[MF_Dearmond]

I've had bad luck fetching advice here, so I hope anybody is willing to chime in.

I play a large variety of music styles, but I love that farty blues sound from overdriven speakers, yet love the "sharp as a knife" twang. Am I searching for something that doesn't exist?

I'm currently using a 1962 Estay Magnatone 413 with an original 1962 Oxford speaker. I love the pitch shifting Vibrato, and the amp is overall pretty impressive sounding to most folks that jam on it. For me it's not farty, overdriven, or have the bright highs enough.

I'd think there would be *some* blues players here that want to preserve their Gretsch twangy sound at the same time as utilizing the Hound Dog Taylor blues crunch.

I just picked up a Plush 1060-S 110w RMS head with cool red sparkle Naugahyde covering, but have no idea what I'll do with it when it arrives. (maybe build a 120w 4x10, 1x12/3x10 or 2x12 2x10?)



I'm just hoping there's a Gretsch-Twanger here that's familiar with a dirty blues amp that could meet my interests. I've owned an old super-fart 5w 1x8 solid state Alamo, and a 3w 1x8 Gene Leis amp that really had the blues down, but I sold them to international collectors. The I preferred the tube Gene Leis tone, but it was a horribly noisy amp little amp that shocked me until I added a grounded 3-prong cable and the noise went away *a little* (I had to dial in the volume knob on the amp until the noise was minimalized, and then take total control of volume on the guitar's pot).



Anyhoo, just to make me feel better, please feel free to reply discussing anything from your pets to your cars just so I know someone here cares.

And also, to keep me from chucking every time I read it, what does NAD mean? Testicle? New Addition? There's no FAQ on this site that lists the term.

[razor]

NAD......New Amp Day!

Sorry, no advise to offer. Just play'em all until you hear what you like.

[Jeff O]

Try a Fender Tweed Deluxe. 18 watts, 1 X 12. Clean to somewhat dirty sound. Touch sensative. Sounds good with single coils and buckers. Get a clone for about $600.

I built mine for about that.

[MF_Dearmond]

Originally Posted by Jeff O

Try a Fender Tweed Deluxe. 18 watts, 1 X 12. Clean to somewhat dirty sound. Touch sensative. Sounds good with single coils and buckers. Get a clone for about $600.

I built mine for about that.

Thanks for the followup, Jeff-O.
Ignore my ignorance, but isn't my 1x12 ribbed-cone 1962 Magnatone 18w pretty much a tweed deluxe clone? Or am I mistaken?

Maybe I don't have one of the bad "Ox-Fart" oxford speakers that Fender fans complain about, because it definitely isn't farty to me (which ironically is part of my prob). I threw in a vintage Jenson smooth-cone P12Q, which was an improvement for *my* taste, but I got worried about the watts and put the oxford back in. P12N is more like it, but I'm not aware if Jenson made a farty smoothcone P12N.

I kinda' like going all vintage, but maybe get a weber 20w P12Q smoothcone?
https://taweber.powweb.com/weber/12a125-o.htm

[MF_Dearmond]

Originally Posted by Jeff O

Try a Fender Tweed Deluxe. 18 watts, 1 X 12.

Thanks again Jeff. Am I being too picky? I'm not asking to play guitar any better than I can.

I've been selling instruments for 17 years. I've own marvelous Pre-CBS Fender Guitars, I've owned a vintage Les Paul. But my 1971 Pumpkin Orange Gretsch Roc-Jet packed with original supertrons I purchased for $20 that was wedged behind a couch in a trailer park really opened my eyes. I had never heard such a beautiful chime before when I got it home.

I later purchased a 1964 Pre-CBS Fender Jaguar with Lake Placid Blue body and headstock with clay dot inlays for $15 from some old man. The body was crammed tight in a cardboard box with screws and tools around it! It was a cool guitar, but an offer over 12k bought me many microwave dinners at the time.

Since I was a kid, I enjoyed them and sold them when offers that I considered impressive at the time came up. Now I can see back 20/20 and complain about the fish that got away.

Currently my main axe is a 1967 Micro-Frets Plainsman. It's got a cool "very solid" semi hollowbody cutout, with Dearmond pickups. The Pups don't scratch my brainstem to me like a Gretsch, but they're worlds better than a harmony dearmind etc. Somewhere between a dirty jag bridge and a clean Gretsch Dyna bridge.


Gotta say I have no beef with the vintage Gretsch guitars. They're how I set my standard. After having a 1 on 1 with the dynas, hi-los, filters, supers, they're one snazzy lump of tone.





Anyway. jesus F*ing Christ, when I would polish my vintage gretsch with orange furniture wax the black plastic backplates would sweat out this putrid odor. Is Anyone else familiar with that? The cracks in the black backplates would sweat. Truly horrible smell.

