VIDEO / AUDIO: 2010 LA Amp Fest - Hemispheres Recording

Without further ado I give you the 2010 LA Amp Fest

Here's a link to all the audio:
https://www.soundclick.com/bands/default ... tent=music


MID GAIN CENTRAL - PART 1, Bogner Custom Hi Gain Mojado (2 Watt), Bogner 12 Watt Mojado, Vox AC15HTVH Handwired, Jet City JCA 20H (Friedman), Egnater Tweaker, Red Plate Amps, Blackverb, Dr. Z Carmen Ghia, Marshall Club And Country (early 80's)


MID GAIN CENTRAL - PART 2, Marshall 1974X Handwired, Blankenship Carry On, Fender Twin (late 60's silverface) Blankenship mod (bypassed tone controls), Randall RM 50 -- Ecstasy Module - Tweed Bassman - "Mashall" Module - Fender Twin Module, Bad Cat Black Cat 30R, Mesa/Boogie Electra Dyne, Ugly Amps Ugly 18, Victoria Amps 35210, Fender Deluxe Reverb mid-60's Blackface (FMI), Fryette Memphis 30, Vox AC-30 Early 60's (*** NOT PLUGGED INTO TEST CABINET)


CLASSIC TONE - PART 1, Friedman Dirty Shirley, Reeves Super '78 50 Watt, Harry Joyce Custom 30, Ceriatone Plexi 100, Event Horizon 50 Watt, Event Horizon 100 Watt, Allyn Meyers Koncorde, Ugly Amps Whirley, Risson, Marshall '68 Plexi 50 watt (small head) used with Variac


CLASSIC TONE - Part 2, Marshall Kerry King JCM 800, Marshall Vintage Modern 100 Watt with KT66 Tubes, Hiwatt Custom 100 (vintage), Bogner Goldfinger 45 (stock), Bogner Goldfinger 45 (hot rod), Orange Rocker 30, Jet City 100 (stock), Ugly 100, Line 6 DT 50 (Park 75 setting), Line 6 DT 50 (class A setting), South Bay Ampworks 50W Plexi, Orange Rockerverb 50, Marshall 100W ('79), Greenleaf 35W


THE MOD SQUAD - PART 1, Henning Plexrod 100W, Splawn Nitro, Splawn Quickrod, Surreal Hybrid 100, Event Horizon 100, Ceriatone Chupacabra 100, Marshall 100W Friedman Mod ('74), Hughes & Kettner Trilogy, Cameron Custom 75


THE MOD SQUAD - PART 2, Soldano SLO-100 (circa 1990, George Lynch's), Cameron CCV, Wizard Modern Classic, '71 Marshall 100W Friedman KS, Fortin Bones, Friedman (formerly "Marsha" with new transformer), Marshall Cameron (Aldridge), Marshall (Jose)


LIQUID METAL - PART 1, Mesa "Racto" Dual Rectifier (early rackmount version), Mesa Dual Rectifier "Pre-500" vintage, Mesa/Boogie Mark V, Bogner Twin Jet, Bogner Uberschall, Bogner Twin Jet (Purple Mod crunch), Bogner Solo 70 Twin Jet, Friedman Naked


LIQUID METAL - PART 2, Rhodes Colossus (crunch channel) / (Hi Gain channel), VHT Pittbull 50 CL, Diezel VH4 (channel 3), Marshall 100W Super Tremolo Friedman Hairy Brown Eye/Kitchen Sink (Hi Gain), Friedman, Hughes & Kettner Triamp Mk II, Diezel Herbert






Here are some fun on the fly videos of the personalities at the event:

fuck yeah now I have something to do at work today!

I love my Wizard....

Awesome

Thank you so much James! I'm not working today. Gonna chill with some coffee and check out these vids!

Shit in my sig sounds the best

Serious holy shit will be listening to these tonight on the monitors while ebaying fishing gear, thanks James for sharing this huge event with us!!!!!!

COOL. now i have something to do @ work today!! Cant wait to dive into this!!

Thanks for this James...lots of work, much appreciated!!!!

Curious, what pickups in your LP?

Mark

That is amazing. I just listened twice to the Mod Squad 2...

Everybody is going to start saying that they like one over the other, and that is ok obviously. But I can say that I wouldn't mind owning any of these amps!!!

