Re: guitar amps

["Krispen Hartung" <khartung@cableone.net>]

I'm with you. I could even run my laptop directly into my Mackie 1x10 
speakers...it's mainly convenience and portability. I have a thing about 
being able to walk into a jazz gig with nothing buy my guitar and a combo 
amp. :)   It's ver liberating. The more gear I have to setup for a gig 
like 
that, the more disgruntled I get over time.  / K

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "mark sottilaro" <zerocrossing2001@yahoo.com>
To: <Loopers-Delight@loopers-delight.com>
Sent: Sunday, December 17, 2006 7:47 PM
Subject: Re: guitar amps


>I think we've been over this before, but since you
> seem to be happy with many of the modelers around (as
> am I) why not just get a nice keyboard amp or powered
> PA speaker and use the amp modeler of your choice?
> This gives amazing flexibility IMO.  Sounds good for
> bass, acoustic and  you can even route keyboard sounds
> though it.  Get a modeler that's an all in one floor
> unit, as I'm sure you'll need stuff on the ground
> anyway.
>
> I found the Mackie 650s to be a little cold sounding
> but had great bottom.  A bit of time with an EQ was
> all they needed though.  Why have the bells and
> whistles in the amp?
>
> Mark
>
> --- Krispen Hartung <khartung@cableone.net> wrote:
>
>> The polytones are indeed nice (just don't use the
>> gain on them, as that
>> produces what could likely be the most nasty
>> sounding distortion on the
>> planet earth)...however, having used many models of
>> Polytones in my guitar
>> playing history, I find that they are a generally a
>> one-dimensional amp.
>> Most guys I know using them are using good sized
>> archtop guitars, which is
>> what I did. The polytones are designed to have a
>> very flat frequency
>> response and re-produce the beautiful, and unique
>> sound of a big bodied
>> archtop.  This is also why they are a popular amp
>> for accordion players. But
>> for someone who wants to play modern jazz - a mix of
>> traditional clean tones
>> with other flavors of dirtied up tones, like Mike
>> Stearn, Scofield, etc - I
>> don't believe the Polytone is a good choice. It's
>> not that sort of amp.  I
>> keep falling back to the newer DSP amps, like the
>> Roland Cube 60, Fender
>> FM65, Vox, and so on. I keep seeing these amps pop
>> up in jazz guitar
>> discussion forums over, and over again. One just
>> found out that one of my
>> favorite jazz guitarists, Lorne Lofsky (an
>> mind-blowing modern jazz
>> guitarist that teaches and lives in the Toronto
>> area), is also using the
>> Fender FM65.  These amps have the ability to produce
>> a very clean tone (like
>> a JC-120), but also a vintage amp or tube amp that
>> will get dirty when you
>> push it.  I never believed it until I use them, but
>> amps like the Cube 60
>> even have the ability to produce that "spongy" feel
>> of tube amps.  I think
>> it's just amazing what they've done with them...so,
>> for the versatile jazz
>> guitarist who has to switch from traditional jazz,
>> to smooth jazz, to modern
>> jazz, to fusion on the fly depending on the gig,
>> these DSP amps are the
>> cat's meow.
>>
>> I find "harshness" to be a feature of EQ, not an
>> amp. I've never played an
>> amp that I couldn't get a smooth tone out of by
>> adjusting the EQ...roll off
>> the presence or highs, boost the mids, and turn the
>> tone down on the guitar
>> a bit....all age old tricks of jazz guitar players
>> to "silkify" their tones.
>> Although I've heard some tube purists say that solid
>> state amps in general
>> are harsh...but I think this is an unqualified claim
>> as well. Once you tweak
>> a solid state amp right, it will NOT sound
>> harsh..."harshness" is not the
>> right term, in my opition..rather, it's that
>> "sponginess" I mentioned, the
>> fact that tube amps breaks up when you push them,
>> that they change
>> throughout the duration of a performance as they
>> heat up (which annoys the
>> shit out of me), etc.  I think harshness is an easy
>> characteristic to
>> change, but these more organic features of tube amps
>> are more difficult to
>> emulate...but the new DSP amps are getting really
>> good at it...enough so for
>> that I really prefer the DSP amps now, because they
>> run cool, don't require
>> tube maintenance, and they are light. It's the best
>> of all worlds. I don't
>> know who a Roland could be regarded as harsh...turn
>> the treble and presence
>> to 0...the last thing it will be is
>> harsh...incredibly undefined, but not
>> harsh.
>>
>> Speaking of Polytone, you ever played a 104? The
>> George Benson model? I used
>> to one one...weight a tone, but it was a LOUD
>> sob....very clean, 2X12 amp. I
>> used to own a Lab Series L5 too...very intriguing
>> amps, with built in
>> compression and some filtering EQ. I used to run a
>> L5 one one site, and a
>> Polytone 104 on the other for big jazz gigs, where I
>> had to compete with an
>> 18 piece jazz group or loud drummer.
>>
>> K-
>>
>>
>> ----- Original Message ----- 
>> From: "samba -" <sambacomet@hotmail.com>
>> To: <Loopers-Delight@loopers-delight.com>
>> Sent: Sunday, December 17, 2006 5:55 PM
>> Subject: guitar amps
>>
>>
>> > Loopers-Delight@loopers-delight.com
>> >
>> > I think for small portable the polytone is very
>> tatsty.  I find the roland
>> > stuff has a sort of harsh edge,where the polytone
>> is sweet.No bells and
>> > whisltes though.I got one for under 100 and have
>> seen 2-3 for 50 that
>> > needed repair.It'/s usually switch or power supply
>> problems,or maybe a
>> > cap.
>> >
>> >
>>
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