VIDEOS: From Amp Fest 2013!

[James Lugo]

Man that was rough, it was harder to render down these videos then it was to put on the Amp Fest. Enjoy!

High Gain 1

High Gain 2

High Gain 3

Classic Tones

 

[Kapo_Polenton]

Thanks for posting! Very interesting to hear that my ear was leaning more towards the cameron and stock JMP/800 vs the brown eye... they have more cut. With the Friedman stuff, I hear the same response i hear from his Randall module (the judge), there is this softening or compression going on with rounds the edges so to speak. Those edges sound great in a mix though.. Furthermore, what was the boost or OD used on the JMP? The OCD? The pushed amps sound just as good as the 3k amps in a mix.

 

[philb]

Wow, cool vids. It's nice to hear all these amps back to back.

 

[Laura]

Dang Lugo. That is great. I can not imagine how much time and energy that took. Great job. Sounds awesome!

 

[dwizted]

Wow OMG wish I could have heard all this as it went down... Great stuff James...

 

[paulyc]

I'd LOVE to know what the process is. Do you guys record a track (or 2) of lead and rhythm guitar through a direct box onto tape/Pro Tools and re-amp it through each amp and edit it together in a continuous loop ? Same cab, mics, mic placement, outboard gear etc...just the amp changes ? Or do you do your best to make EACH amp sound it's best (which may mean changes in mics, mic placement, outboard gear, etc...) ? Enquiring minds want to know.

Ever do a Peavey VTM ? Supposed to be a copy of Brian Jay's (Keel) old Jose Marshall but with 6L6 output tubes. Cheap amps, pretty good tone. I have one I'm fixing right now.

 

[ejecta]

My favorite was the stock JCM800.

 

[James Lugo]

My favorite was the stock JCM800.

You are not alone. I can't tell how many have told me that. You can really hear it breathing on Bruce's solo and Todd's main riff. That sucker arrived the day before, I didn't even have any time to dial her it. Plug and play. I've been using it this week in low gain input in conjunction with my Fender Super Reverb on a country record. Incredible. The sound jumps off the speakers.

 

[ejecta]

My favorite was the stock JCM800.

You are not alone. I can't tell how many have told me that. You can really hear it breathing on Bruce's solo and Todd's main riff. That sucker arrived the day before, I didn't even have any time to dial her it. Plug and play. I've been using it this week in low gain input in conjunction with my Fender Super Reverb on a country record. Incredible. The sound jumps off the speakers.

That amp definitely records very well. I've owned pretty much a version of all those amps in your video and I'm sitting here thinking what a waste of money... I could have just bought a JCM800.

That said the Reinhardt Storm I owned reminded me a lot of a good JCM800. Should have never sold that.

Thanks for posting BTW... that was a TON of work.

 

[LP Freak]

My favorite was the stock JCM800.

You are not alone. I can't tell how many have told me that. You can really hear it breathing on Bruce's solo and Todd's main riff. That sucker arrived the day before, I didn't even have any time to dial her it. Plug and play. I've been using it this week in low gain input in conjunction with my Fender Super Reverb on a country record. Incredible. The sound jumps off the speakers.

That amp definitely records very well. I've owned pretty much a version of all those amps in your video and I'm sitting here thinking what a waste of money... I could have just bought a JCM800.

That said the Reinhardt Storm I owned reminded me a lot of a good JCM800. Should have never sold that.

Thanks for posting BTW... that was a TON of work.

That's a better than average sounding 800. I've owned many and it's too bad they don't all sound like that.

 

[glip22]

My favorite was the stock JCM800.

You are not alone. I can't tell how many have told me that. You can really hear it breathing on Bruce's solo and Todd's main riff. That sucker arrived the day before, I didn't even have any time to dial her it. Plug and play. I've been using it this week in low gain input in conjunction with my Fender Super Reverb on a country record. Incredible. The sound jumps off the speakers.

That amp definitely records very well. I've owned pretty much a version of all those amps in your video and I'm sitting here thinking what a waste of money... I could have just bought a JCM800.

That said the Reinhardt Storm I owned reminded me a lot of a good JCM800. Should have never sold that.

