One Riff, 41 Amps! (now including the isolated guitars version)

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Hello everyone!

Here's something a little crazy I worked on for a while. The concept is simple: I wrote a 'riff' specifically for this concept. It's basically a collage of riffy bits and some lead bits so that you can hopefully get a good idea of how these amps all sound with a modern high gain rock tone. Since I'm doing this with 41 amps I also wanted to write the riff so that it doesn't get boring too fast so there aren't any repeating passages really. I used a guitar that's rather 'normal', it's my ESP LTD-Elite (MIJ) Eclipse I with Seymour Duncans so nothing too out of the ordinary.

So this is amped through my entire amp collection which consists of amps from various brands like Mesa Boogie, Peavey, Marshall, Orange, ENGL etc. Also some lesser known brands. No, there are no Fender or Vox amps because I prefer other types of amps :) (just saying that because sometimes people get a little mad because of that). Last time I got a lot of 'Why no Friedmans?' so at least I have one of those now haha! This is my own personal collection so I can't have 'all the amps'. This is what I have to offer though.

For more information I wrote a little FAQ/Editor's notes in the comment section. For now I just hope you guys enjoy this! Let me know if you have any questions! I think there is a lot to talk about! So many great amps:



Here's also the isolated guitars version of the video so you can just hear the guitars by themselves:

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Update: isolated version with just the guitars coming soon...
 
scottosan said:
And 41 instances of the use of IRs, which colors the tone IMHO. Great for recording, but poor for demonstrating nuances in different amps
Click to expand...


Would you be able to tell without knowing those are all ir’s?? I don’t think I could
 
Nice vid. No idea if the recording somehow flattened the whole thing, but they sounded far more similar than I'd have expected.
 
scottosan said:
And 41 instances of the use of IRs, which colors the tone IMHO. Great for recording, but poor for demonstrating nuances in different amps
Click to expand...
Zado said:
Nice vid. No idea if the recording somehow flattened the whole thing, but they sounded far more similar than I'd have expected.
Click to expand...

I addressed those points in my notes in the pinned comment but I'll copy that here for you:

READ ME! (Editor's notes:)

- Please listen on proper speakers, monitors or headphones to truly appreciate the unique sonic characteristics of each of the amplifiers!

- Isolated guitars edition coming soon!

- What was the idea behind this video?

In short: I wanted to make a video very similar to my 'One Riff, 22 Amps!' video from a couple of years ago. However, this time I wanted to use more amps (41 to be precise) and I also wanted to contruct a riff that would demonstrate various tonal textures of the amps. I wanted the riff to groove and most of all to not become boring too soon, so with many changes and different patterns. If someone were to watch this entire video, the riff should not become boring too fast. Hopefully I succeeded at least to some degree haha! I'll let you be the judge of that...

- Why do all the amps sound so similar/the same?

I don't think the amps sound the same at all but I do get these comments from time to time with these types of videos. Considering that you are indeed listening on good speakers, monitors or headphones (and NOT on an Iphone speaker or something similar:) what you are hearing in this video is the same performance reamped 41 times over again through different amplifiers. What's not changing in between each 'take' are things like the player, the actual performance, the guitar, the pickups, the strings, the pick, the cables, the signal flow etc. This takes away a lot of variables that can also have a huge impact on a guitar tone. Take this into account. You're only hearing the amps and cabs change, not all those other things as they stay the same. Of course it will sound very similar in some ways each time you listen again. Try to listen for distortion character, overall EQ balance etc.

- Which one is your favorite? / If you could only pick one, which one would it be?

Well, the beauty of having such a large collection is that I don't have to choose. That's the whole point! Every amp does it's own thing as you hopefully can hear. Some amps work better with certain guitars and other with others. It's kind of like having a real life Axe Fx. Having said that, if I had to pick one amp to tour with, an amp that 'does it all'. The Peavey Invective 120 would be a good contender!

- Why didn't you use the same IR for each amp?

Maybe look a this as more of an amp showcase rather than a comparison. I want to emphasize each amp's character more and also showcase it with a cab sound that is fitting for the amp. Everyone uses different cabs and speakers anyway. Also, people will otherwise complain that 'all the amps sound the same'. If I used a Mesa people would complain that I should use something else. If I used a Marshall people would complain that I neede to use a Mesa etc. In this way hopefully a lot of different cab owners/users will be represented and it should make the entire listening experience more enjoyable. Plus, you'll get to hear each amp shine more in its own way.

Jon
 
In the mix some of the amps sound very similar, but some didn't. Some of the amps could have used a boost too... like a couple of those Marshall's and the rectos. I thought the Engls had a nice 3D character to them, they were probably my favs, surprisingly.
 
Amazing job mate.

These sort of tests show that many amps are voiced very similar and get easily get in the same ballpark.
Especially when you ONLY change the amp and everything else is exactly the same.

A recto always stands out to me as being very different to most others.
Sometimes that's a good thing and sometimes not... depending on what sound i'm going for at the time.
 
Guitarjon said:
- Why didn't you use the same IR for each amp?

Maybe look a this as more of an amp showcase rather than a comparison. I want to emphasize each amp's character more and also showcase it with a cab sound that is fitting for the amp. Everyone uses different cabs and speakers anyway. Also, people will otherwise complain that 'all the amps sound the same'. If I used a Mesa people would complain that I should use something else. If I used a Marshall people would complain that I neede to use a Mesa etc. In this way hopefully a lot of different cab owners/users will be represented and it should make the entire listening experience more enjoyable. Plus, you'll get to hear each amp shine more in its own way.

