The Gretsch Pages: Discussions: Gretsch Amps: Amp-y suggestions!

Amp-y suggestions!

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- Rated: 28 ↑
Sep 7, 2008 9:50 a.m. Wishinfora(nother)Falcon:

TAG4 said: Hey Wishin--What year model is your Super Reverb? How do you like it?

It's a '64. 100% original and I LOVE IT It's everything I am looking for in a Blackface. It is hefty though. If I were gigging, I go with a DR.

Here's more amp nerdery
- Rated: 83 ↑
Sep 7, 2008 7:12 p.m. Mark Synchro:

hummingbird_rose said: I have a Les Paul and a Gretsch TN Rose. Any ideas on amps to bring out the best of them?
Those are two quite different animals but both of them are capable of some great sounds. Here's my take on it FWIW.

I've found that my Filtertron Gretsches love Blackface Fanders and vice-versa. Hilo-trons are thinner sounding and can be pretty jangly but I still think that a Blackface may be a good place to start looking for your sound. For home use the Deluxe RI or the Princeton RI would probably be great provided you aren't trying for a lot of natural overdrive. If you crank either of these amps at home it'll get pretty loud. Considering that their prices are almost the same I would choose the Deluxe and have the extra low end of the 12" speaker.

The Les Paul will probably sound pretty decent through a small Blackface too but you are not going to get the Classic Rock, Les Paul through a Marshall sound, at least without pedals.

Which leads me to the subject of overdrive, distortion, crunch, etc. My personal favorite for this kind of sound is an amp turned up high enough that it starts to distort naturally. This could be hard to achieve at home with anything more than a very small amp, something worth considering as well. My personal opinion is against the use of attenuators. Attenuted amps that I've played seemed lifeless to me.

Also, FWIW, I have a page about distortion on my web site.
- Rated: 10 ↑
Sep 8, 2008 12:28 p.m. hummingbird_rose:

Okay, so thankfully you've all been where I was and you actually had time to play and learn about amps! I have quite a bit to digest thanks to all of you.

I will say, though, that the distortion informative page was wonderful. As a trumpet player, it can never be loud enough or high enough...that's just the way we are. With a guitar, sometimes it just can't get dirty enough either, so after finding the right amp (and a ton of technical knowledge about tubes and channels and headache) I'll settle on one or fifty that I like.
- Rated: 13 ↑
Sep 8, 2008 2:55 p.m. Gigatron:

Just one thing to add (though maybe someone has already mentioned it); amps sound different when you play with others, compared to when you're playing alone. I've had amps that sounded fine practicing at home, but just didn't cut it in a band. I had other amps that were just the other way round. A good music shop should let you try an amp out before you buy (at least they used to, in Toronto).
- Rated: 12 ↑
Sep 8, 2008 4:23 p.m. guitarcapo:

deluxe Reverb Fender.
- Rated: 28 ↑
Sep 9, 2008 12:42 a.m. greg:

Gig your right.Anything with LANEY written on it.And yeah those Tech 21 amps are very nice. This weekend i will be picking up a Laney LV200.Can hardly wait
- Rated: 17 ↑
Sep 9, 2008 1:11 a.m. Dr Nyl:

You should really try out the Super Champ XD if youre only playing at home, could also be used for small gigs. Ive got one and i really like it.
- Rated: 205 ↑
Sep 9, 2008 2:29 a.m. Proteus:

Amp sound samples here.
- Rated: 13 ↑
Sep 9, 2008 2:37 a.m. Gigatron:

Greg, over here, Laneys are as cheap as chips. I was very pleasantly surprised when I first got mine and heard how good it sounds.
- Rated: 28 ↑
Sep 9, 2008 9:55 a.m. greg:

Slovenia?Dobro dobro
- Rated: 13 ↑
Sep 9, 2008 10:18 a.m. Gigatron:

Da, Gospod Greg, Slovenija je zelo dobro in lepo kraj za pocitnice. Mogoce nasledenje Gretsch mednarodni sestanek bo v Slovenije.
- Rated: 43 ↑
Sep 9, 2008 11:08 a.m. Ric12string:

I agree with Proteus that a clean tone is imperative. However, unfortunately, so many of us rarely use it!

Along those same lines, I have a couple of Mesa Boogie amplifiers and I have always loved their tone. Clean is very clean, yet the distorted tones also really sing.
- Rated: 10 ↑
Sep 12, 2008 9:12 a.m. hummingbird_rose:

Okay, so thanks to all the advice and Proteus' exemplary posting of amp sound samples (with the flattering musical title), I settled my ears on the 70s Deluxe Reverb Blackface. For my purposes, mostly reverting back to my original analogy of having the 'grand piano' of electric guitars, which I believe I have in the Tennessee Rose, the sound fits my desires better than the others, though they all sound magnificent.

That being said, the other side of knowing virtually nothing about amps, and relying solely on my ears to make a choice, I similarly have no knowledge of values.

So, if you'll all be as kind as the first of this string, any suggestions on cost? What's a good deal, what's fair, what's me getting ripped off?

Further advice would be marvelous! Thanks!