Most guitarists I know continuously pursue an unattainable tone. With limits on money, space, and permissible volume, my quest has been more normative lately. What SHOULD my guitar sound like? Often, it feels like it should sound like something else; something my gear is incapable of achieving. However, the grass isn't always greener. Eliciting the widest possible range of tones from a limited gear setup is a rewarding challenge. Embrace It. Look at what Nels Cline, a known gear junkie, did with his amp du jur experience.
Additionally, it's nice to feel like your gear has been earned and not just the product of wiping out your bank account or maxing out a credit card. I haven't always had great gear. Looking back, even my lesser amps brought me a great amount of joy. Here's a retrospective, in descending order of rank:
Fender Deluxe Reverb Reissue: (9/10)The grass isn't always greener, but my top-ranked amp is one that I no longer own. The Deluxe Reverb has the best clean tone and the best tube spring reverb of just about any amp I've ever played. The footswitchable vibrato is also really nice. I loved that it had less headroom than a Twin so that it could get nice crunchy tones when cranked. It was also a lot lighter than the Vox! Ultimately, before moving and starting law school I had to sell one of my amps. I thought it would be easier to replace the Deluxe than the AC30, so I sold the Deluxe. You can't really go wrong with either, but I definitely miss the Deluxe Reverb. I without a doubt see another one in my future.
Vox AC30 Custom Classic 1x12: (8.5/10) The chime, the look, the history. I went to Ye Olde Music in Charleston, SC for some strings and walked out with an amp AND a guitar! I traded the Pod, Tech 21 cab, and my Mexican Telecaster Thinline as a down payment on both the AC30 and an American Strat. Probably the most substantial and transformative gear upgrade I've made. Instead of having a ton of processor effects, I had NO effects pedals for the first time since 1996. Having just a guitar and amp, I couldn't hide my inabilities. I was forced to work on my technique, and I learned to get more tones out of my guitar knobs than I previously thought were possible. I finally learned how to use the master volume and gain control for a variety of clean to crunchy tones.
This amp is fantastic. I've heard some people knock the Custom Classic, but my only negative experience was blowing the recto-tube a few times. Amp whiz Bill Nance was able to work his magic, and I haven't had a problem in years. The reverb doesn't stack up to the Deluxe Reverb's (obviously), but it's much easier to get nice overdrive tones at a low volume. I use an Electro-Harmonix Holy Grail Reverb and an Aqua Puss Analog Delay with the AC30, which more than handle my reverb and echo needs. This is a great amp.
Line 6 POD - Tech 21 cab: (6/10)
I ditched the Marshall-Fender setup for the kidney bean and a 1x12 Tech 21 cab. I didn't need casters, had several effects available, and the Marshall emulation sound was actually better through this setup because the Fender cab wasn't involved. The POD was also convenient for practicing and using as a DI box for recording.
I had moved from punk to learning classic rock, blues, and some basic jazz. I didn't really have a stylistic direction, and the versatility of the POD was accommodated my exploration. By this time amp modeling had come a long way, but it was still sometimes obvious I was using amp simulation. Despite its shortcomings, I would have used this setup longer, but a great deal at Ye Olde Music led to a major gear overhaul.
Marshall Valvestate 100 Head: (6/10)
This would have been really decent if I wasn't using it with that godawful Fender speaker cabinet (See Fender, Infra). I might have even kept the Fender head if I had a better cabinet. At the time, that cursive Marshall logo was like the holy grail. My bandmate just bought a Valvestate half stack and a Les Paul Studio, and I had to try to keep up. The Marshall-Fender 4x12 setup gets a comedic boost for when it showed up in high school band room for the first day of jazz band. Classic.
I got the used Valvestate head for a reasonable price when I traded in the Fender head. It was actually a good middle ground between the out-of-reach JCM 900 and Marshall's low end offerings. It's a 3-channel (Clean and 2 Overdrives) hybrid amp with solid state components and a 12AX7 preamp tube. They are on Ebay now for $199, a good price for a starter Marshall.
Kramer KA22R: (5/10)
My first amp ever, so some sentimentality points are due. It showed up under the Christmas tree in 1995. It was part of a guitar/amp set from Sam's Club, and that Christmas I was the luckiest kid on Earth. There's one on eBay right now for $35. Maybe I'm sentimental, but I remember this being a decent starter amp. I thought I discovered reverb. Then, I thought I blew out my speaker and was bummed out. Instead, the guy at the local music store explained what the "boost" channel was. I didn't really understand how it worked, but I proceeded to do injustice to more Nirvana songs than you could possibly imagine. That's when my parents pointed me to the headphone jack.
Peavey VT Classic 50w: (5/10)I cut grass all summer for (1) this bad boy and (2) a Hondo Flying V. They were both for sale at Monck Corner's best, smokiest, and only guitar store. I made my way through the cloud of Marlboro smoke and saw this Peavey amp on the far wall of the store. What's this?? Multi-colored knobs? TWO speakers? That had to be better. I didn't know what a tube was. All I knew was this amp was louder than mine, and that made up for the fact that it took "longer to turn on." It was $200, a life savings at that point. I thought the amp was nice, but when I was shown the footswitch, it became essential.
This 2x12 amp had multiple channels that could be blended (I could NEVER get this to work right), but the highlights were the footswitchable reverb AND phaser. Why doesn't every amp have a built in phaser? I probably could have made this amp sound halfway decent, but I was too preoccupied with the awesomeness of my new 4-button footswitch.
I used this amp when I joined my first band in high school. I remember something in it blew up when I was playing at a Relay For Life, and I had to run my Kramer amp through the Peavey speakers, creating my poor man's half-stack. I honestly can't tell you whether this amp is capable of making good sounds. I'm going to err on the side of no, but bonus points for the footswitchable phaser.
Fender Roc Pro 1000 Half Stack: (3/10)Getting two speakers (See Peavey, Supra) was a slippery slope. Before long, I needed a 4x12 cabinet. In 10th grade, certain aspects of the band became a status symbol. Half-stacks, multiple cassette demos, and double bass drum pedals were are signs of bands on the way up.
So, I finally got a half stack. It was a joyous occasion when I came home from school to a massive Musician's Friend box on my front porch. It didn't matter that the speaker cabinet boomed, woofed, and sounded flat out terrible. Instead of covering the speakers with a grille cloth, Fender just screwed a metal screen on the front. I wanted it to sound like a Marshall for my punk band, but I could have lived with anything serviceable. Unfortunately, this didn't even meet my modest tonal needs at the time.___________________________
The takeaways from the amp shuffle are that finding the right gear is a process, that joy can be found with "substandard" gear, and that ultimately you must live within your means. Don't blow your money, but don't be scared to experiment either. There are great deals on used gear, but use a reputable seller. In retrospect, some of my purchases were unnecessary and comical, but I loved every minute of playing and exploring the capabilities of new gear. I still do!
