What does “clean” mean to you?

[marvcus]

I keep reading everyone’s opinions on good cleans and trying to line that up with what I prefer. There seems to be so much more disparity in what folks like out of a clean.

Maybe folks can use this for reference when considering future opinions on clean tones.

Me: anything thick and chimey. A little dirt. If there is a thud on low notes when plucked, that’s a good thing. Like SRV clean. I don’t really run chorus or modulation on cleans, so no need to thin it out.

I don’t like: “Hyper” cleans, like Mark IV clean. I used to run the pre on 10 to get in my zone when I had one. Hate lean, sterile cleans.

 

[RaceU4her]

this is what i had on when i opened this thread, so ill go with it

 

[ChurchHill]

Interesting question... couple of ways of looking at it. In one sense, to me, clean means whatever sound fits the song. That might be rolling back on the guitar, or it might mean a different guitar or amp. Clean could be crystal clear, but many times, there's some additional harmonic content, not necessarily breakup, but not surgical, either.

Pickups play a role in this, too. I've got some high output pups that couldn't do clean to save their lives but are just perfect for their intended use. Others are perfect clean machines but may be a little thin or brittle under higher gain. Some do both well, jack of all trades, master of none situation. And a few that are perfect for everything.

For amps, to me, there are a few different kinds of clean. There's the Roland JC120 clean, which for better or worse, is that sound. There's the Fender Twin, which is another that sound, and reissues don't sound like the old ones, IMHO. One of my favorite clean sounds is the low input on a Marshall 2204 or, for that matter, a Vox AC30 for a different British flavor. My favorite clean is an old Fender Blonde Tremolux, which to my ears is a little slice of heaven when used in a fitting context. Somewhat related to this are the speakers. My favorites for cleans include JBL K110s and Altec 417s along with many Celestions and Jensens.

I'll also add that I've found very few high gain heads that also have a good clean channel for my tastes. Exceptions would be the Shiva or XTC from Bogner, or the VH4 or Herbert from Diezel. I'm sure there are others out there, but I have the amps I do because I love the one thing they do best. Anything else is an added bonus.

I'm leaving out effects intentionally. To me, clean is about the core sound, not the effects that can be added to it.

 

[Hiwatts-n-Gibsons]

Interesting question... couple of ways of looking at it. In one sense, to me, clean means whatever sound fits the song. That might be rolling back on the guitar, or it might mean a different guitar or amp. Clean could be crystal clear, but many times, there's some additional harmonic content, not necessarily breakup, but not surgical, either.

Pickups play a role in this, too. I've got some high output pups that couldn't do clean to save their lives but are just perfect for their intended use. Others are perfect clean machines but may be a little thin or brittle under higher gain. Some do both well, jack of all trades, master of none situation. And a few that are perfect for everything.

For amps, to me, there are a few different kinds of clean. There's the Roland JC120 clean, which for better or worse, is that sound. There's the Fender Twin, which is another that sound, and reissues don't sound like the old ones, IMHO. One of my favorite clean sounds is the low input on a Marshall 2204 or, for that matter, a Vox AC30 for a different British flavor. My favorite clean is an old Fender Blonde Tremolux, which to my ears is a little slice of heaven when used in a fitting context. Somewhat related to this are the speakers. My favorites for cleans include JBL K110s and Altec 417s along with many Celestions and Jensens.

I'll also add that I've found very few high gain heads that also have a good clean channel for my tastes. Exceptions would be the Shiva or XTC from Bogner, or the VH4 or Herbert from Diezel. I'm sure there are others out there, but I have the amps I do because I love the one thing they do best. Anything else is an added bonus.

I'm leaving out effects intentionally. To me, clean is about the core sound, not the effects that can be added to it.

This is pretty spot on.

For me a great clean is one that allows me to get the full dynamic range of my instruments different pickup positions and playing without getting too blurred and boomy on the lows with the neck pickup, and not too harsh or nasal with the bridge. It should growl, purr, and scream a bit when I dig in, but have depth, chime, and sparkle, and a nice percussive thump almost like an acoustic when I roll back the volume and adjust my picking.

My long time benchmark was an Ampeg VT22.

Now it's my Hiwatt DR103.

Both those amps deliver the above, and then a whole lot more.

 

[NorCal_Val]

About the first 1:40 of this is my idea of “clean”;

 

[nightlight]

I'd argue that pickups and your playing play a huge role when it comes to clean tones. You need to dial in whatever amp you have to (in my opinion) get to chimey, glass-like sounds that aren't brittle, while also have the notes bloom when you really dig in, or whisper when you ease back with your right hand strumming or picking.

One of the best amps I've played for clean tones is the VHT Sig:X. I really like how my guitars almost sound like acoustics through it.

 

[stephen sawall]

Class A odd and even harmonics can be nice.

I like a fairly wide range of clean sounds. It really comes to application. I feel the same about distortion.

Vox, Fender, Hiwatt all pretty amazing examples of what clean can be.

That range between clean and point of break-up. There is a lot of colors in there.

Been on a wah thing again lately. Yesterday I was I plugged the Hamer into 535q Cry baby, Keeley Compressor +, Boss CE-2W into a Fryette Memphis with a 4x12 Vintage 30 / H75 cream back.

Had the channels set up for Fender clean chime and Vox point of break-up type sounds.

A play a far amount of funk. So cleans are always important.

As far as best goes blackface Twin is my preference.

 

[stephen sawall]

I'd argue that pickups and your playing play a huge role when it comes to clean tones. You need to dial in whatever amp you have to (in my opinion) get to chimey, glass-like sounds that aren't brittle, while also have the notes bloom when you really dig in, or whisper when you ease back with your right hand strumming or picking.