My favorites so far I think is the Marsha... The CCV close second then the Wizard

Only had time to check out Mod Squad II as it had the most amps that interest me. My two faves were the Friedman Brown Eye/Marsha (what a sweet, tight low end) and surprisingly (to me) the Wizard. Lynch's SLO was the worst of the bunch by a significant margin IMO. All of the others sounded good with the '71 Marshall and Jose being the best of the rest. I actually place the CCV near the bottom of the pack with its ratty sounding bottom end...listen to how the Wizard just owns it on the "Unchained" riff (my opinion of course).

Liked to following
Cameron CCV, Custom 75 and Aldrich
Friedman and HBE
Reeves 78
SLO
Bogner Solo70, regular Uber and both Gold fingers
Diezel Herbert
H&K Triamp sounded promising
Marshalls(stock) all of them
Ceriton Chupacabra. This was actually the biggest surprise for me. Thought this sounded great!!

Steve(sah5150)Your amp sounded really good. Especially the high gain tone. Loved it!


Jim

Mark Day":1bfgq6ub said:

Thanks for this James...lots of work, much appreciated!!!!

Curious, what pickups in your LP?

Mark

Click to expand...

Sunburst - WCR American Steele
Black - WB Fire

Yeah it was an eye opener for me as the guy playing guitar on all the amps. The biggest mind blower was when I plugged in to the VH4, everyone in the room freaked. A thing I've always noticed and now it's been drilled into my brian is a lot of high gain amps have no real tone, they just lay there and rely on power and saturation to carry them. They sound congested to me. It's like there's no air or space around the notes, like my dad use to say '10 pounds of potatoes in a 5 pound sack'. Another moment was the Wizard, that thing towered over so many amps in person it wasn't even funny. The new Friedman IMO was by far the best production Marshallesque amp, in the room it felt and sounded so mean, just perfect tone. Another amp that hit me at the moment was the Ceriatone Plexi 100, so open and natural, no bs, no artifacts. Very inspiring to play. Same feeling I got with the Southbay Plexi 50, I've played that amp many times at Tone Merchants and it is one of my favorite amps, it just sounds right to me. I also really grooved on the QR, what a great amp! The Ugly 18 is an amazing amp, we still have it at the studio and have been jamming on it, unbelievably loud for a little guy. The tone of that amp is so real, warm and fat. The Reeves give me a woodie. That is some serious mojo there, so versatile and 1 channel. I love 1 channel amps. I want a Hiwatt Custom 100 some day. I've seen that Reeves make a spot on authentic recreation, maybe that route. The 100 watt Hiwatt towered and was a breathe of fresh air with the clean openess. I loved both the Dirty Shirley and the Goldfinger 45, love the stealthier overdrive. The Orange Rockerverb 50 is one the greatest amps in the world! WOW, fun to play and vibrant. Also really liked the Egnater Tweaker, Dr. Z and Victoria. The Egnater has a dry bounce to it that sounded so much like a record in person it wasn't even funny. Honestly I listen to amps in maybe a different way then some people, because I'm a producer as a profession I think in terms of is the sound the sound of a record. I hear a lot of cool sounding amps but honestly they seem useless to me because the sound they make isn't relevant to making real records, it's like they are designed to turn kids on at GC so mom throws it on the credit card.

Anyway, that's just some thoughts, people have been emailing me asking me what I thought and I tried not to say anything till the clips were up. At the end of the day it was an amazing experience and so many great amps, I just named a few but there were many more. Listening to the clips now on some of the amps I wish I would have rolled off some bass, backed off the gain, boosted the mids etc... But that always happens, hell it happens when I spend 3 months on a record, I hear it a year later and think 'oh I wished I'd a done this or that'. But honestly you can hear the amps and turning any knob a quarter inch in either direction wouldn't make you like and amp that you don't like or mess up an amp you like. Personally I never trust an amp that takes more the 2 minutes to get to sound good. But that's just me. Well enjoy guys, you got all the love I had to give on this one. Now I have to get back to work so I don't have to start panhandling. lol

James, can't express how cool this whole thing is. Thanks man!!! This is the best collection of clips/videos to ever be put together!
Now some thoughts after watching every vid in full:
Mid Gain The 12 watt Mojado, Dr. Z, and 1974x were awesome!!!(only stock Marshall I liked at all TBH)
-Randall RM 50 extacy and Mashall modules surprised me, sounded great!
-Bad Cat and Ugly get honorable mention

Classic Gain
-The Friedman Dirty Shirley and Reeves '78 just dominated! That Reeves is really hard to beat, especially for the cost.
-Event Horizon sounded phenomenal here, (but not so good in the mod squad)
-Goldfingers and Ugly were great!

