POLL: the single amp channel for set-and-forget

Which amp channel for "set-and-forget"?

  • PLEXI 50W 6CA7

    Votes: 46 40.4%

  • KOMET 60

    Votes: 1 0.9%

  • ODS-100 HRM

    Votes: 9 7.9%

  • WRECKER EXPRESS

    Votes: 9 7.9%

  • PRINCE TONE 5F2

    Votes: 4 3.5%

  • SHIVER CLEAN

    Votes: 7 6.1%

  • DIRTY SHIRLEY

    Votes: 8 7.0%

  • RUBY ROCKET

    Votes: 3 2.6%

  • BRIT 800 2203 HIGH

    Votes: 23 20.2%

  • SUHR BADGER 18

    Votes: 4 3.5%
  • Total voters
    114
sumitagarwal

sumitagarwal

Inspired
Following up on my thread here I am taking the answers I got and putting it up for a poll. I was amazed by how many different answers I got! Maybe the results of this poll will help people figure out where to start.

The idea here is to pick a single amp channel that you can dial in, then leave all settings alone, and get a wide variety of good tones by only changing passive on-guitar controls and altering playing technique.

Maybe another way of thinking about it is an amp channel that you can plug any guitar into and get great sounds without adjusting settings.

*EDIT: Jeez, only a maximum of 10 choices?! Ok, well I put the first 10 that came in
 
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Side channel question:
If you're riding your guitar volume control all night, do you have treble bleed caps on most of your guitars?

I've been trying to get away from them, among other reasons because my Collings doesn't have one and I'm strongly inclined to leave it stock, but turning down much without one loses so much top end.

If not, do you use a low-capacitance guitar wireless, or a seriously short cable?
 
CA3+ - I'm still learning on guitar tones, but it really seems like you'd really know what your doing to be able to make a bad tone from any of the variants.
 
Dave Merrill said:
Side channel question:
If you're riding your guitar volume control all night, do you have treble bleed caps on most of your guitars?

I've been trying to get away from them, among other reasons because my Collings doesn't have one and I'm strongly inclined to leave it stock, but turning down much without one loses so much top end.

If not, do you use a low-capacitance guitar wireless, or a seriously short cable?
Click to expand...
I recently got a PRS which is my first guitar with treble bleed caps. I definitely do find it helpful and think it should probably be standard for most guitars.

I generally lean on the vintage side of things, so the vast majority of my guitars have "50's" Gibson wiring, which is a bit more wonky but does retain more treble when rolling down the volume. Not as much as the treble bleed though
 
sumitagarwal said:
I recently got a PRS which is my first guitar with treble bleed caps. I definitely do find it helpful and think it should probably be standard for most guitars.

I generally lean on the vintage side of things, so the vast majority of my guitars have "50's" Gibson wiring, which is a bit more wonky but does retain more treble when rolling down the volume. Not as much as the treble bleed though
Click to expand...
My Collings has 50s wiring too, and I've heard it said that that loses less top end rolled down, but it sounds real muffled to me.

Collings says they don't like treble bleeds, and that they don't work right with 50s wiring anyway, but I'm with you, they should be standard. I'll maybe give it a shot this weekend. Hate to mod a guitar in that price range though.

I don't have a good handle on what the plusses of 50s wiring supposedly are, if you don't like the turned down tone so much. Do you?
 
Dave Merrill said:
My Collings has 50s wiring too, and I've heard it said that that loses less top end rolled down, but it sounds real muffled to me.

Collings says they don't like treble bleeds, and that they don't work right with 50s wiring anyway, but I'm with you, they should be standard. I'll maybe give it a shot this weekend. Hate to mod a guitar in that price range though.

I don't have a good handle on what the plusses of 50s wiring supposedly are, if you don't like the turned down tone so much. Do you?
Click to expand...

I agree that the 50's wiring benefits are more subtle than I would like, but I'll take what additional brightness I can get. I have a bunch of late-50's-LP-style guitars, some of which are fairly detailed imitations, so I use that on those.

Lately though I've been thinking I'll get rid of a lot of my Les Paul's. Just don't need so many even if there are interesting variations in neck carve, top grain and finish, pickup wind and magnets, etc. And I've been starting to properly appreciate newer and weirder stuff.
 
State of Epicicity said:
I do love the 1970 100W Plexi too! I keep forgetting that thing is a monster!
Click to expand...
Yes. Yes it is. So much so that I keep wondering if it is stock or modified. And I also wish that we had the normal model for it because I'm betting it would shred like a bowie knife.

Going back to @Dave Merrill on neck treble when dialing down for clean: I think if you have good pickups in a good guitar with good switching, it's not that much of a problem without a treble bleed. Basically if the neck pickup is already a bit weaker than the bridge pickup, and you can either split or put the neck into parallel, you only need to dial the volume back a little bit to get to clean and you're starting off with more treble from running single or parallel. It's really a problem when you have two series humbuckers and can't run the neck in a different way.

But a big part of success is an amp that reacts right to input changes too, which is the main reason for this poll.
 
Dave Merrill said:
Side channel question:
If you're riding your guitar volume control all night, do you have treble bleed caps on most of your guitars?

I've been trying to get away from them, among other reasons because my Collings doesn't have one and I'm strongly inclined to leave it stock, but turning down much without one loses so much top end.

If not, do you use a low-capacitance guitar wireless, or a seriously short cable?
Click to expand...

Yes treble bleed on all guitars. Otherwise the low volume tones get too woofy.
 
I've never liked treble bleeds, because I felt like I was losing all bass; I think it's probably very dependent on your guitar, pickups, overall tone, and style. I switched to 50s wiring with low cap values many years ago, .010 bridge and .015 neck, and was very happy. Now I'm active with an HS set of Duncan Bishops Blackouts (AS-1 neck and AHB-1 bridge), I ride my volume and tone knobs all the time, and I have all the warmth and versatility I could want.
 
State of Epicicity said:
I've never liked treble bleeds, because I felt like I was losing all bass; I think it's probably very dependent on your guitar, pickups, overall tone, and style. I switched to 50s wiring with low cap values many years ago, .010 bridge and .015 neck, and was very happy. Now I'm active with an HS set of Duncan Bishops Blackouts (AS-1 neck and AHB-1 bridge), I ride my volume and tone knobs all the time, and I have all the warmth and versatility I could want.
Click to expand...
Active really does make it so much easier. I have a Navigator (ESP) Explorer with EMG 60 and 81 in it. Is it my best sounding guitar? No. Does it effortlessly flow between clean and searing without touching the "amp"? Yes.
 
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