One of the best amps I've played for clean tones is the VHT Sig:X. I really like how my guitars almost sound like acoustics through it.

Agree the Sig X cleans are some of the best.
All three channels are capable of great cleans.

 

[cobrahead1030]

If jazzy chord voices sound good & I can fingerpick without it turning to mud, it’s clean. I like the chorus’y ultra clean & the bluesy type with a little dirt in it.

 

[IHateRap]

No longer smelling like shit.

 

[DanTravis62]

I like 5540 different types of clean, and I will specify which when i talk about them - generally if i simply say an amp "has good cleans" then it has a bunch of those different tones in it.

Generally speaking, for no-dirt clean, either SS or super high headroom like a Twin or a Hiwatt is the best. I personally like a rack power amp plus fx or a Roland jazz chorus for this type of tone.

For SRV style, basically any fender will do a convincing job of it - This is completely clean to the ear, but the tubes are sagging a bit and providing a bit of compression that you can feel but can't hear.

When people talk about vox or matchless cleans, they really mean the just barely dirty edge of breakup that country players use for tele tones. This is the low end of edge of breakup (often used with a dyna comp to make it feel more comfy)

For full "edge of breakup" generally they mean a vox, fender, or marshall either cranked to where it's clean bitchpicked and slightly dirty if you play open or power chords. See TPS/dan and mic for these types of tones constantly.

For almost dirty there's a ton of punk and emo bands that use "almost dirty" clean tones as their rhythm sounds - see Against Me's old stuff, or The Clash.

Theres a ton of variations of each of these basic "food groups" of clean.

 

[Inflames]

Cleans?? Boring lol. Sorry joking

 

[glpg80]

I like 5540 different types of clean, and I will specify which when i talk about them - generally if i simply say an amp "has good cleans" then it has a bunch of those different tones in it.

Generally speaking, for no-dirt clean, either SS or super high headroom like a Twin or a Hiwatt is the best. I personally like a rack power amp plus fx or a Roland jazz chorus for this type of tone.

For SRV style, basically any fender will do a convincing job of it - This is completely clean to the ear, but the tubes are sagging a bit and providing a bit of compression that you can feel but can't hear.

When people talk about vox or matchless cleans, they really mean the just barely dirty edge of breakup that country players use for tele tones. This is the low end of edge of breakup (often used with a dyna comp to make it feel more comfy)

For full "edge of breakup" generally they mean a vox, fender, or marshall either cranked to where it's clean bitchpicked and slightly dirty if you play open or power chords. See TPS/dan and mic for these types of tones constantly.

For almost dirty there's a ton of punk and emo bands that use "almost dirty" clean tones as their rhythm sounds - see Against Me's old stuff, or The Clash.

Theres a ton of variations of each of these basic "food groups" of clean.

I personally prefer solid state for cleans. Theoretically tubes should do it better from a softer tone perspective but when I want pristine cleans modelers and solid state just do it better.

 

[thiscalltoarms]

Live, I have a super low gain overdrive that I use on most of my cleans to help them cut through (BJFE FlameTop- incredible pedal by the way). My “clean” clean is intentionally a little quieter than the rest of my rig because I use it mostly to create ambient or synth effects that I don’t want to overtake the band. Still, I do like my “cleans” a bit dirtier than the sparkling clean guys and much less dirty than the average guy with a vox or other boutique sub 35w amp.

 

[rsm]

this is what i had on when i opened this thread, so ill go with it

For me, clean electric guitar is jangle and chime:

 

[Uzi Nein Millimetah]

1) Eric Johnson means GOAT cleans... A Strat with SSS in position #2 or #4 and cavernous reverb/delay (dialed back slightly) has no rival. I know he has used Dumble and Matchless over the years, essentially bootique versions of the old Fenders, and of course the old Fenders themselves.

2) Modern ultra cleans - John Petrucci style HH with coil splitting, middle position can be very nice. Can get an alternate version with HSH in #2 and #4, important to have a bright, clear, mild single such as the JEM single. Can get this with the IIC section of a Quad, MkIV, JP-2C or MkVII or a clean rack, etc. I always use as least some delay for any cleans, sometimes a lot. Very sparingly on chorus and occasionally phaser.

3) Andy Summers - Tele cleans with delay/chorus. This reminds me, I need to break out me Tele! Been a long time....the middle position is a favorite.

I do NOT like muted/rolled off/gritty cleans, they should be bright, clear, and sparkly/jangly. That said, there are times I like rhythm gain sounds with the guitar volume knob low a la EVH, that kind of grit is ok, and makes no claim to being "clean". I learned a lot of about this when I bought my EVH Bumblebee and had no other options for ~cleans.

 

[Exo-metal]

Always overlooked is the IIC+ and its work in this category.

 

[marvcus]

Always overlooked is the IIC+ and its work in this category.

The IIC+ was a nice surprise after having a IV forever on cleans

 

[marvcus]

I personally prefer solid state for cleans. Theoretically tubes should do it better from a softer tone perspective but when I want pristine cleans modelers and solid state just do it better.

Not a bad thing. Lots of good SS cleans out there

 

[glpg80]

Not a bad thing. Lots of good SS cleans out there

I’m hoping to design a drop in solid state clean sort of like how Jeremy offers a drop in tube option. Just a different flavor for people that like solid state. Ideally I’d like to have tube gain but SS clean all in the same amp.

Or maybe just offer an insert loop that you can put your own pedal/source and it “acts” like a clean?