When we say "Cleans", what do we generally mean?

[MetalManiac]

I dont think we really mean 100% clean, do you? Sometimes we do, like if we own a Twin Reverb or a Showman and are playing through monster wattage speakers..OR conversely we are playing clean at low volumes But I think we mostly in general mean an amp that is clean on the verge of some breakup , liike a Deluxe Reverb and maybe cleaner when the volume is backed down. Just thought Id make that distinction.
What do you say?

 

[crusty philtrum]

Re: When we say "Cleans", what do we generally mean?

The definition of clean and dirty has changed a lot over the years.

As guitar players, most of us wouldn't want 'hi-fi' clean. Even what old farts like me consider as a clean sound is coloured in desireable ways, e.g Fender or Vox cleans. Not distorted, but ... something magical and three-dimensional that the old tube amps have, like playing a 40-50 watt Fender amp quietly at home late at night with a good guitar.

In the 40 years that i've been playing guitar there have been huge changes in amps, sounds and the music that's been made. The dirty side of guitar sound has got dirtier and dirtier, and dirty guitar sounds have become more prevasive in more musical genres. Sometimes i feel that this has reflected on what people think of when they think of clean sounds (and of course there are probably some people who have absolutely no use for clean sounds, dislike them and wouldn't know what to do with them). Many of today's high-gain amps have compromised their clean sounds, and those that have sounds that can be called clean don't have much clean 'character'.

I blame it all on the advent of the master volume control, which, whilst serving the purpose for which it was designed, changed the musical landscape and amps in ways which diminished the quality of clean tones. I'm oldschool, and believe that all good guitar sounds are based on a good clean sound. But i know that i'm probably in a small minority, a dying breed, a dinosaur.

 

[formula73]

Re: When we say "Cleans", what do we generally mean?

When I talk about clean, I talk about the nastiest, harshest, brightest, cleanest clean around. Sterile, some might say. I respect Crusty's opinion but even beyond MV amps, multi channel affects me. I want clean CLEAN and dirty, DIRTY. I like radically different eq settings for them both so, ideally, the dirty tone isn't affected by the clean tone in the slightest.

When I play, however, I'll roll off the volume if it's a 1ch amp to get close enough for gov't work.

 

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: When we say "Cleans", what do we generally mean?

I think some of my overdriven tones are like other player's clean tones...

To me clean is like you mention...Twin Reverb clean...Lots of headroom and no breakup..I think of early Marshalls(My fav tones)as being overdriven..

I Like a BF Fender for my clean tones and basically a british,crunchy marshall type tone for my overdriven/distorted tones..

 

[CTN]

Re: When we say "Cleans", what do we generally mean?

clean with hints of breakup. like 85%-90% clean, with a little bit of push on the edges. warm low end, bright highs, big open midrange, no honk.

 

[some_dude]

Re: When we say "Cleans", what do we generally mean?

I typically like my clean to have some grind in it. Tube amp turned up slightly too loud kind of stuff.

I also prefer my cleans to have some sag in them. Under-spec'd, tube rectified power supply type stuff.

 

[phil_104]

Re: When we say "Cleans", what do we generally mean?

To me, clean is my Blues JR without to mush gain pushing it. It's the strat neck pickup tone that is just a touch bluesy, and shows the slightest grit when hit really hard on attack.

 

[ItsaBass]

Re: When we say "Cleans", what do we generally mean?

Cleans to me mean no crunchiness at all. Fender Twin on 2 with no effects, for example.

Another way I use the term is when referring to the least dirty channel on a multi-channel amp, even though it may not actually be "clean clean" all the time.

 

[JOLLY]

Re: When we say "Cleans", what do we generally mean?

Not dirty.

 

[CAMartin]

Re: When we say "Cleans", what do we generally mean?

There's so many shades of "clean" that it's impossible to not add other descriptions. There's the "crystal cleans" that you get can get with active pickups and solid state amps (Metallica likes those), there's the "on the edge cleans" that you can get from a tube amp that'll get some dirt with hard playing...and many others.

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: When we say "Cleans", what do we generally mean?

When I say "cleans" I mean everything from Jimi doing the Wind Cries Mary or Little Wing to Mark Knopfler doing Sultans of Swing to Wes Montgomery doing West Coast Blues to BB King doing the Thrill Is Gone.

 

[Bludave]

Re: When we say "Cleans", what do we generally mean?

