Don't expect cheap practice amps ...

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omtayslick said:
This may be urban legend, but I read somewhere that the Stones recorded that raging guitar on "Brown Sugar" by playing through a little transistor radio someone had laying around. Can anyone verify that yay or nay?
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that's a raging twin with a 77 and bleed...if i remember that article correctly.

i think you're thinking of street fightin man...where the acoustics were recorded on a cheaper tape recorder in a hotel room with a kilo of cocaine, a brick of hash and some bourbon.

Mike
 
I have a Randall RM20 (15W) that sounds plenty big by itself or ran thru a 4x12. I've also used the Orange Tiny Terror with success. Using low wattage amps in the studio is certainly not a new idea.

I suspect no one here besides Harvey has actually tried the Frontman through the 4x12, so I'm not sure why some are discounting it. Hey, if it's really a $10 experiment, why the heck not try it?
 
3 days into the power outage from hurricane Rita in 2005, I thought to try the (battery powered) smokey amp through my Marshall 1960A 4x12. After about 72 hours of heat and silence, that was an awesome sound! The 2204 head does sound better, but requires wall socket power :)
 
Since I was the one making the statement about the 15 watt Fender Frontman driving a Marshall cab, I guess I need to "prove it". These are some very rough mixes from a new album Alex is working on. Each song has the heavy left and right guitars going into a Fender Frontman to a Marshall 1960A cabinet.

I will be taking these tracks down on Wednesday, since it is from an unreleased album:

track 1

track 2

track 3

Hopefully, these tracks will support the point I was trying to make.
 
sounds awesome to me, not that I was in the doubting crowd (of 1).

I really did stop by a pawn shop today and saw a Frontman 15g (for $50!! they must be reading this thread), but I didn't see how to get at 16 ohm speaker out signal from it -- does the model you're talking about have a speaker out?


oh - and it's extremely kickass to see another post from you -- hope it's a trend :D
 
antichef said:
sounds awesome to me, not that I was in the doubting crowd.

I really did stop by a pawn shop today and saw a Frontman 15g (for $50!! they must be reading this thread), but I didn't see how to get at 16 ohm speaker out signal from it -- does the model you're talking about have a speaker out?
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Yes, an 8 Ohm speaker output jack, next to the Headphone jack.
 
Harvey Gerst said:
Since I was the one making the statement about the 15 watt Fender Frontman driving a Marshall cab, I guess I need to "prove it". These are some very rough mixes from a new album Alex is working on. Each song has the heavy left and right guitars going into a Fender Frontman to a Marshall 1960A cabinet.

I will be taking these tracks down on Wednesday, since it is from an unreleased album:

track 1

track 2

track 3

Hopefully, these tracks will support the point I was trying to make.
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Amazing tones-you always get the best sounds out of low budget gear-I've never doubted anything in your posts.
When I think about all the great tracks the blues and early rock & roll players made with a lot less powerful amps than a Frontman, I just realize you have to use what you've got and get the best thats possible out of it!
 
Harvey Gerst said:
Since I was the one making the statement about the 15 watt Fender Frontman driving a Marshall cab, I guess I need to "prove it". These are some very rough mixes from a new album Alex is working on. Each song has the heavy left and right guitars going into a Fender Frontman to a Marshall 1960A cabinet.

I will be taking these tracks down on Wednesday, since it is from an unreleased album:

track 1

track 2

track 3

Hopefully, these tracks will support the point I was trying to make.
Click to expand...

Had I not known what those were recorded on, I would never have known it was a small amp.

Very nice. I guess the questions I have is how good it would sound on its own without the cabinet? Would the tone still turn out big like that, or would it start sounding like a small amp? And finally... what mic were you using?
 
Harvey Gerst said:
Since I was the one making the statement about the 15 watt Fender Frontman driving a Marshall cab, I guess I need to "prove it". These are some very rough mixes from a new album Alex is working on. Each song has the heavy left and right guitars going into a Fender Frontman to a Marshall 1960A cabinet.

I will be taking these tracks down on Wednesday, since it is from an unreleased album:

track 1

track 2

track 3

Hopefully, these tracks will support the point I was trying to make.
Click to expand...

You sir,fucking ROCK!!!
 
soldierone said:
Had I not known what those were recorded on, I would never have known it was a small amp.

Very nice. I guess the questions I have is how good it would sound on its own without the cabinet? Would the tone still turn out big like that, or would it start sounding like a small amp? And finally... what mic were you using?
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The 4x12 Marshall adds a lot, but the tone can still be there by getting the mic in very close to the Frontman. It depends on the mic and the positioning. No. it won't sound as good as it does going into the Marshall.

Alex's standard setup is usually an Oktava MC-012 body, with the 33mm Lomo M1 head, on one Marshall speaker, and a Heil PR20 or 30 on another speaker. Both mics combined to one track.
 
Harvey Gerst said:
Since I was the one making the statement about the 15 watt Fender Frontman driving a Marshall cab, I guess I need to "prove it". These are some very rough mixes from a new album Alex is working on. Each song has the heavy left and right guitars going into a Fender Frontman to a Marshall 1960A cabinet.

I will be taking these tracks down on Wednesday, since it is from an unreleased album:

track 1

track 2

track 3

Hopefully, these tracks will support the point I was trying to make.
Click to expand...


Damn!

Talk about putting your money where your mouth is!




Can you post some info in the drum section on how you got that drum sound?
 
Harvey Gerst said:
The 4x12 Marshall adds a lot, but the tone can still be there by getting the mic in very close to the Frontman. It depends on the mic and the positioning. No. it won't sound as good as it does going into the Marshall.

Alex's standard setup is usually an Oktava MC-012 body, with the 33mm Lomo M1 head, on one Marshall speaker, and a Heil PR20 or 30 on another speaker. Both mics combined to one track.
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Thanks Harvey! That gives me a lot of new ideas to start experimenting with. :)
 
Amazing tones, Harvey! Give my congratulations to Alex! :)

Do you what kind of stompboxes he used to achieve that distortion? It sounds awesome!
 
JuliánFernández;2980908 said:
Amazing tones, Harvey! Give my congratulations to Alex! :)

Do you what kind of stompboxes he used to achieve that distortion? It sounds awesome!
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I'll check with Alex, but I think it's just the Frontman's dirty channel, and playing with the amp's eq.

Addendum: I just checked with Alex and I was right; no stompboxes were used. That's just the sound of the 15 watt Frontman's gain and tone controls.
 
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Thanks, and btw, do you think making an 1x12 cabinet with an Celestion G12T-75 is worthy? (to use it with the Champ, because I can´t afford a 1960a right now)
 
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