Greetings.
I am a guitar player who has a rather dangerous interest in making/abusing/modifying amps.
I've always had a fondness for SS stuff. The biggest selling album I ever recorded (multi Platinum here in Oz) was done with a $50 SS Squire with an 8" speaker, though everyone seems to think I used valve big stacks - ah well. I like tubes but don't like the "sponginess" that ruins the pick attack & "BANG!".
Just saying "Hi".
Ta,
Bob.
Cool !! Please link to it so we can hear its sound. :)
Quote from: J M Fahey on April 12, 2012, 09:05:45 PM
Cool !! Please link to it so we can hear its sound. :)
Oh! I've never looked for links to it!
Maybe try YouTube?
The band is "The Angels", & the album was "Beyond Salvation". There was a single here that did well called "Dogs Are Talking". (I'm the one that's bald plus dreads).
I also used a bubby Vox Escort to record with a previous band,"Skyhooks".
I'm going to venture into a SS preamp build sometime soon.
Cheers,
Bob.
Well, I've found a YToob featuring a certain Bob Spencer who looks like the World's heaviest Hare Krishna guy.
That you?
Band sounds VERY good.
EDIT: I forgot the link:
http://youtu.be/3QEjiJ56Zac
Quote from: J M Fahey on April 12, 2012, 09:21:22 PM
Well, I've found a YToob featuring a certain Bob Spencer who looks like the World's heaviest Hare Krishna guy.
That you?
Band sounds VERY good.
EDIT: I forgot the link:
http://youtu.be/3QEjiJ56Zac
:lmao:
Yes, that'd be me!
That live stuff is the same little Squire out the back in a road case with a Sennheiser 421 mic on it.
Fun setup!
Cheers,
Bob.
All those Marshalls on stage and what we're hearing is a miked up Fender Squier 15 hidden in back of a road case! I love it. Sounds good; looks like a fun band regardless of what you were playing through, but I can relate to expanding the role of SS practice amps.
Hey, if you have any Squire tone recordings, or whatever, that aren't up elsewhere, I started a thread in "Player's Corner" for stuff like that...post some stuff there!
Quote from: mexicanyella on April 12, 2012, 10:13:01 PM
All those Marshalls on stage and what we're hearing is a miked up Fender Squier 15 hidden in back of a road case! I love it. Sounds good; looks like a fun band regardless of what you were playing through, but I can relate to expanding the role of SS practice amps.
Hey, if you have any Squire tone recordings, or whatever, that aren't up elsewhere, I started a thread in "Player's Corner" for stuff like that...post some stuff there!
The Marshall boxes were fed by a lineout from the Squire, into power amps, but they didn't run into the PA or to the recordings.
Don't have any more recent Squire stuff - just now frigging about with stuff to record at home, hence the renewed interest in building something.
The recording posted by "phatt" in Jan 2010 as quite something. I've PM'd him about what he used.
I seem to recall Squier amps having a headphone out but no actual line out jack. Do you remember what method you used to obtain a line-level signal from that amp?
Quote from: mexicanyella on April 13, 2012, 12:08:04 AM
I seem to recall Squier amps having a headphone out but no actual line out jack. Do you remember what method you used to obtain a line-level signal from that amp?
I seem to recall (edit - oops - I didn't mean to copy you!!) that we took a padded down line level split in parallel with the speaker, though I can't be sure now. It was a long while ago.
Cheers,
Bob.
I bet you also had some distortion pedal, even a simple one driving that little Squire.
You have much more sustain than what can be made by plugging straight into it.
Quote from: J M Fahey on April 16, 2012, 12:50:53 AM
I bet you also had some distortion pedal, even a simple one driving that little Squire.
You have much more sustain than what can be made by plugging straight into it.
On that live stuff (it's from a DVD) there is a rat-like pedal & a Big Muff on
some stuff, but not on the song that's posted above; that's only the bubby amp, straight in, honestly.
However, I did have very large monitoring, both in front & to the side of me, & in those days I monitored at stupid levels. That would help account for the sustain.
On the studio album mentioned, I used a Big Muff on (I think) two solo's, but the rest are just the Squire. It may sound odd, but I'm not a fan of sustain, it gets in the way for my style. The most important part of the sound to me is the initial few milliseconds. I'm un-healthily obsessed with those few milliseconds!
Cheers,
Bob.
The most important part of the sound to me is the initial few milliseconds. I'm un-healthily obsessed with those few milliseconds!
Cheers,
Bob.
[/quote]
I think I get that. I haven't played through a little Squier for a long time, but I've grown pretty partial to the fast attack of my little SS Peavey, as well as the sort of gritty edge it takes on when the gain is set right at the onset of distortion, or just past that point. It seems to help cut through a mix without being harsh, especially with single-coil pickups.
I have tube amps and like some things about them...the "bloom" and all that...but I miss that attack when it's not there! I've got a pair of little tube Valcos, one with a SS plug-in rectifier and one with a 5Y3 tube rectifier...I tend to like the feel of the SS one more, and that runs counter to a lot of pro-tube-amp thinking, I think.
Well, congratulations on the good sound and great playing, plus excellent stage presence.
And yes, playing at high power *does* a lot of good to your sound.
I'm *constantly* answering complaints about "fizzy sound" on many Forums, many times coming from amps I *know* are very good, and my standard answer is "get out of the bedroom and play it full tilt".
Day and night.
Quote from: J M Fahey on April 17, 2012, 06:33:09 AM
Well, congratulations on the good sound and great playing, plus excellent stage presence.
And yes, playing at high power *does* a lot of good to your sound.
I'm *constantly* answering complaints about "fizzy sound" on many Forums, many times coming from amps I *know* are very good, and my standard answer is "get out of the bedroom and play it full tilt".
Day and night.
Ta JM.
And agreed - the bedroom is maybe not the best place for a nice amp. There's no substitute for a good gig!