Friday, August 29, 2008

Guitar And Amplifier

YOU SELL, Trade or Buy Guitars, Amps, Effects; Musical
info, links to other sites also available here- sit back, enjoy. For the guitar enthusiast and especially beginners; I can help
you avoid costly mistakes in the purchase of guitars, amps, effects peddles (or boxes), and recording equipment. My experience comes form years of buying, playing, selling and trading equipment, so I can steer you away from spending hundreds on something that's not going to fit your style, or you get taken. If you're looking for accessories, Stands, Cables, etc then 5150 Music Supply
I spent $45.00 for a couple guitar cables at my local Guitar Center and said this is too much. I returned those cables and began my online search and found 5150... I just got 2 x 20 foot guitar cables for LESS than one would have been. Check em out - they are the O N L Y ones I could find who sold a 20' cable for $8; now that's what I'm talkin bout! AND, these are not wimpy, or cheap cables, it's just that the other stores mark em up 500 - 1,000 times their cost

This is a classic duo; Fender (Deluxe) American Strat w / Vintage Fender 1984 Concert Tube Amp. 25 years old and one of Fender's Best; with 2 channels, foot switch, 2 Gain controls, Master Volume, EQ, 'Mid-Boost', presence and reverb. The Deluxe model guitar comes with custom locking tuners a polished crs bridge w/ "Cobalt Noiseless" Pickups, so no more hum! "S-1 switching technology", which changes the output and combination of the pickups (And gives it a boost) Video Below is original Song with Fender Strat and Concert amp, so throw away your Fender Twin amp, 'cause this one shreds!


  1. Look for a fender tube amp, although there are other tube amps that sound as good. When in doubt, go with the name brand. (Rule #3). Mesa, Marshall Head & Cab and Some boutique names include Framus and Egnator (if ya got the extra cash). If your thinking of resale, these may be harder to sell down the road, due to cost, but some great amps.
  2. With 2 Power Tubes I get 60 Watts RMS out of this bad boy. The 6L6GC power tube is the most common with old fender amps, but there are equivalent tubes, and even modified tubes. Tubes have a fuller, richer, sweeter sound opposed to a digital pre-amp.
  3. Pre-Amp stage utilizes smaller tubes. You can by Tube Pre-Amps and put it in front of a solid state amp. My Fender "Concert" Amp has 2x 6L6, 2x 12AT7 and 5x 7025 tubes. There should be a chart stapled inside the Amp to show tube configuration.
  4. Check the tubes for age and corrosion when buying used. And when it's on you should be able to lightly tap on the tubes without any noise or crackling. Tubes are expensive, $15-$70 each ô¿ò so calculate replacing tubes into the price of buying an amp, unless they're all in good shape; Buying tubes from an electronic store will be cheaper than a guitar shop! (Rule#2) don't get jacked
  5. Effects Loop: My Concert Amp has an effects loop - Be aware of after-market (added on) effects loop, because it Must have extra tubes to work properly.
  6. The effects loop allows you to plug your effect pedals into the amp after the input stage on the amp instead of before the main amp input. This should get a sweeter sound since the first thing that happens to signal is that it has the tube pre-amp. Also lôòk for an amp with spring reverb, which not only increases the value of the amp, but is a natural rich reverberation. You can also use a delay effect in place of reverb; this fattens the sound.
  7. Most Important on any amp is a "Master Volume", "Volume" and "Gain" controls as well as tone controls, or an EQ. Reason being is you get a certain distortion from the Master Volume / Volume combination, and then different and grittier distortion, or overdrive, with the Gain knob. Some amps may only have a Master and secondary Volume control. A Gain control will add the potential of more distortion, and allow for a combination of many different sounds without or in addition to effects. Usually 2 channel or 3 channel amps have this capacity.
  8. How heavy is it? General rule #1, the heavier the better. It means that you have a solid cabinet as well as a beefy speaker. My amp came with a 60 watt Celestion, but the old Fender amps mostly came with Jensen Speakers, and now you see the "Fender Custom Speaker". Go with Celestions, unless we're talking vintage amps.
  9. If you're buying a cabinet for your amp head or plug into the back of most amps, typically you want low-wattage speakers, 25-60 watts. Otherwise you'll never hear what it was meant to sound like unless you can crank it all the way up. Only go with name brand speakers. You'll thank me later, because speakers are half of any set. That's where you get your final product from. 4 x 12" speakers are most common, but 4 x 10" speakers are used for a Bluesy sound.
  10. The Twin Reverb Amp is very popular, and 100 watts; that'll blow your hair back. With 2-12" speakers, it really fills-up a hall. There is also a Super Twin, 2 x 12" cab, w/ 6 power tubes and 180 Watts RMS ô¿ò This particular amp gets a hard rock or dark grunge sound. It doesn't sound like any other amp I've heard. FYI pre 1966 Fenders amps are rare!



Okay, back to guitars... Of course there's many different brands that sound great, but Fender is so well known, you can usually trust buying used (and new). Oh and, if you want a good ax, make sure it's Fender Made In America. The Mexican Line is pretty cheap, and I don't appreciate it, but for the beginner you can always pick up a Fender "Squire" for no more than $120-$175 new, or $50-$100 used.

Also in the Fender Guitar line up is the Telecaster. Commonly seen in Country Bands it has a brighter "twangy" sound and the Maple Fretboard adds some brightness compared to a Rosewood Fretboard. It's a matter of taste as well, but the shape and size of a fretboard are more important. The new Telecasters have a wider fretboard than the old classics.

I am not impressed with the NEW Fender Jaguar and Jagmaster. They're essentially reissues of models that didn't make it; you have to take the Pepsi Challenge and compare them to a Strat or Tele BEFORE you buy (Rule #4 - you bought it; you're stuck with it). Guitar Center does have a liberal return policy though.

Also, the Gibson Les Paul (newer Les Pauls have hollowed-out bodies, and that may be why they cost $1,000 less, so check the year it was made!!!) and old Gibson SGs are known for having that small fast fretboard. You have to play an old guitar to see what I mean, because the new lines seem to have wider fretboards than in the past. Other good guitar names are Ibanez and Jackson, which are associated more with metal or hard rock and shredding. Also, the number of frets vary depending on the guitar, 21 to 24 frets on a full size guitar. Less frets would only mean a few tones lower from the highest possible. Next time your in Guitar Center, try a PRS (Paul Reed Smith) with a small neck and you'll fall in love, not to mention the sound is incredible on the higher end models due to the grade of Mahogany (solid Mahogany body - sweet) used in the body. Some of the artists who prefer PRS's are Santana,
Alex Lifeson (RUSH), Linkin Park, Rich Eckhardt, etc. RUSH Limlight - check out the simple solo on his PRS.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

What about Marshal Combo Amps?

Greg said...

Marshal Combo Amps just never got the classic sound. If ya wanna go big, the 70's, 80,s or 90's Marshal 50 Watt or 100 Watt Head, with a 4 x 12 speaker cabinet will get Excellent classic sound. Four Stars out of Four, but I don't like the combo's.