[Poppatwang]

ADA Rocket 20. The 20 I think is an arbitrary # as it certainly isn't watts with a single EL34.
It's been a swiss army amp for me. Goes from mild to wild, especially if you goose the front end.
Takes patience to find 'em but they're out there.

[megabutter]

Dang. Two amps and an a/b is the only think I can think of.

...maybe some fuzz pedal? Idk.

[LATS]

I'd love to help, but 'farty' is not something I seek out, so I guess I can only tell you what to avoid. Late-60s to mid-70s Ampeg amps will definitely not fit that description.

Sorry.

Not.

I love my amps.

[hojo199]

Originally Posted by LATS

I'd love to help, but 'farty' is not something I seek out, so I guess I can only tell you what to avoid. Late-60s to mid-70s Ampeg amps will definitely not fit that description.

Certainly right about THAT.

I am amazed that someone came across a "Plush." Talk about obscure! I think the "farty" tones can best be achieved with farty pedals. Why lug around a farty amp when a farty pedal will do. As for which pedal farts the best, maybe someone else can chime in....

[Jack Knife]

Wow! Gene Leis I never thought I'd hear that name again. I had several instruction books from him back in the day.

Do you need your amp to be small like the 3-5 watters you listed? Because, for a combo of overdrive, sparkly highs (when needed), killer trem, etc, you can't get much better than the Fender Custom Vibrolux Reverb, IMO.

[Jeff O]

Too picky? Hell no. If you want to spend money and time, you can have whatever you want.

My only advice is not to chase the dragon. It's NEVER as good as the first time, or the one we heard at a concert, or the sound we hear in our head.

Me, I'm probably TOO easily satisfied. If it's old and tube, it already sounds good before I plug it in. I can massage a sound "I LIKE" out of any old tube amp.

Amps are like meat, though. If you buy the bargain cuts at the grocery store (Sam Ash, GC, MF), they've been sitting around and are old, and need to be spiced up, marinated, or doctored in some way to be good.

But if you get the cuts fresh from a meat market (high end vintage dealer) you pay a little less per pound but you have to spend more up front. But they come out sizzling with little effort.

Man, what a crappy analogy.

[dobro]

OOOH! OOOH! I GOT THIS ONE!!

YouTube - Tone King Imperial

Tone King Imperial. I'm working a deal on one today. 30 lbs, 20 watts, hand-made EVERYTHING, does the best Tweed/BFDR/Marshall 18w in one box I've ever heard.

[big kenny]

hot rod deluxe

[Jack Knife]

Of course, if you want the simple amp, farty speaker sound, the Champ 600 is a contender

[MF_Dearmond]

Thanks for all the help, guys. I appreciate everyone's opinion.

The question that's been bugging me all day.... What if I take a nice clean amp like a vintage Ampeg and throw in a farty smoothcone Jenson?

I'm a bit overwhelmed with ideas, but a sparkly amp with a farty speaker would still sound sparkly with the added fart, right?

Maybe I could just buy a reverberocket with a torn speaker!


I've heard much about the vintage Ampegs (I am a Gretsch fan afterall). Did Ampeg make an amp with a smoothcone from the same era?

I'm a nerdy collector at heart, and I hate modding my gear if I don't have to.

Reverberocket and bassman are what has been pounded in my brain. I totally dig the true pitch shifting vibrato in my old maggie though.

[MF_Dearmond]

Originally Posted by dobro

OOOH! OOOH! I GOT THIS ONE!!

YouTube - Tone King Imperial

Tone King Imperial. I'm working a deal on one today. 30 lbs, 20 watts, hand-made EVERYTHING, does the best Tweed/BFDR/Marshall 18w in one box I've ever heard.

At about 1:30-1:50 in that vid sounds sick.

[Jeff O]

Those TONE KING'S look awesome.

Anybody ever use the EVIL ROBOT AMP that Phil X of Fretted Americana touts? It's like the magic TONEMASTER he always uses.

[MF_Dearmond]

I love this sound (unfortunately vid is compressed and a little less chimey than the actual track):

http://www.youtube.com/embed/_2mU9tkZ-Og

With this raunchy speaker sound:
http://www.youtube.com/embed/hq6GULGiad8

No other way I can describe what idea is going on in my puny little brain.

[mikante]

Originally Posted by dobro

OOOH! OOOH! I GOT THIS ONE!!

YouTube - Tone King Imperial

Tone King Imperial. I'm working a deal on one today. 30 lbs, 20 watts, hand-made EVERYTHING, does the best Tweed/BFDR/Marshall 18w in one box I've ever heard.

what a lovely good sounding amp!

[68GuitarPlayer]

@Dobro- did you get the amp?