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One thing I have noticed over the thirty years I have been playing guitar is that guitars have their own sound no
doubt, but amplifiers do "reproduce" the sound of the electric guitars differently. Case in point, the Les Paul
guitar coming out of a vintage Marshall an amp with plenty of treble, sounds fat yet cuts through nicely. I believe
the same thing for a Les Paul running through a blackface Super Reverb, it cuts beautifully. Put that same Paul
through say a Tweed Pro or a first run Ampeg Reverberocket and it sounds muddy and has trouble cutting through
especially using the neck pickup. IMHO a sure test of a good Paul is does the neck pickup have some bite to it?
Now the next question you may ask is, "are there any guitars that will cut through coming from one of these
Tweed amps?" I say yes, plug a Strat in that same Pro and see how awesome it sounds, thick yet trebly.
So the point of this column is, the choice of guitars is a primary decision - I don't think there are many players
out there saying "I wanna play a Twin Reverb what guitar should I get?" - and the amplifier choice is key in getting
the sound you want. I am sure that there are some guitar strummers out there who would embrace the potential "mismatch"
in guitar and amp symmetry, to assist in them finding there own voice. To this I say Cheerio! Always seek your own
sound. Sometimes I believe that playing a Tele through a Twin Reverb can be a potentially intimidating experience as
so many great guitar players have that combo as part of their signature sound.
So here are a few suggestions that seem to work for me. |
#1- Fender Blackface Vibrolux and most Gibson equipped guitars especially a Les Paul, an SG,
or any ES series guitar.
This is a great combo for rock, blues, country, pop and even jazz at a low volume. This was originally brought to
my attention by my friend and fellow Vermonter John Sprung (knower of all Fender amplifier lore, etc). And as always
he was right, this combo sound great!
#2-Fender Brownface tremolo equipped amp and a Stratocaster. This is a sound from the gods, an incredibly thick,
full, hypnotic sound, not too dissimilar to Jimi's sound using the Uni-Vibe but, I feel a more organic sound than
even that striking sound. I do believe that when you start to overdrive this set-up from the front end with a
pedal you do lose some of the clarity and basic integrity of this sound. If you don't have a Brownface Fender and
don't want to change your primary amp you are now using just to get this sound, you might want to check out the
Victoria Tremverb, it's a tweed free standing unit ala the Fender Reverb unit but has the Brownface tremolo circuit
also.
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#3- Marshall 18 watt combo and a Les Paul, not much else to say here really, this sound will absolutely blow you
away, it's the sound we all marveled at on those early Clapton/ Peter Green recordings. I know a lot of you are
saying that's the "Bluesbreaker" sound and yes you are right it is but, I believe you can only get that sound
from a hand-wired Bluesbreaker combo.
The new Reissue Marshall 1974x HW is the absolute balls! I own three of these and cannot tell you how happy I am
with them. Get one!
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#4- Fender Blackface Twin Reverb and a Fender Telecaster, clean, toppy and true, baby. Your technique will show
through with this set-up like no other. If you are confident and want to be heard this is true test. And please
don't fool yourself into thinking that this is a country exclusive combination, because it is not, ask Mike
Bloomfield. Those of you familiar with his guitar lineage will know that before the great Bloomfield went to the
"Burst" he played a Tele through a Twin for years. Again I will tell you that this set-up will work for blues,
rock, country and yes, even jazz.
If you are looking for this sound in a more manageable context try the "Baby Twin" the BF Pro Reverb instead. It
will sound similar but break up a bit easier, and a bit more "club owner friendly."
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#5- Vox AC-30 and the Rickenbacker 12string and the Gretsch Chet Atkins Models. Yeah I know another no-brainer,
but how could I speak on the guitar-amp relationship without discussing the perfect one. As a foolish young man
I was heard to say on occasion "imagine if the Beatles had used Fender amps and Gibson guitars instead of those
god awful sounding Gretsch's." Oh boy was that a moment of genius, heh?
The AC-30 and its Top Boost circuit helped the Gretsch cut through so well on those recordings while still
remaining full and complete sounding across the frequency range of the guitar (a reoccurring theme in this
column I'd say).
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Now onto the Rick 12 and the ¾ scale 325 model that John Lennon favored in the early Beatle days. Both of these
guitars were equipped with what has been called the "toaster pickups", These pickups did not have a lot of output
which only enhanced the "jangly" sound we all came to love back then. The AC-30 embraced this aspect and produced
a clean but yet again strong sound with not much in the bass end but with plenty of treble and mids. Another
seldom ignored aspect of this sound was the fact that the Ricks came with flatwound strings and were smart enough
to supply the Lads with replacements.
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Just a couple of quickies for you.
Polytone Mini-Brute and a Gibson ES 175 (Joe Pass sound, but you can't buy his technique, sorry!)
Magnatone tremolo amp with a Stratocaster (if it's good enough for Buddy Holly its good enough for me)
Any cheapo hand wired amp from the early 60's (Valco, Supro, Kalamazoo, take your pick) with a Danelectro lipstick
pickup outfitted solid body guitar.
And last but not least, a Tweed Fender Champ and any quality solid body guitar, cranked up to 10 baby!!!!
Feel free to email me some of your faves and I will include thrm in future columns.
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