British or American

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: British or American

i love my american tones. tweeds, browns and blacks.
i havent owned a marshall for a year or two and i dont miss it

Jeremy I agree...The biggest dilemma with the early Marshall sound,was that you had to crank the amp(s) to 10 to get the "God" tone!

My tones are all about that early tone,but it's kind of simulated through the use of external effects to approximate it..Funny thing is,I use an early NMV 50 watt Marshall head and I'm forced to still use an overdrive or distortion effect to get that cranked up tone...The attenuators I tryed seemed to kill the tone of my amp.

On the other hand,the BF Fender clean tone is a great platform to build on,simply because the amp is warm,round,and the mids are scooped back a bit.This style amp(in my case)is a great amp to take well to pedals...The 59 Bassman circuit works well,but I don't care for it's clean tones as much as I do with the BF Fender series..To me the 59 Bassman and the early Marshall tones are pretty similar and so I find I favor the BF Fender tones.

 

[tone4days]

Re: British or American

how well do amps who claim to combine both of these osunds do at actually achieving it

i am thinking about rivera amps specifically, but any in that genre that make the claim

and also, i hear MK series boogies to be different than fender or marshall (and each other) , yet they are american .... so where are they on the spectrum?

 

[jeremy]

Re: British or American

the early boogies sounds like hot rodded fenders to me. the 2nd input sounds like a 60's fender with a stiffer power section and plugging into the 1st input adds another gain stage or two to the 2nd input signal path.

i like rivera amps. marshall flavor on one side, fendery flavor on the other. i wouldnt say that they Nail the two tones but they suit the purpose pretty well

 

[Jeff_H]

Re: British or American

I am firmly a British tone guy. I do like some of the lush clean sounds you can get from a Fender, but there are plenty of good clean tones on the British side. However, when it comes to overdriven tones and distorted tones...British all the way. I have never liked the drive tones of Fender's (for me and my playing)...regardless of whether it's a Deluxe Reverb, Twin, Champ...whatever. Not that some players don't sound KILLER thru them, but for me....Marshall or clones there of all the way.

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: British or American

I've always been into both American and British amps, and just choose them based on my mood, or to a band that needed that tone in particular.

I tend to hang onto my favorite guitars and play them for years, rather than moving through a lot of guitars. Amps, on the other hand, are things I constantly buy/sell.....but now I'm settling on what I love the most, after owning around 90 amps, of all styles. It's hard to believe I've owned that many amps, but now I have a complete viewpoint on almost every amp there is.

On the American side, I've had all the classic Fenders, Peaveys, Musicman, several classic Mesa models, a Rivera, and the best ones I've had were Blues Pearl.
On the British side, I've had a dozen Marshalls, Bogner, Gibson, Vox AC-30, Matchless, Randall tube amp, and a few boutique clones from Brittone, Risson, and Metaltronix.

Overall, for my tone, and the ability to take pedals well, British amps like Bogner, Matchless, Bad Cat are the amps that I really love. I also love American amps too though, and I'm tending to take the boutique route with that as well. To me, the pinnacle of American tone is Bruno, Tone King, Victoria, the Custom Shop Fender amps, and most of the small handbuilt companies, like Mission, Blues Pearl etc.

To me, there's no reason to be steadfast in one direction or the other. Own a few of both, and your guitar playing experience will be better, and you'll learn to appreciate why each type has their place in music. Don't be snobby....own both! You only live once. hehe

 

[wixedmords]

Re: British or American

I like to have both, but if it came down to one it would be British.

It is fun to do mods that blur the line though.

 

[rivera213]

Re: British or American

For me it depends.

For example, i like the sound of Laney's but not Marshalls.

I like the sound of Peavey's but not Mesa's.

But i'm a 6L6 Tube man so hat would assume i'm an american tone fan, but hate (with a passion) anything Mesa.

 

[TimmyPage]

Re: British or American

I like Vox and Marshall. BF Fenders are cool with me too, but if I could only own two amps, It'd be down to an AC30 and a JTM45.

+1 to all of that. I enjoy fender amps from time to time, and if I were rich, I would own a Bassman, but over all Ac30 and JTM45 are my favorites.

 

[wixedmords]

Re: British or American

Find the sound that fits your ear. Resist being lumped into a category. Find your own recipe.

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: British or American

I think in terms of having both at my disposal, like an A/B rig. For awhile, I was running a A/B rig of the Bogner/2-12 cab next to the Bassman LTD. I could pick up any guitar and find the tone that suits it best, just by hitting a few buttons on the floor. 3 Channels of Marshalesque tone, and 1 authentic Fender tone.

 

[JeffB]

Re: British or American

This is the only thing that needs to be said..............


.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
..
.

:bigthumb:
:laugh2:

 

[some_dude]

Re: British or American

I used to be all about the American high gain.....mostly Mesa, but even the Laney I had sounded more American high gain than British.

As the gain came down and the overdrive went up I found the Mesa's to be a little on the stiff side. Now, my first exposure to British tone was Marshall, and I've never liked the sound of Marshalls and Vox isn't my bag so I always thought I just didn't like the sound of British amps in general. Then I came across an Orange....this has lead me towards the 'other' British amps, and those I'm jivving with quite well.

 

[firebirdV]

Re: British or American

I used to be all about the American high gain.....mostly Mesa, but even the Laney I had sounded more American high gain than British.

As the gain came down and the overdrive went up I found the Mesa's to be a little on the stiff side. Now, my first exposure to British tone was Marshall, and I've never liked the sound of Marshalls and Vox isn't my bag so I always thought I just didn't like the sound of British amps in general. Then I came across an Orange....this has lead me towards the 'other' British amps, and those I'm jivving with quite well.

What kind of Mesas are we talking about here?

 

[some_dude]

Re: British or American

What kind of Mesas are we talking about here?

Rectifier and MarkIII.

 

[Simon_F]

Re: British or American

The funny thing about 'British tone' is that it all started with a copy of an American amp and was pioneered by some nice English boys copying American music. :chairfall

 

[Sludgenutz]

Re: British or American

I am an American amp tone fan, but not for any other particular reason other than happenstance (is that a word?).

My first good amp was my 6550 powered Model T (like marrying the first hot girl you schtup). One of my first good cabs was loaded with an EVM12L (like marrying the second hot girl you schtup). I like it as much as a 4x12.

When I play British tone gear, it really sounds awesome...but it sounds like someone else. I just end up "parroting" the patterns played by someone else.

The "American tone" to me is more HiFi from top to bottom. The "British tone" is wonderfully crowded in the mids. I tend to like a bigger open tone. I am not too technical, and base a lot a lot my tone on palm mutes, so the "American tone" just seems to suit me better.