Country Players Who Play Tele w/o DR Amp?

[getbent]

Tony,

my comments are: don't you love how the trailer is totally blocking the crowd in the picture... and dig the old truck... man, I had one just like it....

I use a deluxe style amp currently for most gigs (a tone king imperial) and it does fine... I have a twin too... and don rich played supers more than twins in my memory... I used a super almost exclusively for country (saw roy nichols with one and just assumed that was the way to go) in my youth...

the only wrong amp to play on a gig is the one that isnt working or sounds bad!

I will admit to wandering by a band a while back and seeing the guitar player had a 50 watt marshall and a superstrat playing in a country band and started humming that old alan jackson song 'she's gone country'....

room at the table for all!

[cousinpaul]

Originally Posted by WireLine

Most of the guys out there I know use anything they can get in and out pretty fast, and gives em a good sound. Albert Lee uses whatever he wants, and still sounds like Albert, same with all the really great players. I did a couple shows with Rick McCrae few yrs back, and he was playing a stock tele through a Session 500, with a tone that would blow anyone off any stage.

Deluxes are great amps, so are Twins, Brunos, Matchless, hundreds of others...BUT its the players that make them great, not the other way around.

Yeesh

Good point. I can remember George Strait shows where the entire backline was SS Peaveys; Special 130's, Session 400's, and those guys made 'em sound great!

[T Prior]

Originally Posted by getbent

don't you love how the trailer is totally blocking the crowd in the picture... and dig the old truck...

Can you imagine getting to your seats and there is a trailer in the way ?

and..agreed..there is no right or wrong amp ..it's all good..as long as they are working I suppose !

[dog fart]

Originally Posted by T Prior

Can you imagine getting to your seats and there is a trailer in the way ?

Once I went to see Pink Floyd. There was a stack of speakers in my seat. I got moved to a seat next to a block wall. I could see some stage monitors and hear the keyboards and sax

Back to the important stuff. T Prior, can I borrow that old Beatle basher of yours?

[WireLine]

Yeah...not enough coffee I guess, or a near senior moment.

Point being that Eldon Shamblin played an open backed 1-15 Bassman, last concert, last few 2500+ shows I saw the gtr players ranged from no amp (all direct) to a pair of Twins to a single Line 6 amp...interestingly, the tone that fit the best for the gig was (IMO at the time) was the DI rig...

We are so far past the point of just using what's available that option anxiety is throttling us, and returning us back to using what WAS available simply because it worked, with minimal hassle (I wish...)

[SamClemons]

Back in the day, we had an old Kustom rolled and pleated PA that could not have been more than 200 watts, possibly 100 watts and we played what I thought was some fairly large shows with it with plenty of volume. Vocals only keep in mind, I think that is a bid difference.

[AlexArkansas]

Originally Posted by Big John

Albert Lee and his MusicMan amps, Ray Flacke with his Lab Series, Roy Nichols and on and on, when was the DR considered a 'country' amp ?

As far as I know, James Burton, Brent Mason, Vince Gill, and Steve Wariner, to name just a few, have relied heavily on Deluxe's. Didn't mean to push any buttons or get folks' anti-cork-sniffing defenses up, and apologize if this thread opened that door. I'm just fairly new to all this and wanted to get some insight into the range of equipment used in this style. With Teles and Fender amps being fairly ubiquitous, I got curious as to what other amps the top players used that I might not have known about. Thanks for the replies, y'all.

[fezz parka]

Originally Posted by getbent

the only wrong amp to play on a gig is the one that isnt working or sounds bad!

This is it!^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

[WireLine]

Alex, I think some people get riled up about things when misinformation becomes lore becomes legend. You just got caught between the dog and the fire hydrant.

A Deluxe, like anything else, is a tool, albeit one that has found a niche with certain country players. That niche seems to be fading some, as many have moved on to the next big thing. With some exceptions of course in topology and speaker cab design, just about any amp can be a pretty dadgum decent country amp - it all depends on the player, the song, and how well one fits into the other.

On the recording side, I've seen guys almost get into fist fights (online and in at least one face to face) over which type of mic/preamp/compression scheme works best to record a certain type of gtr sound - so you just kind of get used to the Superman v Batman mentality after a while and learn to giggle at the mania.

[TwoString]

I showed up for an unannounced jam and all that was available for me to use was an early 90's Am standard strat, a Mesa Lonestar Classic head with EL34s in it, and a Carvin 4x12. I felt I had more twang on tap than I normally do with my Tele and Matchless DC30 clone. It's making me really question my gear choices over the last few years. We get very wrapped up in what we think we need to accomplish something that we forget that the whole thing is such an interactive relationship between player and gear, and that the player can really push boundaries to take gear to places that seem "out of place." The AC30 wouldn't have entered the country gear mythos had it not been for John Jorgenson. I'm not sure, but I think the DR really got attention among the country twanger set because of Pete Anderson, but I believe Brent Mason used them here and there as well (although he uses just about everything in the book and still sounds like Brent Mason).

