Am I bored with amps or reaching the end of my tone journey?
- Thread starter MadAsAHatter
- Start date
tallcoolone
Well-known member
Time for a PA
Techdeth
RESIDENT ROCK PROFESSOR
Definitely .
Redneckstomp
Active member
Wait..what?? Did you ordered or got used one??
MadAsAHatter
Well-known member
I'm balls deep into some of those realms too. I had a huge ass Ludwig kit back when. Double bass, 6 rack toms, 2 floor toms, 2 snares, 2 hi-hats, and close to 20 various cymbals. It took up an entire room. I couldn't play it for shit, but my drummer loved getting behind it and going nuts. Unfortunately I lost that kit in a flood back in 2016. Saved the cymbals, but the shells got warped beyond repair sitting in water for a week. I ended up replacing it with a Roland ekit. The brain is older (TD-11) but I got the nice mesh pads instead of rubber. I got a couple of special splitter cables that lets me split the pad and rim triggers into two signals. Since I wasn't hitting the rims on the tom pads I used the splitter to expand the number of pads for more toms. I also bought a few preset packs from Vexpressions for various drum sounds. The stock ones sucked and I wasn't that great a editing them. It's nowhere near as nice as a big acoustic kit but it serves my purposes and I'm more than content with it.
The bass amp world is weird. Everyone wants amps to be flat an neutral, mostly going DI to a mixer. That and Class D is all the rage. It's nice and lightweight, but just sounds so sterile to my ears. And to me they don't feel overly responsive. I still want the coloration and response of an all tube amp. That suits my playing style much better. Tube amp choices are really limited, especially in the new production model area. It's basically Ampeg, Fender, and Ashdown if you want all tube. And Traynor has updated versions of their old YBA amps. Going into the boutique world it's kind of the same as guitar amps all being some iteration of Marshall. On the bass side it's all a take on Ampeg or Bassman. The last choice is vintage which is either expensive for what it is or a rare bird.
Overall I'm pretty set on the bass amps/preamps I have and the couple on my wishlist. I have all the standard bass tones plus a couple extra covered already. I do want a Science Mother. If one every pops up I'd grab a Trace Elliot V4 mk2. But those are super rare, I think they only made 50 of the mk2's. Outside of that it would be continuing the amp building hobby with the GT120 clone I'm working on (waiting on transformers now). And Sunn Model T and Hiwatt DR201 clones are on my to build list for something a bit different. Outside of that not much has tickled my fancy.
TheGreatGreen
Well-known member
This is going to sound like a smartass answer, but it's not. Use your boredom with gear to try and shift your enthusiasm towards playing for a while. You've got the gear that sounds good, so concentrate on getting the best out of it!
I also go through cycles of getting really hyped up about gear vs hyped up about great playing. I usually come out of the gear hype with better tone (at least better to me at the time), but I almost always come out of the playing hype a better player, and being a better player always moves the tone quest forward.
I also go through cycles of getting really hyped up about gear vs hyped up about great playing. I usually come out of the gear hype with better tone (at least better to me at the time), but I almost always come out of the playing hype a better player, and being a better player always moves the tone quest forward.
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311splawndude
Well-known member
I still gas over newer amps like the Uber Ultra or Mesa Multiwatt or Wizard MTL or Badlander but then really wonder if it is going to be THAT much better. I know it is all subjective. I remember when I got my Quick Rod I thought I was done gassing 
but the gas never truly goes away.
Just asking.
but the gas never truly goes away.When you say 'just bought' you mean you just sent Helmut your down payment for a Larry amp? I promise I won't troll you
Just asking.This is where I am at or where I am heading. When the house is dead quite, I now hear ringing (like 10% volume kind of thing). Background. But its scary because I know it will only get worse from here
peterc52
Well-known member
I still gas over newer amps like the Uber Ultra or Mesa Multiwatt or Wizard MTL or Badlander but then really wonder if it is going to be THAT much better. I know it is all subjective. I remember when I got my Quick Rod I thought I was done gassing
When you say 'just bought' you mean you just sent Helmut your down payment for a Larry amp? I promise I won't troll you
This is where I am at or where I am heading. When the house is dead quite, I now hear ringing (like 10% volume kind of thing). Background. But its scary because I know it will only get worse from here