Wanna hear about my amp experience today?

[hugo]

You guys all know I'm in the market for an amp?!
Well, today I thought I'd go out and listen to the amps I'm interested in. The store had Vox's (1395), a 1968 SF SuperReverb (1400), 1965 BF SuperReverb (2000), a Marshall Plexi (the owner's own amp), a Traynor Bass Master (400), Rolands and another one I can't remember (Kustom).
Well, my intention was to listen to just a couple at a time cause they had alot of work pulling 'em all out and setting them up. Not a huge music store.
I told them that I like nice clean tones but I like it dirty and not tight for blues. There were a few other "would like" features that I told them would be nice. I listened to the Fender's first. I then listened to the Marshall, then the Kustom, and last the Traynor.
Well now please remember that I'm not well versed in amps. I know the sound I like and how some of the features work but that's it. I'm not a "tubehead".
I wanted a tube amp for sure.
It was so interesting to hear the differences between all the amps. I was there for three hours. I asked tons of questions and listened intently to each and every amp and what they were and weren't capable of doing.
I've bought quite a few items from them and the guy who will be taking over the business is a certified amp tech. I told them from the beginning that I was just looking. They had people coming and going in this little music shop that was cramed full of amps, guitars, amp and guitar repairs, etc. He never once left my side in three hours. They had the lady owner working too and she took care of each person one at a time and never rushed anyone. It was amazing service and at that music shop the customer comes first. I have never seen that kind of attention. Usually places spend some time with you but if you're not intending to buy that day, they don't usually hesitate to leave to help someone who may be buying.
This guy who I've dealt with several times is always the same. No matter if you're talking strings, guitars, amps, whatever. He stays until you say goodbye. I was blown away. I've been in lots of music shops and not once have I ever gotten that type of attention.
Anyway, I was done listening to all the amps I was curious about. I told the guy I didnt' want to spend a grand on amp but needed to hear what my 1000 plus would buy me if I had it.
I liked the Fenders, esp. the BF and I did like the Vox and Marshall.
Anyway, he says to me, "Do you wanna see my setup at home?" I said sure. He pulls up a picture on the computer of his music room at home. He has a Roland and it's kinda wierd looking to me in the picture. What the setup was, it had 8 preamps. Each preamp was to emulate a certain other amp. One preamp was a Marshall, the other a Tweed, the other a Blackface, etc. A total of 8 preamps. This thing is almost 6 feet high. Bunch of other stuff too. I said what do you mean it has 8 preamps? Now excuse me for my enthusiasm, you guys probably know all about this stuff?! Just let me ramble on in my excitement here!
Anyway, he says I got a Roland over here. He says it's over there. I said oh the one with the hole in the centre. I said I want a tube amp not a ss. He said it is a tube amp and what you do is pull the preamp out (like a car cd player), and interchange the preamps for whatever type of sound you want. If you want a Marshall sound, you put the preamp in for it. You want a Fender Tweed sound, you pop that preamp in. I said ya but I want a tubeamp. (Hugo's thinking to himself at this point "what is this guy stupid or what?") He says come here I'll show ya. Sure enough it's got two tubes in it. Inside the amp is 3 more preamp tubes and other tubes as well. I can't remember how many?? My brain at that point was oozing out my ears from too much info. So, he pops in the preamp for the BF. I'll be damned cause you couldn't tell that it wasn't the blackface. He did it for the tweed as well, same thing. He then pops in a Marshall preamp and the same damn thing! Honestly guys, I compared each one to the actual amp sitting there. Then, he puts a preamp for the vox. Same friggin thing. Turns out you can buy 20 different preamps. Now it comes with the preamp in it for 950.00 +tax. The speaker is a 12" Celestion Greenback. These preamps that pop in and out are 200.00 per preamp. So, you wanna play a Les Paul but want that sound, pop out the BF preamp and put the Marshall in. These preamps are exact duplicates of the actual real preamps. I was blown away. The cost is there though. This is a 20 Watt one that I was looking at. You can get much bigger than that. The one I was looking at and listening to was sitting on another one that had 3 preamps in it. So instead of having to buy an amp for each and every sound you want, you just buy the preamps.
I said "ya know, I'd love to buy it but i can't affford that right now. He says tell ya what, let me see what I can do. You've bought lots of stuff here, you're a frequent flyer. LOL. He comes back and says "you pick whatever preamp you like" and you can have it for 859.00 tax in. I'm like ohhh nooo, don't do that to me. He says come here...puts MF on the screen and it was quite a bit lower than them. I'm like please...what are you doing to me?????
I bought the friggin thang. I was blown away. Then he says I'm going to show you something. He says you should have the bias checked and that should be taken to an amp tech, a qualified amp tech. Not with this one though. Grab you voltmeter/ampmeter and put the ground here and the pos. in this spot. Showed the bias right then and there. Both tubes. Then he showed me the specs and one was a little high. He says get your screwdriver and turn this counterclockwise and voila! Done. Not to mention that he is a certified Roland amp tech. I bring it in if I have a problem and it's repaird within two days and no shipping it and waiting 6 weeks.
Then he says, I'll tell ya what, I'll put in an amazing set of tubes for you, and you can get it on Monday. Then he says, to be honest, you can even mod the preamp if theres some tweaking you want done. He would have to do it but it can be done if a certain sound you want changed a little.
Boy's I pick it up on Monday.
I took your advice and lived there today. I listened to everything. I compared everything. I was as thorough as I could be. Then he gave me the link to the forums for the roland amps. It's Grailtone.com
I want you to know that I listened and didn't buy something that i couldn't use at home. Plenty loud to gig with too. I can barely hear now because of all the listening today.
Later on I'll buy more preamps, to match whatever sound I want.
I wanna thank all of you for your advice, which I took. I'm not kidding, look into it. I know there's someone out there that's going to tell me something that i'm not aware of but I don't care. I absolutely know I made the right purchase, for me.
Now, I didn't check with the wife, I usually don't have to. I paid part with cash and part with debit/interact.
So, then I go and try to buy a couple cd's and a mag. and it comes up insuff. funds. I almost sh#t myself on the spot. So, now I'm sitting here freaking because it's Friday night and we have no money..honnnney....
Now the wife gets out of work at midnight. I have no idea if bills are coming out or what??
I'm truly worried and I'm not afraid to say "scared!"
Still it won't be divorce, it might be a little quiet here for awhile. Still what a sweet buy at a great price from a great guy who gave great service!