Exploring an amp

I'm definitely not someone who has a idealized tone that I am going for. I would not have thought about this were it not for the tone threads that crop up in this forum.

For the past few months, I have been using a Ceriatone Trainwreck clone at home, alternating between a half dozen speakers. I really enjoy the sounds that I am getting and find myself experimenting with different kinds of touch, in terms of bends, vibrato, slides, muting, and the many ways of playing a chord or dyad. Today, I switched over to a Victoria 35310 (Bandmaster clone). At first, the sound seemed to lack transparency or tonal variety over the course of a note. On my second day right now, I notice that I am using a different kind of vibrato and bend speed (slower, or fast then slower, etc.). I am also enjoying really whacking notes on the 4th and 5th strings, then suddenly going to a very deep vibrato.

The way that I am playing today, is quite a bit different than a few days ago with the Ceriatone. However, when I played with my Ceriatone touch on the Victoria, I wasn't pleased with the result. Yet, now that I have adapted to the response of the Victoria, I am enjoying exploring new ways of phrasing. Additionally, I am also playing different kinds of ideas altogether. My thought is that I wouldn't have tried these ideas on the Ceriatone. Anyway, I guess what I am saying is pretty obvious, but I am having a lot of fun right now and just wanted to share that.

I don't think many folks sound very good playing a Trainwreck. It requires an experienced touch. Many folks on youtube could just as well be playing any amp with a distortion box.

You're tapping into the secret sauce: fingers+guitar+amp are the Holy Trinity. Adjusting on the fly takes some mastery that only a few decades can help with. (I'm still working on it...)

I've tried to explain this to people, and most don't get it. It's like the guys that play Fenders all the time who plug into my Marshall at a jam, set all the knobs like they set their Fenders, and then announce that my amp sounds terrible.

No, it doesn't, it sounded great until you tried to turn it into something it's not.

Different guitars and different amps definitely cause me to play differently. The different amp and guitar responses make my head and hands go in different directions. I play completely differently deoending on whether I have my tele and Vox hooked up, or my LP and Marshall, or my Strat and my Marshall, or my LP and my Roland, each combo automatically lends itself to different things.

Some people are deaf to that. They plug into a new amp, and set it the same as their regular amp, and play the exact same way, and feel like they are fighting with it the whole time to get it to work for them. That's because they are. I keep trying to tell people, you wouldn't try to plow a field with a Ducati bike, and Ford tractors don't corner worth a damn. You wouldn't want to take an Econoline van to Daytona raceway. A Lambo would make a terrible ambulance. But use each for it's strong suits, and you're golden.

You have to listen to the gear, it'll tell you where it wants to go. I'm all for finding the exact right stuff that works for a player. But sometimes they miss the forest for the trees. I see guys jump up and play my Marshall and try to get the mids out of it, crank the bass up to ten, and then fight with it. It's not a Twin. Let it be a Marshall, and use it for what it's good at. If you let it, it'll tell you where to go.

It's true for a lot of different amps. I'm still surprised at what a learning curve there can be with even simple amps. Because it isn't just sound, it's also feel, and every amp seems to react somewhat differently to the same guitars. So the learning curve isn't just an amp, but this or that guitar with this particular amp. Just the simple matter of setting the various tone knobs ... seems so obvious, but tonestacks and voicing differs so much amp to amp. I spent the day going back and forth between an Allen Encore head w/1x15 cab, and a Fender brown pro, a 1x15 combo. Both 2x6L6, same speaker format, not hugely different in wattage. But not much the same even so. The more I play these amps, the more I realize how differently they can be played.
MD

I don't think many folks sound very good playing a Trainwreck. It requires an experienced touch.

Yes, yes, yes. I really blew for a while with this amp. I had been playing for two years after a 25-year layoff, and this shined a light on my technique issues, especially open or semi-muted lower strings. I had to address that problem right away. I'm still not 100% with that. Ultimately, I came to realize my problems were more with technique than knob settings, which aren't to complicated with vol, treb, mid, bass, presence, and a bright switch.

I also have a Ceriatone Dumble clone. I also sounded like crap at first, but for different reasons. Because it has an unusual master vol structure, I really struggled at first. Finally, I went to a very short manual that gave some recommended settings to start with. Rarely do I follow things like that, but what a difference it made.

The Victoria seems less sensitive to touch in the way that the Ceriatones above are. As a result, to get the kind of sounds I have gotten used to with those amps, I find myself really exaggerating both left hand and right hand expressive moves. Not to put the Vicky down though, as it excels at a very solid sound spread over a wide frequency spectrum. In other words, it sounds full, warm, and clear all at the same time.

With all of my amps at home, I use a Weber attenuator, Fuchs Valve Job, and Maxon AD999. The values of the Fuchs are something I really have gotten used to playing with, especially gain and level.

I've tried to explain this to people, and most don't get it. It's like the guys that play Fenders all the time who plug into my Marshall at a jam, set all the knobs like they set their Fenders, and then announce that my amp sounds terrible.

No, it doesn't, it sounded great until you tried to turn it into something it's not.

Different guitars and different amps definitely cause me to play differently. The different amp and guitar responses make my head and hands go in different directions. I play completely differently deoending on whether I have my tele and Vox hooked up, or my LP and Marshall, or my Strat and my Marshall, or my LP and my Roland, each combo automatically lends itself to different things.

Some people are deaf to that. They plug into a new amp, and set it the same as their regular amp, and play the exact same way, and feel like they are fighting with it the whole time to get it to work for them. That's because they are. I keep trying to tell people, you wouldn't try to plow a field with a Ducati bike, and Ford tractors don't corner worth a damn. You wouldn't want to take an Econoline van to Daytona raceway. A Lambo would make a terrible ambulance. But use each for it's strong suits, and you're golden.

You have to listen to the gear, it'll tell you where it wants to go. I'm all for finding the exact right stuff that works for a player. But sometimes they miss the forest for the trees. I see guys jump up and play my Marshall and try to get the mids out of it, crank the bass up to ten, and then fight with it. It's not a Twin. Let it be a Marshall, and use it for what it's good at. If you let it, it'll tell you where to go.

+1

I came into possession of a Peavey Windsor last fall, which is much more like a Marshall amp than any amp I've owned before, including my SS Marshall head, but since I've had it I haven't had a lot of chances to really open it up and play with it. But, the more I do, the more I'm beginning to learn the ins and outs and most importantly, learning how to play the amp. It isn't about the settings so much as making my ears and fingers catch up to what is undoubtedly the hottest amp I've ever played through. And, FWIW, I've noticed the same thing after I recapped my old '67 Super Reverb. Suddenly it was like learning a whole new amp again. Fun!