Mod Squad
I was really surprised here...amps that sounded killer on the live stream didn't sound as good to me, and ones that I passed on sounded great when properly mic'd.
-The Wizard Modern Classic crushed everything in my honest opinion I didn't think I would say that, but it was just perfect! Many of the other amps sounded small and "grainy" in comparison.
-H&K Trilogy surprised the heck out of me! Sounded great and at way less $ than the Triamp!
-'74 Friedman and new Marsha were killer, no surprise there.
-The Bones and Event Horizon did not sound good at all...something weird going on with the low end or something...sounded like a broken speaker. Kind of a letdown, as I was really looking forward to hearing the Bones. (maybe it wasnt dialed in correctly?)
-CCV and Custom 75 sounded really cool, but to my surprise (and relief) I liked others a bit more.
-Chupa seems pretty badass for the money.
Liquid Metal
-Friedman Naked and VH4 were f'ing awesome! Cut, clarity and huge sound! (and they have some similarities in tone)
-Mesa stuff was just ok...I wanted to like it more, but I guess I'm spoiled by my Friedman recto!
-The Ubers sounded killer! I didn't like them on the live stream, but just goes to show proper mic'ing makes all the difference!
-Brown Eye was killer for metal, right on that line between 'brown' and modern.
-Triamp was cool, but sounded how I remember it sounding in person: a bit buzzy and loose on the bottom. I liked the Trilogy more in mod squad.

If I had to choose just one amp that blew me away more than any other, it would be the Wizard! It just sounded amazing and huge! No grainy high end, just thick and cutting and big sounding!
These are just my opinions (but I'm right )
Awesome job everyone involved! Thanks!!!

As an owner of an SLO, I was pretty shocked to see the settings you were playing on it.... just cant imagine how much air that thing was pushing with you directly in front of it with the gain at 7 and volume at 6. Mine shakes the walls loose at 4 - 5 LOL I can only think that you were hammering the rest just as hard and some of those are WAY louder than the SLO (The Wizard comes to mind as being one LOUD assed amp)

I am guessing peoples ears were ringing at the end of the day...LOL

Looks like a blast of a time James!! Thanks for going to all the trouble to create and post the vids dude!!

glassjaw7":24onlc55 said:

James, can't express how cool this whole thing is. Thanks man!!! This is the best collection of clips/videos to ever be put together!
Now some thoughts after watching every vid in full:
Mid Gain The 12 watt Mojado, Dr. Z, and 1974x were awesome!!!(only stock Marshall I liked at all TBH)
-Randall RM 50 extacy and Mashall modules surprised me, sounded great!
-Bad Cat and Ugly get honorable mention

Classic Gain
-The Friedman Dirty Shirley and Reeves '78 just dominated! That Reeves is really hard to beat, especially for the cost.
-Event Horizon sounded phenomenal here, (but not so good in the mod squad)
-Goldfingers and Ugly were great!

Mod Squad
I was really surprised here...amps that sounded killer on the live stream didn't sound as good to me, and ones that I passed on sounded great when properly mic'd.
-The Wizard Modern Classic crushed everything in my honest opinion I didn't think I would say that, but it was just perfect! Many of the other amps sounded small and "grainy" in comparison.
-H&K Trilogy surprised the heck out of me! Sounded great and at way less $ than the Triamp!
-'74 Friedman and new Marsha were killer, no surprise there.
-The Bones and Event Horizon did not sound good at all...something weird going on with the low end or something...sounded like a broken speaker. Kind of a letdown, as I was really looking forward to hearing the Bones. (maybe it wasnt dialed in correctly?)
-CCV and Custom 75 sounded really cool, but to my surprise (and relief) I liked others a bit more.
-Chupa seems pretty badass for the money.
Liquid Metal
-Friedman Naked and VH4 were f'ing awesome! Cut, clarity and huge sound! (and they have some similarities in tone)
-Mesa stuff was just ok...I wanted to like it more, but I guess I'm spoiled by my Friedman recto!
-The Ubers sounded killer! I didn't like them on the live stream, but just goes to show proper mic'ing makes all the difference!
-Brown Eye was killer for metal, right on that line between 'brown' and modern.
-Triamp was cool, but sounded how I remember it sounding in person: a bit buzzy and loose on the bottom. I liked the Trilogy more in mod squad.

