Why do people ONLY care about an amp's clean channel?

[*BLEEP*]

Only interested in the clean channel? Sounds weird to me.

 

I'm only interested in the filth channel.

[Grant Harding]

The Stomp is okay for what it is but it depends on what you are running it into. With both the DG80 and the AX2 you are looking at a complete rig. I first tried the DG1000 preamp but was not completely enamored by the technology until I went to a jam session where the regional rep for Yamaha was playing. His sound was far superior to the other guitarists who were using Fender and Peavy tube amps. When I asked him what he was playing through he brought me up onstage and showed me the DG80. He actually programmed the amps (created the presets) for the first version before the software upgrade and told me he tried to create useful patched that would work onstage. They were indeed very usable and gave me a place to start when I got mine. When the upgrade came out with more effects (tremelo and chorus) he was disappointed in the new set of factory presets which he claimed were more about showing the features of the amp than providing good solid sounds for the working guitarist. One of the things I like about it is the consistency of the sound and the zero maintenance factor. The very thing that makes tube amps great is also their weakness. That being said, I'm sure you are okay with the fact that your Shiva will need the occasional tweak and new set of tubes. I'd love to have one of those.

Yeah - the reality is that probably 1% of the people who have seen me play then and now will actually even know that the thing I'm playing is called a guitar. "Ooh! Why does that one have a big hole in it?"

[RUExp?]

 

This thread really reminds me of a conversation that I had with a guitar tech one day. He was a tour guy for a huge famous band, coming through our fair city. He was really really opinionated, and not one to mince words. He claimed, basically, that going to two (and more) channels was where Amps Went Wrong. Starting with the belief that almost everyone actually gets their distortions, overdrives, boosts, and other tone shaping effects using pedals, he asserted that there was never any need to have two channels. And, in light of that, he said, when amps are made, if they put it all into making one channel that sounded effing glorious, well, you'd get your money's worth. It wouldn't specifically be a dirty channel or a clean channel, it would be a channel that was designed to take pedals well. So, in his opinion, the only amp that really "got it" and made sense for rock touring were the simple single channel all tube amps made in the 60's. He meant, I believe, specifically Marshall super lead plexis. Or JTM's? I'm not sure. He also claimed to have had a conversation with Jim Marshall where he asked Mr. Marshall specifically: Is there a model of Marshall that you wish you could take back, erase, unrelease? Joe Guitar Tech claimed that the response was, instantly, Every Single One Of Them Since The Plexi. Well, that set me back in my seat a touch. Strong words. One thing, in the years that I've been working doing local labor for concerts, I've never once seen a guitarist use the channel switching footswitch. It's all in their pedal board, all through one channel. If they use rentals, which happens a lot, the footswitch stays in the cabinet, unused. I don't know but it made a certain sense. If your amp is designed to work well with your pedals, and not as a substitute for any of them, then they can put all of the good stuff into one channel. It should be able to approach the kind of breakup that players are talking about on this thread, with input sensitivity and adjustability. Just passing this on as heard, I don't claim to know the deal.

 

 

My guess is that guy was full of it. I read a quote from Jim Marshall saying his favorite Marshall amp was the JCM800.

[thunder100]

 

You need at least two amps. Very few amps can do both pristine Fender or Vox-like cleans and brutal Uberschall-like metal tones. That's why Hetfield uses a Roland Jazz Chorus along with his Mesas (or whatever he's using these days...). Classic rock tones, clean and dirty, are possible to get from one good amp like a Vox AC30 or a Dr. Z. But few true metal amps have outstanding clean tones. Some of them do a decent job, but I still think you should buy an amp for clean/blues/classic rock and metal if your range requires it. I don't think that any serious metal player uses scooped sounds these days. The sound of metal is aggressive midrange with beefy lows and delicate highs.

 

 

+ 2

 

Using a Mark V(where some say NOT metal enough) and a Deluxe Reverb (apart the Axe) brought me best of most worlds.

Funny part is the either or storys .Only one can rule(clean,crunch,metal) but there can be no ther God! Why?

 

Although its not metal (by some people) Hetfields "Nothing else matters" needs clean and metal,and Richi Blackmoore in Deep Purple times was a mostly clean player(as the thick overdriven sound came from Jon's organ through 2 cranked Marshall's)

 

So live(fast) and let live

 

Roland

 

After 30+ year's of playing I think its harder and needs more accuracy and better playing to get a clen song right vs an heavy overdriven