Crazy amp comments I encounter in my hunt for a new amp

Tiltsta said:
There's higher voltages running around a tube amp, the paper thin traces on a pcb can't properly transmit these signals without adding unpleasant distortion, that's why pcb amps sound thin and harsh.
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Yeah, I guess I am missing the "tinker" gene, but I never understood buying something only to change everything about it. I prefer to look around until I find what I want, and then buy it.
 
Gary Blanchard said:
Yeah, I guess I am missing the "tinker" gene, but I never understood buying something only to change everything about it. I prefer to look around until I find what I want, and then buy it.
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Do you own an amp for electric guitar shenanigans?
 
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Tiltsta said:
There's higher voltages running around a tube amp, the paper thin traces on a pcb can't properly transmit these signals without adding unpleasant distortion, that's why pcb amps sound thin and harsh.
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i know that pcb amps should not have a sound/tone difference from ptp hand wired amps, but damn do the ptp hand wired amps sound better. now maybe that's more because the hand wired ones are using considerably higher end components and especially transformers. but you can't make me believe that a bugera is ever going to sound as good as a dr. z in the same wattage.
i've played both, on stage, and there is NO comparison.
 
mongooz said:
i know that pcb amps should not have a sound/tone difference from ptp hand wired amps, but damn do the ptp hand wired amps sound better. now maybe that's more because the hand wired ones are using considerably higher end components and especially transformers. but you can't make me believe that a bugera is ever going to sound as good as a dr. z in the same wattage.
i've played both, on stage, and there is NO comparison.
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I think this is part of where the idea originates. A handwired, ultra high quality boutique PTP amp like the Dr. Z is going to sound better than a cheap PCB amp made to be a Stupid Deal of the Day item at 199.99. I contend that if one were to make a PTP and PCB amp using exactly the same components, no one on Earth could tell the difference in sound. A Dr. Z. design and components on a PCB would sound the same as the PTP.
 
Tiltsta said:
I think this is part of where the idea originates. A handwired, ultra high quality boutique PTP amp like the Dr. Z is going to sound better than a cheap PCB amp made to be a Stupid Deal of the Day item at 199.99. I contend that if one were to make a PTP and PCB amp using exactly the same components, no one on Earth could tell the difference in sound. A Dr. Z. design and components on a PCB would sound the same as the PTP.
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i'd agree with that. i'm not sure what the resistance difference is between the gauge wire used in PTP amps and the PCB paths, and i'm sure there is some difference in (maybe) output per volt input, but i don't know that you would really "hear" it.
 
Gary Blanchard said:
Yeah, I guess I am missing the "tinker" gene, but I never understood buying something only to change everything about it. I prefer to look around until I find what I want, and then buy it.
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I used to mod the hell out of every guitar I bought. Then I finally realized, after spending SO much cash, that I was just throwing money away. I hardly mod at all anymore. The most I'll do these days is a pickup swap, and I try to resist that if at all possible.
 
Guitar Heel said:
I used to mod the hell out of every guitar I bought. Then I finally realized, after spending SO much cash, that I was just throwing money away. I hardly mod at all anymore. The most I'll do these days is a pickup swap, and I try to resist that if at all possible.
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I knew banjo players who would swap out almost every component of a new banjo and I just wondered why you would buy something you didn't like. But I am also technologically ignorant and easy to please, so I have that going for me. :grin:

I don't knock tinkering, but I sure don't get it.
 
Gary Blanchard said:
I knew banjo players who would swap out almost every component of a new banjo and I just wondered why you would buy something you didn't like. But I am also technologically ignorant and easy to please, so I have that going for me. :grin:

I don't knock tinkering, but I sure don't get it.
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at the time, I was just broke, and thought I could turn chicken shit into chicken salad...or something like that. didn't really work, and wound up spending just as much $ in the end as I would have on a nice instrument to begin with.
 
People worry more about internet buzzwords than they do about just standing in front of the amp and hearing it.
 
I am so, so glad that I'm not a tone chaser. Even more glad that I'm not obsessed with the nuances and minutiae of tube amps and 12AX7 Crystal Lattice gibber gabber.

Jesus.

Give me an amp with an actually "clean" clean tone and 3 pedals (Chorus, Distortion and Delay), and I'm good to go. I can make it sound like me.

All y'all is cra cra.
 
I'm currently reading some crazy thread about the JVM not being able to produce a good VH brown sounds due to the cold cathode stage and some ways one can get closer.

Then I go on you tube and find this guy playing old VH with a stock JVM. Sounds pretty much the same as the record to me. Maybe instead of worrying about the cold cathode stage, these guys should work on their riffage. Even EVH doesn't sound as close to the record as this guy.

On a side note, this little video is a really nice tour of the dirty side of the JVM. Dude has some great chops and nails a bunch of classic hard rock sounds.

 
I am amazed at how much gain people think they actually need. Or volume. I have seen comments from people with a 50 watt Marshall tube head running into a 4 x 12 half stack cab complaining that they needed more volume because they could not hear above the drums and other instruments on stage. And stupid me can't get his 15 watt amp above 3 on stage....

mongooz said:
we had a spate of warping necks on high end Taylor acousitcs (circa 1988-1992) and after we sent several back they told us we were not keeping the humidity at the right level in the store and that's what was causing the necks to warp.
we're like...."no.....you are not drying your wood sufficiently before you build the guitar".
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Taylors are infamous for that. Or the tops cracking. I am hoping they finally got a clue and started drying their wood better.
 
OGG said:
I am so, so glad that I'm not a tone chaser. Even more glad that I'm not obsessed with the nuances and minutiae of tube amps and 12AX7 Crystal Lattice gibber gabber.
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I chase tone, but I figured mine out. EL84 amps with some headroom for a clean tone. Stock works fine for me. I love my tone now.
 
Guitar Heel said:
I used to mod the hell out of every guitar I bought. Then I finally realized, after spending SO much cash, that I was just throwing money away. I hardly mod at all anymore. The most I'll do these days is a pickup swap, and I try to resist that if at all possible.
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i just picked up a used JV strat....and the only mod i made was switching the pickguard. and if i ever buy another strat, it will be another JV. fantastic guitars.
 
Denverdave said:
I am amazed at how much gain people think they actually need. Or volume. I have seen comments from people with a 50 watt Marshall tube head running into a 4 x 12 half stack cab complaining that they needed more volume because they could not hear above the drums and other instruments on stage. And stupid me can't get his 15 watt amp above 3 on stage....
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well.....i'm not siding with that notion, BUT marshall 4x12 cabs (and most of them) are "focused" way further out than most guitarists stand in front of the amp. it's blowing right by your knees and KILLING the folks in the first row or so.
that's why i gave up on them long ago. you really CAN'T hear yourself with those cabs, unless you're 20 feet in front of them.
just sayin'
 
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