which amp for blues

Tokai Forum

Help Support Tokai Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

royboy

Well-known member
Joined
May 27, 2006
Messages
49
Reaction score
0
Location
uk
THINKING OF UPGRADING TO A TUBE AMP NOT SURE WHICH MODEL WOULD BE BETTER FENDER HOT ROD DELUXE 40 WATTS OR FENDER HOT ROD BLUES DELUXE?
OR IF I SPENT A BIT MORE AND WENT FOR THE MESA 5/25 EXPRESS AMP.
 
Fender Blues DeVille - 60 watts with 4 x 10 speakers. Same as a Bassman but with Reverb, Drive Channel and Master Volume. Highly versatile amp.
 
Honestly, if you are buying for blues then have a chat with Denis Cornell at DC Developments. http://www.dc-developments.com/ You won't go wrong. The last thing you want is too many channels, push-pulls, loads of unwanted EQ knobs and the rest.

Denis's 'Plexi' range sound great with a Les Paul a Strat or a Tele. The 18/20 is killer little amp and works perfectly with a good overdrive pedel in front like a Xotic AC booster for instance. If you're recording in the studio you can wind it up and it sings all day.

Steer clear of the run of the mill stuff you find in shops. Thats includes the Boogie stuff that for me has lost its edge over the past 10 years.

I also like DrZ amps but in the UK you'll have to sell your backside to get one. I have a Z28 head (22w) that I used for recording our EP last month. Great little amp. I used the Z28 with a Palmer ADIG-LB Speaker Simulator. Terrific!
 
I can tell you my actual gear.
I have got a Vibroverb '63 Reissue 2x10 dated 1992.
Then for better portability, I have purchased a Pro Junior in tweed. 9 kg, 1x10, 15 watt, 4 tubes. When I reached 10 on 12 on volume knob, screams like hell !
 
Hey Royboy - I agree with oldflame - you'll never regret buying a handmade, point-to-point amp. I just sold my '71 Fender Vibro Champ (a great sounding amp) because the Swart Space Tone (5 watts, no reverb, no vibrato) sounded so much better. Same thing with my Fender Custom Vibrolux Reverb - very good but not great. I also bought the 20-watt Swart Atomic Space Tone (reviewed in this month's Guitar Player Magazine) and that nails the classic Fender tone - pretty good with humbuckers and P90s, too.

My problem started 15 years ago when a friend was nice enough to loan me his '65 Blackface Deluxe Reverb for a few weeks. Lovely tone, nothing like it. That's what spoiled me. I wanted an amp that sounded just as good as that one.

I have regretted spending $$$$ on amps that were good, but not great. But I've never regretted spending the loot for a truly great valve amp. From what I have read, Dennis Cornford makes great-sounding rigs and sounds worth checking out. I've bought my share of factory-made stuff and some of it's been a good experience, but now I've changed my thinking. I know I'm sounding like an :eek: amp snob, but there is a difference, and once you hear it, there's no going back, IMHO. Plus your money goes directly to a builder, not a corporation. Just my 2 1/2 cents.

Steve
 
Fender Blues Deluxe - NOT a Hot Rod. The Hot Rods sound like sh**, and are made for people who think Gary Moore is a blues player.... :roll:

Mike
 
stratman323 said:
Fender Blues Deluxe - NOT a Hot Rod. The Hot Rods sound like sh**, and are made for people who think Gary Moore is a blues player.... :roll:

Mike
BUHAHAHAHAHAA
Gary Moore is my all time fave but I have to agree...he "plays" at playing the blues.
 
He supported BB King on his final UK tour last year. BB is the consumate blues player, he defines feel, space, dynamics, subtlety, etc.

Gary Moore.... well, doesn't! He might be a technically brilliant rock guitarist, but subtlety isn't a word in his vocabulary. :cry:

Mike
 
Oh i agree wholeheartedly...I mean...when I was learning how to solo years ago it was:
Thin Lizzy Nightlife album(feat Gary Moore and i still play HIS version of the solo in Still in love with you as opposed to Brian Robertson's live drunken shamble)
The Gforce Albums.
The fusion crap he did with Bill Bruford.
And finally the thing that first turned me onto him was an old Grey Whistle test show that had him as the guitarist for an experiment by Andrew lloyd Weber to take a classical piece and transpose it to as many different styles of music as possible.
I was stunned at his ability and energy and decided that THAT was how I had to play and later that year i got to see him live at the famous Thin Lizzy Australian Opera House gig(that I now own on DVD).
End result is that i can do a pretty good "Gary Moore" on demand but age mellows us all and I'm more into Blues and the "less is more"(no pun intended) theory these days so the only time i go for all out technical speed is either when my band covers a Gary Moore song or in my quiet times at home.
He should have stopped at the first blues album if you ask me...was a good album for getting something out of his system but that BB King Jam that's on Youtube is embarrasing even for me :eek:
 
Thanks Guy's for your replies will be checking out Denis's amps.
 
Incidentally and as I've mentioned before, I am now THE Australian importer for Denis Cornell amps. I ain't biased though as I use my Cornell 'Plexi' 18/20 2x10 combo all the time so if you're in Oz and want one let me know.

Ozeshin.

I too cut a lot of teeth on Gary Moore stuff up to the G-Force album. In fact, I think I learnt that back to back. Did you know that most of that album was recorded with a Pignose shoved into the desk? True, Gazzer Rocks better than he plays blues. So you don't like the Colosseum material then? Apparently Gazzer was on a huge learning curve with that lot. They really pushed his ability and it paid off big time.
 
oldflame said:
So you don't like the Colosseum material then? Apparently Gazzer was on a huge learning curve with that lot. They really pushed his ability and it paid off big time.
It was okish....they had their moments.
I saw Colloseum II with GM supporting Andrew lloyd Weber playing "Variations"...I also saw them supporting Julian LLoyd Weber performing the same peice but because Julian is a soloist GM didn't do any lead work...just rythym...still jumped around like a loon though :p
I had heaps of Japanese bootleg albums of G-force and GM....where I learnt most of my vibrato work....him and Kossoff.
 
OK, I'll admit my ignorance about tube rectifiers. Could you explain please - what do they do, how do I tell if an amp has one, and what difference does it make to the sound?

Thanks,

Mike
 
:roll: You can either play the blues or you can't. It's go nothing to do with tube rectifiers. And nope, I can't play the blues. No major trauma's in my life and my baby ain't gone left me ....yet :) Not that I'd bother to learn to play the blues if she did! HA! :lol:

These sites should give you some idea of the difference.

Tube rec's these guys explain it better than I ever could.

http://www.sonicdeli.com/ThunderTweakWeb/tweaks.htm

http://studentweb.eku.edu/justin_holton/sag.html

http://www.torresengineering.com/addtubrectoy.html

http://www.amptone.com/index.html
 
Back
Top