Jon
Click to expand...
Amazing job nonetheless Jon. Having said that, I think it would be better to use the same IR for all amps so that we have a more clear idea to what each amp sounds like! Maybe next time!
 
saxxamafone said:
Amazing job mate.

These sort of tests show that many amps are voiced very similar and get easily get in the same ballpark.
Especially when you ONLY change the amp and everything else is exactly the same.

A recto always stands out to me as being very different to most others.
Sometimes that's a good thing and sometimes not... depending on what sound i'm going for at the time.
Click to expand...

The Dual Rectifier certainly is a stand out amp here. Just so big, filthy and nasty sounding!
 
You really should just pick a couple and use the same IR for each amp. And maybe do 2 different versions, one with some type of Greenback and one with V30's. These are benchmarks for a reason and would truly show the differences with all these amps. I for one appreciate all the work put into this as I would never be able to demo all these amps but something like this helps narrow down which amps I may consider in a future purchase...
Guitarjon said:
I addressed those points in my notes in the pinned comment but I'll copy that here for you:

READ ME! (Editor's notes:)

- Please listen on proper speakers, monitors or headphones to truly appreciate the unique sonic characteristics of each of the amplifiers!

- Isolated guitars edition coming soon!

- What was the idea behind this video?

In short: I wanted to make a video very similar to my 'One Riff, 22 Amps!' video from a couple of years ago. However, this time I wanted to use more amps (41 to be precise) and I also wanted to contruct a riff that would demonstrate various tonal textures of the amps. I wanted the riff to groove and most of all to not become boring too soon, so with many changes and different patterns. If someone were to watch this entire video, the riff should not become boring too fast. Hopefully I succeeded at least to some degree haha! I'll let you be the judge of that...

- Why do all the amps sound so similar/the same?

I don't think the amps sound the same at all but I do get these comments from time to time with these types of videos. Considering that you are indeed listening on good speakers, monitors or headphones (and NOT on an Iphone speaker or something similar:) what you are hearing in this video is the same performance reamped 41 times over again through different amplifiers. What's not changing in between each 'take' are things like the player, the actual performance, the guitar, the pickups, the strings, the pick, the cables, the signal flow etc. This takes away a lot of variables that can also have a huge impact on a guitar tone. Take this into account. You're only hearing the amps and cabs change, not all those other things as they stay the same. Of course it will sound very similar in some ways each time you listen again. Try to listen for distortion character, overall EQ balance etc.

- Which one is your favorite? / If you could only pick one, which one would it be?

Well, the beauty of having such a large collection is that I don't have to choose. That's the whole point! Every amp does it's own thing as you hopefully can hear. Some amps work better with certain guitars and other with others. It's kind of like having a real life Axe Fx. Having said that, if I had to pick one amp to tour with, an amp that 'does it all'. The Peavey Invective 120 would be a good contender!

- Why didn't you use the same IR for each amp?

Maybe look a this as more of an amp showcase rather than a comparison. I want to emphasize each amp's character more and also showcase it with a cab sound that is fitting for the amp. Everyone uses different cabs and speakers anyway. Also, people will otherwise complain that 'all the amps sound the same'. If I used a Mesa people would complain that I should use something else. If I used a Marshall people would complain that I neede to use a Mesa etc. In this way hopefully a lot of different cab owners/users will be represented and it should make the entire listening experience more enjoyable. Plus, you'll get to hear each amp shine more in its own way.
Click to expand...
 
mixn4him said:
You really should just pick a couple and use the same IR for each amp. And maybe do 2 different versions, one with some type of Greenback and one with V30's. These are benchmarks for a reason and would truly show the differences with all these amps. I for one appreciate all the work put into this as I would never be able to demo all these amps but something like this helps narrow down which amps I may consider in a future purchase...
Click to expand...
ditto
 
ultimatemetalguitartones said:
ditto
Click to expand...

In my opinion there isn't a way to do this while pleasing everyone. Use the same IR and people will complain they all sound the same (trust me on this one as I have done this haha), use different ones and some people will say they'd prefer it with the same IRs. In the end I have to do it in a way that feels good for me. Having said that, when I do actual comparison videos I usually use the same IRs. It depends on the video and the goal of the video.
 
Guitarjon said:
Hello everyone!

Here's something a little crazy I worked on for a while. The concept is simple: I wrote a 'riff' specifically for this concept. It's basically a collage of riffy bits and some lead bits so that you can hopefully get a good idea of how these amps all sound with a modern high gain rock tone. Since I'm doing this with 41 amps I also wanted to write the riff so that it doesn't get boring too fast so there aren't any repeating passages really. I used a guitar that's rather 'normal', it's my ESP LTD-Elite (MIJ) Eclipse I with Seymour Duncans so nothing too out of the ordinary.

So this is amped through my entire amp collection which consists of amps from various brands like Mesa Boogie, Peavey, Marshall, Orange, ENGL etc. Also some lesser known brands. No, there are no Fender or Vox amps because I prefer other types of amps :) (just saying that because sometimes people get a little mad because of that). Last time I got a lot of 'Why no Friedmans?' so at least I have one of those now haha! This is my own personal collection so I can't have 'all the amps'. This is what I have to offer though.

For more information I wrote a little FAQ/Editor's notes in the comment section. For now I just hope you guys enjoy this! Let me know if you have any questions! I think there is a lot to talk about! So many great amps:

Click to expand...

Nice job dude! And sweet riffage!
 
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