Thanks for posting BTW... that was a TON of work.

That's a better than average sounding 800. I've owned many and it's too bad they don't all sound like that.

Beyond Awesome James. I love the Ocean. I just bought an 83 JCM2203 and it sounds similar to the one you have here,. It's a good one. Great amp when you get a good one.

 

[gtrwun]

Thanks for doing this and putting in the work I know is involved James. Its nice to hear great recordings done with all these stellar amps. Really enjoyed this.

 

[Stramm8]

Todd Striklin; I'd love to hear some big fat open AC/DC chords during that chorus. Power chords over an upbeat, major sounding progression always sounds a little weird to me. Just my opinion...

 

[guitarmike]

To my messed up hearing it just validates how close all of those amps can sound to each other. If you are into the hot rodded Marshall sound, any one of those amps gets you there. The difference (and the reason I own one) is how the master volume works. Most stock production amps need a fair amount of volume before they sound good, mot of these amps will sound real good no matter what the volume is. I don't want one amp for practice, one for recording, one for small gigs, and one for big gigs. I want one amp that covers all of my needs and most of the amps have great master volumes.

To LP Freaks point, there are one in a 1,000 stock JCM 800's but most do not sound that good until you work on them.

Thank you James!! This is a great resorce!

 

[vainguitarist]

Great work, James!!! It's certainly a great time to be a guitar player!

 

[James Lugo]

Great work, James!!! It's certainly a great time to be a guitar player!

Yeah it is. I absoluely fell in love with the 3rd Power stuff. Wow! Not only did it sound great but it really worked in the mixes. Almost like all the unnecessary lowed and womp is already cleared out of the way, making more room for the good stuff and leaving room for those damn singers. I can't wait to get my American Dream. What an amp. That and a good a Marshall is like peanut butter and jelly.

 

[gtrwun]

I do think this illustrates how much your speakers and cab play into your tone. A lot of the high gain clips sound very silmilar as already pointed out by some. If you threw a different speaker into the mix , all the sudden there is a huge difference.

 

[ejecta]

My favorite was the stock JCM800.

You are not alone. I can't tell how many have told me that. You can really hear it breathing on Bruce's solo and Todd's main riff. That sucker arrived the day before, I didn't even have any time to dial her it. Plug and play. I've been using it this week in low gain input in conjunction with my Fender Super Reverb on a country record. Incredible. The sound jumps off the speakers.

That amp definitely records very well. I've owned pretty much a version of all those amps in your video and I'm sitting here thinking what a waste of money... I could have just bought a JCM800.

That said the Reinhardt Storm I owned reminded me a lot of a good JCM800. Should have never sold that.

Thanks for posting BTW... that was a TON of work.

That's a better than average sounding 800. I've owned many and it's too bad they don't all sound like that.

I'm sure you are right my friend.... that's why I should have kept that Reinhardt. My second fovirites were the Friedman's. The one we swapped back and forth was nice. Oddly enough I'm still enjoying the EVH.

 

[Greazygeo]

Thanks for doing this.

Listened to the high gain stuff so far. They all pretty much sound the same to me listening in my studio. Close enough that with a little eq-ing could get the same tone from them all. Differences I heard were mainly in the low end, some were looser and some tighter, and some had more "hair" to the tone. Otherwise very similar. Feel-wise there would be a difference.

I only made it thru a couple sec's of the Ola stuff….not my thing at all. Still need to make it thru the Classic stuff this weekend when I get some time.

 

[Kelly]

Thanks for doing this.

Listened to the high gain stuff so far. They all pretty much sound the same to me listening in my studio. Close enough that with a little eq-ing could get the same tone from them all. Differences I heard were mainly in the low end, some were looser and some tighter, and some had more "hair" to the tone. Otherwise very similar. Feel-wise there would be a difference.

I only made it thru a couple sec's of the Ola stuff….not my thing at all. Still need to make it thru the Classic stuff this weekend when I get some time.

There are more amps on the sound files, including the Deliverance you sold me years ago.

https://jameslugo.wetransfer.com/downlo ... 550/5ff1bc