Help me buy an electric-guitar amp

Catman
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Sun Mar 21, 2010 3:08 pm

Hey Dennis.

Congratulations on your new axe!

Do you need a headphone output for practice? If so, that may limit you.

My opinion on the electric-guitar amp issue is to go simple but good, tube if you can afford it. Leave the effects to external pedals. Something with a normal and drive channels and an effects return loop. I'm not a fan of DSP amps.

You should definitely play your guitar through a selection of amps at the store and get a feel for the different tones.

See how easy it is for me to spend your money?

David


Lavallee
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Sun Mar 21, 2010 3:14 pm

dennisg wrote:
Okay, here's the Taylor electric I bought:

Image

I completely understand why you good folks would ask what I intend to play, but I can answer that with only one word: everything. Or, more accurately, I don't know yet. I'm completely inexperienced using an electric guitar, but I'm attracted to specific songs I hear on the radio, and I'd like to try duplicating the sound. That's impossible to do with my current setup. So I'd like to just dabble with a variety of effects just to see what sounds good. I even think that knowing I can get a certain sound will inspire me to learn songs that employ that sound.

Not sure about budget. I could probably go as high as about $800, but I'd like to pay less, if possible.

I knew when I made my first post that you would have a bunch of follow-up questions. I just don't know enough about electrics to anticipate them.

Keep the answers coming. I'm loving what I've gotten so far and I appreciate all your responses.
Hi Dennis , the guitar looks beautiful. Is it a hollow guitar or full body as I am not sure if the J drawings are actual drawings or holes?

Marc


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Music Junkie
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Sun Mar 21, 2010 3:25 pm

Catman wrote:
My opinion on the electric-guitar amp issue is to go simple but good, tube if you can afford it. Leave the effects to external pedals. Something with a normal and drive channels and an effects return loop.
I would tend to agree with this. My personal "Opinion" is that a quality all-tube amp with some reverb will give a fairly wide range of tone. From there, you can get a few pedals. Delay, chorus and overdrive are all good pedals. I have one that is an acoustic simulator. Although it is not very acoustic-like in my opinion, it sounds pretty cool. Most all-tube amps probably will not have a headphone jack though. The solid state amps usually do. Something to be aware of.

That is a beautiful guitar Dennis! If you are not afraid to take it with you, I would recommend taking it to a few stores and plugging it in. The Guitar Center here where I live encourages this, as do the local small dealers. Although it can be kind of intimidating, like playing acoustics while shopping, it is the best way to get a feel for the options.

Once you make your choice, I really think you will have a lot of fun. It is very cool to go electric sometimes. Especially now that we have Steve on board. I look forward to your Hotel California Lead video now..... :)

Have fun with this!

Jason


tom18
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Sun Mar 21, 2010 5:54 pm

Dennis,
Gorgeous guitar; congratulations on the new member of the family!
Tom


hasben
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Sun Mar 21, 2010 6:23 pm

tom18 wrote:
Dennis,
Gorgeous guitar; congratulations on the new member of the family!
Tom
Damn man, that is beautiful! Treat her with loving care. In fact, if I were you, I'd build a kind of museum display case and keep my finger prints off her. (at this point I would normally use an emoticon, but I know you don't like 'em) :dry: :laugh: :cheer: :(


dennisg
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Sun Mar 21, 2010 6:37 pm

Funny, the more light that's shed on this subject, the more questions I seem to have. For example:

mzuko mentioned that his Fender amp has a built-in tuner. What does a tuner do in relation to an amp?

Damian mentioned pedal boards and stomp boxes. Given that I have limited storage space in my house, is there a single product any of you might recommend that delivers a huge amount of effects?

David mentioned a headphone jack. I don't particularly need one, but I'd like a line output so I can hook it up to my camera when I make videos. Some people have mentioned specific amps with built-in effects. And some people think external devices are better. So why is it better to get effects from a pedal board or stomp box than to have the effects built in to the amp? And what is an effects return loop?

Marc asked about the Taylor's holes. It's a semi-hollowbody.

I would urge anyone to feel free to address any of these issues.


tovo
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Sun Mar 21, 2010 6:40 pm

Well Dennis certainly bought a beauty. My teasing Scott about playing an electric was deliberate as I knew I would be joining him very soon. On Saturday (just a few days after my mate Dennis and on the same day as the very talented Michele), I bought this:





Image



Dennis was somewhat involved with this purchase by helping me to settle on a finish (In the end I went Heritage Sunburst) which is why I'm posting it here, that and the fact that I need a new amp as well.

Chas gave me some early help on the model I should be looking at. The 335 was a bit pricey so I settled for a bit more of an all-rounder. (It's a Gibson Les Paul Traditional)

Thanks guys. Should arrive this week.


dennisg
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Sun Mar 21, 2010 7:10 pm

For those who mentioned the Line 6 Spider III, that amp appears to have been replaced by the Spider IV. Tell me what you think of it: http://www.guitarcenter.com/Line-6-Spid ... 1470460.gc


heatndude
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Sun Mar 21, 2010 7:12 pm

Hello Dennis, Im not a pro at this stuff by I trusted my very experieced band members on my choice. I went with a Randall 75RG-d. It is the best of both worlds half tube half solid state. The pre amp / input side is tube powered then runs thru a digital processor that has 17 different effects built in, just turn a knob to choose the efect you want. It also has three channels, clean, distotion and a high gain channel. The distorted side has voicing and sweep control along with bass, treble and mid eq. The amp came with a line out to record from or plug into a pa system also two outputs to plug into extra speaker cainets if wanted. If you plug into the 4 ohm side it kills the speaker and runs thru my head phones. This thing will rattle the pictures off your walls and wake up your neighbors if you let it. I play a Les Paul standard thru mine and I can get almost endless different tones out of it the trick is figuring out how to do it but that makes it fun until the wife starts screaming turn it down. I have friends with the line 6 spider amps, three of them anyway and there amps tend to be getting fixed more than making music for some reason. By the way beautiful guitar Im jealous !

Mark


izzyhara
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Sun Mar 21, 2010 7:28 pm

Congrats on your new guitar, Dennis. It is Bee-you-tee-ful !! Wish I could help you on the amp. I am currently struggling with what amp to buy for my acoustic guitars so I understand the questions, and the dilemma. I will never be on stage so just want a little practice-type amp (little cube-type thing - I am currently borrowing a GREAT BIG Fender amp that is super nice and fun, but total overkill - for my playing, my husband and my music room) and of course something for my TG videos. So I am reading your thread closely to see if anyone drops any names. It was an exciting guitar purchase week for several people, I see. Will delve in more closely on all the news tomorrow.
Love ya... Izzy


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