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Your favorite amp/guitar for cleans


docjeffrey

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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.

 

 

May I ask why you want to replace the DRRI? Those + a semi is one of my all-time favourite tones, and they distort nicely too

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My answer to both questions is 'Fender.'

 

 

Why yes, yes it is.

 

My personal fave is the Fender Reverb Deluxe Reissue. I dig my own Peavey Prowler right behind that.

 

The Fender artist SRV strat would probably be git of choice but I have no problems with my Deluxe Fender Player strat.

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My collection is pretty small so the amp is a no brainer.. Fender Blues Jr.

As for the guitar, its really a tossup between the Vox Virage and the Reverend Flatcock. The Vox has a nice warm neck tone whereas the Flatroc is more crystalline. They are both very nice in their own way but I think I'd have to give the edge to the Flatroc.

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No doubt Fender/Fender. For me it's my '02 MIA Tele through my '72 SFTR. Doesn't get any cleaner than that.

 

The Blues Jr. is a great amp but gets a little crunchy past 5 on the volume. So at gig levels it won't be pristine clean but it will still sound fantastic anyway.

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Damnit. I typed a long reply and HC went down for maintenance. :mad:

 

I too would say the 5E3 is my favorite for cleans. I've long been a Blackface/Silverface kinda guy and for several years had a 73 Silverface with one JBL D120F and one Jensen P12N or P12K. I thought it sounded spectacular, but I was very rarely allowed to open it up and the main reason we got rid of it is we had a two story apartment that was on the second and third floor, and I kept the amp in the loft so everytime I took the amp somewhere, I lugged that bastard up and down TWO flights of stairs. I think I sold that amp in about 1997 and only last year did I get another Twin, a Rivera-era Twin II which has stayed in our garage since other than one outing to a fellow HC-er's place for a jam. I literally haven't brought that amp inside my own house yet.

 

Anyway, also last year, I traded into a 5E3 Tweed Deluxe clone. I have come to believe for the bulk of us that don't need 80 watts through two speakers, this might be the ultimate single amp. It's so simple, yet with a pedal or two, is capable of an almost unbelievable range of tones. The cleans aren't quite as sparkly as a Blackface or a good Silverface, but it's still very much a Fender tone. It crunches up on its own at a very reasonable level and as I said, with a pedal in front, it almost goes schizophrenic. I use either a Barber Direct Drive or an OCD.

 

An OCD with the gain set low allows for what I call 'complex cleans' where most would call the tone clean, but it has an extra level of complexity and really lets you dig in and makes the amp even more touch sensitive. The Direct Drive takes the amp into Marshall territory, from a Bluesbreaker vibe with the gain set low, up to 80s hair metal tones with the gain maxed and the tone knob pulled out.

 

I currently have JJ 6V6s and one NOS AT7 and one NOS AY7 and a generic 5Y3 and a ceramic 50W Weber Blue Dog with pre-Rola dope. I have no doubt the amp can sound better with some real 6V6s and probably with a better rectifier but for now, I'm pretty happy. I've swapped the Blue Dog with a Celestion Alnico Blue in my Vox and the result is... I'm not sure what the result is. I love the chime and how the Celestion sounds right at the edge of natural breakup, but when played either completely clean or with some help from the Direct Drive, I prefer the Weber. It has more bottom end when clean, and I think when you get into some decent levels of gain, it sounds better as well. I also ran it with an old Weber P12NT for a while and it sounded a bit more Blackface, it didn't crunch up nearly as well.

 

The versatility, along with the fact that it only weighs 26 lbs means for me, for now, this is my ultimate amp.

 

For guitars, I can get pretty decent tones out of several of them. I'm a strat guy at heart and if I had to name a single one for cleans, it would be one that has CS54s in the neck and middle positions and a BG Vintage 60 in the bridge. I usually play either the neck pickup alone or the neck+middle position. The 54s don't have an overwhelming amount of quack, but it has plenty of the syrupy tone and drip... where it's plenty bright, but never the least bit harsh.

 

For HB cleans, I'd have to go with my guitar with 57 Classics. It's a lowly older Korean Ibanez double cut, but the only parts that are stock are the body, the neck and the baseplate of the bridge. It works for me.

 

 

DSC_4241a1.jpg

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i have 2 choices - LP Dlx or the Am Strat Dlx - either through the Mesa LoneStar. i don;t play it as much since the Mark IIIs have almost as nice clean, and a much wider range of tones.

 

also, both Mark IIIs are ususually played in class A (15 watt) mode. it breaks up earlier than the LSC in 50 watt mode.

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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.

 

 

Does Steve Howe use a Twin with his ES175? I can't remember, but his loud clean tones will shake the enamel from your teeth.

 

I feel like the lone wolf with my humbucker jones. I love the sound of my Fenders, but lately it's the Les Paul or 335 through a clean amp that's doin' it for me.

 

I posted this a couple of times--but here's my '56 CS Strat (ash with maple neck) through the 5E3 Deluxe:

 

[with apologies to Mr. Knopfler]

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100_0624.jpg

 

The white strat is a stock '99 American Standard. It's become my favorite clean sound. The neck pickup is glorious but I also find uses for the middle.

 

The amp is my only amp right now, but it actually has great cleans, with powerful bass response. Traynor YCV40. It has a bright switch but the American Strat is plenty bright, I leave it off. I leave the EQ centered except for the treble at 6. Very solid sound.

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OK, here's a nomination out of left field. I just posted this under another thread, so while it's still on my clipboard, you gotta hear it. Marshall Lead 12 from the 80's (1 x 10" solid state combo) with the Les Paul that I posted up front.

 

[YOUTUBE]zCmTqp3P-Ow[/YOUTUBE]

 

It sounds great, but some of the warmth could be attributed to the large diaphragm Groove Tubes GT61 tube-driven condenser microphone. But I assure you that this amp sounds terrific in the lower reaches of the volume and gain knobs. The OD gets a bit fizzy, but Billy Gibbons and Mike Campbell both recorded with this amp, so who am I to judge the distortion tones?

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Here's another video that I found on YouTube. I did this one awhile back in an attempt to demo the differences between different Rickenbacker guitars and pickups. By the way, recording a demo of solo electric guitars played through a clean amp is very, very difficult. There is no place to hide. It's a highly unforgiving environment, so please, be kind:-)

 

[YOUTUBE]vtDvAPO-3ws[/YOUTUBE]

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May I ask why you want to replace the DRRI? Those + a semi is one of my all-time favourite tones, and they distort nicely too

 

 

I moved to an apartment and wanted something smaller and quieter but at the same time didn't want one of those tiny 5 watters (small sound, no cleans, most don't have reverb). Figured the 12w 1x12 would be just right. Compared to the drri the headstrong is a bit warmer sounding, better build quality, equal verb, much better trem, no bright cap so more overdrive friendly at low volumes. I do like the drri it just doesn't quite fit me right now.

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