[jh45gun]

Like CousinPaul said back in the 80's and 90's Peavey amps ruled country stages on pro and weekend warriors. It was the best bang for the buck for week end warriors and for the pros they just sounded good and tube amps in that period seemed to fall out of favor. Seen lots of country acts back then using all Peavey. Still see a few folks using PV amps on pro stages. But from the time TV got popular and you seen amp shots on TV of the big stars more twins than any other amp graced the stages. Even this day watching bands on TV during the Tonite show or other late night shows I see more twins the guitar players are using. Like said a good picker can make most amps sound good but many of them prefer Twins. Then you get folks like Marty Stuart who has reverted from a Twin to a Princeton Reverb for the sound he likes. Nothing wrong with that either.

[AlexArkansas]

What y'all are talking about gets down to a duality I think a lot of us have floating in our brains. Please note, I'm not implicating anyone on this thread except myself. But it seems that, on one hand, we can talk about wiring schematics in Dr Z or Little Walter Amps, Keely mods for out of production Boss pedals, and laquer thickness on $3000 custom teles. On the other, we know that nine times out of ten, a Squier plugged straight into a solid state Crate amp will get the job done, and only our fellow nerds would know the difference. Since I'm looking for to buy at some future point in time and have no fixed price-point right now, I guess one of the subtexts to my original question was "What amps are relied on by full-time musicians I respect with good tone that can perhaps be found used at a reasonable price due to low demand?"

[hilljr170]

Haggard uses Bassmans.

[T Prior]

Originally Posted by AlexArkansas

As far as I know, James Burton, Brent Mason, Vince Gill, and Steve Wariner, to name just a few, have relied heavily on Deluxe's. .

I have seen Brent play..up close..many times.

I had to hide ( yes I'm ashamed) from the volume of TWO TWIN Reverbs... Sure he probably has a DR in his arsenal but it's one of many amps he uses...

I saw Vince two weeks ago, he was using a Little Walter...

[AlexArkansas]

Originally Posted by T Prior

I have seen Brent play..up close..many times.

I had to hide ( yes I'm ashamed) from the volume of TWO TWIN Reverbs... Sure he probably has a DR in his arsenal but it's one of many amps he uses...

I saw Vince two weeks ago, he was using a Little Walter...

That's why I phrased it present-perfect, knowing some of these guys (Vince in particular) no longer use them as a main amp, while others use different stuff, including Deluxes. Didn't know about Brent Mason's live rig, thanks for the info- hope you're hearing didn't suffer!

[WireLine]

Originally Posted by AlexArkansas

... I guess one of the subtexts to my original question was "What amps are relied on by full-time musicians I respect with good tone that can perhaps be found used at a reasonable price due to low demand?"

All I can offer is what works for me. Guitar picking is all I do now, and without any reservations I could recommend a MIM Tele or better(I would insist on having a thru-body string arrangement, and spending money on after market pickups, but that is purely personal choice)

Amp wise, a Peavey Special 130 or Bandit from the 80s just gets it done for the clean side. I can gig pretty much any live setting with one of these in proper shape, and do a country honky tonk/swing gig with nary a complaint.

Effects wise, I really do prefer a compressor for that popping, chicken pickin stuff - not mandatory, but it does make it easier to get. A touch of slapback from almost any such device, analog or digital, helps, but again is not required by any means. I don't use reverb.

As far as the esoterica, hyper expensive stuff ... OK, but so much of it is there because people want it, not because they need it. Like I mentioned, no one has ever heard a guitarist and said "great licks!!! To bad he's using a SF Rimafram instead of a BF Doomaflaggie. I might have hired him then."

[Poppatwang]

Remember Fred Newell playing thru a Marshall on Nashville Now?

[WireLine]

Yup...most of the time Fred played a BlueTube/Mosvalve rig (which is what I use now...this month...<G>)

continuing - if I had unlimited funds, ego, and roadies/amp techs at arm's reach, I'm fairly certain I'd run stereo Deluxes as effects amps, with a very specific Brown Bassman head as the clean generator, and a very specific AC15 as the dirt generator...

It gets out of control real quick..

[willspear]

yeah look at Brad Paisleys live rig it is pretty crazy.

anyone who ignores the drri as a potential amp is foolish. they sound good and are loud but not insane. perfect for most pubs and or medium sized rooms. not saying it is the holy grail but it is a great amp. I do not own one but have played through or with people who do play drri and its weight/size/tone/volume all seem to work well

[AlexArkansas]

DRRI is definitely not off the table for me, I'm just assuming there are gonna be better values on the used market when I'm ready to spring for something, given their high demand.