S
soundchaser59
Reluctant Commander
I'm pulling the trigger on one more guitar amp.
Ya know, with all the people gettin great axe tones and giving out great tips over the last several months, I have learned some things about my guitar that I shoulda learned back in high school.
Ya see, back in the day, when classic rock was still growing up, I picked up my first guitar at an odd time. All the albums I bought had artists using great tube amps, amps that are considered "vintage" today and that many new players are trying to recreate the sound of. So I started out hearing what great guitar should sound like.
But then there was the matter of what my Dad could afford to provide for me when he decided I was serious about wanting to learn how to play. Enter the solid state amp. To the inexperienced ears and fingers of a 14 year old punk who wanted to sound like Hendrix but on a shoestring budget, solid state appeared to be the great savior. I have to admit, solid state being soooo affordable could arguably be the main reason I got the opportunity to learn to play guitar at all. So in that sense, I am grateful that I had access to different amps and various axes. The fact that the parents of one of my good hi school buddies owned the local music store didn't hurt anything!
On the other hand, it also meant that I never really learned about the important differences between solid state playing and tube amp playing. But now that I've been "educated" by all the posts on all the forums, I have finally come to understand just how different the two mediums really can be.
Let me state my feeling about my guitar this way.......Solid State guitar playing is like making the guitarist respond to the amp. It's almost as if the amp is in control, set in its ways, do it the amps way or the highway.
Tube amp playing is like making the amp respond to the guitarist. The guitar player is in control. Which in turn forces me to be a better player technically while at the same time allowing me to become a better artist creatively and emotionally. Playing a few all-tube amps has made this distinction extremely real and immediate in my mind. And I cannot go back.
(Star Trek trivia moment: I can picture Mr. Spock angrily insisting to McCoy, both covered with fur pelts and frost in the middle of an ancient arctic wasteland, that "We cant get back! Get this thru your thick human skull, Doctor......We Cant Get Back!")
Consequently, to make a long story less long, I am pulling the trigger on a Traynor YCV20WR all tube amp. It will be here in about 10 days. Small enough to crank up the full tube sound at home without having the swat team show up, but big enough to mic it up on stage and make it scream if necessary!
The mods I've been doing the last few months have been leading up to this. The Weber, Eminence and Celestion speakers, the home built speaker cabs, the heavier gauge strings on my axe, the noiseless pickups, the hot mics I bought last year, I now realize that all of it has been leading up to Soundchaser finally getting down to some real honest guitar work! Reality Guitar will hit my house soon!
So I will end with this........Thank You everybody for leading me down this path and helping me find something that I had been missing since I first picked up a guitar at age 14! Everytime I pickup my guitar now and crank up those tubes and steam up those mics, I feel more inspired! And I am grateful! - Gary
Ya know, with all the people gettin great axe tones and giving out great tips over the last several months, I have learned some things about my guitar that I shoulda learned back in high school.
Ya see, back in the day, when classic rock was still growing up, I picked up my first guitar at an odd time. All the albums I bought had artists using great tube amps, amps that are considered "vintage" today and that many new players are trying to recreate the sound of. So I started out hearing what great guitar should sound like.
But then there was the matter of what my Dad could afford to provide for me when he decided I was serious about wanting to learn how to play. Enter the solid state amp. To the inexperienced ears and fingers of a 14 year old punk who wanted to sound like Hendrix but on a shoestring budget, solid state appeared to be the great savior. I have to admit, solid state being soooo affordable could arguably be the main reason I got the opportunity to learn to play guitar at all. So in that sense, I am grateful that I had access to different amps and various axes. The fact that the parents of one of my good hi school buddies owned the local music store didn't hurt anything!
On the other hand, it also meant that I never really learned about the important differences between solid state playing and tube amp playing. But now that I've been "educated" by all the posts on all the forums, I have finally come to understand just how different the two mediums really can be.
Let me state my feeling about my guitar this way.......Solid State guitar playing is like making the guitarist respond to the amp. It's almost as if the amp is in control, set in its ways, do it the amps way or the highway.
Tube amp playing is like making the amp respond to the guitarist. The guitar player is in control. Which in turn forces me to be a better player technically while at the same time allowing me to become a better artist creatively and emotionally. Playing a few all-tube amps has made this distinction extremely real and immediate in my mind. And I cannot go back.
(Star Trek trivia moment: I can picture Mr. Spock angrily insisting to McCoy, both covered with fur pelts and frost in the middle of an ancient arctic wasteland, that "We cant get back! Get this thru your thick human skull, Doctor......We Cant Get Back!")
Consequently, to make a long story less long, I am pulling the trigger on a Traynor YCV20WR all tube amp. It will be here in about 10 days. Small enough to crank up the full tube sound at home without having the swat team show up, but big enough to mic it up on stage and make it scream if necessary!
The mods I've been doing the last few months have been leading up to this. The Weber, Eminence and Celestion speakers, the home built speaker cabs, the heavier gauge strings on my axe, the noiseless pickups, the hot mics I bought last year, I now realize that all of it has been leading up to Soundchaser finally getting down to some real honest guitar work! Reality Guitar will hit my house soon!
So I will end with this........Thank You everybody for leading me down this path and helping me find something that I had been missing since I first picked up a guitar at age 14! Everytime I pickup my guitar now and crank up those tubes and steam up those mics, I feel more inspired! And I am grateful! - Gary
