchblade combo was probably the closest I ever came to owning anything high(er) end. It was also a real dog. :thumbsdow Looking back I just think something was wrong with it (blown caps/tranny?) lol...who knows..it sounded like ****.

Anyway, I thought I'd stick with lower budget stuff after that...& no regrets haha. I've got my trusty Bugera 333XL which is as sweet a sounding (and dependable) amp as any for a crazy low price..my hybrid Randall T2HL..did'nt break the bank either :laugh2: ..& also sounds/works great! My best ever gamble was my little Goldea Rex that I got from China for $150 (+ $50 for the unloaded 2x10 cab :lmao such a killer lunchbox, I would'nt trade it for anything out there....it's a beast that cost me less than the average pedal

Also love my AMT Stonehead (Solid State) & new Cicognani Brutus Live heads that I bought more recently (..the Brutus just a month ago) both tons of fun to play and sound phenomenal (to me..) ..again, I was fortunate enough to get good deals on both.

Randomly buying & flipping gear is'nt an option for me, since I have to figure in (often huge) shipping costs/possible damage in transit etc...so I make sure I either try before I buy...or make damn sure I'm going to like what I get lol..

Most of all..I like playing stuff..whether onstage or at home....and in the end ..no matter the rig, I've always made stuff work for me. I'll rock anything lol.

I think my AMT CN-1 Chameleon analog cab sim pedal has been pretty invaluable too. I've used it at home and live going straight into the PA. It sounds extremely realistic/organic/cool



Sweet little jam with the new Brutus head ..bit of 'verb/delay from my Zoom G1Xon multi-fx. Direct out with the AMT cab sim pedal (...why post pics when you can post video :lmao




A little bluesy shredding improv with my AMT Stonehead (plugged straight in ...DI out through the back ..no reverb/delay/effects..)

 

[Mincer]

Re: A Rig that works for you?

I really think the Modelers sound incredible! I thought my Fractal AxEfx II sounded great, next to each other it's pretty obvious the Tube amps are superior. In the home studio there perfect. Guitarists like Vai, John Petrucci, Alex Lifeson use the AxEfx on the road but more for "Effects" and not much as tone modifiers. They really Love their Tube Amps as the "Main-Guitar-Tone".

Yeah, I think it all depends on what you are looking for. I never went after 'standard guitar sounds', or tried to emulate anyone else's sound. I can get my sound with tube amps, but I can get it other ways too, so I choose the lighter option.