If I had to choose just one amp that blew me away more than any other, it would be the Wizard! It just sounded amazing and huge! No grainy high end, just thick and cutting and big sounding!
These are just my opinions (but I'm right )
Awesome job everyone involved! Thanks!!!

Click to expand...

Here is a Bones clip that imo sounds like what I have always played,



It must have been crazy setting all those amps up though and trying to get the best out of each!!!!! I do not envy that job nor will I complain, killer stuff for sure!

Yeah it was pretty intense spl but I was shocked that I woke up the next morning and was ok. My ears survived. Also the room is pretty big and it was filled with gear and people and that absorbs some sound.

Digital Jams":4t6v5dat said:

glassjaw7":4t6v5dat said:

James, can't express how cool this whole thing is. Thanks man!!! This is the best collection of clips/videos to ever be put together!
Now some thoughts after watching every vid in full:
Mid Gain The 12 watt Mojado, Dr. Z, and 1974x were awesome!!!(only stock Marshall I liked at all TBH)
-Randall RM 50 extacy and Mashall modules surprised me, sounded great!
-Bad Cat and Ugly get honorable mention

Classic Gain
-The Friedman Dirty Shirley and Reeves '78 just dominated! That Reeves is really hard to beat, especially for the cost.
-Event Horizon sounded phenomenal here, (but not so good in the mod squad)
-Goldfingers and Ugly were great!

Mod Squad
I was really surprised here...amps that sounded killer on the live stream didn't sound as good to me, and ones that I passed on sounded great when properly mic'd.
-The Wizard Modern Classic crushed everything in my honest opinion I didn't think I would say that, but it was just perfect! Many of the other amps sounded small and "grainy" in comparison.
-H&K Trilogy surprised the heck out of me! Sounded great and at way less $ than the Triamp!
-'74 Friedman and new Marsha were killer, no surprise there.
-The Bones and Event Horizon did not sound good at all...something weird going on with the low end or something...sounded like a broken speaker. Kind of a letdown, as I was really looking forward to hearing the Bones. (maybe it wasnt dialed in correctly?)
-CCV and Custom 75 sounded really cool, but to my surprise (and relief) I liked others a bit more.
-Chupa seems pretty badass for the money.
Liquid Metal
-Friedman Naked and VH4 were f'ing awesome! Cut, clarity and huge sound! (and they have some similarities in tone)
-Mesa stuff was just ok...I wanted to like it more, but I guess I'm spoiled by my Friedman recto!
-The Ubers sounded killer! I didn't like them on the live stream, but just goes to show proper mic'ing makes all the difference!
-Brown Eye was killer for metal, right on that line between 'brown' and modern.
-Triamp was cool, but sounded how I remember it sounding in person: a bit buzzy and loose on the bottom. I liked the Trilogy more in mod squad.

If I had to choose just one amp that blew me away more than any other, it would be the Wizard! It just sounded amazing and huge! No grainy high end, just thick and cutting and big sounding!
These are just my opinions (but I'm right )
Awesome job everyone involved! Thanks!!!

Click to expand...

Here is a Bones clip that imo sounds like what I have always played,

It must have been crazy setting all those amps up though and trying to get the best out of each!!!!! I do not envy that job nor will I complain, killer stuff for sure!

Click to expand...

I know some people are going to be weirded out or hurt if their amps don't sound as good as other amps. The Bones was dialed in by it's owner not us. Hey you know it's one day with one amp, it isn't gospel.

Thanks James and everyone that was part of this....very cool!

Out of the Mod squad pt 1 I liked the Plexrod, Friedman and Trilogy in that order....great job on your amp Steve!

Pt 2 I liked....Wizard of course and the 71 Marshall in that order. The Marshall Jose has a nice classic midrange bite but not the bottom end or top end I like.

Liquid Metal Pt 1 didnt care for anything really.

Pt 2 The Marshall Super Tremolo sounded great.....if that amp ever comes up for sale get ahold of me

Suprised how bad the SLO sounded.

Still have more to check out....guess I'll do that tonite.