New Guitar/Amp

Sweetloaf

Sweetloaf

Sweetloaf

Soldato
Joined
5 Mar 2004
Posts
6,399
Location
Southport
Finally it looks like I have the chance to spend a little on a real guitar, obviously when spending this sort of cash I'll be wanting to sit down and try a few specific guitars and will not be buying online, however as a starting point I'm trying to price up a Sunburst American Strat and a reasonable amp a little beyond what I currently have. Does anyone know much about the more recent Vox amps? I'm not aiming for a metal sound before anyone recommends a Marshall job or pointy guitar :D

Think Stevie Ray Vaughan, then cross him with Clapton, Hendrix and then imagine them playing with gardening gloves on ;)

just window shpping for now but like the look of this amp and don't know the difference between these two guitars.

Any pointers/discussions welcome :)

http://www.guitarampkeyboard.com/en/vox-ad-50vt/66611

http://www.imuso.co.uk/ProductDetail.asp?StockCode=EG00385

http://www.guitarampkeyboard.com/en/fender-ash-strat/66515
 
I've got a mate who plays in a SRV/Hendrix tribute band and he uses a Marshall TSL601 to nail the sound.
He uses a Fender Valve amp sometimes but not sure which one.
He also borrows my Fender Strat which is fitted with Fender Custom Shop 69ers Abigail Signed which cost £117.

So basically buy a Fender/Marshall valve combo and whatever Strat you buy fit them with Custom Shop 69ers.
 
I'd go with dmpoole's recommendation. Hendrix used Fender Bassmans and Sun Solaris during most of the studio amps. Vaughan mainly used Fenders as well namely the Twin

What era are you looking for as regards Clapton?

Blackvault
 
In all seriousness I'm not really bothered about emulating anyones sound I just want to make sure I've got quality gear, I don't envisage spending that amount of cash and then changing the pickups, If I'm spending £600-£1000 on a guitar it's going to have to be great without alterations.

My total budget for Amp/Guitar is around £1200

I'm literally lost in a sea of Stratocasters.

I'm probably gonna go and plug a few things in here, which is where I bought my epi G400 custom

http://www.frailers.com/electrics.htm
 
A nice American Standard would be great.. leaving plenty dosh for a lovely amp.

Mind you that american deluxe is sweet as :) i couldnt say no

Even though im into a darker guitar sound... Fender Strat have got to be the nicest guitars made! I love mine even though its a mexican...But id kill for a good old killer USA Strat :) its just the fact of having it above anything.

....my student loan looks so easy to waste on an american strat...but i will overpower them temptations :)
 
A tip which I know a lot of people go by is don't immediately think American strats > Mexican/Japanese strats.

The best kind of advice you could be given for any guitars - but particularly Strats (since there's so many in production) is to really go to as many shops as possible, and try as many of them as possible, wait until you find one you like the feel of, differences in tone between a lot of similar models across the entire range will be slight, unless of course you're specifically going for one with an ash body for example.

Try as many as possible, I've played Jap Strats that played fantastically, and American one's sometimes 4x the price which don't have that magic, it's down to luck really.
 
That is very true like. my mex was adored by my old guitar teacher.. and he had proper 70's tele's :p

but its more of the oooo american strat factor when it comes to fender.

But a fender jap/mex strat/tele will sometimes be a gem and be better than most things you pick up and play.

Definitely have to try the guitars out like.. id buy an american strat if i picked it up in the shop and thought.. this is awesome!

which ive already done to be fair.. but never had the cash :) oh well
 
I played a stunning Mexican Strat in a Guitar Center when I was in the States, it played perfectly and sounded great. One guy even came over and asked what kind of Strat it was, he seemed genuinely disappointed when I told him it was Mexican, so definitely don't rule them out!
 
One More Solo said:
I played a stunning Mexican Strat in a Guitar Center when I was in the States, it played perfectly and sounded great. One guy even came over and asked what kind of Strat it was, he seemed genuinely disappointed when I told him it was Mexican, so definitely don't rule them out!
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Snobbery has never been my strong point, If i can find the right guitar at the right price I'll be happy, cheaper the better :)

I'm aware that a Jap Squier could beat an American Strat if you find the right one, it's a case of trying and patience.

Now can antone recommend the right gardening gloves? ;)

Any Vox users out there? A good guitar is pointless without an amp that compliments it.
 
The Fender DeVille is a beast. Not sure what they're going for these days though, would you consider second hand?

As for a guitar, go for the best Strat you can afford imo.
 
Can someone point out the differences that make the two Strats in my opening post different?

I'm assuming M/N means maple neck and they are made from different wood, is there anything else to particularly look out for?
 
Sweetloaf said:
Can someone point out the differences that make the two Strats in my opening post different?

I'm assuming M/N means maple neck and they are made from different wood, is there anything else to particularly look out for?
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The GAK one has an Ash body - lighter than alder with a very bright, twangy tone, Alder is slightly darker in tone, but still bright. The imuso one has a one piece maple neck neck whereas the other has maple and rosewood. Other than that they're pretty much identical.
 
I've just recently got the Hod Rod Deluxe which is a 40W combo and all valve. It is identical to the Deville apart from it has one speaker. The clean tone is beautiful and very bluesy when naturally overdriven, and because it is only 40W it should break up quite easily to get those nice tones.

To get that SRV tone, you are going to need a good Tube Screamer that is similar to the TS808 (ie a modded or re-issue). Your looking at about £100 for the pedal, but it gives you so much control over that classic blues sound and can be used it all kinds of circumstances. This will be my next purchase. :)

I'll upload sound samples and pics when i get the chance. :)
 
Cheers guys, keep the info coming, I'm actually swaying towards spending a little more on the amp and a little less on the guitar, after all that will be like a free upgrade to all my other guitars :)
 
You can say that again, my first squire strat sounds beautiful through my new amp. Doesn't play any better though :p
 
OzZie said:
You can say that again, my first squire strat sounds beautiful through my new amp. Doesn't play any better though :p
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I'm actually still pretty happy with the way my guitars play and sound through my Orange Crush 30R (Ibanez AF75, Epi G400 Custom and an old Aria pro II) But that's not really the point, I just want another :D

A couple more I'm considering:

http://www.guitarampkeyboard.com/en/72320

A potential bargain:

http://www.guitarampkeyboard.com/en/tfx-1/10996

I really need to leave work and try some stuff out :)

Do genuine tube amps really need to be cranked high to get the benefit? I don't get that much chance to go upto 11. (I realise that the above ones aren't just curious)
 
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40W valve is about the same volume as a 120W solid state/transistor amp. It's the amp i bought a few weeks ago and i love it. To get the best sound, yes you have to have it cracked up, but the tone at low volumes is just fine, especially on the clean channel. The overdrive channel does need to be cranked a little to get it sounding nice, but can still be done at acceptable household volumes.

Get get a real nice blues tone though, you'll need to get a nice overdrive pedal such as a tubescreamer. I'll see if i can find the youtube video of someone with a Deville (same as Hot Rod but with another speaker rated at 60W) that compares the clean channel to that of three different overdrive pedals including the tube screamer and blues driver. :)

Valves don't really need replacing that often. If your a very heavy gigger (i.e multiple times each week) then to get the sweet sound all the time you would replace them about once a year, but even that is quite extreme. If you aren't gigging then they will last you many years to come.
 
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