I dont think we really mean 100% clean, do you? Sometimes we do, like if we own a Twin Reverb or a Showman and are playing through monster wattage speakers..OR conversely we are playing clean at low volumes But I think we mostly in general mean an amp that is clean on the verge of some breakup , liike a Deluxe Reverb and maybe cleaner when the volume is backed down. Just thought Id make that distinction.
What do you say?

A Deluxe Reverb is not a very clean amp. In fact out of most Fenders that I have played through they are usually the dirtiest. Mainly because at 22w you have to crank them especially when you are playing with a drummer. A Super Reverb, a Twin, a Showman Reverb are clean..... very clean, but even these can drive pretty dirty if you crank them. The beauty of a Twin is you can get them to about 5 or 6 on the volume before you get any kind of breakup, but at the stage you are blowing the windows out of most places. When I play with my Deluxe I usually have the volume on 3 and I use a TS9 to push it a bit harder. With this approach with my guitars volume I have a touch of hair but barley, if I back off the volume just a bit it cleans up beautifully.

 

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: When we say "Cleans", what do we generally mean?

A Deluxe Reverb is not a very clean amp. In fact out of most Fenders that I have played through they are usually the dirtiest. Mainly because at 22w you have to crank them especially when you are playing with a drummer. A Super Reverb, a Twin, a Showman Reverb are clean..... very clean, but even these can drive pretty dirty if you crank them. The beauty of a Twin is you can get them to about 5 or 6 on the volume before you get any kind of breakup, but at the stage you are blowing the windows out of most places. When I play with my Deluxe I usually have the volume on 3 and I use a TS9 to push it a bit harder. With this approach with my guitars volume I have a touch of hair but barley, if I back off the volume just a bit it cleans up beautifully.

I use a 40 watt BF Pro Reverb alot...Even though I have to run pedals through it to get the overdriven/distortion tones from it,I've also used it as a strict blues amp at jam nights etc...I Like having the tone just being able to break up,but when you volume back a bit on the guitar,the tone cleans up.. This to me is also a sign of a decent amp that not only responds to backing off on the volume,but also reacts to the way you play into the amp..Play hard and these amps sag a little..

Off topic a bit,but I've always felt that a BF Deluxe Reverb amp is the ultimate clubbing amp...If I could only have one amp stranded on a desert island,it would be this amp!

 

[MetalManiac]

Re: When we say "Cleans", what do we generally mean?

Off topic a bit,but I've always felt that a BF Deluxe Reverb amp is the ultimate clubbing amp...If I could only have one amp stranded on a desert island,it would be this amp!

Your not missing much with the Pro. Its very hard to tell, but the Dlx Reverb, considered widely as the grail, and rightfully so, dioes sound better, but volume wise, they are about the same when cranked , and like I said, the tone difference isnt that much. The Pro is a great amp. Its louder, sure ,maybe enough where a studio enigineer might be concerned, but thats about it.

 

[Ashurbanipal]

Re: When we say "Cleans", what do we generally mean?

I'm with Crusty and Lew.

When I think clean, I think Hendrix, the Shadows, early Who (those opening chords to 'I Can't Explain).

The thing about those old non-MV amps is that when you turn them up a bit, there seems to be this slight compression stage before the onset of proper break-up, which is very responsive to the kind of guitar/pups one has.

I do think these days, with all the modelling technology,pedals, and multi-channel amps available, the divide between clean and dirty has become more mutually exclusive. There's quite a universe between the two worth exploring.

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: When we say "Cleans", what do we generally mean?

Off topic a bit,but I've always felt that a BF Deluxe Reverb amp is the ultimate clubbing amp...If I could only have one amp stranded on a desert island,it would be this amp!

Me too. I gig with a pair of DR's just to spread the sound around and get a "wider" sound wave going behind me.

A blackface Pro Reverb was my main amp for many, many years. Right through most of the 70's, all of the 80's, and into the 90's.

 

[mwalluk]

Re: When we say "Cleans", what do we generally mean?

Clean is pretty subjective, much like the word tone.

To some clean is Fender, others Vox, while others it means Hiwatt. Some clean means bluesy, verge of break up.

 

[bungalowbill]

Re: When we say "Cleans", what do we generally mean?

This pretty much sums it up....

 

[dano8180]

Re: When we say "Cleans", what do we generally mean?

I think of Eric Johnson when I think clean. I think the track "East Wes" is the pinnacle of clean tone.

 

[Toe-Knee]

Re: When we say "Cleans", what do we generally mean?

I dont think we really mean 100% clean, do you?

I do. I like my cleans to be ultra pristine and sparkling often with a touch of verb or delay.