Members docjeffrey Posted February 22, 2010 Members Share Posted February 22, 2010 I'm curious which guitar and amp in your collection you prefer for clean tones. I spent more than 5 hours playing a bunch of my guitars today through a few amps (Vox AC30TBX, Orange AD15, Fender Custom Shop '57 Deluxe) and I stumbled across some amazing cleans using my '02 Les Paul R8 Figuretop through the Deluxe. Not all of my Les Pauls sound great through the Deluxe, but the R8 with its fat neck and lightweight body is pretty sweet sounding. It's full, perfectly balanced from bass to treble, and when you get the 6V6 tubes dancing a bit, a heavenly barrage of even order harmonics fills the air with fairy dust and a fresh baked cookie smell. You can hear those electrons lining up awaiting their turn through the grid plate. OK, enough of the slightly gay hyperbole. You get the picture. But just in case, here are some pictures. Weber built the cabinet for my Deluxe. The original is a gorgeous but impractical solid maple with a gloss black lacquered finish that sounds great, but I feel guilty gigging with it. This one is solid finger jointed pine with nice aged, lacquered tweed. Around back is the secret to the incredible cleans--a Celestion Alnico Blue and a REAL 5Y3 that I found in an old record player at a garage sale (Sylvania). New 5Y3's have not been available for many years. Recently, a Chinese version has been available, but it's no match for this one. Here's the 2002 R8. I bought it at Wildwood for $3K--the most I've ever spent on anything other than a house or a car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members pixelchemist Posted February 22, 2010 Members Share Posted February 22, 2010 best guitar + amp cleans in my stable are my Guild T100 through my Gibson GA40 clone...best effects laded cleans are my lace sensor equipped partscaster through my compressor and m13 and mesa electradyne Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members sk8centilli Posted February 22, 2010 Members Share Posted February 22, 2010 Palomino V16 - Eastman T184MX. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MichaelSaulnier Posted February 22, 2010 Members Share Posted February 22, 2010 Fender American Deluxe QMT strat through Mesa F-50 clean channel. Mmmmm. Clean, warm, BIG tone! Yummy! M Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GAS Man Posted February 22, 2010 Members Share Posted February 22, 2010 My EJ Strat and '65 Twin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members righteous Posted February 22, 2010 Members Share Posted February 22, 2010 Strat through Hiwatt DR103 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Armchair Bronco Posted February 22, 2010 Members Share Posted February 22, 2010 SG Classic thru my '65 Ampeg Gemini I Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members docjeffrey Posted February 22, 2010 Author Members Share Posted February 22, 2010 best guitar + amp cleans in my stable are my Guild T100 through my Gibson GA40 clone...best effects laded cleans are my lace sensor equipped partscaster through my compressor and m13 and mesa electradyne I can see that! I love the sound of a clean-ish tele or strat, for sure, but there's something about a good humbucker guitar through a great clean amp that motivates me to do some Knopfler riffs. It's hard to explain personal preferences sometimes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members docjeffrey Posted February 22, 2010 Author Members Share Posted February 22, 2010 SG Classic thru my '65 Ampeg Gemini I Neck pickup? or both? Maybe just the bridge? I love my SG Classic and I remember being amazed at how warm and woody it sounded clean when I first bought it. It totally took me by surprise, but then I listened to Disc 2 of the special Live at Leeds set where Pete and the boys play Tommy from start to finish. Obviously a lot of the interludes and songs like Pinball Wizard call for acoustics, but Townshend uses only his SG Special adjusting the tone and volume controls for the faux-acoustic timbres. It's absolutely amazing. The recording is less than perfect (there's some kind of boxy overtone through the whole thing) but that does not diminish what he's able to do on his SG. So...I had to go and install a TV Jones Powertron on mine and ruin the whole vibe:eek: But, damn, it sounds cool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mistersully Posted February 22, 2010 Members Share Posted February 22, 2010 My EJ Strat and '65 Twin that'd work Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members docjeffrey Posted February 22, 2010 Author Members Share Posted February 22, 2010 Strat through Hiwatt DR103 Hiwatt! Yeah. I want one of those--either the DR or the CP. I owned a small Hiwatt combo for a few months, but the power transformer burned up and I ordered the Fender Deluxe in its place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members docjeffrey Posted February 22, 2010 Author Members Share Posted February 22, 2010 My EJ Strat and '65 Twin You lose points for originality but gain a bunch of points for having a kickass guitar and amp that most of us would sell our grannies for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members docjeffrey Posted February 22, 2010 Author Members Share Posted February 22, 2010 Fender American Deluxe QMT strat through Mesa F-50 clean channel.Mmmmm.Clean, warm, BIG tone!Yummy!M I hear a lot of great bands with Mesa backlines who play primarily clean or blusy-style guitar parts. For some reason, I've always associated Mesa with big crunch tones (probably that horrid nu metal stuff from the 90's where the guitarists all had Ibanez or PRS guitars and big Mesa stacks). I need to raise my Mesa IQ. I feel totally out of touch with that particular brand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members docjeffrey Posted February 22, 2010 Author Members Share Posted February 22, 2010 Palomino V16 - Eastman T184MX. I had to Google that guitar:-) Everything I've ever heard or read about Eastman has been stellar. The Palomino is a beautiful looking amp. I remember playing one when I was in the market for a clean amp with some headroom. I ended up getting an Ampeg Jet when they were still made in St. Louis, but the Palomino was very close, and also made in St. Louis, IIRC. In the end, it was the reverb and tremolo on the Ampeg edged out the Crate. I don't think that Crate ever made a better sounding amp than the Palomino lineup, but I haven't tried their Blackheart range. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members docjeffrey Posted February 22, 2010 Author Members Share Posted February 22, 2010 We need more pics on this thread. Also, it would help if you could tell us something about your settings and any fx you use. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Armchair Bronco Posted February 22, 2010 Members Share Posted February 22, 2010 Neck pickup? or both? Maybe just the bridge? I love my SG Classic and I remember being amazed at how warm and woody it sounded clean when I first bought it. It totally took me by surprise, but then I listened to Disc 2 of the special Live at Leeds set where Pete and the boys play Tommy from start to finish. Obviously a lot of the interludes and songs like Pinball Wizard call for acoustics, but Townshend uses only his SG Special adjusting the tone and volume controls for the faux-acoustic timbres. It's absolutely amazing. The recording is less than perfect (there's some kind of boxy overtone through the whole thing) but that does not diminish what he's able to do on his SG. So...I had to go and install a TV Jones Powertron on mine and ruin the whole vibe:eek: But, damn, it sounds cool. I tend to play with my neck pickup most of the time. Funny that you should mention "Live at Leeds". I was on vacation this week, and I must have played "Young Man Blues" about a million times on my Zune next to the pool and walking around Tucson. Just an amazing song. I think Townshend used his signature SG Classic/Special with some kind of fuzz pedal into Hiwatt amps. That song has some delicious 60's fuzz/distortion in it, but there's a little interlude when Townshend dials down the volume & turns off the fuzz and the tone cleans up with this sweet little 2- or 3-measure diddy. Every time I hear that interlude, I'm like: WTF? How'd he do that? Great song. My heart sank when I saw that there were no Guitar Pro tabs for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MichaelSaulnier Posted February 22, 2010 Members Share Posted February 22, 2010 I had the same opinion about Mesa's until I heard, then bought a Mesa F-50. It's got two different tone stacks, and one essentially delivers a great "Fender" style clean with two 6L6's providing the poweramp tones. In my current band, the other guitarist has several vintage amps including Fender Twins, (2x12's and 1x15), Deluxe Reverbs's, and a variety of Marshall heads and cabs... but he's always a bit "envious" of my Mesa clean tone. To the point where he decided to pick up a Mesa F-100 combo last week to add to his "collection". Considering he's somewhat the "vintage" snob... it was a bit of a tip of the hat to Mesa that he decided to jump into the F series. I've thought about other amps for great cleans, and have almost pulled the trigger on a Super Reverb reissue... but the F-50's so nice and it's also MUCH easier to move around... so it's staying as my #1. M Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Faber Posted February 22, 2010 Members Share Posted February 22, 2010 Between 7 guitars and four amps I find it hard to just choose one combination. Three that I absolutely love Ibanez Scofield through Mesa mark III. That clean channel is ver underrated imho, and truly brings out the best in a semi. Lush, round and oh so sweet. Engage the eq set to cut mids, and it's a nice hollow chime too Tele into dc30 clone - the vox channel. Never sounds truly clean clean like the Mesa, but incredibly dimensional and dynamic sound of of this pairing. Strat into Soldano Atomic 16. For an amp designed for the rock crowd this one's got an awesome clean sound at lover gain settings. Sort of marshallesque. It's a sound that shines with strat positions 2 and 4 in particular. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members csm Posted February 22, 2010 Members Share Posted February 22, 2010 My answer to both questions is 'Fender.' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members guitarman3001 Posted February 22, 2010 Members Share Posted February 22, 2010 all my amps have good clean channels. my palomino V32 might win by a very tiny hair. As for guitar, my strat. I hardly play it because I prefer humbuckers and LPs in general but for cleans, it can't be beat. If I had my fantasy rig for cleans it would be a strat and either a twin reverb or JC120. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members o.versteer Posted February 22, 2010 Members Share Posted February 22, 2010 Slightly obvious perhaps, but sod that - clean electric guitar don't get no better than this: [YOUTUBE][/YOUTUBE] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members csm Posted February 22, 2010 Members Share Posted February 22, 2010 To be more precise ... a Twin will give you sparkling cleans at just about anything up to full-on nosebleed volume. Add Strat or Tele and simmer to taste. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members metallica_00 Posted February 22, 2010 Members Share Posted February 22, 2010 Totally depends what mood I am in - either one of my main guitars (USA G&L Legacy or Heritage H535) will do the trick clean, just different flavors. The Heritage has some fairly low output Schaller pickups and while the Schaller neck PU is probably not the best option with distortion, it produces some excellent jazzy clean tones. The 535 has solid not laminated sides, and I think that combined with the Schallers makes it a bit jazzier sounding than a newer ES-335. My amp is a Fender Deluxe Reverb RI, but I am planning to replace it with a Headstrong Lil' King soon - point to point handwired exact copy of a '64 Princeton Reverb but with a 12" speaker instead of a 10". Just waiting for the right deal to come up on a used one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BoneNut Posted February 22, 2010 Members Share Posted February 22, 2010 I only have one amp, a C30 with a 12 inch alnico in it but I can get a gorgeous clean tone out of it with my Strat in the neck + middle position. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bloolight Posted February 22, 2010 Members Share Posted February 22, 2010 For the guitar, I use my Reverend Avenger TL. It's got two strat-style single coils at the neck and mid positions and a tele-style pickup at the bridge. When playing with the band, I almost always use the middle pickup position by itself. For amps, I use my Deluxe Reverb Reissue on the normal channel with the bass and treble controls at half-mast. I also kick the signal up a notch with a Maxon CP-101 compressor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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