Is it just me...

[Devin]

You probably never reached a level where you were happy with your playing, so instead of spending that time and cash chasing the hard way, you tried to fill it with expensive amps.

Many, many such cases

 

[harddriver]

I'm still searching for the brown sound.

Ampchaser will find it for you, just ask him.

 

[ChurchHill]

I know this is a topic that has probably been beat to death but is it just me that doesn't hear it or can't find the perfect setup?

Let me start by asking some questions. What do you expect the perfect setup to do? What does it sound like? What does it accomplish?

I've been playing for a little over 40 years, too, and have also been through a silly number of amps. When I started, I really didn't have any specific sound or style in mind, I just wanted to make the music that satisfied that craving. Didn't matter that much what I was playing on or playing through, only that I was playing. My perfect setup was the first amp I got that wasn't a complete POS and it's still the standard I measure everything else against. Over the years, I've experimented with many different sounds and still enjoy doing that because it inspires me to play differently, much like I don't play the same on a Les Paul as I do on a Jackson Soloist. In the end, though, I still sound like me and that's all that really matters to me.

I'm not in the same league and not trying to imply a comparison, but for instance, EVH sounded like EVH on any rig and anyone else who played his rig didn't sound like him, at all, apparently. Or that it didn't matter what Page, Clapton, Hendrix, BB King, and many other examples, were playing or playing through. They all sounded like themselves, whether it was a Fender Champ, a Sears special, or a solid-state Lab Series. After that, it just becomes a matter or whether or not a specific guitar or amp or whatever works for you or it doesn't.

So, to answer your question, no, there's not much difference between a DSL and a Friedman, Bogner, or anything else that's basically a modified Marshall circuit. Whether or not they sound better is a matter of preference. There is some difference in feel, but again, that's a matter of preference. Everything in the rig affects the sound. Hands > speakers > amp > pickups > strings > cables > wood. To include every other variable. None of it really matters as long as you're inspired to play. Whatever inspires you the most is my idea of a perfect setup.

 

[Simon Dorn]

I know this is a topic that has probably been beat to death but is it just me that doesn't hear it or can't find the perfect setup? i've been playing 40 years and i have had so many different amps it is silly. i've had all the king camerons (the atomica i regret selling) friedmans, bogners, diezel, mesa, evh tec many multiple times. recently i tried out the JEL 50 and didnt really love it along with a modded jmp. oh the money i have spent........

a few years ago i went to fractal land with a III for live use and there is good and bad, i can play a plexi pushed at a level that i couldn't play live or at home ( or dare i say an approximation of a plexi). I love plexi's but volume is an issue, i actually don't like to be super loud anymore and honestly can't play them out anywhere. I hate ir's and dyn ir's. i use a cab with a older qsc power amp that sounds better, but the amp in the room sound really isn't there. amp/cab vs axe/cab the axe loses and i've tried many different power sources.

Not a fan of attenuators either, changes something, stupid amount spent to try em out. I currently have a captor x for the 15th time, the attenuation levels are stupid.

Along with all of this i played a DSL and really didn't notice that much of a difference thru the same cab as the JEL. is it just my ears and i can't or don't hear the big difference. IS there really that much of a difference. I like plexi/800 and modded versions (80's guy). is the answer to just buy a dsl to get the amp in the room thing when i want it? Is a friedman or bogner that much better, i have a hard time hearing it. do i try the Brit 50 that has a master volume ( that JEL was blistering loud to get good tone)

I play a stock 2203 Reissue with a Ibanez PTGate and a TS808HWV2. Even on lower volume it beats everything else.

 

[Simon Dorn]

That’s one I haven’t tried, after an ox, boss, two notes, thd and a couple others I kinda gave up on it

I don't like that stuff either. I used to play a Marshall 1959 SLP with a Boss DS1 in the early days.

 

[tjnx]

I think if you have a really good cab you can make a lot of stuff work. The differences are small until you try to match them, then it seems there is a grand canyon between them. Digital or otherwise. But the cab is doing a lot more of the coloring than it gets credit for.

Do you have an example of the perfect tone you'd like? Nothing wrong with going with a dsl and maybe throwing a sd1 in front.

I've noticed a lot of people have passionate opinions on which amp etc, but when I actually get to hear what they're talking about it usually is not a big deal at all.

 

[ElMuchoDingo]

You probably never reached a level where you were happy with your playing, so instead of spending that time and cash chasing the hard way, you tried to fill it with expensive amps.

I think that’s probably the most accurate statement. I think it’s turned into a quest for the next bigger better thing, the new motivation or inspiration. The focus becomes the gear not the playing.

Someone on the thread asked what tone I would be going for. I realize that’s a tough question when I think of it. That’s something that modeling helped and hurt. I could try a bunch of different “amps” but then I think I spend too much time basically wasting time.

 

[BABMusic]

Ampchaser will find it for you, just ask him.

We need another thread on how Eddie really got his tone. This time, it will be the real hard facts.